Oh the Joys of Life

So yesterday wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be.  We got on the road about 8:30 and met up my mom (GaGa) so we could all ride together.  GaGa fed the boys breakfast in their car seats to save us from having to feed them before we left which ended up a good thing since we barely made it to the funeral on time.  I had HORRIBLE back pain the whole way to Missouri and almost asked Jim to turn around and take us back home so I could go to the hospital, I thought I was going into labor for sure but the desire to see my grandparents trumped my fear of having to give birth in a strange hospital and we trucked on…lucky we did because once I got out of the car and started moving around a little my back pain went away.  (thankfully!)  Once we got to the church we changed diapers and outfits in the back of the van and had just enough time to line up our car with the rest of the family as they followed the casket into the church.  We sat on the back row instead of up front because we weren’t sure how the boys would do, good thing since about 5 minutes after the service started Jim ended up taking the boys outside to run around.  I can only imagine how much energy they had after sitting in the car all morning.  After the funeral we followed everyone to the grave side for a very quick prayer then went back to the church for lunch.  Lunch was DELISIOUS…seriously, there is something about southern food that just can not be replicated.  I wish I could cook like that!  After lunch we were lucky enough that Charlie (my second cousin…I think that’s how we’re related lol) offered to take the boys for a tractor ride on the farm.  He has about 5 square miles of farm land so his tractor is HUGE, I didn’t see it since I was inside with my feet up (darn you swelling!) but Jim said it took up both sides of the road!  Charlie pre-programed the GPS to drive the tractor and then let the boys pretend to drive it, I heard they had a blast!  Lucky for the boys Charlie is a pushover when it comes to little kids so once they got back he gave them rides around the house in what I refer to as the “super” golf cart…mostly because I don’t know what its really called.  Anyways, by this time it was nearing 4:00 and the boys were 2 hours past nap time and I was ready to go.  I fell asleep almost immediately once we got in the car and once we got back to town we went straight to GaGa’s house for dinner.  My grandparents and Aunt Cheryl joined us for my “unofficial birthday dinner” (we’re celebrating for real tomorrow night) which was the best gift I could have been given!  Grandma and Aunt Cheryl drove the 45 minutes out to our house after dinner JUST to see the nursery, they literally only stayed about 10 minutes and turned around to go back to GaGa’s house…it meant a lot to me that they cared enough to make the effort to see the baby’s room since who knows the next time they will be in town.  By the time they left it was nearly 10:00 at night and the boys were BEYOND tired (Jim said they barely napped on the way home…I think its because GaGa was in the back seat with them lol)  Once they went to bed I took a nice long shower to unwind, once my head hit the pillow I fell asleep listening to my sweet, tired, toddlers talk to each other…that was at 11:30, I have no idea what time they actually passed out but I do know they slept until 9:30 this morning and have been extremely fussy all day.

Today since Jim had to work I am just trying to get things done around the house.  Its not easy cleaning with toddlers around since I feel like every time I get something done I have to go back and pick something else up that wasn’t there before.  I did manage to get the guest bathroom cleaned top to bottom which is nice.  I bleached the bathtub and all the bath toys cleaned the rugs and shower curtain (note to self, do not wash vinyl shower curtain in washing machine, design WILL come PARTIALLY off and look HORRIBLE….I wonder how much that little mistake is going to cost me to replace…) I cleaned the toilet and vanity and even went through and organized under the vanity.  I wiped down the walls and steam cleaned the floor and now I know I won’t have to deep clean it for a while since it only gets used for the twins bath time and when family is in town.  Its so nice I just want to sit in there and look at how clean it is (if I can manage not to look at my ruined shower curtain that is…)  I also ran a bleach load in the washer and wiped down the washer and dryer (have I mentioned how much I LOVE my washer and dryer…seriously love them.)  By then it was lunch time and then shortly after that nap time…my favorite part of the day (hehe).   I thought I’d throw up a blog at nap time (see that’s why you’re able to read this lol) and then reorganize the cabinets in the laundry room and then straighten up the utility closet.  That darn closet stays organized for about 2 days every time I do it and I do NOT want to have to spend 3 hours on it again so I’m TRYING desperately to keep up with it…I don’t know WHAT is so hard about putting things where they belong but I just can’t manage to follow through.  I try, I swear I do, but as I’m mainly the only person to go in there I know I’m mainly the one to mess it up.  ::insert frustration grunt here::  I’d also like to get to the linen/shoe closet but I think I’m going to have to suck it up and purchase some of those space saver bags I’ve had my eye on for months now.  I know I need them and I know they would seriously help me make some space in that closet but every time I put them in my cart I end up putting them back on the shelf.  I just can’t take the leap.  I think its because I feel like as soon as I put everything in a bag and get it all organized I’ll need something out of that bag and have to start all over again and it just seems like an extra step I don’t know if I want to have to take every time I have company or need an extra blanket…

Anyways, I’m off to take advantage of these “nesting” urges before baby bean comes and they decide to go back to where ever they came from. <3

25 and a funeral

So I’m officially a quarter of a century old today.  I’m so glad that God has blessed me with all he has in such a short amount of time.  Most of my old friends are still single and doing the “party” thing and I’m lucky enough to be in a wonderful marriage with an amazing husband and have two beautiful children with a third on the way…wow.  Sometimes it is just mindboggling to me to see how my life has turned out, God has surly shown me favor when I did not deserve it.  I’m so incredibly blessed that sometimes I find it hard to wrap my head around it.  I hope that throughout this next year I can continue to put my faith in God and be a spiritual inspiration to those around me.  Jim is a fantastic spiritual leader for our family but I know that without me stepping up and helping him to be the best he can be I will never be the best I can be and its important for our children to SEE God working through us, not just hear us talk about it.  You can do all the talking in the world but without actions to back it up, its just words.  I pray that my actions will be so profound that they won’t need to be backed up with words but will speak to those around me in such a profound way that people will KNOW my beliefs without me having to share them.  Don’t get me wrong, I still want (and plan) to minister to those around me but I want my actions to do the real talking.

On another note, today is the day we are burying my great Uncle “PeeWee” (my grandmother’s brother).  He passed away on my cousin Lauren’s birthday and will be buried on mine.  It seems ironic in a sense, my cousin Lauren passed away shortly after her 8th (my 9th) birthday, she was my best friend and ever since then her birthday has been a particularly hard day for me (and others in our family).  Lauren and I were so close, she was like my best friend, like a sister…at such a young age it was my first “real” encounter with death and it has always effected me in a way that is hard to explain.  At 25 I have YET to make it through a year without crying for at least an hour on her birthday and I STILL haven’t had the strength to visit her grave.  The fact that Uncle PeeWee passed on her birthday surely didn’t make the day any easier this year, nor did the pregnancy hormones.  Now burying him on my birthday just feels…for lack of a better word…meaningful, idk, weird, ironic….something.  Anyways, Jim thinks I’m crazy for taking the boys with me to a funeral at age two and a half but I think that everyone in Missouri will enjoy getting to see them and if nothing else they will help to provide a mild distraction from what is sure to be a difficult day.  Jim doesn’t understand but I feel like I NEED them to be there with me, I told him he didn’t have to come but he said he was going to come if the boys were coming.  He doesn’t seem to excited about it, not that I can blame him, I’m not too excited about taking toddlers to a funeral either but it could be their only chance to see Grandma and Grandpa while they are this close and I surely wouldn’t miss that for the world.  In fact, I can’t say that I would be making the trip with two toddlers at 37 and a half weeks pregnant if it weren’t for the opportunity to see my grandparents.  I miss them desperately and any opportunity I have to see them I’ll take, even if its under not so good circumstances.  It will be kind of strange to see everyone else in Missouri, I don’t think I’ve been up there since my early years of high school…and even then it was only randomly for weddings or what not.  Jim’s worried about not knowing anyone but its okay because I don’t really know anyone either.  Well enough rambling, its time to get on with the day.  Maybe it won’t be so bad. ::crosses fingers::

Jumping Right In

I guess since this is my first post I’ll take a moment to share a little about me and why I’m starting this blog.  Tomorrow is my 25th birthday and as I am about to be a quarter of a century old I thought it was about time I started keeping some type of record of my life.  I’ve had blogs in the past but for some reason (recently the excuse has been crappy internet service) I just can’t seem to stay on track and keep writing. 

I’m mommy to two and a half year old twins, Wyatt and Lucas and I’m due with our third boy, baby bean, in only 18 days.  I managed to keep a private blog after the boys were born and wrote in it every day for almost two years but now that I’m a little older and things in my life are stable and not so chaotic I thought I’d start a blog where I can keep our out of town family updated and write down memories that I’ll be able to look back at and cherish years down the road.  For example, today as I was sitting in the living room I had the opportunity to watch Wyatt and Lucas blowing kisses back and forth to each other for almost a minute straight…those are the things I never want to forget, those are the memories I want to hold dear to my heart forever and if I don’t write them down and share them with the people I love most I will never remember them.

Here is a little background information on how our family came to be.  Jim and I met in October 2008, I think if you ask either one of us we would both tell you that we had an instant connection.  I was newly single and not looking for a boyfriend and he wasn’t looking for a girlfriend at the time, but God knew what he was doing that night when he brought us together.  We hit it off immediately and after only a few minutes I knew he was the one.  In January 2009 our lives changed forever when we found out we were pregnant!  Talk about a surprise.  Neither one of us was expecting our relationship to because so serious so quickly but God had other plans for us that we couldn’t foresee at the time.  We became engaged at the end of January and found out in March that not only were we dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, but we were dealing with an unexpected TWIN pregnancy!  Of all the different scenarios that could have played out at any point throughout our relationship I am so thankful that Jim choose to stand by my side, marry me, and start a family together.  We were married on April 18, 2009 in a small ceremony in Gatlinburg, TN with our closest family members in attendance.  Our beautiful twin boys Wyatt and Lucas were born on August 6, 2009 by emergency c-section due to my having preeclampsia at 35+4 weeks.  Praise the lord they were perfectly healthy and didn’t need any time in the NICU.  Jim and I went on to purchase a home in March 2010 and have worked hard to make our family a success.  After settling into life as a mommy and wife it became clear to Jim and I both that our family was just not quite complete yet.  We decided that in August 2011 we would start trying for our third child, I went off my birth control in June thinking it would take some time for us to conceive but 3 weeks later we got a positive pregnancy test!  My due date was set for March 29, 2012…18 days from now.  We are so blessed to be having another little boy and despite my initial disappointment at not having a girl to dress up and put in bows I have come to see this little boy as a huge blessing.  After talking with Jim I truly feel once baby bean makes his arrival our family will be complete.  I no longer have a desire in my heart for more children after this and as sad as I am that I will never experience the joy of mothering a little girl, I’m elated that I get to be a mommy to three handsome little boys.  Jim and I are happier than ever are excited about embarking on this next phase of our journey together.