Thankful Thursday, 9/22

A while back I made an attempt to keep up two weekly blog posts. The busy-ness of life has gotten the best of me. I feel like a slacker, ha! Or perhaps it feels like we have been cruising along ordinary days and nothing has jumped out at me that you would find interesting. I feel compelled to write this morning, though. Thanks to some familiar faces yesterday.

Some friendships in life are tried and true, no matter what life brings. They stand the test of time. And of distance. The roots go deep. Yesterday we had the privilege of meeting two of our earliest friends as a married couple - a couple we were in small group with. We 'did life' with these people and have so many fond memories from when our paths crossed in time and location. When I close my eyes, I can still see us over at their house with the field across the road. I can see their kitchen and dining room. Even the lamp in their living room (not on purpose but we had the same set of lamps - we STILL have ours in our living room). I can smell food. I can hear the laughter. With my eyes shut, the memories are so vivid.

To back up a few paces, in case you didn't know this about us, after college Tim landed a job as an engineer at Cummins in Columbus, IN. He went there a semester before I did but once I finished college I joined him and we were married soon after. I can best describe our time in Columbus as fun, faith-filled, care-free, friendship-filled and lonely. Yes, all at the same time. It was such a time of transition for us. Learning how to be a married couple. Learning who 'we' were. In a town with no family, our friends became our day-to-day family, if that makes sense.

So a few months back when we learned two of our back-then family members would be in Fort Wayne for a few days we were excited. They had moved back to their home state of Texas a mere month or so after Bryce was born. They had a little boy they named Bryson (they call him 'Mav') a couple months before we had Bryce. They have since added two more to their family, as have we. But when they walked in the door at Cracker Barrel, we were all all-smiles. Even though so much had changed in our lives and theirs since we saw them last (4+ years ago), we were still all kinda the same, too. Still able to talk and laugh at just about anything. Sometimes it is challenging to carry on a conversation at a meal with kids in tow. We've experienced that plenty of times. So I wasn't sure what to expect with their five kids and our three. But the kids sat on each side of us parents so I sat next to Tami and Tim sat next to Trey. The kids were all mostly perfect. Thank you, Lord, for giving us well-behaved kiddos on this special day to catch up with our old friends.

Fort Wayne is home now and has been for some time. Maybe not the entire four years we have lived here. We moved up four years ago, late September and Tim started his job as an engineer at Parker Oct. 1, 2007. We have now been here longer than we had been in Columbus, but not by much. Fort Wayne is certainly home now (we feel pretty settled here now) but there will always be the Columbus connection ingrained in us. Our friendships we made there during our formative marriage years are tried and true and it's amazing when we have gone back to visit or we talk with friends from that time and place in our lives.... how quickly we pick up right where we left off. I was having a conversation yesterday with another tried-and-true, deeply-rooted friend in my life about how she and her husband and Tim and I had both lived in towns with no family before kids and how crazy-special those towns and friendships still are. We concluded that those years are our "good 'ole days." Nothing we would change now, nor would we go back to those times and places except to visit. But it's something that is forever a part of us and who we will always be. In fact, as I've mentioned, how our church family was our family. And the church pastor who married us... we named Shane's middle name after. We will forever be grateful for our Pastor Danny and all he taught us. Can't wait to visit Columbus again soon. We've wanted to for some time now again but I think yesterday definitely put the itch in us again.

Anyway, it was fun taking a step back in time for a couple hours yesterday. Suddenly it felt like the last four years had zipped by. And the Michael W. Smith song lyrics mean more: "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them." We have our growing families but our friends are still our friends and will always be. Along with their fun southern accents!

Thankful Thursday, 8/11

I have a lot to be thankful for this week. But being on my own, this may be short and sweet.

These newborn days have gone so smooth and I have it pretty together most days. I have Shane to thank for that. He is continuing to do long stretches of sleep at night and then going back to sleep til mid-morning. I have enough time to eat breakfast, shower, feed Bryce and Ethan and even a few odds and ends. Even photo editing. I can't believe how perfect he is. He really is. God has blessed us with the ideal newborn. He cries when gassy and during baths. But he is so patient and calm otherwise. I love his sweet personality already. After two high-strung, intense newborns and now toddler/preschooler, his quiet and calm demeanor is a breath of fresh air. I love Bryce and Ethan and their unique ways very much. But God knew I needed a laid back child for #3. And knew this Momma needs her sleep to feel sane, too. Thank you, Lord!

I love this candid of him. Taken Tuesday morning, 8/9, when I was on my own for the first longer stretch and thought Tim was going to be gone overnight. I was very thankful when the trip went well and he returned late that night. But even so, Shane's peaceful demeanor made the long day go smoother for me than had he been your 'typical' newborn.

Thankful Thursday, 8/4

This week has been simply amazing! I have soooo much to be thankful for and hope I don't leave anything out. I want to remember this week for the rest of my life. I know we have to get back to the ole routine but I wish the week didn't have to end. :-) It's been such an incredible week for our family. We welcomed our son last Friday at 12:54 pm and took him home with us Sunday afternoon. He weighed in at a plump 9 lbs 11 oz and 20.5 inches. We are so thankful for his healthy arrival. Early pregnancy things were looking iffy with the cyst on his neck. But thankfully that cleared by his 18-week ultrasound. Then at birth he wasn't breathing when they laid him on me. He turned blue and remained inactive for a solid minute. The nurses (including a NICU nurse) reacted quickly and put a tube down his mouth and nose. After lots of gurgly, choking sounds he eventually started breathing and then was at peace in my arms.

Then there was our neighbor-friends who took such good care of Bryce and Ethan for the first 24 hours. We dropped them off Friday morning and the kids had a great time while there. From playing outside to letter-shaped pancakes Saturday morning... we are truly blessed to have Dan, Kelly and Oliver Krieg in our lives.

And then the boys were taken care of by my family. My parents and grandma had a great time with them Saturday morning until we got home. And Tim's family will be on their way to see us tomorrow. We are so blessed by our families!

Shane has been an awesome newborn! The first night he was up off and on but ever since he has consistently slept 6-6.5 hour stretches. He has spoiled his Mommy and Daddy. I hope we don't backslide. Ethan did well the first week (but often slept with us in our bed) and then backslid around week 2. But Shane is larger in size and has been such a calm, patient newborn. It's crazy to think he's already on a predictable schedule. All week he has ate and been in his crib by midnight. Slept til 6-6:30 am. Then goes back to sleep in his crib. Wakes up again around 9-9:30 to eat. Eats around lunchtime. Eats mid-afternoon. Eats before we have dinner. Mid-evening feeding around 8. And then eats again before bedtime. I feel like I gave birth to a 1-2 month old. To already be on such a set schedule. He's such a blessing!

Then add family time. It's been soooo nice having Tim home. This transition has been the best yet. And I hope I don't feel different when we're back to reality and I'm on my own. But honestly I think that part will go well, too. Not that I won't be looking forward to Tim walking in the door, but I feel like my confidence is higher right now. And the boys have done so well, too. They love their little brother.

Bryce has been at VBS all week, too. Our neighbor-friend has been taking her son and Bryce to it. These two boys are such good friends and have really enjoyed Bible School. And the timing has been a blessing to us. Not that things have been real overwhelming but we are trying to maintain the house. Bryce would be getting bored if he were here. So this has been a wonderful, positive outlet for him during the mornings this week.

And lastly, we've had three straight nights of meals from friends. And a couple more weeks of meals provided. That is such an awesome help to not have to worry about cooking during this time of transition.

I just feel so happy and joyful. My cup is full! No... it's overflowing!

What's In A Name?

Now that Shane is here, I thought I would explain the significance of each of our boys' names. Their first names are not after anyone - just names we like. However, the middle names are each meaningful to us.

We settled on Bryce for a boy name before even finding out he was going to be a boy back in 2007. And the middle name was a very easy choice for us. Tim's middle name is Douglas, which is also his dad's first name. Thus, Bryce Douglas.

Then when we were due with Ethan in 2009, we thought a great middle name for him would be his other grandpa's first name - my dad's name. Thus, Ethan James.

Obviously this pregnancy we did not know we were having a boy until he was born. But we knew the middle name would have to be significant no matter what we had. So there's a little story here to Shane's middle name. Tim and I were married in 2004 in Columbus, IN. We lived for several years in a town where our church friends were our family - at least our family away from family. We grew quite fond of our church and pastor, Danny. Thus, Shane Daniel. We thought this was an appropriate middle name of meaning for Shane, our third son. Since getting married is how "we" began.

Thankful Thursday, 7/21

Today, at 39 weeks, I'm extremely thankful for air conditioning! Today's high is supposed to be around 100-101 and I know there are people who have died from this heat. Such a sad situation to be deprived of something so simple. This has seemed like the most challenging pregnancy for me physically, especially here towards the end, and a lot is due to the heat. But I'm trying to keep perspective and maintain a gracious attitude of how much worse things could be. And obviously, I'm very thankful that we will be meeting our bundle of joy soon. By next Thursday, I just might be writing about how thankful I am for our newest addition! :-)

Wednesday Wonders, 7/20

I'm still constantly amazed by Ethan's growing vocabulary and development. The other day Tim had on a shirt that read St. Thomas. Ethan was reading the letters off his shirt. For a long time he was clingy and antisocial. My husband had to take the boys on his own to T-ball last night since I had class. Though I'm sure it was frustrating for Tim, Ethan kept inching out towards the kids playing. He hasn't listened when we've told him to stay closer. When Tim told me about this, I brought up a positive point. He's wanting to be where kids are. And that's a big deal since for so long now he has steered far clear of other kids. Maybe he'll adjust to preschool fine in September afterall. :-)

Thankful Thursday

Another regular blog I'm going to post is Thankful Thursday.

Today I am thankful I have had two nights in a row of decent sleep. Still very broken up. This is a very relative term. For most folks, these would be rough nights. But for me and the extremely little sleep I've been experiencing for 4-5 months, getting 2+ consecutive hours of sleep in a single night is a huge bonus. Usually I'm lucky to get one night like that a week and God has blessed me with two nights in a row! Add to that these past two nights, Bryce has slept til 8 as well! He's been up around 6:30 very consistently. He's good about coming downstairs, playing on his own and watching TV. But I would often be woken up by him playing a little too loud. I could get used to this routine. Yay sleep!!

Also thankful for outdoor toys, a deck with some shade and deck furniture. So I can use this extra boost of energy to get the kids outside for playtime and I can take it easy on the deck. This is another big plus because every step hurts. My hips seriously feel like they're bruised to the touch. So I can relax and feel good about the kids getting some outdoor time. :-)