Hello December

I'm so thankful that November is over! It was not a good month for me.

It started with my baby turning 5. We usually don't do big parties for our kids unless it's for an important birthdays like their 1st and 5th. The place we picked for Houston's big 5th birthday was perfect! It has a few bounce houses, some video games, and a little train that the kids could drive around. The best part though was when you rent this place you have it all to yourself! So while the kids played the adults were able to just sit and chat and not have to worry about some creep or creepy kid bothering our kids.

Houston and the other kids had a great time and I was able to hold back my tears (my BABY turned 5!) and not embarrass my family :) His excitement about the big 5 helped my mood a lot. His birthday was at the beginning of November but he still likes to greet people we meet by informing him that he's 5 now.

Then there was our van....This van has been a pain from the beginning! This time it waited to give us trouble until right before we left for our 9 1/2 hr. drive to Indiana to see the in-laws for Thanksgiving. I told my husband we shouldn't go because I was worried about something breaking during the long drive. Oh no! He insured me over and over again that a mechanic looked at it and it would be fine.

About 3 hours into our drive, in the middle OF A SNOW STORM, our windshield wipers stopped working. It wasn't just a quick fix either. The motor died and all the auto part places were either closed or didn't have the part we needed. So instead of stopping early for the night my husband decided to just drive through it until we got to our hotel in Ohio...Let's just say that didn't go over very well with me. What should have been about a 5 hour drive turned into a 9 hour, seat gripping, yelling (I may have done a little) drive.

I was sooo relieved when we got to our hotel without getting into an accident!...Or I was until my husband realized he left his car parked on the street at home. We live in the city and every few hrs. you have to switch your car to the other side of the street or you could get ticketed. Usually those people are right on top of it and we've gotten tickets for missing the switch by a half hour. We were going to be gone for 4 days :/

The next morning my husband called to see if he could get someone in parking enforcement to have mercy on us. The lady that they transferred his call to said she didn't have the power to help us but she said she would pray...We prayed too.

The visit it's self was fun. The older all of our kids get the more relaxing our visits get. There was lots of just hanging out and catching up and even more eating. We were also able to get everyone together for family pictures.

My sweet family

The drive home was pretty uneventful and one of the first things we did when we got home was check how many tickets we had on the car. We didn't find any! Not even one. What we did find was that our neighbors had cleared our driveway of snow and brought up our garbage bins. Those simple acts of kindness made start to feel a little better and grateful that we made it through the craziness and everything was going to be OK....Then we walked into our house and it was FREEZING! The battery had died on our thermostat and the temperature inside dropped to 40 degrees.

So thank God November is over! The calendar for this month is filled with banquets, celebrations, and Christmas. And I'm filled with thankfulness :)

Unlucky 13

2012

I like to tease my husband and tell him that this will be our unlucky year. Being the smarty pants that he is, he reminds me that we've already been married for 13 years and we're actually moving into our 14th. Blah...blah...blah.

In the past 13 years of marriage we've had some serious luck on our side. Or as we like to call it, Jesus :) I am 100% certain that we wouldn't be as happy as we are if it were not for putting Him first!

I'm so thankful that for my husband. He is such a good man, husband, and father. He puts up with a lot from me that other men might not have had the patients to. Lord knows I would never want to live on the other side of me!

In this year of marriage my goal is to be a better wife. The kind of wife that a guy like Jonathan deserves.

Happy 13th anniversary my love.

Logan's Miracle Birth Story Part 2

Logan's Miracle Birth Story Part 2

*Read part 1 here

Jonathan and I had done some research on the procedure the night before and asked the doctor if the last attempt could be done while I had an epidural to relax my body. The doctor, who had done successful versions before, agreed.

Because I was getting a spinal/epidural they moved me to an operating room. Only one person was allowed in the operating room, so I took my mom, as she was less likely to pass out and Jonathan hung out in the waiting room.


Moments after they started the last attempt I felt a warm wet feeling go down  my legs. I asked the doctor if she had broken my water. She lifted up the sheet covering my legs and said, "No. That wasn't your water breaking. Somethings wrong and I'm going to have to get the baby out right now!" I found out later that the warm feeling was blood.

At this point I freaked out a little. In my mind, if I was able to feel the warmth on my legs I was going to be able to feel them cutting me! I stated begging them to not let me feel it. My doctor said, "Sarah, if you didn't feel what I just did to you you're not going to feel anything!"

Within minutes they had Logan out and he was fine. They let me see him for a little while and then whisked him out. Jonathan (who had no idea what was going on) said he was just sitting in the waiting room reading when a nurse rolled a new baby past that he thought looked like he could be our kid.

The doctors told me later that while they were attempting the version that last time, I had a placenta abruption.  

"Placenta abruptio is the separation of the placenta (the organ that nourishes the fetus) from its attachment to the uterus wall before the baby is delivered."

All the pushing and pulling had ripped the placenta right from my uterus.

I lost a lot of blood and had to have a blood transfusion but besides that we were all OK and we had our sweet, healthy baby boy.

After my initial freakout I had an amazing peace during the surgery. I remember saying, "Thank you Jesus" while I lay on the operating table. If the abruption would have happened in triage I'm not sure if Logan would have lived through it. I know for sure that God has His hand on us and it's only because of Him that things turned out alright.

Logan's Miracle Birth Story Part 1

Today is Logan's 9th birthday. When I think about the miracles that I've seen in my life I always think about Logan and how from the beginning God had His hand on him. And on us...

Logan's Miracle Birth Story Part 1

Even after the first positive pregnancy test I wasn't sure I was really pregnant. I had most of the common signs but I was also having some complications - I was spotting. But after taking another test and then having the pregnancy confirmed by my doctor I thought we were in the clear. But I kept spotting. It got to the point that my doctor sent me to have an ultrasound.

I went to the appointment by myself and the technician told me that although she could see where the baby should be...she only saw pooled blood and no baby. She then asked me to get dressed and wait for her in her office. When she came back in she told me that from what she saw she thought I was in the process of a miscarriage and that I should go home and relax. I asked some people from church to pray.

After a few more days and no miscarriage my doctor sent me for a series of blood tests. One of the reasons pregnant women are so nauseous in the beginning is because typically every 72 hours the pregnancy hormone (hCG) is doubling. I had blood drawn every day to see if my hCG levels were normal. They weren't.  My doctor said that after a miscarriage women still have a hCG in their bodies. She wanted me to go back for another ultrasound.

At this point I was still spotting (and would continue for the first few months) but this time the ultrasound technician not only saw a baby but a heart beat too!

After that point things were pretty normal. Right up until a few weeks before my due date.

Two weeks before my due date we found out that the baby was transverse (side ways). I tried not to worry because we still had some time and spent the next week doing some research. We tried everything to get the little stinker to turn! I even tried doing a head stand with no luck.

With a little over a week my doctor offered to try an external version. Basically I would go to the hospital where an experienced doctor would try and turn the baby manually. I was really scared but we decided to give it a try and called my pastors to ask them to pray.

With my mom and Jonathan there to support me, they tried to do the version in the triage. While laying on my back, 2 doctors pushed and pulled on the baby from the outside and tried to get him to turn. It was one of the most terrible feelings I've ever had! (The second would come later).  In order for it to work, I needed to try and lay still and relaxed. With all the pressure though, I was vomiting and have trouble breathing. Jonathan was getting faint from watching and had to leave the room. When I started to pass out they gave me a break and said we would try again 1 more time.

This is where God stepped in...


Logan's Miracle Birth Story Part 2
  

Baby You Can Drive My Car

When my husband told me he was going to buy a "junker" I was all for it. That meant that I could keep the van during the work day and not have to be a prisoner in my own home any more.

Well when he said "junker" he wasn't lying! This $400 deal was a piece of junk on 4 wheels! No problem though. I would never have to drive it and I made him promise to never let anyone we know see him driving it.

For a couple of months everything went according to plan. Jonathan took his monster to and from work while I had the freedom to run the roads with the kids.

Then it happened. Saturday morning I hopped into my van to go to music practice at church, and it wouldn't start. The battery had died after one of the little darlings left a light on over night. Jonathan said if I waited a few minutes he would jump it for me but I was running late already...

So I swallowed my pride, wiped off the seat, and drove off in the junker.

At first glance, she's a beauty. Check out these sweet seat covers that the people selling the car threw in FOR FREE! You couldn't find seat covers like these even at Walmart.

Door panels are overrated. One firm pull on some of the stuffing and it closes just fine...

Sure the AC didn't work. But when I got that 1 working window rolled down I barley even noticed the sweat dripping down my arms in the 90 degree heat.

The drive there was uneventful. In a pinch I could have probably even taken a couple of the kids with me. There aren't any door handles though so they may have had to climb through the back window...The one that works.

The good news is that I got to the church OK and managed to sneak in before anyone could see my sweet ride.

The bad news is that I spilled iced coffee all over the car floor on the way home. I didn't even bother really cleaning it up. I don't think Jonathan would ever even notice.

I am thankful for the little junker but it's Jonathan's little junker.Never again will I drive that thing. Never again...

Some late night pondering

If I punch my husband in the nose "accidentally" while he's snoring will it "help" him to stop snoring?...


When he wakes up with a sore nose will he believe that it was an accident and that I'm actually in a deep sleep?...

Or what if I kick him in the groin? And what if instead of pretending that it was an "accident", when he woke up mad I simply say, "I said stop snoring...Sucka." 

Would he be mad enough to go sleep on the couch and leave me in our bed to sleep alone in the sweet quiet?...

These are just some ideas I was pondering while laying awake listening to my husband snore last night.

He may have a cold. I may have a lack of sleep problem. This may not end well for one of us ;)

Romace is alive and well

Valentines Day 1998:

It was our first Valentine's Day together as boyfriend and girlfriend, and I remember being really excited that Jonathan had made reservations for us at a nearby, fancy, Italian restaurant. We had been dating for almost two months, but before that day we spent most of our dates at Applebee's or hanging out at my house. This day was different though. Not only were we going to Mario's via Abruzzi but he also did something else he hardly ever did...he brought me flowers! I think they may have been yellow roses.

The night was going great! Or it was until dinner... As we were sitting in the candle-lit restaurant Jonathan started talking about his process of picking out my roses. He told me how there were so many different colored roses that he was having a hard time choosing. A helpful lady standing close by had suggested that he buy the red ones. He told me that he appreciated her advice, but red roses were just "too committal" so he went with the safe yellow ones.

No, my husband of 12 years may not have started off as the most romantic guy in the world, but sometimes good things are worth waiting for!

This Valentines Day:

The other day the mailman delivered a package addressed to my husband that I had to sign for. I was curious about what new computer part he had ordered this time, so I set the package on the table and ripped it open. (Don't judge me)

As soon as I saw it, I knew that it was a gift for me... Oooops! I've been begging my husband for a new camera forever! He bought me a Canon Rebel xti as a "surprise" Valentines gift. At first I was going to just tape the box back up and act surprised when he decided to give it to me. But I didn't think that my four little witnesses could keep it a secret ;)

When I called him to confess, the first thing he said was, "Oh no you didn't!"

We've come a long way in the romance department people!

It's not just on holidays though. My husband is always looking for ways to show his love for me. From the little things like opening the van door for me, letting me wear his coat when I forget mine, or taking me away for an overnight getaway (my other gift this year). The romance in this marriage is alive and well and keeps getting better with time :)

I do. Oh, I do...

Twelve years ago, on December 4th, 1999, Jonathan and I were married. He was 23. I was 18.

What do people that young know about love and marriage? The answer is pretty much nothing! I heard all the questions. "Why the rush?","Are you pregnant?", and "Why don't you just date for a while longer?". All we knew was that we were "in love" and wanted to be together forever. So why wait? I don't regret that decision for a second!

Our First date-1998 We only dated for 9 months *I promise I wasn't drinking*

                                        All I am, all I'll be
                                 Everything in this world, all that I'll ever need
                                 Is in your eyes, shining at me...

Wedding 1999

                                              I do, cherish you
                                      For the rest of my life
                                      You don't have to think twice...
                                                                         

.

Our honeymoon in NYC

Ethan 2001

                             I will, love you still, from the depths of my soul
                        It's beyond my control...

pregnant with Logan in 2003

                                         

Church Christmas banquet 2004-ish

                            In a world torn by change
                           Still with all of my heart, until my dying day...

Evelyn 2005

NYC 2006

10 year anniversary cruise 2009

We had Ethan take this tonight right before our hot date

 
12 years and 4 kids later, I wouldn't change a thing... Except for the snoring. I could do without all his snoring!!  But really, everyday our our love for each other grows and it really does gets better and better.

                          I've waited so long to say this to you
                     So, if you're asking if I love you this much, I do
                     Oh, I do...

Prayer Request and an Addition to Our Family

Last Friday was Jonathan's last day at work. They told him on Thursday.

His company was bought by a competitor and they let a bunch of people go. A bunch of people including my husband. That's the bad news. The good new is that they are going to keep paying him until the end of February but don't need him to actually come in to work anymore. Yay! Right?...Yeah, I don't know either.

I love having him around. I was really starting to dread doing home-school every day, and he's really been helping me with that and other things around the house. He asked me for a pair of "comfy slippers" though, so maybe he's getting a little too comfortable being a stay-at-home dad ;)

The weird thing about all this is that we had been praying (well at least I know I was) for a financial blessing. There's something specific that we would like to do, but need a bigger income to do it. And then BOOM goes the dynamite! - he loses his job. I know I should probably be a little worried, but I'm praying *and here's where the prayer request comes in* that he finds a job making even MORE then he was before. This is somehow going to be the answer to our prayers :)


In other news, our family has grown.
.
.
.

You thought I was going to write that I'm pregnant didn't you? Well I'm NOT. We got another dog! ...Why? Because what's one more animal around here! A friend of mine had to find their dog a new home - so we took him. His name is Spunky, or as Houston likes to call him, Stunky. He's a 5 year old Mountain Feist and he hates the world. Not really. But he has this look he gives and I swear he's thinking "I hate all humans." Bruno tries to get him to play but he prefers to act like Bruno isn't even in the same room.

Spunky and Bruno...and my shirt

So that's the update. Keep Jonathan's lack of job in your prayers, and pray that God takes away Spunky's bitterness against his brother, Bruno ;)

You don't bring me flowers...anymore

Is it Friday yet? I feel like I've had a weeks worth of "fun" already and it's only Wednesday :/

Jonathan brought me home flowers last night...from Tops (our local grocery store). Not even Wegmans. Tops. I mentioned that I'd like flowers from a nearby florist sometime, but he was out picking up groceries so he thought he would kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

The thing is, they were pretty and he saved money, so I didn't care if he picked them up somewhere between the milk and the donuts. He even gave some to Evelyn to put in her bedroom. :)

It reminded me of when I was single. I used to tell the boys that liked me that I would NOT except flowers from anywhere but a florist. *spoiled brat much!?* And for a while there, I would often have multiple bouquets of flowers around the house from different boys! The best though, was when a boy came to my door with a bouquet of fake flowers. He said something like " Just like those real flowers, those other guy's love for you will fade. But like these flowers, my love for you will stay the same."  Does it get any more cheesy then that!?

Those were the good old days...NOT! If I had the choice to go back I wouldn't. I do miss my friends and the good times we had, but I'm so thankful for where I'm at now.

I love my husband and my grocery store bouquet!

Who will save your soul?

Logan: Dad, mom finally told the Jehovah Witnesses how she feels!
 
More like I broke up with the Jehovah Witnesses (Josh). Josh and I were basically dating. I mean, the guy had been to our door 5 times trying to save my soul! My husband said I was leading him on and that's why he and his little sidekicks kept coming back. I really wasn't trying to though. The guy just wouldn't get the hint. Twice I hid upstairs and didn't even answer the door. One of those times he stood at the door for like 10 minutes before finally leaving when he saw Jonathan pull into the driveway on his lunch break. Shady, right!? When your kids start to know the JWs by name, you have a problem.

Anyways, on Tuesday (visit number 5) when Ethan said "The guy who's trying to save your soul is here again." I knew our relationship had run it's course. I could tell he was trying really hard to finally get invited into the house this time. But after he tried to read me a love poem (out of his non-KJV Bible) I let him down pretty easy. There weren't any tears. No name calling. I just gave him a little box with all the tracks he had given me and some pictures of us, and said maybe we could just be friends ;)

He said they would be back around in 5 months *sigh*  I never was any good at break ups :/ 

I love a man who's not afraid to change a diaper

As we sat at the dinner table on Thursday night, I was seriously counting the hours until I could leave...Believe me. You would too... Houston was screaming for more food while Evelyn was teaching him to say "Poo-poo, caca, pee-pee", Logan was complaining about the food, and Jonathan wouldn't let me hide in the kitchen anymore :(

My mom and a friend of ours, went to Buffalo Friday and stayed the night. Just 1 night. But it was...

1 entire day to use the bathroom uninterrupted.

1 entire day of eating a whole meal without having to yell at my table mates.

1 entire day of not changing diapers.

1 entire day to just be Sarah, and not MOM!

 The only picture I took was of the Dunkin Donuts uniform on sale at Salvation Army for $2.99 Stains and all.

 We had a lot of fun and it was just what I needed to feel refreshed and ready to lead the troops again.

One of the reasons I was able to relax and enjoy myself, was because I knew my kids were with the best father in the world! No really, he is! In the little time I was gone he took the kids to the Museum, swimming, and the store to pick up ingredients for ice cream sundays! If I have them alone for that long I set out a big bowl of food and water, lock all the doors, and go hide in my room!...No. I don't really do that....Just that once ;)

Jonathan is always so patient and loving towards our kids. Like Evelyn's vase on her dresser that he tries to always keep filled with fresh flowers. And all the nights he would take the fussy baby from me and let them sleep while he held them on his chest. Never against changing a diaper or taking them all out so I can have a break. I wouldn't be the mother that I am today, if he weren't the amazing father that he is.

                                                         Happy Father's Day Jonathan!