Sugar Cubes and Family

After reading from The Friend magazine, Alexis was inspired to make a sugar cube temple. We had so much fun building and creating a mini Salt Lake Temple! As we built, we shared something we love about our family and specific things we are grateful about our ancestors. It was simple, and the combination of sugar cubes and frosting left them all on a bit of sugar high, so we were glad for the space in the backyard to run off some of the extra energy! It was on display for a short time at home, until the mini-ants caught wind that sugar was around. So I put out ant traps (ones with this gel - I’ve never used them prior to living here), and the traps kept disappearing. I couldn’t figure it out until one day I saw Abby - picking up a trap and throwing it away! As she threw it she said “oh these things!” I think in her mind, those traps were causing the ants! So funny. After a good laugh, she and I got it straightened out.

But back to the project - it was a fun activity together, and one of those things that all ages jumped in and embraced. I feel like it could become an annual tradition. Love that.

Art

Painting is one of Abigail's most favorite things. And I'm so grateful for paint that is easy to clean up! She wanted to paint a picture for her sister, and the painting time evolved into her making one for all of her siblings. It was sweet to see her light up with each one she made, and to hear her talk with excitement that we'd hang them on the doors as a "surprise" for when they came home. And I couldn't resist a reason to hang up some quotes! It was a simple thing, but a reminder to me that those simple things really do matter. In a small way, they strengthened a connection.












Her actions inspired me to be mindful those thoughts of connection and to act on them. I feel like it's much easier to push aside those thoughts thinking it's not the right timing, or not "grand" enough, or like it would take too much time. But the thing is, I've never regretted acting on those thoughts, but I have regretted NOT acting on them. No matter how simple they may feel. This painting project was a gentle reminder to me that service can happen at any time, by any age, and in any way.

Monkey Bars

Ever spend way too long on a simple house project? Yeah, me neither.

I’ve been making an effort to tackle these odd projects, and today was a wall-hanging. 

One hole, lots of peeled paint, and more-marks-than-I-can-count later, I decided this would be a great opportunity to put the wall-hanging project to rest...in the garbage can. And the new wall damage would be a great opportunity to bump up the “paint girls bedroom” project.

And there we were - four kiddos ready for dinner, nothing prepped, project remnants all over the floor, crazy seasonal allergies from yours truly, and a hubby traveling for work.

And I gave myself permission to let go of the routine for one night. We loaded into the car, headed to Chick-fil-a drive-thru and googled a new park. 

Which leads me to the monkey bars. Probably one of our greatest little joys as parents is when we practice and see each kiddo try, fail, try and eventually learn to swing on those bars. Tayler learned this new skill earlier this year, and loves every opportunity to try it out. 

So there we were. Laughing that Max is tall enough to “walk” the bars, soaking in the sounds of the birds, climbing the trees, playing basketball and simply connecting as a family. It may not be grand, but it feels extraordinary. 

Closing one Chapter

And this is the post, that was next on my list, that I couldn't seem to get to for so long.  Looking back, I realize that it took me a good six months to actually move.  This may sound silly, but for those who have made BIG moves in their life, and those who have added change - like a new job, a new baby, and new dynamics for all of their kids, will understand the feelings that come with each one of those. I realized, how in experiencing all of those at the same time (nothing like ripping of a band-aid), as much as I was grateful to learn, grow and be where we are today, I needed time to allow myself to mentally 'move.'  Sure, physically it had happened ages ago, but I mentally needed to allow myself to build up our 'new home' and 'new life' before I spent time looking back on what was.

I think that fear of change is most often what holds us back.  Stepping into the unknown - even if it's a 'good' unknown is hard.  And I write today sharing I only came out of it with the Lord's help.  He guided me, directed me into a path I never would have seen for myself.  He knew what our family needs, and knows where our family needs to be.  I'm now grateful for all of these memories below.  Instead of feeling sad that I'm not still living them, I'm so grateful for the broader perspective we've been given.

At the end of the day, I truly feel so much of our time here is to learn, grow and serve.  Each of us has a unique path unlike anyone else's.  And that's okay.

So on with the post...

As our time in Nebraska was drawing to a close, I really wanted to capture some of the 'little things' I loved so much about this wonderful place.  Definitely didn't get them all, but a few highlights!

1.  The cornfields, the farms, the heart of America.  The feeling of openness and vastness of this beautiful country we live in.  Mike's bike rides - uninterrupted by any traffic or stoplight for miles.  The American flag waving off of a farmhouse.  The sunflowers.  Absolutely breathtaking!

2.  The drains.  I know, kinda funny, but until moving here, I'd never seen drains so BIG and uncovered.  I used to tease that one of my little ones would fall off their bike and just slide right into one.

3.  The storms.

4. The dancing clouds as the storms would roll in.  Majestic.  Such gratitude for the Creator and all that we have to enjoy and learn from.

5.  One of our favorite Omaha 'destinations' was the train museum.  I LOVED the history behind it.  But the art deco interior of the refinished station - beautiful.  Loved to look up!

6.  When you move from somewhere else, things that seem 'typical' to locals seem so odd.  Example: in the distance is a golf cart.  Used for picking up and taking kids to school, and around the neighborhood.  Note:  No golf course close by (well, not within 'golf cart' distance).  These 'golf carts' were often decorated with a favorite sports team - of course, the Huskers.  And no photo, but garages were so different here.  They were truly an extension of the home.  I still can't figure out where people stored things like lawn mowers and gasoline, but garages often had wall mounted TVs larger than one we'd ever have in our home!  They were constantly 'lived in' through out the weekend - chairs, food, you name it!  Some even installed projectors to watch 'the big game' from their garage!

No photo, but this ties in with the schools in general.  One of the hardest things for me to leave - as the education was some of the best in the country!  When we left, the high school our kiddos 'would' have attended was rated in the top 5 in the entire country.  That's crazy.  Looking back, and with a year under our belt, I'm okay with our choice to follow in the path that we were meant to go.  Schools here, while different, are still a positive, engaging, and learning environment for our kiddos, and I'm grateful for that!

7.  If you haven't guessed.  The storms.  This was a hail storm that literally sounded and felt as if the sky was falling.  We were LUCKY to only have hail this big.  The storm was HUGE, and one small town ended up with GRAPEFRUIT sized hail from this storm.  The damage was unbelievable.

8.  The lightning and the color of the sky.

9.  And those dancing clouds.  Spending our last 'summer' in the midwest, I took any chance I could to sit outside and take in the view of a storm rolling in.  Better than anything else you'd find on a screen.  And these photos don't give it justice!

10.  The playset, and our backyard.  Sure, I know - those are all replaceable, but this yard had unbelievable memories for our family.  Many hours were spent back here - on this particular set.  It hurt my heart to leave it.  And that shade you see?  We planted those trees knowing what they'd bring in future years.  It was tough to leave those memories!

11.  Probably my favorite road.  Ever.  The Old Lincoln Highway.  The ORIGINAL road.  Brick, bumpy and right next to the train track.  We'd detour our way home from the library just to have the excuse to take the 'bumpy' road.  I often drove it and thought about the history behind this stretch of road.

12.  The tornado sirens.  Loud.  Still remember moving in, and finding out when the 'monthly test' happens - of course it was a different 'monthly test' time from MN, so the first time hearing it, I'd always think "really?!"

13.  A little ice cream joint in downtown Elkhorn.  We loved it.  And our last night (spent in a hotel), we were SO tired from the newborn, the packing, the cleaning, and coordinating, but Mike was a champ and drove over one last time and picked this up for us.

14.  These two really forged a special friendship as they entered a fun age during our time in NE.  Looking forward to seeing it continue!

15.  Less love about the house, but more for the story behind it.  The neighbors, and kindness, and sense of community we felt.  I remember when we first put our home up for sale, our builder actually called both Mike and I.  I was expected some comment about trying to sell a home in a market where he's still building homes or something, but he had nothing but kindness.  Genuinely sad we were leaving, he told us how he'd "hoped he would have built our family another home!"

16.  Okay, fine, enough with the clouds right?!  This one appeared as we were loading up to take Max to his mountain biking club he was on.  These ones swirled UPWARD and built countless layers upon one another.  We stood in our driveway and watched it unfold.  Even our neighbors (the locals) all stopped to watch.  It was breathtaking!!

17.  You can't tell by the photo, but it was HOT and MUGGY.  I miss the feeling of the heat!

 18.  The bugs.  Specifically this one.  The sounds at night with #17!

 19.  The people.  Man.  Can't say enough about the people there.  We were told when we moved to Omaha - "Nebraska would be a great place to live, but maybe not the most exciting place to visit." With time, we understood that - sure we found fun things to do, but there are definitely other places in the country that have more of the 'adventure' appeal.  But as a place to raise a family?  Grateful to have met SO many amazing people (only a few shown!)

Our family of 6

Our first pic as a family of 6!  

 I snapped this one because we kept losing Tayler as we were waiting for the 'okay' to leave the hospital.  I kept thinking we'd never keep track of them all!!

 Seriously the TEENIST thing ever!!

 The kids were SO excited for me to come home and see all the decorations.  Our walls were pretty bare (as I'd already pulled so much down for the move), so this meant SO much to walk into a home that still felt (a little!) like ours.

 And they put them everywhere!!

Find JOY in the little things

Her face was beautiful as she threw dandelions into the air while I cranked out lunges and push-ups.

Of course, I was experiencing an end-of workout natural high, but it took this moment to realize she too had been exercising right along with me and was feeling the same JOY.

The JOY of sunlight, air, family and love. The JOY of being in the present moment.

To keep it real - as dandelions and exercise happiness were happening, the babe was sucking on her thumb with crinkled eyebrows (teething), the 3YO was behind me running in circles, and the 9 yo was looking for bugs and crawfish.

But, I felt better with exercise. Still sleep deprived, but better. And hopeful this journey of fitness will rub off on these kiddos. Because it's not about a number on a scale. It's about the feeling that comes from within.

Make them the reason, not the excuse.

The New Addition

I've heard stories of women who have mentally 'willed' themselves into labor.  And boy, did I try!

No matter what mental effort I took on, or what empathy my doctor tried (hooking me up to stress machine during my last two appointments - she couldn't believe I hadn't gone into labor with the contractions, dilation and how low baby was!), it was a no go.

We scheduled an induction for two reasons:

1.  We really wanted to buy some time before moving with the babe.  This gave me two weeks (!).

2.  Baby was really low, and the doc knew it'd be a fast labor.  She thought having a baby in a hospital instead of somewhere else (a car!), was probably a bit of a stress reliever.

Here I am at 39 weeks (and that's the LONGEST I've ever been pregnant!).

Having it scheduled worked well, as we were able to have a sweet friend come over and hang out with our kiddos for the day while we were at the hospital.  No crazy rush in the middle of the night.

It took about an hour for all the paperwork and everything to get set up.  Once the kickstart of the meds came in, we spent the first hour or so just walking the halls.  It's always a somewhat awkward time as your walking the same hallways over and over - full of eagerness, anticipation and impatience.  Choosing a natural delivery (for the third time around), it's also a time to mentally 'prep' for what is coming!

After about an hour, I definitely began to notice intensity pick up in contractions.  Not to the point of severe discomfort, but we'd walk and I'd need to slow down or stop for a moment.  It was great to have Mike's company.  His skill set consists of cracking endless jokes to keep things light.  Which is great, until I can't laugh anymore from the pain of contractions.  Then I just want to smack him for telling a joke at the worst time (to his credit, he really couldn't tell when they were coming quite yet).

We walked about :30 - :45 minutes, and then I knew I needed to stick to the hospital room.  This hospital does about 90 - 95% epidurals with vaginal deliveries, and they knew I was planning a natural delivery, so they gave me a nurse that is a bit of an 'expert' with the smaller percent.  She was a champ.  

My favorite "tool" when working through labor really is a stability ball.  It's awesome to sit on and rock in a circular direction to work through the contractions.  And it's a great place to sit for back rubs.  As the contractions intensify, I describe them as a building circle - I feel low in the abdomen, and then they carry forward and up in a circular direction.  It continues to build as it travels back and down through my back.  Eventually they get to an intensity where closing the eyes, breathing and repeating the phrase "the pain will eventually go away" is about all I can do until the pain actually does go away.

I lose all sense of time (tough to explain, but really happens!), but after hanging out on the stability ball, I just knew it was time to get into the bed.  And I also could totally tell that I was nearing delivery.  

Probably the biggest "trick" with a natural labor is the mental self talk.  Really committing to the breath, being present and constantly repeating "the pain will go away."  And then breathing some more!

The doc was in the room (along with a med student who was pumped to observe a natural delivery).  The pain intensified at this point, and I just went internal.  All focus on the breath and contraction until...the next contraction.  But I just knew we were almost done.

At this point, I had a momentary panic.  KNOWING what was coming suddenly burst into the realization that it was ACTUALLY happening again.  I remember in-between contractions looking at Mike and saying "what was I thinking?!"  But immediately was brought back into full concentration as the real deal was happening.  Excitement stirred in me as I knew I was about to meet our sweet baby.  I instantly felt a ton of pain and pressure.  

Unbelievable pain and pressure physically, but mentally I felt in total control.  I knew what was happening (I've done it twice before), and I knew the pain would go away.  I took all my effort and strength into the present moment, and knew it'd be just fine.

Knowing that I'd need to push, and knowing htat I didn't want to push for a long time, I really just used all my strength.  Literally.  

One push and all of baby was out.  The doc laughed a bit as she said "well, I'd hope to talk our med student through the delivery a bit, but that works too!"  and then she said, "that's one way for a fast delivery!"

Amazing to hold that sweet, sweet newborn.  What a miracle and gift of life.  I can't even write the euphoric feeling it is to hold a sweet child, and the tears of gratitude that flow.  Such a blessing to have.  So much gratitude for the gift and opportunity to be a parent.  

Yes, being a mom is hard.  Challenging.  I have good days and bad days.  As each kid enters a different phase my "mom routine" gets challenged and changed.  But I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to learn with them.  To "behold my little ones" as Christ taught.  These little ones really are what matter most, and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to be with them.  Even if it is hard.  And not glamorous!

Disclaimer:  I share my story of natural birth, because it is what worked for me and our situation.  While I think it really is the best fit for my body (I had an epidural the first time around and it was an all around negative experience), I don't think it's the best fit for EVERY body.  Get my drift?  If you're thinking about natural birth - talk to your doc! talk to those that have done it!  talk to me! and then find what will be the best fit for YOUR body.  I think modern medicine is a miracle and really can help!  But I also know my body, and the birth experience and recovery with a natural delivery is exactly what worked for us.

 I love this photo, and it shows our 2 year olds' clear reaction to having to "share" mom.  She wasn't too thrilled to say the least.  We had a rough few weeks together, but her heart softened as she realized how cool this new little thing really was.