Overdue Update and Start of School for One Kid

New town 5 hours away from our long-time home in Chicagoland, August 4, 2018. 

New part-time, work-from-home job, August 6, 2018. 

Start of Kindergarten for our oldest, two weeks later in August 2018.

Covid awfulness of 2020-2021.

Temporary shut-down of Elijah's school, May 2021, with hopes it would reopen. Its permanent closure was announced in December 2022, despite our very best efforts.

My joining the School Board for the said above school, Spring 2021. Which carried into a totally different School Board but still a non-denominational Christian school, up until early July when it too closed. Sadly!!! (God is in control, not us!)

New school for our oldest as he entered 3rd grade, August 2021.

Start of Pre-K4 for our youngest, in the midst of masking and Covid restrictions still, August 2021.

An ongoing freelance job to add to that other job, May 2022.

Start of Kindergarten for our youngest, August 2022. He was happy to be at the same school as big brother!

Another side job to add to that one, September 2022. 

Start of 2nd grade for our youngest, August 14th, 2024.

Still to come... start of 6th grade for our oldest, September 3rd, 2024, as he enters yet another new school and a whole new adventure! We are praying and hoping this is a successful year for him as he grows, challenges his faith, and makes new friends!!

It was soooo strange for Elijah to stay home while Caleb went off to school!

Grateful for their bond (when they're not fighting... which is fairly constant these days!). Caleb misses big brother's presence at school, but this too shall pass!

LOL our little ham. He was worried he'd be late for school and kept saying "hurry up!!!", not realizing I'd left plentyyyyy of time for pictures, haha!

Our little future builder sure is obsessed with roller coasters! He cannot wait to build his own amusement park in our city one day and he draws them on paper constantly, acts them out in the air as we watch, makes them in Creative mode on Minecraft, and talks fairly obsessively about them!!! This all began when we went on our big family vacation this summer in early June to northern Kentucky, and after days at The Creation Museum and The Ark Encounter, his favorite was hands down the hour drive up to Cincinnati for King's Island!!! We were not prepared enough for his obsession, thinking he'd want to only go on little rides, but he hit 48" basically just as we went there, and he loved the couple of roller coasters he got to go on! He cannot wait to go back and go on even more!!!

We love you, sweet Caleb! Can't wait to see all the ways you learn and grow this year in SECOND grade!!! Time sure does fly! 

I'll hopefully remember to update more often and will post pictures of Elijah's first day, as well as our vacation, soon! Hope you're doing well, the few who might still read this page! ;) 

It's Been A Long Time

A LOT has happened!!

I can hardly believe it's been so long since my last post.

Elijah is 5 1/2. He started Kindergarten in August, just two weeks after we moved away from the Chicago area to west central Illinois.

Caleb is 27 months, or just over 2 years. He's showing off his terrible 2's in grand fashion and keeping us on our toes more than Elijah ever did at this age! Not sure if it's the move, transitions and adjustments, or what but it's been rough.

I turned 40 and Tim turned 41 this year. We've officially passed over the "young" years and are starting to feel old with each new crack in our knees, lol!

I went through a season after Caleb was born where writing and having time to myself just were not happening and mostly I was okay with that. I've not kept up with writing in his baby book or his memory journal, haven't printed pictures, and I haven't finished any scrapbooks. That is so unlike me!

Part of me gets saddened at that thought, but the other part of me knows why it's been that way.

It's been a really, really, really big couple of years for us.

When Elijah was born over 5 (!!) years ago now, life was slower. Was it hard adjusting to life with a newborn? Absolutely. Was I stressed out beyond recognition? For sure. But I worked at home half of my hours and in the office the other half. That meant 3 days at home with Elijah, juggling work in whenever he napped, when daddy was home, when Elijah went to bed, on the weekends, etc.

When Elijah was 2, that all changed. And after 6 months, it changed again. And it was that way until July when I resigned that job and am now working for a different organization, fully from home and just part-time.

Resigning from that job of 17 years was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but for the very best reasons. I did it for my boys... for a better life for them and with them. I was so burnt out on so much time commuting and them spending so much time at daycare. We knew with Elijah starting Kindergarten that some big changes would have to happen so after a lot of prayer for well over a year, God opened the doors for us to move to be near my family and to slow down the pace of our lives.

As we adjust to our new lives in a smaller city, we're just immensely thankful for the ways God is teaching us so much through every decision and change, every new experience and adjustment. We are loving being near my family-- my mom & stepdad are just 3 minutes down the road, my dad and my brother & his family are just 10 minutes away, and everything we need is so close. Elijah is in a very small, private Christian school that fits him and his current needs perfectly (his class combines pre-K and there's a total of 7 kids in the combined class!), and Caleb splits his days away from me between my mom and my cousin. It's FANTASTIC!!!!!

I've literally had to "detox" from all of the stress with lots of extra sleep and rest after we moved and settled in. It's still ongoing as we continue the transition, but we are so grateful for this new chapter!! Please pray with us though as we continue to nail down certain things like doctors, chiropractors, etc. That's been a bit of a challenge.

We miss our Chicago family, my bestie and her family, dear friends, our church, and being surrounded by a variety of activities and resources. BUT there's so much more here. Including a lot more time with our boys... and though that's also had its immense difficulties, we wouldn't trade it.

I know not many people blog anymore or follow along here, but I wanted to post anyway and use this again as a bit of a journal.

Many blessings to you & yours this Christmas season! Thanks for reading. :)

Newborn Pics

Our dear friend Sherah took some amazing newborn pics of Caleb when he was 7 days old and we were still in the hospital. We were super grateful for her visit on a hard, long day, and for her fantastic photography skills! She is such a blessing to us!!

It's strange to look at these now and just a mere 3 months later feel like he's huge (he's about double the size he was here!).

Here are just a few of our favorites :

Welcome Baby

Welcome to the world!

{I'm only about 8 weeks late on this - whoops!}

Caleb Andrew

Born 9/13/16

at 6:35 p.m.

6 lbs 10.4 oz

19 inches

14.5 inch head circumference

Caleb was born via c-section, though we really tried our best to avoid that scenario. Obviously God had other plans and I just needed to relax and trust him!

We were SO thankful that our family could once again be there, and this time we were all able to hold baby since there was no NICU stay!! (Hallelujah! That was one of my biggest prayers!) My mom and stepdad, my mom, Tim's mom, and our dearest friend Monica were all there both last time with Elijah  and this time with Caleb. This time was different in that I was not induced and in the hospital for nearly 24 hours of induction and then 12 hours of labor. {My dad visited but refrained from holding baby while he had a cold. He was finally able to hold him several weeks later.} 

Our friends Andrew & Julie and their 4 kids have always given so graciously of their time and energy to babysit Elijah over the years. They are like second family to us. They were so kind and picked Elijah up at daycare that day and kept him overnight with them, which he LOVED. Their kids go bonkers for time with Elijah and they all have so much fun together. They're ages 7-14 and they even fight (lovingly) about who will play with/watch over Elijah. It's so great. We're so thankful they could spend that time with him while we were at the hospital with family. Then the next morning after they woke up, mom and Jerry left our house for the 5 minutes over to Julie's house, picked Elijah up, and a couple hours later came to visit us at the hospital (more about that when I get around to more posts about all of this).

It was a rough recovery at first, but thankfully not quite as rough as last time. Just different. We're so thankful for excellent medical care during some scary BP spikes days later that required a total 8-day hospital stay. We were beyond ready to go home, but learned a lot especially about just resting in God's plans for us. We bonded a lot during that time with Caleb while my mom bonded a lot at our house with Elijah. (My stepdad left on Saturday night because we all assumed the 3 of us were coming home Saturday afternoon. Whoops. We came home Wednesday night instead. Ugh ugh ugh. I felt so bad for my mom! But they did great together - she's really the best!!)

I missed Elijah SO badly and cried every day that I couldn't be with him. We FaceTimed most nights to say good night to him, and we saw him every day except one (Saturday - my worst day yet and I was honestly so scared that day about my health and did not want Elijah to see me the way I was).

But. Praise God we are all okay now. It was a huge relief to get home. To not have the stress and constant checking-in at the hospital. It was hard to know what to expect from Elijah upon arriving home, but he really did great. More on that to come. 

Thank you for your prayers as my pregnancy came to an end, and I'm sorry for this being so late! As you can imagine, life with two little ones while on maternity leave has meant little time for myself, much less time on my computer.

A Final Pregnancy Update

It's been an incredible journey - 9 months of hard, bliss, extraordinary love, exhaustion, and joy. We wouldn't have it any other way.

We've grown a lot these 9 months, and I don't just mean my belly! Elijah has grown by leaps and bounds since that first picture we took in January announcing he was going to be a big brother. And now that the day is nearly here, we feel overwhelmed and so very thankful he's adapted so well and is ready to meet his baby brother (well, most of the time anyway...)!

I'm 39 weeks + 3 days today. My OB sent me to the hospital on Friday to be more closely evaluated for some concerns, but everything came back fine and I was released a few hours later. Today's appointment went well, but he continues to watch me very closely and we are back yet again tomorrow to discuss some lab results and figure out next steps.

My due date is this Friday. I can't believe it. We made it this far!! We're beyond thankful, but we also know he's not going to let me go much further. I'm praying he doesn't want to do a c-section tomorrow, but we are trusting the Lord and we trust our OB. Whatever he thinks is best for my health and the baby's, we'll need to follow. Depending on the test results, we may fight it some or push back the amount of days we can wait, but we might just be approaching an inevitable second c-section.

Our dream isn't that. But we know God's ways are higher than our ways, and if it's a concern about our chance of survival... we'd much rather be safe than sorry. This OB is different than our last one and I know I can trust his 30 years of experience. He does not push c-sections. But with a previous c-section, he also can't push for an induction or risk uterine rupture.

So now we just wait. And pray. And hope.

We are grateful for excellent medical care!

But perhaps pray along with us that we can avoid a c-section, that baby will come on his own (along with our 3x/week acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments!), and that our labor & delivery experience won't be as traumatic as last time. Either way though, ultimately, may God's will be done and his glory revealed!

Not much longer before we meet our 2nd baby boy!

Pictures taken by SherahG* Photography.

(c) 2016. Used by permission.

Pregnancy Update - 37 Weeks

Wow, am I ever behind on here!! Yikes.

If it counts for anything, I have managed to start and save 9 drafts over the months... but have yet to publish any of them. Google Chrome has been really goofy for me lately and has locked me out of my blog, so I can only write on here when I open a different browser. It's just enough of a pain, I haven't felt like messing with it much. And then I delay long enough that the drafts don't really apply anymore.

Also, last night was the first time since MAY when I've plugged my phone into my computer and finally uploaded all of my pictures!!! Yowsa.

I think it's safe to say I'm pretty far behind on all of life, these days!

But this space is long overdue for a pregnancy update, for anyone still wondering. :)

I'm officially 38 weeks tomorrow (Friday 9/2). I've been doing well - am just super tired these days and struggling to stay awake practically every moment of the day and cannot sleep at night to save my life. Ughhhh!

I've been having random changes in cravings (my biggest ones lately are shredded chicken grilled burritos from Taco Bell, Hershey's chocolate pie from Burger King, Pad Thai, and all the bagels/bread in the world). I'm swollen and feeling huge, but love every single move that baby makes. Nasal congestion, indigestion, numbness/tingling in my hands, insomnia/exhaustion, Fibro pain and fatigue, and regular Braxton Hicks contractions are my biggest battles right now.

But I'm trying to soak it all in before it's over and yet I've been soooo ready to be done (!!!). If baby continues to hang in there, my last work day is next Thursday 9/8 and my due date is the following Friday 9/16. I can hardly believe it and am so grateful to have made it so far!!!

Below is a side-by-side pregnancy comparison, though 1 week apart (left: 1st pregnancy at 36 weeks, right: 2nd pregnancy at 37 weeks).

Last pregnancy, I was forced by my overly concerned, hyper-sensitive OB to get induced just after 38 weeks (due to going into pregnancy with high[ish] blood pressure and medication). I went to the hospital the evening of 38 + 1, and about 24 hours later at 38 + 2 it was determined that I hadn't progressed and needed a c-section.

This time I researched and found a highly-respected and trusted OB who would let me try for a VBAC, without any threat of induction unless in case of emergency or complications.

I've had no bad reports, all tests have come back good, no complications or concerns, and regularly have had good blood pressure. So at this point, there's still no reason to do anything but wait and pray, hope and see. If something changes into an emergency or complication, then obviously we'll have to do what we need to do. Otherwise, we're waiting until I hit 40 weeks. At that time, there might need to be more conversation and monitoring to see whether we just head straight into a c-section, due to a failed induction last time.

This time I'm on a better vitamin regimen, am regularly seeing a natural doc/chiropractor who will soon start natural induction methods, and that I've had enough BH contractions that many think my body will go into labor on its own regardless of what happened last time. But there's no guarantees and I'm trying not to get my hopes up while also hoping for the best at the same time!

Please pray with us that things go smoothly, baby comes on his own before 40 weeks, and for continued good health and safety for me and baby!

Obviously we want whatever God has for us, but I also really want to have a less traumatic experience than last time. But as one friend reminded me today, birth is always traumatic and in the end, we have a baby. (I mean, really... wow!) And that's the most amazing and grateful part. I really want to keep my head on straight and stay focused on what God has in store for us as we get a front-row seat to how he's going to be glorified in all of this!

But it's hard. In my selfish heart, I really want things to go so much better, with no surgery, no NICU for baby, and a happier experience overall.

So thank you for your prayers for us and for God to be honored, no matter what.

Let me leave you with an updated pic of our adorable 3-year-old at his birthday party back in June!

Can you believe we have a 3-year-old AND about to have another baby?!!? Still seems quite surreal to us! Praise God for his overwhelming kindness to us!

Baby # 2 Is Coming!

This September, we are adding to our family!

We are SO excited!!!!

What an incredible miracle and gift Elijah was to us. It took us by surprise (though we'd been trying and certainly hoped for another baby) and we are just blown away. Thankful we get to celebrate another little life and to give Elijah a sibling.

I have too many friends saddened by infertility, miscarriages, losses, lengthy adoption processes, and lack of being able to give their only child a sibling. I completely sympathize and wish so badly it was different for them, and am not sure why it's different for us. We embrace these babies and give them back over to the Lord, praying that He'd provide us the wisdom, strength, patience, and love to raise them up to love Jesus above all else, and to be wonderful little human beings.

As always, God's timing is perfect and we are grateful for his plan for our family! Elijah's been learning more and more what being a big brother really means (through lots of talks, books, praying over baby together, kisses for baby, learning about how he can help baby, etc) and seems to be pretty excited (though we're not so sure how much he comprehends, especially the part about mommy & daddy not being able to give him their full attention).

I'm 22 weeks along today and we had our big gender/health ultrasound a week ago.

This past weekend we traveled back to my hometown and spent time with my family. We also threw a gender reveal party. Something I said I wouldn't do again and that I'd keep it simple. Well, I did keep it simpler than last time, but it was still a party! I can't seem to help myself!! I just love any excuse to celebrate babies and to have fun with it all. And it was SO fun!!!

So without further ado... baby # 2 is:

ANOTHER BOY!!!! :)

Baby is healthy and growing strong, and I'm healthy too. A healthier pregnancy already than last time without nearly as much stress or concerns (much due to our natural/alternative doc/chiropractor and a much less stressful OB who doesn't see a need for a high-risk specialist unless we have complications). It also helps that my job has been less stressful these past 3 years. And even though life is crazier, fuller, and we're running around lots more with Elijah (also possibly keeping me in better shape!)... I'm not stressed for the most part. Hooray!

I realize I haven't written much here lately, and many of my followers have left... but for anyone still around and reading this, thanks for being here! And for sharing in our joy with us!! :)