Balance

Balance y'all...I'm not finding it!

I have been so blessed this pregnancy. Save a little scare early on with a short stint on bed rest, this pregnancy has been great. I've felt wonderful, been able to eat whatever I want, (and more) and genuinely my only pregnancy symptom minus the shrinking wasteline is that I'm tired.

Life has finally started to slow down after the roller coaster that was summer! We feel settled into the house, most of the unpacking is done, we're calling a hiatus on all things house until after the new year when we plan to tackle the nursery and a few organizational things we'd like done before baby.

We're figuring out (slowly) a new house schedule (wood floors need to be cleaned A LOT), gifting the girls' swiffer dusters has been major help and letting the dogs enjoy the huge back yard! Homeschooling is going well. I've loved tutoring Addiston's Kindergarten class this semester and we're doing well with staying on track at home. Addiston is starting to read which for me is a double edged sword. The girl is a bookworm and would happily sit and let me read to her for HOURS every single day, which I love. So I'm thrilled that she is picking up some more on her own especially after we had a small stint of stubbornness and she decided she didn't want to read, but now that it's clicking I'm a little sad to see her grow up just a little more.

Jared's new job schedule still has us all confused. He works mostly 9:30-6:30 which is hard on the girls. By the time he gets home we have dinner and then start getting ready for bed. We do get to eat breakfast and dinner everyday as a family and I'm really enjoying this season of sitting and just chatting with the girls over meals before the new one arrives and we're distracted by crying and nursing schedules and lack of sleep. The girls miss having more play time with their dad, so we're trying to be intentional about carving out more weekend time as opposed to doing chores and running errands.

For the most part thats it in life right now. I'm in bed shortly after the girls every night, so Jared's getting in some reading, video games, and helping with dishes or laundry that I have left over from the day. But we're lucky to get in a run down of the day, much less a long talk. Luckily we have 2 date nights scheduled this month so we should get to catch up there, and we're taking a birthing class on saturdays, so long drives are anticipated!  I've text a few friends here and there but pretty much unless I see people at church or our homeschool community day I've been MIA to just about every relationship I have :(

Last Month our college friends came to stay for a long weekend and oh my word the sweetness of 5 little girls playing!

(Praise the Lord for having someone who REALLY gets it!)

Jared and Jesse were college roommates, Amber and I hit it off first semester of Freshman year. We were married within months of each other and had our first 2 (4?) children in the same seasons, we are now embarking on homeschooling together and are all food hippies. A decade of friendship in and we laugh at how much life we've done together and how in a few short months we will have 6 daughters between us!


Last week we went to dinner with dear friends to find out that they are having a girl less than 1 month after we are. I'm so glad for a friend to do pregnancy with and a built in friend for our little girl!

I know there are seasons in life and I'm glad things are running smoothly for our family and household but being an pregnancy-exhausted extrovert is hard. When you yearn to go to dinner with friends, or sit and catch up over coffee but really all you want to do is sleep, your mind and body are at odds with each other! I'm hoping I get a small spurt of energy before this third little girl arrives to catch up with some friends and family over the holidays. In the mean time I'm clinging to forced outings and pop-in visitors!

crash

When Jared and I were engaged, we spent a lot of time driving up and down the state of Ohio. We got stuck behind a lot of semi's a few buggies, and a fair share of tractors. Got cut off plenty and learned which lanes had fewer pot holes, and what time of day had the easiest traffic.

One night we were headed to my parents house from columbus. We had done dinner and seen a LATE movie so it was probably near 2 am by the time we got to the Cincinnati area. We were getting off the exit to my parents' and without a car in site Jared used his turn signal to get into the exit lane.

Ladies and gentleman that sealed the deal.

I know it's ridiculous. We were already engaged. And had known each other for years but after all the miles spent on that highway in all times of day. It was the habit of using his turn signal, the attention to detail, the little thing that sold me.




Well, Last week Jared and the girls had a different experience. And I had the HORRIFIC privilege to witness it.

The left wheel well in my van is cracked. Not a huge deal but if you have to slam on the brakes it shakes a bit. Jared made arrangements to have it fixed for me, and one morning we swapped the car seats into his car, and headed towards the mechanic.

It was raining and had been all night.

Jared and the girls were following me and at a green light I turned left.

Jared followed and ...

A nearly head on collision. 

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe, could only think of my little family in that little car. sitting still in the middle of the road. 

I parked and ran. 

Jared was the first out. 

He said they were all ok. 

Tears, LOTS of tears. 

We got the girls out as airbag smoke filled the car.

I held them and cried. A sweet stranger reminding me to breathe and praising god with me, that by no less than a miracle my whole family walked away without a scratch. 

The girls were more confused than scared. 

(we're carseat sticklers)

Addiston: "the car was kinda wobbly then it stopped"

Isabella: "there was a big bang and I yelled"

They weren't afraid.

Insurance still hasn't passed final judgement on the car but everyone on site pretty much agreed it was a gonner. 

Guess we'll be getting a new car along with a new house *insert sarcasm here* 

We're just thankful everyone's ok! 

It's been a while

At a young age I discovered that I had the travel bug.

The insatiable desire to find new places, explore different cultures, and be with new people. 

I like to go all in when I travel, eat the local fare, visit a small white church off Main Street, find a hidden book shop and spend an hour rummaging through it's treasures while milking my coffee. 

The church we went to on our honeymoon

Everybody's got their thing, some like to stay in the same hotel everywhere they go, eat the same chain restaurants they do at home, and just escape. Some people climb mountains, some want to be in the middle of the dessert. Some hide out in the middle of the woods.

The ocean has always called to me. 

My favorite vacations all take place at an ocean. Our little family on the Atlantic. Our honeymoon in the south pacific. Our anniversary trip to Italy. (technically that was the Mediterranean sea but thats close enough) It's calmness, it's flow, it's power. The sound, the smell, the hypnotic way it gets me. The ocean and I, we're tight. 

I love to walk in just so it's foamy white peaks kiss the bottom of my knee caps, letting the tide pull the sand slowly over my feet. Pushing me slowly out towards shore then the undertow pulling me slightly in. I cold stand there for hours. In awe of nature and the God who created it. And I have. 

But you know what inevitably happens.

I get lulled in by the push and pull. The sound, the smell the hypnotic way it gets me and eventually I realize I've been standing there for hours and the tide is coming in and those foamy white peaks are no longer kissing my knee caps but my abdomen is submerged and my shoulder just got splashed by the spray. Then out of the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a full blown wave, but it's already to late and I'm flat out.  I get worked by the undertow and I'm under for a minute. Down for the count. I come up and make my way to shore but it takes a minute to catch my breath, regain my strength and wrap my head around what just happened.  I sit there and stare at the ocean. Then eventually get up take a deep breath, dust myself off and get on with it. 

And you know what thats exactly what happens in life too. 

You get lost in the day to day. The mundane. The ins and outs. The reading of the same book every afternoon, the wiping of the bootys and divvying out of snacks. The finding of the favorite blanket and the fixing of the toy that ALWAYS breaks. The unloading of the dishwasher and folding laundry, cooking dinner, and scrubbing floors. You forget to take a step back, to watch yourself. You get in over your head and then when you're already struggling to get back to safety you get knocked out and you just gotta take a minute.  

So I took a minute. 

I took a deep breath.

And I needed it. 

But ya know what?

Minutes over. Life. Goes. On.

So here's to dusting myself off, taking a deep breath and finding my sea legs again!