14 years ago, right now, I was sitting at St. Joe's Ann Arbor getting ready to have baby Alec. I think back on that time and cannot even believe how far we've come as a family!
Steve and I got married on August 23, 1997--I was 22, he was 23. We were both students at EMU. Prior to our wedding we had 6 months of premarital counseling. This counseling was a requirement for a wedding in our church, but it wasn't until later that I learned that it was usually only 6 weeks. Apparently, we needed more! Perhaps it was because when our pastor asked us what we were looking forward to most about marriage, we answered, "Having fun!!" He must've thought, "Oh boy. These people need some work."
Really? How embarrassing. And when he asked us how we would handle certain conflicts like dishes that needed to be done, we answered with, "We don't care about the dishes! We just want to have fun!"
Wow. I feel like we need to go back to that church and explain that we really aren't that "airheadish"--we just didn't really know what marriage was about.
A couple months after we got married, we were sitting in our living room on our only piece of furniture, which was a tiny loveseat. We were watching T.V. on our 13 inch in a large entertainment center. That's pretty much all we had. I remember that day because I looked at Steve and said, "Do you want a baby?" "Sure!" he replied. A baby sounded really fun and fun is what we wanted to have! I took my first pregnancy test a few weeks later and it was positive! We were SO excited. We announced it to everyone in about 2 seconds. I took 22 more tests after that. I would make Steve get me a new test every single day. I was way too embarrassed to buyt the test myself! 23 tests total. I would line them up on the table and watch how the line got darker and darker as each day passed. Apparently, I didn't believe that the first ones were accurate. I also saved all 23 tests in a ziploc bag and put it in Alec's memory box. Dorky. But, I just KNOW that someday he will want to line them up all in a row like I did! Right?
So, 14 years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital bed ready to give birth! Alec was born at 3:17pm and he was 7 pounds. He came so fast that I missed my epidural opportunity, but that was okay.
We have enjoyed Alec everyday since! He is a great big brother to his 5 siblings and a very important part of our family. He loves the Lord, loves hard work, and loves to learn. He looks forward to going to college and getting married and having babies. He is wonderful!
Steve and I have also come a long way since that day. We no longer believe that life is all about fun, but we do have joy! We no longer believe that we need to have a lot of money to be successful, but we are very rich. We also do our dishes regularly and we even occasionally fight over them! God is good!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Summer, School, and Scans
I cannot believe that the "Summer of Awesomeness" is almost over! It really went by quick. I love the lazy days of summer with relaxed schedules and late nights, but....I always look forward to the beginning of the new school year, too. New school years bring delectable new school supplies and fresh, uncracked new books. Ahhhhh......
This will be our 9th year of homeschooling. I cannot even believe it! I remember back when Alec was in preschool and feeling the panic of sending him to kindergarten and knew that that's not what we were supposed to do. Private school wasn't a financial option and homeschooling was just bizarre. Over and over, the Lord just kept putting people in my path that did homeschool or were planning to homeschool and I realized that this was what our family should be doing.
I do believe our family thought we were crazy....some still think so! My mom would always give me the local newspaper that had all of the kindergarten round up info and I would tell her that I didn't need it. She works in the public schools, so we were completely weird to her.
I remember one family that was integral in our homeschool decision. We worked in the church nursery together and I would completely "grill" the homschooled daughter. "Do you like being at home with your mom all day?" or "Do you have friends?" "Are you bored?" She was so gracious. She is now a beautiful college student who loves the Lord. There were so many other families, too. Another one that I remember was a woman I had only recently met. I saw her at church one morning and she told me that she was on her way to a homeschool breakfast. Really? There are even homeschool breakfasts?? Maybe I could do this!
Many of us started at the same time and formed our own community and that has been so essential in the development of my children and the growth of my family. Our families have grown close and I have even arranged some marriages with some of these families and some of my children. I am joking...I would never do that. Well, maybe.
So, as we go into our 9th year, I am just thankful that the Lord has put our family just where He wants us. I love learning with my kids and training them up.
Completely unrelated, but a story that I really want to share....
Alec had a ear infection a few weeks ago and then last week started to get pain and some redness behind his ear. I wasn't really worried about it because I thought he had a bug bite or bruise or something, but Alec was super worried, so I took him to the doctor. Because of the recent ear infection and the location of the pain, the doctor ordered a CT scan just to rule out a spreading infection.
Alec is a worrier...like me. He has learned to pray through it and focus on the complete sovereignty of the Lord, but, he was still nervous. We got to the hospital for his scan, Alec, Finn, and I. We waited. And waited. Waited some more. Made long lasting relationships in the waiting room. Avoided a creepy man who wanted to sit RIGHT next to me while I nursed Finn. Waited some more and then finally got called back.
I walked Alec to the room and then came back to the waiting room with Finn. All of a sudden, Alec was running down the hall with the radiology lady running after him. "I AM SO SCARED, MOM!" I told him that he had to do it, it wasn't a choice and he would be fine. The lady said it freaked her out because she was sliding the table into the machine and he wasn't on it anymore!
Second attempt: Walked Alec to the room. STAYED outside the door holding Finn. By now, there are sick people from the ER lining up in the teensy hall waiting for their turn in the CT room. Alec rushes out again...."MOM! Pray with me! Pray right now!!!" He is clutching me and then goes on his knee. "LORD! HELP ME!" he yelled. Loudly.
Oh boy. The sick people just looked at me waiting to see what I would do. I felt bad because they were patiently waiting in the hallway while my 13 year old is crying out to the Lord about his ear infection!
In a quiet whisper...."Lord, help Alec not to be nervous about the scan. Please help him feel calm and forgive me for being so nervous about praying in the hall with all of these people." Okay, the last part I only said in my head, but it was true.
Alec: LORD HELP ME!!!
The whole time, the radiology lady is standing there and they have now called another man to help, patients and nurses are lining the hall and lots of people are walking by leaving for their lunch break.
LORD! HELP ME!
The radiology lady finally just told me to come in the room and get him settled and leave right before they take the pictures. I gave Finn to a nurse leaving for her lunch break--he made friends with all of the people in the hall. Good boy.
Third attempt was successful! The scan came back perfect...no infection. The pediatrician called us later in the afternoon with the results. He told me that he told all of the staff that Alec's results are of top priority because he didn't want him to have a worse day.
I love Alec so much. I love that he was completely not embarrassed about crying out to the Lord for help when he was so anxious! I admit, I was extremely embarrassed......I really can learn a lot from him. I explained that I was just concerned about the sick people waiting and wanted to make sure they didn't wait longer than necessary and that maybe next time we could have some more control in our prayer.
As we were leaving, one of the sick woman said from her bed, "God bless you." God bless you, too.
This will be our 9th year of homeschooling. I cannot even believe it! I remember back when Alec was in preschool and feeling the panic of sending him to kindergarten and knew that that's not what we were supposed to do. Private school wasn't a financial option and homeschooling was just bizarre. Over and over, the Lord just kept putting people in my path that did homeschool or were planning to homeschool and I realized that this was what our family should be doing.
I do believe our family thought we were crazy....some still think so! My mom would always give me the local newspaper that had all of the kindergarten round up info and I would tell her that I didn't need it. She works in the public schools, so we were completely weird to her.
I remember one family that was integral in our homeschool decision. We worked in the church nursery together and I would completely "grill" the homschooled daughter. "Do you like being at home with your mom all day?" or "Do you have friends?" "Are you bored?" She was so gracious. She is now a beautiful college student who loves the Lord. There were so many other families, too. Another one that I remember was a woman I had only recently met. I saw her at church one morning and she told me that she was on her way to a homeschool breakfast. Really? There are even homeschool breakfasts?? Maybe I could do this!
Many of us started at the same time and formed our own community and that has been so essential in the development of my children and the growth of my family. Our families have grown close and I have even arranged some marriages with some of these families and some of my children. I am joking...I would never do that. Well, maybe.
So, as we go into our 9th year, I am just thankful that the Lord has put our family just where He wants us. I love learning with my kids and training them up.
Completely unrelated, but a story that I really want to share....
Alec had a ear infection a few weeks ago and then last week started to get pain and some redness behind his ear. I wasn't really worried about it because I thought he had a bug bite or bruise or something, but Alec was super worried, so I took him to the doctor. Because of the recent ear infection and the location of the pain, the doctor ordered a CT scan just to rule out a spreading infection.
Alec is a worrier...like me. He has learned to pray through it and focus on the complete sovereignty of the Lord, but, he was still nervous. We got to the hospital for his scan, Alec, Finn, and I. We waited. And waited. Waited some more. Made long lasting relationships in the waiting room. Avoided a creepy man who wanted to sit RIGHT next to me while I nursed Finn. Waited some more and then finally got called back.
I walked Alec to the room and then came back to the waiting room with Finn. All of a sudden, Alec was running down the hall with the radiology lady running after him. "I AM SO SCARED, MOM!" I told him that he had to do it, it wasn't a choice and he would be fine. The lady said it freaked her out because she was sliding the table into the machine and he wasn't on it anymore!
Second attempt: Walked Alec to the room. STAYED outside the door holding Finn. By now, there are sick people from the ER lining up in the teensy hall waiting for their turn in the CT room. Alec rushes out again...."MOM! Pray with me! Pray right now!!!" He is clutching me and then goes on his knee. "LORD! HELP ME!" he yelled. Loudly.
Oh boy. The sick people just looked at me waiting to see what I would do. I felt bad because they were patiently waiting in the hallway while my 13 year old is crying out to the Lord about his ear infection!
In a quiet whisper...."Lord, help Alec not to be nervous about the scan. Please help him feel calm and forgive me for being so nervous about praying in the hall with all of these people." Okay, the last part I only said in my head, but it was true.
Alec: LORD HELP ME!!!
The whole time, the radiology lady is standing there and they have now called another man to help, patients and nurses are lining the hall and lots of people are walking by leaving for their lunch break.
LORD! HELP ME!
The radiology lady finally just told me to come in the room and get him settled and leave right before they take the pictures. I gave Finn to a nurse leaving for her lunch break--he made friends with all of the people in the hall. Good boy.
Third attempt was successful! The scan came back perfect...no infection. The pediatrician called us later in the afternoon with the results. He told me that he told all of the staff that Alec's results are of top priority because he didn't want him to have a worse day.
I love Alec so much. I love that he was completely not embarrassed about crying out to the Lord for help when he was so anxious! I admit, I was extremely embarrassed......I really can learn a lot from him. I explained that I was just concerned about the sick people waiting and wanted to make sure they didn't wait longer than necessary and that maybe next time we could have some more control in our prayer.
As we were leaving, one of the sick woman said from her bed, "God bless you." God bless you, too.
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