30 Days of Thanksgiving {Day 1}

Every year I mean to do this and always forget until several days into November. Thanks to many friends doing this on facebook, I'm remembering this year just a couple hours before November 2nd! Thank you, thankful facebook friends! :)

I hope to write a short post every day for the next thirty days. It probably won't happen but that's okay! I'm no superwoman by any stretch of the imagination and I'm totally okay with that. Oh, and also there is no special order to each post. I'm just going to write about whatever comes to mind that I am thankful for.

Oh, and (again) also, it's okay if you don't care. This is mostly for me anyway :)

Tonight I am sitting across the kitchen table from the love of my life... the man of my dreams... my other half... my perfect puzzle piece.

Thank You, all-knowing Father, for my husband.

We've hit some sizable potholes on this road called marriage, and while most of them I would love to have never hit, I am so grateful for where they have brought us. We are quickly approaching our 7th anniversary, and I think it is safe to say we are happier than we've ever been. And it's crazy that we are still getting to know each other.

I love getting to know him.

At least once a week I find myself saying, "This is the life, isn't it?"

And of course, he always agrees with an "Mmmhmm."

Derek, I'm so grateful for...

Your love for me
Your love for the babies
Your work ethic
Your desire to know God
Your passion for ministry
Your patience, especially with me
Your drive to do your very best
Your commitment
Your willingness to help me
Being my best friend

"Like pieces of a puzzle molded for each other... I am your perfect fit and you are mine."

The Birth of Kempton Charles

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

We came in. They cut me open.

"It's a... boy!"

Born at 11:39am. 9lbs, 4.8oz. 22 inches.

They sewed me up.

The End.

----------------

There are definitely benefits to having csections.

There may not be much to talk about as far as events, but the emotions involved are huge. The night before my csection for Jack, I was an anxious mess. Very little sleep happened. You know that feeling of overwhelming butterflies, involuntary worry, straight up freaking out? Several days before Kempton arrived I was anticipating a night full of that.

But can I just say, there is NOTHING like having a praying family. My sibs and parents were praying for me. My church family. My Christian family. I fell asleep Monday night completely at peace. It wasn't until about 7am that I started getting anxious, but even then it only took getting out of bed to push past it.

I even did some garden harvesting before leaving the house at about 9am.

Last family of 4 photo.

 The whole experience was quite a bit different than the first two. It was much better and much worse all at the same time. The surgery took much longer, which is better in that I feel the doctor did a very quality job, but worse in that it's just plain not fun being operated on. Also, I could feel tingling in my legs the whole time which made them very antsy but there was nothing I could do about it! But I was able to move more quickly since I didn't have an insane amount of numbing. There were several times I felt very tired and needed to calm myself down so I would close my eyes. I realized quickly that I was scaring Derek. He definitely thought I had passed out at one point.

Speaking of Derek, he totally watched the whole procedure and loved it!

Gross.

So now let's talk about the whole thing about how Kempton was only 9lbs 4.8oz. Yes, many a woman has pushed out a 9 pounder. Geesh, many have gotten much bigger than that out the natural way. But, as I mentioned in this post, I decided I needed to leave the csection/vbac thing completely to the Lord. While I tried to induce labor, God and I had all sorts of conversations about the outcome. Pretty much every time I pulled into the doc office, I said, "God, this is Your thing. Don't let me get in the way of what You want. I know that You know best." Toward the end, we knew our newest addition was not as big as his older sibs but I decided if the little mister ended up 9lbs or bigger, I would be confident in the csection decision.

Thank You, God, that Kemp was at least 9 lbs!

Next, would we do the whole not-finding-out-the-gender thing again? That is a question to be answered in another post. Along with the details of the surprise that we had Kempton rather than Amber!

Patience, my friends.

I'm so in love with our newest little man and his big sibs! It's amazing how much Marie and Jack love him. It took Marie a few hours to warm up but Jack bolted to him as soon as they arrived at the hospital. "Baby mine," he likes to say.

Now they beg to hold him. Jack will wrap his arms around and not let go. Marie tells me to take good care of her brother, tells me not to cry when I cringe during nursing, gives him stuffed animals while he sleeps. It's a dream. We love being a family of 5.

 

So glad I said yes.

9 years ago at the top of the Warren Dunes, Derek asked me to be his girlfriend.

I hesitated because I knew I was still struggling with a past relationship. But I also knew that I really wanted to be Derek's girlfriend. So I said yes.

I'm so glad I did.

For the first six months of our relationship I put that poor guy through the ringer. But he never once even considered breaking it off. He was in it for life starting on this day 9 years ago at the top of the Dunes.

About six months into our relationship I was working a gruelingly boring 8 hour shift in the dressing rooms at Marshalls.

I'll never forget that shift.

I was staring out at the store that was practically empty. I wasn't even really thinking about Derek. I was probably thinking about how insanely bored I was and wondering if it was worth the $6/hr or whatever it was.

But suddenly it hit me. I love him! I just knew it out of the blue. And was giddy about it. I watched him fight for me for the first six months. I watched him put up with me, adore me, treat me like a princess, have overwhelming patience for me.

I knew from that moment that I loved him and I haven't stopped since.

I'm so thankful God gave me a peace about saying yes 9 years ago, because I needed to see him fight for me. I have no doubt in my mind that he will always fight for me. He is so good to me.

It's important to mention that even though Derek has always been so amazing to me, if God hadn't gotten ahold of my ridiculousness six months after I said yes, I wouldn't have come to the place of recognizing it. God broke me just days before that shift at Marshalls and I'm so grateful for it!

Our whole relationship is completely owed to Him. It's such a beautiful thing when God writes your love story :)



Happy 9th Anniversary, my One and Only Forever Love.

8 Years

Awhile back we went to the Warren Dunes with The Crossing students and staff. It was freezing! But we had a great time!

It was just a few days before our 8th anniversary.

8 years ago on July 13th, Derek asked me to be his girlfriend (and ultimately his wife!) at the top of the Dunes.

The conversation went something like this:

Derek: So I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend.
Lindsay: (long pause) It's not like you're asking me for forever.
Derek: Well, actually, I am.
Lindsay: (long pause) Okay.

Then we sprinted down the dunes and I told all my friends!

It was a good day :)

I took a couple pics of pictures of that day...

It was a Sunday. This was taken after Sunday School (when it was at EBCS!)

This is the clan at an ice cream place on the way home!

This was before the days of the digital camera (at least in my life). But I'm so glad we captured a couple shots!

Here's some of the fun we had 8 years later with The Crossing:

Marie hiked up to the top with us! She did amazing!

Just behind us is the very spot it all began :)

 

Yeah we never went in the water :) It was freeeeeezing!

I love my man.

The Story of Us (Part 1)

Today we're celebrating 8 years since Derek asked me to be his girlfriend. In honor of one of the best days of my life, I'm reminiscing about our story...

It was the mid-1980's when boy met girl.

It was the late-1980's when boy left girl.

We were four. He doesn't remember those early years.

But I do.

Our backyards were neighbors.

I remember playing with Tonka trucks in his room.
I remember his blond bowl cut and dark tan.
I remember his runny nose.
I remember him chasing me around my house, trying to kiss me.
I remember bigwheels.
I remember the day his family up and moved (ultimately to PA).

That day was in 1989.

There was a time or two in the years following that his family visited the area.

I remember him and the neighbor, Joe, shooting "that girl" with play shot guns.
I remember running in my house to "freshen up." I was like... 6. What kinda 6yr old does that?
I remember when I came back out, he and Joe were gone. I didn't see him again until...

To be continued...