I'm a pretty pony...

Not me of course, but that's the first line that Jasmine's rocking horse sings. Apparently it's quite the popular toy; my sister has one for her son and she has at least one other friend that has one as well. It's a little rocking horse which makes noises if you press one ear and sings (the mouth actually moves) when you press the other. It is by far one of the best Christmas presents we have ever bought one of the kids. Jasmine loves it and has the song just about memorized. Cynthia (my sister) warned me I would get sick of the song but so far it's just so cute to see Jasmine ride her horsey and sing along with it that I can't get enough of it! I'll have to post a picture tomorrow.

I knew I was asking for it!

It seems to happen every time; I stay up late and end up suffering for it the next day. This time John and I accidentally stayed up until 4 A.M. Tue morning and I got a call for a birth at 7:54 A.M. Tue morning. What are the odds? I actually had been hired to provide after care for this family since the parents wanted to UC (unassisted childbirth, for those that don't recognize the initials) but by the time I was 5 minutes away from the families home the mother hadn't delivered, decided to transfer to the hospital, and wanted me to meet her there. I had never met the family before, except over the phone, so didn't expect to stay for the birth but ended up there for the entire thing and for 4 or so hours of after care. It made for a very long day since they lived more than an hour and a half away from town. I didn't end up getting home until 7:30, the older 3 boys didn't come home from a friends house until after 9 (and they brought the two friends with so didn't go to sleep until after 10:00 P.M.), and I found out that I was out of town when my in-laws came home from Utah and they ended up having to get a taxi to get home since I had the van and John was unable to pick them up. I now have to apologize to them for not meeting them at the airport, though I do put some of the blame on them since they told me they were coming home today not yesterday and never called to confirm the date or time they would be arriving. I do have to say, for never having met the family, I did some good work for them. I just wish they had waited until I got to their house before deciding to transfer because it would then have been unnecessary!

The house is quiet.

Hard to believe that all of my children are asleep or at a friends' house (hopefully asleep, seeing as how it's almost 4 in the morning). Jasmine went to sleep around 11:00-11:30 (she took a late nap) and hasn't woken up and joined us yet. It's amazing. John and I sat up and played the Wii for a few hours. Stupid really, but how often do we get to do that without kids or the dog running in front of us or begging for a turn (not that the dog begs for a turn, she just begs period). It was really nice having these last few hours to be alone with John even if all we were doing was playing a video game. Now if only my eye would stop twitching! It's been doing it since Saturday; something to do with extreme fatigue. Funny how that works!

Thank heaven for snow blowers.

Recently I had a client's husband offer to fix up a snow blower for me in lieu of a payment. I graciously accepted, and he dropped it off this week before our huge winter storm hit. John and I fired it up today to remove our foot or more high snow drifts and I swear it brought a tear to my eye. After we were done I took it to my sisters house and she used it there. I don't think she wanted to give it back (you know you didn't, Kimberly). Thank heavens for snow blowers and for the men that know how to fix them (or at least know how to fix them and have the time to do it; that's John's main problem, he just doesn't have the time).

New beginnings.

Those of you that read this and happen to be members of the LDS Church may be familiar with the phrase "New Beginnings". For those of you that aren't, it's the title of a special meeting held for the girls when they turn twelve. It introduces them to the Young Women (teenagers) program within the church, and represents all the new emotions, activities, etc that will happen since they have taken this next step toward maturity. I realize we use it within the church in reference to the girls but it seemed fitting to use it for my post title tonight as I write about Jordan, my now twelve year old son. Last night we celebrated Jordan's 12th year on earth. 12 years since he was placed in my arms for the first time, since the first time I kissed his sweet face, since we learned how to nurse together, and I learned what it is to be a mother. I'm still learning the last, and Jordan has been with me for every new step along the way. This past summer John took our first born child for a special father-son camping trip. Just the two of them out in the wild, enjoying each others company, and talking about the things a boy needs to know to become a man. I wasn't there for the trip, and that's as it should be. But because I wasn't there it didn't really hit me right away what a big milestone this is in my sons life. Last night was too busy for thinking, and not that I'm not busy tonight getting ready for Christmas, but tonight I have a moment to sit down and reflect on the 12 years that have passed and the many more we will have together. On the first Sunday in January Jordan will receive the priesthood; in a few more years he will graduate from high school, a few months from that he will go on a mission, then college and leaving home for good. The last years have flown by so quickly and the ones we have left seem so short. Jordan, you taught me to be the mother I am. Some things have been good and some not so good; as the oldest you bore the brunt of my learning experience. We've laughed, we've cried, but most of all we've loved. It may not seem like it sometimes, but I see the way you have grown and matured over the years and I look forward to the man you will one day be. The day will come when you will leave me for new horizons and a different kind of love and I will let you go with a smile on my face because that's what good moms do. Don't think that it means I won't miss you every day; I will. But I'll also be comforted by the thought of what a good person you are and know that you'll make good choices even when I'm not there looking over your shoulder. So for now, I will cry a few tears for my sweet boy who is no longer a baby and then dry my eyes and make sure I spend the years I have left as the main woman in your life reminding you of how much I love you and how proud I am of you. And if occasionally I shed a tear or two for that baby boy, don't tease me too badly. Let me enjoy my cry and go on with your day knowing how much I love you.

And life goes on.

Nothing new, really, to report. I just didn't want you guys to think I had forgotten you. I was thinking that things had calmed down a bit and I could have a rest and then a quick over view of my week next week flashed through my head. I'm on call for a birth, though in this case I'll just be providing afterbirth care, tomorrow is my anniversary and we'll be going out, the next day we're going out for my mil's birthday (both days sans kids!), the next day is Jordan's b-day and party, the day after that is Christmas eve, and the following day is Christmas. Now where in there am I supposed to rest and relax?

Miracles do happen.

My daughter slept last night. I realize this is a pretty common place, but for us the PLACE where she slept wasn't common. Jasmine actually went to sleep around 9:00 P.M. last night and didn't wake up and get into bed with us until 6:15 A.M. I can't even remember the last time that happened. Not only did she sleep through the night, she actually did it on a night when I was able to sleep as well. For some reason she usually chooses to sleep soundly on the nights when I stay up all night doing whatever. Of course it couldn't go perfectly, some guy decided to call the wrong number (mine) around 1:30 or so, but I was able to fall back to sleep immediately. It was an amazing feeling waking up with my alarm clock and not having to jump over her to get to it. Now if only she would decide to do this every night.

Almost home free.

The most amazing thing ever has happened. Jasmine is (almost) potty-trained! And there I go, back to the potty stories that I initially started with. But isn't that the greatest thing you've ever heard? The thought of having my (current?) youngest out of diapers and no new one starting diapers on the foreseeable horizon is one of the best things that has happened to me in years. Actually, this has been a pretty good week. My house is actually starting to come together again, the boys are doing a good job with schoolwork (Jordan and Jared were done for the day by 1:00 P.M.) and I have managed to figure out presents for my hard to buy for mother and in-laws. I wasn't sure how the week was going to go, since I got some not so thrilling news on Sun, but overall I've been pleased. And yes, I am now going to head to bed and leave you with my usual cliff hanger. Until tomorrow.....

Double posts!

Aren't you all lucky today? Actually, after some of the monster posts I've done in the past, this one should be a bit of a breath of fresh air since it will be short and sweet. We went to a local buffet tonight for dinner, and after we managed to brave the elements and get everyone buckled back in the car a MAJOR realization hit me. I've been talking off and on lately about possibly having more kids (something that never would have occurred to me if my tubal last March didn't get canceled, which is another post in itself) and when I looked at my minivan filled with children it hit me that we would have to get a bigger vehicle. Like, minibus type of vehicle. We're already full up in our 8 passenger minivan and if we had two more girls (and yes, they would be girls. I've never been wrong about this before, you can ask my clients and my husband, and don't intend to start now) we would have to get one of those 11-12 passenger vans. Definitely a thought to make a person pause. I don't mind the size, I learned to drive on a big van and I like to sit high up when driving, but the cost can make you shudder. Those things aren't cheap and since they don't make a lot of them for consumers (mostly commercial sales) the resale cost stays pretty high. IF you can find one used, that is. People tend to hang onto them for years. Definitely a thought to ponder.

Winter's here to stay.

Alright, I know it's been here for awhile but I'm just now getting the chance to blog about it ok? We had a very mild summer this year, much cooler than usual with lots of flooding this past spring. Every one assured me that it meant we had a mild winter in store for us. Well, every one was WRONG! We usually don't start getting our freezing temps until January, but they've started early this year and with a vengeance. The temp outside is currently around 0 and the wind chill makes it drop to maybe 10-20 below. That's the kind of weather that can make a person seriously question why they were crazy enough to move to such a location. Well, I can truthfully say that we had lots of reasons all of which were good and valid but none of which exist any longer. Anyone know of some decent houses or lots for sale in one of the warmer states (as long as it is within 30min of a temple and still gets a bit of snow in the winter)?

Enough misery to go around.

So, last night wasn't the best night ever. John went to bed at 9:30 and 2 hrs later was still awake. I know this because that's when I fell asleep. Fast forward to 1:40 and both girls are climbing in bed with me and John is nowhere to be found. I assumed he got up to do something with work (it's not entirely unusual for a program to have to be started at odd hours), and started to get the girls settled in when I realized Jasmine was holding back vomit (there is no mistaking that jerking torso). We didn't quite make it to the bathroom. I sent Jocelyn for John to come help out and fortunately clean up was pretty quick and easy but she spent the next hour or so running her razor sharp toenails up and down my leg (and yes, those toenails are now history). I kicked Jocelyn out after I found a wet spot on the side of my bed where she had been sitting, so at least she wasn't there spreading the love. Next morning I go to get the boys up and find Jared clutching his stomach and groaning and Joseph was complaining about a headache, so I sent everyone back to bed. By 9 Jared had thrown up (and other stuff), Jasmine was acting fine but had the other stuff going on all day, and the rest of the kids were great. Around 10 I took off to get stage stairs for the church Christmas party and almost killed myself (seems to be a common theme lately). Some guy didn't like me going the speed limit and passed me on the left going 45 in a 30. This annoyed me so much that while fuming about it and thinking about all the fun stuff waiting at home, I managed to make a left turn onto the wrong side of a divided highway and barely missed a head on collision. Did I mention I did this in front of a cop? Fortunately he ignored me and I continued on my way only to get to the rental store and find that the stairs wouldn't fit into my vehicle with the back two rows of seats in. I headed back home to take them out, once again failing to notice a crucial traffic law. A one way street I was traveling on turned into a two-way and I didn't notice I was in the left lane until I (once again) almost ran head long into another vehicle. I swear, I was beginning to think I was possessed by my dad. He's actually run through the cross guards at a train track because he was too busy thinking and off in his own world to notice the crossbars were down. I managed to get back to the store and to church with no problems only to realize the stairs were too wide to fit through the doors at church. I went inside to tell the other two women I was there and came upon them telling their own misery stories. One womans husband failed to put his vehicle completely in park and got knocked down and almost run over that morning and then she came to church where another woman promptly locked her out of the building with no coat, keys, or cell phone. The other woman then went to practice on the organ and couldn't hear her ringing the doorbell. In 10 degree weather, being locked outside is no laughing matter. She managed to find a door that was locked but hadn't latched all the way and got in and started setting the tables only to realize that most of the buildings tablecloths were missing, the butcher paper was running out, and she didn't have a key to the library. The second woman from our ward (the organist was from a different ward) got in a fender bender last night and waited an hour in the cold to file a police report only to find out she didn't have to because the damage was less than $1000. She missed the class she was heading to and the store she wanted to go to closed while she waited. She also found out this morning that she made a mistake with her checking account and now owed $360 in NSF fees. Plus she had to cover the missing $800. We almost scrapped the Christmas party then and there. Luckily things went better. One of the three sets of doors turned out to be just big enough to get the stage stairs through (but not without crushing my finger first) and a third woman showed up with keys to the library and we were able to get another roll of butcher paper out. That's when I took off so I could grab some groceries and feed the kids again. I didn't want to pass around the flu so I didn't go tonight, but hopefully we didn't jinx it and keep the party from going smoothly.

My cliff hanger

So do you like the way I left my last post with a total cliff hanger? That birth just may have killed me (cue the horror movie music). I don't know though, the Lord works in mysterious ways and this may just have been one of them. I had a mom call me on a Fri morning to report she was in labor with her water possibly broken. She then proceeded to labor on and off until her delivery on Mon morning. Not quite as bad as it sounds, she had several breaks in there where the labor stopped and she was able to get a good bit of rest, but unfortunately I was unable to. In that entire time I probably got 8-12 hrs sleep. When I got home from the birth Mon, I got Joseph off to school and the rest of the kids going for the day and then completely crashed. I managed to get maybe one-two hrs of sleep in before I got a phone call from another soon-to-be due mom and friend and ended up dragging myself out of bed to take care of the kids and whatever else around the house. By 3:00 I was lying down on the couch almost completely out of it again and crashed hard when I finally made it to bed that night. It took me several days to recover. Flash forward a few days and I noticed on Facebook that a former client of mine had delivered. She had her baby at 12:30 A.M. Tue morning. That's right, TUESDAY morning. If we hadn't announced that we were moving and she hadn't been worried that I wouldn't get back in time for the birth (I intended to drive back for the three births I had lined up) she wouldn't have changed to a different practitioner. If she hadn't changed, then Mon night I would have gotten called out to her birth and I wouldn't have left to come home until maybe 4:30 or so Tue morning. Her home is maybe a 40min drive out of town. Can you imagine me making that drive back? I truly feel that I wouldn't have made it safely. With the degree of fatigue I was dealing with, there is every possibility I would have ended up in a ditch on the side of a lonely highway (all highways in ND are lonely, there just aren't that many people in the state to keep them hugely busy). Who knows why we felt prompted to try to buy this house in Montana, but I'm willing to bet that was one of the reasons.

I'm sorry, so sorry....

Please accept my apologiesss. What, you don't remember that song? Don't worry, I won't sing it but I promise I'm thinking it. I guess I've just been so disheartened with all the stuff for the house, and going crazy with stress and lack of sleep for work, and home school (not that home school is stressful, it just keeps me busy) and regular public school, and the ward Christmas party and the birth experience survey that I haven't kept up with this the way I should. I'll do better from now on. Ok, house. Our deadline for her counter-offer for owner financing came and went with no response. She finally replied 2-3 days after our offer expired stating that she was interested and would get back to us. Here it is Dec 7th and we haven't heard from her since. Our realtor called hers every day last week wanting to know what was going on, so her realtor finally drove by the house only to find a moving van. Yep that's right, she was moving all her stuff out and heading to Texas (one more crazy independent coming your way Julie) where her fiance lives. We finally gave up and called it quits. We emailed our termination letter to our realtor today and should be getting our earnest money back soon. Our families lives have been on hold for the last two and a half months and finally enough was enough. Our realtor believes that the seller is just waiting until her contract with her guy runs out and then she will approach us privately. Not the most honorable of options, but I can believe it considering how much she (the seller) dislikes him. So, for the moment we are on hold. Good news for my April client but terrible news for us financially. That's @ $2000 down the hole which could have gone to bills or something else. We're not taking the house off the market just yet. I'm sure it won't sell until spring anyway, and we might as well leave it on in case this woman approaches us privately. It really upsets me that I've lost two births due to this, but it may have all been for the best since one of them just might have killed me. But I'll save that story for tomorrows post.