Five on the 5th {2012}

Here you have it... all five of them in a photo every month of this year.

Any ideas on what to do with this collage?  I'm lacking inspiration these days.

I'm so very happy to have these pictures.  I wish I would have started it sooner.  Whenever I look back at my photo albums, I wish I had more pictures of them all together and more with me in them.  I'm going to try to get out from behind the camera a little more this year.  I'm a part of this family too, right? :)

Happy Friday!

Countertops

I'm going to finish these house posts.  Really.  I'm almost done.

Next up is counters.  If I remember correctly, counters were one of our easiest decisions.

We wanted to stay with historical materials.  And I wanted them to be timeless, because I didn't want to hate them in 5 years.  That narrowed down our choices considerably, making the decision-making easier.

So they came in the back of a pick-up truck.

Here they are:  Carrara, granite, and soapstone.

They cut them in our living room.

Measure twice, cut once :)

I wondered if they were nervous cutting such expensive stuff.  But they seemed just fine with it.

Soapstone in the kitchen.

Granite in the boy's bathroom, the color of toothpaste remnant.  How do they get so much toothpaste on the counter?  Seriously.

Carrara marble in the rest of the bathrooms.

Butcher block for the island.  Butcher block is one of the only materials that comes long enough to fit our island without having a seam.  So this choice was made for us.

Tile up next.

Five on the 5th {Wrapping Up the Year}

This was some time in October... it's the best one I have.

November, putting up the decorations.

December, Christmas morning.

That Day Part Three {The Hospital}

I was nervous about that early morning.  I usually have to eat something right away in the morning to not get sick.  They said I couldn't have anything in my mouth... no gum, no mints, nothing.  But God was gracious.  I never gagged or threw up.  We woke up at 4:30 and put our shoes on and got in the truck to make the short drive to the hospital.  It was strange.  I had often made that drive early in the morning.  It was the same hospital where I had worked for five years on the mother/baby floor.  I had come here in painful labor (had four of the boys here), or to report for work, but never like this.  I checked in for surgery.  The waiting room was filled with elderly patients.  One older man was taking care of his wife slumped over in a wheelchair.  One look at them, and you knew their life was difficult. Perspective was everywhere.  

I was taken to pre-op, asked the same questions over and over again.  Do I have dentures, a pacemaker, piercings, allergic to any medications, had anesthesia before, would I be willing to receive blood?

The time went fast.  An IV was started.  We signed all those forms.  And then they gave me my "cocktail" and I was wheeled back to the OR.  I remember going into the room and waking up in recovery.  I was so tired.  So out of it.  I remember my doctor telling me everything went well.  I was in and out.  Right away, I felt awful, so tired, but I just thought it was the anesthesia.  And some of it probably was.  My anesthesiologist walked by me and said I looked very pale.  They checked my hemoglobin level with a bedside machine.  It was 8.4.  I came in at 13.  It was definitely a loss, but not totally abnormal.

 I was sent to the next recovery room, the step down unit that was supposed to send me home soon.  As soon as I was able to go to the bathroom and eat and drink without throwing up.  They said it was time to go to the bathroom.  I said, "I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I'm not sure I can make it to the bathroom."  They let me use a bedside commode and I barely made it there.  I had one last hemoglobin scheduled at 12:30 before I was to go home.  I'd never felt this way before, like I was crashing.  I couldn't turn my head from side to side without the room spinning.  Every movement was labored.  I knew something wrong.  I nervously waited for those lab results.  I couldn't rest because I was afraid to fall asleep at this point.  I was checking my bleeding, noting my vital signs, and watching for anything else that could explain how I felt.  The phone rang and I heard the nurse repeat the lab back to the person on the phone.  5.4.  I knew that wasn't good.  I knew I would need blood.

Thank you, Lord.  My first unit of blood went in fine.  It was strange being the recipient of blood.  I'd given blood to patients lots of times before, but as it was going in my veins, I sat and wondered who it came from.  I thought about all the people who had died before they knew about giving blood.  I was grateful.  

I was admitted to the gynecology floor and given my second unit of blood there.  By that time it was midnight.  I felt a little better.  The feeling that I was crashing was gone.  I was unimaginably tired.  It was then that I first realized that I wasn't nauseated anymore.  Amazing.  They take the baby out and all those hormones.  Gone.  I stayed up all night watching movies that are on late at night in hospitals.  I was too uncomfortable to sleep.  I had SCD's on, a catheter, IV, and oximeter.  I couldn't get comfortable.  Chris slept beside me on the couch.  I chewed on gum that a friend had brought to me and ate some graham crackers.  I was feeling better but was too scared to eat.  I wanted to get that lab value back before I started eating.  What if I was internally bleeding somewhere, and they needed to do another surgery.  I didn't want a full stomach.  See, that's what being a nurse does to you.  Crazy things.

My lab came back as 8 point something.  Such a relief.  A huge improvement.  If I could walk to the bathroom, eat, and keep down the food, I could go home after my 5 PM hemoglobin.  I waited around that day in the hospital.  A couple friends came to visit.  When I went to take a nap after lunch, I felt my heart racing.  Like really racing.  I looked at my oximeter and my pulse was in the 150's.  What in the world?  The nurse came in.  She called the doctor.  Long story short, I had some testing done, and it didn't turn out to be anything, except tachycardia.  I really think it was a panic attack.  I'm not sure if I've ever been that emotionally spent.  A combination of all the events of the last couple months, feeling sick, Asher's broken arm, losing the baby, and now having this procedure be somewhat scary.  I'm generally a laid back person, but it was all too much.  And I think it was my body's way of reacting, in those hours, to all that had gone on.  I'm definitely not proud that I reacted this way, that my heart was full of anxiety.  This pregnancy and time in the hospital was an indicator for me of where I was really at with God.  I may write more on that later.

My 5:00 hemoglobin came back close to 9.  We were in the clear to go home.  I needed sleep, to be off the monitors.  They called for transport.  I'd only left this hospital with a baby in my arms.  I was keenly aware that on the other side of the floor were all the moms and newborns.  I felt empty.  I had had a baby too.  But not in my arms when we left.  It was a cold night.  They wheeled me to the car.  We went home and I went straight to our room and had Chris get rid of all the pregnancy things on my nightstand... crackers, little bowls of dry cereal, mints... and I took a 2 minute shower, all I could muster at the time, and crawled in bed and went right to sleep.  I didn't wake up 4 times in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.  I wasn't pregnant anymore.  It was over.  This pregnancy was over. 

Christmas 2012 {Part Two}

They said there was a *chance* of snow on Christmas Day.  

But those weather forecasters in Texas always seem to exaggerate the snow news around here.

But they didn't lie this time.  It legitimately snowed.  The kids were so excited!  I couldn't believe it.  It wasn't snowing in Minnesota (where we were supposed to be) but it was snowing here.  It truly was a magical day.  We stayed in our pj's most of the day, got out our winter stuff, and enjoyed the snow.

Asher was the first one dressed to go outside.  It was cold.  32 degrees and windy.

He was old enough to enjoy the snow this year.

This hat is my fav.  I'm glad he has the chance to wear it one last year before it's too small.

His first snowball.

Me watching from the window with hot coffee to warm my hands in between running outside to snap pictures :)

Watching his older brothers outside when he got too cold.

We ended the day with some Lego building by candlelight.

Grateful for this Christmas.  Grateful for the snow.  Grateful for our sweet little family and that we were able to enjoy this holiday together in our new home.  The walls are bare around here.  We are still getting settled, and this Christmas has not been perfect.  But we will always remember our first Christmas in this house.  The snow was such a gift to our kids who were sad about not traveling north this year.  This house is a gift from the Lord.  So much to be thankful for.

Christmas 2012 {Part One}

After I finished all my shopping on Christmas Eve at about 5:00, we had a wonderfully relaxed Christmas.

This is my cart at the Target.  Okay, the plaid bowl is for me.  Isn't it lovely?  I sort of have a thing for plaid.

Since the boys already had lots of PJ's, I stole this idea from my friend, Sara from August Fields.  I made them t-shirts to go with the pajama pants we already had.  The shirts are in their color (they each have an assigned color for school and organizational purposes) and the numbers are for their birth order.  The shirts ended up being $3 each including the iron-on numbers.  Thanks, Sara, for the inspiration.  The boys really liked them.  (And they still wear them with pride; it's pretty cute).

We opened the shirts Christmas Eve and sent them off to bed.  We had lots of work to do.

Like watch Elf, and wrap all of our presents.  I think some drinking Coke out of a holiday can might have been involved too :)  Such happy things.

Oh, and checked in to see where Santa was before we tucked them in.

Christmas morning.

Stole this next idea from Emily at Anderson Crew.  They each had a wrapping paper.  So when they came downstairs, they didn't which present was theirs because they weren't labeled.  It was fun to watch the suspense.

The stockings are from Santa.  They got fun and practical stuff.  Towels in their color, gift cards for their favorite treat, Chick Fil A calendars, candy, gum, etc.  The stockings are my favorite part to shop for.

Samuel takes after his mother and loves him a Starbucks gift card.

On Christmas morning, we put cereal boxes in the tree.  I love this tradition because I don't have to make breakfast.  And the kids just love it.  They love it more than a big breakfast.

What's not to love about 2 little cute boxes of sugar?

And a side of gummy bears.

Me and Cry Cry bonding at our leisurely breakfast.

We passed out the wrapping paper pieces.  

One more pic in our Christmas jammies before we open the gifts.

 We still do something you want, need, play with and read for the boys.

Graham and Nathan share a room.  These pillows are for their bed.  This was part of their need gift.

I thought they were wolves.  The kids think their foxes.  What is your vote?

Something to read.

His read.

And his.  

His want... a voice recorder.  

Happy Joseph.

I love these Lego sets.

This is probably the last year he'll want a truck for Christmas.  Sniff.  I love that he still wanted one.

He REALLY wanted this garbage truck that we saw while shopping for toys for Joseph and Nathan.

Playing away.

Can you see outside that something magical is happening on Christmas Day?  

We'll talk about that tomorrow :)