My Final Vacation Post

Shane and I had a good night out last night.  We ended up eating at Famous Dave's.  I had never been there before but crave barbecue and meat like crazy when I am pregnant.  So it was a great suggestion by Shane.  And my friend Julie always said I should go there when we lived in Louisville.  Thus, I kept her updated about my first FD experience via text.

Today after Silas' tumbling class we came home to have a quick lunch then headed out to a pumpkin farm.  It was a beautiful day for it.  All the kids had fun for the most part and Silas seemed to remember it from last year.  Then the children napped back at home while I ran to the store to purchase a few items related to my making a costume for our firstborn.  The finished product now sits on our counter and we think its super cute.  Will take pics when the kids dress up for the Ignite fall party tomorrow.

So back to vacation...on Friday we went to spend lunch and part of the afternoon with our friends who just had twin baby boys.  They are the ones who let us borrow their pack-n-plays because we forgot ours.  It was good to share a bit of life together, although I felt that I was not a fountain of encouragement because Lieren had gotten sick the night before and I was on about 3 hours of sleep.  Not the best frame of mind to tell someone with baby twins that it gets better.  

We then let our children take late naps at the condo (can't exactly remember if they slept much because they slept in the car on the way back) then went to an indoor waterpark for the evening.  I have to say that by this time I was more than ready for a good sleep but ended up being so glad we spent the money, took the time and did it.  It was the highlight of Silas' trip by far!  And Sim and Lieren enjoyed it too...

Shane even took the babies down the smaller slides (smaller is relative at this waterpark!)...

Silas, on the other hand, wanted to go down the big slide over and over again.  I didn't think my pregnant self should partake in any water sliding so Shane took Silas more times than we could count.  Again, we ended up being the only people there, which made for no-wait fun for Si.  This is Shane and Silas coming out of the big slide and the following picture is of the slide itself...

There's nothing like seeing the joy on your child's face to make all the hard work worth it...

On Saturday we packed up and headed to Kansas City to stay with my grandparents and to see my uncle's family.  Generations of children have been bathed in this very bathtub.  So I had to capture the moment...

All of our three loved playing with their second cousins...

Lieren warmed up to Aunt Lisa pretty quick...

Sunday we went to church with my grandparents, napped, played in the leaves, and had pizza for dinner.  I think I was ready to relax by this time because I didn't take any pictures.  Silas still talks about the leaves, though.  And that, too, is a tradition at the Baird house so I am a little sad I don't have pictures of it.

On Monday it was time to drive home.  I got some cute pictures of Sim and Lieren with great Nana, but by the time we attempted to take a pic of all of them together, we had the car loaded and I think Lieren thought we were about to leave her behind.  Poor baby.  And don't ask me what face Silas is making.  I have no explanation.  Not the best photo of everyone, but a memory nonetheless...

My favorite moment of the entire trip was on Saturday night.  I had put all my children to bed when Papa asked to peek in at them sleeping.  It had been too long since they had babies in the house, he said, and never twins.  It was sweet.  Looking together at his great-grandchildren sleeping was a moment I never want to forget.

We learned a lot on our vacation this year.  Most of all, we learned we could do it!  And I think I will be brave enough with one year under our belt to be ready to go again sometime next year with four!

Right now Shane is up playing video games with a couple of our Ignite kids.  We have a student staying with us tonight so a few of the other guys got invited over too.  As I was bathing children and listening to the noise of high school boys downstairs, I thought how good it was to have more people in the house.  It keeps me from looking inward too much.  Keeps my eyes from focusing only on me and us and what we have going on.  And I decided high school boys are the best for impromptu visits.  They don't notice if the house isn't real clean.  As long as we have food and drink and tell them we are glad they're here, they seem happy.  That's my kind of hospitality.  Perhaps I need to get over myself more and let it be that way with everyone.

Vacation: Wed and Thurs

Today I am happy to report that all our suitcases are finally put away.  I think I can safely say that 2 and a half weeks after being home, we are settled back in.  It feels good.

On Wednesday, day 2 of our trip, we played in the sand at a nearby beach and explored the area a bit...

After lunch, Shane and Silas swam at our condo while I took the babies to nap.  Then that evening we had dinner and went to an arcade at a resort nearby.  We were the only ones there, including no workers!  We had to pick up the phone and call someone for Silas to turn in his tickets for a prize...

On Thursday Shane took Silas to a cave, where he got to mine for rocks.  Si was really brave in the cave, even when they turned out all the lights to show just how dark it really was...

That afternoon Sim woke before the others.  So we took these pictures of the view from our place on the lake...

Including the view looking down.  Can you spot the toys that fell victim to the joy of little ones watching them fall?

Yep, there's our blue shovel and Thomas the train puzzle box (with puzzle still inside).  They are still there to this day as far as we know...

Thursday evening some of our good friends came to visit.  There was much driving back and forth between our place and Chili's for our dinner, but thanks to their mistake, it didn't cost much at all to feed us all!

We had one more day at Lake of the Ozarks then headed up to Kansas City to see some of my family.  I will add those pictures soon. 

Judy and Lee are coming to be with our three littles tonight so Shane and I are going to have a quiet dinner to ourselves.  It's been a good week, but a long week here.  So we are looking forward to the time just the two of us.

A Bit of Vaca and Whatnot

I got to teach our high school students on Sunday night.  Shane taught last week on biblical manhood and asked me to teach on biblical womanhood.  It was challenging for me to work through the Titus 2 passage on what to teach younger women but a great blessing at the same time.  I was reminded of many ways I can keep growing as a wife, mother and foundation-builder for our home.

Favorite thing I said while I was teaching?  "Guys, you need to make sure you marry someone who has already worked out the submission issue in her heart.  Cause God is going to call you to do big things; we want Him to call you to things you never imagined.  And some of those things might be scary.  So you don't want to have to battle your wife on it too."  Like I said, it was challenging to me personally.  Especially the point about self-control during which I talked about restraining our tongues.  Lord, help me.

We had a nice, quiet weekend.  Except for Saturday night when many of our students descended upon our home for a get-together.  It was fun to have them over again.  It had been a while.  And my now-hungry pregnant self has been benefiting from the leftover snacks!

Here is a glimpse of our first few hours of vacation.  As you can see, we didn't really even change, just went straight for the sand and water...

And then that evening as we got settled in and ready for bed, the kids enjoyed watching the boats go by...

Unlikely

I have found myself starting a blog post several times in the past week or so, only to abandon it for something else more pressing.  Sleep, mostly.  And every time I thought about what I would say, it felt so whiny and complain-y that I couldn't let myself write it out.

But today...today has been the renewing breath that I needed.  It's interesting really.  No one came and unpacked our suitcases.  No one folded my laundry, cleaned my bathrooms, or did the dishes.  No one watched my children (well, no one else did;  I did, just to be clear).  No one brought us meals.  But finally today, I felt like doing what needed to be done.  Finally today I had the energy.  And finally today the chaos that has been our home is a bit more tidy.  I could not be more thankful.

There are still a couple suitcases from our vacation yet to be unpacked and about three loads of laundry to tackle.  As I was putting away the children's clothes, I found a box of Silas' old things for Simeon that I need to sort through.  And then there is the pile of paperwork that needs to be filed.  So there is still much to be done.  But just having started is enough to give me a sense of the organized light on the horizon.

I am 14 weeks along in this pregnancy and have never been happier to see the second trimester.  These have been some long, hard weeks.  Honestly, I have not walked it with as much grace as I would have liked.

I told the Lord recently that I was sure He had chosen the wrong person for this.  I am the most unlikely of women to be called to what He has given us:  four very small people with four very small ages.  But even in my wonderings, He has been true to remind me:

..."if we are faithless, He remains faithful"

2 Timothy 2:13

What a promise!  Renewing, restoring, keeping, forgiving, perfecting...He is faithful.

And so we begin really looking forward to April when this little one will join our family...

These were taken when I was nine weeks.  I went for a second ultrasound and began chatting with the tech about the 3D pictures on the wall.  She sweetly took some for me even though she was not obligated and I didn't even ask.  Such a perfect little person, so tiny and yet obviously a real, moving baby.  At just 9 weeks.

I am definitely showing.  I took this a few weeks ago.  It's crazy how quick I felt pregnant this time...

I am still planning to post pictures of our vacation.  And a few other things we have been up to lately.  Silas got to have a fun outing on Friday with a friend.  Natalie wrote about it here.

So it's 10:03 now.  I can barely keep my eyes open.  Fading.  So I'm off.

Thoughts on Vacation Day 3

The children are taking a much-needed long nap today.  I am expecting them to wake anytime, but am thankful they are resting.  No one told them they were supposed to sleep in on vacation.  So this is good.

Children on vacation is an interesting thing.  I can tell they love the change of pace, but they also have no idea what to expect.  So we've had a few melt-downs.  And as Shane said, who can blame them?  We've given them reasons to have a fit, even if it was just because our vacation plans didn't go as planned.  But overall, they have done great, slept well, and traveled excellently.

I love Missouri (yep, that's where we are!).  When we drove in on Tuesday, I commented on it.  There is something about driving through the hills in Missouri that always makes me feel like I've come home.  Which is interesting, considering I grew up at the beach.

Yesterday we spent the day playing at a State Park, checking out a nearby condo for future reference, lunching at Panera, playing at the beach (Shane and Silas), napping (Simeon - the other two resisted and "talked" to each other instead), suppering at a yummy local cheesesteak place, and going to an arcade.  The arcade was super fun for Silas.  And we were the only people there.

It is the off-season here so it's not surprising there wasn't anyone at the arcade.  On Tuesday, ours was the only car in our condo building parking lot.  Last night a couple other cars appeared and today I've seen a few more.  Still barely anyone in sight.  I kinda like it this way.

This morning Shane took Silas to a cave.  Silas also got to mine for rocks.  They had to wait a while before their cave tour started so I'm glad we resisted the last-minute discussion about taking the babies.  Instead, I walked down to the beach with Sim and Lieren.  We played in the sand.  Waded in the water.  Took a walk along the boardwalk.  Ate a snack.  Then I pushed them uphill back to the condo.  And carried each umbrella stroller individually up the 4 flights of stairs to our place.  Got my workout in.

We didn't bring our double stroller cause it wouldn't fit with all the other stuff we needed to bring.  But the 2 umbrella strollers with connectors is a great option.  Especially when you need to carry babies up flights of stairs.  It's funny because as we were getting in the van to leave home I commented to Shane how surprised I was that everything fit so well.  We kinda applauded ourselves.  Not so much a few hours later when we realized we forgot our pack-n-plays.

We are so grateful we have the wonderful friends we have.  Especially the friends who live right here where we are vacationing!  They are the kind of friends who don't care when you call them late at night and explain you are here on vacation, forgot your pack-n-plays, and your attempt at rigging beds for your 15-month-old twins wasn't working.  They tell you to come right on over and pick up beds for your babies.  Then make plans to get together again before you leave cause they just had twins of their own!

Which makes me think of the good friends I am missing back home.  Friends who get out of bed at 11:30 and come sleep at your house so you can go to the ER.  Friends who decide to all play together at the park on a random Thursday after you had all cancelled said plans fearing several of your children were sick, but then when they all seemed well you were all so desperate to chat, you all got together at the last minute and even celebrated a late birthday for one of the kids!  Then when you all stayed at the park too long and all the children were hungry for lunch, your friends are good enough friends to suggest going to the Pizza Hut buffet...all of you...4 mommies and 9 children.  And they just laugh when you walk in and ask if anyone really thought through this plan?  Because these are good friends.  And no one just goes with the crazy like they do.

Well.  Simeon is awake and now wandering the condo with his favorite train.  The other two are still sleeping and Shane should be back at any minute from a shopping trip of his own.  I am wearing shoes around that I bought yesterday trying to decide if I like them.  And we have friends coming for dinner.  In the meantime, Sim and I are heading out on the deck to watch the boats...

As I Listen to the Water and the Boats...

We are on vacation this week!  It has been a long time since we took a real vacation, and have never taken one as a family.  We decided to make it happen somewhat at the last minute but we are so glad that we did!  Yesterday as we played in the sand with the children I realized that we probably needed this get-away more than we thought.

I didn't bring my camera cord that connects to the computer so we'll be without pictures, which is unfortunate because we have the most adorable pictures of the children experiencing the sand and "beach" (we are at the lake) for the first time.  We had debated taking a trip just Shane and I, but as I saw the children love the new environment so much, I was so glad they were with us.  I needed to see my children in a new place, exploring new things, laughing and relaxed; I needed to see them away from home for a while.  It has given me new eyes.

We went straight to the water when we got here yesterday.  We did run up to our condo for a minute to change diapers and have a potty break, then drove right back down to our beach.  We weren't really dressed for the water, but we just waded and played in the sand and didn't want to waste time getting clothes changed!

I can't believe how good I feel since we've been here.  Considering that I got so sick on Sunday that we ended up in the ER to get me rehydrated, it is amazing how relaxed, energetic, non-pregnancy nauseous, and carefree I feel.  This morning I said out loud, "Oh, to not have anything to do!"  It is wonderful.

Well, the babies are napping and Shane and Silas just got back from playing a bit longer in the water.  So I am heading off for a little shopping trip.  Can you see me smiling?!