Personality traits and other babble

I don't really have to much exciting going on here tonight, but am more enjoying a quiet house for a few minutes before bed. It's been rather warm out, hot as some would say, but I've not minded in the least. We do have a window air conditioner to keep from getting too sweaty, but the house is warm no matter which way you look at it. The only time I get too warm is holding baby E, as her body heat seems to multiply mine.

She has reached the 3 month mark, the magical date in which everything is supposed to get better, namely feeding and sleeping. Well, I have to say that feeding slowly getting better, but still not A-1. She is getting chubby, and is happy for the most part, so that is the main thing. Sleeping at night is awesome. Just awesome, compared with the boys. It's the day time that's difficult, since she doesn't care to nap. So, I try to keep her up later, and should be waking her up earlier (who can wake a peacefully sleeping baby, when there's stuff to be done? Just can't do it) so that she'll nap better. I spend many hours a day putting her down for nap, and then she sleeps 15, maybe 20 minutes and she's up again. It wouldn't be a problem, except that she's crabby when she's up. What to do...I'm sure it will get better.

Due to this lack of nap thing, or maybe it's just her personality, she has very "fragile nerves". It seems that if she gets scared (loud voice, unexpected brother jumping, door slamming, etc) she'll scream for a good 10 minutes. She screamed so much the other day that she was dripping sweat down her face and there was nothing Greg or I could do to calm her down. I'm hoping this isn't a lifetime thing, but I do wonder when you notice specific personality traits and girl/boy differences. Each child is different, and when you look back you can see how each one was from a little baby, so I'm curious if this is one of those things we should note. If it is, I do wonder which side of the family to blame for it. Ha, ha!

Do We Dare??

Greg and I are avid campers. Or should I say were. B.C. That stands for Before Children. We own 3 tents, lanterns, percolating coffee maker, ultra-plush mummy bags good to 0*F and all the other paraphernalia that camping entails. We did plenty when we were first married, as well as many years of it in our single days. Well, I have to admit that I've had a bad habit for going camping and then pretending to sleep in the morning until I could hear coffee bubbling and bacon frying. I mean, who wants to get out of their warm sleeping bag to start a fire at the crack of dawn. My rule was "I'll go camping as long as I don't have to get up first in the morning". With the sun up and birds chirping as early as they do in the Alberta summer, you have to fake sleep for a while if you want to not get up first.

Since having children, we've had one disaster after another, starting with camping in AZ when L was a baby. Being an Arizona baby, he had few warm clothes (well, 1 warm clothing item, to clarify), and one hat. We went camping in northern AZ, and got up there, and it was getting chilly in the evening. I changed L into his 1 warm outfit, only to have him have a major diaper blowout minutes later. Hmm. Nothing else warm. Well, we layered his other stuff, but then I was concerned that he'd be cold all night since the 1 hat he owned was too small. I neglected to check that before we left too. So, as a new mom, I was up most of the night worried about this little guy, and was pretty tired by morning. (we sleep on an airbed, which is not a good choice for people with children, so I couldn't bring him in bed with us to stay warm, as the bed tends to get canyons in it that are impossible for babies to get out of safely) Oh, and did I mention that we were all loaded up in our 4 Runner ready to go, only to have it not run, so we had to unload everything into our other 4 Runner and then Greg and my brother had the joy of fixing the car when we got home. The only good part of the trip was that I had Greg and my brother watch L in the morning so I could get a couple hours of sleep, and they rigged up his carseat with some rope between 2 trees and made a wonderful swing for him. Necessity is the mother of invention they say.

The other times we've camped, we've had kids wake up many times a night because they would hit the side of the tent and the crinkling has woken them up. We had a toddler get dehydrated => crying all night because he was constipated, diaper leakage (again) with a whole wet bed to change...the list goes on.

But, I'm not willing to give up yet. Baby E sleeps quite well at night, so I asked my sweetie if he'd be willing to try camping again. He agreed, so we set up the tent in the back yard. Last weekend we had a very successful night sleeping out there, and last night was a success again. The kids wake up pretty early, since it gets light so early, but then take longer naps, so that is fine. We all feel refreshed from the fresh air, and then come in the house as needed. I'm hoping we can keep this up, and maybe someday even venture further than the driveway. Oh, the dreams...

Woodstove whereabouts

After

Before
It seems like we wait all winter for the rain to stop, and then when it does we pack it full of fun things, as well as the work that goes along. Since moving here, we've been looking for a woodstove to supplement our heat in our house. We've scoured craigslist and want ads frequently, but very few used stoves have been in our price range (most are almost new price) and they have to be certified for a manufactured home. So, after 3 years we finally found one out in Warrenton on a Friday afternoon. After calling the owner, we made plans to run out there (1 1/2 hour drive) and take a look. We get there, and it was in a bit worse condition than explained, but still doable. The owner had taken it out of his house last fall, and then nicely left it in the rain all winter. Steel + rain = plenty of rust. So, Greg and his friend G (who we brought along to help lift the thing if we bought it) talked the guy down a bit, gave him his cash and then lugged the stove into the back of our van. What a load, as G's girlfriend was along too, making it 7 people and a 300 lb stove with pipe. We then stopped in Astoria to see the boat G was going to be going tuna fishing on, and proceeded home. After all our visiting and whatnot, we arrived rather late, but we had our stove! Greg grinded most of the rust off, polished the brass, painted it, and now all we needed was a stovepipe and such to finish. Sounds simple, but it turned out more complex than planned as not all pipe is created or priced equal. We finally ended up getting it from Jeremy at Ace Hardware in Longview, where he gave Greg lots of information, confidence and also a great deal. He's actually the guy who we talked to a couple years ago, who gave us loads of info on what to look for in a stove, and we should have just gone there in the first place. But, always searching for a better deal, we shopped around...only to come back to him. Today Greg is cutting the whole in the roof, and hopefully will have it all hooked up by evening. I can't wait for winter when we can light a fire and watch it through the glass, flickering away with that warm glow. It should be paid for in less than a year of heat savings, so that is what we're especially excited about. Well...I CAN wait for winter, but am looking forward to using the stove. Now for the chainsaw. That's the next investment.

Summer fun

Today our company left (Grandpa & Grandma Somero). As I stood on the step watching them get their trailer ready, it made me sad to see them go, but also jealous because one of my favorite things to do is to get on the road early on a road trip. When the sun is just coming up, the air is still chilly and the birds are just starting to chirp. The traffic hasn't started yet, and it's just you and the open road. Stopping for breakfast a ways down the road adds to the pleasure as well as a hot cup of coffee in a travel mug. Love it, love it, love it. I remember being a kid and my dad carrying us kids out to the truck where he had made a bed with his fuzzy real sheepskin sleeping bag in the backseat (before seatbelts) and falling back asleep with the sound of the truck driving down the road. I hope my kids can have those kind of memories too, although they have to be snugly in their carseats instead.

So, we've had a busy couple weeks, with my parents here as well, Elise's baptism and running here, there and everywhere. I love this time, but with a little baby to tend to as well, I'm worn out. Today will be spent playing with kids, napping (hopefully) and tidying up from the aftermath. We aquired some bunkbeds and a woodstove off of craigslist also, so getting them in our house has created much of the chaos. The awesome weather makes it difficult to clean house when it's so nice outside, but I'm sure I'll get it done someday.

Off I go, to get on with the summer. As Greg mentioned last week, you have to try to make the most of summer while it's here by jam packing it full of fun, but if you do that, then it goes by too fast and winter is here too soon. If you relax and try to enjoy it, then you feel like you wasted all the good weather, and winter is here too soon also. Just can't win, so I guess I'll just go see what I can do to enjoy today.

My favorite pictures of Susan and Douglas

Oregon Coast, she went swimming in the ocean, no matter what the weather.

New Years Day, the year before he died.

Susan, myself, Kathryn (Lappi) Impola, Gretchen Johnson, Douglas (1998)

10 years....

Today it's been 10 years since my cousins, Susan (19) and Douglas (17) were taken up into heaven. I've been trying to collaborate in my head memories of them, as well as what I've learned by having them in my life, as well as what their death has taught me. I guess most of all, it taught me to be ready, should your life end today. Are you at peace with God? Is Jesus your Lord and Saviour? If not, learn about Him and His forgiveness and ask Him to be. The Bible says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28) There is many types of rest (a clean conscience, a peaceful life, trust in Someone other than yourself to care for your life) but most of all rest in the fact that you can go to heaven someday because of Jesus' death and resurrection on the cross. Your sins have been paid for, full and free.

A couple months before the kids died, we had been singing some hymns, and Susan mentioned that she'd like, "How Gladly I, My Place Have Taken" sung at her funeral. We all joked that how could we remember that request since it would be a good 60-80 years until then. Little did we know it would be a few short months away. But, sometimes things just don't work out the way we would hope or plan. God has a more perfect plan, although often we don't understand His ways until much later (if ever).

I guess I'm mostly thinking back to the time of the accident, when I was in North Dakota on my way back from our church conventions, full of hope and peace in the Lord after hearing so much from God's Word. We recieved news that the kids were not doing well (both were on ventilators) and time was likely short. We drove as fast as possible to get home, only to arrive hours after their lives had been taken away. I went with my sister and a couple cousins down to a 24 hour restaurant in Calgary (where we were staying, since that is where Susan and Douglas were in the hospital) so they could fill me in on the details of the past few days. We sat there and drank coffee and cried and reminisced for a few hours before heading back to the house where we were staying. On the walk, we all had tear stained faces, with the grim future ahead. It was pouring rain (which suited our moods), and as we were walking along the sidewalk, a car drove past through a big puddle, soaking us all thoroughly. There was nothing to do but laugh and laugh. Even in the grimest times, you can always find something to brighten the day. In a couple hours we would head to the hospital to find that Susan and Douglas had passed away peacefully...that their eternity had begun safe in the arms of Jesus.

I guess I do still wonder why they were taken from us, when their lives were so young and vibrant. But, I'm at peace with that. After their deaths, I cried many times a day for months, and learned one valuable thing that has carried me through other times. And that is that we can only rely on God. I (as I'm sure we all do) had relied on the strength of my family, my church, and my friends, but at this time in my life, they were all as weak as I since they had lost them too. I learned that nothing is sure in the world, and that God is the only thing that stays the same. That was huge. All the earthly supports help you, but they can't be God, nor can they have the stability that God gives. When I hit the lowest rock bottom, God was the only One who could pick me up. He knew where I was, when all the people I knew were floundering as much as I. He knew the hurt, the pain, the questions, the answers and led me where He wanted me to go, even though often I didn't know where to go or what to do. He gave me peace, when everything else screamed "why? why? why?" He brought me friends that I never knew existed. He brought me comfort whether it was day or night when I needed comfort. For this I am eternally grateful. He became my best friend, although I would have previously labelled Him a good friend. But I had never relied on Him wholly as I should have, and through this experience, had to. It taught me that the Bible and it's truths cannot be replaced by superficial things (worship, meetings, things that may try to add exitement to ones Christianity), and that the only thing worth having is peace in your heart which is peace with God. It saddens me to see many people trying to improve on Christ's redemptive work on the cross. That somehow we can add to that. That the "Faith of our Father's" isn't good enough, fun enough or user friendly enough. That many people blame the Church for problems, when often the problem is in their own soul. I'm so thankful that God has shown me these past 10 years, of His love, His forgiveness, His faithfulness, and that His mercies are neverending. What more could I want?