Adventure finding a park

Friday morning we decided to get out of the house and find a nearby park. The Tucson Parks and Recreation website listed 2 that were close, One was 0.5 blocks and looked to be 8 blocks straight up from our house, the other was listed as 0.6 miles away and was a few blocks further and off the main street from us.
We gathered snacks, water, juice, applied sunscreen and decided to 'walk' (am I crazy? yes for sure). It was interesting seeing cactus up close and the cute adobe homes. The kids were counting the blocks and when we reached number 8 and then 9 with no park in sight, I got nervous pulled out my cell phone and called Loren at work. He pulled up the site and then Mapquest. The website was WRONG, the park they listed as 0.5 miles from us was really 3 miles away according to Mapquest. Oh boy, mutiny was starting among the natives! We decide to head toward the other park which meant heading further east and backtracking a couple blocks. Loren suggested heading to a further park which was another 4 blocks away and crossing a major road, NO WAY with 4 kids. I'm asking myself, Why in the world didn't I just get the van out of the garage, having to fold the mirrors in so the van doesn't scrape the door of the garage seems minor now.
We reached the other park which was at a school and guess what, there is a camp going on and every exit we find is locked. I have some very unhappy children. Rebecca, who's been happily sleeping in her sling, wakes up and is hungry, we finally find a shaded picnic table, we rest and have our snack and I nurse Rebecca. We continue around the school and the last exit is unlocked, I let the children play for 10-15 minutes, but it is now 11:00 and we have a long walk home. I promised Popsicles when we got home. It took 30 minutes to walk home, with lots of stops in the shade for water. Cynthia keeps reminding me that next time we go exploring we need to take the van. I agree.

We've arrived in Arizona

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated this, so much for good intentions of writing everyday.



We have embarked on a new adventure for the summer and are living in Arizona. It truly is a different heat than Mississippi. I couldn't believe we were outside at sunset and 92 felt like the 70's.



I'll be posting pictures or links to albums as we explore our new city and as our new addition grows. (Blogger image upload is not working for me right now.)



I can hardly believe Rebecca is 7 weeks today. She is grinning and responding in such cute ways right now. Rebecca was born April 19, 2007 and weighed 8 lb 10 oz and was 20 inches long. She was born at home, we had a birth pool and Loren was the one who caught her. The midwife was right there too of course. This home birth was the most amazing experience, I kept thinking this really isn't labor, it's too easy. There was a time at the end that I wanted to go to the hospital but my support group talked me through it and then I called my mom. Rebecca was born with the next set of contractions. Afterwards I told Loren it felt like I was Goldilocks trying out different positions and rooms trying to find the just right spot.

Try this link to see pictures or email me. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6anu5un.2vgochuf&x=0&y=-dthump

Thrown in a Pit

Our SAHM Bible Study is reading the Book "Get Out of That Pit" by Beth Moore. There are different ways to get in a pit one of which is being thrown in. On Sunday, I felt like someone threw me in a pit. I felt disrespected for the position I held and definitely not validated for the job I'd been doing. Excuse me but you want me to add work to my schedule with a baby due within the next 9 weeks, I don't have the time or energy to do that. Part of me wants to hold onto my right to be upset, hey I even had emails going back to December describing the process that was going to take place. Like that's happening now. In the meeting I felt I was told to shut up, this is the way we decided it is going to happen, too bad if you don't like it. If I hold onto my feelings of being wronged I'm choosing to stay in the pit. I'm not going to let them keep me there. It would be hurting myself and they don't even care. I have chosen to forgive.
The question remains though how in the world am I going to get out of doing the extra work they expect from the position without it seeming like I'm reacting to their decision? I honestly can not do what they want from me now, not without sacrificing my children and my health.

Yarn arrives

My yarn arrived!!! Oh Happy Day!! The Briggs and Little yarn order arrived in just under 2 weeks from ordering and McAusland's took 3 1/2 weeks to arrive. Both were mailed the same day through the post office, you just never know how long a package from Canada to Mississippi will take.
With my crazy month I haven't even had time to sit and enjoy my yarn. I've been planning projects in my mind though, if I have any sanity left that... it's debatable... my yarn daydreaming may have saved it.
On the needles right now is a Diamond pattern double knit pair of mittens.

What a month

Wow, things definitely have piled on and made an interesting month so far. I can use some calmness.
Let's see, hmm... this is what I remember happening so far
Middle son placed a popcorn kernel in his ear, (did you know the TV was too loud and he didn't want to hear it). Thankfully his ear produces lots of wax and it came out a couple hours later. If I could have a picture of myself following the doctor's suggestion of vacuuming out his ear. I can laugh now but it wasn't funny then.
Then youngest son gagged on a snack before Supper and later that night started breathing funny. The steamy shower didn't work and he got worse so we made a visit to the ER. Closest hospital was 5 minutes away and my baby boy's feet were blue. They gave him O2 and because of him gagging we ended up transferring to the Children's hospital. Husband and baby went in the ambulance and I went home with our other 2 children. I'm so thankful for good neighbors! At 4:35 I called our neighbor across the street who came over and I was in the new ER by 5:20.
My baby was admitted to the hospital for observation. They thought it was just a viral croup attack but he wasn't running any fever and didn't have a cold. Xray's didn't show any obstruction to his airways but they had to rule that out before he could eat or drink anything.
That part was torture. How do you tell a 2 yr old he can't eat? He did sleep a lot after the steroid treatments but when he was awake he hated the O2 mask and the IV.
I spent the second night with him (I had had 3 hours of sleep in 48 hours by that point and was 29 weeks pregnant) in the hospital, he kept waking up and trying to pull out his IV so I took him out of the crib and laid him on the cot beside me. He grabbed my shirt collar and held on and was finally able to sleep. Well, at least get a bit of sleep between the vital checks. If I hadn't been so tired I would have laughed at the nurse who was scolding me for not getting enough rest... umm excuse me but she just woke me up putting the blood pressure cuff on my son.
We left the hospital Thursday morning and that afternoon middle son is running a 103 fever. Doctor announces it is a GI virus, great, wonderful, when am I supposed to get some rest?
Thankfully oldest daughter remained well and everyone in the house is now healthy.