Serenity
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Baby/Life Update
by Grant
The girls are still doing well. Growing like weeds. Or grass if you water it. Which I don't. Because I don't want it to grow. The grass that is. I want the girls to grow. Today I was their sole caretaker for about six hours and they were on their best behavior. I actually got lonely for a bit. Haven't had that long without somebody to talk to. Yes, I talk to the babies but that's about like talking to a liberal. They make cute sounds back like they're trying to talk, but it's really just gibberish.
We've finally gotten the girls into a semi good routine. They're not really on the same schedule during the day, but at night Rebekah gets them in sync pretty darn well. One amusing anecdote: Rebekah discovered that if both the girls are hungry and crying, it's best to always feed Serenity first. If she takes turns (which she has been doing for months) Liberty will stop eating because Serenity is crying. So, feed Serenity first and she'll be quiet at least. Then feed liberty. Seems to be working well.
Rebekah watched 6 kids (our 2 boys and 4 of her sister's) so her sister and her husband (her sister's husband... not me) could go on their anniversary date. Worked out pretty well Rebekah said. That's why I was watching the girls by my lonesome.
Ok, we haven't been taking as many pictures but we do have a few that haven't made it onto the blog.
Happy Serenity
The Fam
Serenity and Liberty (more pics @ the photobucket site)
The girls are still doing well. Growing like weeds. Or grass if you water it. Which I don't. Because I don't want it to grow. The grass that is. I want the girls to grow. Today I was their sole caretaker for about six hours and they were on their best behavior. I actually got lonely for a bit. Haven't had that long without somebody to talk to. Yes, I talk to the babies but that's about like talking to a liberal. They make cute sounds back like they're trying to talk, but it's really just gibberish.
We've finally gotten the girls into a semi good routine. They're not really on the same schedule during the day, but at night Rebekah gets them in sync pretty darn well. One amusing anecdote: Rebekah discovered that if both the girls are hungry and crying, it's best to always feed Serenity first. If she takes turns (which she has been doing for months) Liberty will stop eating because Serenity is crying. So, feed Serenity first and she'll be quiet at least. Then feed liberty. Seems to be working well.
Rebekah watched 6 kids (our 2 boys and 4 of her sister's) so her sister and her husband (her sister's husband... not me) could go on their anniversary date. Worked out pretty well Rebekah said. That's why I was watching the girls by my lonesome.
Ok, we haven't been taking as many pictures but we do have a few that haven't made it onto the blog.
Happy Serenity
The Fam
Serenity and Liberty (more pics @ the photobucket site)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Fun with Trials and Tribulations
by Grant
I think when miserable and arduous events come into our lives we should learn to have fun with them. Heck, if you know where soul is going after you turn into worm food then you should have a pretty good perspective. Unfortunately, we (me) tend to be annoyed (at best) or traumatized into a nervous breakdown (close to worst but not the worst). I think one universal tendency of all homo-sapiens (no that's not a bad word) is to wonder, "Why oh, Why????"
Yeah, don't go there. God doesn't (typically) make it really obvious why you are suffering. I've known two youngish people from our church (about 20 members) that suffered and died in the past couple years. Both affected me pretty hard (harder than I expected). I have one good friend who is having horrible problems with her young adult son who I know is a good kid. I have another friend that is suffering from crippling depression. What does this tell you? Don't be friends with me. But seriously, I don't know why these things have happened to these people. But I can posit some reasons that may not show up now, but possibly years down the road.
1. God is trying to get your attention. Whether you believe in him or not, he believes in you.Trite phrase but true. God gives you opportunities to accept his son as your personal savior. Ignore him at your perile.
2. God is going to use this experience to increase other's faith in him by how he provides YOU grace through *_insert miserable thingy here_*
3. God is going to grow your faith in him by making you trust him versus your super powerful (Not!) self.
4. God wants you to be able to help others through their similar trials
Ok, say your're an abject heathen. Either atheist (silly wabbit) or agnostic (lazy wabbit). Well, you can trim some of the God stuff out of my points and still find a bit of value, but admittedly it's a lot weaker. So, just get with the program. If you can't look out the window at a beautiful sunset (or analyze the amazing intricacies of the human eye) and admit to yourself that evolution is a bunch of hooey then there is pretty much no hope for you. If you do admit that there is something behind this creation (AKA God) then I can lay out some. reasons why my God is the only real one (and no, Buddha He is not).
P.S. Yes my hands still hurt like the dickens (not sure what a dickens is or how it hurts but it seems bad).
I think when miserable and arduous events come into our lives we should learn to have fun with them. Heck, if you know where soul is going after you turn into worm food then you should have a pretty good perspective. Unfortunately, we (me) tend to be annoyed (at best) or traumatized into a nervous breakdown (close to worst but not the worst). I think one universal tendency of all homo-sapiens (no that's not a bad word) is to wonder, "Why oh, Why????"
Yeah, don't go there. God doesn't (typically) make it really obvious why you are suffering. I've known two youngish people from our church (about 20 members) that suffered and died in the past couple years. Both affected me pretty hard (harder than I expected). I have one good friend who is having horrible problems with her young adult son who I know is a good kid. I have another friend that is suffering from crippling depression. What does this tell you? Don't be friends with me. But seriously, I don't know why these things have happened to these people. But I can posit some reasons that may not show up now, but possibly years down the road.
1. God is trying to get your attention. Whether you believe in him or not, he believes in you.Trite phrase but true. God gives you opportunities to accept his son as your personal savior. Ignore him at your perile.
2. God is going to use this experience to increase other's faith in him by how he provides YOU grace through *_insert miserable thingy here_*
3. God is going to grow your faith in him by making you trust him versus your super powerful (Not!) self.
4. God wants you to be able to help others through their similar trials
Ok, say your're an abject heathen. Either atheist (silly wabbit) or agnostic (lazy wabbit). Well, you can trim some of the God stuff out of my points and still find a bit of value, but admittedly it's a lot weaker. So, just get with the program. If you can't look out the window at a beautiful sunset (or analyze the amazing intricacies of the human eye) and admit to yourself that evolution is a bunch of hooey then there is pretty much no hope for you. If you do admit that there is something behind this creation (AKA God) then I can lay out some. reasons why my God is the only real one (and no, Buddha He is not).
P.S. Yes my hands still hurt like the dickens (not sure what a dickens is or how it hurts but it seems bad).
Friday, June 15, 2007
Pain in the membrane
by Grant
I've been having some very irritating pain so I've been trying to limit any extra-curricular computer usage. Typing especially is a bit hard on my hands. But I wanted to post a couple things.
One: Kids continuously amaze me. Or at least, my kids do. Your kids are probably pretty boring, right? Forrest is so incredibly sweet at times. Polite and apologetic. Very appreciative. I spose a lot of that is what mood he's in. He's been calling things beautiful and no matter how many times I hear him say something is "beautiful" I can't help but smile. Titus is a charmer just standing there. He's not quite the talker, but he makes up for it with his perpetual smile and platinum hair. And of course, all babies are cute. Well, not really, but we have to pretend right?
Two: The good old days. Who out there hasn't pined for the days of yore? When life was simpler and you didn't have to run around to Wal-Mart and pick up a USB cable for your printer so you could print the Church's bulletin out? When Childbirth was the number one killer of women and death by fires was number 2. When things like diabetes and polio took lives. When fear of nuclear immolation was a daily concern. When if needed vision correction you had to wear glasses and mar your natural beauty. When, When, well... Let's just all be grateful for the advances that have been made that improve our daily life and try to ignore the evils of the modern world such as minivans, cell phone talkers, extended minivans, mary kay cosmetics, and commercials.
Three: (officially more than a couple) The evils of any hospital visit are starting to come due. The bill for Rebekah was over 20k (she spent time in antepartum and the OR). Our insurance paid 80% of it, but that still leaves us with over $5000 that the hospital wants paid off in 15 months or less. That's way more than what we can afford. Two babies plus another kid still in diapers is really hurting our budget. But, it could be worse. If that's all we have to pay it'll be incredible.
I've been having some very irritating pain so I've been trying to limit any extra-curricular computer usage. Typing especially is a bit hard on my hands. But I wanted to post a couple things.
One: Kids continuously amaze me. Or at least, my kids do. Your kids are probably pretty boring, right? Forrest is so incredibly sweet at times. Polite and apologetic. Very appreciative. I spose a lot of that is what mood he's in. He's been calling things beautiful and no matter how many times I hear him say something is "beautiful" I can't help but smile. Titus is a charmer just standing there. He's not quite the talker, but he makes up for it with his perpetual smile and platinum hair. And of course, all babies are cute. Well, not really, but we have to pretend right?
Two: The good old days. Who out there hasn't pined for the days of yore? When life was simpler and you didn't have to run around to Wal-Mart and pick up a USB cable for your printer so you could print the Church's bulletin out? When Childbirth was the number one killer of women and death by fires was number 2. When things like diabetes and polio took lives. When fear of nuclear immolation was a daily concern. When if needed vision correction you had to wear glasses and mar your natural beauty. When, When, well... Let's just all be grateful for the advances that have been made that improve our daily life and try to ignore the evils of the modern world such as minivans, cell phone talkers, extended minivans, mary kay cosmetics, and commercials.
Three: (officially more than a couple) The evils of any hospital visit are starting to come due. The bill for Rebekah was over 20k (she spent time in antepartum and the OR). Our insurance paid 80% of it, but that still leaves us with over $5000 that the hospital wants paid off in 15 months or less. That's way more than what we can afford. Two babies plus another kid still in diapers is really hurting our budget. But, it could be worse. If that's all we have to pay it'll be incredible.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Life 'n stuff
by Grant
Well, Serenity is doing pretty well considering she does have an infection. I guess the official diagnosis is it's a urinary tract infection and they prescribed liquid antibiotics for two weeks. But she's been a good sport. A smiley little girl even when she doesn't feel very well. It was funny in a sad way to talk to her and she'd smile a bit and then cry. Talk some more and she'd smile and then cry. But, like I said, she's doing better.
I found out today that a couple people that I know at work have immediate family members that are in the hospital @ 29 weeks with babies that want to come out. That's roughly the same time as our little ones ex uteroed. So, if you think about it you might pray for them as well. One Mom to be is named Nicole and the other's last name is baker (she is a Mrs. w/ other munchkins).
Liberty is a little sweetheart and Rebekah said that a sure-fire way to figure out which baby is which is to cover up their heads with blankets. Serenity thinks it's funny but Liberty not so much. Last night I saw them both that way and it was pretty amusing how they reacted differently. I'm not sure if my wife was being deliberately mean, or if Liberty just happened to cover herself up at the same time Serenity was.
Got some other stuff to put on here. Some of it is probably only interesting to technical members of my family. Some of it's pics. Some of it's neither. But ya gotta spread this stuff out sometimes. Don't want to overwhelm anybody with too much vitriol in one day.
BTW, if there are typos in my blog feel free to point them out, but blogs are "stream of conciousness" writing. This is NOT english class and I'm not writing a thesis.
Well, Serenity is doing pretty well considering she does have an infection. I guess the official diagnosis is it's a urinary tract infection and they prescribed liquid antibiotics for two weeks. But she's been a good sport. A smiley little girl even when she doesn't feel very well. It was funny in a sad way to talk to her and she'd smile a bit and then cry. Talk some more and she'd smile and then cry. But, like I said, she's doing better.
I found out today that a couple people that I know at work have immediate family members that are in the hospital @ 29 weeks with babies that want to come out. That's roughly the same time as our little ones ex uteroed. So, if you think about it you might pray for them as well. One Mom to be is named Nicole and the other's last name is baker (she is a Mrs. w/ other munchkins).
Liberty is a little sweetheart and Rebekah said that a sure-fire way to figure out which baby is which is to cover up their heads with blankets. Serenity thinks it's funny but Liberty not so much. Last night I saw them both that way and it was pretty amusing how they reacted differently. I'm not sure if my wife was being deliberately mean, or if Liberty just happened to cover herself up at the same time Serenity was.
Got some other stuff to put on here. Some of it is probably only interesting to technical members of my family. Some of it's pics. Some of it's neither. But ya gotta spread this stuff out sometimes. Don't want to overwhelm anybody with too much vitriol in one day.
BTW, if there are typos in my blog feel free to point them out, but blogs are "stream of conciousness" writing. This is NOT english class and I'm not writing a thesis.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Serenity Update
by Grant
I'm sure some of you out there have been praying for our little girl. Yesterday scared me a little because (long story short) they said that they saw something suspicious in her urine and we had to take her back right away to get a shot. Suspicious huh? Short on details, long on panicking us poor parents. The Dr. is concerned that Serenity has an infection. Bladder or Kidney most likely. Serenity is doing better since the shot thankfully, but we don't know yet what her diagnosis is. We should find that out tomorrow. Right now I am staying home with her and Forrest while Rebekah goes to Church w/ Titus and Liberty. Division of labor, equality and all that.
I thought I would post some more stuff, but the more typing I do, the more my wrists and arms hurt (carpal-tunnel problems) so I guess I'll leave it at that.
I'm sure some of you out there have been praying for our little girl. Yesterday scared me a little because (long story short) they said that they saw something suspicious in her urine and we had to take her back right away to get a shot. Suspicious huh? Short on details, long on panicking us poor parents. The Dr. is concerned that Serenity has an infection. Bladder or Kidney most likely. Serenity is doing better since the shot thankfully, but we don't know yet what her diagnosis is. We should find that out tomorrow. Right now I am staying home with her and Forrest while Rebekah goes to Church w/ Titus and Liberty. Division of labor, equality and all that.
I thought I would post some more stuff, but the more typing I do, the more my wrists and arms hurt (carpal-tunnel problems) so I guess I'll leave it at that.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Sick Serenity
by Grant
Much to our dismay, Serenity has come down with something. It has caused a high fever. She's had a fever all day and although Rebekah has been giving her baby Tylenol, it never went down but rather stayed steady at 101. This evening it was at 102.5 so we called the pediatrician and she recommended giving her 2 ml of ibuprofen as well. Right now she's doing well, but it's always scary when a young child is sick. It's even more scary when it's a baby. Scarier yet if they are/were preemies.
In other news, the developmental chick (yes, that's her official job title) said that the babies are on schedule but we need to put them on their tummies more and also give them some practice grabbing stuff (as if my chest hair wasn't enough).
So far Liberty is fine. In fact Rebekah was making silly faces at her and Liberty was laughing. Pretty amusing to hear a baby laugh. It sounds almost like croaking.
Much to our dismay, Serenity has come down with something. It has caused a high fever. She's had a fever all day and although Rebekah has been giving her baby Tylenol, it never went down but rather stayed steady at 101. This evening it was at 102.5 so we called the pediatrician and she recommended giving her 2 ml of ibuprofen as well. Right now she's doing well, but it's always scary when a young child is sick. It's even more scary when it's a baby. Scarier yet if they are/were preemies.
In other news, the developmental chick (yes, that's her official job title) said that the babies are on schedule but we need to put them on their tummies more and also give them some practice grabbing stuff (as if my chest hair wasn't enough).
So far Liberty is fine. In fact Rebekah was making silly faces at her and Liberty was laughing. Pretty amusing to hear a baby laugh. It sounds almost like croaking.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Personalities
by Grant
As the girls get older, they seem to definitely be exhibiting different personality types. (what a bold statement. "seem" and "definitely" both). Of course, I reserve the right to be completely wrong. Serenity, against all odds, actually seems to be living up to her name. I would characterize her as a type B personality. She sleeps better, needs less comforting and generally eats better too. Liberty on the other hand is much less easily consoled. When she gets upset she generally needs her mother--no other woman will do. She wakes up in the middle of the night more frequently. Definitely working on type A. Now, while this is "cute" it begs the question: Why are they different? Those of you who have seen the heathen film "Trading Places" (no, not trading spaces you women out there. It's not that silly show on HGTV) should know that there is a difference of opinions regarding what truly forms who you are. Nature (your genes) or Nurture (how you are raised). Now, obviously they both play a significant factor, but what if the nature (genes) are identical and nurture (how they are being raised/reared) is basically identical? What is that wild-card that makes them different? What is that X-Factor? What is that, uhm, unknown thingy? I submit to you that it is their souls. Why should nature and nurture be the only things that help define who you are? Why should your immortal soul just be this thingy you have that doesn't die but serves no other real purpose? Why I ask you? hmm? hmm? I thought so. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Unless you have asthma or emphysema. In which case, just pretend you're smoking but don't light anything.
As the girls get older, they seem to definitely be exhibiting different personality types. (what a bold statement. "seem" and "definitely" both). Of course, I reserve the right to be completely wrong. Serenity, against all odds, actually seems to be living up to her name. I would characterize her as a type B personality. She sleeps better, needs less comforting and generally eats better too. Liberty on the other hand is much less easily consoled. When she gets upset she generally needs her mother--no other woman will do. She wakes up in the middle of the night more frequently. Definitely working on type A. Now, while this is "cute" it begs the question: Why are they different? Those of you who have seen the heathen film "Trading Places" (no, not trading spaces you women out there. It's not that silly show on HGTV) should know that there is a difference of opinions regarding what truly forms who you are. Nature (your genes) or Nurture (how you are raised). Now, obviously they both play a significant factor, but what if the nature (genes) are identical and nurture (how they are being raised/reared) is basically identical? What is that wild-card that makes them different? What is that X-Factor? What is that, uhm, unknown thingy? I submit to you that it is their souls. Why should nature and nurture be the only things that help define who you are? Why should your immortal soul just be this thingy you have that doesn't die but serves no other real purpose? Why I ask you? hmm? hmm? I thought so. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Unless you have asthma or emphysema. In which case, just pretend you're smoking but don't light anything.
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