A doozy of an update!

6 months.. its been 6 months since my last update.  A lot has happened in 6 months, a lot of good.. and of course some bad.  But we're here.  A half a year later, I'm back!  And its a doozy.  Have lots of free time before you start.

My last post was January 5th.  Who would have thought that just a week & a half later would be the scariest moment this mom has ever experienced.

I'm not going to go into a lot of details of the who's & what's of the experience, but as many of you know in January Jameson became very sick with the croup.  Yes, the croup.  You know, that thing when you cough & someone asks if you're okay, and you reply with "ahh, its just the croup."  Well, let Jameson be a reminder that its NEVER "just the croup." 

A little info (& I'm no DR of RN, so bear with me):  the croup is swelling around the vocal chords causing difficulty breathing.  It causes that "barking" cough you may associate with it.  An infant should take around 30-40 breaths a minute, Jameson was taking around 70, causing his body to work twice as hard & we didn't know when/if his little body was going to give up, causing concern.

Anyway, after a weekend of seeing doctors, giving around the clock medicine, doing everything imaginable we could for him, we take him to the doctor for 3rd time on Tuesday, January 17th and finally find out its serious. Beyond serious actually. We were sent straight to the hospital & 7 nurses immediately begin to work on him as soon as we walk in the doors.  You talk about a scary moment for a Mom to stand back & watch & not be able to help when her 9 month old baby is laying on the table screaming at the top of his lungs while trying to catch a breath, any breath.  After shots & treatments, nothing was working.  (And the tears are rolling even as I type this).

We were faced with the decision to transfer him to Johnson City's Children's Hospital.  Due to the crazy thunderstorms we were having that day, he couldn't be taken by flight.  This caused even more problems.  The decision about who could take him by ambulance, was he going to make it there all came into play.  The decision was finally made to intubate him (put the tube in his throat & conduct his breathing for him) and a specialty pediatric team from Johnson City came to get him.

We arrived & the doctors were able to get his breathing under control enough to take the tube out.  We spent a week in Pediatric ICU with around the clock treatment.  He was having breathing treatments every hour, medicine, oxygen, the works.  He wasn't allowed to eat due to everything he was on, so we just sat there with him, rocked him, & prayed like crazy.

In the end, he made a quick turn-around & we were able to bring him home (something I was beyond terrified to do.  As tired as I was & ready to get home, I was so scared leaving that hospital without the doctors, nurses, and emergency buttons to rely on).  He recovered quickly, but we spent weeks getting him off that schedule of waking up EVERY HOUR for treatments.  Oh my.  We were already exhausted from the stress & hospital stay, but to have to wake up EVERY HOUR with our baby that was terrified every time he woke up was hard.  I know, I know.  I tried to remember to count my blessings that he was home, he was well.. but it was still hard.

Okay, enough of this.  That was pretty much January.

February we spent trying to get back to "normal."  As many of you know, I was pregnant with our 3rd child at this time, morning sickness still haunted me every day, multiple times a day.  We were trying to get back into the routine of Olivia's Library school & gymnastics, & Brandon working like crazy.  Did we do anything "over-the-top"? No, but February was still busy.

March was our "vacation" month.  The first week we took the kids to Orlando to the beach & to Disney.  It was absolutely a blast.  I've heard some arguments on how you should take your kids to Disney when they still young enough to "believe" in it, & then how you should take them when they're older when they can remember it.  Well, seeing Olivia's face as we walked through the park definitely makes me vote for the first choice.  Wow!  Both kids enjoyed it, but Olivia is the perfect age to LOVE it & BELIEVE in it.  Her reaction to the characters was so sweet, & its a trip she still talks about almost every day.  We also spent some time that week taking the kids to the beach.  I'm surprised Florida has any sand left since Jameson ate a large portion of it.  The only downfall to the trip was that it was just us.  Sounds crazy, right? Let me explain.  2 small children, a wife 8 months pregnant still battling morning sickness.. feeling sorry for Brandon yet? haha!  It was tiring.  We shouldn't even call it a vacation.  There was no relaxing to it.  But it was fun, we made memories, we learned a lot of "we'll do this next time we come," & we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We'll just take some extra hands with us next time.

April is the busiest month in the Bevins household.  There is not a more important month than April for us.  We started out with party day on the 7th.  Olivia & Jameson celebrated with a simple "Thing 1, Thing 2" party.  We tried to downsize, keep it very simple.  I didn't have a lot of strength to do a lot since I was battling a tough pregnancy, & (for the second year in a row) throwing a party while 9 months pregnant.  But did the kids notice? Of course not.  They enjoyed it.  And seeing their faces made me enjoy it.  They're my whole world & I love making them feel special - something I hope I accomplished on this day, as well as something I try to do everyday.

The next day was Easter.  So after that weekend, we were exhausted.  But was April's festivities over yet? Heck No!

April 10th, we celebrated Olivia's 3rd birthday.  I took Olivia to get her haircut for the very first time.  Yes, 3 years old & she's just now getting her hair trimmed for the first time.  She was so excited.  We finished the day with cake & presents.

April 13th was Brandon's birthday.  We went to Reno's to celebrate the night.

April 15th was Jameson's 1st birthday.  We made it a year.  I couldn't believe it.  Jameson has been my little buddy, such a sweet natured baby.  After what we went through in January, this day made us remember to celebrate a little extra.

Whew!! We made it through Bevin's birthday week.  You'd think we were home free, right?  Of course not.  We were still anxiously waiting for the arrival of our 3rd baby any day now.  And we still didn't know if it was a boy or girl.

Finally, on April 24th my water broke.  At 1:27pm, we welcomed a boy, Christian Ryan Bevins into the world.  What a blessing!  You'd think as much as I've been through labor in the last 3 years, it would be "just another day" to me, but its not.  We didn't plan, expect, try for this baby.  He came against all odds, he put us through some of our hardest moments (ie: when mom's down, the house falls apart. we found this out too many times.)  But he was here.  At 8 pounds & 19 inches, Christian was here in our arms, and every day I thank God for this unplanned blessing.

May & June has been nothing but what Brandon & I call "survival."  At the end of the day, if we're all fed, semi-clean, & no ER trips, that's a VERY successful day.  Because when you have a 3 year old, a 1 year old, & a newborn, nothing else matters in the world but these 3 little hearts looking at me for guidance, comfort, food, necessities, but most of all... love.  I've stated many times lately how God absolutely did NOT design my hands for 3 children, but he most certainly designed my heart for 3.

So I'll finish out this blog post with the 2 questions I get day in & day out.

1)  Am I done?  Oh mercy, if I had a penny, just one penny, for every time I've gotten this question.  Its unreal, unfathomable, how many people are just curious to know.  Here's the answer.  I DON'T KNOW.  Only God knows if he'll ever send more children our way.  I'm 24 years old, to make such an important, life changing decision to do something permanent is unthinkable to me.  (I completely understand its the right choice for many even younger, not a thing wrong with it).  But being so young, I'm not ready to say "NEVER".  Do I want any more children in the next 5 to 10 years, good Lord NO.  Will I want children after 5 or 10 years.. maybe not.  If the Lord says I'm done, Amen. He's blessed me beyond measure.  If He says He's not done with us yet, well... we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  Random:  Am I pulling a Duggar on leaving all of our chances up to God?  Well, that's a question you'll just have to keep wondering since this is a blog & that's definitely TMI. hahahahaha! :)

AND

2)  What's it like at home with 3 so young?  Its incredible.  Its hard, there's plenty of moments that I just wanted to sit in a corner & cry.  There's been a few times that I thought that if this was a paying job, I'd so quit because there's not enough money in the world for this stress.  But its truly the most incredible feeling at the end of the day when I go to each of their beds to check on them while they sleep.  I know in this economy I am truly a blessed momma that 1) I chose to stay home and 2) I'm able to stay home.  The kids have had to learn to wait sometimes (again, my hands are not made for 3).  Sometimes in the 3 minutes of peace I get each day, I have to make the critical decision:  Do I eat, sleep, or pee in peace.  You can only choose one, and that's never an easy decision.  But as each day passes, we're able to find more of a routine.  Since Christian's arrival, I think I've even found myself being a better mom/housewife.  Olivia & I do more crafts, I cook more meals, I take moments to enjoy Jameson's laugh, I sit in the floor with them (because let's be honest, I'm just too tired to stand any longer, haha), I play, I crank out the laundry 24/7 because if I don't, you can't catch up, I rock Christian to sleep & kiss his fat little cheeks over & over, and when Daddy's home, I try to sit & enjoy the moment with him.  Especially at night when all 3 babies are sleeping & its just us on the couch.  We enjoy the silence, we enjoy TV shows that does not start out with the Disney Jr. song, we enjoy eating the junk food & not feel guilty because we don't want to share.  I truly find myself enjoying "the moments" more instead of being "mommy robot" & trying to accomplish my list.  Although I'm still "list oriented," life isn't about lists.  Its about the moments, & the good & bad, I'm soaking up them all. That is what my life is like at home.

I hope you all have enjoyed.  I hope I've not bored you too much.  And I hope to get back to blogging in all of the free time I have now-days. hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Happy Weekend!

Courageous

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell:  but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

Last night I finished reading the book Courageous.  I've heard all about how good the movie is, but I wanted to read the book before I watched it.  What an inspirational story, especially to those trying to raise children in today's times.

As it was approaching 2am last night & I was on my final pages when a line from the book stuck out like it was a golden rule.  "While so many mothers have sacrificed to help their children survive, they were never intended to carry the weight alone."  I bet I read this line 10 times before I moved on, each time more meaningful than before.  I find it so powerful & moving as a mother, I can only imagine how I would feel if I were reading it as a father.  It takes a man and woman to create a child, why wouldn't it take a man and woman to raise a child.  In the world today, mother's are usually "expected" to take care of the children while fathers are given the "option" to take care of children.  Now I have to say there are tons of single mothers & single fathers raising children and I give them HUGE props.  Its not easy to do with two parents, I can't even imagine how hard it is with one.  But I believe the ideal (not always realistic) circumstance for any child is an involved mother and an involved father.

But anyway, back to what I was saying.  I think I was moved by this one specific line so much for two reasons.  #1 There I was laying next to my husband who inspires me everyday.  He's not the guy who wakes me up in the middle of the night because a child is crying & needs something, he's the guy that rushes to the child to see what they need & what he can do to help.  He doesn't get first in line at dinner & devour his meal while Mom juggles to feed the kids, he takes a few minutes & feeds a child so Mom can have her first warm meal of the day.  Even as young as our children are, he spends time talking with our kids, learning about them, participating in things they like to do, but most importantly of them all, he takes time out of his busy day to teach them about the Lord, a task he has never taken lightly.  Although I come across as the one who runs the household, he truly remains Head of Household in keeping our aim on one focus - to serve the Lord.

And #2.  I couldn't help but to think of my own Dad.  All the things he sacrificed, how hard he worked over the years, how stern he was not because he wanted to be, because as a father he had to be (sure, I see that now.  didn't appreciate it much growing up though :)).  My parents did not have much starting out, but they've worked hard & God has blessed them through the last 32 1/2 years.  They knew about God, but didn't accept the Lord into their hearts until I was older.  Meaning I saw life before and after Christ in our lives, & I wouldn't turn back for anything.  My parents have shown us what a strong marriage & good parenting look like, & I hope I can now show those same things to my children each & every day.

The book Courageous is a blessing & I would highly recommend it to anyone, with kids or without.  I got more than just one line out of this book, I got 300+ pages of the Lord speaking to my heart & I hope with each passing day, he keeps molding my life & heart into what he wants me to be.  We've got a long way to go to be where we want to be, but I have no doubt by keeping the Lord in our hearts, we're heading in the right direction.

Many blessings to you & yours!
Happy Thursday. :)

Happy 2012!!!

Hello all!  It seems I've taken a few months from the blogging life.  But be ready, I'm back to catch up.

I feel like we've not done a lot to really discuss, but in fact, we've been gone or super busy every chance.  Warning:  This post will be a mixture of random thoughts & catch up of daily life, but it will most definitely be long.

My last post announced a big surprise - we're pregnant with our third child due in late April.  About a week after the announcement came the scare of a lifetime.  We had a warm, sunny Saturday in October with plans of taking the kids to the pumpkin patch.  We made the drive, stopped for lunch, & walk into the pumpkin patch.  We were not there for more than two minutes when it happens, I start bleeding.  I'm not talking light spotting, I'm talking buckets, soaking through clothes & no stopping it kind of bleeding.  As a pregnant woman still in her first trimester & seeing that kind of blood, I wasn't expecting good news.  We throw the kids in the car, made a mad dash to the hospital, prayed like crazy, & finally received the most wonderful news that our little baby was just fine.  There was a tear in the placenta & the bleeding was around the baby.  It was urgent we get the bleeding to stop, but we both should be fine.  I stayed two nights in the hospital, was on complete bedrest for the first day (not fun, let me tell you), restricted bedrest for the next few days, & restricted activity for about a month.  I tried my best to follow doctors orders, I know its necessary for our little baby's health.  However, you can't tell a stay-at-home mom with children two & under that you can't lift your kids.  So I took it easy when I could, kids climbed when they could, & we made it work.  I'm all healed up & no scares since.

The night after I got out of the hospital, we were back in the ER.  Olivia fell & cut open a place on her face.  She received five stitches, but never once shed a tear.  No one could believe it.  She left a happy gal with a popcicle in hand.

October also included a trip to Disney on Ice, the Circus, a Halloween party at Library School, carving pumpkins, & of course Trick-or-Treating Halloween night.  My little Abby Cadabby & Elmo looked too cute in their costumes.  October also ended with Jameson started crawling.  Where did my little baby go?!!

November didn't slow down much either.  We traveled to D.C. for a night to help babysit my nephew, Jonathan.  Brandon was able to go so we got to test the waters with three.  I've determined we'll have no problem with three if Brandon could quit his job & us both stay home all the time. But I haven't determined how we'll keep the lights on & food stocked.  Still working on that one.  We rushed home because Election Day was the next day & we couldn't miss voting for Mamaw.

Thanksgiving Day came & brought plenty of yummy food with it.  We started the morning watching the Macy's Day Parade (a new favorite for Olivia) & eating french toast in the shape of turkeys.  We always have lunch at Brandon's parents & dinner at my parents.  People wonder if we get tired of eating the same food all day, but we don't.  Turkey & all the trimmings is not a meal we have often, & to have two great meals twice that day doesn't hurt our feelings a bit.  I went to the baby doctor a few days later & gained some real weight - thank you Mr. Turkey. :)

December came quickly taking us through a holiday-storm.  We tried to slow down, but it came so fast.  The first weekend of December was exhausting.  The kids were in 3 parades - Coeburn on Friday, Wise on Saturday, & Olivia was in Norton's on Sunday.  I wouldn't have traded a moment though.  Seeing Jameson sleep in his little wagon, Olivia ring the bell & yell Merry Christmas, and her throwing candy out with all her gymnastic friends, those moments of fun makes a momma's heart swell. 

The following weekend we made a trip to Dollywood to see Santa, the lights & shows.  Santa was amazing.  You can tell he really enjoyed his job.  He took his time with each child to really talk to them, get to know them.  Yes, that means the line took a little longer, but it really didn't matter because when it was your child's turn, it was all worth it.  We will most definitely be making a trip there every year, even if we only just go see him, because I feel that experience is most definitely worth the drive.

A Christmas party at Library School signaled the start of winter break.  We finished our last minute shopping, wrapping & cleaning throughout the week just in time to let the Christmas Festivities begin.  My mom's side of the family got together on the 23rd.  Christmas Eve was packed with places to go, people to see.  We were busy that morning cooking, getting everyone ready, doing last minute Christmas things, we had lunch & presents at Brandon's parents, hurried off to my Grandmother's to catch the end of presents, rushed home so we could bake our Santa cookies & made our reindeer food.  This year Olivia really got to participate & enjoyed it. The last two years have been "tradition," but this year was enjoyable & exciting to watch her.  We went to my mom's that night for our traditional "you open one gift & its always pajamas" get-together.  I love PJs & its sometimes the only time I get nice, new ones, so I love it.  After eating & gift opening, we brought the kids home, read the story of the birth of Jesus, & tucked the babies in bed (or so we thought).  I went back over to my parents (did I mention they're just across the road, so making many trips to & from is not uncommon for us) to help with some last minute details, Brandon went into our room to be a Santa elf & put together some toys.  As I was filling the stocking later that night, I turned around to find Olivia camped out in front of her door, waiting for Santa no less, sound asleep.  It was so sweet, but I'm glad she was asleep before she saw "Santa" looked a lot like Mommy & Daddy with no red suit.

Christmas Day was a big day for us.  We had to get up very early to start the festivities.  We started with breakfast & gift opening at the Bevins' house, then went over to my parents house for more gift opening.  13 people opening gifts at the same time causes a lot of chaos, but also a lot of excitement.  As soon as we were done, we had to rush home to get ready for church.

For many reasons, we still haven't had Jameson's dedication yet.  When looking at dates, I saw that Christmas Day was a possibility, but my initial thought was with the hustle & bustle of the day & keeping an eye on what the day was really about, we wouldn't do it that day.  The day was about Jesus (everyday SHOULD be about Jesus, but it really is that day).  The week before, our pastor preached a sermon on Gifts, and what gifts will you be giving our Savior.  That stuck with me & I had been seriously thinking about my life the next few days about what could ever be worthy to give as a gift to my Savior.  I get a text from my mom asking about doing Jameson's dedication Christmas morning when it hit me, you know that feeling when God literally waves it in your face like you should have seen it all along, yeah, I got that feeling.  I have already given myself to Jesus, what better gift could I give than the promise of raising my son to know Him.  We were able to work it out and my Dad performed the dedication ceremony at our home church with all of our family & friends around.  It was truly something very special to us & something to always remember the Gift we gave to the Lord that Christmas morning.

And that brings us to 2012 where life has slowed down a bit.  I think its our time to breathe & relax from the "go, go, go" we've been experiencing the last few months.  Olivia is 2 years & 8 months now.  She's really into girly things like dress up, shoes, make-up, hair, the works.  She's into the Disney Princesses & all the movies & books to come along with it.  She's just now getting into coloring & the art world & loves to make "mail" for everyone.  She's such a smart little girl & picks up on things sometimes quicker than I do.  Funny story:  Lately I've had a weird problem with saying "crap" when something doesn't go right.  Brandon has a problem of saying "stupid" when things don't go right for him.  (Call Social Services, we're horrible parents.)  Our dear child picks up on it everytime, many times we don't realize we even said it, & explains that we can't say those words in her "mommy" voice.  Its too cute when she catches us & makes us feel guilty when we do (we're trying to quit, I promise).

Jameson is still my happy little baby boy.  For the most part, he's just content wherever he is.  He's a little chunker these days eating up anything & everything.  He's an expert crawler who loves chasing the dogs & his sister around.  He pulls up & "cruises" around tables & couches & has started letting go to move from one thing to the next.  He's happiest when I'm in the kitchen doing dishes & he's holding on to my legs.  I can't say enough about how happy of a baby he truly is.  Its so refreshing from our *cough* dramatic *cough* daughter we have.

And Baby Bevins #3 is 23 weeks along kicking & moving up a storm in Mommy's belly.  A few days before Christmas, we went to a routine ultrasound where we explained to the Tech that we did not want to know the baby's gender.  We have a girl & a boy, & expecting this baby in the same season as each of them (for clothes purposes).  Unfortunately we are out of spare rooms so we don't have a specific nursery to paint/get ready.  We decided this was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity & how exciting it would be in the delivery room when, like in the movies, they announce what this baby is.  Had I not had all of these circumstances in my favor, I doubt I would be able to wait.  But I'm content with not knowing yet.   The Tech did put a picture of the gender in our file so if we couldn't wait any longer, its there. haha!  Here's the problem with it tho.  Names.  Names were hard when we knew the sex, now having to finalize for both sexes is really hard for us.  We've brought up names a time or two, but everytime we talk about names, we talk about wondering what the gender is.  So it will probably be late into the pregnancy when we finally decide.  But I'm not one of these woman that can go in the delivery room without a name, that's too much stress for me.  So we will have something prepared. :)

We have a short break before we start back with Library school & gymnastics.  It will be nice to get back into a routine, but to not have a routine has been refreshing as well.  We're heading to Disney in March, something I think I'm more excited for than the kids.  We have Bevins' birthday week in April (Olivia's is the 10th, Brandon's the 13th, Jameson's is the 15th).  I'll be considered "full term" in my pregnancy.  I can't help but to joke & wonder if this Bevins baby will participate in birthday week or find one all on its own. haha!  Either way, we need to relax now because life's about to become a whirlwind again.

Okay, I've said it before, so I'll say it again.  I'm going to try to do better on my blogging.  Until then, I hope you've enjoyed this incredibly long catch-up post. :)

Happy Tuesday!

PS - Happy Birthday to my older sister, Crystal!!  Hope she has a fun day celebrating!  We love you! :)