Happy Birthday Dear Leah

Today is our older daughter Leah's seventh birthday. And this year, Matt and I were not out of the country on her birthday, and did not miss her birthday party!

celebrating seven years with her friends

What kind of parent, you might ask, misses their own daughter's birthday party? Well, Leah's parents, apparently! When you're in the middle of an international adoption, and you get your travel dates for your first opportunity to meet your new child in person, you don't say, "No thank you!" You go. And because our plans for her party that year had already been set, and involved family from out of town (my parents, and since my mom was the one who stayed with Owen, Leah, Reuben, and Rinnah while Matt and I traveled to meet Krassimir for the first time, the combination of events worked out quite well from that end.)

There are so many things I admire about Leah. She is wise and caring beyond her years, and as a five-year-old-going-on-six a year ago, was more than happy to have us spend her birthday (and miss her birthday party) to make that next step to bring her new brother home. God has created this girl with a natural bent toward putting the needs of others above her own (not to say that she's perfect at that! But she demonstrates an ability for it that is not typical.) She is such a willing helper for me, often anticipating needs before I even ask for help. And, I must say, I don't know many other children who at six year old can handle tonic-clonic seizures with such composure as Leah has demonstrated.

When I think about the ramifications of adoption in our family, I am well aware that it is a decision that has an impact beyond just me and Matt as the adoptive parents. The choices we make have a great impact on our children's lives as well (all of them!) Matt and I are both glad that our children are growing up with siblings with special needs because it puts them in situations where every day they have an extraordinary opportunity to learn and practice compassion. And this is not something limited to our "normal" children - I even see this in the way that Reuben and Krassi interact with each other. Reuben has demonstrated an increasing gentleness toward Krassi in the last few weeks that is delightful to see. Even one of the early weeks of Krassi's life at our house, I remember a day when they were both on the couch, and Reuben looked over at Krassi, looked at me, and asked, "Baby?" With his very limited expressive vocabulary, Reuben was able to communicate to me, and get affirmation, that Krassi, although he looks so comparable to Reuben in size, interacts very differently with the world, and as such, requires different treatment than is appropriate for Reuben's peers.

And I don't think I'm going too far to say that even Krassimir seems to understand at some level that Reuben functions differently than the rest of the children. We see this at a most basic level by the way Krassi braces himself for impact when Reuben is near in a way that he doesn't for the other kids because he's learned that Reuben's much more likely to trip, or walk without looking where he's going, etc, but I've also noticed him reaching out in a seemingly friendly way during mealtimes with Reuben when they're both sitting at eye level with each other. I've never seen him do this with the other kids, but he seems to have some desire to connect with Reuben.

But this post is supposed to be about my little Leah. ;) With our sixth child's birth quickly approaching, I've been reflecting on Leah's birth in a much more focused way. Last night, nine days away from this baby's due date, I was reflecting (accompanied by Braxton-Hick's contractions!) about that day seven years ago when I was nine days on the other side of a due date - Leah was due on March 22nd, but when people asked I would always say baby was coming "at the end of March." I joke with her that she was such a good listener - good girl did not come until the very end of March!

Tiny baby girl (well, 9 pounds, but still itty bitty!) less than an hour after her birth.

Two days old

Two weeks old

My baby girl has grown up in so many ways. I haven't looked at these old pictures in quite a while, and it's crazy how different that life was from where we are now. Back then we had what looked like the "perfect" family - a healthy boy and a healthy girl - what more could we want? But, oh, God had so much more than we could have possibly imagined waiting up ahead of us. I would not trade that life for this one. That life may look easier, but this life is richer and deeper than I would have ever thought possible. And not only for me and Matt, as I referenced earlier, but I *know* that God is also using the challenges that are part of the life he has set before us to not only shape us, but to shape our children, and there, too, I do not wish for an easy life for my dear little Leah, but rather a life that shapes her into a girl, and a woman who knows what it means to rely on God for strength, and knows how to give of herself to others. And I think she's learning that.

Worth a thousand words

This is what I saw walking into the kitchen yesterday morning. Things like this thrill my heart and are some of the moments I like best about homeschooling.

But I was also very aware looking at this scene that it only involved four of my five children. What was my other little guy up to?

I saw this, and something about it was so sad to me. Here, this little boy who's spent so many years alone is once again, here, alone. All his siblings are together at the table, and here he is, curled up in a ball on the floor. For one moment as I was taking this in it made me wonder - can I really be the mom this boy needs? Is he really any better off here?

I got my answer in the moment after I snapped the picture. This tiny boy heard the sound of the camera, and this is what happened next:

Who's hamming for the camera? ;) There is life in that boy that wasn't there when we first met him in person a year ago! I decided I can give him a moment out of his busy day to curl up in a cozy ball on the floor without needing to feel too sorry for him.

Apparently being part of a family, even a less than perfect family, really does make a difference!

Photo from our first day of visits with Krassimir in March, 2013

Anchor

Andrea posted briefly about the rash of seizures that Reuben had starting last Tuesday and into Wednesday.  Now that we are a few days removed from the situation, I wanted to take some time to share some thoughts that I have been working through and have been sharing with Andrea.

Last Wednesday was the worst seizure I have seen Reuben have since the first seizure he had in his crib at 16 months old when he was blue and we called the ambulance because he was not breathing and at that time we did not yet know that he had epilepsy or Ring 20.  That was over three years ago and since then I have become more accustomed to Reuben having seizures and Andrea and I take them in stride and comfort Reuben as he comes out of them, but the panic that was present that first time when he wasn't breathing and was turning blue or even the panic that would hit every time he had a seizure for the first few months has subsided.

Last Tuesday at therapy, Reuben had a tonic/clonic (grand mal) seizure while working with his therapist and it shook his therapist up a bit to see that.  Then later in the afternoon on Tuesday we were having an IEP meeitng with Reuben's teacher and at the very end of that meeting, Reuben was standing by one of the tables when he just crumpled over into the chair as another tonic clonic seizure gripped him.  Once again, his teacher who has not seen him have seizures before seemed pretty bothered by what she saw.  After those seizures on Tuesday, they starting escalating over night and by Wednesday morning he was having a seizure nearly every 45 minutes and when he was not having a seizure he was totally wiped out and "sleeping".  In the early afternoon, he "woke" and had a seizure hit...so like normal, we came over by him and just rubbed his back and talked to him while we waited for it to stop...but it didn't stop as quickly as they usually do.  In fact he was holding his breath for long enough (with his heart pounding at the same time) that his lips and cheeks were again turning blue.  All of my comfort with seizures went out the window as the reality set in that it is completely possible that Reuben might not come out of the seizure and he may seize and hold his breath until he dies from lack of oxygen.

What do you do?  What do you do?

Do you call the ambulance?  Why?  As I have reflected on this the past several days, I have come to the conclusion that I probably would not call the ambulance.  If the seizure is going to end, it will only do so on its own and there is nothing that I can do or the paramedic can do to make it stop.  If the seizure doesn't stop, there is nothing that I or the paramedics can do to help him.  If all his muscles are seized, it doesn't matter how much oxygen they give to him with a mask...it isn't going to go anywhere.

Andrea and I have had some pretty weighty conversations lately.  I think intuitively we all know that any of us can die at any time, but with Reuben, it can be so much more in your face.

So back to the question.  What do you do?

The song "Anchor" by Josh Garrels has been hitting me more this week.  Take a listen.  (And lyrics are here.) That combined with some things that have come out of the Sunday school class I teach and my own bible reading have been what I have been doing or holding on to.

In the fifth chapter of the book of Joshua we see this encounter.

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”  And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

What gets me here is that the question Joshua answers is so human centered.  Are you for US or against US.  And the response is so completely God centered.  NO!  He is not for us or against us, he is for the Lord and the question is whether or not we are for or against Him.  Later in the book of Joshua, we see where God states that he is "fighting for Israel", but it is not an unconditional fighting for Israel.  It only applies when Israel is obedient to God.  When they disobey he does not fight for them.

Then a couple of weeks ago, in my own bible ready in Deuteronomy, I found this passage where God is telling Israel what will happen to them if they obey or disobey when they enter the promised land.

Whereas you were as numerous as the stars of heaven, you shall be left few in number, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
  
Again, I notice how God centered this passage is.  As humans, we would like to think that God takes pleasure in blessing us and that he dislikes cursing us.  Yet, what this passage appears to be saying is that it isn't really about us.  God takes the SAME pleasure in blessing (doing good and multiplying) as he does in cursing (bringing ruin upon you and destroying you) because in either case, he is taking pleasure in doing what is right and just in response to our actions.

So...What do you do.  The only answer that really makes any sense is that I need to pour myself into knowing God so that I can obey him and can in turn experience His blessings.  The song "Anchor" makes reference to the song "It is well with my Soul".  This is a song that I love to play on the piano and sing.  For those of you that don't know the words to that hymn, here they are:

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well, with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well, with my soul,
     It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

There is a conscious choice to chose to say it is well with my soul.  In a similar manner, one of the two songs that I sing to Reuben every night when I put him to bed is "This is the Day".  "This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."  Some days that song rolls off the tongue very easily as I sing it at bed time.  Other days, like the day my Dad died or after Reuben has had 16 seizures in a 24 hour period, those words come out a little more slowly and with tears as through the grace of faith, God enables me to believe that those are the things that God had for that day and in knowing that, I can say " I will be glad in it" or "It is well with my soul".

In case you didn't listen to the song "Anchor" or read the lyrics, I will leave you with this snippit of lyrics from the song.

And the blood that was spilled protects me
It's the same blood that cleansed me
My only defense against my nemesis
Now I can rest knowing that nothing can come against
Me unless the Father gives consent
Evil intentions will not disturb God's purposes or interfere so
Who shall I fear if my Anchor is secure?
Learning to consider it pure joy when I'm facing tribulations
Praising God instead of complaining or getting overtaken with bitterness
Looking at the pages of the book of James and seeing
The ways that God works through the trials to make us more
Mature in our faith. It reminds me how desperate I am in
This desert land, thirsty for your mercy and plan while you
Give me the strength to stand. You're my greatest pleasure
Yeah, no matter the weather I face, Lord you never forsake
My fragile life is safe under your sovereign grace

 

Out-takes

Right before Krassi came home we were connected with someone who had designed a silk-screen logo with the word "love" in the shape of Bulgaria. They graciously offered to put the logos on some shirts that I had for the kids, and I finally today, months later, got all five of them wearing them on the same day AND had the camera handy.

You've got the best one as the new blog header (yes, that really is the best one!) but here are a few more, just for fun (and for my 2-year-old niece who is always requesting pictures of cousins!)

Mom: "Well, guys, let's see if we can all look at the camera."

Leah: "Here, Krassi, look at the camera!" Rinnah: "Leah, what are you doing?"

Mom: "Rinnah, I can't see your Bulgaria shirt! Or yours, Owen. Or yours, Leah!"

Mom: "Let's try laying on the floor so we can see those shirts." Rinnah: "You mean this shirt?"

Krassi: "Don't look at my shirt!"

Mom: "Daddy, help!"

Mom (and, apparently, Krassi): "I give up." ;)

So there you go. ;) Five little ones who are mostly pretty good sports wearing their Bulgaria shirts. ;)

More photos of sheet rock

If anyone is tired of seeing pictures of sheet rock, then feel free to skip this post. ;)















And for those of you who are still up for it, feast your eyes on this:

Looking through one of the living room shelves into the back of the laundry room. The idea here is that we'll put a plywood panel at the back of the built-in shelves that is removable for easy access to the back of the washer and dryer on this side, and on the other side of the hallway (off the left of this photo), access to the main mechanical and plumbing chase.

This is the upper bookshelf at the stair, now complete with sheet rock...

...and the lower one, which doesn't have a sheet rock bottom for reasons that will become apparent once things move along a little bit further. Also, please note the tiny triangle of sheet rock just to the upper left corner of the shelf - that was missing for a while, but is now in!

Matt's office has been cleaned out enough (it was the junk room/returns compilation room for quite a while) that he and Owen were able to get rock up in there.

And another view in the office - this one looking through from the office side where the window will be under the living room bench. This wall does not yet have any rock because being solid plywood, Matt doesn't have to worry about hitting on studs, and plans to just use whatever size pieces of sheet rock he has left over at the end to finish up this wall...

Down to the basement. I love this corner! It feels so not-basementy, despite the fact that you look out at the dirt just a few feet away from the windows. The quantity of light that comes in makes this space feel very bright and cozy. This is where we'll use the stone from the crumbling wall next door to build a retaining wall so you'll be able to look at a limestone wall instead of dirt. ;)

Just checking to see who's actually taking the time to look at these all-white-repetitive photos! If you are, here's something a little more colorful to brighten up your blog-reading experience. ;) I found this on my camera on a day when Leah was helping Rinnah dress up. ;)

On the east end of the basement family room, the ceiling chase, and the cabinet that Matt added to make the chase seem less chase-like, are all completely sheet rocked...

Matt finally got some help from Owen at the very end of this day of work. Owen's getting pretty quick with a sheet rock gun, and when he's there working, it really does go faster. But he's got other important things in his life, too, like playing with his buddy who lives behind us before he leaves for a week in Florida. ;) This is looking west in the back/play part of the basement family room.

From the back, looking toward the front where the windows are. The two openings in the center of the photo are (on the right) the door to the crawl space under the office and (on the left) the stairs going up to the entry landing.

Matt was really hoping to get this wall finished before having to come in on Saturday night, but his wife was really hoping for help getting the smaller kids ready for bed, so this was the last piece. There's always Monday.

And the most exciting part about Monday is that's the day that Korey and Kelley are going to be able to come and start the mudding and taping of the upper level! Matt's going to do the closets and lower profile spaces, but has decided for time (and aesthetic) reasons to pay Korey and Kelley to do the main rooms. So, although I'm sure Matt will get some sheet rock up tomorrow, he's also going to spend some time getting the rooms cleaned up so there's room for them to work. And he's going to come with the rest of us to the zoo in the morning - we figured we'd take this last opportunity to fit the whole family in the van!!

Rice

A quick glimpse at an activity requested by Rinnah this afternoon: playing in the rice bin! Krassi's interest ebbed and flowed (Owen captured a good moment on his camera here!) but I'm mostly struck by how little physical support Krassi is needing from me to sustain the activity. My arm's around him, but as much to keep the rice bin in place as anything else - he's not leaning on it much at all.

Reuben had a nasty stretch of seizures yesterday, and is still pretty wiped out in this photo. He was content to miss out on the active fun, and just watch from a snuggly place on Mom's lap.

[For those of you who know our house, you'll notice that the couch in the background is in the wrong room - I am officially past 37 weeks (by two days), so need to have things ready for when Baby chooses to arrive! Moving the sleeper sofa into the back part of the living room will give me a slightly more out-of-the-way place to cocoon for labor and the first few days. Getting closer!]

37 weeks

Today marks 37 weeks of this pregnancy, which is a significant number because as someone planning a home birth, 37 weeks is the "all clear" point where if I go into labor, I can deliver at home and not have to go to the hospital.

It almost doesn't seem real to be at this point already! I remember last year when we found out we were expecting in June (the baby we lost), realizing head on how much I was thinking about 2013 as the year we had to really step out in faith and trust that God was going to provide what was needed to do what he was calling us to do. And that in that, my subconscious was thinking "and then we'll be able to just take it easy for a while - just get through 2013 and things will go back to 'normal'." There's nothing like a new baby to push your mind forward, and recognize that this is normal and I wouldn't want it any other way. The best times of my life have always been the times when I have been the most in need of God - where if he doesn't come through, I'm sunk. And I've never been sunk.

After the emotional ups and downs of our June baby's fleeting presence in our lives, followed right away by this  baby (and I love the dates - August 2nd the Bulgarian courts declared Krassimir to be our son, August 5th we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary, August 8th we found out we were expecting a baby! Bam, bam, bam.)

And then we spent all of fall increasingly suspicious that we may be expecting twins! Wouldn't that have been something! It's one thing to have an adoption and a new baby within six months, and something entirely different to have an adoption and twins within six months. Especially when twins would have meant that our current largest vehicle would not be big enough for one parent to take all of the children somewhere. (Don't know why that was such a big deal in my mind, but it was.) (It was also a little overwhelming to me to think that I could potentially have five of my seven children in diapers come April if I had twins and Rinnah still wasn't potty trained!) But there were plenty of indicators that made twins a real possibility. The more pregnancies one has, the more likely one is to have twins. This was my fifth pregnancy. If you've recently miscarried, you're more likely to have twins. Check. Twins tend to intensify morning sickness - I was significantly more "sick" with this pregnancy than I had been with any of my other ones. Then there's the genetic factor - I've got that, too, with my maternal grandfather being a fraternal twin - that's the most significant genetic connection for increasing odds of twins. Older mothers, too, are more likely to have twins, and though at 34 years old I'm not old, I'm also not particularly young. Then, at one of our prenatal visits, we heard a heart beat in two locations and couldn't track between. That in itself is not evidence of twins, but added to all the other bits, was one more factor in the leaning.

When we had our 20 week ultrasound, I was very, very curious about what we would find out. And when the technician only found one baby, and was looking to make sure there weren't more, it was tough to hear - I'd so entertained the possibility of twins, that it almost felt like we were losing another baby.

And yet at the same time, when you've been preparing mentally for twins, and then find out there's only one baby, it sure makes one baby seem a lot more doable! (And to top it off, it was within a week of the ultrasound that Rinnah made the definite switch to being free from diapers, and has been going strong ever since! Now I'm only anticipating three of my six children to be in diapers come April. That sounds way better than five of seven!)

So I see the abundant grace of God through those days of waiting and wondering - he is so good to prepare us - so gentle with us.

This year brought new uncertainty as a week after the big respiratory flu went through our house, I began showing symptoms of a rare condition called cholestasis of pregnancy, which is essentially pregnancy-induced liver failure, and raises the risks of the baby being still born, especially in the last few weeks of the pregnancy. Knowing that the condition is rare did nothing to persuade us that it wouldn't be me - we live with ultra-rare every day. And as far as I (or my midwives) know, there really isn't any other good explanation for intensely itchy soles of your feet at night when you're pregnant. I was showing a few other symptoms, so we scheduled some bloodwork for the following week, and they sent me home with some herbal supplements to address both the symptoms and also to target liver and gall bladder functioning.

The lab results came back showing that some of my liver levels were indeed high, but not crazy high, so the plan was to retest in three weeks and continue to monitor symptoms.

So we were once again living with uncertainty. A common course of action with cholestasis is inducing labor early, and possibly even using steroids to hasten lung development so the baby can be delivered early. This would obviously require a birth at a hospital - something I have never done. But beyond that, it was a sobering reminder once again that life is not a guarantee - that at any moment it can be gone. And it was really tough to be thinking that this dear little baby may not make it, either.

As the weeks of waiting passed, my symptoms gradually diminished, and the second round of labs confirmed that my liver levels were solidly back in a healthy range.

So here we are, at 37 weeks - all clear to deliver a baby, that as far as we know is healthy, but we most certainly know is loved.

Moving up in the world

Not about to let a little mishap with his hammer slow him down, Reuben upgraded himself to power tools this morning. ;) ***Please note that Reuben's tool of choice is NOT plugged in! But please DO notice that he's careful to line up the tip with an actual screw!***

Watching this little guy's brain wake up as he's now completely off anti-seizure medication has been really incredible. (After three years on meds, we saw no correlation between dosage and seizure frequency or severity, so worked with his neurologist to slowly wean him off of his last med over the last six months, and he's about a month off. We've seen some kick-back in his system, but overall the trend has been good - and he's been seizure free for the last week, and showing an incredible level of calmness, focus, and awareness that just has not been typical for him for years.)

Of course, all that work can wipe a guy out. Lucky for Reuben, Mom cranked through a bunch of laundry today, so there were some nice fresh piles of folded clothes for him to settle himself down on for a nap.

 I'd been planning to get out and take photos today of the work that Matt and Owen (and Reuben!) got done on Saturday, but it didn't happen, so to summarize quickly, the sheet rock has now moved down the stairs to the entry landing, and down the stairs to the basement. About one-fourth of the entry/office walls are finished, too. The north wall of the living room is still not done for two reasons - one, that's where all of the sheet rock is piled, and Matt decided since he had to move it to get to the wall, he would move it up to where it belongs on other walls instead of just relocating the pile to a different location, and secondly, there's still a few details on the fireplace surround that are somewhat up in the air... Imagine that. ;)

This upcoming week should see a lot of progress as Matt's drafting work should be quite slow this week, and although we have a number of appointments this week (one for his mom, one for Reuben's IEP meeting, a prenatal visit), that still leaves a lot of time to get work done!

Mourning for what was lost

Look at my big boy standing up with only a little bit of help from Mom! I'm providing (nearly all of) the balance, but Krassimir is doing nearly all of the weight bearing.

I see so many things as I look at this picture.

First of all, I see Krassi's smile. ;) He loves to be "big" like this. He works so hard, but has so much internal motivation, and is also greatly motivated by the praise of those around him.

I also see a "big" boy who is very, very small. Can you believe that boy is nine years old, and it won't be that long before he's ten?

So, as I look at this photo, I grieve for what was taken away from him because he was deemed worthless and was abandoned to a crib in a place of terrible neglect. If anyone had given this boy any opportunities to use his little body, I am convinced he would be walking today. Obviously, so many other things would have been different for him if he had been cared for, and not just kept (barely) alive. But the thing that was on my mind as I was with him at that moment was the thought that this boy's hips should not be in-operably dislocated! Because no one took the time to help him be upright, he has lost the chance to do that independently. Ever.

I also see my messy house when I look at this photo. And this isn't even a very bad picture. I distinctly remember in the weeks before we went to pick Krassimir up, when I was still so useless in the first trimester of this pregnancy and I was lucky if I could get off the couch and put something on the table for supper, thinking that I will never have a clean house. But deciding, too, that there was no way I wanted to ever have to say to this boy that I decided to let him live out the rest of his days in an orphanage, and then age out to a bed in a mental institution so I could have a neat and tidy house. Because this boy didn't need perfect parents who could keep a perfect house - he needed parents. That's why they let us bring him home. ;)

This photo also happens to have been taken on the day that would have been my due date for the baby we lost last summer. As my belly swells with this little one, I am very aware that there is someone we did not get to meet here on this earth.

So many thoughts; joy mixed with tears. But I am SO glad that this is where God has directed my life to go.

Pushing forward

Despite the final run of big deadlines this week for Matt for the engineer he does work for, he managed to find a few partial days to keep moving on getting the sheet rock ready for mudding and taping. There's always a bit of waiting on these engineering projects as other people involved get their coordination sets ready, so Matt put that down time to good use, and after he finishes up a few loose ends on this last project, he's free to put nearly all of his time into the addition for a while again.

Here's a bit of what happened this week.

I vacuumed (can't you tell! Ha!) so Krassi could come out with us. As it was, little man was so dusty after a few hours that we brought him straight into the bathtub when we were done in the addition. Notice here that he's on a plywood subfloor - the upstairs level where Grandma's rooms will be. Do you like Leah's work shoes? :)

Because we were able to have the little ones out with us, I was able to put my lifting skills to work again. ;) (When you already have children you regularly have to lift despite being pregnant who are 36 pounds and 32 pounds, a little sheet rock is nothing!) This is the one large wall on the stairwell that didn't get done last Saturday.

Now you see Reuben's trusty hammer...

...and now you don't. Today was the day that the little plastic toy that he's been working with out here ("Bum, bum!") since he got it for his birthday finally bit the dust. Thankfully he got a passable substitute as a gift a few weeks ago, and the shop vac isn't too bad, either. And as the wood studs get covered up with sheet rock, Matt's a little less interested in having Reuben banging all over anyway. So perhaps its all for the best.

One last piece and the stairs are done.

This is the shelf in the stair wall above - Matt loves using the Roto-zip our friend Mike is letting us borrow - makes it super simple to put the rock up, and then just follow the edges of the studs to cut out around your openings. It saves a lot of time. And that's why the stair wall looks blank in the photo above!

Moving on to the next day, Leah once again shows off her natural talent for working with small children as she all on her own figured out a way to occupy them by finding bits of garbage for them to take to the box where we're collecting scrap to be tossed.

Rinnah is very pleased with her contribution to the work.

I, on the other hand, was not as much help on this day. Krassi (on the other side of me) was rather whimpery all day, and even being out in the addition didn't help, so I spent a fair amount of time sitting by him, and Reuben, too, as you can see, mostly just wanted to lay low. With me. So that's what we did until it was time to take Krassi in for another bath!

 But, despite no help from me, Matt was able to get the bathroom to this point by the end of the day: all rocked and ready for the next step!! (I helped lift the one piece of cement board that goes at the back of the tub. That's it.) (And for those of you who are enjoying our version of "Construction for Dummies, Lite" (as in, written by amateurs like me and not someone who really knows what they're doing...though Matt does usually proof for me), you can see here that the sheet rock in the bathroom is blue and not white - this is because it's moisture and mold resistant, and the stuff right behind the tub is waterproof cement board.) (Okay, Matt is proofing, and says the Durock is not waterPROOF, but can tolerate some moisture better than sheet rock.)

Toilet will go on the left, and sink on the right.

And we're finally caught up to today. Once again Matt spent the morning at the computer while Owen and Leah worked on their school work, until he was free to get back out again. Owen pushed through enough of his work that he was able to start with Dad even before lunch, and they got quite a bit done today, too.

This was another place where my assistance was needed. This is the west wall of the north side of the living room - the main part of the living room that will have the fire place on the north wall. The recess in the wall is a side effect of the double wall system that we have, and the way the structure for the flat roof above Matt's office worked out. We decided to build a bench along that wall and paint the recess a contrasting color instead of furring it out to be flush with the rest of the wall. The open space underneath will be a plexi-glass window underneath the built-in bench through which Matt, when seated at his desk in his office, can watch little feet running around, and from this side, small people can crawl over on their bellies and wave to Daddy. ;)

After Reuben got home from preschool and ate lunch, he was right out there with the other boys. He's pretty pleased with being up on the rolling platform with dad. Those of you who know him personally don't need me to tell you what he's saying, but for the rest of you, what you're getting here, though silently, is Reuben's signature, "WOWWWWW!!!"

Working here in the (teeny-tiny, but sufficient) laundry room, Owen is showing off how adept he is with a sheet rock screw gun. He is such a valuable asset to Matt. Many pieces are too big for Matt to get up by himself, but Owen's able to add enough boost that together they can lift them into place, and then Matt gets a few screws in to get the piece stable, and then leaves Owen to put in the rest of the screws while Matt measures and cuts the next piece. He's able to move a lot faster when he's got Owen out there than when he's by himself.

Although some of the screws are still a little bit out of Owen's reach, even with a stool!

And I finally got to see the Roto-zip in action, and so do you. ;) The bottom of this window has already been cut out, but now Matt is zipping around the upper half of it.

boosh out it comes! That's Matt using his head again. ;)

And now we have a window in the laundry room!

Matt's got all day tomorrow to work, and should finish the main level sheet rock without any issue. We'd talked about only pushing forward on Barb's spaces after last Saturday, but since Matt's heavily considering paying two of the guys who were here last Saturday to do the mudding and taping upstairs, he's also going to ask them what it would take to have them do the main level as well, figuring even if we don't plan to need to move in to this space right away, having the really dusty work of finishing sheet rock done before Barb moves in will be very nice for keeping both her spaces and the main house clean. We don't need her to have to track through a dust zone to get from where she is to where the rest of us are! So before tomorrow's over he'll have the whole upper and main levels ready for them to come do their work. As far as we know. ;)

Close to home

As a reminder that none of us ever knows what the future holds, this was the view out of the addition windows yesterday:

When Matt went outside to pick Reuben up from the bus a little before noon yesterday, he smelled smoke. Coming around the front of our house, he saw smoke. Going a little further he realized it was coming out the vents of our neighbor's roof (and not our addition, as he had feared at first). He ran back inside, alerted me so I could call 911, and continued down to pick up Reuben.

Our neighbor, who lives alone, was not in the house at the time, but he did lose his dog and cat in the fire. He's more upset about his dog than the house. The house was old, and was already in need of plenty of work (it was built by Matt's grandpa's brother two years before Matt's grandpa had our house built), but this was not the way any of us expected it to go.

We all stood there for close to two hours just watching in disbelief.

Reuben mostly thought the trucks were cool. I don't think either of these two really understood the impact of what was happening, but I know my bigger two did. Krassi, poor guy, had to miss out on the action because the addition is still SO full of sheet rock dust that I can't let him play in there until we clean. So we made frequent visits to him through the window.

As we finally came in for lunch (at going on 2pm!) the phone rang, and it was one of my closest friends calling to ask us to pray for her husband who was not hurt, but was in a car accident which resulted in his rental car being totaled.

In rural France.

Where no one speaks English.

Except for the police, a little bit, who don't arrive until two hours have passed. And who manage to tell him to go with the tow truck driver who delivers him with gestures only (no English) to a basement room in a town of 2,300 people (where no one speaks English) where he waits all night for someone to get him to a rental place so he can get a car to get back to Paris so he can fly home.

We may like to think we have plans, and that we have everything under control, and can make things happen the way we want them to, but that is a lie!!

What we do know is that God works everything for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.* So even though I can't promise my children that our house will never burn down, or that our Daddy will never be in a car accident, I can share God's promise with them that whatever comes, God is causing it for the good of his people.

And, really, that's way bigger and better than any promise I could come up with on my own.

*Romans 8:28