Tales of the Creepy Landlord

It is official....I have dropped to the ranks of worst blogger ever. There is plenty to write about right now in this season of our lives but exhaustion pervades more than a little. During the course of academy the pace of life picked up dramatically as children and I spent days on our own and schooling husband spent every hour home studying or just trying to stay caught up at home with trash taking...it requires his truck..bill paying, dealing with TX home on market and the chores that go along with life. Sundays were church and then we'd start the week all over again. Except for rushing home to catch a baby he was seen and heard from very little. The day after he graduated he began his 12 hour shifts....a very new schedule to us, as we have lived nothing but 24's for 14 years of marriage. He leaves at 5:30 am every morning and returns around 8 each night....just in time to kiss each one on the head before tucking them in. I liked 24's much better. Since beginning shifts he has had a total of 3 days off and, once again, those have been spent playing catch up. So, we have seen very little of him at the current moment. I am entirely grateful for his job, his income..it's been amazing to go purchase what we need when the need arises, and the fact he is now working for the most renowned EMS system in the US. But I am very ready to have a husband again and just be able to kiss him in the kitchen, snuggle up against him at night while he is still awake, have him laughingly pull me into him and kiss me passionately, interrupt his bill paying by just sitting in his lap and laughing. I want him to go hiking with us because we actually have days that we can. I'm very much ready to find our normal here. So, as his shifts begin to balance out over the next few weeks and visiting parents have come and gone we will once again find ourselves as a family. And 6 months from now he will have 24 hour shifts resulting in a working life here being very familiar to that of what we have always known in our marriage. But in a celebration that we have been blessed with an income and a pretty amazing life we will head to the banks next week and celebrate all of life as a family once again.

But....in my absence on here I nurse a baby and pretty much train toddling twins to stay out of crap and assure that their climbing abilities do not render them paraplegics. Children and I have finally adjusted to city life once more...it only took 6 entire months....and we are quite mobile these days. I am not a fan of leaving anyone behind or continually asking older ones to stay with youngers as we errand run. While husband and I do have the occasional date night out and we revel in this new season of our life of having children old enough and astoundingly capable of babysitting younger ones, I still enjoy their company and love taking them with me....not to mention that I think it's a little wrong to constantly leave their butts at home just cause we happen to have an orphaniagic number of kids. So, children and I have learned the art of working together and being on the go quite a bit. I have finally conquered the fear of perturbing the working class of Raleigh and ruining every shoppers experience in Wal Mart...because I have come to the staggering realization that most every shoppers experience has already been ruined by their miserable state of life...and I now march them all in with me and shop rather merrily with my little entourage. It has become quite the game with the children to see how many people they can actually get to smile. Pretty pathetic in my book that you can count the number of smiling people on one hand....but more than a little amusing all at the same time. And I find it a bit odd that if we're out eating with every kid sitting happily and conversing that people are absolutely mesmerized and comments are by the hundreds whereas if we are shopping in any given store with the same happy well mannered behavior exhibited by children these same people are grouchy, old hags that think we have overpopulated the entire earth and are a completely uneducated nuisance as they reach for the Wheaties. So, on a completely random note...if you ever happen to see a large family with well behaved kids out shopping....encourage them, praise their children for their behavior and wait patiently while they shop with you. As long as children are lined neatly up on one side of the isle there is no reason on earth one should become so annoyed that you audibly sigh with utter disgust, frown so visibly that your mouth contorts into painful shapes, or mow over one of their kids in your haste to accomplish your mission in life in your hurried state. Odds are, that large family may not be as in a hurry as you think you are but they have a list to knock out just like you do. And when a mother smiles kindly at you, no matter the number of children present with her, just smile back. It will seriously do your face some good...and probably your spirit too.

So it is that we find freedom here as we learn to live this season of our life in the concrete jungle. Together we attend birthday parties, attend graduation ceremonies, shop, hike, run errands, and travel. In May children and I will travel to New Bern for Navy air show and stay overnight for homeschool history day the following day as shift husband works. I am coming to love North Carolina as the Lord surrounds us with beauty, amazing weather, seasons that leave the senses reeling, amazing opportunities, friends and activities for the children, and a group of people from church that we love deeply. How amazing it is to be surrounded with other fun loving couples with which husband and I can go out for a night, a group of women and close friendships that have been formed as we have bonded, and close quality friends for children as they each become more involved. As we find places like our little dream home here, that was put under contract by another person two days ago yet my heart still holds out hope, I realize that it is possible to live in privacy in a little dream home nestled in woods with a stream that gurgles through it, snuggled into a forest that opens up into lush pastures blanketed in green.....all while still living this life of abundant friendships and amazing people that the Lord has brought into our life. I do love it here. I don't exactly love our landlord or our current housing situation and it is quite fair to say that everyday in this house is an opportunity to be stretched by the Lord as He grows me more into His image. Someday I really will find the time to tell the somewhat humorous tales of the creepy landlord. But until we are blessed with a permanent place I will find contentment with where we are. As deck posts fall out of rotten deck, log sized deck splinters wedge their way into little feet..which is the direct result of a rotten deck and NOT the result of running around all day with bare feet all over the yard, I will praise Him. I will praise Him as shower door handles fall off, pull chains to living room lights pull completely out, and carpet grows more disgusting by the meal. And while rusted, corroded pipes spew forth water out of toilet plumbing, kitchen sink plumbing pours forth into 20 gallon totes, toilets resist being flushed many days I will praise Him. In all of my woman power I now confidently walk around wielding plunger and wage war with cranky toilets...and a septic system that I will laugh hysterically about when it sees fit to finally blow due to Landlord Einstein living in denial about it all. Ok...so laughing about it wouldn't exactly be the kindest way to handle it...but I will...cause it'll just be funny. But then again...it probably won't be so funny cause he'll say pipes were "weakened" due to weight of bike riding children putting stress on shallowly buried sewage carrying pipes. Yes, he will. Just as he stated that, despite previous history of basement floodage, the oceanic state of basement experienced a few weeks ago is due to dirt digging children jeopardizing drainage pipes. Neighborly deputy landlord has also seen fit to mandate that children not climb trees due to risk factors obviously involved, not pick flowers...because they make him happy...that one made me giggle, not dig because they may unearth a shallow pipe or jeopardize basement (apparently they already have) or digging, heaven forbid, might just allow water to seep into ground (that one made me just outright laugh). They have also been told not to ride bikes due to compressing earth too much and not to ride old broken go-carts down hill due to risk of destroying fence or basement bay door. Sooo....in an effort to remain just as neighborly I have instructed my children to do all of the above with even more fervor and even greater gusto than before. And he stands on his deck and watches in horror at all of the possible scenarios being inflicted upon his rent house. As of now they have yet to hit the fence and inflict any damage, and they have raised the bay door to avoid hitting it. They are riding bikes in yard because that's what kids do when they are not allowed on heavily traveled street. And they dig because this is not exactly an entirely landscaped yard and it possesses many natural potholes that existed long before our arrival in this place. We also have been instructed not to rake the 3 feet of leaves that carpet our landscaped heaven due to the fact the leaf carnage keeps at bay the red dirt dust that lies beneath. Life here is pretty interesting. And his many unannounced surprise visits during husband's absence have earned him a kind word that turns him away at the door and does not permit entry. As in..."This is not a good time. My husband is obviously away and children and I are busy. Feel free to call Brad at work or come back when he is home"..and with a kind smile the door shuts. And while landlord is never mean or aggressive he is quite rude and controlling in a very friendly, unassuming, manipulative way...so this new ability within myself to deny him entry is quite empowering. On the note of the creepy landlord, while I have time, I will tell two of his rather funnier antics.

As we had dinner brought to us each night by different families we were nearing the end of 14 entire days worth of meals. On day 13 mom with 3 carseats belted within SUV slowly drives down street attempting to locate our house buried amidst the leaves. She turns around and makes her way back up the road as fence jumping dog easily scales fence and runs to greet her rather unnerved self, as she turns out to be quite the dogaphobic. Children throw gates open wide and welcome her into our fenced driveway. She refrains and leaves vehicle in road as she and children unload pan upon pan of food and sacks of goodies for our family. Passenger doors open as her kids greet our's. At just this moment heroic deputy landlord, appearing out of nowhere, hops in PATROL CAR and DRIVES the 40 feet to mysterious vehicle parked in front of our house. In uniform he approaches and asks the group of us, "Is everything ok over here??? Is this woman bothering you?" Um...dear deputy Einstein....the lady handing over pans of food with her 3 children in tow???? That woman???? The one that the kids just greeted happily and met at gate, welcoming her in? That one? As a matter of fact, yes she is. Will you please be heroic, show your manly man strength, handcuff her and cart her off to jail, please? After it was over I texted husband laughingly and told of landlord's amazing acts of bravery.... only to realize later he must just sit in his car all day long and watch our life as we live. While on shift he will come home and sit in patrol car for hours in his driveway...and he just sits...and he just watches...for hours....in his patrol car....just watching us. And so I wonder what in the crap he does all day, why he's home while on shift and what in the crap he's looking at over here besides his OCD perceptions of kids destroying property.

A week and a half later Sunday school teaching friend comes over to drop off things our family was given. She arrives in her husband's small white truck. Grayson unloads bicycle and chairs and she comes in house and visits for a short while. That evening husband's phone rings and landlord begins the interrogation of husband. "Are we experiencing problems with our a/c again? Who was the person in the truck that was over earlier that day?" Husband denies the fact anyone was over, as he was at academy. At landlord's persistence school going husband turns to me and asks, "Was anyone over here today...in a white truck?" I answer negatively trying to think of who on earth drives a small white truck. Husband once again denies anyone being present at our house earlier in the day and landlord becomes adamant someone was here. Husband questions me again. Growing quite frustrated I answer more than a little sarcastically with some not so choice words about the ongoings of any personal life I might have and the choice guests I might entertain in his absence. Eventually I remember the visit from friend and I laughingly tell husband. He tells landlord, as we are now apparently accountable to him for who comes and goes from our house as well. And I grew a little stunned by the phone call. Visiting friend's husband runs an a/c business and the small white truck carries on it a magnetic door advertisement for the business. And then I realize that for off shift deputy to be able to read the words on the side of that truck and never step foot out of his house he must possess binoculars or a telefreakinscope to see the daily happenings of our life. And he watches that closely who comes and goes....closely enough to read the signs on vehicles and hold us accountable for the activities taking place. It suddenly became a little unnerving and he elevated himself into the realm of freak and stalker.

This past week he managed to promote himself further into freak realm when he kindly advised children to park bikes under deck so they'd last longer and not get wet. That was considerate of him to be concerned about the wellbeing of their bikes until he added..."And that way they won't be in the way of anybody needing to go in and out the door." And this was a little shocking, as no one knows or can see that kids park bikes on our small one car carport and it's a bit like running the gauntlet, as van blocks view of carport at all times. It did not take a genius to deduce that while we are gone he is present over here...enough to know that getting in the door is a bit difficult, to say the least....and enough to care about getting in the door. Unless he is making entry why on earth would he have any interest in the level of difficulty of getting in house door? Not long later he also asked why we are cleaning out and getting rid of so much stuff in basement. That was before the gift of old go cart had been given to children so basement bay door had not been raised since flood. The only way he could've had knowledge of basement activities was to have personally seen it....and he hasn't been over since cleaning of it began. Or, at least, we were under the impression that he hadn't been over. It is now becoming quite clear that he is making entry into home while we are away. So then I begin to fear that there are little cameras in choice floor vents recording all that takes place within home. So, I have now mastered he art of throwing clothing or towels over vents to block any view that may be taking place in bathrooms and bedrooms. As far as any view taking place while nursing....I guess he just gets an eye full. Or instead of watching for any signs of child abuse he's watching for house abuse. Who's he gonna call....Homeowner's Protective Services???

Ok...so I have no clue if there really are hidden cameras in the vents but I take precautions anyway. I do know I feel as though we have lost all sense of privacy but cannot confirm anything at this point. And the fact he watches children's every move and who comes and goes from here is just a little bit obsessive and more than a little bit creepy. So it is that I learn contentment within our small rather confined 1500 sq ft and with the various inconveniences experienced here. While learning to be at peace with it I long for a permanent, private home of our own here tucked back into trees that open up into our own tiny bit of NC paradise. I long for comfort within this state and a sense of being home. I long for bright cheery sunlight streaming through open windows, the soft yellowy warm glow of lamps, warm welcoming colors on walls. I yearn to hang pretty things up, pictures of children and far away friends and family, finally hang a wall of clocks, and everything warm that exudes the fact that we have finally come home here. My heart and sanity want comfort in this place....a place that tells of peace and happiness and being home. So we found a place like this and prayed and lived in faith feeling as though we had found home and as though the Lord had led us to it. It now sits with a contract on it...and it's not ours. So, I cried and was a little heartbroken as I watched it slip away but I do know deep within that God is indeed good and He longs to bless those who walk according to His truths and live in obedience. I think that in risking it all and living in obedience to what we felt Him calling us to do in moving to this place and requiring to give up what we did there He does have something for us here and He does care where we live and how the children grow. Truth that is sometimes very hard to believe in my skewed image of Him as I try to overcome the martyrdom that can so easily take hold at times. So I live in hope with what is to come as I learn to live in contentment with what we have been given. It is amazing to finally have an income here and I stand in awe of this life of towering trees, dirt for children to dig in, hills, sticks, the insane fun of broken go carts, bike trails, hiking, beauty, abundant sources of water and all of the places we could potentially live here. And I can't help but be so overcome by psychotic nature of neurotic landlord that the insanity of it all makes it a little hilarious and quite laughable...as I learn to be patient and grasp the fact that this is merely a season in life and we will not be here forever. God does indeed have an amazing place for us here. We are blessed and His mercies endure forever. He is good all the time and just as we long to bless our earthly children so does He long to bless his children. So I live in expectancy of the future and come to embrace what we have been given here....12 hour shifts, landlord and all. So the word "embracing" might be a stretch but I am definitely coming to accept it while we wait with hope for the future and what He has planned for us here.

More Pics For Now

Celebrating Daddy!

Taken after attending Wake County's EMS graduation ceremony. Despite firefighting/paramedic husband's 13 years of experience he was required to attend their 5 week academy in order to learn NC's protocols. And despite the fact the miniature academy was a mere 5 weeks long it seemed like an eternity for us. Graduation ceremony was quite the formal event. Except for the random and exuberant, "Hi Daddy!!!!" with an eagerly waving hand by excited Ivye girl in the middle of absolute silence while husband stood up front and was commissioned, children were amazing.....sitting quietly and perfectly still, quite mesmerized by all the uniforms and men in honor guard. They amaze me. It was our first attempt of several this week of being on time with 11 children. Children and I successfully managed to leave the house 1 minute early with baby fed, all shirts tucked in, and all shoes on....as husband was required to be there 2 hour before we arrived. There was no time for a picture beforehand so this was taken after shirts worked their way out and a shoe or two was abandoned in the van floor. The remainder of the week we managed to actually make it out the door at 8:55 am....5 minutes early each morning....with good attitudes and happy spirits. This is always considered an absolutely massive accomplishment in my mind as each and every newborn brings with them the added dimension of needing to sit and nurse a baby, deal with the inevitable diaper blowout as we load up....and still having to have girls hair done, everybody presentable and me ready to go.

Out running errands. The sea of heads makes me laugh every time. This was our first attempt at changing up the seating arrangements. It only took a day to figure out that when husband is not present somebody is required to sit on the 4th row seat alone, as the front seat becomes occupied with an older one. So, we now have Garrrison, Grant and Garrett in their carseats on the 4th row. Gavin and Ivye occupy 3rd in their seats, little twins occupy 2nd row in their seats, and Gates is on 1st row in his infant seat so that two open older seats are now up front and everybody has a riding companion whether husband is with us or working. And, no...Ivye's hair did not get done that day...and it's just looking a little scary. Personally, I'm a little partial to the gun being aimed at the camera while this was being taken.

One of the days it was proving absolutely impossible to get anything done for all of the crap he refused to stay out of. Since neither baby is even remotely interested by anything on a tv screen this assured that he was that day. It worked.

Since his bed was located directly under the tv in our bedroom and I could never shake the thought of it falling off the wall and landing on him....this is his new little space. Nothing quite like a closet baby.

Boy play starts early in life around here. Baby A, on top, thought it was outrageously funny, however, Baby B...on bottom....was not entirely of the same mindset about it.

Utter perfection in every way.

To dream the dream. Located on the 10 acres we are hoping to buy.

The funny things I walk in to discover....

It never proves too difficult to find the culprit.

My sweet girl that marches to the beat of her own drum. Independent, fascinatingly intelligent and forever breaking the mold of society's "normal". How much I love her individuality.

A little bit tired.

3 weeks post partum. I'll take one in running gear to document the journey back to goal. But, as of now, this'll have to suffice since I keep forgetting about it and I've already begun the journey. Back in a size 8 but abs need work after baby. Journey to the 8K and 90 days of P90! Fun stuff!

Wide awake boy. How he spends the majority of his days. Happily observing the world from an Ergo, the swing or his crib.

It is finished!!! Back to shifts and our first paycheck in 6 months. Through it all we have been sustained. God is good and His mercies endure forever. It hasn't always been fun and I am continually.....forever...learning to lay it all down at the feet of Him...but He sustains and supernaturally provides. Our little family is testimony to the fact He still lives and breathes and works on behalf of those that love Him, are called according to His purpose and are willing to walk in obedience to what He is asking one to do. Forsake it all and be the ones that are the radical.....the ones that look absolutely insane and crazy to the "sensible"....the ones that the "responsible" and "educated" talk about and say it can't be done...it shouldn't be done. The ones that God can work through because His hand is so overwhelmingly evident in their life. It is only because of Him we have been provided for and we have made it 6 entire months with no income whatsoever and with 10....and 11...children walking the journey with us. It really seriously truly hasn't been fun the entire time....much of the time....and I still struggle.....but He is here and we have seen Him in ways we would've never seen. The depth of His love, His provision and the level of trust that He has required of us has been worth it all...and continues to be as we walk the rest of this out. This journey is far....very far....from over. My heart still yearns for a place to call home here....a place to settle.....and it will take an absolute act of God working on our behalf to get there. I have a dream and He knows the desires of our heart and those of our children. He is a big, big God and He works and He still performs miracles on behalf of His people. Tears flow...absolutely humbled at the feet of him. His presence overwhelms our life and when I feel Him this present in our life I discover that it is absolutely impossible to stand before Him...and our children know what it is too experience the presence of the one true living God and how He saves and preserves those that He loves and that serve Him. Amazing grace. How sweet it is.

3 weeks! Let's Go Running, Baby!

3 weeks today! And the month of March has come to a close. We survived! We have only 5 more days left of schooling, studying husband attending 5 week academy for the EMS system here. Despite his 12 years of experience as a firefighter/paramedic, academy here was mandatory as he becomes acquainted with all of Wake County's protocols. Despite 6:30a-6:30p days and studying almost every waking hour at home, a baby arriving, only 1 day off, a massive tick infestation, basement flooding, neighbors with crapped out attitudes, animal control once more, and landlord creepiness....we have triumphed! I'm thinking there's not much in life now that we can't overcome at this point.

We have found a home we love, only 15 miles away from us and all of the activities with which children are already currently involved are still entirely close. It is nestled at the end of a long....very long.... secluded private dirt road, house is spacious but not overwhelming, and sits on 10 amazing acres. Drive to home is surrounded by white farm houses and red barns with horses grazing within white fences. Cleared land is carpeted in thick green grass, flat for gardens, trampolines, and swing set. Wooded area hosts a running stream. Up the road sits a massive pond for fishing. Slowly, as we integrate ourselves into this new life in the east, amidst the millions of people that populate this side of the US, I am slowly beginning to see that we could stay here and settle happily. Compromise reached between husband's desire to stay near to active lifestyle and my longing to escape the chaos of city life and too many people in one area....away from prying neighbor eyes. Still a long way away from ever being able to acquire such a home we have begun to pray and ask the Lord to settle us here in a place where children can shoot, fish, trap and run free while still being a reasonable distance to shift husband's station, beloved church and eagerly anticipated Scout activities. But there is hope that it does indeed exist here. Spring has arrived, life is in bloom and I have hope that compromise can be reached and the Lord has an amazing place for us in mind as we settle in here and finally reach a calm after months of chaos. Sweet peace in one of the most amazing places in the US. Spring is absolutely phenomenal here. There is hope here and life is good...pretty beautiful actually.

On that note we reach Baby Lincoln Gates 3 week birthday...and my release to run on a beautiful 70 degree day. I'm maintaining a weight that is now lower than pre pregnancy and my jeans fit shockingly well...but I'm very ready to tone up what definition was lost...and just run to clear the head. Running....freedom in every way....for head, for feet, for body. So, today I run and reacquaint myself with P90X and live in contentment as I feel body submit, overcome scream of muscles in motion, obstacles within head. And I will do 200 squats because I can and it just feels good to overcome...and I'll have legs and a butt to prove that I am strong..that there's nothing in life I can't do or overcome. For 30 minutes today my head will fly away with the birds above me, I will smell every flower and bush in bloom, my feet will tread over forest floor and jump streams, hear gravel road crunch under foot, my head will be clear....and I will come back a better wife and a better mom.

I'm gonna go running and get some P90Xing under way!

Blogger site quota has been temporarily fixed..so there's pics! Still actively working on our own website though.

When nothing ever gets fixed...rednecking it always works! Unconventional thinking and creative ingenuity. There's nothing that a little duck tape, a dog leash and a bungee cord can't fix. It works!

Ivye in all of her morning glory.

Entirely happy to be out on the deck again....at 7:30am.

Days spent in the trees.

Finally done! Treating the van was an entire week long process. We put all carseats back in only to have more ticks show up. Back out they went....and we treated yet again. Back in they went and we finally had some success!

It assures they'll all be in one place, however, it does not assure they'll all be still or have good attitudes about it. I laughed the entire time I took this.

So this arrangement kept cutting Gavin out of the picture....but the happily conversing front row is pretty funny.

Blogger Quota

On a technical note....when trying to post this morning I was informed I have exceeded the storage quota on blogger for pics and I have limited space left for future posts. Soooo...no more pics for awhile. Though it seems the best way to keep up with life right now is through pics until I have time to write again. We're now checking into what it would take for the blog to be moved to it's own website..completely independent of blogger. I have absolutely no clue how to establish a website or move everything from this site to a new one. But...change is in the works! I'll continue writing on here until we can get it figured out. But until then....no pics. If any of you know how to, or know of anyone that can, accomplish setting up a web domain and transferring all data onto a new site....please let me know!

Surviving March

2 weeks old!

So this post had this original title, then I reassessed and felt a little guilty over it's seeming pessimism so I changed it....then sat down today for the 110th time to write a post and realized....there are some days that can't ever accurately convey what life is like right now other than.....surviving March. When you have a few ticks and a leak....and a teenage boy whose heart longs to go home....to the point of pining non stop some days....and a landlord that fixes nothing but watches our life from afar and frets over everything kids do, a landlord that's actually becoming a bit creepy, and a husband that is pouring himself into school day and night...and rightfully so....it becomes a bit of a load to carry. The baby, the teenage boy, and academy I can deal with. What seems to send it sailing into the deep blue depths of insanity would be the landlord, the posts falling out of 2nd story decks, pvc pipes that don't unscrew in an entirely optimal manner, the inability to use the van due to a little tick issue...and a leak...or 3...that results in the need for life rafts in the basement.

If I wasn't so head over heels in love and living on a cloud right now this month might be a little tougher to conquer. But, as is it, life is a little more than laughable at this point. So...I spend my days waging a tick war, washing every article of water laden clothing we have ever owned that now reside in sinking boxes, drying out school books and trying to salvage any piece of the life we have left that floats in a lake in the basement...cause we did, after all, choose to leave our entire life packed up...in the basement...once we learned we were staying here. I rescue fish from sink drains and busy myself trying to piece together the piece of crap pvc pipe that wasn't installed correctly to begin with...the one that completely disconnected from sink at the DRAIN HOLE when I went to unscrew it...yep, the same drain the landlord has "fixed" 4 times in the 6 months we have lived here. I plunge non working toilets on a fairly regular basis. I try to maintain my sense of humor and resist the urge of getting a restraining order as the landlord comes and goes much too often while Brad is away. And I nurse a new baby and refrain from renaming myself Bessie. So that pretty much sums up life here....ticks, leaks, fish, drains, pvc pipe, landlord, toilets, clothes, carpet.....all while looking through rose colored glasses because I am desperately in love with this new tiny boy in our lives. This chubby, rosy cheeked, bright eyed cherub that eats and sleeps and doesn't have much to say about life right now...utterly content to be wrapped in the blankets of love from the multitude of people in his tiny life.

On the baby note, I somehow accomplished the feat of sliding back into pre pregnant size 8 jeans at 11 days post partum. Much to my delight, zipper actually went up quite effortlessly after having fought with it...and won....3 days previously. I'm now under pre pregnancy weight....and very ready to run. Cautious husband strongly advised against it and since I have absolutely no desire to ever in a lifetime end up with rabdo again I have made decision to let body fully recover from birth...and wait til sweet boy is 3 weeks old. Spring is absolutely amazing in the east...it defies words....so running amidst it all is quite the motivating factor and will be amazing.....or as amazing as running gets in the messed up sort of way that it is. So, next Monday it is! P90X and Journey to the 8K....cause a 1/2 marathon is a little optimistic at this point. Richmond. Nov 2012. I'm gonna run it.

So.....somewhere....over the rainbow.....I will blog again and tell the many stories that filled our life this month. Someday. But right now I'm going to refrain from mooing, go nurse a baby, throw yet more loads of soaked clothing into washing machine....take van to carwash so I can thoroughly vacuum the entirety of it all while refraining from depositing tick eggs into our shop vac. I'm going to set up a 1 acre obstacle course for excited children and I will not look at another carseat, strip one down, or attempt to put another one together for no less than 5 years. And eventually I will blog again...someday. For now....more pics. On the pic note...the battery in our brand new camera has completely died so camera has to be returned. It's under full warranty but it's taking for-ev-er to get through the replacement process. Back to phone pics.

Sweet love.

When there are no couches....which I'm beginning to really miss now. It only took 6 months to miss them and start dreaming of luxuriousness. My nighttime dreams now consist of deeply cushioned couches with pull out beds hidden within....especially after yesterday's brick sitting episode.

And when the camera comes out kids immediately gravitate towards it for their moment of fame. I'm especially fond of the camo gun that made the pic. Grant's statement of the day yesterday...

"Mom? I've decided I don't want to be in the army when I grow up anymore...cause they die."

Me..."Ok".

Grant..."I want to be on the SWAT team."

Playing with the phone. I actually kind of hate the whole self portrait phone pics but I amused children by doing it anyway...and am fulfilling the promise to post it. Lovely.

Watching Grayson back up the van.

Forbidden climbing. I must add here...this house is merely a rental so making it homey is not of the greatest priority right now. So, that little fire hazard of a plug thing going on in the background....yep, not so concerned about hiding it. Oneday, when we settle here, I'll make a house a home. Although, I will say, it's getting a little embarrassing having people over...especially all of the amazing ones that brought dinner. The carpet...yep, we told him not to put it in and we agreed to rent it on those terms....linoleum throughout. So, the carpet's a little humbling as we have guests....or really a lot humbling. And any furniture or wall hangings creating a homey environment...they don't exist. So our visitors are greeted by nasty crapped out carpet and a bare home. We just let the kids fill it up and create the warm environment...and it's less crap to move when we find a new rent house...with hard floors.

When you're #11 you can't afford to be picky. This is what happens when you tell daddy to buy cheap and save the difference. He comes home with this. Still makes me laugh. Real mean wear pink!

Officially settled into the new sleeping arrangement.

Being blessed by 2 entire weeks worth of meals brought to us by the church. Studying husband in the background.

Spring in the east. Just a glimpse of what the trees in our yard look like right now.

Our date night buddy.

Stage 2 of the deticking project.

Stripping them all down.....without makeup. Sexy.

There are no words to ever in a lifetime accurately convey just how much I loathe putting carseats back together. About the 5th hour into it and the 104th forgotten piece my patience was just a little bit tested. About the 75th overlooked part I began to seriously debate the importance of chest pieces. I now have bruises in the shape of brick imprints on my butt due to the hours of sitting there conquering the carseat task.

When all the laundry baskets are put up and out of reach they get the rolling office chair.

And when the office chair is turned over and stored under the desk.....

....and when that's not tall enough.....

Yes...they do get in trouble for this but they are quite the motivated and undeterred ones. One thing's certain....they're great problem solvers.

Just Pics

Pics will have to suffice for now until I can get back in a routine of writing. It's pretty insane how in love we all are. It's always amazing to me how much life a new baby brings to the family....shrouds our days in softness and seems to bring forth the love not only for this fresh, new life but for each other in general, as a whole for the entire family. Children step up more than before, they celebrate each other and the company provided in siblings, excitement pervades, love abounds. Husband and I sit in bed at night and marvel over this new gift we have been given, how the two of us have been used to create this little life...so similar in looks yet so individually different....glimpses of him, glimpses of me and little glimpses of the 10 siblings that have so eagerly anticipated his arrival...this tiny little gift to be unwrapped by all.

He's an amazingly content sweet boy....mild, peaceful and easily comforted. Nights are going well so far with only 2 nursings so the days are already becoming easier. I find it amazing we are parents of 8 boys. How in love I am with our abundance of tree climbing, bike riding, adventure seeking, hunting, trapping, fishing, houseful of little men. And how grateful I am for our 3 girly girls that have learned these skills and hobbies also because of all the outside loving boys in their lives. There are no words for how blessed I know we are...despite the obstacles we have had to overcome. The gratefulness I have and the love that exists for my husband, how we have grown together over the last 15 years of our life and the children with which we have been given is overwhelming to this heart of mine. This life I live is a pretty amazing one.

Staring and trying to talk to his mama. He has my heart in every way.

The drunk milk state....and just ignore the carpet.

And the full tummy sleep...truly ignore the carpet.

Tree loving boys

Loved by everybody.

Wide awake and loving on his Evye

Bedtime love

He wasn't a fan of having his face squished up....even if it was with good, brotherly love intentions. I think my favorite part is the dirt covered hands holding onto Graham's head.

Life with twins....

No...I don't wear this shirt everyday...despite the perceived story these pictures tell.

They figured out the art of dumping a basket of clean clothes out and using it as a step stool sizable enough to house them both. Never a dull moment and never slows down. Somehow I've either chosen to forget how much Garrison and Grant got into....or they were just entirely mild compared to this little duo.

He has a good childhood.

Climbing out of his own crib began....and he was quite proud of it. Rowdy, forever on the move, red headed, wild man. He's the next apprentice of Grant.

The jailbreak....and crushed up petrified bread croutons he'd unearthed somewhere in the hidden crevices of the room.

After doing a number on the room we discovered him in the floor and the gaping hole now in the side of his crib.

Floor vents.....still a novelty around here. Digging everything out of it that he'd dropped down in his free ranging state.

Evye's attempt at a self portrait with all 3 involved.

Decision was made that since he no longer can be kept within crib to go ahead and transition them up. Not the easiest transition or the best timing in the world...but after one long night of fighting sleep both are finally going to bed uneventfully and on time....without roaming for hours. But they never seem to get the hang of staying on the mattress.

After 2 nights of consistency and lots of training....they're finally starting to get the hang of it.....I think.