The Legend of Thousand Hills Farm

I'm moving...

this blog! I have enjoyed homeschoolblogger, but there have been some things that I just couldn't do with this blog. I'm sure if I were "techie" or if I had a "techie" living with me, it would be different, but I'm not, and I don't. So, in view of the few frustrations I have had here, I am moving on over to blogspot with this blog. The new address for The Legend of Thousand Hills Farm is: http://FarmLegend.blogspot.com/

I hope that you will follow me on over. I know that I haven't been very good at updating this lately, but over at blogspot, it will be easier to upload photos, etc., so hopefully, I'll do better at keeping everyone updated on what we're doing!

On To State!

Well, track season is almost over. Last weekend was the regional track meet down at Kamiah. Both Will and Levi qualified for regionals, so we took our little camp trailer and stayed at a very nice RV park over the weekend.

Will threw the shot, and ran the 200 and the 400. Although he did not qualify for state, he did PR (personal record) in each of those, so he ended the season well.

Here's Will, I'm not sure whether or not this is the 200 or the 400.

And here is Will in his other race. Although he didn't make it past regionals, we are proud of how well he did do. This was Will's first year of track, and he ended up doing some events he didn't really want to, but because his coaches asked it of him, he did. Hard to believe he's a senior and done with sports.

Here's Levi in the 300 hurdles. He qualified "on the bubble" in this event. He didn't place well enough to qualify for state, but his time qualified him.

Levi running the 110 hurdles. Does he look intense or what? Levi took 4th at regionals, qualifying him for state.

Those that qualified for state, will be flying down to Boise on Wednesday. Mike and I are trying to decide now whether or not we can make the trip down. It may seem foolish, but we are very committed to supporting our boys in their various endeavors, whether it be sports, or mission outreach, or jobs, or whatever their interests are. So it's important to us to try to figure out a way to get down there and cheer him on.

On to STATE!!

In Memorium

In Loving Memory

Stacy Michelle Ferguson

Aug. 1958 ~ Apr. 2009

We will miss you, dear one.

Wow! It's Been a While...

It's been a long time since I posted. I don't even remember the last time. So, here's a short update.

First, let me tell you that my review for the current issue of TEACH magazine can be found at my other blog. Their theme this issue is on marriage, so I felt like it was really appropriate for over there. You can read it at Beneath Beams of Cedar.

Let's see, Mike has been out of work for almost 3 months now. God has been faithful, and we have not felt too tight a pinch financially. He has applied for many jobs, and we know that God has just the right job out there for him, we are just waiting on God's timing. He has been blessed with some odd jobs, and I am hopeful that that will continue until God brings along the job He has for him. I have felt very content with him at home ~ enjoying the time, knowing that having him at home all day is truely a blessing.

Levi played basketball this winter, and didn't do too bad. He even scored over 20 points one game. He enjoyed it, and we traveled ~ I think there is wisdom in limiting the sports that they can be involved in, but I do enjoy watching my athletic sons playing sports they enjoy. Both Will and Levi are in track this spring. They have already had one meet, and have several more over the next month. I believe that Garth and Logan are both planning on baseball, so we will be on the road a LOT.

The girls have been participating in their own athletic endeavors. Kathleen has been taking ballet/tap lessons and Bob has been doing gymnastics. They both enjoy their respective activities very much, and it is fun to see them excited about what they are doing.

Ezra is walking everywhere! He started walking the first part of the month, and there's no stopping him now.  We were at a homeschooling conference this weekend, and I set him down (he's HEAVY!), and turned to look at some curriculum and he was gone! Thankfully, another Mama saw which way he went. It's much easier at home, where there are several pairs of eyes to keep track of him. Josiah has quickly learned that he can blame Ezra for almost anything he gets in trouble for (not that it works, but he keeps trying!). It's a little amusing at this point to get after him for something and have him say, "Ezra. Ezra did it." Doesn't take 'em long, does it?

Speaking of the homeschool conference, Rick and Marilyn Boyer were the speakers, and they were terrific! If you have the opportunity to hear them, please take advantage of it, you will not be disappointed! Very encouraging.

I am keeping busy with home-educating, sports, home-keeping, and chasing toddlers (I hate not calling Ezra a baby, but he IS toddling!). Which would be one reason I don't blog very often. I am also starting my herb studies again, and hope to have certification within a couple or three years, but studying is difficult in a houseful of children, so we'll see how it goes.

Well, that's a quick synopsis of what's going on here. Hope you all are doing well!

Ezra is 6 months old!

My sweet little boy is 6 months old! I can't believe it. So, I am "celebrating" by trying to be technologically advanced. I took some video of him with our camera. Now I'm going to attempt to post it here, so those of you that are far from us can see what an adorable baby God has blessed us with!

Ha! I did it!  However, I must confess, I had to get ahold of tech support because I couldn't figure it out.  I apologize for some of the "wobbly" footage, Josiah wanted to see what the camera was doing!

Mother/Daughter Tea

On the 11th, Kathleen, Laura, Ezra and I went to the Christian Heritage Mother/Daughter Tea. Deborah Brown, wife of Scott Brown was the speaker. What a lovely time we had! It was encouraging and convicting at the same time. We sat with friends, and caught up with some aquaintances. The girls had fun coloring and singing.

It was held in the Georgian Room at the Spokane Athletic Club ~how beautiful! I had never been there before.

Here are the daughters ~ that's Laura on the left and Kathleen next to her.

And the Mamas. I'm on the right.

They had a corner set up for the little girls. It had a table with paper dolls to color, and a blanket spread on the floor so they would have a somewhat comfy place to play with their dolls.

My beautiful, sweet girlies.

And here we are together. Poor Ezra ~ only one other boy in the whole room! But he survived.

Will's 18!

Well, I don't know how it happened, but last week I became the mother of an adult!  I'm pretty sure I'm too young to have an 18 year old.  However, there is paperwork to prove it, so it must be true!

Will had wanted a party, but we're in the midst of football season and it's crazy around here. Last week's schedule looked something like this:

• Monday ~ Middle school football game
• Tuesday ~ Will had to go to Spokane for a physical for his postal job, Girl's volleyball game
• Wednesday ~ Middle school football game
• Thursday ~ Girl's volleyball game (at home), and Will's birthday
• Friday ~ High school football game at Clark Fork
• Saturday ~ My 20 yr! class reunion, and dinner for the boys at a friend's house
• Sunday ~ Christmas contata practice started, monthly Singspiration hosted by our church (and did I mention I was exhausted and had a migraine?)

And all that doesn't include school, practices, and work! So, it looked like a party wasn't going to happen. He came home one evening and said that Mullan didn't have a JV Volleyball team, and so the game would be over by about 7:30, and could we have a small party here after the game? I told him that would be fine, however they would have to get the basement straightened up so that they could play pool or foosball or games. Well, they obviously weren't going to be home enough to get that project done. He was disappointed, but I told him that when things calm down a bit we could have a get-together down here, and although it wouldn't be a "birthday party", it would be fun. He was okay with that.

Unbeknownst to Will, I had called our wonderful Pastor, and asked if we could invade their house on Thursday after the Volleyball game and throw Will a surprise birthday party. They said yes! It would be perfect ~ if we could pull it off. Will always walks their daughter home after home games, so if we could get everyone snuck in, there would be nothing out of the ordinary (as far as he knew!). Levi was charged with getting everyone invited. Here are some pictures from the party.

Visiting while waiting for the guest of honor.

More visiting, and looking out the window to see if they're(Will and the girls) about to show up.

Debby and I getting the food ready. And no, that's not a bun on my head, that's someone standing behind me!

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! We began to sing as Will walked through the door.

Everyone enjoying Will's reaction to his surprise!

Here's Will with his birthday cake (football, of course!). We had him *totally* surprised! He was clueless. Amazing considering one of the guests thought it was a surprise party for Levi, and did his best not to let him know!

I wanted to end this with a post I sent to my ladies (email loop I'm on) about Will. Mike and I are so proud of him ~ he is an outstanding young man.

Today our oldest turns 18. I am officially a mother of an adult. Oh, we have treated him as a man for a while now. Allowing him to make his own decisions, with our guidance and counsel, but today the rest of the world recognizes him as a man.

While I am terribly proud of the man he is, I long for the days when he was a little boy, quick to run to my arms for a hug and a kiss. When we sat for hours upon hours reading books ~ some so many times that he could recite them, and so I gave up reading them to him and let him "read" them to me. My home is not devoid of little boys! But I miss the days of Will's "little boydom". :-) I look back with regret that I pushed him to each new stage, instead of letting him take his time getting there. Why did I not enjoy each stage as it came? Time and experience. Each new stage for him was a new stage for me as a Mama.

Happy Birthday Kathleen!

Just to let you know...There are two posts today.  This one and another on football.

Friday, Kathleen turned 8! I can't believe she's that old already. It doesn't seem possible that it's been 8 years since we brought home our first little pink bundle. Like her brothers before her, she made us wait for 2 weeks beyond the "due date" to meet her. My folks were on a fishing trip, so the boys stayed with our dear friends, the Primers.

Kathleen is a joyful, exuberant, loving little girl. We are so thankful for her presence in our home!

Happy birthday to you... Josiah looks like he thinks it's *his* birthday cake! We had the same yummy birthday cake we had for Laura's birthday. Well, not the *same* cake, but a cake of the same type!

A big breath, and... it wasn't quite enough! It took a couple or three breaths to get all those candles blown out!Kathleen is very enthusiastic about learning handwork. She received yarn, needles, and a couple of books to begin learning how to knit. She was very excited!

Happy birthday, dear Kathleen ~ We love you!

My House Is Full of Ding-A-Lings!

While I detest the current trend of children of every age having cell phones ~ there's not much more irritating than seeing some 6 or7 year old walking through a store with her ear attached to a cell phone acting like a teenager ~ we have taken the dive and all three of the older boys now have cell phones. They are just on the go so much, that it really became an issue of keeping track of them and safety.

There was a side effect that I didn't count on ~ kids don't call each other, they text. The phones make a little dingly sound when a text comes in, so now we have 4 phones going off almost constantly! (They insist on texting *my* phone, since I don't really text!) The boys all carry their phones in their pockets, so I have begun to affectionately call them my *Ding-a-lings*!

Missoula Children's Theatre

Last week was Missoula Children's Theatre. They did Little Red Riding Hood. Interesting experience this year. They have parts for about 56 children, 16 of which are speaking parts.  18 children showed up for auditions.  They cut a few parts.

Laura has been waiting and waiting to be old enough to participate, and she got to be a raccoon.  Kathleen was a raccoon as well, and Logan was the Little Loveable Wolf, which happened to be the bad guy.  He was perfect for the part!

They worked hard all week, and Friday spent the entire day at the Wellness Center, doing last minute dress rehersal, and two performances.  They learned that the show must go on, as after the first performance, several of the kids went home.  During the second performance, one of the kids quit in the middle of the show.  I hope that MCT will return next year.  We'll see.

Here are some pictures.

Here is Bob the raccoon ~ and yes, when at the audition they had to give their name and age ~ "I'm Bob and I'm stix (6)"

Here's raccoon Kathleen, looking very sober!

And finally, Logan aka Little Loveable Wolf ~ the star of the show! (Well, not really, but he stole the show!)

Birthdays

I have been going to post about the birthdays we recently celebrated, but I was waiting to get pictures uploaded (so, I need Will), but that hasn't happened, so I decided to go ahead and post and maybe later I'll get some pictures added.

On the 25th of July, we had 3 birthdays.  It's Mom's birthday, my dear friend Tiffani's birthday, and it's also our Tucker's birthday.  Tucker would have been 4 this year.  While I still feel the hole his absence has left in our family, his birthday is a sweet day for me.  The first couple of years, it was a terribly emotional day, and while I was thankful for what God was/is doing, I was overwhelmed with grief that I didn't have a little boy celebrating his birthday.  God is so good to us!  He has blessed us with 2 more little boys since calling Tucker home.  They do not replace him, but they fill our arms, and our hearts and lives with joy.  I can look back on the last 4 years and be so thankful for what God has done in our lives.  The way He has drawn us closer to Himself.  I would not choose to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death ~ particularly as it relates to the death of a child, but I know that what God has brought about in our lives would not have happened in any other way.  I miss my son.  But I know that this life is but the blinking of an eye, and I have ETERNITY with him!  What a joyous reunion we look forward to.

Since it was also Tiffani's birthday, Julianne, Daedra, Tiff, Chantal, and I went to Manitou Park in Spokane and had tea in the rose garden.  We had fresh bread, scones, orange curd, cream, and raspberry ripple cheesecake ~ YUM!  To drink, we had peach sparkling juice and iced tea.  We had a wonderful, relaxing afternoon ~ all the while drawing lots and LOTS of stares, furtive glances, and even a few comments.   The squirrels almost enjoyed Daedra's cheesecake as much as we did!

We didn't see Grammie on her birthday, but we did talk to her on the phone and wished her a happy birthday.  My sister took them out to dinner, so they had a nice evening.

On the 31st, Logan turned 12.  Where does the time go?  Grammie and Pak gave him a beautiful 22 for his birthday.  We gave him the standard gift for our 12 year old boys which is a hunting pack filled with the necessary items.  We had a quiet evening, Logan had requested chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes.  I also made a chocolate cake for him ~ which wasn't bad, but not so good I'm going to share the recipe.   Logan is very tender-hearted toward the Lord.  He attended church camp this year for the first time ~ mostly because it was the same camp our Pastor was at ~ and came home with some really deep thoughts about God and how He works.  I was encouraged!  So often kids come home from camp and they are all pumped up, which is wonderful, but it is usually short-lived.  So, I am hoping because he came home from camp with a more sober attitude that the effects will be longer lasting.

The Little Brown Cowboy Hat

Once there was a little brown cowboy hat.  It came to live at our house because we had some little cowboys.  It started out a pretty brown, with nicely shaped brim; after a time, it wasn't so pretty any more, but it was well-loved! 

First, Will wore it.

Then, Levi began to live in it.

And he wore it everywhere...

Keeping it with him even while he slept!

Garth even took a turn with it.

By the time Logan was around to wear it, we needed a new one!

And now, almost 10 years later, several of the last spent in the barn (the hat, that is ), another little Dole cowboy, Si, wears that old hat.

To see more Hat Fair posts, click here.

Bob's Birthday

Saturday Bob turned 6!  I can't believe that she's so old already.   Bob was our first baby born in this house, our first homebirth, our first waterbirth, and the first baby where we said, "It truely is a miracle this baby is here."  We've always acknowledged the miracle of birth, but after Bob was born and her cord was cut, we found a *knot* in her umbilical cord ~ and it wasn't a loosely tied knot either.  We stood in awe of the protection of God's hand upon this child. 

Bob tends to be somewhat eccentric in her personality, and is fearless.  We have a rope hanging out of one of our big Maples in front of the house, and Bob loves this "swing".  She will swing so high on it, that it makes this Mama nervous!  She loves to play football with the boys, and yet loves to wear pretty things.  One of her birthday presents was getting her ears pierced.  She had the option of two people doing it, and having it all over at once, but she insisted on only one person and having the ears done one after the other.  Not a tear, not a grimace, she was a champ.  And, she looks adorable with her ears pierced!  One the way home (this was the day before her birthday), Levi told her, "Bob, you should be a NASCAR driver."  She replied, "Levi, I'm 5."  Like, DUH!  We got a good giggle out of that one. 

Bob has a great sense of humor and often has us chuckling over something she has said or done.  She has a very exuberant personality and loves to sing.  Right now she is very into Christmas songs ~ I may have to ban them.

We had a quiet day on Saturday.  The older boys went to a Shock game (arena football), and Logan spent the night at Grammie and Pak's, so it was just Mike and I, the girls and the little boys at home.  Let me tell you, when you have 8 children, but only 4 at home, and those 4 are 7 and under, it's odd!  Takes some getting used to, and it's considerably more quiet than when everyone is home.  We opted to go ahead with presents and birthday cake instead of waiting.  I went toRecipezaar and found a delicious birthday cake!  It's called a Jeanne's Style Birthday Cake. 

Notice, no cute, girly decorations ~ "Mom, you know I love Lightning."  So, Cars it was.  It was small, only an 8"x8", but it was perfect for us on Saturday.  Here is the recipe.

Jeanne's Style Birthday Cake

Base

1/3 c shortening (I used Butter)

1/4 c icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 c all-purpose flour

1/3 teaspoon baking powder

Cake

1/2 c shortening (I used Butter)

3/4 c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c milk

Frosting

1/2 c milk

2 Tblsp all-purpose flour

1/2 c butter

1/4 c shortening

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c icing sugar

1 dash salt

 1.  To prepare base, cut shortening(butter) into dry ingredients, mix well.

 2.  Pat firmly and evenly into an 8" square pan and bake at 350* F, for 10-12 minutes.  Cool.

 3.  NOTE: The base and cake are baked seperately.

 4.  For cake:  cream shortening (butter) and sugar; add eggs and vanilla, beating well until fluffy.

 5.  Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

 6.  Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 inch square pan.

 7.  Bake at 350* F for 25-40 minutes.

 8.  Frosting: in small saucepan, stir together milk and flour.

 9.  Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and smooth.  Cool.

10.  On highest speed of mixer, beat cooled flour mixture with butter, shortening, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.

11.  Blend in icing sugar and salt; continue beating until frosting is very fluffy.  This will take at least 15 minutes.

12.  To assemble cake: place shortbread  base on serving plate; spread with small amount of frosting.

13.  Place cake on base. (You can split the cake for layers.)

14.  Cover top and sides of cake with remaining frosting.  If desired, garnish sides of cake with shaved semi-sweet chocolate.

***I used butter instead of shortening on the recommendation of on of the reviews for this recipe.  It was a heavy, almost pound cake type cake.  I didn't split the cake, and there would not have been enough frosting to fill a layer and frost the cake, but if you were going to do something else, like a custard for filling, it would be yummy!  It was kind of a stinker to put together, I ended up breaking the shortbread base, but it tasted delicious!  Also, I only beat my frosting for about 10 minutes before I got tired of it, and it was fine.  Very light.

What a Week! Revisited

Well, this post (and the next one) is a little over-due, but I had to wait for Will to have time to upload photos to the computer, and then we were without internet for about a week.  So, here it is, though a little late.

It all started on Monday, Memorial Day.  We went up to the cemetery for the service (which we were late for and missed because it lasted all of 5 minutes), but we were able to get some visiting done, so that was good.  We came home and after having some lunch, I put in a new movie that I had bought for the children.  Logan decided he was going to be outside, so out he went.  After a while, he came in, fussing.  Now, my usual reaction is not necessarily one of great compassion when one of the children comes in crying or fussing about being hurt because usually they aren't.   But, this happened to be one time when I asked (with concern) what had happened.  He said that he had cut himself ~ and I noticed that he was dripping blood all over my floor.  I was nursing the baby, so I had Will take him in the bathroom and help him get his hand cleaned up.  We determined that it was going to need stitches, so I called Mike, who just happened to be on his way home.  Once he got home, Logan, Mike, Ezra and I all headed for Moscow.  Why Mike chose Moscow and not CdA, I don't know, but to Moscow we went.  When we pulled up to the Urgent Care, we found they were closed for Memorial Day.  So, we went to Gritman and their ER.  After waiting for at least 2 hours (Memorial Day happens to be their busiest day of the year), Logan ended up with 11 stitches in a 1" cut.   They didn't do any internal stitches, but because he cut the meaty part of his hand, the flesh did not want to close up, so it took lots of stitches.

On Tuesday, Garth broke his foot.  In the afternoons the boys had been going to the Wellness Center to participate in the BFS (Bigger, Faster, Stronger) program.  They have also been playing a little basketball since there is a basketball court right next to the weight room.  Well, he was leaping to hit the ball back in-bounds, and when he landed, he lit on the side of his left foot.  He was complaining about it hurting, and it was somewhat swollen, but it was evening, so we decided to wait until morning to see how it felt.  Mike had him put it up and put ice on it, but I had a sneaking hunch that it was broke.  So, Wednesday morning I took him to the clinic where they x-rayed it.  Without a radiology report, they couldn't be completely sure, but the PA was pretty certain he saw a hairline fracture.  He decided to treat it as a break, just to be on the safe side, and splinted it ~ giving Garth instructions to not put *any* weight on it, to ice it, and to come back and have it re-x-rayed on Monday, after most of the soft tissue swelling had gone down.  It was broke, but they chose not to cast it, but to leave it splinted, and they gave him a walking boot that he could begin to use in a couple of weeks.  (I didn't get a picture of Garth in his splint and crutches, but trust me, he looked pitiful ).

Wednesday evening, Mike and I went to CdA to get Logan's prescription filled.  For some reason the Dr. at Gritman gave him a prescription for an antibiotic that no one carries.  Well, they carry it, just not in the dosage prescribed.  So, we went to Shopko ~ no luck.  This after also trying our local pharmacy in Plummer.  However, Shopko did tell Mike that Walgreens would have it, so we went there.  While waiting for Logan's prescription to get filled, Mike's phone rang.  It was Will.  Levi had run head-on with our pastor's daughter, and now that they were home, he was feeling groggy and acting funny.  Mike told him to call our friend's daughter, who is an EMT.  He also told him that we would be on our way home ASAP.  As we were on our way home, Will called again, and said that Levi needed to go to the ER.  His BP was elevated and he had begun throwing up.  Our pastor came down to the house, along with the Youth Leader, and they had gotten Levi and started to town with him.  However we were close enough to home that we met up with them at the parsonage.  We turned around and drove back to CdA.  They did a CT scan in the ER and determined that he did not have a concussion, but had just hit hard enough to make him nauceous.  We were thankful!

When we got home, I realized that my incision (from my c-sec) was bleeding.  Thankfully, I had already called the clinic and left a message for an appt. on Thursday with Dr. Stamm.

Thursday came, and with fear and trepidation I left the littler children at home with Garth and his broken foot, so I could go to the Dr.  I put a movie in, and gave instructions for everyone to *sit* and *not move* while I was gone!   Josiah did get his finger slammed in the screen door, and while he did end up losing his fingernail, it was not a Dr. visit worthy injury. 

I was worried that my incision was coming open, because I had ended up being so active that week, and riding in the van seemed to be pretty hard on me.  Dr. Stamm reassured me that I was healing up, but I did have an infection in my incision, so he gave me meds and sent me home.  (I chose to spare you a picture of my lovely scar! ).

Thankfully, Friday and Saturday came and went and no injuries!  Hurray!!  So, that was our medically traumatic week ~ one I hope not to replay any time soon ~ now the bills are starting to hit, and may I just share that if you have an emergency (such as needing stitches, etc.), find an Urgent Care facility ~ ERs are rip offs!  We have been shocked and appalled at what hospitals are getting away with charging for what amounts to little or no service.

New Arrival

Announcing the arrival of Ezra Alan Dole! 

Ezra was born on Sunday, May 11, Mother's Day.  He weighed 8lb 14oz, and was 20 1/4 inches long. 

My water broke early Saturday morning.  After beginning to get the tub out and filled, we called our midwife, Terry, and my dear friend, Julianne, who had agreed to come and be our "doula".  We called Grammie, because we had asked her to be here for the birth.  And then we began to wait. 

We fully expected to have a baby by 10 or 11 in the morning, from my previous births where my water had broken, but I was not actively laboring.  And we waited, and waited...  I nursed Josiah off and on throughout the day, hoping that that would get labor going; and we waited.  We visited, we warmed up the water in the birthing pool when it would get too cool, and we waited.  At one point, Mike realized that he had left the water on *far* too long, and when I got upstairs, the birthing pool was full to overflowing, with water beginning to run under the bed!  Thankfully, we had a lot of towels on the floor in preparation for following the birth, and so, we didn't have too big of a mess.  I was just thankful there wasn't water coming down the stairs when I got to the bottom of them!   And we continued to wait.  In the afternoon, Grammie finally went home.  The girls went with her. 

Evening came and we played a couple of rousing games of Apples to Apples.  We were up pretty late, but we had fun!  At about 12:30, we finally went to bed.  I woke up about 3am, and thought I felt like maybe things were going to get going ~ finally!  And still we waited. 

Mike fixed scambled eggs and toast, but I couldn't eat very much, I just didn't feel real well.  My emotions were beginning to get the better of me.  The only other birth that my membranes spontaneously ruptured before labor began was Tucker's.  I had been fine the day before, but now we were onto Sunday, and Tucker was born on a Sunday ~ and for some reason, labor wasn't happening.  I felt like God was asking, "Do you trust me?"  My answer was, "Yes."  However, Tucker's birth weighed on my mind.  Terry decided we should try herbs for a couple of hours, and if that didn't get labor going, it wasn't going to.  So, for the next 2 hours, every 15 minutes, I received a lovely little cocktail of labor herbs.   And we waited.  When the herbs didn't work, we had to decide whether or not to transport to the hospital.  We didn't have any signs of infection, baby's heart rate was good; but if we waited until any of that changed, we would be left without options when we did get to the hospital.  Mike decided to transport.  He called Dr. Stamm, and asked if he would make arrangements for us at Deaconess.

As we left for the hospital, I was extremely emotional.  I knew that God was allowing all of this for a reason, but not *knowing* the reason left me an emotional wreck.  Was there something wrong with the baby?  When we got into Spokane, Mike called the hospital, and they told him they were expecting us.  When we got to Deaconess, Dr. Stamm was there at the nurses station, awaiting our arrival. 

Once we were settled into our room, Dr. Stamm came in and informed us that because of the amount of time since my water had ruptured, that I was considered high risk.  They would run a couple of courses of antibiotics, just to be on the safe side, and then they would start a pitocin drip.  So, once again we waited. 

Julianne had called Brian, and told him that we were heading to the hospital, and unbeknownst to her, he called some folks at their church, and headed out for Spokane as well.  Their church had planned a special time during their service for Brian, as his birthday had been that week, and yet, they very generously encouraged him to go to Spokane and be there to support us.  What a blessing that was for us!  We were also surprised (and thankful!) to see our pastor walk through the door shortly after we arrived.  What a blessing to be in fellowship with not only one, but two congregations who are willing to give up their pastors on a Sunday morning.

After they started the pitocin, we began to contemplate an epidural.  I have never been the least bit interested in an epidural ~ needles, spines...I'm just too squimish for that!  However, I have had pitocin births before, and knowing that I wouldn't be able to do much in the way of naturally relieving the pain, I decided this time it *might* be an option.  We thoroughly questioned one of our dr.s, and then we thoroughly questioned our labor nurse.  Then I consulted with Mike, Terry, and Julianne.  In the end, we decided to go for the epidural.  What a strange experience!  To be having strong contractions, and not be feeling them!  I did have some problems with the lower right part of my belly not staying numb, but other than that, it was not a bad experience. 

Finally, at about 6 or 6:30 in the evening, I was ready to push!  Soon I would be holding my new son, and I was ready!  And so, with a room full of drs and nurses (not the lovely quiet homebirth I was planning!), I began to push.  And push...and push.  For at least 2 1/2 hours, in pretty much ever imaginable position, I pushed.  But our son would not come down.  He was stuck at 0 station ~ and I was exhausted.  We began to talk about different options.  Forceps delivery, cesarean.  We pretty much rejected forceps out of hand.  We figured if we didn't know why he wasn't coming down, forceps could be dangerous.  As scary as a c-section was to me, forceps were scarier.  The drs said they would give me another 15-30 minutes of laboring before we *had* to make a decision.  I felt like if I had to labor another 15 minutes, I would die.  We decided to go ahead with a c-section.  And I cried.  I was scared, but I knew we had to do it to get our son safely into our arms.

They got Mike some scrubs ~ he looked adorable!   And they took me to the OR.  They "topped off" the epidural, and when everything was ready, they began to cut.  And, "OW, OW, OW!!!"

"You can feel that?"  "YES!"  The surgeon wanted to go ahead with the epidural (letting me get numb), but the anethesiologist wasn't comfortable with it, so they knocked me clear out.  Which meant Mike couldn't be there when the baby was delivered.  They had told him that they would deliver the baby, and then it would be just 10 or 15 minutes before I would be out.  After half an hour, Mike left Julianne with Ezra in the nursery, and came back to the operating room.  I had begun hemorraging, and they really had to work to get my uterus to work like it was supposed to.  They did special stitches in it, and all in all, I was in surgery for an hour after they delivered Ezra.  We are thankful that although I lost about double the amount of blood they would expect, they did not have to give me a transfusion.

So, at 9:34 pm on Sunday evening, our sweet little boy entered into the world.  We praise God for the evidences of His Hand all through this labor and delivery.  The dr. said that it was "fortuitous" that I had to have general anethesia for surgery.  We know that it was providential. 

I am in for a long recovery because of all the different factors involved in this birth, but I am thankful to have a healthy baby to hold while recovering.  Mike is thankful I am around *to* recover.  That may sound extreme, but having to have a surgical delivery, and then for things to take so much longer than what he had been told ~ he was truely scared of losing me.  

Here are a few pictures of our newest darling.

A thankful and relieved Daddy holding baby Ezra.  That's Julianne looking on.

A thankful and TIRED Mama getting aquainted with her newest blessing!

Josiah loving on his new little brother ~ I think he likes him!

True contentment ~ Ezra Alan

It's Been a While!

My apologies to those of you who rely on this blog to keep up with us!  It's been a while since I posted, but it seems that life has been moving rather quickly lately.  We spent a couple of weeks dealing with sickness.  First it was coughs and upper respitory junk, and then it was the flu.   We are well at this point, although I still have a bit of a cough ~ just can't seem to shake it. 

We have been running (driving) all over the country, going to track meets and baseball games.  A little over a month ago, we decided that there was no way we could continue to afford gas for our 15 passenger van.  So, we began the hunt for a mini van.  We ended up with a 2000 Montana.  I love it!  It drives so nice, and it gets at least double the mileage that the big van did.  It's 8 passenger, so most of us fit in it.  I would have loved to have gotten a small *really* economical car, but with soon-to-be 2 children in carseats, and one still in a booster, I couldn't see going any smaller than a mini van. 

Will and Levi have ended up being too old to play baseball right now ~ they just didn't have enough kids turn out to make a team.  So, Will has been coaching.  He has done really well, and I have been impressed with how well he handles the boys on his team.  It does look like they will get to play starting in June.  Garth has ended up pitching and is doing a great job!  As long as he does things the way he's supposed to, he's pretty consistent and throws strikes.

Levi is doing track.  He long and triple jumps, and runs the 110 hurdles, and usually at least one relay.  Today was the District Track Meet, and although he didn't place, he did his personal best today in the Triple.  I was very proud of him!

Mike is really enjoying his new job.  It has been fairly varied so far.  They have been in the process of remodeling a couple of the businesses, and so there has been a fair amount of physical labor involved ~ resulting in some weight loss!  He enjoys the people he is working with, and although much of what he is doing is similar to what he did at the store, it's different enough to be a challenge.  I enjoy having a husband who isn't stressed out all the time!

We are patiently awaiting the arrival of Baby E.  Last week at my midwife appt, he was breech, so I made an appt with a chiropractor and went in and had the Webster Technique done.  This is a maneuver that encourages the baby to turn.  I do believe that he finished turning that evening, but tomorrow we'll find out for sure when Terry comes for another appointment.  Mike and I have been talking and praying about what to do if he decides he's going to be breech.  While there have been lots and lots of breech babies born over the years, it does carry a little more risk than delivering a baby that is presenting properly ~ however, to go to the hospital would mean an automatic c-sec.  Which I really don't want.  It would be a serious matter either way, and one we want to approach with much prayer.

Well, I doubt that I will get around to posting again before the baby is born, but when he makes his arrival, we will be sure to post pictures and details ~ so stay tuned!

Up to Speed

Well, we've had an eventful couple of weeks around here!  Our internet has been really spotty, so I haven't been as regular in updating my blog as I would like ~ we're hoping the server gets things figured out.

Two weeks ago today, Mike came home from work early with the news that he had walked away from his job of almost 14 years.   I wasn't sure what to say or do, so I just did my best to encourage him.  It is something he has talked about off and on over the years, when things would get a little stressful, but God has just never opened the doors for him to leave.  That all changed that Tuesday morning.  On the following 2 days he had job interviews (and no, he didn't have them set up beforehand!).  At one of the job interviews, he was told that the job was his if he wanted it.  His response was that he wanted to pray about it, and he would let them know.

So, yesterday he began his new job.  He is now general manager for a local business.  He is still working in Plummer, and they don't have a problem with him coaching football in the fall ~ which is really important to us.  He is making a little more than he was previously, and best of all, I think they are really going to appreciate what he does for them.

During the last 2 weeks, he made a *very* quick trip to Arizona with his brother, Hank to pick up a 5th wheel and a couple of motorbikes.  He was glad to have the time and opportunity to be able to do that with him.  And we just got to enjoy having Daddy at home!  That was nice.

Will, Levi, and Garth are busy with baseball practice.  We have a Little League team this year ~ senior league, so it's for through HS senior.  There aren't enough kids for a middle school team, so Garth will play up on the HS team.  It means he probably won't get the amount of playtime, but we are excited for the experience it will give him.  Will will be pitching and Levi will be catching, I'm not sure where they have plugged Garth in.  Levi is also doing track this spring ~ so we are going to be on the go!  He brought home the schedule the other day, and it looks like if he is good enough to go to state, we'll be traveling to Boise with a baby that's about a week old.  But, we'll just have to wait and see how the season goes.

Happy Birthday, Levi!

Well, my darling Levi is 16!  Where has the time gone?  He is driving ~ still under supervisory time, he should get his license in July sometime, and is getting ready to start track and baseball. 

Levi is becoming quite a nice young man.  He is so good with the younger children ~ Josiah in particular.  The other day, Josiah hurt himself and I picked him up and was comforting him, but as soon as Levi walked in the room, he wanted Levi!  Levi wasn't even that sympathetic to him!!  But Levi is almost always a favorite of the babies.  He loves the Lord, although he is not overly outspoken about his faith.  And he has the highest tolerence for pain of just about anyone I know!  Which is good, as often as he manages to get injured.

This last week it was slicing the end of his thumb open with his knife ~ took 8 stitches to close it up.  We're praying for it to heal before sports start in earnest.

Levi was an induced baby, because I was young and stupid and the dr.s office staff weren't horribly attendant.  Mike was on his delivery route (he worked in his Dad's produce store then), and he just "happened" to show up after the dr.s office sent me to the hospital ~ along with a 17mo Will (Will was with me, not Mike).  While I labored with Levi, Mike sold boxes of apples to the L&D nurses.  Thankfully, it was a fast labor, and it wasn't very long before we were holding our sweet little Levi in our arms.  He weighed in at 7lb 13 oz ~ our smallest baby.  We named him after my great-grandpa Storms (Levi), and my grandpa Storms (Carl).  He was also our only baldish baby.  He had almost no hair, and what he did have was blonde, so you couldn't see it!  Levi was a good baby, and from the time he was little we have seen God's hand of protection over him.

Levi ~ Happy Birthday!  I pray that the Lord will use you in mighty ways for His Kingdom.  I love you, son.

Here he is!

Well, he is still nameless ~ not something to sweat about yet, since he's not due until the 16th of May, , but I thought you might enjoy a peek at our little man.

Not the very best of pictures, but he had his little face snuggled up into the placenta, and he wasn't going to co-operate!  So, the midwife had to press a little harder to get all of his face, which led to a bit of a skeletal appearance.  He was also enjoying his thumb while we were taking a peek at him.  It'll be interesting to see if he's a thumb sucker after he's born.  Both girls are, but none of the boys have been...as of yet.  It doesn't show real well, but he definitely has the little "Dole" nose ~ we are looking forward to May even moreso, now that we've "met" our son!

It's Official...

We're only having *one* baby!  LOL  And it's a.....Boy!  We didn't get any real good pictures of him, he had his little face snuggled up into the placenta, so the pictures we did get have a skeletal look to them, but we could see that he's got the little Dole nose.  Now on to find a name... After 6 boys, it's getting difficult to find names that really grab us.  However, now that I know what kind of name we need, I can get serious at looking at options, which will be followed by good discussion with Mike, I'm sure.

As I suspected, we weren't home for supper, so the boys ate frozen pizza (they did cook it first!), we ate Taco Bell.  I suppose I should have picked a different week to do the menu thing.  Perhaps next week I'll do it on my other blog.