The Human Body

I have been amazed at what the human body is capable of, especially for us women.  One year ago,  I looked like this.

39 Weeks Pregnant with Simon

 

 

 

Back then, I could barely eek out walking for 2 miles.  And that was on a good day.  I remember when I started exercising and trying to lose the baby weight.  It was about 2 months after having Simon, and we had moved to our house here on the west side, which is very hilly.  I went out for one of my first jogs and realized how out of shape I was when I came to the first hill and had to walk.  It didn't help that a jogger happened by and jogged quickly past me.  I wanted to tell her, "Hey, I just had a baby!"  I just had to keep at it.  I was on a mission to lose the 45 pounds I had gained with this pregnancy.  (Which I'm happy to report I've lost all but 3).  And so I kept at the jogging.  Sometime around December, I was asked if I wanted to be part of a team to run Hood to Coast.  I jumped at the chance.  Not only did it seem like a great opportunity, but I also knew it would motivate me to get back in shape.  And one year later, with 2 weeks to go till HTC, I can now jog several miles a day.  And once again, I am just amazed at what a body can go through in a year. 

Married With Kids

When I was in my late teens, early 20's I used to hear the phrase, " I hope to be married with kids someday."  And I'm sure I said that phrase many times too.  But back then, did I, or any of us, really know what it meant?  I look at my life and think, yes, now I am married with kids.  But I didn't know that I would be married to a man that would go through a career change in his 30's and that I would be doing a lot of parenting on my own.  I didn't know that I would have a child who can yell at the top of his lungs when he's mad and throw a huge temper tantrum.  I didn't know that I would be exhausted after a long day and not be able to go to sleep till all of my children were bathed, put PJ's on, brushed teeth, read stories too, etc.  I didn't know that I would never sleep in again and sometimes have to wake at 5:30 because one of my children would be ready to get up.  I also didn't know that I would be married to someone who after a long day/night of work comes home and his face lights up when he sees his kids.  I didn't know that I would be married to a man who could see I was tired and tell me he was going to make us dinner.  I didn't know that I would have a child who would say, "Can I share with him because there are no more left and he probably wants one?"  I didn't know that my baby's face would break out in a huge grin when I would pick him up in the morning, even if that morning time is 5:30.  I didn't know that I would have a child crawl into bed with me early in the morning, only to fall back asleep with me.  Nobody tells us about the day to day details of being married with kids.  But each day I am figuring out what that means. 

In the Hospital with Simon & Family

Simon, Sam & Daniel

Sings for Camp Meeting

A couple of Sabbath's ago, Daniel got to sing with his church group at Camp Meeting.  The kids were so cute.  They wore these blue robes and white gloves.  Daniel was in the front row, being one of the shorter kiddos.  They sang two songs.  Daniel had faithfully learned his sings, listening to the CD.  The last few times he has been up front, he's made quite an impression on the audience, so we were glad that on this particular performance, he maintained his composure, and sang along with the group.  Needless to say, he made his parents very proud.

Daniel Gets Ready to Sing

The Choir

Daniel Turned 5

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel turned 5 years old.  It's amazing to me to look at him and see the young boy he has become.  He is tender-hearted and enjoys sharing with Sam or Simon.  He likes to help out around the house.  He is becoming more independent and is able to go places and do things on his own.  He is smart and likes to learn.  Not everything is perfect.  He can complain if he doesn't get his own way.  And at times he really pushes Sam's buttons.  He also can have a bad attitude.  But it really is a miracle to look and see the person he is becoming.  I love you Daniel and am so glad you are in my life.

Daniel-At Birth

First Birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday

Fourth Birthday

Fifth Birthday

Glacier Trip

Last week we took our little family to the great National Park of Glacier.  We had lofty plans of seeing and doing lots of things.  It turns out that we didn't do the things we planned to do, and did other fun things instead.  We were staying on the west side, so our first day there we decided to go over to the east side.  We hit major road construction and what should have taken an hour took us 3 hours.  So we changed our boat tour plans, and played some pitch and putt golf.  The boys loved it.  Later we did a different boat tour and a short hike.  The next day we were scheduled to take a red bus tour.  We weren't sure the youngest Youker could handle the 4 hour tour, so we decided we might take a canoe out on the water or something.  Later that evening we watched a huge thunderstorm roll in, and a tree fell over in the storm.  What excitement!  And we also managed to squeeze in another hike that day.  Overall, the boys had lots of fun.  When asked what their favorite thing was to do while there, the boys said playing in the lake; something unplanned!  Lesson learned.

Entering the Park

Simon & I on the Boat Tour

Daniel, Sam & Daddy on a Hike

Sam & Daniel Enjoying the Lake

Lots Going On

I can't remember everything we've done this past month, but many things have kept me so busy, I haven't had time to catch up on my blogging.  So here's a little recap.  Midway through June, Jeff got called back to the ICU for 2 weeks.  Once again we were back to 30 hour shifts, and I felt like a single parent for a short bit.  One Sunday this past month, we got to go to our friend Sammy's birthday party.  That was a fun time.  The boys got to ride on trains.  On the 20th, we celebrated Simon turning 10 months.  He's going to be a year old before I know it.  My parents stopped by a couple of times during the month, once on their way down to California and then again on their way back home.  While they were here the second time, Jeff and I got to go out for our anniversary.  And that's another thing we did in June...we celebrated 8 years of marriage.  Last week the boys did Vacation Bible School.  It was so neat to see them all grown-up enough for me to drop them off.  What a difference a year makes.  So we've been busy in June, and now I'd say we are ready for July.

Sammy's Birthday Party

Grandparents Visit

Simon's 10 Month

One Years' Time

One year ago we had just moved to Portland, saying good-bye to our world in Loma Linda.  We moved to Portland and moved in with Jeff's parents.  I was 7 months pregnant.  Jeff had the month of June off, but then he was quickly starting residency in July.  Then, the birth of Simon brought another set of changes to our world.  We had sleepless nights.  Simon was by far our most difficult baby.  He loved being awake from about 3:00 to 6:00am and then slept from 6:00 to about 11:00am.  It was an adjustment.  Then, we moved out of Jeff's parent's house and into our own place in October.  Life was still a whirlwind, but I quickly tried to get us into a routine.  Soon, I decided that Daniel would benefit from going to Preschool and having something that was all his own.  A place opened up for him at a nice, Christian preschool just a few minutes away from us in November.  While he was the new kid, and it was hard for him to adjust, he loved school and had a wonderful year of learning new things.  The rest of the year things went a little more smoothly.  Simon finally figured out how to sleep through the night around 6 months (February), and with that I was a whole new person.  In March, April and May I often felt like a single parent as Jeff was on 30 hour call shifts quite a bit and many late night call shifts.  Now here it is June again.  Jeff and I will be celebrating 8 years together next week.  Simon turns 10 months this month.  And Jeff finishes his first year of residency at the end of the month.  What a year.

Simon, Sam & Daniel