Life of last year

I'll start from now and work backward, to spare those who know the past details...you can stop when you're caught up. This is our Christmas letter...and it's not the regular rhyming kind, there's too much to go over and who has time to rhyme anymore? It's long...but moves quickly. And there is no pressure to check out this blog after this...it's going to be for me to write stuff down instead of in my head all the time....happy reading.

Today I'm nine months pregnant with our 4th little boy. I'm due August 4th. (Four's the lucky number of the year!) He's already huge. I'd hope he'll come early, but my body is as stubborn as I am, which means it's quite unlikely. My doc is one to encourage induction...we'll see how I feel in two weeks! (And yes, I did just have a baby last year; please refer to paragraphs 5&12 for details.)

We live in Utah, still. It's not a choice as much as a relief...or convenience. The last year and a half of life has been a ride of terror, so the Lord finally gave me permission to get off and chill...I'm chillin'. (Only kinda though...swamp coolers that only have ONE working function don't do the greatest job.)

Josh started his first real doctor job last week. He's only working part-time for a doctor in downtown Salt Lake. If they get busier, he'll work more. Once the baby comes he may start up a second part-time gig, but right now I kinda like being spoiled so I asked him to stay home part-time. He does the dishes, he feeds the kids, he makes dinner, he does laundry, he vacuums, he cleans the bathroom, he fixes up this thing we live in (more on that later), and he does anything else I ask him to...especially if I say it with a moan or groan of pain. (What do I do, you might ask? Well, I grow a large baby all day, I eat when I'm forced to, and I....well....I sweep the floor...and I do other stuff when he doesn't, or I help him do it.)

Parker will start kindergarten. He's a smart one. He already reads, adds, etc. I wish we could put him in 1st grade, but then all us parents of smart 5-year-olds think that.
Tyson is playing the typical 'keep up with the brother' game. However, he's also really, really good at sports (not a forte for the older one). He's got some killer moves and practices all the sports he can in the backyard every day. Lately he and Parker are also working on beating on each other until they cry...I'm ready to give them my blessing and lock them in a room!
Kaden is 14 months old now. He's fun. I wish we could freeze time when they're 1. He sleeps all night; he eats, but not too much; he giggles and runs and plays and doesn't need me every minute; he even naps long enough for me to also....ahh blessed one-year-olds.

Parker has been undergoing some testing on his balance and coordination. At his 5-year check-up the doc was quite amazed at his obvious lack of balance. He's had an MRI so far, which came back normal. Next step is to be evaluated by a physical therapist....then we'll see.

We have been...wait, JOSH has been working on this house. We now have framing around the doors, closet doors that almost work, and, well, I already mentioned the swamp cooler (see paragraph 9 for more on this).

Prior to that...I'll have to start....well, I guess I'll go all the way back to April of 2008 (in case someone doesn't know and wants to). Kaden was born the 22nd (9 lbs 13 oz. and a week early). Since February we had been trying to sell our house in Memphis to come to Utah for Josh to finish his last year of school doing externships. We literally sold it last minute--end of July. All the while I was taking care of the boys and a new born and packing and perfecting our house. We closed on the house without the new owners closing, and we left Memphis on pure faith that everything would work out.

We were supposed to move into the house we live in now when we first came to UT. It is a home owned and rented out by Josh's grandpa. But it turned out that the renters sorta trashed the place, and it's just plain old and way past due for MANY repairs. So, when we left our cute house in Memphis, we came to nothing. We spent the first month and a half making do at Josh's family's house...in the theatre room. Josh and I on the floor on a 'mattress'. Our little baby in a pack-n-play at our feet, Parker on one of the couches, and Tyson in some random bed upstairs; clothes in various suitcases around the house. We tried a friend's house for a couple weeks and then we found a furnished basement apartment. We were there for October and November and life started feeling real again.

That was quite the experience. I don't so much care to be homeless with three children. It's hard, depressing, and makes you feel so powerless...or something. I don't plan on doing it again.

December we moved into this shell of a house, and did what more we could to improve it. Since August we had been making trips to the house to do fix-up stuff just to make it livable. We moved in practically the day the bathroom was finally usable. It also had been painted and had new carpet...but you don't want to know what else still had to be done.

Just prior to moving...about a week...we found out that somehow I was pregnant again (yeah, yeah, don't give me the line of 'I can tell you how that happens'...no kidding how it happens, we've experienced it four times before...but this time doesn't make sense....we used 'stuff' and we didn't 'do it' often enough...PLUS I was exclusively breastfeeding, using natural family planning, and stressed to the max..........you figure it out and then give me the talk about 'how it happens'!!).

Close to Christmas my Dad started having unusual illness symptoms; we knew it was more than just a little cold like he hoped it was. About a week after Christmas we found out it was the beginning stages of what could become Leukemia, possibly after a year or so if treatment didn't work...and then two weeks later it WAS Leukemia and had somehow started infultrating his liver. We spent days traveling to and from the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Then a month later my sweet, wonderful Daddy passed away--February 7th, to be exact. A day after Josh's birthday and pretty much the day the doctors predicted.

Shock.

I can write it so quickly, but I'm pretty sure a year passed in those weeks of waiting and wondering what was next. And if you'd like to know more, we kept a blog about everying: poordangdad.blogspot.com

The rest of February and March are a blur of stuff. We spent time with my mom, and tried to figure out where WE were going when we grew up. (And I'm still coming to grips with my dad being gone...) Josh was finishing his externships through all this. April brings birthdays... Kaden's and Parker's, followed closely by Tyson's in May. Josh and I also made a few trips to look at various practices, obviously to no avail. Josh graduated May 1st, for which we took a trip to Memphis too.

May and June Josh stayed home all day every day. It was the BEST...still is, really. I still haven't figured out why we get married only to never see each other again. But that's for another blog...

That's us. That was our last year. I hope this is the most 'eventful' year of our lives; I'm not sure I could endure much more in one year's time again.

I hope any readers/friends had a better year and less children during it (unless you had twins, that's okay). Until next time.
It's me.