A Whirlwind… (Originally written: 6/7/18)
2017 – 2018: Year 31 was AND is still a Whirlwind. Who can believe this decade JUST started….whew!?
It has been a “hot minute” since my last post. I have written blogs for my job and shared them here, and they are pretty insightful (if I do say so myself, which I do 😉 but, they are not chronicling my decade of growth and change, which is what THIS blog was intended to do! Shame on me.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Whirlwinds are usually referred to when discussing romance….
I wish I could say this year has felt like a romance, but it has been more akin to a drama unfolding before my eyes. At times I have felt lost, completely out of control, or simply walking through the days at the utter whim of some greater force—which oddly enough, wasn’t the comfort it should have been, because that force didn’t always turn out to be the Lord.
Why has it been this way? I am not completely sure. I’ve talked to God about it and it seems that he has this whole “mysterious but exciting” look on His face as He responds with not so many words, as much as a knowing shrug and a smirk accompanying an eye-twinkle.
Suffice it to say, it scares the hell outta me sometimes, but I trust Him. Implicitly, might I add.
First: A recount of some pertinent and not-so-pertinent information…
To end 2017:
- After years of attempting to start a family (more on that later) we/I discovered, in August, that I was “With child”— then after one more week, I discovered I was “with children” as the ultrasound tech discovered not one, but TWO heartbeats. (I swore and politely apologized as I requested they double and triple check to insure there was not, in fact, a third egg…)
- During this time I had to find a Dr. and we moved for the 4th time this year!
- Since Nov. we have been fairly “stable” in our apartment which resembles a flat I lived in one Summer when I studied abroad in Ireland. Small. Long. and White. The dogs hate it.
And I feel guilty because we really don’t take them on walks anymore. #BadFurParents - I took on a leadership role with “The House,” a local college ministry, leading a core group (they are the bomb.com and rock my Monday nights, weekly.) I am not sure who or where I would be this year without the time spent pouring into them and having them pour right back into me. (Insert reference to millennial post here,)
- The holidays came and went as we struggled to include family by squeezing in some travel from TN to TX and back, with 2 dogs, a double belly, sciatica, constipation, insomnia, hormone flare-ups, and gift-wrapping. Not to mention the new bar set for Millennials to have a “gender-reveal” party. (Which I may not have done if I hadn’t been having twins, but come on!?!? Twins makes the guessing WAY more fun because there’s 3 ways it could go!!)
- New years was a wash—
alcohol, though not a frequent friend to me, was a complete stranger and still is, as I am continually reminded by every mommy-ing publication ever that “breast is best” and I tend to agree with them…I am breast-feeding until the cows come home—or until I turn into a cow—in my home. Or in public. OR in my jeep. Really anywhere I can haul my Medela pump. And to “pump&dump” just so I can have a glass of bubbly seems SO wasteful…(just found out via that link that you can just wait it out and the bubbly will leave your milk.)
2018 has been as follows: - Blog writing, luncheons, and program planning for my new job with a residential leadership and mentorship housing experience. The hubs has been hitting the world of realty pretty hard, classes, and trainings, certification tests etc. (He is still finishing his Ph.D in Educational Psych. but in all his “spare time” he has been learning about becoming a real estate investor which has brought him to the place of becoming his own agent. (I support this…but it has been a handful to time-manage regardless.)
- Highlights: I won some cool parenting classes, a book (the quintessential book on twinning), and two sets of blue/pink baby bottles from Twiniversity.com. I had two pre-natal massages, squeezed in 3 baby-showers: Chatt/Mem/TX in 3 weeks. I failed a glucose test, and had to re-take it. The 2nd test was longer and more miserable—though I passed… PTL. That test inspired the darkest thoughts of my pregnancy. No joke.
- And that brings us to Feb. where we failed an escape room which trashed my passing average and brought it into the 60’s… (I am competitive so this was devastating news for my Valentine’s day…)(Insert Stats here)
- Joined a chiropractor which led to my switching OBGYNs a month before my due-date—(which is CRAY-cray when you are having multiples which is considered high-risk, on top of my previous myomectomy…but it had to be done and it was the right decision, I have no doubt about that. My new Dr. is a prince. My last was more of a princess, and she made me feel like a poor peasant. Enough said.
April: More blogging, Dr. appts. Small groups, dog-guilt, and I am barely moving around at this point. My husband laughs and takes pictures of me in the auto-buggy when we go to the store. But it was faster than I was…so….yeah. Judge not, lest ye be judged… I went into labor in April even though we were supposed to avoid labor—THAT was fun. We had a NICU stay and ended up experiencing the grace that is The Ronald McDonald House. #RMH and we have been “home” in our 2nd floor walk-up since 4/20/18.- God has been good to give us 2 beautiful mini-me babes…one that matches each of their parents in looks, and we have yet to discover what personalities God has seen fit to gift them with…discovering that will, no doubt, be both the joy and bane of our parental experience. But we look forward to it with gladness as we came very near to only coming home with one baby instead of two.
THAT will put the entire parenting thing into perspective for ya REAL fast. In short—to sound cliche, but to risk it because it is so very true: “We.are.so.in.love.” And we thank God for each moment we have had and will have with these perfect little monsters.
That is what I have to say about that. ::wink::
So here we are into June already— We skipped Cinco De Mayo, hired an intern to help me at work, were asked to speak at the Ronald McDonald House: Red Shoe Society meeting, and I had my 1st Mother’s day, the twins just turned 8 weeks old and that has FLOWN by. They now weigh closer to 8 lbs. compared to their 5 lb. birth weights AND they have been to 2 states (GA, & KY) besides their birth state (TN).
I wish I could say that we are “patiently” awaiting our next move— but the time for patience has come and gone and we are now anxiously awaiting the chance to get away from the danger of these rickety outdoor stairs and move into a somewhat “home” where lugging two carseats is not a balancing act that requires several trips to and fro the hot car with babies. But none-the-less God is good. He has provided us with shelter and internet all year long. 🙂
The Hubs recently got a job with the local school district as an Assist. Principal and starts officially in July.
(Sorry if this post seems more like a newsletter and these details don’t seem important, but the background info totally sets the stage for my later musings.) At which point Aaron will go back to working full time and I am supposed to do the same. We shall see how that goes. I am currently in prayer about the whole thing. Lord help me.
To spare you from my droning, I think I just need to say—there is no neat tie-up to this post. I wish their was some nugget of sage wisdom I could leave you with…but all I’ve got is this:
Life is short. It can be busy, and the whirlwind can be both good AND scary—life is not always easy, fun, or worth remembering, but the sum of all those moments equals your world.
Embrace the whirlwind—it will carry you up mountains and down some valleys—but it is YOUR whirlwind and though it may not always be fair, God is good, and I have learned if He brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
So…. “Let’s do this!”
~em
More Than Rubies 