Life happens...

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 16

Monday, 1/25, Day 16

Oatmeal with soy milk and raisins

Salad with basic balsamic dressing

Black Bean and Mango Salsa with potato slices  

B: oatmeal with soy milk and raisins

L: salad with basic balsamic dressing

D: black bean and mango salsa with corn chips, potato slices

S: banana

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 15

Sunday, 1/24, Day 15

Potato Skins

Thinly sliced potato with some brushed across top, seasoned with salt, pepper, onion, powder and garlic powder.  Baked in oven at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or desired tenderness/crispiness.  Tasted great.

B: banana

L: oranges

D: baked potato with salsa, salad, potato skins

S: corn chips 

Nursing or Pregnant on the Daniel Fast

I know many people have had questions on doing the Daniel Fast while pregnant or nursing.

The only advice I can give you is from my own personal experience.  Yes, while pregnant or nursing we are suppose to consume some extra calories to help our child but the Daniel Fast is still a possibility even with that consideration.

It is on you if you just choose to eliminate a particular food like soda pop or skip a meal but I would rather you eliminate a food then skip a meal.  Please consult with a doctor before you decide to go on this so you can discuss the matter with them but ultimately is us between you and God what you do.

I chose to have only fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans/leguems and just water.  I found that I ate so much better during this fast then I ever did with any of my pregnancies.  You can get the calories in if you eat enough though I found that my appetite kept decreasing so I had to get calories from healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil, beans, nuts, peanut butter, etc.

I know some say that you need omega 3's and such but you can still take a multi vitamin, use ground flaxseed meal and that will help as well.  Just do some research and you will see that you can do this!

Since my son is nursing I wasn't sure how he would take such a change in my diet but he did very well.  My milk supply even increased even though I was eating less then before.  I am thinking that might be because of the quality of food I was eating versus the quantity.

Since doing the Daniel Fast, I have been late posting all the food for each day, since I have stopped the Daniel's Fast my milk supply has gone down in just a week, my son doesn't like the change, my skin is breaking out.  My whole body is rebelling going off the Daniel Fast.

So I am going to start doing a modified version of the Daniel Fast but this would be more like a modified Daniel Diet since I will not be doing this part for spiritual purposes like I was doing in January.  I will still eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans/legumes and will be adding dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, I will also be adding proteins such as chicken, fish, etc.

My body did so well on the Daniel Fast and now since I have stopped I have never felt more tired and drained. 

So try the Daniel Fast if you feel this is what the Lord is leading you to do and know that it can still work while pregnant and/or nursing.  Eating this healthy will not only benefit you but it will also benfit your child.  I truly believe that it is our fast food mentality that gets us in trouble.  Oh let me just pull this thing out of the freezer and heat it up or let's go through a drive through, etc.  The preservatives in the food and who knows what else is put into food doesn't do good things for our bodies.  Can you pronounce half the ingredients that are in some items that are like 20-30 letters long?  You can eat healthy food and it can be done is a reasonable amount of time.

Trust me, I am a mom of three little ones, a 3 year old boy, 2 year old girl and a 7 month old son.  This is doable.  YOU CAN DO THIS!

Daniel Fast 2010 Week 2 Complete

This week I still have a little momentum on the food creativity but I have felt tempted this week.  It is even by the little things like an egg.  I did not give in and stayed the course.  I have tried to keep some almonds on me at all times so if I ever felt tempted I could just nibble on something plus I knew that I always had a snack on hand.

My energy levels keep rising, I am sleeping better, and my skin is amazingly clear.  I can feel the physical benefits of the fast.  Not sure when I will see the spiritual benefits of the fast will happen but that is all in God's timing.

The fast is a little more time consuming preparing foods but this week I figured if I make big enough batches I can just reheat the leftovers so there is less for me to have to cook.  Also if you can do some prep work ahead of time, like chopping all your vegetables and/or fruit one day so all you have to do is add it to a recipe saves a lot of time.

Week 2 is complete and now onto the final week of the fast.  Week three watch out here I come!

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 14

Saturday, 1/23, Day 14

Breakfast.

Lunch was Carrot and Squash Saute.

Dinner.  Sauteed portabello mushrooms and corn.

B: banana, apple and orange

L: carrot and squash saute

D: sauteed portabello mushrooms and corn

S: corn chips
   

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 13

Friday, 1/22, Day 13

Breakfast.

Lunch and dinner was leftover Vegetarian Leek and Lentil Soup from day 12.

B: rice cakes with peanut butter and banana

L: leftover soup

D: leftover soup

S: corn chips 

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 12

Thursday, 1/21, Day 12

Oatmeal with soy milk and raisins.

Lunch is leftover spaghetti from day 11.

Vegetable Lentil and Leek Soup 

8 cups vegetable stock

1 leek, sliced white and light green part

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 onion, diced

1 cup lentils

1/2 cup barley

2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 cup diced tomatoes with juice

1/4 tsp celery seed

1 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Cook all ingredients uncovered in large pot for 35-45 minutes or you could could in crockpot.  This made for a fairly thick soup so if you would like to thinner you could just add a cup or more vegetable stock.

My husand absolutely loved this dish.  He said it tasted meaty, probably because of the lentils and barley.

Snack. Air popped popcorn. 

B: oatmeal with soy milk and raisins

L: leftover spaghetti

D: Vegetarian Lentil and Leek Soup

S: popcorn and nuts
  

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 11

Wednesday, 1/20, Day 11

Breakfast.

Lunch was leftover acorn squash from day 10.

Chunky Veggie Sauce 

2 cups diced tomatoes with juice (from can)

1 cup tomato sauce

1/2 onion diced

1/2 cup mushrooms diced

1/4 green bell pepper, diced

1-2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1-2 Tbsp italian seasonings

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Can cook in pan on stove or in crockpot.  Top on whole wheat spaghetti.

B: grapes and mixed nuts

L: leftover quinoa salad

D: chunky veggies sauce with whole wheat pasta

S: mixed nuts

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 10

Tuesday, 1/9, Day 10

Recipe for oatmeal can be found on Day 7 and this time I added a dash if cinnamon.

Lunch was left-over quinoa salad from Day 9.

I wanted to try something new so I did some stuffed acorn squash and for the life of me I don't know where I put this recipe.  I wrote it down on a piece of paper...if I find it I will update but I try to remember what I used off the top of my head.  I cut two acorn squash in half and I scraped out the insides.  In a seperate pan cooked up some grated carrots, diced celery, diced onion, mushrooms, cooked bulgar wheat with some salt, onion powder, garlic powder and ground pepper.  Stuff each squash and placed on a cookie sheet with about 1/4 inch of water and covered in foil at 400 degrees F for about 45-60 minutes.   This tasted fantastic!  I did have to put a little extra salt on them at the end but other then that, perfect!

B: oatmeal with soy milk, kiwis and strawberries

L: leftover quinoa salad

D: stuffed acorn squash

S: banana and corn chips 

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 9

 
Monday, 1/18, Day 9

Hashbrowns 

1-2 potatoes, grated, rinsed and drained

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp evoo

Saute all ingredients in pan for about 15-20 minutes, top with salsa.

Lunch with clementines.

I couldn't figure out what to do for dinner so I tried to see what I had in the fridge that I could throw together and here is it.

Quinoa Salad 

2 cups cooked, chilled quinoa

1 cup broccoli florets

1/8 cup sliced red onion

1/2 cup grape tomatoes

2 Tbsp pine nuts

1 tsp evoo

1/2 tsp lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon

B: hashbrowns with salsa and grapes

L: rice cakes with banana and peanut butter, clementines

D: quinoa salad

S: corn chip and salsa 

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 8

Sunday, 1/17, Day 8

Breakfast.

Lunch.

Carrot and Squash Saute  

1 medium zuchinni, diced into thin quarters

1 medium yellow squash, diced into thin quarters

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 tsp EVOO

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Cook carrots in pan with evoo for about 5 minutes then add remaining ingredients and cook an additional 10 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Spiced Potato Cubes 

2 medium russet potatoes, cubed

1 tsp EVOO

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp italian seasoning

In bowl add all ingredients, toss to coat and bake in oven at 400 degrees F. for 30-40 minutes or until desired tenderness.  Enjoy!

Dinner.

B: strawberries, banana and clementines

L: carrot and squash saute with spiced potato cubes

D: rice cakes with banana and peanut butter, strawberries

S: corn chips

Daniel Fast 2010 Week 1 Complete

Days 1-7 of the fast are complete!

Surprisingly I am doing well.  I think mentally preparing for this a few weeks before I started has helped and because this isn't my first time, I think my body is getting 'trained' for this. 

I didn't feel tempted this week at all.  Praise the Lord!  My creativity with food has increased because I really wonder what you really can do with a select few ingredients.  I am a meat and potato kind of girl so not having the meat wasn't all that bad.  I have been more amazed at the color selection of my food though.  I am a visual person so I have been trying to think of meals that not only might taste good but look good too.

I am still experimenting so not everything I do will be a success but I must learn through trial and error.

Biggest thing physically that has happened this week is that I am not nearly as hungry.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to eat as my appetite is decreasing.

Now time to prepare for week two.  Let's see what this week has in store.

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 7

Saturday, 1/16, Day 7

Oatmeal with Soy Milk

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup plain unsweetened soy milk

1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

On stove bring soy milk and water to a boil, than add rolled oats and ground flaxseed.  Simmer with a lid for about 10 minutes.  Stir as often as needed, make sure liquid doesn't boil over!  Delicious:)

Lunch was just some carrots, celery and peanut butter (Smucker's Natural is just peanuts and salt.).

DF Friendly Stir Fry

2 tsp EVOO

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cups broccoli florets

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp low sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp groun ginger

1/4-1/2 tsp salt

Cook peppers, onion and broccoli in a skillet with the EVOO till somewhat tender then add remaining ingredients and cook till desired tenderness.  Place on top of cooked brown rice. (The ingredients make for a very mild flavored stir fry so if you prefer more flavor then you might want to add more of the last few ingredients.  If you like a little spice you could add some red pepper flakes.)

B: oatmeal with soymilk and strawberries

L: carrots, celery and peanut butter

D: stir fry with brown rice

S: corn chips   

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 6

Friday, 1/15, Day 6

For breakfast, oatmeal seems to be something to help keep me filled till the next meal.  So today I made it a little sweeter.

Oatmeal with Berries

Boil 1 1/2 cups water

Add 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Cook on low for about 10 minutes or until desired consistency.

Finally add some frozen unsweetened mixed berries.  Enjoy!

Lunch was a total mess.  I had reheated some polenta and put some tomato sauce on it.  Yuck!  For those of you who might like this, great, but it just didn't taste good at all.  So I just had an apple instead.

Here is what my mess looked like.

Went to a friends and made them some of the Vegetarian Choup and put that on top of a baked potato again.  This meal just hits the spot for me.

I also made some Indian Flat Bread from Susan Gregory's Daniel Fast 2 Cookbook.  This gets very sticky and cooks quick.  It is a different texture but I had some with a little bit of peanut butter over the top and it tasted fine.  This is something for those who miss bread.  This isn't bread but a close substitute.

Lastly, my snack for the day was some carrots and celery with some natural peanut butter.  Mmmmm.

B: Oatmeal with mixed berries

L: apple

D:Potato with vegetarian choup and flatbread with peanut butter

S:carrots, celery and peanut butter
 
   

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 5

Thursday, 1/14, Day 5

Breakfast was a little different today.  I have never had polenta before so I gave it a try.  I think this would taste better with sugar but since I am cutting that out I decided to eat the polenta with some wonderful strawberries and pears.

Lunch today was a little different.  I have PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) and it was our kick-off so there was tons of desserts and they had a potato bar with all the fixings.  Praise God, I just got a plain baked potato and topped that with some salsa and some extra red onions, I also had some steamed broccoli and red grapes.  That tasted wonderful.  Thank goodness someone brought some fruit which just so happened to be placed in with all of the desserts.  Lol, but that is okay, I said, "No!" to the flesh.

Dinner was nice.  I had cooked up some veggie noodles and made some spaghetti sauce.  A little on the acidic side so only put a little bit of sauce on your noodles.

Simple Spaghetti Sauce

2 cups diced tomatoes with juice

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

optional: diced mushrooms, peppers, squash, etc.

B: Polenta, strawberries and pears

L: Potato with salsa and red onions, steamed broccoli, grapes

D: Veggie noodles with spaghetti sauce

S: corn chips 

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 4

Wednesday, 1/13, Day 4

I love banana bread and wanted to do something similar in an oatmeal so I came up with my own little version.

Banana Walnut Oatmeal

1 cup cooked  rolled oats

1 banana, sliced

1/2 cup walnuts, diced

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Lunch was a little bit of leftovers of the Vegetarian Choup but I decided to try it over a baked potato with a few clementines for some sweetness.  This was very delicious and filling. 

Snack for the day was a few corn chips.

For dinner I wanted something a little lighter then what I had at lunch so I made a strawberry salad.  I think this would have tasted better with spinach but I didn't have any at the house.

Strawberry Salad

1 head lettuce

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded (scrape spoon to get middle out), and sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced

As many or as few strawberries as you like, I put about a quart in the salad.

Dressing, Basic Balsamic Dressing

B: Banana walnut oatmeal
L: Potato with Vegetarian Choup and clementines
D: Strawberry Salad with Basic Balsamic Dressing
S: corn chips

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 3

Tuesday, 1/12, Day 3

This morning I wasn't too hungry but still had a wonderful breakfast. I had two plain brown rice cakes with some natural peanut butter (just nuts and salt) and topped each with slices of banana. The sweetness of the banana paired with the saltiness of the peanut butter and had some crunch from the rice cake. Mmmmmm.  Oh yes, I had some clementines with this too.

For lunch I had an oldie but goody. Drizzled a tiny amount of olive oil in a pan and sauteed some sliced onion and cabbage and put some salt and pepper on top. Very basic but good.

Dinner turned out great. I was aiming to try and make a chili but it turned into something between a chili and a soup. I was going to use chili powder but there were things in the chili powder that were questionable so I just used some cumin instead. So here is my recipe.

Vegetarian Choup (chili-soup)4 large servings (7 pts per serving)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups diced tomatoes with juice (can get from can)
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (no sugar)
1 - 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 - 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 - 15 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp of salt or about 15 twist on grinder
1/4-1/2 tsp or pepper or about 15 twist on grinder

Turn crockpot to high and combine all ingredients, stir well and cook on high for 4 hours.

This would also go well over a baked potato or with some corn chips. It tasted great by itself.

Enjoy.

For a snack I had some more clementines.

B: rice cakes with peanut butter and banana slices, clementines
L: sauteed cabbage and onions
D: vegetarian choup with corn chips
S: clementines

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 2 Food

Monday, 1/11, Day 2

Breakfast was a bowl of cooked rolled oats and I tossed in some frozen strawberries (no sugar) and I also had a banana with that. All in all it tasted just fine but the pink hue the strawberries gave the oats was a little different.

For lunch I wasn't all that hungry so I just had a salad with some dressing (refer to DF Day 1 Food post) with carrots and raisins.

For a snack I had some tostitos and salsa. This taste soooo good. You will probably see this more as a snack for me.

By the time dinner rolled around I wasn't hungry at all but I knew I needed to eat and needed some vitamin C so I had a few clementines. Those little round things of goodness are so yummy.

The day in food doesn't sound that adventurous but it all tasted great.

B: rolled oats with strawberries, banana
L: salad
D: clementines
S: corn chips and salsa

Daniel Fast 2010 Day 1 Food

Sunday, 1/10, Day 1

Well, I thought I was going to make a lovely breakfast. I had made steel cut oats with thinly sliced apple with some cinnamon and what I thought was a dash of salt. Somehow, somewhere along the lines, something went terribly wrong and the entire dish tasted only like salt. So as that was going in the garbage breakfast turned out to be a banana.

Here's is said salty oats.  Note to self.  Don't use salt next time when making this dish!

For lunch I made a wonderful salad that was just some green lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and mushrooms. For a dressing I made my own very basic balsamic dressing.  Tastes very delicious.

Basic Balsamic Dressing
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
some pepper to taste

For dinner I had some Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup, a recipe from Susan Gregory in the first http://danielfast.wordpress.com/ DF cookbook. It tasted alright. One batch makes a lot. I added some frozen corn to it and if I had thought about it some more beans in there would have tasted fine. I had some Tostitos chips with the soup which tasted great. Along with that I also had another salad like at lunch but this time I added some raisins and sliced almonds to that and used the same dressing.

B: Banana
L: Salad w/ dressing
D: Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup, tostitos corn chips and salad
S: Corn chips with Pace Picante Salsa

Here's To 2010!

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Here is to a year that will have many changes in it!

Everything I do will be looked at differently!

Anything is possible as long as I try to maintain and increase my positive outlook on life!

Living with more respect! Respect for my body, my thoughts and my whole being!

Taking charge of my life instead of letting my life run me!

Having the ability to do things that I might not have last year!

Yearning to know my limitations and except them (how much food to eat) and to also know when boundries can be broken (being able to run just one more mile)!

Living with a purpose instead of just letting life pass me by!

Increasing my knowledge about healthy foods, activities, habits that will help me to further my healthy lifestyle! Knowledge is power!

Facing challenges head on without fear!

Exercising because I want to, not because I have to!

Setting the example for my children! So they can learn from the start at what a healthy lifestyle is!

Tracking what I eat and do to help me track my progress!

Yes and no are the only answers, no 'maybe'! I need to be firm in my words and my actions to make improvements!

Loving me for me no matter what stage of life I am at!

Ending my battle with my lifestyle! Healthy is not temporary! It is something to be maintained throughout my life, not just a season!

These are my goals for 2010 as well as for my life. I want to live healthy not just for the moment but however long the good Lord allows me to live on this earth. He has given me life and I need to be able to live it to the fullest!

DO, OR DO NOT! THERE IS NO TRY! --Yoda

2009

NEW YEAR'S EVE

New arrival of our baby boy Josiah Rainier on June 16th to complete our family of five.

Each day has been a new adventure.  I never know what is going to happen.  There is never a dull moment in our house.  My children keep me on my toes.

Wondering how it is that I am so blessed with such a wonderful family and especially such a supportive husband.

Yearning to become healthier all around.

Eating with a goal in mind instead of eating mindlessly.

Activity has increased with a renewed vigor.

Ready and prepared for all those speed bumps life throws my way.

Shouting praises to God for all He has given me.

Ending, finally, my battle with weight.

Very thankful to have such great family and friends.

Excited for what is to come in the new year, new decade, new life as a family of five.

What were you thankful for this last year?

Random Acts of Kindness

December 18th my family and I were at Target getting some presents for our kiddos.  This lady came up to comment on how cute our youngest was and asked, "Do you have any other children?", and I said, "Yes."  At the same time my husband walked up with our other two kids and  I told her, "Those are mine too."  She asked if they were twins and I said, "Close enough and have a good evening."  I left it at that and we walked away.

A few minutes later her and her husband came up to us and said, "God placed it on our hearts to want to bless you tonight with $100 and He wants you to know that He loves you."  As the gentlemen is pulling the 100 dollar bill out of his wallet my husband and I are just stunned and started to tear up.  I hugged the lady and my husband shook the hand of the gentlemen and they walked away just as quick.

I am still amazed at the kindness of these people.

We are Christians, go to church faithfully, husband sings in the worship team, but never have we had anything happen to us like this.  Boy did we need to hear that though. 

We just weren't sure of what to do after that so we just headed to the check out.  God thing of it though, our final price at check out was $97 and change.  That $100 we had been blessed with help to pay for our kids Christmas presents.  That is just so awesome.

We are on one income as I am a stay-at-home-mom and they have no idea how much they really blessed us.  That just made my day, my month, my year.  Whoever you are, may the Lord bless you many times in return!

Maybe we can all take the time to bless a stranger.

New Homeschool Blog

For those of you who don't know, my husband and I decided that we are going to homeschool our children.  Most of you might not realize that you already homeschool just by talking to your kids, doing things with them at home with crafts, cooking, reading stories...you just might not call it that.

We have prayed about this and feel this is what is best for our children.  For those of you die hard go-to-school people; even if you don't agree with us, we believe this is where our children will do best right now.  Each child is not a 'one size fits al', so what works for us might night work for you and vice versa.  We just pray that you will come check up on us and see what works we have in progress and how the children are doing over at Pathfinder Christian Academy.

If you were wondering, that what we decided to name our school.  Please read the posts and leave comments so we know what you think and would love any suggestions that you might have.  Since we are just starting out, there is still so much more that we as a family will be learning and if you have any 'pearls' of wisdom, by all means share them. 

Also feel free to leave comments on Life Happens.  We always love hearing from everyone.

Thanks and God Bless!

Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger

As I was going through some others blogs, I found a link to Thomas Nelson.  I was looking and it sounded like a great deal.  Promise to write 500 words on my blog about a book and post the same comment on a site like www.amazon.com, shouldn't be too hard.  Well, sometimes I almost wonder if things are too good to be true.  Well, this is true.  You can go to Thomas Nelson and if you have a blog you can sign-up, there is no fee and receive books for free.  As soon as you are finished reading your book and put up a review of it than you can go onto requesting another book.  What a better way to get books for free when you are on a budget...okay besides having a library card, than telling others about it.  So if you like to read and/or love Christian books than you should give this a try.  If you don't care for it maybe you know someone else who does.  You can go at your own pace, they don't have deadlines.  Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think about it.

Josiah Rainier DaShiell

I know, I know, I have been bad about putting photos up of the little guy so they are to follow below. 

Josiah Rainier was suppose to come on June 19th, 2009 by a scheduled c-section but he had other plans.  The morning of June 16th, 2009 I went into labor about 6 am.  The contractions were about 15 minutes apart so I thought I would still have time to eat some breakfast than kiss the kids goodbye.  The funny thing was, that was the same morning I was scheduled to come in and do the paperwork for my surgery.  I drove myself to the hospital, having to stop twice for contractions...I only live about a 10 minute drive to the hospital.  Well, when I got up to labor and delivery about 7:30 am I saw my doctor and told him I was having contractions about every 10 minutes he just looked at me and said that he was coming off a 24 hour shift and I would have to deal with the next doctor coming on.  So a nurse put me on a monitor in the NST (non stress test) room.  Well, the monitor wasn't pulling up any contractions, I told the nurse I was and she just looked at me like, okay lady whatever.  I asked her to check me to see how dialated I was and she was like, oh you probably just passed your plug (if you don't know what it is you can look it up, I will not explain that on here) and that I was probably just having a urinary tract infection.  I looked at her and said, "lady, I have been in labor, this isn't my first rodeo, I swear to you I am having contractions."  Again she just looked at me and just told me to go down and do my paperwork at Same Day Surgery.  By the time I get down there they were about 8 minutes apart, I was staring at the clock.  I was having to wait for yet another nurse and by the time she got to me I had already paced the halls in pain and my contractions were now less than 2 minutes apart.

The nurse looked at me and said, "honey you are in labor, I don't care what they say upstairs." So they put me in a wheel chair and brought me back to labor and delivery and the first nurse that saw me was trying to wonder why I was there and said again that I was just having a urinary tract infection and told me to go wait in the waiting room.  I told the lady, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?#$@"  I was in so much pain I was on the floor.  Each time a contraction came it was like nothing I had experienced before, it felt like someone was gutting me open from where I had my two other c-section incisions.  They finally brought me to a room where they had me lay down on a table.  My contractions were now less than a minute apart and I was screaming in pain.  By now Zach had showed up and new that I was definately in labor.  A different nurse came in and checked me to see if my water had broke and sure enough it had, the lady said it has probably been that way for awhile.  I was like, "No, sh-- Dick Tracy!"  When you are in that kind of pain, words just fly right out of my mouth, especially since I had tried to tell them that I was in labor not even 2 hours ago.

Well, the nurses dashed out of the room to go and try to get my room ready and the operating room preped.  By the time I got to my room I was ready to put my head through the wall.  All the while screaming for them to give me some pain medicine.  It was torture like I had never felt.  (When I was in labor with Joshua the contractions were nothing even close to this, this was a whole other level of pain.)  The staff were trying to ask me questions and Zach realized I wasn't exactly rational at that very moment so he was answering stuff for me.  Again I was screaming for pain meds, anything, something but I had to wait a little while because no one could get the IV in my arm.  Finally the anesthesiologist came in and got it in.  They gave me something, I am not sure what, but it took the edge off for just a little while but not for long.  I was screaming in pain again wanting to know why I couldn't have my spinal.  My doctor came in, he looked like Mr. Magoo.  This guy looked like he should have retired a long time ago.  Anyways I told him he better hurry up.  While we were waiting a nurse put her hand on my tummy to feel the contractions since they still weren't showing up on any monitor and try to help me breathe through them. 

They then made me walk to the operating room, can you believe that?  It took me ten minutes to just walk down a small hallway, than I had to hop onto the operating table where I had to sit as still as I could through every contraction while the anesthesiologist tried giving me a spinal.  It took him three tries, ugghh, but after that my pain was gone.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!  Zach was finally able to come in and that made me feel even better, than a little bit later I hear Josiah crying.  When the doctor held him over the sheets, he was just covered in white goo but he was just so adorable.  I never want the kids to be alone so I have always had Zach go and stand by them while the doctors finish sewing me up.  I was just in tears hearing him cry.  It was bittersweet too as I knew that he was my last. 

The other reason why I was crying is because I felt like I had gone through so much with this pregnancy.  At 18 weeks along I thought I was having a miscarriage but they saw the baby and said everything was fine, sent me home.  Well not too much longer I could barely move, I get back to the hospital and went through a terrible ordeal and finally ended having to go have surgery to have an apendectomy.  Shortly after that I found out that I had gestational diabetes.  Tried to fix it with diet, than with pills, and finally had to take insulin several times a day which still never fixed my blood sugar problem.

I tell you all of that to tell you this.  I would go through all of that again.  When you see that face and they wrap their hand around yours, everything that happend prior seems to fade away. 

The rest of my stay in the hospital was just fine.  The other nurses that came in were just wonderful.  I was able to be out of there in two days with our precious little bundle in-tow.  He came out perfectly healthy, perfectly, wonderful, and the perfect blessing.

JOSIAH RAINIER DASHIELL entered this world at 12:35 pm on June 16th, 2009 weighing in at 6 lbs 15.9 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

Here's me on June 14th; two days before he came. 

 

Here I am being able to hold him for the first time.

 

Here he is in all his glory!

 

And, here he his with his father's hand touching his face.

 

Isn't he just adorable! 

End of summer.

Today is the end of summer...well at least for me it is.  What a summer it has been.  May we moved from Mannheim, Germany where we flew out of Frankfurt going to Dallas from there we flew on to Oakland, California.  There we were greeted by my husbands side of the family to attend the funeral of Zach's grandfather.  We wish we had visited under better circumstances.  From California we flew back to Dallas where we then drove up to our final destination, Lawton, Oklahoma. 

We stayed at a hotel on Fort Sill till we could find a home.  It took days driving all over town till we finally found a place.  Shortly thereafter we got our hold baggage (household items you will need right away) which was about 1,000 pounds only to discover that almost all of it was damaged by mold.  That is definitely something I never want to experience again.  We prayed our household goods (larger shipment of household items that aren't needed right away) which was about 8,500 pounds can in just fine with no problems.  So after all of that it took us a little longer to get the house set up but it is finally there.  Still have boxes to go through out in the garage.

I found a mom's group before we arrived and have been going to different get togethers since we arrived.  I also met a great person, Kristin, who now has to move.  It will be sad to see her go but she has a good reason to.  Other than that I am trying to get plugged into this community by joining various groups. 

Zach has been enjoying the relaxed pace of work here.  They are just now starting up a Dixie (dixie group in video is of Zach's unit in Germany) group here.  He loves to play Dixie.  Besides that he has started playing bass for Fusion on Thursday evenings and I believe will now be playing for the service on Wednesday nights. 

The kids have seemed to take the adjustment fairly well.  Having gone from one continent to another, one time zone to another (7 hour time difference), and going from a colder environment to a hot one.  They are resilient.  The only problem we have had with them this summer was they both had a bad diaper rash or so I thought.  Joshua had a fungal infection and that was treated and he is fine now.  Than Hannah came down with MRSA and had to be hospitalized.  They had to do a minor surgery on her, she had to be knocked out and have a small incision made to drain an abscess.  Poor thing.  It was rough having her in there with an IV stuck out of her head and having to be confined to the room because she was contagious.  Let me tell you, I didn't know anything about this super bug till we moved here and we pray we never have to go through it again. 

We have been blessed to have guests this summer.  My mother came to help us out when Hannah was in the hospital and that was a blessing.  Than my in-laws came for three weeks and got to spend some great time with their grandchildren and now my mom will be coming back to visit three days from now.  We love to have people come visit.  So if you ever want to get out of town or if you are ever in town let us know.

Other than that this summer has seemed to just fly by.  We don't really know where all the time went.  The last couple months haven't gone too bad but that haven't gone too well, this is just one of those quirky summers.  Transitions after a move take time and we had to endure ours with the heat.  Let me tell you if you aren't familiar with it, when you are outside sometimes it just feels like a blow dryer on high blowing in your face.  The highest temp I think we had was 117 degrees Fahrenheit, with humidity mind you.  If I stayed out in the heat any longer I could swear I would have turned into a puddle of goo.  Besides the heat, the storms have taken some getting use to.  Having heavy rain, lighting, thunder, wind, and of course the ever deafening storm sirens going off.  It has been an experience.  We have just had two twisters since we have been here and those happened while I was in the hospital with Hannah.  Good enough to knock the power out but we are all doing fine.

Now that summer is over a new season is just about to begin, FALL!  This is my favorite time of the year.  I am really looking forward to what will be happening in the next few months.