A New Start Part 2

April and May 2010

Two more kids had birthdays in April. Brooke turned 7 and had a party with her cousin whose birthday is the day before hers. Tyler turned 13. David continued to look for a part time job, but couldn’t get set hours. There were a couple of possibilities for him to move into a department head position or something similar, but it just didn’t work out. But, he did get Associate of the Month. (And to brag on my husband a little, he got it again in October. Twice in six months!)

We still continued to make the best of our living situation. David’s sister and her husband received a settlement they were waiting on, and were able to move out to a rental house in May. They were stuck in their old lease until October, so we stayed behind in the apartment and worked out an arrangement for the rent. That would give us until October for David to find a better paying full time job, or work out his hours so he could find a second job.

Summer of 2010

My depression was finally starting to fade. I could talk about things without bursting into tears. We found sort of a normal for us, even though we knew staying in the apartment was only temporary. In June I had all four nieces and nephews during the day since David’s sister and brother in law were both working. I think it was good since they all had gone so long without ever really seeing their cousins.

The kids played in the splash pads that are all over Tulsa. The oldest five kids got to go to Bible camp. We had a Little-House-on-the-Prairie-athon. We took walks over the Arkansas River. We also visited the Aquarium and the Zoo. We found a really cool playground on Route 66 that was in the form of an old western town.






In July, we went to a BBQ and fireworks. We volunteered for VBS. Brittany went on her first missions trip to Oklahoma City. They helped out at a day center for the homeless, and got to see Tim Hawkins.

We went to a cement plant where the kids found a fossil. They also had lots of fun activities like mining for chocolate chips and a tour of the plant.

And, of course, the biggest event of the summer was the arrival of this little guy.

A New Start Part 1

It has been forever since I’ve been able to blog and I really have missed it every second. But now that our lives are more stable I can finally pick back up where I left off. What’s that? You want to have a moment by moment commentary from the last nine months since I blogged? Well, I will spare you from the long and mostly complicated details, but I will give you a summary of our lives since last February when we departed South Carolina bound for Oklahoma.

February and March 2010

We said our last goodbyes to our friends, finished packing up our truck and set out. We had to leave some stuff behind. I guess it’s hard to squeeze 12 years of your life into a 24 foot Uhaul. We stopped in to see my family in Alabama and spend the night there. On our 15th Wedding anniversary we started the 12 hour drive to Oklahoma. To make a long story short, we were going to live in a relative’s house, but their house was under renovation. When we arrived we realized it was simply not safe for the kids and that arrangement wouldn’t work out. This house was in a town about 45 minutes from Tulsa and the town didn’t have a store that David could transfer his job to, so now here we were with no job, no house and no money.

David’s sister offered for us to stay with them in their apartment in Tulsa for the weekend until we could figure out what to do. That Monday some of the kids started getting sick with some crazy high fever, coughing thing. The following Friday, Bailey got it and by Sunday she was in the hospital with RSV/Pneumonia. Welcome to Oklahoma.

You would think that I would be bitter about how things were disintegrating for us. And, oh let me tell you, I was. Things had really been going downhill steadily since David came back from guarding the detainees in Cuba back at the end of 2003. He was gone for a year with the National Guard, but he was really gone for the next two years as well from PTSD. I kept joking that I was still waiting on my husband to come back from Cuba. He finally started getting back to normal in 2005. In 2006, he got hired on with an investment firm. And we all know how that ended. We had been struggling financially through two years of trying to make that job work and one more year of unemployment. So, to say we were burdened emotionally and finacially and leaving South Carolina with a heavy heart was an understatement. I knew God was still there, but did he forget about us? Was he making an example out of us? Was all of this somehow our fault because we don’t know how to manage our money (Dave Ramsey I’m talking to you!) Why would God give us all these kids and then pull the blanket out from under us? Well…………

We realized that this starting over thing was much harder than just starting out to begin with. But, some things worked out in our favor. David’s supervisor from the old store had decided to keep David in the system, so when we realized that our stay in Tulsa was going to be more permanent, he went to a store about a block from where we were staying with David’s sister, and transferred there. The store manager really liked him and gave him 40 hours every week even though he only transferred into a part time position. But unfortunately 40 hours a week making a little more than minimum wage does not cut it. David looked for a part time job, but he didn’t have set hours, so that proved to be difficult. David’s sister and brother in law were both jobless at that point as well so we decided to pool our resources and try to make it work. But, yeah, 16 people in one household. Well. Enough said.

Two of our girls celebrated their birthdays that month. Bailey turned one and Bethany turned eight.

We started attending a Free Will Baptist church in the area. I really didn’t want to. Mainly because I felt let down by God. And because I couldn’t talk about our situation without crying. I really didn’t have much to say that was positive. I know I had been in a depression that started the summer of 2009. I remember talking with David and saying, “I just want to be happy again.” I know we have joy in the Lord. But, the circumstances just wore me down. I just wanted my mood to naturally default to “happy” like it used to, not “sadness” like it had been. Life by that point was just so hard.

Monday Musings from Oklahoma: Christmas Edition

Three year old Thomas gives us a new rendition of the old Christmas favorite, ‘Have a Holly Jolly Christmas’.

“Ho, Ho, the mystery toe up where you can see…….”

(I wonder if Scooby ever solved that one.)

I am posting this from my very own laptop that my husband got me for Christmas! Now all I need is internet at the house and I can actually blog again. Blogging- if I even remember how! And keeping in touch with my friends who probably only faintly recognize my name now LOL! Hopefully we'll have internet soon!

There is a baby, really!

Travis Clarke was born on Thursday, Aug. 5.

He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces and 22 inches long. He has jaundice so we are having to do the bili lights this week, and we had to stay an extra day in the hospital, but otherwise, we're doing well.

I'm just snagging a brief moment of time to update. I hope I'll be able to post a birth story and pics soon!

A Quick Update

I had a Level 2 ultrasound yesterday to check on the placenta and kidney issues. Everything was good news. The placenta is fine and the babies kidneys are a 6 (maybe centemeters? I don't know what the number is for) and anything below a 7 in the 3rd trimester is considered to be fine with no follow up necessary. Yay!

So, we are just hot and tired, but with no complications til July, er, August most likely.

I haven't vanished!

I'm really still do exist. We haven't had internet for a while now, so I have to head out to the library to get online, which is fine, but the little time I have to get on there I have to use planning homeschool. Not blogging. :(

And, the digital camera died last week, so no pictures.

I feel totally lost without the internet. Isn't that funny? What did we do before internet? I guess it wouldn't be so bad if everything wasn't centered around it now.

Anyway, we are doing mostly well. David is still looking for a better paying job, and we are still looking for permanent housing. And, I can't believe it, but the baby is due in just six weeks. I haven't been due in the summer in ten years, and it is HOT here in Tulsa.

My placenta was a little on the low side, not total previa, but still low. Also, the baby's kidneys are a bit enlarged (just a bit) and so my doctor wants me to see a specialist next week for a more in depth ultrasound. My oldest son had enlarged ureters (carries urine to the bladder) when he was in utero, and everything was just fine by the time he was born, so I think all will be fine this time. This condition is very common in boys, so maybe Bailey will be having a little brother?

We'll find out in six weeks. Or if tradition holds, it will be more like eight.