100 yard dash



Mikael and Livi - 4th of July 2012

There is a story told in my family.  My Mom still wants to cry when she recalls that day.  It was spring 1983, my Mom left her 4 little girls in a running van and with heavy steps made her way inside her Dad's house.  She was 9 months pregnant with #5, who would later be known as Addie.  Back in that world of no car seats, 2 year old Lindsay made her way to the front seat, and somehow managed to take the van out of park.  The van that was now in reverse was headed for a nearby ditch or beyond.  When my Mom noticed the now moving van - She ran for her life.  The van beat her to the ditch and stopped.  I have heard her describe the terror she felt many times.  I can only imagine.  Her girls survived, without a scratch but my Mom was in bad shape.  She had to be picked up and hauled into her Dad's house.  She could not walk.  Her pregnant hips had given out on her after her 100 yard dash.  Two grown men hauled her to the bathroom and sat her on the toilet.  My Mom was on the brink of hyperventilation, extreme humiliation, and imminent labor.

Labor did not come that day.  Or the next.  Addie would arrive on her due date a couple weeks later and my Mom's hips and pride would eventually heal.  I would assume that my Mom caught a glimpse that terrifying day of how much her life could and would change with the birth of her 5th child.  I'm sure she contemplated her predicament.  I'm sure she wanted to take me out and beat me.  I'm sure she cried to my Dad that night.  5 babies would be a lot of work and worry.  And maybe, just maybe running after that van that day would not be the only time as a mother that she would feel like she was in the sprint of her life.

And so now, here I am, 9 months pregnant with my 5th child.  I'm at times terrified.  Hyperventalating.  Eating humble pie.  And sprinting toward the finish line.  (The finish line less than 3 weeks away)

So please excuse my long absence? 

And please excuse the following photos.  They have nothing to do with this post.  Here is just a glimpse of what we have been up to:



Mikael - Milwakee airport June 2012

Noah - Lake Powell July 2012 - Was quite the wakeboarder this year!

Mikael's "baby" - That cat has a special place in heaven for putting up with her

Family Pic on Pioneer Day 2012 (some of us in costume)

Mikael and Ezra bike riding on the newly poured concrete

1st day of school 2012 and a house still under major renovation

Mikael has a slight obsession with books right now

Jace's favorite past time - breeding.  Anything.  Me.  The llamas.

I do not like sheep.  Jace does.  They get out of their pen every time Jace leaves town.

Jace buried the trampoline this summer.  That baby can help herself to a few jumps whenever she feels the need.  It's fantastic.

Countdown: Day 10

The sun is going down and the season is changing.

Moving is like childbirth.  Sometimes the anticipation of it is worse than the actual event. (If you believe in epidurals.)  I have been walking in circles.  Lying awake at night unable to convince my brain that we will be able to survive this.  Again.  There really is no way to prepare for it except to tell yourself -  "The ball is already rolling and there is no way to stop it now.  No turning back. Now breathe.  Breathe."

Childbirth?  Really Lindsay?  Really.  It's a bit dramatic but maybe this time of year when the season is changing I am reminded where I was last year.

Sept. 21, 2010.  Anxiously awaiting Mikael's arrival in a hospital bed.

Giving birth.  And I'm telling you - it feels the same.  Except my hips don't ache when I waddle.

Jace and I met up at the Casa this afternoon.  I followed him around the place with a broom and trash can as he caulked, installed shower trim fixtures, scraped windows, adjusted the new furnace, and set toilets.

On the car ride home I said, "There is no way we are going to make it.  We still have so much to do."

Jace replied, "Funny cuz I was just going to say we got so much done today.  We are so close."

Funny how a husband and wife who are seeing the same thing can have such different perspectives.  

Bit like childbirth, no?

Now a word or two about my last post.

I love Jace.  He works his tail end off for us. 

He bought 2500 pounds of rough lumber from a local sawmill for $19.74.

He was thrilled beyond words.  He told everyone he saw about his purchase.

How could he not build his chicken coop? Right now?

When it was all said and done his coop costs us $9.87.  Or something like that.

I'm thrilled for him.  Well, now that I have had time to think about it - I'm thrilled for him.

And he wins the most handsome soccer coach ever award.

And as for my priorities?

Word on the street is I have been decorating our downtown house for Thanksgiving.

So that I can take it down in 10 days.  Put it in a box.  And hang it back up at the new Casa.

Eh.

An End In Sight

Pardon our absence.  And our photos.  We went to Utah last week.  My hands are constantly busy whether at home or out of state.  All photography responsibilities have fallen upon my 9 year old - we didn't get one photo while in Utah and our house photos have been lacking lately.  We were in Provo for Jace's Aunt Mariann's funeral last week.  I loved this woman dearly.  She was the best Mother, Grandmother, Sister, Aunt, ect.  You never heard a negative word come out of her mouth.  I was reminded how I want to be.  When I die, I want people to remember how kind I was, not how skinny I was or how well I decorated (I am neither skinny or a decorator - just in my head but you get where I going with this right?). 

We now have an official move-in date.  Veteran's Day.  Our down-town house sold while we were away and if you were stalking our Bobcat skid steer on ebay, I'm sorry to say it sold last week as well.  Darn it for you guys.  But ya for us!  Maybe we should leave the state more often.  Those Bobcat auction proceeds sure bought some purty wood floor in Salt Lake City.

See that concrete.  I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking, "Man, that is clean concrete."  Yes! Yes it is!  I have been cleaning up concrete for what seems like weeks now.  Jace grinded the top layer of concrete and the whole house was covered in concrete dust.  I swept, vacuumed, rented the "Ninja" machine to wash the floors, vacuumed some more, then mopped 4 times.  My right arm is still numb.

All that hard work is paying off.  Our concrete floors are stained and being prepped for sealer tonight.  Pictures coming soon.  

We are so close.  The end is here.  We have enough time for one more big push.  Any bets we make it to tile?  Or is Lindsay moving in with 1970's linoleum floors in the bathrooms? 

The 1st week of June

My vacation home - Laie, HI

Everyone told me.  They said I was going to love it.  They said I was going to want to move there.  They said the 6 hour plane ride with 3 children and an infant on my lap would be worth it.  They said I wouldn't want to go home.

And they were right.  Our 7 bedroom house was great.  It slept all 25 of us with room for more.  But our vacation was so much more than our house with the awesome views.

I figured you could probably pitch a tent in the rain and still love your Hawaii vacation.  The humidity there is something fierce.  Your hair, your clothes, your towels, and your food all start to look and taste like dirty salt water.  And sometimes, the tourists get caught in flash floods and get their purses stolen.  But as the locals say and wave - hang loose.

And that is what I think everyone falls in love with.  The spirit of the place is so relaxed and chill.  Everyone walks around with beach hair.  Most eating establishments offer old picnic tables in the parking lot for your dining enjoyment.  Most houses are small and need new paint jobs but why even bother when the views from your windows look like this:

We ran around all week chasing each other from one beach to another.  Stopping off in between for shaved ice and a butter roll from Ted's bakery.  It was a schedule and itinerary I could get used to.  I would take the sand in the crevasses, the sun burns, and the expensive groceries.  It really is the Pacific Ocean's playground.  Jace and I could take a break from worrying about the new house we just purchased - that is in need of a serious overhaul.  We could stop scouring the Pottery barn clearance sales.  Stop worring about the septic tank under the paved road.  Maybe we could forgo the hobby farm and Jace would be content with the wild chickens that prance around the island.

Because God did all that work for us.  The sunsets.  The turquoise water.  The green mountains and the green grass and flowers.  Hawaii is truly the most beautiful place I've ever seen.  Like I said - a tent would be more than enough.  I was so glad we decided to do Hawaii with all of our family.  Amazing memories.  It was hard to to come home and check back into reality.  I'm still kind of in mourning.

I'm already saving my pennies for next year.