My my, look at the time.

Is it August already?  Seems like yesterday since I blogged last.  Apparently time really does fly when you're having fun. 

My last post was in April and I believe I was worried (as always) about something.  Most likely, my concern was finding a place to live before A) my lease ran out or B) the baby arrived.  I suppose I'll start there.

May - Ryan and I found a wonderful rental home in the Ellington Field/South Belt area.  3 bed, 2 bath, dining room, detached garage, on a cul-de-sac street filled with children Karsyn's age.  

Our home is blue with a red door and shutters.  It has two large palm trees, three crepe myrtles, red rose bushes, honey suckles and other pretty landscaping that I LOVE.  Of course we've added flowers of our own, including a vegetable garden that Karsyn started when we first moved here.  We're still waiting for her crops to come in, but it's been fun watching everything grow.

Our neighbors are wonderful - a couple of SAHMs, a couple of teachers, and about five children whose age range from 3 years to 6 years.  Everyone is very friendly and laid back.

We moved in May 21 (which was exactly one month from the baby's arrival).

June - I made it to the end of the school year without having the baby (we were all surprised and relieved).  She was due June 14 but decided June 21 was a better day.  

Delivery Day unfolded with several twists and turns.  I was originally going to be induced at 4 a.m. Thursday (June 21).  Wednesday, I was extremely nauseous and unable to hold down the meds to help with my symptoms.  I was admitted to the hospital early Wednesday afternoon for IV fluids.  Around 8 p.m. I started having contractions, so the doctor put me on pitocin for the night.  

All was going well.  I had my epidural.  I got a little rest.  I had a MAD craving for M&Ms but wasn't allowed to eat anything.

Thursday morning, I made no progress.  The baby was still high and there was no indication she was ready to be born.  I was informed I would have to have a C-Section (which royally freaked me out).  At this point, I was feeling contractions even though I had an epidural.  

Little did I know my epidural was falling out and was rendered worthless for the rest of the day.  

                     This is where I give a shout out to Ryan and my sister for holding my hand throughout that  ordeal.  Seriously, I could have broken bones I was in so much pain.  Ryan will tell you - I tried to get up out of bed so I could "go home and deal with all of this mess later."

After I stopped freaking out and decided I was okay with a C-Section, the nurse checked me to discover I was a good eight to nine centimeters dialated AND the baby had dropped and was in position.  

A short time later I was ready to rock and roll.  Four pushes, several swear words and a couple of screams later, Rilyn Brianna came into this world.  

July - There was a lot of rain in July.  I think Karsyn and I truly developed cabin fever for a couple of days.  Whew.

We did a lot to keep busy - circus, library days, crocodile encounters, etc.  There was a lot of turmoil - I won't bore you with details.  All is better now with only a few loose ends that need to be tied.  We can give all the praise to God for helping us with that.  

August - Here we are.  This month has been weird too.  Prayers for my Memaw, Papaw, Mother-In-Law, neighbor - Jerry, and our four-legged-friend Gibson.  Each of them need healing.

  Gibson is Ryan's dog who has become our dog.  Karsyn and I have grown to adore him.  About a week ago he was not his happy-go-lucky self.  We took him to the vet to discover his heart is too big, working too hard, and is very deteriorated. Ryan knew all along Gibson had heart trouble, but we never dreamed it would get to this point. Sweet Gibs is going to be on medication for the rest of his life.  It's been a very sad week since we found out the news.  Of course, Ryan is taking it harder than anyone (who can blame him?).  Gibson doesn't act sick.  I don't even know if he knows he's sick.  We were told to just make him comfortable.

  In other news, I'm gearing up for a new school year.  I've been moved from a four-teacher team to a two-teacher team.  The awesome part is that I'll be working with Rebecca (who was my MOH in the wedding).  

I'm not going to lie - I called her earlier to vent about all the stress I can feel building up inside me.  I'm nervous about teaching two subjects - especially ELAR (English Language Arts and Reading) because it's a tested subject.  There are other factors I'm not 100% comfortable with.  Leave it to Becca to snap me out of it and pull be back down to reality.

I think it's interesting I've been put on her team.  I really sense that God is working through this situation.  I've been doing a lot of reflecting and I can see things about myself that need to be changed.  Funny thing about change - it's not easy.  I feel like I could be a nugget of gold being held over the fire to remove impurities.  In the end, I'm going to be so much better.

So I think this gets us up to speed on some things.  To summarize:  A) We have a great home B) We have a precious new baby, Rilyn C) Drama sucks, but good things come from crappy situations sometimes D) Pray for our loved ones E) God is working on making me a better person.

There will be a quiz on all of this in the morning.

K