Fitting In

Over the past few months there have been many miraculous changes in our lives. From the turning of winter in to spring from saying goodbye and hello to old and new members of our family. It is strange to think on where we were this time 3 years ago to now.
Three years ago we had everything planned out. No more surprises and life was on a cruise control setting with no worries in the foreseeable future. Two years ago that cruise control got adjusted and we decided to pursue another child through adoption knowing it would take a while. Life still did not change much. Girls got older, family had fun. Then mom got diagnosed with cancer and things just seemed to go out of control. The gas pedal was broken and we never knew what pace we were going to be running from one day to the next. The wait of answers from test, the wait of answers from the adoption, and nothing seemed to slow down or speed up. The time we had with mom needed to slow down, and the time we had with the adoption needed to speed up. The girls were growing up and learning new things and Jami and I were growing in our marriage. The one thing that wasn't fitting in to this whole equation was time itself. It just seemed like nothing and everything made sense at the same moment.
Now the adoption is over, mom has gone to be with the Lord and time has finally seemed to level out. The Lord has been working inside of me slowly over the past couple of years. The Lord was teaching me new things that I didn't really want to learn, but the Lord is persistent and of course I am getting the learning anyway. I have come to trust more, do less, and be thankful that I have people out there that I can lay some burdens on. I don't have to do everything myself and that others are capable of making coherent thoughts without my help. LOL It has been a work in progress but here I am on the other side. The storm has settled and the calm is here. I don't know what to do with it but I welcome it.
I sat here today and tried to think to time before the kids and could not. Snapshots were there of good times but life before the little gals is gone. Then I tried to just think back to before Baelin and that too is just snapshots. When I think of our life it is always of our family as a whole. There is not one of us without the other. Baelin has become an Incredible and the little quirks of a two year old have come out. She has made the transition from being a lovable, unsure, toddler, to an all out active, destroy what ever looks fun and smile about it toddler. You can not tell she never lived here. She knows our home better than I do and is not afraid of any room anymore. The older girls love to find her when it has gotten too quite for too long and you know there is going to be a surprise when you find her.
She loves to cuddle now, where as before she never wanted to be touched, She loves to swing, and to be thrown around, where before it was a screaming match every time she moved to fast. We have to lock the cabinets up so that she doesn't eat all the fruit snacks in one hour. She knows where everything is kept and knows how to ask for it and much more to manipulate daddy for it. The older two play with her all day and they enjoy trying to teach her new things. She has the cutest smile that she loves to show off now and when you say "I love you" she touches her nose. So that has become our new thing. It started off with Jami trying to hold eye contact with her. Jami would touch her nose while saying "look at me" and then when Baelin would look Jami would say "I love you". Now whenever she hears "I Love You" she touches her nose and smiles!
All is well, the puzzle has been finished and the new box of pieces have been opened. We look forward to figuring out the new one and sharing the many adventures to come.

Our girls

Well it is officially the day after Easter. I hope everyone had a dry one. Not so the case here in Arkansas. The storms moved in and camped out on us the entire day and looks to be doing the same today. Mr. Incredible had to be at the firehouse all day so I did not get to spend Easter with the lovely ladies in my home. Instead I had to go protect the citizens of the Big City. We were not at work more than 15 minutes before we got a house fire. Nice way to start off your day. My was not ruined...it was part of the job, but you have to feel for the people who were displaced from their home on Easter Sunday. We were however able to keep the fire contained to the garage and a Little damage in the dinning area but for the most part they will recover. Inconvenient but no major belongings lost. After that the storms rolled in and the calls just kept on coming. We finally got to slow down a little by that evening and had a decent night. While I was there my ladies went to church and then to my grandmothers to visit and have lunch. They had fun and got plenty of candy and stuff.

My wife, bless her heart, got the idea for us to take our precious, innocent, unscathed girls to go see the new Hannah Montanna movie on opening night. I said sure because in all actuality it is one of the shows they watch that is less annoying than something like Spongebob, and I kinda like it. What I wasn't ready for was the wake up call to my future reality. My 2,4, and 7 year old still like Miley/Hannah for her music and who she is. Not so much the case with the 1000 pre-teen/teen girls there that night. When we walked in I felt pretty good about myself, Daddy taking his girls to see a movie. Then we got into the theater and I suddenly felt so alone. There were maybe two other dads cowering down in their seats when I looked around. They all had this look on their faces that said, "Oh please Lord let me make it through this without running into someone I know!" Heh. Not me. I walked right up them stairs, picked out a row right in the center of the theater and sat my girls down. Then quickly ran to go get popcorn and drinks, being oh so careful not to make it back before the previews started.

When I walked back in I had to go around two teens who were doing the line dance to one of the songs in the movie. There was no music yet but that did not seem to be a problem for them. Dosi Do and whatever else that was made me turn go back out the door and into the other side of the theater. Which wasn't a problem because it was really closer to my seat. Then I passed out our overly expensive snack items and take my seat among the raging hormone, hairspray, makeup, and estrogen mass that was there. Ahh the movie begins. Sit back, relax. and enjoy.......tranquility, Dolby digital sound, and DLP projection all ruined by the High Pitch Scream of girls when the opening screen showed Hannah! Including two of my own contributing to my sudden hearing loss.

Then down the noise came and the giggles started. They are so cute......when they are 7, or younger. As I looked around I wasn't as comfortable as I once was. Every star or boy that was shown on the screen was met with (an equally appropriate I am sure) sound. The younger girls got excited during the songs and when Hannah or aka Miley were on the screen. The older ones, those teens, those nerve wrecking, reality checking teens, were the ones that got my attention. When the cute boys were shown, or did something just absolutely darling there was this "AWWWWWWWWEEEE" sound that rumbled through the theater. Then when he would smile it was even worse with the same noise met by wiggling and giggling and kicking their feet and grabbing their chest as if they were having a heat attack. OH COME ON!! It is a movie! I quickly looked at my oldest and then the middle one to make sure they were not even thinking of participating in such a display of "not my daughterness!" and luckily for them they were not.

I wondered at that time am I really going to have to put of with this? Am I really going to have three teenage girls in the house one day with all their teenage girl friends sounding like this and acting this way? Of course I already knew the answer before I asked myself this silly question. "Not over my dead body!!" that of course was denial fighting with reason and then the facts sank in and I secretly cried on the inside. "I am sooooooooo not ready for this!!" Luckily I have about 4-5 years before it gets started and then I will find some kind of support group to join, and become a monk, and going on a sabbatical until the youngest is 20. I know some of you have already braved through this area in your lives or are going through it now and I just want to say "May God himself come down from heaven and bless you personally. You deserve it!"

Moving along

Another day, another change. Seems like we learn something new everyday doesn't it? If you want to or not, life is going to teach you something with every new day. That is a wonderful thing to have happen to us. It keeps the mundane from setting in and gives our lives purpose and hope. Now most of us refuse to learn anything or to notice the lesson for the day so unfortunately we may be doomed to repeat it. I don't like reruns on the T.V. or leftovers in the fridge so I assure you that I do not want to repeat any lesson that I had to learn, I don't know about you but I am a once is enough kind of person. Now before you think I am getting all philosophical let me assure this is just a bunch of rambling that has no point or direction so please do not get your hopes up. I am actually done with that train of thought. Moving on.

We took the family and some friends to the park yesterday and had some lunch and some discussion about life and let the kids play. The wind was whipping like crazy so lunch was a full contact sport just keeping plates and food on the table. We had a couple of casualties but for the most part everyone got fed and then went off to play or talk. Baelin had a blast but was wind burn by that evening, as were the rest of us. We did find a new trait during this romp at the park. We figured out that she knows what "No" means and we also figured out that it is not something she likes to hear. Strange....my other two girls suffer from the same affliction. When we would catch her doing something wrong she would turn around look us dead in the eye and stare at us for a moment as if we were crazy. Then we would sternly repeat "No" and she would start yelling at us in some 2 year old profanity and start hitting at her head. If she had anything in her hand she would throw it, careful to throw only one item at a time for added effect. After some more yelling at us she would get real quite, look at you and give up. A smile would break out on her face immediately following this display of disapproval and she would laugh and pick up whatever she had thrown and try to do whatever it was once again and then we would repeat this process before she would bebop back to you smiling and laughing. I am sure this affliction will pass by all my girls in the next 12 - 18 years but I am just being optimistic I am sure.

The other adventure I had on this same day was a little more exciting. I took Bax, Blaise and Baielin with me along with a friend of theirs to the park a bit early and everyone else met us later. On my arrival I told the kids to take off and get to playing just to stay out of the creek that ran through the park and stay within sight. I had Baelin in my arms and a couple of drinks to carry to the table where the feast was going to partake moments later. The kids had made it to the other side of the creek and were on the swings at the farthest point that they could be on by the time I got to the table. I immediately heard this familiar voice screaming for help! I turned to look and saw my middle child Blaise bent over doing the pee hold and falling to her knees. I knew this could be only one of two things. She got hurt some how or she got too excited trying to run and keep up with the other kids that she did not take the time to notice she had to pee really bad. My8 deductive skills are awesome are they not? I could not just take off running to her because I still had Baelin in my arms so I just kept yelling to calm down while I made my way to her. When I go there she was crying and doing the pee pee hold saying that she had wet her panties just a little bit and had to go the the bathroom, which was on the side of the park that I had just came from. I had no change of clothes and was 20 miles from home with no intentions of going back there until late that night. She had soaked just her panties pretty good but it had not made it to her jeans. Lucky me! I had an idea...I told her to stand real still and I unbuttoned the front of her pants and ripped her panties down both side so that I could pull them off of her without exposing her to the many people at the park who I realized had made their way into that area when she went to screaming help. So once they figured out I was the dad they started to filter away but they did do a lot of pointing at me. When I tore her panties she got really mad at me as if they were her best friend in the world. She got louder when I did this screaming not to tear her panties and I did get a bit nervous about what others were thinking but I managed to get them off get her on her feet and walk her and the rest of them to the restroom to clean up and go potty. I tossed the soiled piece of clothing in the garbage which made her cry again and then after she got to use the potty she was all better saying that at least she did not get her pants wet and "whew that was a close one daddy!" So back to playing they went. I thought all was cool but as soon as mommy arrived at the park she took off running to mommy and started telling her how daddy ripped her panties off and that they were her favorite. She failed to mention that she had gotten them wet. I had to explain my reasons once she got to me. I am not sure what the Lord is trying to tell me here recently with the by products of my children but I hope that I have learned all I need to. The rest of the day was fun and without any other bodily fluid event until later that evening.

After church I stayed behind to clean up the pre-shool and get things put up before going home. Blaise stayed with me and Jami took the other two home. I was about to walk out the door when someone come running in to find me saying that Jesus had just fell off the cross. We have a passion play that the many talented people of our church put on. It is a live outdoor production with a cast of 50 or more I think. Jesus is raised up on a pulley system to the top of a cross that is 15 foot off the ground. Last night during dress rehearsal the pulley came apart and he rode the lift down and was jarred onto the ground and bounced off with the t part of the cross still attached to his arms. Not to mention it was cold outside and he had only the loin cloth on. We rushed to his side and did the medical thing that we are trained to do and got him off to the hospital. Praise God he only had a small fracture on his back that will heal on it's own and they let him go home today. So today I tracked down a fall arrest cable to put on the pulley to keep that from happening again. The passion starts tonight and goes every night til Friday. The three men on the cross will be in little clothing and tonight it will be getting down to 30 degrees. They did the same last year and I applaud them for sticking it out and toughing through the cold to make this happen. We had several hundred a night last year and they are hoping to double it this year. It is free of charge and right on the side of the interstate so many passer-bys see it and return to finish watching it. It will be wild to see how many people attend tonight.

When I went back into the church to get Blaise she was pacing back and forth in the hallway saying "Oh Lord, who is going to play Jesus, he has fallen. Oh Lord who can be Jesus now, I hope he's not dead!?" It was funny to watch her concern for this play at 4 years of age. I assured her Jesus was alive and well and the play would continue as planned. She is the funniest little thing I get to hang around. She takes after her daddy quite a lot. Poor thing. Well that is all I have to add for now. We hope you all are doing well and we talk to you next

time.