Halloween '08

It seems every time I sit down to write this blog I want to let out a big sigh. Hence, the title of my last post.

Tonight was Halloween and we went everywhere. There's a retreat center down the street that does a mild haunted house. Creepy yet the little ones could stand it...they also have a route around all there cabins that are rented out by local businesses and they hand out candy. They also have a game room where they can win candy. We walked around (without Vance) for almost an hour.

Then, we went up to Vance's sister's neighborhood and dropped of Tristan at their house. I thought he would sleep, but it turns out she ended up having to hold him for 45 minutes while we were out trick or treating. Sorry, Valerie :).

Each of these places was very tiring because the twins walked so extremely slow. Both of their costumes hindered their movement. But, they were so cute. Just about everyone stopped to say so and some took pictures.

Our next door neighbors and dear friends invited us over for dinner. We arrived over an hour late. The dinner was excellent and the kids had a blast playing with their kids.

Finally, we got home and everyone was in bed at 10pm. I hope this means I get to sleep in tomorrow morning, but I doubt it. That's ok - I'm still young :).

Enjoy the pictures.

They all gathered round to see me carve a pumpkin in less than 15 minutes. A new record. We copied uncle Stephen's pumpkin. He sent us pictures from Germany.

Glen was a cowboy, Ryan -Zorro, Will - a fire fighter, Rachie and Morgan were both princesses and Kael was a puppy dog. All of these costumes were hand-me-downs. I didn't spend a penny this Halloween. Woo hoo!

This is Vance trying to keep Morgan out of a strange person's house.

I'm Back!

I'm so glad to be back! So grateful to my new dear friends Darryl and Sherri. If it weren't for their generosity and their time and Darryl's expertise I would have had an heart attack and in the market for a new computer. I would have lost almost 5years worth of precious pictures.

You know how people say in the back of their minds "That will never happen to me"? Usually, this refers to car accidents or crime, but I think I had this mentality with my computer. So many people talk about getting viruses and their hard drives being destroyed. I thought I was so smart and so careful. Let this be a warning to all. Get good virus protection - I've been told the mainstream ones like McAfee and Norton, etc. are NOT good enough. Then, back up your computer. Put your pictures on disc and back up your hard drive to something external then store it off site. You can bet this is what I'm doing now.

On another note...I've started a new blog. It's called http://www.bepatientwitheachother.blogspot.com/.

Quite a mouthful, no? I've noticed A LOT lately that people are just rude to each other. I could never be rude, even if I tried. Especially to a stranger. I suppose I'm rude to my husband sometimes *smirk*. So, every time I notice someone being rude I thought I would blog about it and offer up a more courteous solution. Maybe it could become a mantra people could have in the back of their head "be patient with each other". I've been saying it to myself every time someone cuts me off while driving. What do you think?

The WHOLE Story

Here's a little more of the story...

As you all have read over the past couple of weeks I've been anxious to have this baby. I felt that, by my calculations ;), I should have had Tristan around the 15th. Unfortunately, Dr. Weary was on vacation. I kept hoping and hoping that Tristan would come on his own. He was getting bigger and bigger by the second, I just knew it. So, we scheduled the induction for the 25th.

At 7:30am Monday morning we went in. At about 8:30am Dr. Weary broke my water. I had a few hard contractions within that hour and then nothing. Finally, Dr. Weary suggested that we start Pitosin. They added that to my I.V. at about 12:30pm. During this time Ryan and Vance were trying their best not to be bored out of their minds. Vance took Ryan to breakfast and he ate a huge Big Bopper at Gunther Toody's, then they went to lunch at Subway. Again, not a whole lot happening so they started to increase the drip and I started to feel pretty uncomfortable. Since things were going much slower than my usual labors I opted for the epidural. It was fabulous!!! The anesthesiologist was great!!! I told him of my concerns that past epidurals turned out horrible, but I did have one that worked perfect and it made me itch. He seemed to know what I was talking about and gave me that same medication - I guess there are several types of epidurals - this all happened about 1:30pm.

Again, things progressed slowly and at about 4:30pm Dr. Weary called my nurse, Jenny and told her to get aggressive with the Pitosin. I didn't care, I could feel a thing. Dr. Weary wasn't on call that night and I knew he wanted to be there for the last Terry baby. Then, all of a sudden, I started feeling pressure. Every contraction felt like Tristan was finally moving down - I told the nurse she better get Dr. Weary. They got the room ready and I started to push.

Normally, pushing lasts about 5 minutes for me. This seemed like an eternity. The nurse was a great coach, but she made me work really hard. By the way, if you want to hear a really funny story about pushing ask me later as I don't want to write it here.

Anyway, after 11 minutes of pushing, Tristan came out face up. For some reason, this makes me think of a deck of cards, I've had so many different hands...I've delivered completely natural, with drugs, breach, sunny side up and I run the gamut of sizes from 5 lbs 15 oz. to 10 lbs. 11 oz. The only thing I haven't experienced is a c-section (and I'm grateful).

The first thing I said when Tristan was born was, "That's not a baby, that's a toddler." Corny, I know, but it's what was on my mind. Everyone in the room commented how big he was and when the nurse finally weighed him we were all in disbelief once again. Almost 11 lbs. and I didn't tear, even a little bit. God is good!

Delivering in the new hospital was great. It's an absolutely beautiful facility. I had mentioned in an earlier blog that they have this really neat security system where the mother wears a "hugs" bracelet and the baby wears a "kisses" bracelet and when the two meet a chime goes off. But, here's the coolest thing. When these bracelets are first put on right after delivery, a short lullaby plays over the intercom for the entire maternity floor. We were there for two and a half days and every time I heard that lullaby outside my room I knew another baby was born. It was precious.

I also want to say a huge thanks to Rick and Alisa Pierce. They took care of Rachie, Kael and Morgan for the time that I was in the hospital and even the day after. It was so nice to get the opportunity to acclimate to having a new family member without any stress. Also, thanks to Vance's parents for doing the same for the older boys. I know they had a blast watching cartoons on cable T.V. and having all of the other "Grandma Specials" they don't get at home.

I'm so glad Tristan is here. I'm enjoying every waking moment (literally) with him. He doesn't sleep much at night, but I don't mind. I got three hours of sleep last night and I actually feel pretty good. I spent the day trying to get caught up on house work and I feel like I've accomplished something. Already, my body is feeling a little bit back to normal. I even started some minor abdominal exercises today.

Tristan is the sweetest little boy and I can't wait for everyone to meet him. His brothers and sisters absolutely adore him and are always asking if they can hold him. So far, all my fears about the twins being jealous and how am I going to hold them all at the same time - haven't come true. Morgan and Kael do not try to get on my lap when I'm holding Tristan and they haven't tried laying on top of him or anything like that either. I feel extremely blessed.

I also feel a little sad. He's probably my last baby. The last one I'll carry or nurse or go through labor with. It's hard to move on to the next phase of our lives, but I know it's time. Glen and Ryan love having a big family and would love having even more brothers and sisters, but I also know they're ready for the things we can do as a family when everyone is old enough to do them. Like go to Hawaii or skiing...I'm also looking forward to see how each child grows and matures and all the things we will be able to do together as a family.

Well, I think that's about it. I know I'm forgetting a whole bunch of details, but I'm sure you didn't want to read a novel anyway. Enjoy the pictures.

Even More Birthdays!

Ugh! That's another understatement! I'm still pregnant. I can go on and on about how miserable I am, but I won't :) I'll just mention the few things like - this baby is HUGE, I'm swollen all over and I can't sleep. My left hand hurts immensely for some strange reason. I saw on the news last night the first person to deliver at the new hospital. They showed her in her hospital bed with baby then a nurse brought her a huge gift basket. I'm so bummed. It would have been great to have the gift basket, but mostly it would be great to have labor and delivery over right now. I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow. I will ask him to take me out of my misery.


On a lighter side, we had a great party last night. It was so wonderful to celebrate Pop's 75th birthday. He got some fun and unusual presents and Valerie (Vance's sister) had the great idea of letting the kids ask him some questions about some of his favorite things when he was a kid. I really enjoyed this and Glen and Ryan did, as well. I felt like I didn't get to visit with everyone like I would have liked. I got home wondering where I was most of the night. But, it really was great seeing Amanda and Natalie and Gwen and Becky and all their families. It was a very good evening. Thank you, Valerie, for putting it together.


A very good friend of ours is here visiting. Tim is someone both Vance and I have known for over 20 years. It's so fun to have him here. Our lives are so different now, but it's almost like going back in time when you get to visit about our history together. Vance and Tim have a lot of history - I got to become friends with Tim because of Vance and he truly is one of my favorite people.


I hope you enjoy the pictures and the ramblings of a very weary lady.

Eli Bremer

I wanted to let you all know about a good friend of ours who will be competing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. His name is Eli Bremer and he's a pentathlete.

The pentathlon consists of shooting, fencing, swimming, equestrian jumping and running all in one day. I can't imagine the stamina that must take.

We know Eli and his wife Cami and his parents Duncan and Michelle (Duncan ran for congress a little over a year ago) through church. Also, Eli has flipped several homes and Vance has done most of the remodeling for him. In fact, in an earlier post I showed pictures of one of Eli's homes.

We're so excited to see Eli compete and know that he will be a missionary in China, as well. On the Fourth of July we were watching a PBS special at the White House and Eli was presented as one of the Olypians - Vance and I almost lept off the couch :).

Eli won the gold medal in his event at the Pan Am Games in 2007! To learn more about Eli and how you can support him - especially through prayer - please check out his blog, which is syndicated by Lenovo, USA Today, and NBCOlympics.com - http://www.elibremer.com/.