a new chapter begins

A month or so before I graduated from high school, I wrote a song with a dear friend of mine titled "Turn the Page." In the song we sing about the challenges of leaving a place that's always been home and starting a new chapter in a place we don't know. We sing about the memories that were made, the attempts to make curfew, that last hug for a friend... And here I am, a decade later, with a whole new assortment of memories, friends, and a new home I have to leave.

I thought we would live in Waco for two years while Travis finished up at Baylor. I put forth little effort into establishing roots here because we weren't staying. But then the Lord surprised us. He kept us in Waco. In the following years, we found a wonderful church, made many incredible friendships, bought and sold our first home, bought another home, had three beautiful children... This city became home not because of where it is or what job was here, but because of the life that we lived here. The people; the memories of bringing our babies home (each to a different house, I might add); the church community that rallied around us during some very hard times. I learned how to be a wife here. I learned how to be a mother here. I'm no expert in either arena, but this is where I took my baby steps. The chorus of the song ends with, "...my heart got tied to home. And as the strings are being cut, I trust that He has a plan for leading me away. A new chapter's beginning, and I turn the page." The same way I didn't understand why the Lord kept us in Waco five years ago, I don't know why He's leading us to Tucson. It hurts. Goodbyes never get easier. But Waco became a wonderful home, and I have to trust that Tucson will too. We leave one week from tomorrow, and I know this week will be filled with lots of bittersweet tears.

On a more positive note, since I last wrote, we've added a beautiful baby girl to our family! Our sweet Olivia Rose finally arrived three days late on June 5th at 7:06 in the morning. (So I guess technically she was only two and a half days late, but each day felt like a week, so I'm rounding up for drama's sake.) I finally convinced Travis to take me to the hospital at 3:00 in the morning, we got there at 3:30, and three and a half hours later, we had ourselves a baby! Hah. I was pretty proud of myself for surviving as long as I did without my epidural (not by choice and not at all gracefully). I was dilated to 8 cm right after I got my epidural at approx. 5:30 am. They didn't check me again until I insisted on it at 6:45. (They kept telling me to let them know if I felt any pressure or like it was time to push... and I kept thinking, "Don't they know that I can't feel anything?") At that point, Olivia was so close to making her entrance into the world that the nurse begged me not to push while she found the doctor. Once the doctor arrived, I pushed for about three minutes and we had ourselves a beautiful new baby. After the emotional roller coaster of the past two years, I cried some tears of joy as I held my precious rainbow baby. I had prepared myself for the hardship of newborn life--but Ollie has been so easy. She sleeps well, she cries rarely, and for the first time, I've been able to fully enjoy my newborn baby. I haven't had any of my typical breastfeeding issues, so I've actually been able to enjoy snuggling my baby girl. Feeding her hasn't been wrought with tears and curled toes while I try to hold back screams of excruciating pain. When I saw my doctor at my six week check up, I told him, "It turns out I don't actually hate the newborn phase as much as I thought. I just really really hate mastitis and breast abscesses."

My easier time postpartum... our house here in Waco sold in two days...Travis went to Tucson for a week for work training and found a house... everything that could very easily have sent me into a hormonally induced panic attack has gone so smoothly, it's almost as if the Lord's plans really are best. ;) Anytime I started to doubt that we should be moving, something else fell into place with minimal effort. Moving is hard, but God is good. Our house is being packed on Saturday, loaded up Sunday, and we fly out Monday morning. A new chapter awaits us...so with some resistance, a lot of tears, and only the Lord's strength, we turn the page.

New Section: Kid Stories/Quotes
  ~ The other day, Logan was throwing a long-winded tantrum (yay for the fours!) and Raelyn looks at me and says, "Mommy, why Wogan so stubborn?"
  ~ Logan listening to/watching "We're Going on a Lion Hunt": "Mommy, if they don't want to find a lion, why are they going on a lion hunt?"
  ~ Logan: Mommy, when we move to Arizona, can we bring Ollie with us?
  ~ Logan: Mommy, what do you call a rat going up a hill?
     Me: I don't know. What?
     Logan: A rat.
    Kid's got jokes! :)
  ~My favorite new kid word: disastrophe!