Memory Makers: 2009

Gideon was born Wednesday June 17th at 9:04am. He was 21 and 1/4 inches long and weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. The doctor said if I had waited a week he would have been a 9 pounder. The blessings of having to have a c-section. This was my first scheduled c-section. Jared was an emergency "c" having the cord wrapped around his neck and Mathias was an attempted natural birth but he wasn't descending and I wasn't progressing so they took him after 17 hours of labor. They say you have a 10% chance of a normal delivery after 2 c-sections so we figured we better just do what the doctors advised and schedule the third. It was kind of nice knowing when we were going to have a baby and plan ahead. I was relatively rested and had all my strength going into surgery. Recovery has been wonderful and I am healing very nicely. Tim has been better than absolutly amazing, if that's possible. He has taken over everything and has been super dad and mom together. I couldn't ask for a better support and love. Gideon is a very happy baby. He is predictable, which is a good thing right now, and I only have to narrow it down to poopy, hungry, or tired if he cries which isn't that often. He is alert and follows my face around when I talk to him. Jared and Mathias are so excited to have a new brother, all our neighbors and Mailman have been well informed by them that Gideon has arrived. They are going to be great big brothers. We feel very grateful for this new spirit in our home. Tim told the boys the story about who Gideon was named after last night and brought me to tears. The Lord really does want us to remember with Him on our side and with our obedience anything is possible.

How do you describe the excitement of sailing to a 3 and 5 year old. I love the whole idea of sailing but, until my kids are a little older, I won't feel comfortable taking them on a long cruise. But.....one day I had a brilliant idea. Why not have a sleep over on the boat while it sat on the trailer? Seemed like a great idea. I mean my kids are both experienced campers and have been backpacking overnight with Rachelle and I. They know how to sleep away from home in environments not entirely perfect and do great in the out doors. It has always been a joy to share these experiences with them. I thought a night on the boat with lights, a soft bunk, on a warm night would be a really fun experience. Rachelle was in the hospital recovering from the birth of our third son for a couple of days so I thought the timing was perfect. I brought it up to them and they were so excited. We went out there and weighed anchor, in the driveway, and started clearing out the sails and other bags in our Venture 222. We got the cushions wrapped in sheets and pulled the down comforters out. I gave each of the kids a flash light and we were ready. We went out at about 10:00pm and I got the kids settled. Mathias in the front V berth, Jared in the little bench bed, and I was ready to sleep tight in the converted dining table.
We were just getting comfortable when I heard Mathias rustling around in the front. That began the night I will never forget. He couldn't get comfortable and kept complaining of being "stuck". The cushions kept separating and he would fall in the cracks. Jared couldn't sleep on the bench so I traded with him. He was just getting comfortable in my nice big bunk when Mathias got out of his bed and said He couldn't sleep in the front. I asked if he wanted to sleep with Jared in his bed and he said he did. Well, the complaining continued about falling in the cracks of the big bed so I asked Jared if he wanted to sleep in the front and I would switch Mathias into a more comfortable position. Jared finally went to sleep and was out like a light, for a while. Mathias was sooo tired but would not fall sleep. After about 3 different lullabies holding his hand and having all the lights in the boat on I finally saw the droopy eyes and regular breathing that I was waiting soo long for. Unfortunately, Mathias likes to do gymnastics in his sleep and at one point I found him hanging half off the bed. I put him back up right and braced him in with a pillow. I don't want to know how he would fair in a stiff breeze and a rocking boat.
Finally, Sleep at 11:30pm. The dark was enveloping. With a start, the scariest words you can hear in the dark on a camping trip came to my ears, "Dad, I have to go pee-pee!" Mathias, Oh man, I threw off the covers fumbled around for some light which is always impossible to find in the dark on a camping trip, then lifted the seat cover on the port-a-potty and said, "Okay buddy we can go on the boat, fun huh?" To which he exclaimed at 1:00am in the morning, " No, I want to go inside!!!!" Ugh. I new my political skills would be put to the test. I was finally able to explain to him that he probably wouldn't make it to the house so it would be better to go on the boat. He finally relented and I thought that was pretty easy. Well, as soon as he was done and back in bed, he kept saying that his leg hurt and he wanted to get some different pajamas on. That was a contingency I wasn't prepared for, extra clothes. I guess he had a sticker scratching him in his pajamas. So, I stumbled onto the deck, climbed down the trailer, and carried my tired son to the house. I put some new pajamas on him and put him in his own bed and he fell right to sleep. 2:00am. I stumbled back out to the boat and fell into my larger bunk finally and turned out the lights. Thump Thump thump!!!! what was that noise? Again, thump thump. I turned on my flash light to see what manner of beast was beating the outside of the boat. Nothing. Thump, thump. What was that? Sleep was not coming so I listened to this obnoxious sound of the night trying to determine how I had thought this little expedition would have been so much fun. Sleep was just coming on when I heard the words, "Daaaaaaad, my head really hurts." Eh? , " How come Jared?" , " I keep hitting my head on the ceiling........and I have to go potty." At least with Jared he was excited to go on the boat, due to previous experiences. I turned him around on his bed to the higher roofed portion of his berth and he was comfortable again. and sleeping. I listened for a while and the sound of the thump thump was gone. At least I had found out what that was. Darkness, finally, at 2:45. My body began to relax and the sleep which had evaded me was finally coming into my grasp.
5:00am in the morning, "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!!!!! That was so much fun!!!!!!!!!! Can we go in and tell everybody how much fun it was?" WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!!!! Again, stumbling off the boat as the grey of a new day dawned I walked into the house to find that all were sleeping peacefully, except Mathias, who had booted grandpa out of bed and was sleeping with grandma. Grandpa was sleeping on the kids bed in the other room. I told Jared to sleep on the couch for a while until everybody else got up and covered him with a blanket. I sat in the chair and fell into a fitful and uncomfortable sleep. Somebody, graciously covered me with a blanket later on but, I slept right through it.
Normally the smell of frying bacon wakes me up in a happy mood. The smell of bacon this morning meant that at any second UUUmmmFFF!!! It happened, my kids jumped on me and wanted to tell me all about how fun it was to sleep in the boat and they wanted to do it again. Maybe in a few years. On a much bigger boat. Further from land.