Wild Curves!

It is weird how life throws you all sorts of curves to see how you will react to them. Each time a new one comes you have to come at it with a different approach. Recently I am taking on a big that life is throwing at me and I am having to take a completely different approach to it than anything I have ever done. I know that this time is the last time this type of curve should ever be thrown at me and I am going to try my hardest to keep it that. I can only think that I am human and I have my faults but there are some things that I should not falter on.

The one thing I feel I was put on this earth for was to be a great family man. I am to take care of my children and make sure they are raised properly and in my life at all times and that they are one of the centers of my life. The other part of that is to be the best husband to my wife and show her the love and compassion she needs everyday. These are all hard things to live up to but if you put yourself in the right spot and the right frame of mind then it can be done. The one thing I am learning over again is that God needs to be at the center of my life and I need to rotate around him and count on him to carry me through the rough times. No matter how bad things get he will always be by my side and be my rock to hold on to. I need to remember that now more than ever in my life....

It's a Girl!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our little belly bean that has been in my wife's term torturing her for the past 3 weeks. My wife started active labor around 2pm yesterday and ended with our little one coming at 10:52pm EST. She weighed in at 8lbs and 20in long. She fits the bill with our other two bundles who were 8lbs(my daughter) and 7lbs 15oz(my son). So it seems we have kind of a pattern here. She is absolutely gorgeous and we could not be happier.

My wife got to do her natural labor at the birth center just like she wanted. We had a water birth which turned out like we couldn't have imagined. Mother and baby are doing great and we are all home relaxing and just enjoying our new blessing from God.

She has also displayed to us that she is already to go to church. We can't decided if she is thanking God for getting her or telling him to put her back.

Update

Well I haven't wrote an update in a good little while so I figured I would. First I want to start off by saying thank you to all who shared there thoughts with me and my children. We have listed our family rules on the living room wall and explained it to both my two your old son and my 3 1/2 year old daughter. They both seem to understand what is going on and now when they don't follow through with the rules they know they have to go sit on the "naughty seat." This allows them to cool off and realize that they have done something that mommy and daddy do not approve of. It seems to be working as they are much better behaved and even started listening to mommy some. I know it is a work in progress and we will just have to stick with it. I have to keep reminding my wife to stick with as she tends to over react at the moment with her being 40 weeks pregnant. She knows what she is doing as well so I just hope it will get better once we have this baby.

Speaking of my wife and baby she seems to be in the beginning stages of labor. She isn't in full blown active labor but she is having contractions every 5 to 8 minutes or so. The midwife at the birth center my wife plans to go to said that we need to come in when they are 3 to 5 mins apart and she cannot walk or talk through them. At some points I wonder if she is already there but she tells me know so we wait. Luckily my work is letting me work from home today so that I can keep an eye on here and the kids. I ask you all keep us in your prayers and thoughts as we hopefully have this baby soon.

Random Thoughts!

So the big idea didn't pan out to well. I was sore for days after my big ride and decided to train up some before I start making my big ride a permanent thing. I am trying to ride every night around 8 til 9 to work myself up. This also gives me a time to reflect on the day and how things have been going. It is nice to have this time and see things from a different perspective. I know my wife wishes she could have times like this but with her being 30 weeks pregnant that doesn't seem to happen often.

My children have also started this whole not going to listen thing with her and I am not sure how to approach it. We have found this chart setup that when they listen to something mommy says then the get to move their person along the path. If they don't listen then they have to move them back a space. They try to reach certain check points on the trail and ultimately the end. We are thinking of starting off with 10 tries to get to the top with the big reward at the end of the day. If they only make it say 5 spots then they can have a small treat but anything under that they get nothing. So we are going to see how that goes and hopefully they won't walk all over mommy because she can't handle much more with the two of them and with the baby almost here. For her sake I hope it works.

My wife and I also go to talking tonight that maybe we expect to much out of our children and it got me wondering. What should we expect from a 3 1/2yr old and a 2yr old? I would like some feedback if anyone has anything they can share. I know we are still learning all of this and we are fairly young so at times we could expect to much and not know it. They say please and thank you but don't seem to respect their mother at times. When I tell them something they usually do it but not all the time. With their mother they do it like 10% of the time and the other 90% they spend pushing her buttons till she explodes. Is this just a phase they go through or did we go wrong somewhere? I guess only time will tell how we did and if anyone out there has any comments then please share them cause we are all ears.

Thanks,
JR

The Big Idea!

So the time has come for me to really get into shape. I have been thinking about it for awhile and I just want to dive head first right in. I figured I could get in shape and save on my gas bill since the price doesn't seem to be dropping anytime soon. So I went out and bought a bike and rode to work for the first time today. The trek is 15 miles one way so it ends up being 30 miles of riding a day. I am on day 1 with the first leg over.

So now that I am at work and have time to think about what I have just done and how I am going to get home makes me wonder. My butt really hurts from the seat and my legs still feel like jell-o. I will try to suck it up and right my way home and see how day two will start out for me.

I just ask that you pray for me and hope that God will give me the strength to power on despite how much pain I am in right now. I know that it will only get better with time and I just need to keep it going. I will keep you all up to date on my great biking to work adventure.

Vacation!

So we made it to to California for a vacation of sorts. I am happy that we made it here in one piece but the experience was fun to say the least. My wife wrote a good article about it on her blog Busy Bee Mama. So go check that out and see what fun we had. I will write soon after I get home on the 15th.

Something Greater!

Have you ever just sat around and just wondered how everything has happened. I mean this world we live in is so diverse and everyone has some theory about how we got here. I just wonder about the people who don't believe and what runs through their minds to make them not think that there is a God that created this. That we are here for a purpose and not just some random beings wondering around.

One of the ways I remind myself that we are part of something greater is every time I walk into my kids room when they are sleeping and see how wonderful a miracle they are and knowing that God has giving me this wonderful blessing. I like any other parent would die for my children and do whatever it takes to raise them right. I just hope I can do it right the first time so that they don't have to go through the things I did.

May God bless you all with love and happiness,
Johnny