I have missed this!

With the poor internet connection we get in our home on John's wireless card on his laptop and due to the fact that it sits on his desk in his office (also known as our bedroom), I just haven't had the time to go browsing friends blogs...oh...not to mention the time consumed by pumping and bottle feeding for 5 weeks and then getting adjusted to nursing these past 3 weeks. But anyway...I realized that I have missed out on the encouragement to live life to a higher calling that I recieve from the women's blogs that I used to follow with the drive of one with an serious addiction. So somehow I need to find a middle ground.

Tonight with John out of town and the freedom to just sit in our bedroom on the internet without interrupting someone else's sleep...I was reminded that I need some consistent connection with others on a deeper level than I am getting now. Now living 45 minutes from those whom I was just beginning to really begin to grow deeper friendships with and trying to adjust to a new area and searching for a church...I feel like I am starting over. UGH! And now there is some uncertainty in how much longer we might be in this rental. There is some serious spiritual warfare going on for our homeowners and it could end smoothly and nothing happen to us or God could choose to move them out of state and lead them to sell this house. I almost wish we didn't know now of the uncertainty but I do believe they showed integrity and true concern for us in talking to us to let us know what is going on. I don't handle the unknown very well. And truly, moving for us is minor in comparison to what our homeowners are facing.

As I think about it I feel like God wants me to realize HE is my home. He is my refuge. I only need Him. I know this but don't act on it, rest in it like I should.

I am so thankful to have been touched in my life by these women...some who I have known and some who I just have a virtual relationship with through a blog.

I feel like I am crawling out of the neurotic newborn stage that I go through with an infant and into a place where I have to find structure in everything from sleeping to eating to cleaning to teaching to most importantly my spiritual walk. One foot in front in front of the other. Oh to rise to that higher calling. I am hearing it again. Desperate to make that foot move forward just one step.

Oakley Hope Evans

Well, my last post was two days before Oakley decided to come.

I started contracting during the early morning Saturday September 19th. I thought that they were Braxton Hicks contractions because they were so irregular and did not feel like serious contractions I had in previous pregnancies. But they started coming kind of regular about 9 minutes apart and I figured I better pack a bag and we should head to the hospital. We live an hour from where our doctor delivers now and I was going to need antibiotics because I had group b strep.

So we called Grandma and Granddad to meet us at the hospital not really sure if we were just going to register or meet Oakley soon. I seriously didn't think I was in labor. It was weird. You would think for the fifth baby that I would have had this stuff figured out. OK...I seriously understand that all pregancies are different.

We passed the kids to Grandma and Granddad and they ended up registering me because I had progressed since Wednesday when the doctor had checked me.

Oakley was born on 9/19/09 at 7:01 pm (19:01 military time) at 7 lbs 14 oz and 19 1/2 inches in length. I was really only in serious labor for the last 30 minutes. Praise God!

Baby Update

Well with 3 1/2 weeks officially left, good ole' Doc Hartman is concerned that Oakley is going to come quickly and we may not make the 1 hour drive to the hospital. He is trying to find a reason to induce during the 38th week. John will be out of town the 37th week...UGH! The kids and I will stay with my parents again like we did last weekend. I just can't do this by myself right now. And we will be closer to our hospital at my parents' house, too.

My belly measured 4 cm larger this week than last week. So the feeling that Oakley has completly taken over my body was pretty much accurate. All you mom's know the stage where there are no comfortable position left....to sleep, to sit, to stand....the belly and back just ache. Doc did an internal check as well. I am 2 cm but nothing us is happening. Not surprising because when things start happening for me it happens fast. So it is probably better that nothing is happening yet.

God has provided a crib and changing table for us through some friends who are willing to loan us thiers. John will be picking up a carseat from another friend in Starke, Florida on Tuesday. And a local pregnancy center has allowed us to borrow clothes for the baby too. What a huge blessing. Now we just need to pray for a year's supply of baby diapers. To be perfectly honest, God has been so faithful. I am so humbled by his provision for us.

I haven't finished getting settled into this house yet and have been feeling like I will never make this rental feel like our home but I am going to spend the next few days finishing up, I think....Before we head to spend Tuesday through Monday at my parents and then hopefully induce Oakely sometime during teh 38th week. It's a lot to think about with homeschooling and housekeeping. But really as long as the kids are feeling loved, fed and we are making some consistent progress with school I will feel great! WE are all soooo excited about Oakley's arrival. The anticipation is almost exhausting!!! :)

What's going on...

I have had some requests for what is going on in the life of the Evans' family. This is the fastest way I can think about doing it...blog or facebook about it.

Well on Tuesday Sept. 1st, we will be in this house for 3 weeks. How did I end up with so much stuff? We were going to get rid of stuff in the packing process but that didn't really happen. I am missing the old neighborhood and friends that we had back at the old house but truly enjoying the extra bedroom and having 2 1/2 baths here. We have the essentials unpacked but I am still working on hanging curtains and figuring out what decorations really need to go up in a rental house. It is feeling more like home though.

We just finished a great 1st week of homeschool for the 09-10 year!!!
Both the kids and I are enjoying it.

Oakley News...
I will be 34 weeks on Sunday. The doc said on Wednesday that her head is down and should stay that way. He is hopeful that I will make it until 37 weeks now that my progesterone levels have started to rise a little- first time this pregnancy!!! I will continue shots 2x a week and daily taking progesterone until 37 weeks just to make sure. John is going to be out of town the entire 37th week so I hope to make it until 38 weeks. The kids and I will stay with my parents in Kissimmee that week just in case. Even though we have moved up to the "Big City" we are staying with the same doctor in Kissimmee so that means there is about an hour drive from our house to get to the hospital. Considering that there was only about 2 hours between contractions starting and Nathaniel's delivery that could make things a little tricky. Doc is going to investigate the options of inducing me. UGH! I am not fond of induction but that is better than having Oakley in the car on the way to the hospital. LOL!

And it does look like Oakley will have a car seat and clothes to wear. You might remember I got rid of almost all our baby stuff 3 days before I found out I was pregnant. A local pregnancy center has offered for us to come pick out whatever we might need for sweet baby Oakley. Praise The LORD! I had only kept the pack and play/bassinet, baby blankets, a few memory outfits and our single and double strollers. As you can imagine I am greatly humbled and truly blessed by this offer from the pregnancy center to support us in ministry this way! I literally cry everytime I think about it.

Kid News:
The kids are enjoying the new house. Layton is especially enjoying the fact that she got to put together her dollhouse that she had received for her birthday from Mamaw, Papaw and Mom and Dad. We have met 6 kids in the neighborhood. Layton(8) is still the oldest of the kids we have met so far.
Latyon got baptized a couple of weeks ago. She had asked Jesus into her heart just before her 5th birthday. So exciting. Elijah(6) is requesting to be baptized as well but he is still grasping the reason behind baptism so it will be a little while. Cheney(4) said she prayed to ask Jesus in her heart during VBS a few weeks ago too. There is a lot of spiritual growth taking place in these sweet little ones and we are seeking to guide them in the way they should go.

Ministry News:
We are basically 3 minutes from UCF- University of Central Florida! John's heart has been drawn to minister to this area and that is the reason for our move. We are really seeking God to see how He wants to use us to reach this area for Him. John is involved with different athletic events building relationships and has already spoken at the BCM year kick-off meeting. Connections are happening in little ways but I feel like God has big plans for them. A UCF football player told John this past week he wanted to do a bible study with him. What a cool "in"!

John continues to minister to students all over the nation through 3degrees. He will be traveling 2 weeks in September. We are currently serving at a mobile church about 20 miles south of us. The pastor and his wife are helping us walk through this transition into the new ministry God has called us too...whatever that may look like we aren't quite sure at the moment. We are just seeking to be faithful to what we feel God has called us too. He will reveal the details. It is an exciting time.

I have to say it is probably the most faith-filled walk we have taken as a family thus far. This time in our country is not a time for a non-profit organization to thrive but God keeps providing for our family at just the right times. He keeps using John to change lives for eternity.

I haven't had time to post pictures or videos lately. The time it takes to get school done, cook & clean, organize the rest of the unpacking and try to rest just doesn't leave much time for anything else these days. Maybe the next time I get on the computer I can post pics of the house and video of Layton's baptism...but no promises.

13 weeks!!

That doesn't sound so far away when I think it could actually be 10 to 13 weeks.
I have to admit I am ready to be done!!

The packing is going well. ONLY because of the help of some precious brothers and sisters in the Lord!!! Only have 2 more rooms to go.

Had to buy a maternity support belt. My belly was hanging low and hurting with all this moving actvity. It helps.

I am crazy to know where we are going to live. Our house closes Friday. We take a work trip with John to N.C. and get take a few extra days for a family vacation. We haven't had a time of travel without work in quite a while. It will be nice to hang out as a family and just relax in the mountains. Then we will stay with my parents for awhile.

We have two options right now for rentals. One (the least expensive by a lot) is staying in a missionary family's home. We would have access to 3 of the 4 bedrooms. The 4th is being used to store their stuff. The master bedroom is big enough for a crib for Oakley. I guess I will have to start wearing earplugs again. Every little move a baby makes wakes me up when they are in the same room. I only keep the baby in the same room for a few nights. I think Nathaniel didn't fit in our room at all so he slept in the dining room right outside our door. This house would be the best financially since we aren't really sure what our income will be for awhile. It will be a great time of discipline for me. Tightening up our stuff and staying organized with 5 kids in our house. It has a small kitchen, eat-in space that we would use for school, a dining room and family room. We are waiting to hear from the family. We were sad to hear they were considering someone else as well.

The other option is much closer to UCF and much larger but almost twice the rent but still a great ministry rate for the size and area it is located in. It has 4 bedrooms which would allow for Oakley to be across the hall from us and the girls and the boys to each have shared rooms. It has an amazing kitchen with all stainless appliances and island open to the family room with an eat-in area. Then a formal dining room and living room that would probably be used for John's office.

Both of these homes should be available sometime the first week We'll see what God has. Could be something totally different.

Quick snippets

Praise the Lord!!! John's back home after having been out of town 3 out of the last 4 weeks. Out 2, home 1 and then out 1. Approximately 70 kids (that we know about) in New Mexico decided to trust their hearts to Jesus for the first time at the camps this past month. Praise God!

We are having a girl...most of you probably know this from facebook. Oakley Hope Evans. Cheney turned 4 on June 3rd. Layton turns 8 on July 3rd. John is voting we induce Oakley on October 3rd. I am not fond of induction maybe God will bring her naturally then. The boys both have birthdays on the 13ths. Weird, I know.

The kids and I all had a case of the summer flu this past week..all except Cheney. Somehow she has missed it so far. Hopefully it is skipping her. John asked the kids today what we did all week while he was gone. Their answer, "watch movies, eat and sleep." Seriously...that is what our week entailed. Sad, I know but we were all just sooo tired. Praise God, we have moved through the fever stage and are left coughing and hacking up stuff now.

Prayer concern---only that God would take care of all the details about our house....His will not ours!!!! A snag in the buyer's lender situation so we are still waiting to here if our close is a definite go. That means we haven't rented anything up in East Orlando yet. Only 19 days until close if it is going to happen. I haven't packed a box yet. But this next week I am at least going to starting going through and getting rid of junk we don't need. I suppose like I did in February and got rid of all the baby stuff at our yard sale 3 days before I found out I was pregnant. LOL! God provides. God is in control of all this. I am not going to stress.

PTL...Oakley is doing extremely well. Everything looks healthy for her. I am dealing with the normal aches and pains of a 5th pregnancy at age 37. A few minor issues with me...Going to have my gal bladder checked Tuesday because of some pain there. I also have a recurring urinary tract infection. Going to finish out my pregnancy on an antibiotic. Nothing serious really. The kids are enjoying rubbing the baby belly and talking to Oakley. I wonder how Nathaniel is processing it all at 18 monhts. We point to my belly and he says "belly" and "baby." He is probably thinking that mom of mine is crazy...that is not a baby. Who is she kidding, I know what a baby is?

Well Cheney just came down stairs to go potty. Guess I am not the only one who couldn't sleep at 2 a.m. in our house tonight.
Well...I spoke too soon. Cheney has her fever now. 101.8. So another 3 days of fever if it goes like the other kids. She is sooo sweet with her cool cloth on her head going back to sleep on the couch. All my kids have really done so well with this week. I am praising God I skipped the fever with this one since I am pregnant.

Quick update

Well, dropped John off last Saturday (in May) at the airport and we are now over halfway through with his trip. He is in New Mexico doing two weeks of camp. I am very thankful that we now have fewer days to go than we have covered.

I have been pretty weepy, those stinking pregnancy hormones. I have had to go back to shots twice a week along with taking progesterone daily. It's not that big of a deal, really. I don't really mind shots. But it is a bit tedious going in to get them twice a week with all four ducks in a row. Everyone in the office knows us. We are there so often. The next two weeks we will be there 3 times each week. This week because of Cheney's 4 year well check. She turned four last Wednesday. And the week after that will include a sonogram. Hopefully to determine whether we can start calling the baby, Oakley Joy or Isaac Justice.

Not much going on around here besides eating, sleeping and playing. We clean when we can't stand it anymore,ha,ha! The kids are such a big help though. It is such a blessing!

I got to talk to John on the phone a couple times each day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday when he got a chance to get into town. There isn't any cell service out there at camp. We did figure out we could chat via facebook if we planned it. John hasn't set up Skype on his computer yet. I should have thought about fixing it for him before he left but just didn't. There is only wi-fi in the cafeteria. It would be kind of funny to be video chatting with him and 300 of his closest friends. LOL!

I haven't stopped to upload some of the pictures from Cheney's birthday. We went to the BK lounge for lunch and play in their indoor playground and then the kids dressed up to go see the movie UP. Layton went as an old fashioned nurse with red striped dress and white hat with red cross on it. Elijah went as a pirate and Cheny wore her Cinderella dress with birthday candle laiden head band we got at dollar tree. I just went as a pregnant lady. Not much of stretch, huh?
It's fun when you have multiple siblings you have a party without even inviting anyone. Though we are going to plan some kind of gathering at the lakefront (I think the week John is home) Cheney wants to have cupcakes with some friends and play at the splash pad.