50 in P-Town: Precious, Chaotic, Noisy, Happy!

The last five months are characterized by the words precious, busy, chaotic, noisy, and happy.

On July 30, our daughter's family moved in with us. Their house had sold pretty quickly and they were building a house that was on schedule for this month (December). So they moved in to our two little bedrooms and shared a tiny bathroom. All 5 of them...Erin, Brad, and three kids 5 and under. I was happy that my nine-months-pregnant daughter was in my house where I could watch over her. I always dreaded those last few weeks, sleeping with my cell phone, waiting to be called to rush out to the hospital!

Baby Natalie was due on September 3. On September 4, Erin had an OB appointment and then ran errands. I came home from work to her sitting at the kitchen table timing contractions and water leaking. With 3 little ones running around and trying to get them in bed, time passed quickly as we decided what to do. Got the babies in bed and at 11pm, I drove E & B to the hospital. BUT not before Micah the 21 month old decided to get sick in his crib and throw up everywhere. We were standing at the door with bags in hand when he did that. Stop everything! HA! We went back up, cleaned him up and changed the sheets, put him back down and left all peaceful with my husband and on to the hospital.

No problems with admittance to the hospital and we settled in the room as Erin prepared to have her fourth baby! She is really my HERO. I've said it 3 times before and I speak truth. That girl has a high pain tolerance and knows exactly how to handle it. The night was quiet as she slept and I was up and down checking the monitors and walking the halls. I didn't want to go too far away.

Finally at 6am (after several little scares with baby's heartbeat and Erin having to change positions) she felt ready. The midwife checked and things moved fast. That sweet baby was born at 6:19am. 8lbs. 6oz. We had one scare. When the midwife was wrestling the baby out, she found that the cord was very short, unusually so. A nurse called out to 'Call NICU'. Brad and I looked at each other. But within a few seconds Natalie cried loudly and the nurse said 'never mind'! Whew! Those were some quick desperate prayers during those few seconds.

The next day, Natalie came home to my house. And up until now she has been there where I could rock her every night and play with her and hold her. I do miss that. The other three would come running and give us hugs when John and I came home from work. Little Micah would snuggle up next to me every night and play games on the iPad. We got 'good night' hugs every night. Maddie started kindergarten, lost her first tooth at our house and, most importantly, accepted Jesus into her heart up in Erin's old bedroom. Landon celebrated his 4th birthday and Micah, his 2nd. I had lots of companionship in the evenings as E & B made me watch Batman movies, TV series like Resurrection and Last Man Standing and Shark Tank. We did Halloween and Thanksgiving together and lots of rides to church together. All in all, a good experience that I won't forget. I'm thankful to God for our close family and the fact we got along very well during that 5 months!

We've just celebrated their first Christmas in their new home. It's beautiful and the setting is even more so. Congratulations to them! 2015 is next week and we are looking forward to many hours there on the mountainside! We also anticipate a visit by Stephen and Rachel next month and Siesta Key time in July and our niece's wedding sometime in 2015. The Lord continues to bless and I am humbled and so grateful for that.

Photos I love: