A House of Order?

A house of order?  What's that?
Since having our 5th child our house has been anything but a house of order. I have felt so overwhelmed and swamped with just the simple daily tasks. I have so many things on my "to do" list and they never get done because I never have time to get to it.  I am doing the basics all the time...meals, cleanup, feedings, changings, meals, cleanup. Take. Pickup. dinner. cleanup.  Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I love being a mom. I love babies. I love kids. I felt inspired to have a fifth child. But why would the Lord inspire me unless he felt I could do this without losing my mind. I also want to magnify my calling at church. I want my husband to magnify his. But I also want that house of order. I want to open drawers and find what I need and be able to shut the drawer again. I want to open the pantry and know whats in there without having to look over opened packages that were just shoved in to get them out of the way. I want to look around and not see piles and piles of things I need to get to but never have the time. I want to decorate and update. I want some time to myself....to blow dry my hair after a shower and curl it and put on some makeup and some jewelry. I want to have time to help my kids with their homework. I want to have time to teach my kids how to work.  I don't want to be grumpy and always feel like I am leaving things undone.  I don't want to be a space case and forgetful and unorganized. And there is so much more I want...and need. Do I want to much? Am I supposed to just do the basics and look frumpy and be tired all the time? It didn't sound right to me.
As I was picking up the carpool from scouts, driving them to baseball and feeding Ruby a bottle while I drove (in her car seat, just with my arm wrenched behind me) I had a thought. " Natalee, it is okay to get some help. You need some help." My thoughts said. "A mothers helper." A smile came across my face. That is my solution!  Help! Duh!  I thought of Abigail Adams and how she was an extremely hard worker and kept the farm up and running while John was gone so much.  But she did it with help.  She had servants!  It didn't mean she didn't work or was lazy.  It means she took care of what needed to be taken care of and got the help she needed. 
The next step was figuring out how to afford it. Things are tight as they are with five. But not that tight. We have iPhones and Internet and TV. We go on trips and dates. We have some nice things. Surely we can afford a mothers helper. Steve and I had some discussions (to say the least) and we reworked our priorities so I can have a mothers helper two times a week for two hours. Bliss.
I asked two of my babysitters if they were interested and they said yes and in fact they were so excited they said they would do it for free. So cute, but of course I am paying them.
Day one. My helper came after school. She knocked on the door and Abram ran to get it. I'm sitting on the couch nursing Ruby as Sadie is asking me homework questions, Everett is jumping next to me, and Hudson is asking me something about a friend coming over and the house is the usual explosion with backpacks, shoes, dishes, etc, etc.  "Just in time." I told her.  I asked if she could help Sadie with her homework. Sadie was excited (because she loves this babysitter) and went of with her while I took care of the other kids' needs. The rest of the afternoon she cleaned the kitchen, played with the kids while I caught up on laundry. Today when she came I had her clean and organize the fridge and pantry. I cleaned the car, worked with the kids on their chores and continued the laundry catch up.  Wow.  Why did I not think of this earlier?  Or maybe I had but brushed it off because I felt I could do it all myself, or it wasn't important to have an organized home?  I don't know.  All I do know is  I have been so happy these last two days! I'm usually a pretty happy person, but I haven't felt this happy in a while. I felt like I was finally taking care of myself and I have a vision of my house of order. As I was working on things I realized I could have used this a long time ago but felt too much guilt. Thinking I should do more or have my kids do more. But I honestly feel that my kids do a decent amount for their ages. Hudson does his own laundry, they pack their own lunches, they pickup every night, they do Saturday chores.  If I had them do anymore they wouldn't have any free time or time for extra activities.  Plus today I was able to work with them on their chores.  Teach them.  Where before they would go get it done (and do a not so great job) and I would say, "good enough".  I feel good about this.  I am excited.

 

One Step at a Time

Hudson said to me today, "Mom, let's teach Ruby how to walk."  I reminded Hudson that Ruby is only three months old.  He said that doesn't matter and we should try having her walk.  "Let's just see if she can do it."  He said.  I then went through the steps of infant development and milestones...Hudson first they learn to roll over, then sit up, then crawl, etc etc.  He then understood that no matter how much we practiced "walking" over the next few weeks Ruby would not get the hang of it until she learns the first developmental milestones. 
How applicable this is to life.  Of course!  There is always some sort of analogy.  But if we think of any subject or topic we can't just skip to the hard part or the ending without starting from the basics.  Even with the gospel.  The Lord has to teach us line upon line...very little at a time. 

Going Minimal

Going Minimal

I am such a total blog loser now.  I barely know how to publish a post everything looks so different.  But here I am.  I wanted to get on and document my foot injury (I know, sounds really exciting) because tomorrow I am going in to talk to a team at Nike and they want to hear my story.  So I wanted to get it out on "paper" to make sure I don't miss any major pieces to the story.   So here goes...

A Little History

I have always been involved in sports.  From the time I was very young I have been in soccer, softball, basketball, track, and most of these I played throughout highschool.  I had typical sports injuries growing up, but nothing out of the ordinary.  I continued playing sports for fun in college and started to pick up running as a sport.  After I had my first baby I started running more consistantly.  It was a great way to keep in shape without a lot of preperation or coordinating.  And I have run ever since then, usually 3-4 times per week.  I have run through all 4 of my pregnancies until about my sixth month and then I usually walk until delivery.  And then I gradually pick back up that year after having the baby.  I have grown to love running.  I love the energy it gives me, the health, and the great running friends I have had throughout the years.  I am always trying to convert people to running so I can get to know them because you have about an hour to converse!

The Pain Begins...

In October of 2011 I ran my first half-marathon.  It was a  challenge.  Lots of training, lots of long runs, and the race itself was very hilly.  My time was 2:05.  I felt really good about the whole experience.  I continued running after the half and was highly considering doing a marathon or another half.  But about 2-3weeks after the half I started feeling a dull pain in the ball of my foot.  I ignored it for a few weeks because the pain seemed to come and go.

A few weeks passed and I decided to be on the safe side and go and have it checked out by my primary care doc.  He diagnosed me with Morton's neuroma and said he has the same thing.  He sent me in for X-rays and said, I am positive nothing is going to turn up (to rule out stress fracture) because he was confident it was a neuroma.  He explained that it was a thickening of a nerve in one of my toes that led to pain and discomfort, but that I could still run.  That was all I needed to hear.  I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing any further damage.

So I continued with my running group and in December signed up with my friends for the Hippie Chick half that would be in May.

Pain Worsens

December, Jan, Feb, March.  Normal runs and begin our training for Hippie Chick.  Foot is bothering me more and more.  We finish a simple six mile run and I limped into my house and my foot swelled up and I couldnt walk normal the rest of the weekend.

I was depressed.  I laid on the couch and said, "it's over."  Steve rolled his eyes and said, C'mon its not over.  I just didn't see how I was going to heal.

The First Podiatrist

Back to my primary care doc who referred me to a podiatrist.  I got in that week.  He did more x-rays, looked at my foot in rest and in standing and said, "you have a plantar plate injury".  Ok, what's that?  "It's an overstretched ligament in your foot and it is making your toe go out of alignment." . He said these ligaments do not repair themselves...I said...what????  So it's over?  I'm done?  He said I might be able to run if we tape the toe into alignment, give you orthotics, and new shoes (after he saw my shoes, which he said are great shoes, just need a new pair-ascics kayanos).  So I was hoping for the best and trying not to be depressed (and that rhymes).  Even though I wore the tape for about 2 hours  and it made my foot pretty sore, I should be able to run 7 miles, right?  Wrong.  I woke up that morning to go for a run with the girls and I didn't even know if I was going to be able to make it down the street.  I went for a bike ride instead and thought, I have got to come up with something on my own here.  So I called my brother who had had a stress fracture from running and in the last year had converted to Vibrams and done a lot of research on the topic.  I used to think he was just being funny with his Vibrams but after talking to him I was ready to make the change.  We made a treatment plan for me.  I would put myself in a boot for a couple of weeks to let the foot heal and then I would slowly convert over to Vibrams.

My Own Treatment Plan

A couple days of wearing the boot and I was not sure I was going to make it the two weeks.  A friend who had similar foot problems was telling me about a doctor she had come across online about a year earlier and always wanted to try.  She sent me the link and I looked at his website.  Once I saw he favored minimal footwear and read his philosophies I was sold.  I booked an appointment that night...even though the earliest appointment I could get was end of April, and we were in the beginning of March.  A couple days later I recieved a phone call and got in on a cancellation appointment.

Dr. Ray McClanahan

Dr. McClanahan informed me that my foot problem was from the shoes I wear.  He put my running shoe on a table beside him and explained how the heal of the shoe is high, the plantar plate exposed, and the toes elevated.  The fat pad that protects the bottom of my foot has now shifted distally and is not protecting my metatarsal heads anymore which is causing the pain.  He said he did not feel I had a tear yet and diagnosed me with capsilitis.  He showed me the tendons in my feet and how the pull my toes up and they should be down.  He explained how we are all born with the perfect feet and if you look at a pair of baby shoes they are widest in the toes.  Then as we hit walking shoes the toes taper in, the heel elevates, arch support (which when you put support under an arch in nature it breaks) and the toes spring in shoes which causes all kinds of foot ailments.  He said that in other countries that go barefoot or wear sandals do not have the foot problems that Americans do and that is because of what we are putting on our feet.

The Treatment

The treatment was to get my foot as much as possible back to normal alignment.  We needed to get my toes spaced out, my fat pad migrated back to protect the metatarsal heads.  He gave me toe spacers-which were to be increased incrementally, metatarsal pads, and wear shoes that are flat and flexible to have my foot do what it was created to do. 

This could not be done in an instant.  I could not go run 7 miles and expect results.  It was kind of like the couch to 5K.  I had to start slow.  If I did not I could risk big injury because my Achilles had shortened, my feet were weak, misshaped from years of terrible shoes.

Going Minimal

I was nervous, but I was excited.  Nervous because I had worn stability running shoes for 10+ years and I wasn't sure how to change my mindset.  I had researched the "best" running shoes yearly and always going with the top recomendations from runners world.  I had watched videos, run on treadmills at running stores, all these people told me the same type of shoes.  Were they wrong all this time???  But I was excited.  Excited because it made sense and I could avoid surgery and taping and orthotics.

That's It

So I converted over.  It was slow.  Sometimes painful in the achilles.  But I listened to my body, I transferred slowly and I now run my regular running routine in NB minimus, oh and I am 4 months pregnant.  My knee pain is gone too.

I have made over a dozen referrals to Dr Ray and 3 of my friends now see him. 

I was so thrilled to be running with my girls again that I took a pic...

That's it.

Portland Timbers We Adore You...

About a year and a half ago, our good friends the Blattners introduced us to the world of the Portland Timbers. At the time, the Timbers were only a USL team, just below MLS, but the Blattners were hooked and had to share. Below is Natalee and Laura at our first Timbers game, a match between the Timbers and 30+ year rivals, the Seattle Sounders. PGE Park (now Jeld-Wen Field) was rocking that night...our ears were ringing with PTFC chants and various other lyrics, some not so tasty, but it was fun, even though we lost in a PK shutout.

Since, I have attended numerous Timbers matches and have this guy below to thank for it. He's gotten me so hooked I even suggested buying $70 tickets and driving all the way to Seattle for the first ever MLS matchup between PTFC and the Sounders.

Timbers fans are crazy. The Timbers Army spans multiple sections behind the north goal. They sing, chant, wave flags, dance, and set off smoke bombs the entire game. Every fan leaves the game with various chant running through the brain, such as "Portland Timbers, we adore you, Portland Timber to you I SING" followed by dancing and people singing the Tetris song. The picture below is post game after the Timbers beat their rivals Vancouver (BC) Whitecaps.

Jeld-wen field is awesome. It's been around since the 1940s and holds a lot of noise. It's a bowl in the middle of downtown Portland. It's had 13 consecutive sell outs and has become one of the "things to do" since becoming an MLS team this year.

Hudson had been BEGGING us to take him to a game. When we had the chance, by winning 3 tickets through Intel, we took him this last Saturday. He loved it and learned a little about Soccer. I had a good opportunity for 1:1 coaching. After the game, I asked him what he had learned from the game..."I learned that you need to spread out." Music to a Under-8 (yrs old) coach's ears.

Operation Swamp and Jungle Removal

Natalee and I moved here over 2 years ago, our little house was an overgrown jungle and swamp. The front of our house looked like this:

Our backyard looked like this. Trees, scrubs, moss, rose bushes, and more trees covered every inch of the back and front yards. The backyard was unusable 10 months of the year due to the 3 inches of mud that you'd sink into while using it/or mowing it, for that matter.So projects began a few months after we purchased the home in March 2010. Slowly Operation swamp and jungle removal began. We first started easy, ripping out scrubs, cutting down multiple trees, adding a planter/garden wall in front, and leveling out the front yard a little.
Then began the work in the back yard. You can't see it too while, but part of the 5 truck loads of debris/yard waste we carried out of the front and backyards is piled by the side of our shed.This summer, I had a vision: A way to use the backyard all year, not just during the warm/dry summer months of Oregon, which lasts a whopping 2, maybe 3 months (that's not a knock on Oregon. We love it here, but trying to be real with my facts here...it rains a lot). So the dream began with a large rented rototill from Home Depot.
Inspired by my neighbor Ezra, I ventured into the world of French drains, dug 5 trenches, bought a lot of round river rock, perferated tubing, and landscape clothe and laid a network of trenchs across my yard.Then began the fun part of hauling multiple piles of soil mixtures to the backyard, one shovel, one wheelbarrow at a time. When it was all said and done, 25 yards of dirt, 5 yards of round river rock, 5 yards of dark hemlock bark chips, and 5 yards of cedar play chips landed in the front driveway and with the help of many kind souls/friends/neighbors, we transported it all to the back yard.I forgot to mention my co-worker and hometeacher also pitched in by helping me unload 175+ 26 lbs blocks for the retaining wall that was constructed to help level out the yard.This is a phot of the wall and garden (top left that is now filled with soil. The wall still needs a few blocks, but it's solid and we hope it will last for years to come.The hemlock helped level the paths from front to back yards. The kids and Natalee helped pull up these stones so we could lay many feet of landscape fabric to keep the weeds out of our way. The stones were returned to their proper location and look very nice. We still have a couple of spots that need landscaping TLC, but they aren't visibile from our back window, so I'm unconcerned at this point...someday people!More path photos. To the right of the border is where the grass was planted. See below.

The play structure (To be purchased/constructed) will go on the right, bench swing on the left in the darker wood chip area.Finally, you can see the garden filled, and the green grass growing! The backyard was a month long effort and we owe a lot of thanks to several people who pitched in a few hours here and there to keep me (Steve) sane. We'll post a picture once the plants are in and the grass is covering the dirt completely. At the end of the day, we're very excited to use our new back yard. It should provide sanity for Natalee when the kids are killing her inside, so can send them out to run around and have fun.

Beach, Bocce, Boys (and a Girl), and Bedlum

Adam, Kasey, and their boys came to Oregon this last week for a whale of a time. They rolled into Portland Saturday night and we moved temporally to a beach house in Lincoln City for the rest of the week (A&K left on Thursday morning). The above photo was one of our adventures, taken at Drift Creek Bridge near Lincoln City. This suspension bridge hangs 100 feet above a gorge with a cascading waterfall just to the west of the bridge. Beautiful! The only downer of the event was that Natalee was absent due to food poisioning contracted the night before from Albacore Tuna at Mo's (a local Oregon Coast restaurant).

With 9 kids in the beach house, including one child (Matthew) yelling "Moooooom" half the time, things were crazy. Full on lazer tag fights ensued between Oregon and Idaho families spontaneously throughout the week and pillow fights occurred frequently in the older boys man cave in the basement.

Despite the rainy weather, we packed in several activities.

The beach (as seen from the huge deck at our beach house on the day we left - sunny!):

Despite the 100+ steps, including a 6 foot ladder at the bottom, we frequented the beach to play Bocce Ball, fly kits, and eat sand (ok, only Abram did that!):

Trip to the Newport Aquarium (Hudson & Blake):

Playing in the waves:

Searching for sealife in Tide Pools:

Visiting the Yaquina Head Light House:

The kids/cousins clearly enjoyed each other. I love this candid shot:

Our kids enjoyed each other too!

Since Adam and Kasey had to leave a day before us, we snuk down our friends the Blattners for the last night. We enjoyed Bonepile BBQ in Depoe Bay, Bocce ball and kite flying at Gleneden beach, and dodged a few very large waves. Thanks for coming Blattners!

Overall, the trip was well worth the money and time spent planning. It was great to create memories as a family and enjoy having my brother and his awesome family with us too!

This photo is blurry because it was raining hard...lense was a little wet.

Calvin and Hobbes

Hudson has a new best friend. This has saved me. He now has something that he can do on his own that doesn't involve a screen. He just finished his first in two days. 127 pages. Thank you Calvin.