Miracles and Masterpieces

Happy Memorial Day! Well, actually, it's the day after, but I think I'm still within time boundaries to wish it appropriately. Boy, was this one crazy weekend. The craziness began on Friday as Corey and I took the twins to their 2 month well baby check in the afternoon. They had their checkup (Rayla is 10lbs1oz and Mac is 10lbs13oz), chatted with with doc for a while about "baby stuff" and ended the appointment with the dreaded trio of shots....ugh. I have never heard my babies scream like that and for the first time in all history of shot appointments, I cried. After the appointment we needed to do some shopping for a barbecue we had planned for Saturday. My grandma, her husband and my great grandma were visiting us, so we thought a nice lunch would be a fun thing. We found that some friends of my grandma's were in town, so we told my grandma to invite them for the lunch as well. Saturday we'd have some cooking to do!

After the girls' appointment, and the shopping was done, I rushed home to relieve grandma of her childcare duties with Kate and Cooper. I then had to rush to get ready, as I had planned to go out with some girlfriends that night. It seemed like a mad dash from 2pm on, but as I sat in my comfy chair on the riverside restaurant balcony of the Hood River Inn, the stress of the day began to melt away. The weather was warm, the water beautiful, the company great and the food fantastic.....It made for a memorable, relaxing Friday night. I needed that for the craziness set to ensue to following days.......

Saturday arrived and we all bounded out of bed, showered, ran errands and cleaned. We were ready early, and excited to see all who were coming, especially great grandma Alberta. Last year Alberta had some heart difficulty and landed in the hospital. The end result of that visit was the placement of a pacemaker and some time in a rehab center. She has been in and out of the hospital for ailments ranging from chest pain to foot pain. Just a few weeks ago she was rushed to the hospital for chest pain and shortness of breath. It was found that she had a tear in an artery coming out of her heart and though there was no cure for it, a way to minimize damage was to lower her blood pressure and allow the area to clot so that blood could flow freely. My grandma kept us updated throughout the visit, but we were all beginning to prepare for the worst. The woman is in her 90's, has had so many health trials in the recent past, and was talking like she was ready to go. But, here she was, vibrant and happy, sitting in my living room and holding my baby twins. Grandma has the deepest faith I know and follows God in every aspect of her life. So, was this complete turn around from death's bed the hand of God, or the gift of a pure miracle?

Our uncle Chris was rushed to Portland a couple of weeks ago with what doctors thought was a Thoracic Aneurysm. That is what my grandma suffered. Once he arrived in Portland at Emanuel Hospital it was found that he did not suffer from a Thoracic aneurysm, but an aortic aneurysm, which is significantly worse. He has had heart issues in the past, so I'm told, but this was a new injury. After he was checked out and diagnosed, the doctors felt it best to induce a coma in him to allow time for the tear to heal. No visitors, except his wife and son, were allowed. Two weeks had passed and the doctors had attempted to bring him out of the coma to see how he would do, but all attempts failed.......Until yesterday. Yesterday morning he was brought out of the coma and by afternoon was sitting up in bed eating telling his son that he'd "See Kenny out on the golf course on Thursday." Once again, God, or a miracle?

Also, two weeks ago a family friend was in a tragic farming accident that resulted in the loss of both legs. He had his cell phone with him, which usually isn't the case, and was able to call for help himself. During his whole ordeal he was awake and cooperative. Today he is going through rehab and preparing for life with prosthetics. According to his daughter, who blogs on his progress, he is doing so with an open mind and an encouraged heart. In all reality, this man should have died in this accident. But here I am asking again....Is this God, or something else?

And last there's me. I have a deep respect for powers of the unknown and have witnessed firsthand the gifts and miracles that they bring. One time, for instance, I was looking for a house like the one we planned to purchase back in 2004 that was set so that I could see the final result - I had no address, didn't know the color of the house, but wanted to see it. I headed out into unknown territory, and found myself driving down roads I had never been on, but felt like I had. After a few "gut informing" turns, I pulled up to the house. I was amazed. I drove directly to the house with just instincts.....or was it?

Another incident still blows my mind. I was at the 4 way intersection at the bottom of highway 35, in front of Grace Su's, turning left toward the port from town. There was quite a bit of traffic coming from the south, several cars behind me and two in front of me. The first car in front of me turned left, and the second car went straight. When it was my turn, I didn't go.....I COULDN'T go. My body wasn't physically able to push the gas and go. The driver on my right was waving at me frantically to go, and the man behind me honked angrily. I looked at the driver on my right and just shook my head with a fearful look on my face. I did the same in the rear view mirror to the driver behind me........And as they waved and honked at me, a semi truck came around the corner in front of the lumber store and blew right through his stop sign. Had I gone, I would have been hit directly on the drivers side, and seeing how fast he was going, I probably wouldn't have been alive today to tell this crazy story. It, of course, happened much faster than I explain it, but I wanted to convey every part of what happened. This, believe it or not, is not the only time I have experienced this. So, for the final time this blog, is it God, or a power beyond what we can understand? Did I control my actions and take myself directly to that house, and did I control myself, unknowingly, and not drive in the path of that truck? I guess it all depends on the depths of our faith what we want to believe.

I have come to the conclusion that there are two possibilities: We are either touched by God and our life becomes one of his masterpieces. Or, we are touched by the gift of miracles, which may be unexplained, unbelievable, and at times unreal. I choose not to share my belief, because that's part of my quirky, enigmatic self. But, I think we should all ask ourselves: Are we miracles, or masterpieces?

Change is GOOD!

Welcome to the new and improved blogsite for the daily sitcom we call our lives. I thought it was a little silly to keep blogging under "yasuitwinsontheway" since the chickadees are already here. In a way this new blog is my way of creating a new way to share stories and life happenings. The past couple of days I have felt inspired, creative and even attentive to my surroundings in an artistic way. For the first time in who knows how long I stared at our walls imagining colors that would compliment our living room, dining room and kitchen. I am the least motivated person when it comes to home improvements, so that's a big thing for me. Red seems to be out, or so says the home decorators on HGTV. Green could work, but it would have to be a sagey green. Blue? Nope. Orange.....our playroom is orange and it's fantastic. But the living room? Hmm. Purple. Now that's a good color. Actually, plum or a dark lavender - With green! I may have just blogged myself a redecorated house! Poor Corey.

Our babies just turned 2 months old yesterday - Hard to believe that it's been 2 months. Time just flies so fast. They go in tomorrow for their 2 month well baby check and I am so excited for the doctor to see how much progress they've made since mid April, when he saw them last. We have worked so hard to make sure the girls grow appropriately and we have finally been able to whip out a large amount of clothes (besides the tiny one piece jammies they wore) and dress them up. We've had out dresses, pants sets, short sets and little rompers. Oh how cute they are. And thanks to all the wonderful people who gifted all these beautiful clothes our girls will be well dressed for months to come. I'm also happy to report that as of today, we still have not had to purchase one package of diapers. That diaper gift drawing at the shower was by far one of the best gift ideas that could have been given to us. We still have 7 or 8 packages of diapers to use and are so thankful for that blessing. A new expense that we never had in past infant times was formula. I breastfed (bottlefed with breastmilk too) both Katie and Cooper for several months. Cooper refused to take a bottle for months, and did so only if he was starving while being cared for by someone else. Having two babies to breastfeed exclusively,though, was not something I could conquer. I pump milk for them, and occasionally we have that bonding nursing time, but these are definitely bottle babies. I'm OK with that, as we are ALL happy with the arrangement, and they are still getting breastmilk.

Today, I ventured to town with Cooper, Mackenzie and Rayla in tow......Alone! I was a little scared that I was making the biggest mistake of my life by doing it alone, and not having another set of hands to help me out. But, thank God, these little angels were just that.....perfect angels! All three of them behaved perfectly, and at one point I even had Cooper just walk by my side while the girls were in the stroller. My double stroller is my savior. I have used it almost every time I have been somewhere with the girls and today during one stop even Cooper got to use it. Cooper was in the front seat, Rayla in the second seat and Mackenzie was in a carrier on my chest. It felt somewhat normal to me, but apparently it was quite an attraction for most everyone else. People stopped, stared, and I even saw a couple people shake their heads. Though I'm not sure whether they were shaking their heads at how ridiculous they thought I looked or whether it was a gesture of a compliment, I am sure that I am proud of myself for doing it alone. I didn't know if I could, and I did it. And it was much easier than I thought it would be. Hopefully, that trend continues.

With just 2 1/2 weeks left until school is out Katie is finishing up state tests, reading assignments and art projects she has at school. I went to her middle school orientation last week - Eek! My little big girl is headed to jr. high. I remember my 6th grade year and it was something. Corey has stories about his year too that just scare the hell out of me as far as what Katie will experience herself. I went to my first dance, had my first "boyfriend" and even got my first kiss, all in the 6th grade. Something tells me that those things aren't as innocent anymore as they used to be, though I hope they are!

So as I type away on this blog with new beginnings in mind, the new beginnings aren't just for me. It's a new school for Katie. It's a new year for Cooper. A new clothes size for the girls. A new harvest season approaching for Corey and a new outlook on life for me. Tomorrow night I will be going out with some girlfriends for a much needed girls night out with dinner and maybe a drink or two. I'm going to do it more often than once every 7 or 8 months, and maybe I'll even get motivated to do some other "new" things. I am currently looking into a couple things that might just improve me in ways I'd only hoped for. I'll report on the progress of that later.

It's refreshing to have such great kids, such a great husband, and such an easy life. I love all I have and hope that everyone finds happiness in the ways I have......It's something that all the money in the world couldn't buy. And if you had to buy it, it's about as worthless as a penny in a laundromat!