Siblings, Best Friends, and Worst Enemies!

    My earliest memories are with my siblings. Some good some bad, and looking back now some just funny.
    When my sister and I were young we had a twin talk that nobody could understand. It was frustrating for my mom. She has told me a story about being at Fred Meyers and Sharon was flipping out about something. She had no idea what she was saying. I understood her and tried to tell my mom something. She was still clueless. My brother looked at Sharon, Sharon then told me something, I then looked at my brother and told him something. He looked at my mom and went over to the next isle and picked up my sister's bottle.
     As we got older we went by the rule "Its ok for me to mess with my siblings but nobody else can!  When Sharon and I were about five a little boy at the park called me fat. She promptly pushed him down and punched him in the nose leaving him bloody and understanding you don't mess with her sissy. About the same year Sharon and I were playing at home. We had learned to write our names. She got out permanent markers and asked me to write our names on the wall. I said no and went to tell on her. When I came back she wrote my name on the wall instead of hers. Guess who got into trouble?  I also have a scar on my middle finger from my sister accidentally cutting it nearly off the day before kindergarten started. Subsequently my brother also taught me out to flip people off with that very large bandaged finger.
    When I was in 6th grade a decided I wanted to start wearing makeup. I came out of my grandmother's bathroom with far too much makeup on. My brother looked at me and said "Let me help you" He then proceeded to tell me "with makeup, less is best, you don't want to look like you are wearing makeup." My brother was also called upon to get feminine hygiene products the first time they were needed for his little sisters. I am not sure I know many 16 year olds that would be willing to do that.
  We also had our fair share of fights. One day my sister and I were fighting so much my brother stopped us. He then gave each of us a bamboo stick, and told us to fight until one of us died. We looked at him in horror. He then said if you won't than quit fighting. We stopped for the at least a day or two! I had many bruises and bites from both my brother and sister. But when we have really needed each other we have always been there for one another.
  In college when I decided to get help for my eating disorder my sister was the first one to visit me in the hospital. We were there during the birth of each of our children. She was 9 months pregnant when Avery was born but she was there. Two weeks later I had just given birth to Avery, but I was there during her very long labor. Last summer when my sister's husband suddenly passed away I was the one of the first people she called. So many nights I had no idea what to say, I sat and held her and was there.
    When I got married my big brother gave me away at my wedding. He is the first one I call when I am struggling with things. He always seems to know what to say. When Ella was just two weeks old she got very sick and was in the Intensive Care. He was the first one I called, and he jumped on a plane to be with me. After losing my child I called him first. I still remember driving down 494 talking to him on the phone. After the death of Sharon's husband my brother did not hesitate to fly out to Minnesota from Oregon to be with us.
    I honestly don't know what I would do without my siblings. There are days when I want to rip my hair out because I am so annoyed. I know that there is nobody that can replace the love of a sibling and I thank God every day for my siblings!

Painful Questions in Life.

     "Do you want to have more kids?" This is an innocent question that is asked to mothers all the time. I fear this question most when the topic of children and babies come into conversations. The answer is I want nothing more than to have more children. I have always dreamed of having four kids. The answer is no I will not conceive anymore children. That choice was taken from me.
      On a dreary March day, I went to urgent care because I was spotting.  I was 18 weeks along with a boy. I thought I would go and they would tell me that it was nothing. Kelly and I waited in the room. The doctor went to check for a heartbeat and couldn't find it. He told us not to worry most likely baby was being stubborn and hiding but we would do an ultrasound to be sure. I waited in the dark room, looking at the screen to see his little heartbeat and nothing...Just like that he was gone. The next day I had surgery. The next few months were a blur. We named him Christian and had a service for him. The doctors told us that we could try again in a few months. I did not want to. I wanted Christian. Then in August of 2007 we found out we were pregnant again. We were not trying to conceive again but we felt blessed that we were able to. The next 20 weeks were so hard because I was fearful of losing this one as well. We found out we were having a boy at 18 weeks. We decided to name him Liam Christian. I felt like I could breath we had made it 20 weeks. Then a week later, I was at a normal appointment and the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat. I froze. I began to cry. She said it may be he is being stubborn we will do an ultra sound to be sure. I calmed down and went into the room. When the OB followed us in I knew it was not just the baby being stubborn. We had lost Liam. I was not able to deliver him. Because of a rare blood disorder I have the doctor felt it would be safer for me to have him removed.  When they removed him they perforated my uterus.
     For the next three months I had this terrible pain. They kept telling me that there was nothing wrong it was all in my head I was just depressed about the losses. Then one day I spiked a fever of 105 and they knew it was not just in my head. They did an emergency hysterectomy. They found that when they had perforated my uterus it had gotten infected. The pain I was feeling the past three months was my uterus going necrotic. The only way for them to be sure the infection did not spread was to take my uterus. I woke up from the surgery angry. Why had God done this to me? Why had he allowed me to lose my babies and then take my ability to have any more children away from me?
    I know that those questions will not be answered until I see him face to face. I also don't know what God has in store for me. I know that my desire is to have more children.  Kelly and I are confident that God will use this tragedy in our life to bring hope and healing possibly to children who don't have anybody else. One thing I know with all my heart is We, serve a BIG God one who has plans for me that he has not shared with me just yet. Possibly because if he did my human nature would be to put limitation on his plans.  So I will wait patiently on him to reveal His plans to me, in His timing.

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found in you." declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity."

Jeremiah 29:11-14

A Modern Day Romance...Sorta.

 

  Growing up I was not one of those little girls or teenagers for that matter that dreamed of the man they were going to marry. I honestly did not think I ever would get married. My mom and dad got divorced when I was young. I know that my parents loved me and still love me very much. But when a little girl grows up without an example of what a loving marriage looks like it can be confusing especially 30 years ago. In my head I thought that nobody would love me and if I ever did get married it would end in divorce. I had no interest in dating in high school.
      Then Fall of 2001 I met this long haired boy from Stanely North Dakota. He sat beside me during Systematic Theology and ate my saltines. I guess even on a college budget the way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Kelly use to make me ask questions to the professor he and his friends said "Have Channin ask, Channin always asks stupid questions" Yep the beginning of a true relationship. We use to spend hours studying in the common areas at school actually we were usually playing Phase 10 the card game. During Christmas break he went home and got a haircut and new glasses. He came back and I remember thinking "I kind of like him..." We started spending more time together. Our first "date" we got into his Buick and drove to the sculpture gardens. He put on the song "The way you look tonight" and smoothly said I really like this song. We sat in his car and talked until curfew. We actually didn't even make it to the sculpture gardens. He got lost. Some things never change :)  as the snow melted we started rollerblading together. We would go for hours. One day on the way back from rollerblading he said "Channin...I really have enjoyed spending time with you...I..I..Like you." I pretended I did not hear him. I mean who could ever "Like" me. He said it again "Channin I like like you" I turned to him and said "Diddo!" Ya I really knew how to wow a guy with my words. We got back to school and he went to his dorm and I went to mine. I was now known as the "Ditto" girl to the guys on his floor. I guess it was better than "the girl who asks stupid questions"
  One day in April he took me to Dun Bros coffee in Elliot Park. It was there that he asked me to the Spring Formal. The next day we went to Lake Calhoun to rollerblade. We stopped for a break next to a tree. He said come sit by me. I remember he kind of looked nervous. We had mutual friends that had just made their relationship official after only two weeks of knowing each other. He started off by saying "what do you think of so and so becoming official?" I quickly stated my mind "I think it is stupid they have not known each other long enough to be dating...they are going to split within a month." He stuttered "how long do you think somebody should know someone before they are "a couple" I said at least a few months. He said "so... what about us?" I stopped and was a bit surprised..I said "Oh we would be good" he then said "So should we make it official?" I answered with a "Yes I think that would be good"
  I was now in my first "official" relationship.

Our First Kiss! My First kiss!

      So after we had been dating a few weeks we were rollerblading one night. I could tell he had something on his mind he was a little quiet and awkward. We went to the River walk downtown and he kept saying lets stop here and then he would change his mind. We finally stopped and sat down he began "Channin, I think you are amazing, the way you are with your sister, the way you are so willing to help others...You are amazing" He then stopped. I made no eye contact...He said "Channin, Can I kiss you?" I was shaking..I had to stay cool. "um ya sure" We kissed. this was not only our first kiss but my first kiss. Afterwards  I stood up, and said "I bet your glad to have that over with!" and bladed off! Real smooth Channin. I went back to school and yelled down the hall "He kissed me!"

      Towards the end of the school year "Kelly told me he was staying in the cities that summer" I was ecstatic. He said he was staying in some city called Crystal. It was just blocks away from my apartment! I knew this relationship was going to work and that God had placed us together. I still questioned it at times but in my heart God kept telling me this is the man you will marry.

  After a year of dating Kelly picked me up from work, and said he was taking me out for my birthday. We drove to Lake Calhoun and he said lets get out and walk around. I looked at him and said "Honey it is December and cold really" He said please so I begrudgingly got out of the nice warm car saying "fine but you are buying me Starbucks after" We tromped through the snow and he stopped and said "lets just look at the skyline, isn't it beautiful" I said "yep but I am cold" I turned around to look at him and he had a ring and it was then that he asked me to marry him. I really know how to make a romantic moment really meaningful!

    Well it is now been 10 years since we first met and many many ups and downs and we are still in love. I can actually say that I fall in love with him more and more everyday. I know a little mushy. But Kelly has so many amazing qualities as a husband and father. He knows me so well. He has been with me through all the goods and the bads of the past 10 years. He is funny, talented, smart, and empathetic. He is willing to talk with me when I am sad or just say nothing and hold me. He completes me! I cannot imagine my life without him. I know that God chose him just for me and I am so thankful for this blessing. I definitely married up! I love you Kelly Sean Hoover!

Living with ADHD...

This morning I woke up to a poke, poke, poke. "Hey mommy, mommy, can we go downstairs? Mommy can I have something to eat and drink, mommy can I play my ipod? Mommy can I watch t.v, mommy do you know what 2,000 plus 1,000, plus another 7,200 is?" I do!" I moaned and rolled over right into the foot of the bed because that is were I ended up in the middle of the night because my queen size bed had been taken over by a six year old, a seven year old and a large dog. I tell him to go ask daddy but apparently daddy had been kicked out of bed and was nowhere to be found. I woke up and stumbled downstairs trying not to be knocked over by the flash of lightening that ran past me I think it is Avery but I cannot be sure because it was so fast. As I am trying to get the coffee started more questions start. I snap at Avery to give me just two seconds. I look at the clock it is only 5:00 a.m. I look back at Avery and feel a stab of guilt. He is so excited about life and so outgoing. Always wanting to know more. But at 5 a.m all I want to do is crawl back into bed. I wish I had half his energy. I feel that some nights he and Charlie our dog( I am not uncertain Charlie doesn't have doggy ADHD) siphon it out of me while I am sleeping. My prayer today is to be patient with  him. I know that he wants so badly to be calm. He asked me the other day if there was a cure for ADHD. I said "No baby, ADHD makes you so special and unique" after which Ella chimed in with a pouty angry face "I want ADHD, why can't I have it!" and stomped away. Some days I feel like I cannot win.  Both my kids have gifts that the Lord has given them to help me to be a better person. I think that part of having kids is a way for God to teach us to be better humans. To gives us little reminders that everyone is different. Everyone deserves to be loved and accepted. Many people are not likable at times. I know I really did not like how Avery was acting this morning but I love him and accept him for him. I am so glad that God did not wait until I was likable to accept me or I very well may be waiting still.

MY ADHD CHILD

He's bouncin' off walls, a super ball gone insane,

He runs through your world like a off-rail freight train,

Interruptions are constant, tantrums galore,

When it's time to do homework, he's gone, out the door.
The drama is constant, oh his foot fell asleep,

He moans and he wails, the theatrics run deep,

School is a nightmare, the teachers are lost,
If they only could see, he is worth the cost.
He is brighter than most, as most kids are,
And with patience and love, I know he'll go far,
But what I must take from well meaning friends
Don't let him do that. Oh these rules that he bends.
You're not a good parent. Your child's really rude.
His temper's Outrageous. He has hands in his food.
He hears this and wonders, just what's wrong with me?
I tell him, You're special, you have A.D.H.D.

Now A.D.H.D. is a gift from above,

It teaches us grown-ups how to strengthen our love.
It helps to teach your teachers, no two kids are the same.
You have awesome energy that could bring you great fame.
You don't need much sleep, you never wear down.
You're silly and funny, when you act like a clown.

You've felt lots of pain from what people have said,

But you pray for those people when you go to bed.
So you try every day to make a fresh start,
For God gifted you with an extra big heart.
As I look at my child, he sees through my soul,
My heart feels like busting, as I realize my goal.

I know this boy like no one else could,

He's a blessing to me, he's strong and he's good.
So I'll love him and guide him through the worst of the worst,
And he'll make a great man (if I don't kill him first).
I'm kidding of course 'cause I know what's to be,
When I look in his eyes, I see a reflection of me.

What are we teaching our daughters?

"Beauty is not defined by a number on the scale, a premanufactured clothing size, an hourglass shape, washboard abs, slender thighs, big boobs, a J-Lo butt, pouty Angelina Jolie lips, a pair of designer low-rise jeans, a cleavage-baring top, a sassy new haircut, a clear complexion, an anti wrinkle cream, or a surgical procedure. While some of the above may garner catcalls from men, they don't impress God in the least."--Vicki Courtney, Five Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter

  I found this on a friends FB page the other day and it made me think. What am I teaching my daughter about how much God loves her for who she is and not what society has determined for her?

  When I found out I was having a girl my hope and prayers for her life were that she would grow up to be an indivitual who understands that God loves her for who she is and he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for her just the way she is not for who she feels she should be. I struggle so much with body image and comparing myself to others that I did and do not want that for my daughter.

  I look at Ella's sassy personality and I know that she has all these things. I mean what better example can I give than the fact she will only wear boy clothes to school. I let her because I want her to know that I love her for her not for how cute the frilly dresses are that she COULD wear or how precious she would look in the braids I COULD put in her hair. I love Ella for her emapathetic personality the way she can read people's emotions like no other six year old I have ever met. The fact that she loves Jesus and accepted him into her heart when she was four and understood it and ever since is always thinking of ways she can share Jesus with others and worries what would happen if the ones she loves don't accept him as well. I love her for all these things. Yet..yes there is a yet the mommy shame moment that so many moms know. The one that comes when you realize what you teach and what you think are not always the same. Yet when we are in public if I think people are judging her for wearing boys clothes I tell them that that is the only thing she will wear. I make sure that people know I don't pick out her clothes. If I truly believe what I am trying to instill in my daughter she does not need to hear me make excuses for why I let her wear her brothers clothes. Let people think what they want. I am ok with that. If they are judging her than let them because my daughters confindence is so much more important than what others think of me and what my six year old wears. I think we all need to watch our words when around our children. We need to remember that little ears take in so much more than we know, and what we say about ourselves and others even if not about them can make them think those things about themselves because if mommy says it that it must be true.

"I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was woven together in the

depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordainded for me

were written in your book

before they came to be."

Psalm 139:14-16

Why "The Not So Simple Life?"

  Why did I name my blog The Not So Simple Life? The name kind of gives it away. Life is not simple. I tell myself this many times a day. I am a stay at home mom to two beautiful children Avery age 7, and Ella age 6. I love being a mom and would not change it for anything in the world. Although there are days when I try to remember what life was like before kids. I really cannot remember so this tells me one of two things. Either I am too sleep deprived from being a mom for the past seven years to remember or this life is way better and there no reason for me to remember anything else. I prefer to think it is the latter of the two. My goal in writing this blog is to remember all the fun and sometimes turbulent times we go through. Let me tell you a little about my family.



Mommy and Avery



  My husband Kelly and I live in Minnesota. We have been married for 8 years. We met in college. Our story is kind of a cute little love story that I will share in later blogs. Kelly currently works at Wells Fargo. I really couldn't tell you what he does beyond help people who are going into foreclosure on their homes. Not an easy job. But he works hard to provide for our family. The Lord certainly blessed me big time when he brought Kelly into my life.

  Our first born is Avery. Avery is our little honeymoon baby. Literally. Avery is a spunky smart boy who enjoys anything electronic. Avery has ADHD. Living with a child with ADHD is somewhat hard to explain to those who have not experienced it. I guess one can liken it to the day after Halloween when your child has eaten all the candy and is bouncing off the walls. Only there isn't a crash just bouncing and bouncing and bouncing. It can be frustrating and overwhelming at times. But a child with ADHD is also a blessing because they are the biggest lesson in patience.

  Our second born is Ella. She is a spunky little thing who prefers to wear her brothers clothes and play with the boys. She is a strong willed child who pushes my buttons many times a day. She also has a sweet empathetic child and is wise beyond her years at times. Her being strong willed will be a blessing in the future. She won't be a follower she will be a leader. She will know what she wants and will work hard to get it. Even if those around her tell her no.

Daddy and Ella

  We also have to little angel babies who are waiting up in heaven for us. Christian would have turned 4 in August and Liam would have been three in March. I will share their stories with you in later blogs as well.

 Our final family member is our dog Charlie Brown. Charlie is a spoiled greyhound lab mix that stands taller than me but acts as if he is a cat. He snuggles up on our laps at night and sleeps with his head on the pillow. He is like having a third child, but I love the dog to death. He is the most empathetic dog in the world. If you are crying he will jump up on you lay his head on your shoulder and lick your tears. He has done this many times for me at the end of a long stressful day.

  Well I just wanted to give you a background to why I decided to write this blog. Hope you enjoy my "Not so simple Life"