Our First Christmas In The RV

 Our First Christmas In The RV….

Christmas Eve my husbands truck broke down on the way to work.

Two of my kids got into a huge fight and I wish I’d responded differently.

The day felt so chaotic I didn’t get the house cleaned up, or things prepped for church, nor did we make any cookies.

I was up until 11 finishing wrapping presents.

That night while I was sleeping, the propane ran out and I woke up to the rv being 60 degrees at 2am. It was so cold. I didn’t have enough milk of my own to satisfy the babies and so I had to get up and bottle feed both of them for the first time in the middle of the night in the very cold rv. That was really stressful because I hate that I don’t have enough milk. It was 3 hours later before the babies and I finally were asleep. 

Nathan was at the fire station Christmas Eve so I didn’t have help to deal with the propane tank. I want and knocked on the campsites maintenance man’s rv around 7:30am and he so sweetly came and switched the tanks out for me.

Then I realized the pipes were frozen in one spot and so nothing could drain so we couldn’t use the water.

I was trying to get everyone ready for church during all of this but we ended up leaving an hour late.  I got 5 minutes away from the campsite  when I decided it was silly to even go because the service would be over by the time we got there.

I got back and unloaded only to realize Nathan needed me to pick him up from church because his truck wasn’t working and he had gotten an uber to church from work.

We loaded back up and went and got Nathan at church…a 48 minute drive.

After we picked up Nathan we went and got Ruy . When we got home Nathan had to fix the frozen pipes.  It was 2:30pm when that was finished and the kids could finally open their gifts.

Everyone loved what they got.

After presents I had to wash the dishes from the night before and breakfast.  By then, it was time to start dinner but I was so exhausted Nathan took over and made everything while I took a hot shower and took care of all the little ones and cleaned up the rv.

We ate dinner, then got the babies to bed, and then put the girls to bed.  Once the four little ones were in bed, I had pie and ice cream and went to bed at 9:15pm before any of the older kids went to bed.

I took one picture of all of my kids right before the little ones went to bed.  I almost didn’t but I’m glad I quick snapped it for the memory.

What a day!!! I’m sure I’ll always remember it as one of the more stressful Christmas Days we have had but it could have been worse.

I’m thankful we had heat and food and each other and for the ability to gift the kids with things they had wanted but I do hope next year goes a little better. 

2nd Set Of Twins (Jamie + Fionna) Birth Story- Part 2 We're Having Our Babies

Part 2 of Jamie and Fionna's Birth Story

Read Part 1 HERE

I woke up the next morning feeling very nauseas.  My braxton hicks contractions seemed to be a little more intense as well.  I got out of bed and went about my normal routine of getting coffee and reading but I felt so nauseas and threw up. I had no signs of being sick like a fever or anything like that so I assumed the vomiting had to do with pregnancy and that maybe I was just having an off day.  The nausea continued though throughout the morning after the kids were up.  As we were getting ready for the day, I threw up several times. 

I told my husband about it when he got up.  He planned on staying home but I told him to go to work because I didn't feel like I was in labor.  My contractions were not really any different than they had been for weeks.  He felt I was in transition though because the only time I have ever thrown up during the end of a pregnancy is when I am getting close to the end of labor and nearing delivery.  That made him really nervous.  I assured him I was going to be fine and to please go to work.  

Soon after he left though, I threw up once or twice more and just really didn't feel well.  I called him and told him that it would probably be best if he just turned around and came home.  We talked when he got back home and I decided to go ahead and call my midwife and try to get an appointment.  

I got an appointment for 12pm that day which was just 1.5 hours from when I called in. We rushed to get everyone together and in the van to make it to my appointment on time. 

When I got there, my midwife was unavailable since she was delivering a baby but one of the doctors saw me.  She did an ultrasound and said the babies looked great but didn't feel the need to check me because clearly I wasn't in labor.

 (Photo from my 36 week check up)

I started to get ready to leave when my midwife walked in.  She talked to the doctor about everything and then asked her if she had checked me to see if I was dilated any.  The doctor said "no, she hadn't since I was not in labor and it wasn't necessary."  My midwife felt differently about the situation as she knew me and my story/births/past history etc.  

She checked me after the doctor left the room and I was 6cm dilated!  I was throwing up because I was in labor. She said my water hadn't broke yet and that was all that was keeping my contractions from coming on harder and keeping Jamie coming down.  She said with every contraction I had his head would start to come down but he couldn't come down far enough because my water hadn't broke.  She felt that it would break that evening sometime and I'd probably have to rush in super fast or possibly not even make it to the hospital....(I almost didn't make it to the hospital with Jude or the my twin girls Milla and Mara on time so she knew that it was a strong possibility once my water broke I'd have an incredibly fast labor and not make it).

She suggested that I let her break my water that way I could go home, get a babysitter there, pack my bags, and come in without being in full on labor like I was with my twin girls and it being this super intense experience.  My twin girls birth was very fast and I was already about to start pushing when I arrived at the hospital. 

Nathan and I talked about it on the way home and decided to go ahead and do what she suggested.  We knew that my friend (my pastors wife) could come watch the kids that night and my father in law could come up and stay with them after he got some sleep from getting off night shift.  I didn’t want to go into hard labor in the middle of the night, rushing around to get to the hospital and desperately trying to get someone there to watch the kids.  Doing it this way felt like a much better way to have a peaceful birth. 

We got home and fed everyone lunch, I finished packing my bags, let my best friend know I was heading to the hospital soon (she was taking birth photos for me) and waited for my friend to arrive. She ended up staying the night with the kids so Nathan’s dad could get his full rest after night shift. I was so thankful Brianna was able to watch the kids on such short notice.

We said our goodbyes to all the kids and headed to the hospital to have our babies. 

...to be continued.

2ND SET OF TWINS (JAMIE + FIONNA) BIRTH STORY PART 1- THE DAY BEFORE

 Monday, July 25 2022... 

37 weeks 2 days pregnant. I felt like a ticking time bomb.  I was almost to the same point where I had my twin girls at 37 weeks 5 days.  It was literally a big waiting game at this point which can be very mentally exhausting because you are just wondering and waiting for at any minute to go into labor. 

I had a lot of laundry that needed cleaned, so I decided to head to the laundry mat that day.  After breakfast and cleaning up the RV, Liam helped me load up the laundry and we headed out.  I was incredibly exhausted those last few weeks of pregnancy.  My stomach was so big and heavy, my swelling was so bad that my legs hurt terribly, I was tired, very dizzy, and so ready to not be pregnant any more. 

We got to the laundry mat and got everything started and then waited outside on the outdoor seats they have while it finished washing and I read some of The Black Stallion to the kids.  It takes about 30 minutes for everything to wash.  Once it was washed, we switched it to the dryer.  The kids like helping with this.  The dryers are huge and they think it's just amazing how big they are and how much clothes can fit into them.

(Milla was cleaning Mara's face with a a wipe in this photo because she had chocolate from a beachbar all over her face.) 

Once that was done, we headed to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  This ended up being our laundry mat routine for the past month we've been in the RV.  It takes an hour for the clothes and towels to dry and CFA is just a few minutes down the road.  It works out perfectly to just hang in the van or outside and read to the kids while it all washes and then head to lunch while it dries. 

After we picked up the laundry I really felt like the kids needed some time to run around in a different place other than where our RV is parked. 

It had been so hot and humid with temperatures sitting around 95-100 that I had not had a lot of energy to go many places.  The heat made me feel like I would pass out and so our normal routine of being outdoors on adventures had been very difficult to keep up with. But that day was overcast and slightly breezy with the temp around 85-90 so I was feeling a little more up to an outdoor adventure. 

One of our favorite parks is near the laundry mat we have been using but we hadn't been there in a long time.  I surprised the kids and said "who wants to stop at such and such park and take a hike by the river!?"

Of course they all said yes and so off we went. After bathroom breaks for everyone  (which consisted of walking up the huge hill the bathroom is on)...we were off on our hike/walk down the trail by the river.

I made a joke to the kids while we were walking where I said "Watch guys!  Tomorrow I'll go into labor since we came on a hike today just like I did with the twin girls!"

The day before I went into labor with my twin girls, I took the kids to another one of our favorite parks with lots of trails by a pond.  We spent hours there playing and walking and then the next morning I woke up to my water breaking and being in full on intense labor.  You can read their birth story HERE.

We all laughed about what I said and they all agreed that yes, that would be funny because it would be basically the same thing that happened before. 

The kids asked if we could go to the same spot we'd come to the last time we had come to this park about a year prior, where there is an easy access spot to the river.  They wanted to get wet and since we had all our laundry and all our towels in the van from being at the laundry mat, I said it was fine for them to get in.  

It's a good 10-15 minute walk probably to the spot we were heading to with little toddlers and a big pregnant woman :) 

The bigger kids pointed out all kinds of bugs on the trails, different trees, and other neat things to the twin girls as we walked.  It's so fun watching Milla and Mara get excited about all the new things they are seeing in nature and it's so fun to watch my bigger kids help them, guide them, and teach them all about the things we have learned about together on all our outdoor adventures.  Of course, I am there doing these things with the twins too, but the bigger kids really really love the twin girls and sharing all they know with them.  I think it is so good for kids to be able to help little children and so good for them to know they have knowledge to pass on to someone else. 

We reached our spot and my bigger kids jumped right into the river.  I just took off the twin girls diapers and dresses and let them swim in their little biker shorts. 

They were so excited to get in.  I sat on a fallen tree that was laying in the shallow water and the girls played right next to me.  Jude can't swim yet.  He's so close to getting it but isn't quite there yet.  Liam and Alanna are good little swimmers. Jude spent most of the time finding clams and pretending he was collecting them for clam chowder.  Alanna and Liam swam a lot and tried to help Jude learn how to swim.  They found dragonfly larva, clams, and jumped off this huge tree that was leaning over top of the water. 

The girls were so happy the whole time and it felt so good for me to rest my feet in the water and enjoy watching all my children having such a great time.

We stayed for about 1.5 hours and then headed back to the van.  

Being in nature together is my absolute favorite and it's their favorite.  Jude talked the whole way home how fun the river was.  I have missed  our weekly nature adventures so much the last few moths and am so happy I am already feeling so much more energetic and ready to start them back up every week again.  We did get into nature together just not as much as normal since we were so busy moving and I was not feeling like myself energy wise those last few weeks of pregnancy.

We told Nathan all about our wonderful day when he got home from work and about our joke of how I'd probably go into labor the next day since we went on a hike that day. 

To be continued....

MOVING UPDATE

 

We are moving in TWO days!

The closing on our house is on Thursday, June 2nd but we are heading out on Sunday.

I wanted to make sure the kids and I were out of here in time for Nathan to finish up any last minute things, and to be able to get the house fully cleaned without anything in it. 

We were supposed to close on May 26th, but the buyers asked us to fix some things on the house, which we needed an extra week to be able to have enough time to hire a contractor and get it done. So we moved closing to June 2nd. 

Many are asking if we have our RV yet and if not, where are we staying in the meantime?

We booked an air bnb starting Sunday that will take us through the end of June.

During that time, my husband will go and get the RV we picked out.  We are buying it from a private seller and he has been holding it for us until our house sold.

Once we have the RV, we will begin the process of figuring out which things fit into the RV and which things we simply need to do without during this season of living full time there. 

I am kind of in shock that all of this is actually happening. My husband and I started planning this a year ago, trying to make it happen by last fall.  It took longer than we had anticipated but here we are...

just a few days away from moving from this house and being on to the next step in the adventure.

xo, 

Lauren 

 

OUR WEEK IN REVIEW May 15-21

 

It's been a while since I did A Week In Review post but I'm taking the time today to sit down and get it done.

Sunday we didn't make it to church because I'd been very sick that night.  I had a horrible headache, vomiting, extreme dizziness, and more.  I barely slept and with my husband gone at work I just decided to stay home.  I wasn't sick like a virus or anything contagious...it was either pregnancy related, vertigo, or possible caffeine withdrawal since I forgot to drink any that day.  

So we spent the day hanging out at home.  The kids found some toads and a turtle, and then we took some time to play at the neighborhood playground once my dizziness had calmed down. 

Monday was my husband's 34th birthday.  He worked during the day and then when he got home, we went and picked up Ruy and headed out to dinner.   The kids (other than Ruy) had never been to a Hibachi restaurant before so we decided to go there. 

Our family filled up an entire table which I loved so much but also was like...."what will be do when the next set of twins in born!!! Big family problems :) 

The boys LOVED having the food cooked in front of them and the girls (twins) were so good.  Milla loved the salad which I was surprised since it's such a unique flavor but she woofed it down.  Mara only wants to feed herself which posed a slight problem with how high the table was but we made it work.  Liam learned how to eat with chopsticks and Nathan caught some food in his mouth when the chef threw it at him! :) 

It was a really nice dinner celebrating Nathan. 

Tuesday we headed out to Home Depot to grab boxes and moving supplies.  The girls loved the cart at Home Depot and did not want to get out.

Wednesday was a full day at home working on packing.  We took a break in the afternoon to get some fresh air and exercise.  I walked down to the little park in our neighborhood with all the kids.  Alanna and the twins picked "fuzzies" aka dandelion seed flowers (not sure of the actual name).  Alanna taught the girls to call them fuzzies though and I absolutely love it.  

Milla also learned to climb UP the huge metal slide that's at this park and I was nervous about that but she handled it like a pro and did it over and over.  Alanna stayed behind her the whole time though to make sure she didn’t fall.

Thursday was when the appraisal on our house was being done so we had to leave by 9:30 that morning.  I decided to take the kids strawberry picking and we had a lovely time.  We spent about 2.5 hours there.  We've been going to this strawberry patch for about 7 or 8 years now.  It's free to get in, free hayride, free playground...you just pay for what you pick. 

Mara was not a fan of the thorns on the strawberry bushes but the rest of the kids loved it as usual. My older kids, (especially Liam) were a huge help this day.  Liam and I took turns pulling the wagon, getting waters from the van, playing with the girls on the playground, and he held Milla on the hayride. 

I love days like this with my children so much.  It was much needed after how crazy things have been around here getting our house sold and packed. 

The girls took a short nap that afternoon since they fell asleep in the van on the way home.  When they got up, I turned on the sprinkler and filled the girls' water table.  All the kids played in the water for a long time.  Jude showed the twins how to make mud and they were thrilled.  They were covered in mud!  They had a blast in it until all of a sudden they were done with it and wanted clean. :) 

Friday was another packing day and then I picked up my oldest son to stay the weekend with us.  I hurt my food Friday morning which really was awful.  I think I sprained two of my toes and spent all day Friday and Saturday in horrible pain.  It's feeling a lot better as of today (Sunday) thankfully.

Saturday was a full day of packing and loading the moving truck.  We have one week until we need to be moved out and we still have so much to do.  I hit 28 weeks in my pregnancy on Saturday as well.  So thankful for a healthy pregnancy so far and hoping to make it another 10 weeks at least like I did with my girl twins. 

And that sums up our week. I'm exhausted physically and mentally from everything going on with this move and am very ready to have everything packed and be out of here. 

I'm going to work on getting a MOVING UPDATE blog post done this week to share what's happening and answer some more questions I've been getting. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful week!

xo, 

Lauren 

WHY ARE WE MOVING TO AN RV?

 

We are planning on listing our home NEXT WEEK!

I am slightly (a lot) overwhelmed by all the things that need done prior to listing but my husband is confident we can get it all done by then.  

This past weekend we made our first trip to a storage unit and dropped off things we will need in the RV but are able to do without for a few weeks while we wait for the house to sell.  We also took things that we want to keep for when we eventually build a home but can not fit into the RV.

It was one more step taking us closer to our goal or getting our home sold and beginning our RV adventure.

I have seen the inside of RVs before and know they are not huge.  I have tried to be careful of what I'm planning on taking into the RV but I am 100% positive I will be going back through all the RV boxes, plus what we still have in our house and downsizing even more. 

This is not an easy process but I am excited about what this all means for us. 

I've had a lot of questions from people about our transitioning to an RV, so I thought I would answer the first question I get most often today...

 "Why are you moving to an RV"?

We want land and to eventually build our dream home.  

We currently have a small yard and we're just not happy with having so little land and being so close to neighbors.  We want animals, space for our kids to roam, woods, pastures, lots of space to garden, etc.  

A lot of people in our neighborhood consider the yard we have to be large ( .25 aces) however, we lived on 2 acres for several years and then our last home had 1.5 acres.  Going from that to where we are now really confirmed in our minds that we are not meant to be in neighborhoods close to other homes, with so little space for our children to explore.

The reason we moved to the home we are at now was to put us in our oldest son's school district.  I also thought that I needed a bigger home BUT this particular home we bought never ended up feeling like home to any of us. 

Doubling our home space actually proved to be much harder to deal with than having a smaller home. We went from 1050sq feet to 2094 sq feet.  I prefer the smaller space as it is less to clean, and it feels cozier.  But I also think that it's not so much that the small space is what's needed but the right layout needs to be different than what we have now. When we build, I am sure I will build around the size we have now, but the layout will be very open so that we don't feel closed off from each other.  I am so excited about what it will be like to design a home that fits our needs perfectly.

We had only been here a short time when my son's school went virtual in 2020 and he ended up being at home for a year. Then shortly after returning to school in 2021, he moved in with his dad full time.  After that, he was never with me during the school week but on weekends. 

This major life change left my husband and I in a place where we could move if we wanted to.  

Last summer we started making plans to get an RV and begin looking for land.  It's been a long process as 2021 was one of the hardest years for us in many ways.

But after nearly a year of planning, taking a lot of things into consideration, praying, etc... we are SO close to selling and finally getting our RV.

Other questions I plan to answer soon...

What type of RV are you getting?

Are you going to stay local or travel full time?

Where will you park your RV?

Are you buying land right away?

How long do you plan on living in the RV before building a home?

If you have another question, please let me know so I can add it to this list :) 

That's all for now! Back to cleaning and packing!

xo, 

Lauren 

FINDING OUT WE ARE EXPECTING OUR SECOND SET OF TWINS

 

I wasn't able to schedule my first appointment and ultrasound until I was 12 weeks pregnant.  I was trying to decide if I wanted to have a home birth or use the hospital.  Because of that, I waited to make an appointment.  I ultimately decided I wanted to use a hospital as I had with all my other births. 

I had developed a rash on my arms around week 8 of my pregnancy which was consistent with the rash I had with the twin girls.  At first I thought the rash was a reaction to the soap I was using or something like that.  But then it hit me...."I bet this is the same rash I had with the girls and I'm pregnant with TWINS AGAIN!!!"

I told Nathan I felt it was twins but he was convinced it wasn't. 

When I got to my ultrasound appointment, I told the midwife about my thoughts and facetimed my husband and kids so that they could hear and see what was happening. 

And sure enough!!!  It was TWINS!!!....AGAIN. 

I was shocked but also not shocked.  I think I honestly would have been more shocked if it hadn't been twins.  Having the rash, and the extremely high odds of having twins again just really made me believe it was.  

I had spent weeks trying to figure out how on earth I would manage twin babies again while having twin toddlers plus homeschooling three grades but once I saw the twins on the ultrasound all my worries really just melted away.

For weeks up until the ultrasound, I had actually been struggling pretty hard.  It was the first time in any of my pregnancies that I felt worried, nervous, an emotional wreck like....how am I going to handle this/what if it's twins again/I am exhausted etc. 

I was really in a mentally difficult spot and hadn't talked to anyone about it other than one other twin mother who has 7 children.  She totally understood and really reassured and encouraged me. I had never dealt with feelings/emotions like that after getting pregnant so it was all very strange to me. 

But once I saw them...all of that just was gone and I have been so at peace about it all since. 

Will it be a wild adventure having four children (2 sets of twins) UNDER 2 years old for a few weeks and then it will be four children ages 2 and under once the girls have their birthday in August???....Yes, yes it will be!

But it will also be wonderful and amazing and it's what God wanted for our family so I have total peace about it all. 

We are so thankful for these babies!!! 

And I am still trying to get used to saying "I am a mother to EIGHT children!"

xo, 

Lauren