A funny thing happened on the way to the Temple...

So 2 weekends ago, my husband decided for my birthday and since we'd be having a baby in a month or so we should take a trip to our temple here in Columbus, Ohio on Friday October 10th. We got babysitters and everything lined up and ready to go the day before. Then that day Travis comes home from work with a surprise for me. He test drove home a new minivan for us! It was a beautiful silver 2008 Town and Country minivan. It was perfect for us. So we asked the dealership if we could test drive it again an hour and a half away in Columbus and they said sure. Everything for my birthday weekend was lining up great! I wasn't feeling that well on Friday, but anyone who knows me during pregnancy knows I never feel very well, so I chalked it up to Satan trying to dissuade me from going to the Temple. I was determined to win that fight! So off we drove to Columbus. About 20 minutes into the trip I started having contractions. But, as I was only a few days from being 9 months pregnant, again, I didn't think much of it...until I noticed that they were coming consistently 3 minutes apart...all the way to Columbus. I tried to eat something on the drive, but couldn't keep anything down. I was starting to get really worried. When we pulled up outside the Temple it was obvious to us that we wouldn't be able to go on the session. We called my doctor and explained what was going on. He encouraged us to get back to the hospital asap. We went inside and I was able to recieve a blessing. Inside the Temple I was able to recieve a blessing and felt like we'd get to Coshocton Hospital alright. I started to feel a little better (even though I still christened the waiting room toilet several times while we were there.) In fact the Temple workers were so nice, they gave us towels, blankets, and plastic bags to sit on since we were driving a car that wasn't even ours! All I wanted was for my water not to break in the dealerships minivan! I can't imagine having to explain that! So back we went to Coshocton at top speed. With Travis's hospital connections he called up to the nurse working overnight in L&D and let them know we were coming. It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get to the Temple and only about an hour and 10 minutes to get to the hospital from there, Travis drove that fast. We called the babysitter and asked if she could spend the night. (she did, and we found out later she was up all night with Sophia who had the same flu bug as me and threw up 4 times that night. I felt so bad!!) My contractions on the way back were about 2 minutes apart and a little stronger. Travis took me in a back door and straight up to L&D, no waiting around to check in downstairs for me! (it's really nice to have someone on the inside. :) ) We get up there and the nurse checks me. My water hasn't broken and I'm only 1 centimeter dialated. I was really surprised! I thought I'd surely be about 4 centimeters by then, but it eased my mind a bit. The contractions were still coming fast, but not too strongly. I was so dehydrated I couldn't even swallow. And of course all they'd give me were ice chips. But I couldn't even keep those down. They had hooked me up to an IV and were giving my fluids that way, but it was still the early morning hours before I was hydrated enough to swallow. But I did keep down the rest of my ice chips I ate all night. Then in the morning I kept down some toast and at lunch some mashed potatoes and grilled chicken and that's when the contractions finally stopped. I guess I had a bug and didn't realize it, and since I hadn't been able to keep anything down the baby decided she was leaving! But everything calmed down and in a few days I was back to normal. Crazy times. Now I'm 37 1/2 weeks pregnant. So I'm anxious for that trip to the hospital again! :) Hopefully this time we'll come home with a baby in that new car! (which Travis officially bought while I was eating breakfast in the hospital that next morning. And yes, I told him to go. Once I knew we weren't having the baby there was no reason for him to sit there and stare at me while I got rehydrated. :) ) So on my birthday weekend I got a couples stay in a private room at a place that costs about $1000 a night! And 'roomservice'! :) I'm a lucky girl. :)

I'm back!

Hello Everyone. I'm finally back with internet access. We've moved outside of Coshocton Ohio a few months ago. It was a gradual move, really. Travis started working at the hospital here July 1st. He stayed with a family in the local branch, the Binks. We moved up here with them in mid-August when we closed on our house in Greenville. Then we moved into our new house at the beginning of September. We didn't get tv or internet service till a few weeks later... so here we are! It's been CRAZY!! So many weird things happening that Travis and I have wondered a few times if we're really suppose to be here. But with prayer we feel that it's more that Satan is trying to convince us to NOT be here. So we're persevering. Coshocton is a small town of about 10,000. But there is a surprising amount of things to do. A large parks and rec system, library, movie theater, ....... walmart. But still, there are about 4 larger towns of about 100,000 within 30 minutes of us, and Columbus is only 1 1/2 hours away. So that's easy. There's an IKEA in Pittsburgh, PA which is only 2 hours away... so we're set, I think. Plus we're on the southern edge of Amish country and there's lots of neat shops and such there, and we're in the heart of Longaberger basket company. 15 minutes from the Longaberger homestead and 30 from the office headquarters (if you've ever seen a picture of a building shaped like a basket, that's it. It's amazing.) Several people in our church branch work for them. I don't have a picture of the building yet. I never remember to bring my camera with me when I'm driving out that way. But when I get one I'll put it on here. Our house is still a work in progress as far as painting and unpacking is concerned. One room we've already painted 3 times. I'm not so good at looking at that little square and knowing how it's going to work on the whole wall... so it's trial and error. We've gotten things mostly unpacked. The house is livable, anyway. Our goal is to get it done by the time the baby comes in early November. I think it's definatly possible. Probably. Ok, so now I'll put some pictures on here and I'll come back later.

Our house...is a very, very, very fine house.

Here are a few pictures of our house and our 'neighbors'.

Here's a few pictures of the girls at the pool, and some of them with Sis. Binks feeding their horses.