This Week at Our House # 52

1. Obviously it has been an eventful week. We had Monday until Friday at 11 am on the beach. It was absolutely lovely and the best and most needed family vacation we ever had. The weather cooperated and it never rained much and never got much below 70 until Friday when we left. Then we had the saddest part of the week, when we lost our little boy. John loved our beach vacation which is saying something because he has almost always been the Dad to work during the vacation or the dad to complain about everything during the vacation.John did neither. He just enjoyed the beach, the house, and the family.
2. I enjoyed the beach immensely. I am so grateful we had that time before we had to deal with the loss of Christopher. I am so sad we lost him, but I know that Heavenly Father helped with making the timing the best possible. The hardest part, besides the loss is that we do not have any of our stuff. We are sleeping on the floors and we have no place to sit and no dishes or way to cook. I miss couches and beds like crazy. Hopefully we will have those by Monday night. The ward here has been amazingly good to us. When we got to the house there was a frozen dinner with a note on it welcoming us to the area. That was such a huge blessing because I was in the hospital that night until just after 11pm. It gave the girls something to get the kids for dinner. Then they brought over dinner on Saturday night too. I did contact the YW President to let her know what was happening. We didn't have internet other than the phone, and I needed to know where the hospital was and we had a recent email from her. The hospital treated me well and did not make me stay over night when I wanted to return to my family. I was also very blessed in getting a doctor that did what needed to be done so I did not have to have a d&c. The baby was born at home. But the placenta would not come on its own and I knew I would need medical assistance to avoid hemorrhaging. I could have easily been sent right in for a d&c and they prepared me for that. But the doctor worked with me to get everything out without surgery. I am so grateful for that. The doctor told me she was so grateful for a patient that was willing to try out the no surgery route first. 
3. Ruth LOVED the beach and the short lived solitude she had in the room she and Kate shared at the beach house. I loved swimming with Ruth out in the waves. When we got to the home we are renting, Ruth went to the store with me to buy a small amount of food and some cleaning supplies. I was going to clean the bathrooms when we got back. But I started going into labor at the store. So Ruth washed the master bathroom for me. She even washed the blanket that my water broke over by hand and hung it to dry because we do not have a washer and dryer yet. Then she cleaned all of the bathrooms until they were just sparkling. Then she held Susan who really wanted me. She has been there for me every step with this. She had to see most of the labor in all of the gorey details. I was worried she would be traumatized, but she said she was not. 
4. Kate LOVED swimming out in the waves. On the day the waves were huge, Kate excitedly ran right in and got sent under by a crashing wave and then forced back by a very strong undertoe. After that she was more careful about swimming in the big, crashing waves. Kate did most of the childcare part on Friday and has been quite helpful since then.
5. Johnny loved swimming and trying to dig for clams. We only ever found baby clams, though. Johnny is going to homeschool.
6. Adam loved the beach, of course. He spent down time playing games and such. Adam got his wish for Christmas and got a red ryder bb gun. The yard we have moved to is big enough for Adam to shoot his bb gun. He LOVES it and has been using it a lot and making different targets and such. Adam is going to homeschool along with all of the other kids. 
7. Rachel loved digging for clams. She and I argued a lot about whether or not she could bring a pencil box full of beach sand, ocean water, and baby clams into the car and the house. When I ordered he homeschool workbooks, she argued with me about how she hates doing that stuff. Oh well, I am making it simple, and workbooks that she can do on her own for the most part is just right for me right now. 
8. Anya was cautious in the ocean for the most part. She enjoyed building sand sculptures. She made a large starfish at one point. In the beach house, Anya mostly played computer games. 
9. Joseph would dive right in to the water and swim and swim. Then he would get out and be cold and just want to get back to the beach house to change. When I let him do that, he would come right back to the beach and swim and swim, get out of the water, be cold until he went home and changed again. 
10. Joshua said two cute things this week. Yesterday about the house we are now renting, though we do not have our stuff yet. I asked him if he was happy to have a house and he said, "No, I want to go to 'OUR' house." I said that we would be bringing our stuff here and wouldn't that make it better and he said, no way. He only wants his house. When I told him that I was gone on Friday because his baby brother was born, but he had died and would not be living with us, Josh said, "Then buy a new brother to put in your tummy. I want a baby brother to live with me."
11. Arwen loved the beach and the beach house and I loved watching her play in the waves. At the rental, she has enjoyed spending lots of time in the nice sized yard and up in her bedroom. She is sharing with Ruth, Kate, Rachel, and Anya and I think that makes her feel like a "big girl".
12. Susan hated the Ocean, but seemed to like the sand. She hated whenever I went out and went swimming. She'd watch me like a hawk.