... And free time to take on some little projects!
I painted a frame for Bug's room and some shelves for H's room. Loving this day at home!
Crafting/ re-creating is good for my heart! I have a couple of other projects I have worked on this Spring, I will try to post more soon. All I can say is that I have spray painted quite a few things and I'm way impressed with how much I like the change that can come of a $3.50 can of paint : )
I officially survived my first tri-athlon! Whoo hoo! I'm so thankful that I was able to do it, especially with everything that has been going on the last 2 months with Mr. Steady's back. Training was really tricky since he could be left home with all 3 kiddos unless everyone was sleeping (no lifting restriction...) But he said a few weeks ago, that hands down I needed to try to keep up with my training and that he fully supported me doing the race, the logistics were just a little more complicated.
The training process was actually really fun. It provided great excuses to see friends at 6am (how often do you do that), to meet at the pool. It provided great times of worship as I rode my bike at the crack of dawn listening to praise music. It provided a goal to work towards and therefore self discipline. The funny unexpected benefit, is that it helped me desire to be more active with my kids. I was the mom running around at the park and the mom who actually got my hair wet at the pool when we went to play. I like this new change, hope I can keep it up : )
For the Tri I had a slew of wonderful people to participate with...
My bro and his friend Katie- they came out from Denver and did the full Sprint
My college roommates- Kathy & Jenn
My dear friend Dena
My friend Amy from church
7 of us in all, which made it really fun to setup our transition areas together, then to cheer each other on along the way!
As for the actual Tri
I loved getting to race with these awesome girls, even though most of them left me in the dust on the swim!
I do not recommend an ocean swim for your first Tri! It was intense! Waves were chest-high, and the waves just kept coming and coming! I'm so thankful that I survived!
I now wish I would have pushed myself more on the run and bike... especially since my swim was so slow! But I was struggling to catch my breath the whole time!
Getting to do the tri with my big bro will be forever a special memory for me!
My favorite memory of the day was when H, joined me for the last 50 yards of my run!
Too bad this sweet buddy has some serious speed and was sprinting, I had to ask him to slow down so I could keep up : )
I felt so supported and loved by my man! He got up at the crack of dawn and rallied the 2 big kids, made signs for me, took a whole slew of pictures, cheered me on along the course. Oh, how I love this man! I could have never taken this on without his support!!
Life has been a tad crazy over here so I haven't have a chance to hop on my blog and give an update! To say that the last month has been crazy, feels like an understatement. To say that we have been covered in prayer and love is an even bigger understatement! We have received emails, texts, calls, meals, prayers, childcare, groceries and so much more. Thank you to each and every one of you that have blessed us and carried us through this crazy time.
I'll give a little re-cap for those that want to hear it...
The day following the last post was a Wednesday. Mr. Steady had an appointment with the surgeon, who reviewed his MRI and confirmed that yes indeed it was time for surgery. Soonest available time-slot was to be the following Monday as long as insurance approved it. Pain on that Wednesday was pretty high, but somewhat manageable.
Thursday of that week, we were back in the ER for pain management. After being there for 5 hours he was released with a new cocktail of meds to help him make it to Mondays tentative surgery.
Friday afternoon he had an epidural to help with localized pain... and the best part of Friday was my mom flew into town!!!!!!! I was trying really hard to juggle everything here {with the help of friends} but I couldn't do it. I needed help here, in my house, for my kids, for my man, and for me. One call to my mom on Thursday morning and her tickets were booked within 10 minutes to arrive the next day! {I sure do hope you all have a mama like mine}
Friday we found out insurance would cover Mr. Steady's surgery! And Friday's epidural really did help with pain over the weekend. No more visits to ER!!
Sat and Sunday, we laid low at home
Monday- Surgery! Going into it I was doing pretty good. Mr. Steady was so relieved to go and get surgery to have the possibility of decreased pain. Once he was all gowned up and we talked with the Dr. and the anesthesiologist I had to go out to the waiting room, I started to get a little more anxious. You would think I would be used to this... this was his 5th orthopedic surgery in 6.5 years! But regardless of the frequency, the waiting to hear all is well, can still be hard!
{waiting... wearing Mr. Steady's wedding ring}
I sat in the waiting room and did my Bible study homework and listened to Matt Redman's CD. The song Never Once really stood out to me... I played it over and over again. The whole song is amazing, but even the first verse just reminded me of God's hand on us in the whole ordeal:
"Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we've come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us"
God was with us each and every step of the way. He provided through so many of you to reach out and help carry us through this! In light of heartache that others we know are going through, Mr. Steady's pain and surgery can feel small, yet that is how amazing God is. He uses the big and the small, he takes care of our needs whether temporary or a forever loss. I hope this song will encourage you:
After almost 3 hours the surgeon came out to tell me that my man did awesome in surgery! The herniation of his disc was much worse than they expected, but that they were hopeful for good results. After 2 hours in recovery we were sent home! Oh, and it gets better... the nerve pain that had been radiating down his leg since February was completely GONE!!! Thank you Lord!
