Here we go again!

It has now been a year since we stepped back on American soil after three life transforming months in Africa. A lot has happened since being back. We once again traveled cross country from Lima, NY back to Redding, CA. We lived in a garage for 10 days, a camper for 3 months, and now after 6 months of being in our new place, we are finally beginning to feel settled. Seth also got a job with a logistics company and we are getting ready to welcome another little blessing into our home in just a few short weeks. Through all this, God has begun to stir our hearts for something bigger than we could have imagined.  

After getting settled into our home we found God beginning to unpack the many things in our hearts that our time in Africa gave to us. We now know that going to the nations as a family is one of the main ways we feel called to reach the nations. While in Africa our hearts began to burn for the orphan and we have not been able to shake it. Through our trip we discovered that our desire is to collaborate with other diverse ministries and humanitarian organizations. We are developing strategic solutions such as working with orphanages to create family style housing and working with them to become self-sustainable. Of course none of this would be possible without God’s radical love enabling us to reach, serve, and defend the orphan in any way we can.

We have the opportunity to go again at the beginning of March 2015. We will be traveling as a family for 7 weeks in Cambodia, Thailand, and China working with orphanages and young people rescued out of sex trafficking. We will be partnering with Bob and Kimberly Johnson Ministries. Bob and Kimberly, with their 5 young children, will be leading our team. 

We are extremely excited to be doing this as a family. We are delighted to invite you into this journey with us. Going to Africa, we received over $25,000 donated in under 8 weeks where we were able to love on orphans, see a bedridden man get up and walk after we prayed for him, and to see water spring up from a dry cave in a drought ridden village. Most importantly a dream to reach the orphan as a family was awakened in us. Thanks to all who partnered with us in that life changing journey which has become the beginning of a new way of living for our family.

We will need 30 to 40 prayer team members and approximately $18,000. We have already been able to meet our first deadline of $1,200. We are praying for $7,000 within the next two weeks to purchase plane tickets for our family of 6. After that, our last deadline for all other expenses (hotel, food, etc.) is due at the beginning of February. 

There are two ways you can sow into our trip and both are tax deductible. You can make checks payable to Bob and Kimberly Johnson Ministries and mail to 1095 Hilltop Drive Suite 369, Redding CA, 96003 with Goodson/Asia 2015 in the memo line. Or visit our website, http://www.bobandkimberly.com/goodson-family, and give using either Paypal or Square Space. We do want to make you aware that Paypal and Square Space will charge a small percentage of your donation for processing fees. If you would like to pay with a direct deposit please contact us and we can provide you with the information.

If you would like to join our prayer team you can send us an email at growingoodsons@gmail.com with the day in the month you would like to pray for us. 

Thank you for partnering with us and allowing our family to go to the nations to reach the orphan.

With hearts full of gratitude,

The Going Goodsons

“True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties…” James 1:27 (CEB)

Check it out

My friend, Sarah, is doing a new series called "Our Not So Picture Perfect Family" I bet you can't guess who's family was this weeks featured family. That's right, it's the Growing Goodsons! So stop on by and check out some family pictures that we took with our Africa trip in mind and get the behind the scenes scoop.

Growing Goodsons on the go

We are excited to announce an amazing opportunity that we, as a family, get to participate in. This last year has been one of stepping out in faith for our family. In January we felt God asking us to move 3,000 miles from our home in Lima, New York to Redding, California, literally across the country. In the last 8 months our family has experienced great healing, had foundations repositioned and solidified, been able to reconnect, and have been giving a clearer vision for our family. We have made wonderful friends and have greatly enjoyed Cali life.

It has been less than a year since taking the step of faith of leaving everything we know behind. Yet, we once again sense that God is asking our family to take another step of faith, a giant step of faith. We have the amazing privilege of spending 12 weeks in Africa as a family. In those 12 weeks we will be going to school, working with orphans, widows, and the poorest of the poor through Iris Ministries. The purpose of the schooling is to learn how to do missions work effectively and with the greatest level of impact. When this opportunity arose we knew that we were positioned in this season of our life to take this step of faith. We are extremely excited about this chance to love on those that have been forgotten about in their society.

We feel God is asking us to go and we are willing, but we are asking for you to consider partnering with us. We are looking for prayer partners and financial partners. We will be going to Africa from September 15-December 13. Our hope is to find a prayer partner for every day of the trip, as well as leading up to it and for direction once we return to the states. Would you agree to pray and/or fast for one (or multiple) day(s) for our family? You can click HERE to sign up on our Prayer Team Calendar.

Also, we are looking for financial partners who will be a part of the miracle in sending us to Africa. Our family of 5 needs to raise $8,500 for tuition, which is due August 25. We will also need an additional $11,500 for airfare and expenses while in Africa. Please consider being a part of this miracle! Since we will be attending school while in Africa we are unable to offer the ability for your gift of financial support to be tax-deductible.  You can send your financial gifts directly to us via Paypal using our email address psethgoodson@gmail.com. In your Paypal Account select send money, then type our email address then select I'm Sending Money to Family or Friends.  Lastly press Continue. You can use this method using your Paypal account or for a small fee use your credit card. If you would like to send cash or check directly to us, please contact us and we will give you the mailing address.

We thank you so much for partnering with us. We are believing for our lives and the lives of those in Africa to be radically changed. Join us in this journey and see how God uses all of us together to spread His love in Africa.

Still here, but there, which is now here for us!

Well, I once again went off the radar for a few months sorry about that. I feel like I had a pretty good reason...like moving our family literally cross country! That's right we are now residents of the 2nd sunniest city on average in the united states. I have to say in the 8 weeks of living here starting at end of January (which is when it's usually freezing in NY and you are sick of the snow that's only just begun) till now the beginning of March we have NOT been disappointed! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous & so refreshing! I have to admit. I am a little nervous about how hot it's gonna be in the summer :)

I still can't believe we live in California but here we are! It was hard to leave the people and church that we love but there is great comfort in knowing that for now this is right where God wants our family!

I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the kids have adjusted. Everyone, but Seth, took their turn being sick but thankfully were not traveling and were able to get unpacked before it hit. Right about the time we were feeling settle. Isn't that how it works? I think I got it the worst, it took me out for a whole week, but honestly it was partly my body needed that much time to recover from a crazy 8 months, seriously since Ephraim's been born it's been crazy...till we moved here and got settled. Life is going at a much slower pace...on purpose :) Although anyone with small children knows the pace of a regular day seems anything but slow. Life is good though.

So I know it's not much of an update besides to say we are here....well, there...but here :) And we are doing well! There is so much to process. It was a totally unexpected move but it was totally God and it was/is totally good!

Ephraim's Birth Story, Part 3

Here is Ephraim's birth story preface, part 1, and part 2. You'll want to read these first!

June 13, 2012 
11:27pm So.....we were finally ready to walk out the door, Seth had his arms full of pillows, bag, who knows what else, and I had....a baby in my belly wanting to come out, my arms were completely empty :) Our back door is set up where you have to go out 2 doors very close together. Seth was about to open the final door to go out and I was in the frame of the first door when I stopped bent over and somewhat moaned, "Wait!" Two things happened at this point. The first being that I was racking my brain to think of a "good reason" to NOT get in the car. I just couldn't do it. I consciously didn't even know why at that point; I just knew I needed to find a reason to stay. My brain found the reason of having to go to the bathroom, which was somewhat true. Any woman that has given birth before knows what I'm talking about, you feel like you have to go to the bathroom almost the whole time you're in labor and honestly you usually do have to go to the bathroom! 
11:28 pm - "Wait!" then quickly adding, "I ummm need to go to the bathroom"
I watched all breath leave my husband as he slumped his shoulders and dropped everything (this is the other thing that happened. My husband lost all hope of making it to the hospital) A moment in our marriage that I will never forget. It was as if he was so close to....to what I'm not sure but it seemed that if he just could have gotten me out the door he could have gotten us to help, to the hospital. His hand was right there, it was on the door knob. He was so close! Instead of turning the door knob and going out, and getting that help he so desperately wanted, help he thought he needed, instead he slowly took his hand off the door knob, turned to me. 
"Are we doing this here?" He asked but he didn't even wait for a responses from me, as he half heartily answered his own question, "We're doing this here. Aren't we?!" 
11:30pm -  I honestly responded, "I don't know, I.....just need to go to the bathroom, I don't know, just....just follow me." 
Which he did.
11:31pm - Seth gave me a second in the bathroom then timidly, afraid of what he would see in my eyes, on my face, afraid to see that look of "this baby is coming any minute."He peeked in the bathroom; he slowly entered, took one look at me and declared, more to prepare himself then tell me, "We're doing this here." 
Without looking up at him, I nodded. 
He sheepishly asked, "how much time do we have?"
Huffing between contractions I answered and came up with a game plan, "Not much. I'm getting in the tub. Go tell the babysitter we're doing this here, then get a phone and call 911."
Seth leaves to get a phone and tell babysitter.
11:31pm - Seth announces to the sitter and Jericho, whom was now wide awake, "The baby is coming!"
"Yeaahhhh....that's why I'm here." the confused babysitter says to Seth, wondering why he would need to tell her the baby was coming when she already knew that the baby was coming.
"No, the baby is coming HERE! NOW!" He franticly and clearly explains.
"Oh....OH!!!" she finally understands. Then calmly (because she is awesome like that and God totally knew we needed her as a babysitter that night) she asks, "What do you need me to do?"
"Call 911." Seth is thankful for the help, hands her the phone, then comes to check on me.
11:31pm - "How are you?" My worried husband asks.
"It's time." is all I could get out.
"What do I do? Will the 911 people walk me through it? I need my phone. I have to go get it. I'll be right back." His eyes are the size of saucers as he leaves to go get his phone from the sitter. 
11:31pm - Please come back quickly! I think, but let him go without saying anything, I'm focused on breathing through these awful, yet wonderful, but only I know the end is near and it will result in a beautiful baby in my arms, contractions, knowing that I can wait to push, but only for a moment.
11:30pm - He's back within seconds. He's giving the 911 guy our address (for the millionth time, this guy was seriously awful!!!) 
Thank God he's back and help is on the way! I think to myself and am relieved until I feel the surge of the arduous contraction with every ounce of my being.
11:32 - I want to cry. I want to scream, but all I can manage is an almost too quiet "It's time babe, it's time...." this gets his full attention. I hear Seth mumble something to the 911 guy about the baby coming now and puts his phone down to focus on me. I am thankful he is here with me.
11:33 - I prop myself up some using the edge of the tub and in two fleeting, strenuous pushes the baby emerged into this world, into our hearts, into our home, into Seth's arms! Seth scoops the baby up pats the baby on the back a few times to get a weak cry and puts the baby in my arms. 
11:33 - We look at each other for a moment, eyes locked, tears threatening, mouths wide open, but no words would come. Time freezes. Did we really just do this? Together bring our child into this world, just the two of us? 

Truly one of the coolest moments of our marriage!

11:34pm - All at once if felt like it went from time standing still to warp speed. Seth picks his phone back up to find that the 911 guy hung up! I told you he was awful! 
We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl. I was pretty sure I saw boy parts as the baby was coming out and getting scooped up by daddy but not sure enough to proclaim we had a son. And in those moments where time stood still it didn't matter if we had a son or daughter, all that mattered is that we did it! Togther! Once felt like they went into warp speed I realized the baby was snuggled next to me but was wet, naked, and most likely cold, I know I was! So, even before we knew if we had a son or daughter I sent Seth to the car to get the "car kit" we had prepared so I could wipe off and wrap the baby in some sterile towels. 
11:34 - Off Seth goes. Once Seth left I remember checking to confirm that I did, in fact, see boy parts, like I thought I saw when Seth was delivering him. Yup, they were there! We had another son! I called for Seth to tell him, but he didn't come. What's funny is that when I realized he wasn't coming I thought: He left me, he just delivered our baby at home and then left me. He didn't say a word, he just left. What is more important then me and this baby right now? Within seconds of thinking this Seth walked in with the "car kit" I giggled to myself and felt silly at my own thoughts remembering now why Seth had left :) What was even funnier to me is that as soon as Seth walked in with the "car kit" he with a sheepish grin on his face asked, "Is it a boy or a girl? I totally forgot to look!" I was thrilled to tell him he had another son! He smiled kissed me and with tears in his eyes he went to tell Jericho that she had the brother she'd been praying for. I wipe the babe off, got a clean town to wrap around him and I started crying as I snuggled him and it finally him me that I had a SON at HOME! I had waited six and a half years to say that. God is so faithful!
11:34 - Jericho stuck her head in and as she leaned against the door post she quietly asked, "Mommy? Do I really have a brother?" like it was too good to be true. With a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes I gave her a whispered shaky, "Yes Lovey, you do." At that point we smiled at each other through our tears and she went back to tell our babysitter she did, in fact, have a brother at home!
11:35:   Two Sheriffs arrive. I wasn't even aware there were in my home, let alone the fist ones that arrived. Seth later told me that one of them came over to him and said, "Sir, the peremeter is secure." We still laugh at this!
11:37:   Three volunteer first responders arrive. For the 2nd time that night I found myself talking to a 12 yr old, at least that's about how old he looked! Thankfully he was very good at what he does. He was very caring, calm, & professional. But as I was sitting there talking to this baby face, very thankful I still had my bra on, only minutes ago giving birth, I still couldn't help but wonder what his thoughts of this whole situation were.
11:40: Four volunteer ambulance crew members arrive and go into bathroom to help me and to relieve the first responders. The afterbirth was still in me so they decided to cut the cord there instead of waiting till we got to the hospital. As they were fumbling with cutting the cord, yes they fumbled and I was starting to get a little nervous, I almost asked if Seth could cut the cord, then I smiled to myself as I thought: oh wait, he delivered the baby, who cares about cutting the cord when you delivered the baby! So I let them continue to fumble with the cord and figure it out while I kept my mouth shut and treasured my thoughts: my husband, delivered our son, at home, in the bathtub and it wasn't planned! and for the first time it registered in my mind and my heart.
11:41 - Two paramedic arrived, thank God these guys were NOT volonteer. These guys were wonderful!
11:42 - Midwife calls leaves message on my phone wondering where we are. Ha! This still makes me laugh :)
11:42 - The 4th and final EMT arrived.
11:43 - Ambulance crew taking care of of me and wrapped up the baby.

11:45 - Seth takes the baby to Jericho so she can see him again.

11:46 - Paramedic checks the baby for number of fingers and toes, he gives Jericho the report that all are in place and accounted for :)

11:49 - They got me out of the tub, onto a stretcher and wheeled and loaded me into the Ambulance,  For the 2nd time in my life I find myself in an ambulance thanks to my 2nd son. The first time it was my first son :) my boys, I tell ya. Seth carried the baby out and then gave him to me as he kissed me and said he'd meet us at the hospital. I couldn't wait for Seth to just be with me again. Since the first responders arrived I hadn't seen much of him, my strength was waning and I needed the his strength and protection to lean heavy on. I needed him close. A 30 minute ambulance ride felt like torture at that point. If it weren't for the afterbirth still being in me, I think I would have asked if they'd let Seth drive me to the hospital. Thankfully the real paramedic was awesome and it was very easy to make small talk. He even gave Ephraim his first stuffed animal, a doggy. He said that he'd been the first one to give all his nieces their first stuffed animal and he wanted to extend the tradition to our baby! I also found out that he was getting married in few months and hoped to have a house full of his own kids some day.Everyone, but the babysitter and Jericho, leaves.

11:50pm - House is silent.

I'm not going to go into much detail. Once we arrived they worked to the afterbirth out, which didn't take much. They started checking the baby. He was having some problems keeping his body temp up and a few other things so it was a little nerve wrecking for a little while. They had to keep checking his blood ever time I nursed him and if numbers weren't going up it could have gotten serious but thankfully his numbers went right up and he was fine! It wasn't until around 3 am that Seth and I got a chance to talk about a name for sure. We were almost positive about his first name but were very unsure about a middle name. I love that unbeknownst to the other one, neither of us had told anyone the babes name, even though everyone was asking. I ask if Seth thought Ephraim was still right for a first name and agreed as did I but we both were still very hesitant about the middle name we thought we had decided on. Thats when I looked deep in his eyes and said, "Babe....what about Ephraim Seth, after the man that delivered him?" He sat back and whispered, I need a minute to think about it, a minute later with tears in his eyes he said, "Ephraim Seth Goodson, yes, that's his name!" It was perfect. We weren't planning to name this baby after his daddy, but God and this baby were, when they decided to have daddy do the honors of delivering :)

Ephraim's first picture, 3+ hours old, at the hospital

So, on June 13, 2012 at 11:33pm Ephraim Seth Goodson was born, it was an unplanned, unassisted, home birth where daddy delivered the baby! Ephraim Seth weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long.

Ephraim Seth & his daddy

A Few Random Things I Remember (and am thankful for):

• I remember hearing Ephraim's first whimpers and then promptly hearing Jericho tell our babysitter that the baby had, "the sweetest cry ever."

• I remember at some point I didn't feel like Ephraim wasn't breathing. He didn't give a huge cry when he first came out and then snuggled into me so quickly that I was nervous he wasn't breathing, so I unwrapped him to check his color and get him to cry. He sure did not like that and let me know! Which is exactly what I wanted. I wrapped him back up and snuggled him happy knowing that he had good color and was, in fact, breathing.

My Sweet Boy

• How amazing my husband was, I'll never forget it, he was awesome!

• Our baby sitter was seriously awesome, she's like a grandma to the girls already and having her there was such a relief because I knew Jericho was in great hands! You may be wondering how I know this time line well it's because of our babysitter. She is a little OCD an editor and loves details and knew that we'd want the details of this night. So, the day after Ephraim was born she wrote everything down she remembered; she looked back at what time texts were sent or phone calls were made and so on. Between her information and what we had and remembered this is a very accurate account of what happened :)

Haven's been loving on Ephraim since she met him!

• We never heard a peep out of Haven; she slept through the whole thing and our bathroom is right next to the girls room.

• The day Ephraim turned 3 months we went for a walk. I was walking with E in the moby and the girls were ridding their bikes. All of a sudden this big red truck pulled over and the man in the truck asked if I lived on (our street name.) My first thought was oh no our house is on fire or something crazy like that. I hesitantly told him yes and then he asked if the baby was born at home and before I could answer he said he was a volunteer EMT. It all started coming together. He said he'd been wanting to stop and see how the baby was doing and what we named him :) I told him I'd been wanting to take the baby to the ambulance station and take cookies to thank everyone. He told me since it's a volunteer station that no one is ever there and unless I had connections it was pretty much impossible. So I asked him to thank everyone for me and was thankful for the interaction. 

A Few Things I wish I Would Have Done:

• Taken pictures! We don't have a single picture of Ephraim until we were at the hospital and he was 3hrs old. Not a single one. Not of me with him in the tub, not one of Seth holding him, not of Jericho holding him, not of me on the stretcher, or in the ambulance. Nodda, zero, zilch. I'm very sad about this and pray my memories suffice and stay clearly etched in my mind.

• I wish I would have put water in the tub....there really wasn't time before I had him but even after would have been nice...well maybe not too clean but anyway, I guess a blanket would have been nice I was freezing and.....well.....just out there for everyone that walked in my house, there were about 12 strangers, to see.

Jericho and mommy talking about what happened the night before :)

• I wish I would have taken a second to talk to Jericho and ask how she was doing, if she had questions, and to say goodbye (a good goodbye not just the quick bye that we got.) Thankfully we had an awesome babysitter that talked her through everything and let Jericho call me, around 2am (she didn't fall asleep till 2:45ish) when she was still wired hours later and was wondering if mommy "got cleaned up." That sweet girl, I'm did get a chance to talk to her once we were home and settled, to hear her side of the story and answer some questions she had. For the first 3 months of Ephriam's life she'd ask if it was worth it and if I'd do it again or mention how glad she was awake and that it happened that way it did! I pray she remembers it even as she gets older.

• I wish I would have had Seth come back in the bathroom with me once everyone (all 12 of them) arrived. Our bathroom is small and there were already 2 other people in there so there wasn't room but I know I would have been able to verbalize what I needed/wanted (a blanket, warmth, just having him close) much better if I'd had his protection and safety.

Kids with their "Sherif's Badge" that the awesome paramedic gave them!

Honestly I don't know that I'd change a thing if I had the chance, except maybe getting pictures, it was an amazing experience and I'd do it again in  a heartbeat....not sure Seth would say the same but...maybe if it was a PLANNED home birth :) Jericho is always asking me, "Was it worth it mom? Having Ephraim at home." It was so worth sweet girl, having your daddy deliver your brother at home, it was so worth it!

Ephraim's Birth Story, Part 2

If you haven't yet check out Ephraim's preface and part 1 to his birth story yet, you might want to do that first.

While on the phone with my mom Seth walked in and gave me a, "so what's going on are we having a baby tonight" look. In return I gave him an, "I'm on the phone we'll talk about it when I'm off the phone" look; he then proceeded to give me a "hurry up and get off the phone" look and I gave him an, "I will, I'm almost done" look. Also, while on the phone with my mom I noticed that I was starting to pace a bit more with each contraction, which told me maybe I was dealing with the "real thing," even though they were still random. Although random, I also noticed that they were no more then 10 minutes apart. Basically, I was almost ready to admit this was the "real thing" however I'd never had random contractions before so I had no idea how much "time" I had. Since I had no idea how much "time" I had I decided to play it cool as I got off the phone and act like it wasn't really as bad as it really was.

I got off the phone shortly after Seth got home. He was unwinding on the couch so I went to join him to chat about how his night went. Any thought of relaxing left as I sat down and a contraction hit. I immediately shot up and started pacing whereas Seth started freaking out. It went something like this, "Your pacing! Your pacing already! We need to get going. Your all ready pacing!" Apparently when I start pacing it means we don't have much time and when you're in labor for less then 3 hours it kind of puts things into perspective. Seth would like me to add that he didn't feel like he was freaking out at this point, because there was a point that he was freaking out. Maybe he wasn't "freaking out" but he definitely was starting to get concerned and even if I still wasn't sure it was the "real thing" yet, he knew, at that moment, that it was! Because my contractions were still random and because of the randomness I wasn't completely convinced that this wasn't false labor. I told Seth I was going to take a warm bath to either do one of two things: If it was false labor I was hoping to get them to stop and if it was the real labor get them regulated to see how much "time" we had. It seemed like a really good idea at the time....

I got in the tub around 10:45pm I had no idea how many I'd had or how far apart my contractions were but I was getting annoyed at the frequency and knew that I had not been in the tub for that long. After about 15 minutes I got out and from the moment I got out of the tub my contractions were no more then two minutes apart. Pretty much, they so close that I wasn't even timing them. I went flying out of the bathroom mumbling to Seth, between contractions, that this was the real thing and we needed to go now and I needed to call the midwife and the babysitter and we were both off running around like chickens with our heads cut off because this was the real thing and we were way further along then either of us thought. I'd be interested to know how many times the words, "Lets go" came out of our mouths in those last 30 minutes.

I called the midwife it was, of course, after hours, so I had to talk to the "after hours guy", whom sounded like he was 12, not the person you want to explain your labor to, especially when your in labor! But what choice did I have? The conversations went something like this....12 yr old after hours guy: "So, how far apart are your contractions?" me: "I don't know a minute or two, they are so close I'm not timing them." 12 yr old: "Ok, I'm going to put random." my thought: Blast you kid! Don't do that they are going to think I'm an idiot for calling about "random" contractions! I'm about ready to have a baby! I'm not sure I'm going to make it to the hospital just have the midwife call me. 12 yr old after hours guys then tells me to wait for the midwife to call. Thankful to be done with that conversation I hang up.

I had already called our babysitter earlier and told her that I thought this might actually be the real thing, unlike the other two times. She knew my labor history and how quick I go so when talked to her earlier I asked her to have everything ready so that when I knew if it was the real thing she could be here asap.    So, after talking to the 12 yr old I texts the babysitter and ask her to come NOW! I think she was there 6 minutes later, yeah she's cool like that!

A few weeks before I was tucking Jericho in bed and we started talking about the baby and when he/she would come and all that stuff. Jericho asked if she could be the first one we called so she could know if she had a brother or sister and what her new siblings name was. I told her if it was during the day we'd call her first for sure but if it was in the middle of the night we might wait and just have the babysitter call us first thing when she got up. She seemed okay with that, but I think she really wanted to be woken up if she was asleep. Her next question was if she was sleeping when I was going to the hospital to have the baby could I wake her up and kiss her and tell her we were going to have the baby. Although I thought twice before answering I agreed....and I'm so glad I did! So, remembering that I told her this and knowing that we didn't have much time while waiting for the midwife to call I went into the girls room to Kiss and tell Jericho we were getting ready to go. I tried to wake her but she didn't stir and I was starting to have another contraction so I left the room, to go pace, without waking her.

The midwife called around the same time the babysitter arrived (things start to get a little fuzzy around this time of who did what when so bare with me) Thanks to Mr. 12 yr old the midwife, which happen to be the only one I was hoping wouldn't be on call when we had the baby (not that she was bad she just tended to rub me the wrong way, not what you want or need when you're in transition and about ready to give birth) called. Mrs Midwife was her usual chipper self as she said something like, "Sooooo tell me why you called since you're having random contractions." My thought: see Mr. After Hours 12 Year Old, I knew she'd think I was an idiot and now I have to waste precious time explaining to her that they are so close together that I wasn't timing them and that's why you put random contractions, when really they weren't random they were just not timed! So I explain that to her then she proceeded to ask me how my other 3 deliveries went. I wanted to scream and cry and yell, "I know what you are doing! Trying to stall me! You are trying to see where I'm at in my labor and I can tell you that I am going to have a baby ANY MINUTE! We are wasting time! Get off the phone with me and meet me at the stinking hospital!!!"Mind you I'm most likely in transition at this point. I somehow refrained from yelling saying this and instead said something like, "I go fast, around 2 and a half hours for my previous labors, they're already less then 2 minutes apart we are heading to the hospital. Okay! We will meet you at the hospital! Okay!" She tried to ask me a few more questions but after cutting her off and repeating myself about us getting to the hospital and her meeting us there (I must have repeat myself at least 4X.) At some the only thing I was saying was about us getting to the hospital and her meeting us there, it was around that time that Mrs Midwife finally "got it" and said she'd meet us at the hospital and hung up.

Okay so it was now 11:20ish (I think), we had a babysitter, we had midwife confirmation, although we probably shouldn't have waited for that, and Seth had Jericho in his arms for me to kiss and tell her that the baby was on the way and we'd let her know in the morning! We were finally headed out the door....

To be continued...

Ephraim's Birth Story, Part 1

You might want to read preface to Ephraim’s birth story first before reading this to get the whole story :)

Haven had her last important Dr’s appointment in the morning on June 13th and wouldn’t you know I started having contractions Tuesday night. I went to bed praying it was false labor so I could get some sleep and I could make it to Haven appointment in the morning. It was so weird to pray for false labor when I’d felt so plagued by it this pregnancy. Thankfully I slept through the night and in the morning we got ready for Haven’s appointment. If I would have known the events of the day I would have laughed in the secretaries face when she looked at me and said something like, “You made it and you’re still pregnant! Good I’ve been wondering about you.” (I had called and tried to get on a cancellations list cause I knew I was a ticking bomb just waiting for the wrong time to go off. I’m so tempted to call and tell her what happened later that night :) Anyway, we made it to Haven’s appointment and thankfully we heard exactly what we wanted to and there was nothing major to worry about. Now we were ready to have a baby! Seth has Wednesdays off and knowing that I could “go” at any moment took Haven on a date and then ran a few errands.

By the late afternoon I was fried, we still had to pick Jericho up, and I had no idea what was for dinner! We went to pick Jericho up at a girlfriends house and when she offered to watch both girls for a few more hours so I could rest I (literally) cried! I was so tired! I went home and slept while Seth mowed, picked up the girls, ran one more major errand with the girls and picked up pizza for dinner (Yeah he’s my favorite;) I think I slept for 4 hours; it was amazing! 

I got up remembering that Seth had to leave for cadre at 6:30 pm and in the hour that I was awake and he was home I had a few irregular but decent contractions. I think we joked about how funny it’d be if I had the baby tonight since we’d been telling the baby he/she had to wait till Haven’s appointments were over. Seth left saying call if they get regular. They didn’t. Oh and did I mention that a buddy of his text him and asked if he wanted to see a late movie after cadre? Yeah so glad he decided not to go! Anyway, back to the story, I put the girls to bed somewhere between 7 & 7:30 and decided to call my sister to take my mind off the irregular contractions that were now starting to annoy me. We talked for over an hour and by the end, during a contraction, she asked if I was all right. I had noticed that the contractions were getting harder and thought maybe this is the real thing but I’d been subconsciously timing them while we talked and they weren’t regular at all. I’d have one then 8 minutes later have another one then 2 minutes after that have another one then 10 minutes later have another one and then have 3 in a row all a minute apart, they were so random! Even though I was pacing through them (that’s just what I do, pace like a mad woman, I go insane if I have to sit still or God forbid be strapped to a stinking monitor, yeah it happened, with Jericho, not cool!) I wasn’t too worried though cause with the girls once labor started it was every 5 minutes (or less as I go going) and very regular. After I got off the phone with Thea, Seth still wasn’t home and I vaguely remembered that he said he’d be later than usual because he had a meeting with a parent after cadre. So, I called my mom, it was now 9pm. We talked for an hour and around the time Seth walked in I was wrapping thing up with my mom telling her that with how strong these still random contractions were getting I thought I would probably be calling her in the morning telling her if she had another granddaughter or grandson, (Anyone wanna guess how long it was from when I hung up till when Seth called her with the details of Ephraim? Remind me to tell you at the end of the story! ; )

So from then on things got a little crazy so stay tuned for part 2!

(Sorry I was really hoping to finish and I know I’m driving some of you nuts but 2 of my 3 were are sick. The baby has already been up multiple times and I’m afraid it’s going to be a long night so I’m going to bed!  More next week....maybe sooner!)

Preface to Ephraim’s Birth Story

Since my little man will soon (Saturday) be 4 months (I can't believe it's been 1/3 of a year all ready!) I thought it was about time I told you how he came into this world. But first a preface:

If you hear me talk about giving birth then you’ve heard me say, “I go quick.” The problem is quick, when it comes to giving birth, can mean different things to different woman. For me quick labor means 2 hr and 40 minutes or less.

When Seth and I found out we were expecting again we were thrilled!!! However, when you know you go quick and you always hear that the more babies you have the faster labor goes. Plus you live 45 minutes from the hospital (although I switched practices at some point with Ephraim so we were only 30 minutes, not that it mattered) and you know you have to wait for a babysitter to get to the house to watch your other kids and you’ve already had one dream (after I had Haven before I got pregnant for Ephraim) that your husband delivered your next baby in the car on the way to the hospital, you start to get a little nervous. In fact, you start wondering if you really are going to make it to the hospital in time. So much so that you try to talk your husband into a home birth. When that’s a no go, for various reasons that now make us laugh, you start praying.

Now let me ask you something, if all the above were true for you and then you had another dream (this time you were pregnant) that your husband delivered the baby in the car, what would you do? After I freaked out a little, thought I was crazy, and probably even shed a few tears I started talking very seriously to Seth about the possibility of delivering this baby. There was just no joking about it, well maybe a little, but we really did talk very seriously about it a lot. We even asked the midwife what we needed to have in the car if Seth did have to deliver the baby and Seth watched a few “how to” videos on youtube.

Ephraim was the 4th baby I was going to deliver. With my first 3 I’d had some Braxton Hicks contractions but never anything regular and never false labor. The moment I felt that first hard contractions it was go time and I had a baby in my arms in less then 3 hours. With my other babies I always went early. Gideon was well way to early, Jericho was early by a week exactly, and Haven was 1 day short of being 2 weeks early. I figure I’d go early with this one as well. Like the others, I thought that as soon as I felt that first hard contraction I’d be well on my way to having a baby in my arms. I should have known better because NOTHING about this pregnancy was like my others. Because of this, I kept joking with Seth that I was going to be over due and have a long labor. However, when I felt that first could be hard or turn into hard very quickly contraction 5 weeks early I realized I probably wouldn't be over due and then I freaked. I had nothing ready, partly because we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl, and I didn’t “feel” ready. After the contractions seemed to slow down and disappeared all together I went to bed wondering when this baby really would come and decided I needed to get some things ready. The first thing I got ready was our “car kit” full of stuff the midwife told us we’d need on hand to deliver a baby in the car. Not much really just some sterile towels, a bulb syringe, an old shower curtain (my idea) to cover & catch as much “gunk” as possible and keep from ruining our car, Seth insisted on having “something” to cut the cord in case of an emergency (one of our other babies had the cord wrapped so tight around her neck they had to cut it) *please note that they (midwife, Drs, EMT) tell you NOT to cut the cord (despite what 911 guy tells you) if you deliver a baby at home (or anywhere besides the hospital.) So I tucked a knife in there and found a plastic zipper bag to keep it all clean and threw it in the trunk of the van.

38 weeks pregnant for Ephraim (3 days before he was born)

At some point I had another round of false labor, which was getting very old by the way. And I felt like a fool texting the babysitter (yes right away cause I go so quick) “heads up this might be the real thing” only to text her back and hour or more later saying, “nope false labor again” I felt like the boy who cried wolf but this baby had to come some time right!?!

That brings us to Haven’s important appointments. I’m not to get into what kind of appointment or why they were so important right now but she had 2 very hard to schedule, very important appointments. The first was scheduled 2 1/2 weeks before I was due and the other 1 1/2 before I was due. I was so nervous I’d be having a baby on one of those days or in the hospital or something because that’s right around the time I “tend” to go. I even called to see if I could get put on a cancelation list, which I did, but no cancelations. I kept telling the baby he/she had to wait till Havey’s appointments were all done.

Haven’s first appointment was scheduled for early in the morning and everything went well. However, I wasn’t feeling the best and had started “seeing stars” and had a really bad headache by lunch time. So, Seth convinced me to call the midwife just to talk thing through with them. They, of course, wanted to go in and get checked. I wasn’t a huge fan of the idea but I went in for the sake of the baby just to make sure everything checked out normal. I’m so glad I did! Not because something was wrong, they were worried about early signs of preeclampsia, but decided it had more to do with dehydration and stress. Because it was not a scheduled appointment I got to see the midwife on call who happened to be due the same day I was, she was great! We were both large and in charge and happy to just sit and chat a bit about babies! One of us (Seth or I) again voiced our fear of not making it to the hospital in time where as this angel of a midwife proceeded to look Seth straight in the eye and tell him what an awesome job he was going to do delivering this baby at home and that if the baby came that fast there weren’t going to be any problems and how millions of babies all over the world are NOT born in hospitals and how my body knows exactly what to do and how both of us were going to do great! It was the best appointment I’d ever had. Despite all the wonderful midwife said we were NOT planning to have this baby at home or in the car, but she did put our minds at ease if it happen to work out that way. Seth and I both left hoping that I would have the baby before I had another appointment and feeling like we were ready to welcome this baby into our world!

To be continued.....

An Update on the Growing Goodson's

Jericho, getting measured on our wall, hours before she turned 5

Jericho is now 5, man how time flies when you have such a sweet girl in your house! Jericho is helper in every form of the word and usually has a great attitude as she's helping, which makes any mama proud. She adores both her sister and brother. I often "catch" her helping Haven or snuggling the baby when she thinks no one is watching. Jericho is such delight to be around, which is one of the reasons I love homeschooling her. This is our first year of homeschooling and after only a few weeks Jericho can read a handful of words! I'm so proud of her! It's so awesome to have the opportunity to teach her and to be apart of watching her learn and develop in every area of her life. I'm amazed at how her mind works! Yes, we've already had a few bumps in the road on this new journey we have decided to take, but it's been totally worth it and I'm excited to see what God has for us, for her, this next year!

 Haven in her latest obsession, her "GO PACKERS" dress

My Havey girl, whom will be 3 in just few weeks, is one of the funniest kids you'll ever meet. I remember telling Seth, around the time she was 9 months old, that she was purposely doing things to make Jericho and I laugh and I couldn't believe it. At first he didn't believe me but since then her personality has come screaming (literally) through and she continues to crack us up! Most times it's on purpose but even when she's not trying to be funny she is. It's so refreshing to me :)  If you ever get the chance just sit and watch her, do it, you'll be giggling to yourself before too long. Just a few weeks ago she looked at her daddy and said, "Daddy you not funny.....I am!" Seriously what kids says that? She is funny, the problem is, she knows it! 

Ephraim giggling at his sister while his mama gets a picture!

Our newest addition will be 4 month old in a little over a week! Ephraim made quite the debut and I will tell you all about it.....in another post :) His first 6 weeks were a little bit.....well lets just say a bit of an adjustment. Nothing horrible, just not what it was like when I brought my other babies home thankfully the day he turned 6 weeks old something completely changed, I'm still not sure what it was (all though I have my theories). Never the less, since then the boy has done nothing but SMILE....well and dirty a few diapers, nurse like a champ, take 1 hour naps (which drives mommy crazy), sleep 10 hrs straight at night (which makes mommy really happy!) Oh and he did roll over at 6 weeks.  It's hard to remember what life was like before this sweet boy was in it, I'm glad I don't have to remember. 

I LOVE having a BOY at HOME!

Yes, this was a Sunday morning and yes we were all in our Packer gear :)

Seth and I celebrated 8 years of marriage in August! He's the peanut butter in my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He's the peanut butter in my peanut butter and chocolate concoctions. He's the peanut butter in my peanut butter and fish stick sandwich (yes, I eat that and yes I like it) He's my peanut butter in my peanut butter and banana sandwich. Whether I'm being fruity like jelly, sweet like chocolate, whether I stink like fish sticks, or am going bananas he's the peanut butter holding everything together and always there :) He's my other half and I'm so thankful that he chose me! I couldn't do life without him.

Seth is still the Youth Pastor at Elim Gospel Church and we continued to be blessed by the staff, parents, & youth that he we work with. God continues to move in the lives of the students and we are so amazed and excited for what God has in store as we start another school year with these kids!

We now live in Lima, a year ago we sold our house and became debt free!!! Such a wonderful feeling!

Obviously the biggest change in my life is the sweet baby boy that's constantly in my arms :) I must admit I wasn't nervous to go from 2 to 3 at home.....until I actually had 3 at home. Like I said earlier those first 6 weeks were rougher then I could have imagined but after 6 weeks things just got easier. The other biggest thing is that I'm now a homeschooling mama, honestly I don't think I even have any idea what all that means :) I'm slowly learning what I like and what I don't care for and how to teach my child that is sooooo much like myself it's crazy. I'm still not sure how I'm going to do it. I don't really know how anyone does it whether they homeschooling or not whether they have 2 or 20 being a mommy is hard work! I'm glad that God is my guide and that I'm not doing this on my own.

Here we go again

I've been wanting to start blogging again because...well....I miss it. The main reason being I love having documentation out what's going on in our lives. FYI I'm horrible at documenting. I have 2 pink baby books one has maybe 2 or 3 pages filled out and the other is completely EMPTY, she will be 3 in 3 months. Yeah, it's THAT bad. I've been thinking about blogging again and then I read this written by a friend and completely agree. So here we go again!

There are a few other reasons I want to blog again:

• It really helps me process things
• Our closest family is 14 hrs away, so it allows our families a peak into our lives. 
• Plus we just added another little bundle of joy to our family (more on him later) that was the reason I started this blog in the first place.
• I enjoyed life more when I would think this will make a great blog!
• pictures I love posting them & want to get better at taking them 

There are a just a few things that make me not want to blog:

• time - it's precious and blogging takes time
• bloggers block, I hate it
• there are so many things to blog about how does one ever decided? (more on this later)
• where to start? It's been so long since I last blogged. I think I'll start with the big stuff!

So, like I said here we go again! It's going to be random & probably sporadic but then again isn't that life?