Rambling on About a GREAT Weekend

This past weekend was one I hope I remember for a long time. Today, when I got to work, I was actually sad that Monday had come. Nothing monumental happened, nothing to make this weekend stand out from hundreds of others. It was just a good weekend. We were up at 8. The plan was to drop Lana and Logan off at the consignment sale, then Jackson and I would go get the tires rotated and oil change along with Dunkin Donuts. The wait at Kaufman Tire was going to be up to 3 hours which I thought was way too long; especially knowing we had to pick Lana and Logan. So we blew off the auto service and hit the donut place! Jackson ordered 5 powdered munchkins. He at 4 and was coated in powdered sugar, almost head to toe. So we drove over to the sale and went in to find mommy. This was at 9:30, the next time we saw daylight was after 11:30! Jackson even said at one point, “Daddy, can we go, I don’t like consignment sales.” To which I replied, “Nobody does Jackson.”

Then we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Normally Jackson loves Cracker Barrel, but today, he had requested Wendy’s. Mom and Dad didn’t want Wendy’s so he lost this time. I bribed him with the promise of a pack of big Smarties if he was good during lunch, which he was. He also got to play checkers and play with the toys. Once we got home, I called a neighbor to borrow his ladder to investigate our lack of Direct TV service. I had checked everything but the dish and upon further investigation, we’re lucky the house didn’t burn down during a pretty big storm Wednesday night. Lightening apparently struck a tree, just outside our fence. It blew bark off one side from top to bottom and even left a branch, about 3 feet long, sticking straight up in the ground. It looked like a missile that failed to detonate. The lightening took out phone and TV.
After Jackson’s nap, we decided to play with the slip and slide. We invited Brooke to come up and play with Jackson. They had a blast! And of course, so did we sitting there watching them. It’s amazing how much fun it is to watch you kids have fun.

After that, Jackson played with Brooke a little more and then I cleaned out the gutters, since I had the ladder. We had a little dinner, and after that we put together Jackson’s I Spy puzzle and played I Spy for a while. Soon after, we went to bed.

Sunday was normal, except we had our “Fall Classic” scheduled. Our 5th Sunday schedule includes lunch, afternoon service instead of 6 pm and an open afternoon/evening. The Fall Classic includes a kickball game for kids which Jackson was super excited about. But because of the rain all weekend, it was cancelled. And, because of the rain, we were stuck inside. So we played a little more I Spy, watched a Thomas and Clifford DVD, remember, no TV. We played tackle and then Jackson went to bed.

Not having TV is an interesting thing. I mean it’s one thing to turn it off during the day and do other things, or to have it on as background noise, but to not even have the option, that takes some getting used to. Since Wednesday, we have watched season five of Gilmore Girls and who knows how many DVDs. I finally watched “The Crossing,” a movie about George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas Day, 1776. It was great. Lana fell asleep. After that I watched “the Making of the Crossing” on the special features, might as well, nothing else was on.
We colored, played Wii, did puzzles, read books, did slip n slide with Jackson, along with some of his movies here and there. It was fun finding things to keep busy and I feel like we got know each other again because of it. The DirectTV guy is coming today to repair it so that will be nice, but I hope we can try, every now and again, to have a no TV day or weekend. It was a really great weekend.

Wheelchairs, Paperwork, and Labor Pains

We pulled out at 4 a.m. sharp on the way to the hospital, August 4, 2009. Nineteen minutes later we are walking into the ER at Fayette Piedmont Hospital. The contractions are 4-6 minutes apart and have been since 1:30 a.m. After being wheeled up to Labor and Delivery, and after being hooked up to all the monitors, and after walking the hospital halls for an hour, we got sent home, turned away, tossed out. And that's ok, I guess. Yes, it's a little embarrasing, and a bit of a let down, but in the end, little baby Logan is just not ready yet. Hopefully for Lana's sake he will be soon!
But here's the absurd part....
First, after hours, you are directed to go through the ER entrance if in labor because the West entrance is closed. So, fine, we did. I was a little surprised though when the nurse at the ER desk called to have someone take us to L&D, and then told me to go get a wheel chair. They were parked just inside the door which she kindly pointed out. Then, when couldn't make the chair move, she told me, from her high position behind the desk, that I needed to squeeze the handle to release the break. Wow, thanks for your help!
Once we got to L&D, one of the nurses came in and said she would bring us the paper work we needed to fill out. We proudly stopped her and said that we have pre-registered online, like we were told on our tour of the Women's Center and like all the signs tell you to, throughout that section of the hospital. We had everything printed out and signed and were ready to go. Oh, no, no, she informed us, we have different, addtional forms to fill out. And she has updated versions of the ones we printed, so those don't even apply, you must fill her version out instead. Apparently she could read the look of puzzled frustration on my face because she said, "I know, I've asked several times to have it corrected." Thanks, it doesn't change the fact that I had to fill it all out again, but thanks.
Then on top of all that, we get sent home. Labor has started, but we are very early. It's been a week now of contractions, some as close as 3 minutes apart, some as far as 12 minutes apart. With Jackson, Lana began having contractions on Friday morning/afternoon and he was born Saturday before noon. So this long, drawn out labor is not something we're used to. But now he has a deadline, Wednesday, August 12. We scheduled an induction today so at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I can certainly attest that she's more than ready.
So c'mon Logan, everyone is pulling for you! Especially Lana, of course, but hopefully soon she'll be pushing!