Our Family Website

In the Beginning

Patrick and I met in April of 1999 when I started working at Wal-mart in our little town.  I worked the seafood counter and he worked next door in the produce department.  After becoming friends I realized I started having feelings for him but tried to ignore them.
 
Then one night in June (the 4th, I think) Patrick came over to my apartment to bug me.  He never left.  We stayed up all night talking.  Then the next morning I had to get up and go to work, but it was all worth it.  Then next night (the 5th) we went back to my place and ordered pizza.  Before we fell asleep he proposed.  I thought he was kidding but he was very serious.
 
So, on January 7, 2000 (just 7 months later) we were married at his parents' home.  It was a very simple, casual ceremony.  The reception was at his sister's house.  We left early, at around 8pm, because we were exhausted.  We went back to our hotel room and fell right to sleep.  The next day we had breakfast with our parents then drove to Kansas City.  We spent the night there after seeing a movie. 
 
Then we flew to Orlando and spent a week at Disney World.  We were up every morning at 8 and back at the hotel by 5pm every night.  We swam and both fell asleep by 10pm every night.  We had a great time.

1 + 1=5

How exactly does that equation work, you ask yourself?
You take 1 crazy woman and add one insane man, stir well and have a baby.
And then another and another.  Three babies in 2 years, 4 months to be exact.
 
We never planned, never even imagined, having three children so close together.  When we got pregnant the first time it was a total surprise.  After Meagan was born I told everyone we were going to wait until she was out of diapers before we had another.  Ha!  What a joke.  Six months later I was pregnant again.  Meagan became a big sister at 15 months old.  We said, "this time we are really waiting."  But some higher power had a cruel joke in mind for us, lol.
 
Thirteen months after Owen was born, Brenna joined the family.  Meagan was only 2 years and 4 months old.  Three babies in a little over 2 years time, and all by c-section.  (Do I even have to mention how beat up my body feels?)
 
I thought I would go crazy with three kids, all in diapers, but it wasn't that bad.  Contrary to popular belief--three in diapers was no harder then having two in diapers, which I found to be no harder then just one.  Just plop them all on the floor and change them assembly-line fashion.

More Insanity

Well, just when you thought we were done reproducing we go and do it again. yes, we now have four children. Nora Glen joined our family on April 5, 2006. We had decided that after we moved we would think about having another baby. We moved in June 2005 and by mid July I was pregnant. So much for just "thinking" about it. But we are happy to have Nora with us. She is such a wonderful baby. Owen has really taken to her. I can't imagine life without her and her laughs.

Breaking up and Making up

Breaking up is never easy they say.  I can now contest to that.  Our marriage has been rocky ever since the kids started coming along.  I always thought we could handle it, ride it out until the kids were older and we could have more time together.  I thought we were both too stubborn to ever let things end between us.

Then in July 2007, my world crumbled when Patrick left me suddenly.  It was like a train wreck I saw coming through the distant fog but didn't realize how fast the train was moving until it was right on top of me and then BAM, it was past me, blowing me off the tracks into oblivion.

The story doesn't end there, though.  Six agonizing weeks went by with him living somewhere else and us fighting constantly about money and the kids.  And then one day, almost as suddenly as he left, he was on the phone begging to come home.

Mid-life crisis averted I tentatively allowed him back into our lives.  Things have been going pretty good ever since.  I think our relationship is the best it has been in the last 6 years although he is starting to drive me bonkers.  In August, before he moved back home, he hurt his back again.  This was the third time he injured his back and had to take time off of work since 2005.  This time it was bad.  Since last August he has worked a total of like 4 weeks and in April had surgery to fuse 2 vertabrae in his back.  The surgery went well, recovery was pretty smooth after the first two weeks and he is now into physical therapy to strengthen the muscles in his back that haven't been used much in almost a year.  They are optimistic that he will have little pain once he is fully healed and will be able to go back to work by October.