June 27, 2015

Owen

 
My nephew, Owen Dierks Rancuret, was born on June 22nd, at 10 pm.  His birth story will absolutely go down as one of the greatest moments of my life.  So here's the story, at least from my perspective.

Emily called me at 9:36 that night asking if I was home from T-ball yet. I told her we were just pulling into the driveway.  I asked if she was in labor, as I was waiting on a call to watch Madelyn, and she was 41 weeks pregnant. She said that she didn't know and that she had called the hospital and they weren't sure if she should come in. She said she wasn't feeling contractions but that she was feeling a lot of pressure. She was pretty out of breath and sounded in pain the whole time she was talking. I told her that she needed to go to the hospital right away and that we would come and get Madelyn. We were already in the car and only a mile away. 

We got to her house, and I told Josh and the kids to stay in the car. I went in and Keith was already on the phone with 911.  Honestly, as soon as I saw her face, I could tell that she was pretty far into labor.  She was calm but out of breath and in a good amount of pain.  We got her to her bedroom and had her lay down. We knew the paramedics were on the way. I was still hoping she'd make it to the hospital. I just tried to keep calm with her, breathing and praying, not knowing what else to do.  

Finally the first responders got there. They were very nonchalant and started taking her blood pressure, etc. I knew we needed to go ASAP. I said, "Ok, she is going to have this baby very soon so we need to get her to the hospital." They said that they were just First Responders and that they don't transport. I said then we need to get ready because this baby is coming. They said, "Are you a nurse?" I said, "No, I am a woman who has had three babies and this woman is about to have a baby!" He said to go ahead and get the stuff out. The girl said, "Ok, what do I get out?"smile emoticon

Well at this point, we could see that it wouldn't be long before the baby was born, but Emily patiently waited for the Medix to arrive.  As soon as they walked in the door, they told her to go ahead and push if she wanted, and he was born in seconds, at 10:00 pm. He cried immediately, which was such a relief and was what I was praying for the whole time.  I never thought I'd get to be at a delivery. It was amazing!  

Emily was then taken to the hospital by ambulance. Josh and the kids were still in the car. Josh did not believe me when I came out and said the baby had already been born! 

We got to visit them at the hospital the next day.  Before we went, I told the kids that we weren't going to touch the baby.  And then I looked over and saw Keith handing him to them.  What could I do but take pictures? 


Madelyn stayed with us for four nights while Owen was in the hospital.  She went along with us to VBS, etc.  I mean, when you already have three, what's one more, right?  We love her!
My fourth nephew, Owen.  

June 26, 2015

VBS 2015

I had a different role in VBS this year.  I ended up being in charge of our missions segment.  I taught PBT's Verse by Verse curriculum, and we raised enough money to translate one chapter of the Bible!  It was a great week; I had a lot of fun teaching.  It was also a crazy, busy week in my life with the birth of my nephew Owen, watching my niece Madelyn, T-ball games, swim lessons, just returning from Dallas, and preparing for Aspen.  Whew, June was crazy!
I loved that on beach day, I got to wear the skirt that Lindsay 
got me in PNG on her internship with PBT.
  



 Aleah rocking out with the band!
 All of the kids made blocks of God's miracles.  Jacob's is the bottom left.  He made a block of Aleah, aww!  Hannah's is the top right, the purple cross that says "I love you God."  I loved seeing what all of the kids did!
  Aleah and Madelyn chilled in the nursery:
 Our carnival got moved indoors for rain:
  



 Staff kids staging some pictures for PBT:





June 25, 2015

Gender Reveal Party

Jordan and Courtney had a gender reveal party, where they found out the gender of their third baby along with all of us!  They already had two boys, so they were really hoping for a girl...

 
And they got their wish!  Courtney yelled so loud, it scared me.  I was seriously shaking, haha!  She was crying and so excited and so happy!  That will make four nieces and four nephews for Josh and I so far!


June 14, 2015

Hazel's 1st Birthday!

We celebrated Hazel's first birthday at the first department in LeRoy.  A few weeks before her b-day, she got to spend the day with us.  She was an angel!



The kids thought the party was super fun because they got to see fire trucks, and they got awesome goodie bags to take home!
Happy Birthday to my youngest niece, Hazel!

June 13, 2015

PBT Dallas

Aleah and I got to take a trip together to visit PBT in Dallas.  This is a trip I have been wanting to do for years.  I have served as a forwarding agent for PBT for nearly 9 years, and I have always wanted to go visit the Davenports and attend forwarding agent training, but it never seems to work out for whatever reason.  This was finally my year!  

Aleah wasn't quite ready to be without her mom and vice versa, so she made the trip with me.  She was exhausting, but I'm glad I took her.  The airplane was definitely the hardest part.  I jokingly said I would give her a B- or maybe a C+, but that's because I was on my A game keeping her happy.  Exhausting!  

This was the first time I have flown on my own.  I usually depend on Josh to tell me what to do.  But everything went great!  

It was all so worth it to get to spend time with my dear friend, Lindsay.  We had lots of time to chat and catch up.  I loved staying at her house and seeing her family and a bit of her job and every day life.  Our friendship always seems to just pick up where we left off.  I hope this is just the first of my trips to Dallas!


June 5, 2015

11th Anniversary 5K


I ran my first 5K on our anniversary, and I convinced Josh to do it with me!  After walking/jogging the half marathon, jogging a 5K was a piece of cake, even though I had not run 3 miles straight ever before.  I did not even do that during the half marathon.  I was able to slowly jog the whole thing with very little training just from being in good shape from the half.  Josh did not train at all and pretty much kept up with me (he'd walk and then sprint off and on).  Betsy and Nathan joined us.  Our times were: 

Betsy Alderman 31.48
Stephanie Downing 32.39
Nathan Alderman 33.04
Josh Downing 33.43  

After the race, we headed to the Moon Glo for some fried food to celebrate, ha!  

Happy 11th Anniversary!


May 29, 2015

Babysitting Madelyn

Here are a few more pictures from my year with Madelyn that I haven't shared:

Sharing spaghetti with Jacob:
Learning to stand/walk:
Mr. Potato Heads:
Kithen Food:
Standing:
Snacking:



Thursday school graduation:
Moving Day for the Rancurets:



Preschool Graduation: