Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sickness
Well, the last couple of weeks have been pretty hard for the Greenwood family...sickness has hit our home. Chris started off with a cold a couple of weeks ago, and we thought we were out of the woods. A week ago, Kyrie came down with a cold, but nothing serious. Mommy was trying so hard to keep everyone healthy...washing hands like crazy and keeping the other kiddos away from Kyrie. Then a couple of days ago, Sophie woke up with a runny nose and watery eyes. By the afternoon, she was running a fever. That night, Josiah started running a fever, too. He has a horrible cough and has lost his voice. Sophie seems to be doing well, but Josiah's lungs are sounding pretty bad. We are taking him to the doctor because the last time he had a cold, he needed to have breathing treatments. In the process of it all, Mommy is now not feeling good, but not as bad as the two older kiddos. So if you can please be in prayer that this will pass quickly. I guess one benefit of us all being sick at the same time is that this junk won't carry on for weeks/months. Thanks in advance for the prayers!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Happy New Year--The Perfect Life
Well,
I am a little late with writing this...that seems to be the pattern
lately. :) We didn't do anything exciting for New Year's Eve this year.
As a matter of fact, I think we were in bed by 10pm that night, not
knowing when Little Miss Kyrie would be getting up to eat...we didn't
want to regret staying up late the next day. Kyrie did get up just
before midnight to eat, so we spent bringing in the new year feeding the
baby and listening to people set off fireworks...how exciting is
that!?! :) Some would say, "Absolutely BORING!!!" But you want to know
something? I wouldn't change it for the world. Sure, it would be
exciting (for the moment) to be staying up all night and getting all
dressed up to go to a party, but that is only for a moment...having a
new member of our family and nurturing her...well, that is a lifetime.
So, yes, for some they would look at us and say, "You need to get a
life." But to us...it is the perfect life.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Christmas 2011
Well, Kyrie celebrated her first Christmas. Most of it was spent sleeping...this girl knows how to nap! :)
We started off our day by reading the birth of Jesus from Luke 2 and had a little prayer time with the kiddos. Then we came down stairs to open up stockings and presents. Then we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We got ready for church and then went to worship with our church family. After going to church, we came home and had some lunch before taking a nap. We were blessed to spend some time with some our family. Chris' Uncle Chuck, Aunt Melody and Lola all came over for dinner and a visit. The kids had so much fun with Uncle Chuck. They played with trains and played with their flashlights in the bathroom. The kids went to bed shortly after our family left, and Chris and I realized how tired we really were.
Some things the kids got for Christmas:
Josiah--clothes, shoes, cards for his Alfie, a kiddie digital camera, a couple of Thomas trains
Sophie--clothes, shoes, tights galore, and baby doll clothes and accessories
Kyrie--mostly got clothes with a few shoes.
Mommy and Daddy--got clothes and money--not overly exciting, but things that are GREATLY appreciated and needed! :)
We had a great day as a family. We were able to relax and enjoy each others company. God has truly blessed us! 2011 has been an exciting year and we can't wait to see what He has in hold for us in 2012.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
CHRISTmas 2011
So I can’t believe this is the 9th year for the Greenwood CHRISTmas letter…have we REALLY been married nine years!?!
Well, where do we begin? This year the Greenwoods have done lots of traveling. In March, we loaded up the kids and headed to Tennessee to see Chris’ grandparents. We then headed south to Northern Georgia to see Chris’ mom and step-dad. In April, we headed to Orlando, FL with Sara’s family as part of our Christmas present. We had LOTS of fun going to Animal Kingdom and Sea World and spending time with our family. In May, we headed to NC to spend some time with Chris’ dad and step-mom. We were able to spend a couple of days at the beach with them and had LOTS of fun riding go-carts and playing putt-putt. In June, Sara and the kids headed to GA to spend time with her family and some of Chris’ family. While we were there, we celebrated Josiah’s birthday early with a Thomas the Tank Engine party. The kids had LOTS of fun swimming and running around. In July, Chris and Sara headed to Daytona Beach, FL with the youth group from our church to be taught under Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin. We had a wonderful time hanging out and building relationships with the youth. At the end of July, we headed to VT to see Sara’s extended family. We were able to stay at her aunt’s camp for a week and enjoy the peace and quiet of the country. The kids had LOTS of fun fishing, tubing, kayaking, riding in the motor boat and having LOTS of space to run around. As you can see, we had a very busy year of travel, but we made LOTS of wonderful memories with our children.
Speaking of our children…maybe it is a good time to fill you in on what they are up to. Josiah is now 3 ½…yes, 3 ½! We can’t believe that our first born is already that old. He continues to be a great source of joy and laughter. His sense of humor has really developed and actually makes jokes and picks up on things that are funny. We are still debating where he gets this from…Chris often says he lives with a bunch of crazy people, but really we are all normal and Chris is the odd one out! He had a really great school year last year and continues to be excited about “going” to school, so we have continued with home schooling this year. A few things he is able to do is read some simple books, begun to memorize scripture, is able to tell me beginning sounds of words and is starting to make rhyming words. He continues to amaze us with this memory…a quick story to share about how amazing his memory is. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was buying some ingredients to make hibernation cupcakes. We were at the store, and I was explaining why we were buying all these ingredients. He said that he had made hibernation cupcakes before—which we had. I asked him if he remembered who he made the cupcakes with. He then told me with his cousins Harper and Auden—which was correct. When I was telling Chris about our conversation, I told him that I couldn’t believe he remembered making cupcakes from last year, but then when we got to thinking about it, we actually made the cupcakes 2 years ago! Did you just hear that? That was the sound of us shuddering…I think we need to be afraid…very afraid!
Sophie will be turning 2 in January. She continues to be the free-spirit of the family. She is so full of life and energy…nothing slows her down. Sophie is one smart little cookie—she believes if Josiah can do it, so can she. With that, we went ahead and started school with her. Last spring, she started picking up things as I was teaching Josiah…I wasn’t really teaching her, but she just learned 12 shapes (she has a clock with 12 different shapes), all the colors, numbers 1-10 and the letters. So she “goes” to school twice a week and gets a more focused time to work with Mommy on lessons. She continues to do really well with the “Your Baby Can Read” videos and has begun to read quite a few words and sentences in books (many words aren’t even part of the reading videos)! This reading video series has truly amazed us and is well worth the money.
The most exciting news of the year is the arrival of Kyrie Eleison (pronounced “K-long i R-long E” “Ella-s-short o-n”). Let’s just say this little one made quite an entrance into the world. We found out around 36 weeks that Kyrie was breech, but we had a few more weeks with the possibility of her turning. When I was about 37 weeks, I was driving to meet Chris for lunch. I started feeling a little sick and then there was a brief moment where I don’t remember anything. After I came to, I remember seeing a green light with no traffic around and saying to myself that I needed to go because I didn’t want to hold up traffic. Later on, I realized that I had blacked out. What I didn’t realize is that I had rear-ended the car in front of me (the reason there were no cars around me when I came to was because they had pulled over into a parking lot). I was pretty close to home, so I called Chris and told him I wasn’t feeling well and was just going home. He came home with lunch to check on me. Shortly after he got home, a cop shows up at the door. The cop wanted to know who the driver of the van was—that was the first time Chris saw that there had been an accident. Chris explained that I had been driving, but I was on the couch 37 weeks pregnant and not feeling very well. The cop then explained that if I didn’t go back to the scene of the accident, then he would have to charge me with a felony of hit and run---OK, cue the COPS theme music right now. Once the cop saw me lying on the couch looking miserable, he changed his tone quite a bit. Chris drove me back to the scene of the accident, and we got everything situated. When I got home, I decided to go ahead and call my OB to see if I should go in for a visit. She told me that passing out is not a normal side-effect of pregnancy and that I needed to go to Labor and Deliver so the baby could be monitored. After spending a few hours in L&D, they sent me to the ER so I could be monitored and have some tests run to try to figure out why I had passed out. Eight hours later no explanation of why I passed out came to light. We went back to the doctor at 38 weeks to find out that she was still breech. Our doctors are wonderful and wanted to try turning her before jumping to a C-section…I was really thankful for that. At that appointment, we decided that we would go in for the turning and an induction on Nov. 3rd. We arrived at the hospital on the 3rd to find out that Kyrie was still breech. The doctor was going to go ahead and turn her. Now, most women…so we are told …usually get an epidural for the turning of the baby, but I absolutely DID NOT want an epidural, so she went ahead and turned her without one (by the way, it wasn’t painful). The doctor got Kyrie turned most of the way down, but if my stomach was a clock face, her head stopped at 7. The doctor did an ultrasound to find out why she couldn’t turn her anymore and discovered that there was a foot covering my cervix. Since I had eaten some toast, they weren’t able to do a C-section right away. So the next four hours, the nurses were giving me different exercises to do to try to get Kyrie to move her foot. The doctor came back to our room just before noon to find that Kyrie’s foot hadn’t moved (Chris said that she gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “digging your heels in”) and that I had been having some contractions, so we decided it was best to go ahead with the C-section. Now remember, I was adamant about not having an epidural—this is how much I was—I asked the doctor if they could just go ahead and knock me out and I would see everyone later that day. After talking with the anesthesiologist, we decided that there were too many risks with the whole knocking out option. This is when God really started working on me. At this point, I had a choice to be anxious and fearful, or I could trust Him and the doctors He created. With His strength, I was able to trust Him which also allowed me to trust our doctors. So at 12:05pm, I was walking into the OR in full-confidence that God had His hands on me and the doctors. At 12:22pm, the doctor was starting the incision and by 12:24pm, Kyrie Eleison was born weighting 6 lbs. 8oz. and measuring 19 ¾ inches long. By 12:40pm, I was being rolled into the recovery room. We are so thankful to God for blessing us with a healthy little girl. Even though she made quite an entrance into the world, she is very much a laid back and peaceful baby. We are thankful that we have a God who cares about every detail of our life and walks with us during those trying times.
As for Chris and I, we are doing well. Chris continues to stay busy with all his church responsibilities—we can’t believe we have been here for 3 years! I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with the kids and to support Chris in his calling, which on some days feels like 2 full time jobs, but I wouldn’t change it for anything because I am doing exactly what God wants me to do. We look forward to seeing what God is going to do in the Greenwood family in 2012!
Blessed because of Him,
Chris, Sara, Josiah, Sophie and Kyrie
Well, where do we begin? This year the Greenwoods have done lots of traveling. In March, we loaded up the kids and headed to Tennessee to see Chris’ grandparents. We then headed south to Northern Georgia to see Chris’ mom and step-dad. In April, we headed to Orlando, FL with Sara’s family as part of our Christmas present. We had LOTS of fun going to Animal Kingdom and Sea World and spending time with our family. In May, we headed to NC to spend some time with Chris’ dad and step-mom. We were able to spend a couple of days at the beach with them and had LOTS of fun riding go-carts and playing putt-putt. In June, Sara and the kids headed to GA to spend time with her family and some of Chris’ family. While we were there, we celebrated Josiah’s birthday early with a Thomas the Tank Engine party. The kids had LOTS of fun swimming and running around. In July, Chris and Sara headed to Daytona Beach, FL with the youth group from our church to be taught under Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin. We had a wonderful time hanging out and building relationships with the youth. At the end of July, we headed to VT to see Sara’s extended family. We were able to stay at her aunt’s camp for a week and enjoy the peace and quiet of the country. The kids had LOTS of fun fishing, tubing, kayaking, riding in the motor boat and having LOTS of space to run around. As you can see, we had a very busy year of travel, but we made LOTS of wonderful memories with our children.
Speaking of our children…maybe it is a good time to fill you in on what they are up to. Josiah is now 3 ½…yes, 3 ½! We can’t believe that our first born is already that old. He continues to be a great source of joy and laughter. His sense of humor has really developed and actually makes jokes and picks up on things that are funny. We are still debating where he gets this from…Chris often says he lives with a bunch of crazy people, but really we are all normal and Chris is the odd one out! He had a really great school year last year and continues to be excited about “going” to school, so we have continued with home schooling this year. A few things he is able to do is read some simple books, begun to memorize scripture, is able to tell me beginning sounds of words and is starting to make rhyming words. He continues to amaze us with this memory…a quick story to share about how amazing his memory is. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was buying some ingredients to make hibernation cupcakes. We were at the store, and I was explaining why we were buying all these ingredients. He said that he had made hibernation cupcakes before—which we had. I asked him if he remembered who he made the cupcakes with. He then told me with his cousins Harper and Auden—which was correct. When I was telling Chris about our conversation, I told him that I couldn’t believe he remembered making cupcakes from last year, but then when we got to thinking about it, we actually made the cupcakes 2 years ago! Did you just hear that? That was the sound of us shuddering…I think we need to be afraid…very afraid!
Sophie will be turning 2 in January. She continues to be the free-spirit of the family. She is so full of life and energy…nothing slows her down. Sophie is one smart little cookie—she believes if Josiah can do it, so can she. With that, we went ahead and started school with her. Last spring, she started picking up things as I was teaching Josiah…I wasn’t really teaching her, but she just learned 12 shapes (she has a clock with 12 different shapes), all the colors, numbers 1-10 and the letters. So she “goes” to school twice a week and gets a more focused time to work with Mommy on lessons. She continues to do really well with the “Your Baby Can Read” videos and has begun to read quite a few words and sentences in books (many words aren’t even part of the reading videos)! This reading video series has truly amazed us and is well worth the money.
The most exciting news of the year is the arrival of Kyrie Eleison (pronounced “K-long i R-long E” “Ella-s-short o-n”). Let’s just say this little one made quite an entrance into the world. We found out around 36 weeks that Kyrie was breech, but we had a few more weeks with the possibility of her turning. When I was about 37 weeks, I was driving to meet Chris for lunch. I started feeling a little sick and then there was a brief moment where I don’t remember anything. After I came to, I remember seeing a green light with no traffic around and saying to myself that I needed to go because I didn’t want to hold up traffic. Later on, I realized that I had blacked out. What I didn’t realize is that I had rear-ended the car in front of me (the reason there were no cars around me when I came to was because they had pulled over into a parking lot). I was pretty close to home, so I called Chris and told him I wasn’t feeling well and was just going home. He came home with lunch to check on me. Shortly after he got home, a cop shows up at the door. The cop wanted to know who the driver of the van was—that was the first time Chris saw that there had been an accident. Chris explained that I had been driving, but I was on the couch 37 weeks pregnant and not feeling very well. The cop then explained that if I didn’t go back to the scene of the accident, then he would have to charge me with a felony of hit and run---OK, cue the COPS theme music right now. Once the cop saw me lying on the couch looking miserable, he changed his tone quite a bit. Chris drove me back to the scene of the accident, and we got everything situated. When I got home, I decided to go ahead and call my OB to see if I should go in for a visit. She told me that passing out is not a normal side-effect of pregnancy and that I needed to go to Labor and Deliver so the baby could be monitored. After spending a few hours in L&D, they sent me to the ER so I could be monitored and have some tests run to try to figure out why I had passed out. Eight hours later no explanation of why I passed out came to light. We went back to the doctor at 38 weeks to find out that she was still breech. Our doctors are wonderful and wanted to try turning her before jumping to a C-section…I was really thankful for that. At that appointment, we decided that we would go in for the turning and an induction on Nov. 3rd. We arrived at the hospital on the 3rd to find out that Kyrie was still breech. The doctor was going to go ahead and turn her. Now, most women…so we are told …usually get an epidural for the turning of the baby, but I absolutely DID NOT want an epidural, so she went ahead and turned her without one (by the way, it wasn’t painful). The doctor got Kyrie turned most of the way down, but if my stomach was a clock face, her head stopped at 7. The doctor did an ultrasound to find out why she couldn’t turn her anymore and discovered that there was a foot covering my cervix. Since I had eaten some toast, they weren’t able to do a C-section right away. So the next four hours, the nurses were giving me different exercises to do to try to get Kyrie to move her foot. The doctor came back to our room just before noon to find that Kyrie’s foot hadn’t moved (Chris said that she gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “digging your heels in”) and that I had been having some contractions, so we decided it was best to go ahead with the C-section. Now remember, I was adamant about not having an epidural—this is how much I was—I asked the doctor if they could just go ahead and knock me out and I would see everyone later that day. After talking with the anesthesiologist, we decided that there were too many risks with the whole knocking out option. This is when God really started working on me. At this point, I had a choice to be anxious and fearful, or I could trust Him and the doctors He created. With His strength, I was able to trust Him which also allowed me to trust our doctors. So at 12:05pm, I was walking into the OR in full-confidence that God had His hands on me and the doctors. At 12:22pm, the doctor was starting the incision and by 12:24pm, Kyrie Eleison was born weighting 6 lbs. 8oz. and measuring 19 ¾ inches long. By 12:40pm, I was being rolled into the recovery room. We are so thankful to God for blessing us with a healthy little girl. Even though she made quite an entrance into the world, she is very much a laid back and peaceful baby. We are thankful that we have a God who cares about every detail of our life and walks with us during those trying times.
As for Chris and I, we are doing well. Chris continues to stay busy with all his church responsibilities—we can’t believe we have been here for 3 years! I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with the kids and to support Chris in his calling, which on some days feels like 2 full time jobs, but I wouldn’t change it for anything because I am doing exactly what God wants me to do. We look forward to seeing what God is going to do in the Greenwood family in 2012!
Blessed because of Him,
Chris, Sara, Josiah, Sophie and Kyrie
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thanksgiving 2011
Well, we have so much to be thankful for this year. God continues to pour His blessings on our family. Our biggest gift this year was the arrival of Kyrie. Even though her arrival wasn't how we planned it to be, God got her here safely and that is all that matters! We continue to be thankful for good health for our family. Sure, we have had our share of colds, but nothing very serious. Yes, I might have passed out while 37 weeks pregnant, but the doctors didn't find anything wrong. For these things we are thankful! We are thankful that God continues to bless our ministry here in Northern Virginia and that Chris has a job to go to each week. We know there are many out there who don't have a job and aren't able to provide for their family, so for this we are thankful. We are thankful for our families who support us and the calling God has on our life. We know that it isn't ideal that we live so far away, but we are thankful for your support and your visits. We are also so thankful for our church family. They definitely step up and do things our family would normally do if we lived in the same town. We have truly been blessed for all the meals that have been provided, the help with the kids as I recover from the C-section and all the prayers and encouraging words spoken. For these things we are thankful. We are thankful that God has allowed me to stay home with our children. Sure, we might not be able to vacation as much as we like or buy all the things that we want, but we are thankful that all of our needs are met. The most important thing we are thankful for, is for our salvation in Jesus Christ. Without Him, we might not see all these blessings. We pray that you take a moment to reflect on all the blessings that you have in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Happy Birthday, Kyrie!
Date: 11/05/2011 07:40:42 PM
Well, Kyrie Eleison has made her entrance! We got up early Thursday morning...like 5am early to get ready to go to the hospital. The plan was to go ahead and turn Kyrie if she hadn't already turned. When we got there and the doctor finally came in, she said Kyrie was still breech. She was going to have to go ahead with the external version. She asked if I had made a decision about getting an epidural and I told her I still didn't want one. So she went ahead with turning the baby. She got her head turned down, but for some reason couldn't get it straight down. When the doctor did an ultrasound, she saw that her feet were down where my cervix was. We had to wait four hours because I had eaten, so even though they were talking c-section they said she might move her feet in that time. Well, she ended up not moving her feet and started laboring some, so it was off to get ready for the c-section. I am so against having an epidural that I even asked to be knocked out during the c-section. There were too many big risks to be able to do that, so I had to just trust the Lord with this whole situation. The c-section was so quick from start to finish...we were walking into the OR around 12:05pm and they were pushing me into recovery by 12:40pm. Kyrie Eleison joined us officially at 12:24pm weighing 6 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 19 inches long. We are so thankful that she is here safely and is absolutely healthy. Please pray for us as we transition to being a family of four to a family of five.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Less than a week
WOW! Less than a week, and we will be a family of five! The last week has been pretty eventful--more eventful than I would like. A little over a week ago, the kids and I were on our way to meet Chris for lunch. I started feeling really hot and little sick to my stomach. Then there is a time period that I don't even remember--guessing I blacked out. I remember waking up at a green light and seeing no cars and thinking, "I need to go so I don't hold up traffic." I called Chris and told him that we were just going home b/c I didn't feel well and feel like I had blacked out. He came home right away. Shortly after he got home, a police officer showed up looking for the driver of our van. We understand he has a job to do, but he was really insensitive to the fact I wasn't feeling well and was 37 weeks pregnant. Once he saw me, his tone changed, and he became a little more understanding. He did say that I needed to go back to the accident or that he would have no choice, but to charge me with a felony. So Chris loaded the kids and me back in the van, and we headed back to the accident--I NEVER knew that I had hit anyone--the impact didn't wake me up. The damage to the bumpers made it look a lot worse than the accident really was--nobody was hurt--Praise the LORD!! They didn't charge me with a felony, so I'm so THANKFUL for that. I did call my OB when we got back home because I was still feeling pretty bad. She wanted me to go to the hospital and be monitored in the Labor and Delivery wing for a few hours. After being there for awhile, they decided that Kyrie was doing fine, but they wanted me to go to the ER to be monitored for a few more hours to make sure I was doing OK. After being there for a few more hours and having a few tests done, they couldn't find anything wrong. The conclusion we came up with is sometimes an artery can get blocked in pregnant women from sitting the wrong way and the weight of the baby which can cause them to pass out. We were so thankful that our good friends the Porters and the McLeods were flexible enough to come watch the kids while Chris and I were in the hospital. We knew the kids were in loving hands, so it made it easier to focus on what was going on at the hospital. After being in the hospital for 8+ hours, we headed home. We decided that it would be best for me not to drive until after Kyrie gets here--wasn't expecting to be laid up in the house this early, but I know it is best and safest for all. The next couple of days, I was pretty tired. It was hard to tell if being tired was from the incident, Josiah getting up 3 to 4 times a night for a couple of weeks or just pregnancy related. Chris was supposed to be on a camping retreat with the youth, but earlier in the week we had a conversation, and I told him since this summer and planning the trip I never felt like he should go. I told him a couple days before again that I felt like something bad was going to happen and that he may need to make plans to have some other leaders be in charge...little did I know what was going to happen, but Chris made plans to be around. I'm so thankful that he listened and took me seriously. We made it through the weekend for the most part. Josiah started getting this cough in his chest that was very wet sounding. On Monday, we decided he needed to go to the doctor, so we called to make an appointment for after my OB appointment. We dropped Sophie off at another friend's house (Thanks, Cruzes!) while we went to the doctor. While at the OB, we found out that Kyrie is breech with her head under my ribs--the first blow of the day. Then we headed to Josiah's appointment and found out that he has a form of bronchitis/asthma and needed to start breathing treatments--second blow of the day. It was a hard day...let's just say a hard week, but I am so thankful for our church family! I have received LOTS of encouraging phone calls checking in to see if we needed anything from the store or if I needed help. We have someone organizing meals. It is hard to not have family right down the street to call when help is needed, but the Lord has taught me the last few days that family doesn't have to take the form of being related physically by blood, but family is those who are covered by the blood of Jesus. So I need to say a BIG THANK YOU to our RPC church family for stepping in and taking on the role of "family" this past week and the weeks to come as we adjust to having Kyrie here. God has truly blessed us with a wonderful and amazing VA family!
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