The Jump

This is a long post, if you want the condensed version, feel free to scroll to the bottom :) 

We assume that when things fall into place and the road is smooth ahead, all we need to do is just keep traveling along and all will be well. But then, in an instant, being completely taken off guard, the brake is slammed against the floor and there you stand stock still wondering what happened to that smooth road and question why did I have to stop.

It has become an annual event - some crazy people thought it was a fantastic idea to jump into freezing cold water to celebrate the New Year. “It’s great for your immune system!”, “It’ll be fun!”, “You gotta try it, at least once!”. My swim team gathered together to take a plunge into the waters of Lake Macatawa on New Year’s Day. Out of stubbornness, I hadn’t worn a suit to the event the previous year, even though I was one of those crazy people who suggested the event - other people could be brave, I would watch. I was NOT going to be talked into doing it. Alas, I regretted it, not participating that is. So, I was determined and wore my suit this year, convincing myself that yes, it is great for your immune system and it would be fun and hey, at least there is no ice on the lake like there was last year. 

Standing on the dock with the other 19 polar bears waiting my turn, I debated - do I jump and get it over with quickly or do I take the slower route and go down the ladder. I decided to jump. Why not? I’ll be in and out in no time. Caught up in the excitement and adventure, my brain wasn’t processing the check list of: ok, how high up are we on this dock, what is the depth of the water, is it safe, can I see what’s underneath me? I mean, really, I was a recent graduate of the Red Cross Water Safety Instruction Certification Class, of course I would be going through those questions in my mind right? Nope. 

1, 2, 3….. I jumped.

Instant pain shot up my right foot. Determined to fully submerge in the water and do a true polar plunge, I ignored the pain and ducked under the surface. I came up and held my ankle and attempted to put weight on it. It wouldn’t hold me at all. I’m in trouble….. I thought maybe I had just twisted it and hopped over to the awaiting ladder. One foot on, then the right foot… Nope that’s not happening. Ok, hop. Hop. Hop. One rung at a time. A friend of mine who was waiting for his turn looked me in the eye seeing the pain in the grimace of my face and said, “Shanna, are you ok?” I shook my head and simply replied, “No.”

After getting off the ladder and up on the dock with the help and support of many, I hopped and hobbled to the house. I was placed next to the roaring fire that was already going to help warm up the athletes that decided to brave the water. I was immediately surrounded by people, offering help. Ice was applied and warm drink was given. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to drive home I called Travis and told him he’d have to come pick me up and to bring ice and cabbage leaves :) I love cabbage - it helps with the swelling. He came. We went to the ER. Scans were done. It is a fractured right heel. WHAT?!?! Really? I hit that hard? Alas, it was so.

I would have to wait one more day to find out that the fracture was bad enough that I would need surgery, so today (Friday, January 5th) four days after my big adventure, I was wheeled into the Zeeland Hospital Outpatient operating room - having marked my toes with a smile to designate the correct foot - and 3hrs later it was done. The surgery went smoothly for the most part. I have plates and screws that will remain in place to support the heel. It took a bit longer than expected as the specialist spent an hour just repositioning the pieces of the bone before setting them with the screws. They gave me a nerve block to help with the pain, which has been so helpful. We returned home around 7pm and have since taken over my son’s bedroom, as Travis and I have our bedroom downstairs. Bad heel and stairs, not a good combination. 

I was given hope that after about 5 wks, I'll be able to swim again, though I will be restricted to no load bearing on that right side for a total of 10 - 12 weeks. So I'll have swim coaching withdrawal, because I love to coach. But God has blessed me with an opportunity to focus more on Him, to work with and prepare Barend for his graduation this June, to sit and listen to Tiller tell me all about what he has found out about forging and to listen to Juniper practice her music and Japanese. 

To all those that have supported me from the moment you recognized I was in trouble to all those that have sent texts, emails, food, hugs, care packages, loaned me items that will help in the recovery process and most of all prayers, words cannot express how much I am deeply and truly thankful for you all!!!!! 

The prayers were heard and answered.

I had to stop, because He wanted me to - so that I would grow to trust Him more, to learn patience, and to be reminded of His faithfulness in His provision.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:4-9

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Polar Plunge Time

Jump or Ladder

Jump

Instant pain in the right foot.

The hop, one rung at a time up the ladder

“Are you ok” 

No.

The hopping along the dock

Ice

Warmth and fire

Smiles

Crutches

Support of friends

Cabbage and more ice

ER

Scans and waiting

Fractured heel - thankful. It could’ve been much worse

Phone call to specialist

No sleep first night

Next day news, surgery is required

Phone calls and emails to HAC, clients, friends and family - no coaching for 10 to 12 weeks

More support of friends

God continued to provide and sustain

Answered prayers and peace of mind

Little to no pain

Waiting 

Surgery Day

Smiley faces and talks of how great cabbage is to the nurses

Sleep

Awake

Ready for home.

Resting. 

Continued peace.

Hopeful.

Next time, I'll use the ladder :) :) :) :)

Homeschooling Adventure...

So our homeschooling adventure has already begun, ever since Barend was born. I think, besides pictures and updates, I'm going to turn this blog into our homeschooling adventure blog :) What we do as a family to help each other learn. It's going to be fun and interesting and I'm looking forward to the great amount of learning we'll be doing over the extent of the rest of our lives.

A couple of pictures...

Barend wanted me to, "Hand me a wrench mommy! I need to fix the chair." And if I had sound for Juniper...she has thing grunt thing going on. It's between a growl and a grunt. Cute, but she does it alot now :)

"My eggs are raken."

Barends sentence from today. We were outside the other day and I had the snowshoes on and the next day when I was playing with Barend I told him I had to stop because my legs were aching from walking around in the snow. Today, as Barend was getting down from his chair after lunch, he said, "My eggs are raken." and proceeded to point to his knees and legs. That was the only way that I got it without asking him again. My little guy :)

Here's a picture of me and what my sister in law says as, "Barend with hair!" : ) And one of Barend back in August.

My little girl...

Is almost pulling herself up to a standing position. She does stand on her own, but she tends to go "timber" unexpectedly. When she's on the floor she tends to stick her butt up in the air alot. She's getting so big.

New arrivals...

So we got a dining room table :) No more eating on the floor during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Juniper has got her fifth tooth, so many more to go.

Pictures are: Barend and Dad working on putting together the table and chairs, Barend waiting on the timer so he could play "Uncle Mark's game" (PS2 Star War Legos), Juniper going at great lengths to get cords to chew on, Barend taking a picture of Juniper going to great lengths to chew on cords, and Barend and Juniper being Barend and Juniper. Enjoy!

Snow and stuff...

So here are a few pictures of the snow that we got last night and this morning. And Barend and Juniper playing :)

Pictures of late..

Ok, so I only have a couple...we've been sick the past 3wks and just now catching up on things :)
The handprint is Barend's. We were making sugar cookies :) Juniper is eating coco wheats.

Teeth and Thanksgiving...

Wow, what happened to November? Juniper is getting her two top teeth and hasn't been sleeping. She's actually up right now chewing on a DVD case staring at her dad as he eats ice cream. She likes watching people eat :)

Barend has his first dentist appointment tomorrow. Hopefully it'll go ok. I want to take some pictures, but I'm not sure if they'll allow it in the office. Hmmmm...

I'll be "home" for a week starting this Saturday for Thanksgiving. Hopefully, I'll be able to see family and friends that I haven't seen in awhile.

I'm thankful for all the people that God has put into my life at appointed times to help me along the race that he has called us to run. What a challenge the race has been, but worth every step.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!

Sick babies....

Yup...my babies are sick again :( Looks like a week of staying at home...

Pumpkin Carving and Stuff...

So we got a pumpkin this past weekend that was big enough to carve...Trav did the cutting and Barend looked cute :) After Trav got the top off though, I was sure Barend was going to "dig in" and get messy. He looked inside the pumpkin and wouldn't even put his hand in. He ended up just watching, but he did want to help with the carving part (the part with the knives....). We also saved the seeds and tried our hand at roasting pumpkin seeds. Needless to say, they needed more salt and not be cooked as long as they did....they were still good though :) Here are some pics for your enjoyment.

Heros and Applesauce...

Teeth and Harmonicas...

So my daughter has her first tooth at 5months of age. She's been fussy lately and hasn't been sleeping too well and now I know why. Her little sharp tooth (yes, it's very sharp for such a little thing) poked through a couple of days ago. We are now awaiting the one right next to it, which should come any day now. She's also rolling to get to places and when she's patient she'll scoot using her toes.

My mom got barend a harmonica. He loves it and actually plays very well. He doesn't over play so it sounds really nice. Anyway, this is how the harmonica conversation goes:

Barend: "Cry mommy, cry."
Me: (I pretend to cry)
Barend: "What would you like, baby?"
Me: "I want some music."
Barend: "O.K.!" (plays the harmonica)

Two seconds later....

Barend: "Cry mommy, cry."

He's so funny sometimes :)

I have some more pictures, however, my son has confiscated the batteries that were in it for some of his toys, so I'll have to get more at the store next time I'm out :)

Pictures :)

So my baby boy is now 3yrs old :) He's getting so big and talking so much. He plays by himself alot with his super hero guys and has them converse with each other (he does the voices). Its so cute! Last night he was playing with all the playdough that he got for his birthday and I happened to peek in the dinning room and on the window he had made "his project". As you can see from the picture he put playdough dots all over the window. Silly boy :) Juniper is still waiting for those teeth to arrive, but she's sucking her thumb like a champ and is kinda pushing herself along with her legs when shes rolled over. Won't be long and I'll have to figure out how to split myself in half with Barend going one direction and Juniper the other. We started CBS today and will be doing MOPS too, so we're finally meeting some people around here :) I've gotta go...Juniper is tired of being on her belly. Enjoy the pictures!!

Stuff...

So, Barend is going to be three very soon (Monday) and he's my little character. We've been to the beach a few times this past week (love being 15min! from Lake Michigan) and Barend's routine is get in the water, roll in the sand like he's taking a bath, then get back in the water....thus repeating even after we get him "rinsed" off when we are about to leave. Today while putting away groceries and cleaning the kitchen I gave barend 7 little chips of baking chocolate and as you can see from the pictures he savoured them by playing with them in a variety of ways putting them through the paper towel roll and "hiding them" and placing them on top of the puffs box, his "tower".

Juniper is sucking her right thumb, following in her brothers footsteps (although he sucks his left thumb) and is almost rolling over. She gets her hips over and just can't get the rest of the way. She's also got one heck of a smile :) Well, enjoy some of the pictures :)