The teams are even: 3 Boys and 3 Girls

Brynn Marie White was welcomed into the world on November 28, 2018. She graced us with her presence and some mighty lungs at 8:46am. Weighing 6lbs 2 oz and stretching a full 18 3/4 in long, this girl completed our family.

 

She wasn't supposed to arrive for a few more weeks, but like Ayla, Brynn stopped growing in my belly, so the doc made the call to have her. It wasn't quite as dramatic like Ayla's birth story (appointment to birth was 90min), but still a stressful 24 hours. Thankfully Gam Gam lives here so she was able to watch the kids. Fun birth-day things: Our anesthesiologist is a Buckeye, and wore a Buckeye scrub cap, and his name was Brian.

This baby took us the longest to name. I had a hard time for a few reasons: this was the last time I would name a baby (no pressure!) and there was so much skin-to-skin, I couldn't just look at her! I only saw the top of her head for the first few hours. We had it narrowed down to a few names. Brynn to me is a sassy name. This girl was trouble in the womb and came out sassy as ever screaming her lungs off. It is also close to my brother's name, Bryan. While I didn't want to have something that sounded the same as his (Brylee was suggested), I liked that this was spelled similar to his name. We found out she was a girl just two days after my brother died so I felt I wanted to honor him in some way. Brynn means hill. This pregnancy felt like an uphill battle. There were little issues throughout and the stress of the grief process added to all of that. I like the name Brynn (obviously or we wouldn't have picked it) and we are seeing that it fits her well.

The kids were super excited. This was a fun pregnancy and birth because all of our kids are old enough to get it. They are great helpers and can follow directions around Brynn very well. I loved when they finally made it to the hospital to meet her!

2018 was a tough year. We had moves, deaths and births. Brynn was able to help me end the year on a happy note. She was a great distraction at Christmas when we felt the void of Bryan. I can't wait til she is old enough and I can share the great stories of her Uncle with her. I love snuggling a new little baby and will probably enjoy it even more when I start getting more sleep.

Spring 2018 - New home - New normal - New beginnings

We closed on our house April 1. We celebrated Easter, new home, Gam Gam's 60th birthday, Kennedy (our niece) 1st birthday and Asher's 6th birthday all in the same weekend. Talk about a whirlwind. Once again, our village came through and helped us load and unload. The weather was decent considering it snowed the following day.  Boys are sharing a room and got bunkbeds. Asher wrote in his journal (which we saw after school finished in May) that he was so excited about the bunkbeds. There is a swingset in our yard and a park with splashpad less than a block away. We couldn't be more thrilled with our neighborhood. It is full of kids and Asher will attend the school right down the street next year.

 About a week after we moved in, I found out I am pregnant with baby #4. The video at the very end was when we told the kids - it was the surprise at the end of a scavenger hunt. We find out in a few weeks what the gender is and we are all VERY excited to find out. This baby is our rainbow after a long storm. We miscarried last fall - in the midst of Mike's job loss and rough time frame. It was as if everything was crashing down on us. When we felt like life couldn't get any worse (there are a lot of details to the job loss that aren't worth sharing, but a lot went on) it got worse.  I prayed daily over James "Consider it pure joy my brothers and sister, when faced with trials of many kinds, because the testing of your faith produces perseverance." On the toughest of days, sometimes this is all I could get out - and that was ok! God brought Mike and I closer together through prayer than every before. Looking back, this was a trial that strengthened our faith and didn't weaken it. I was asked many times, "Aren't you mad at God for doing this?" Yes and no. I was mad and angry at the situation but not at God. God doesn't make bad things happen. Sin is in the world and therefore bad things are going to happen. We are all broken people. God uses those bad things for his glory. Did I cry out to God and ask why? You bet. Did he answer? Not right away but he gave me peace and hope.  He put people in my life that prayed with us and supported us.  I struggle with anxiety over finances. So when Mike lost his job, he was worried about me worrying about money (did you follow that?). The crazy thing is - I never once worried about paying bills or having food on our table. God sent me so much peace in that area. We were never late on any payment. We almost drained our savings, but that is what it is for right? We had help from so many people and most of the time without even asking. 2017 was a rough year for us but 2018 is turning out to be the best one yet.
Now in the spring we are seeing that God has always been with us and will always be with us. We hope we can use our testimony of 2017 to encourage others never to lose hope. God is faithful. His plan is always better than ours. Mike's job is going very well. His co-workers are wonderful.  Our kids are older now and kind of get what is going on. Ayla talks to the baby every day. They ask about how I am feeling and are just ready for him/her to get here...which won't be until December!

Winter 2017

After a few months of living apart, we decided to be together. Our house still hadn't sold but it was tough on the family. We all moved into Gam Gam's house. There were growing pains and adjustments, but it was the best decision for us. We were together and that is what mattered. Asher and Ayla finished school the first week of December. We opened enrolled Asher into the district where we were planning on buying house. I found a MOPs group and Bible study to get plugged in with as well. Christmas was still split between Chicago and Urbandale. I rediscovered Des Moines! It was fun exploring and finding the fun things that it has to offer. We went to bounce houses, trampoline centers, ice skating, Shriner circus, played in the snow....so much to do. In the past, we would come for a short visit and not get to do much but see family. Now we are able to find all that Des Moines has to offer.  In January, we made a quick trip to Kansas City to see friends. Ayla turned 4 in February and had two princess visitors. Our house finally got an offer we accepted at the end of February so we started the house hunting process all over again.