Camping and carpet (in that order)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day weekend! We enjoyed a long weekend camping with our friends Jeromy & Nichole and their 2 respective kids as well as niece & nephew up the mountain. Since we had a couple days of 90+ weather, no one seemed to mind that the stream was snow pack melt and freezing. Steven and Buster swam and kept up with kids and I bravely sported a bathing suit. It was an absolutely great weekend!

Tuesday Steven & friends got all the furniture moved from all three bedrooms and the living/office/hallway for our new carpets to be installed. WOW! What a difference it makes! It was like coming home to a new house! We're thrilled to have another major home improvement done. The picture of the living room makes it look a lot lighter than it actually is. The nursery carpet is a moss green (goes along with the muted primary Noah's Ark theme), the spare room is ivory and our bedroom is a dark oatmeal diamond pattern carpet.

First Day

Hello Friends new guy here at 0200 hrs and I am obviously still awake. Been a great first day on Rescue 3 and the new crew. Our drill was cancelled this AM due to high heat this afternoon. Chiefs wanted us to remain rested and hydrated for the hot weather. Busy day, I had meetings with my Captain and Battalion Chief to cover expectations. Went on an EMS call, Car wreck, and had 2 fires. The first fire was in our "first due" so I was able to get the first command role out of the way...learned a lot, will do a lot better next time (not that I did bad, just missed some little things). 2nd fire was a bit away, we were last to arrive and got to do a search, then went to cover another station, then went back to the fire scene, now we're back in our own station and I'll be headed to the chair to sleep....no sense in making a bed for 4 hours.....

God makes all things new...

Wow; another long but wonderful day! As I was decompressing on my short jaunt home from Station 11 this evening, I was trying to gain greater perspective on today's events and was reminded that God makes all things new. That includes things you think you have figured and planned out but His plan is sovereign. Without going into too much detail and sharing too much information since no formal offer is in writing, possibly wonderful things for our family are happening with my job. Steven and I had thought we had a good thing worked out for when I return to work in December but it appears great things may just fall into our laps too. This was a blessing as today was Steven's last shift as a FF and at Station 11 with a wonderful crew that I know we will both miss dearly. All of us wifes took desserts to the station tonight and enjoyed fellowship together. What a blessing Lt. Darcy and AO Ryan have been along with Karen and Gail! As we prep for the change that Steven being an officer means as well as the culture shock of Rescue 3 (sleepless nights, different nature of "emergencies", etc.), its very nice to have the reassurance that God's wise plan is guiding our path.

Wonderful day full of blessings!!!!

Our day started with Steven's promotion at CCFD1 to Lieutenant. It was a very nice ceremony in which Chief Ed Kirchhofer swore him in, I was able to pin his badge and a nice reception followed. Many of Steven's friends, mentors and colleagues made the event which was also celebrating our friend Brandon Paxton's promotion to Apparatus Operator. We enjoyed a very nice lunch at Weatherford's Grand Lodge in OC (a favorite restauarant) with Annie, Steve, Stephannie, Darcy and Karen (Steven's current lieutenant and his wife who are wonderful friends of ours). Then we had our follow-up ultrasound which of course is always exciting! There were a couple of reasons for the follow-up including baby size! Based on Baby's measurements, we are not 28 1/2 weeks... but 30 weeks! So, we'll have to wait until our next appointment in a week and a half to find out if our midwives are going to confirm that we may have an earlier due date (Sept 7th) or Baby's just a healthy grower (Sept 18th). We'll keep you posted! NO, WE DID NOT FIND OUT IF IT'S A BOY OR GIRL! But here's a shot of our little thumb sucker. 7/1/09: Just received the call from our midwives, they're leaving the due date 9/18. Just a healthy grower and they'll keep an eye on the baby's size.

Pure bliss

A few weeks ago, the baby started to really stretch and move up and now it's just plain ol' lovin' the rib cage! Of course the bigger the baby gets, the bigger the belly gets and the more intense the rib pain. Days which are spent primarily at my desk or driving for work are the worst. I read anything I could get my hands on regarding relieving those aches and so have been doing prenatal yoga, walking more, enjoying warm baths, etc. Our birthing coach had a fabulous idea: ice packs! Yes, I'm a cruel cruel woman who actually lays ice packs on the top of my tummy since Baby dislikes the cold and moves down. But hands down the best remedy: water aerobics. I get to class, strap on my buoyancy belt and just kinda hang out in the deep water. As I'm getting a great workout in, Baby sleeps (or at least stops movin' and kickin') and settles lower and for 60 glorious minutes I get pure painless rib bliss.

New Assignment

A continuation from my last post.....There is NO confirmation on the baby's gender. Aub and I go back and forth with which gender we think it is....fun games, one of the many fun things about not finding out....

I received word yesterday that I will be moving to Station 3 on "A" Shift (holiday shift). I will be assigned to Rescue 3 and Engine 3 with a shift of 5 people. The Officers and Firefighters switch each month between R3/E3. I will have lots of opportunities to run calls (mostly medical on R3) and gain valuable experience. On any fires in our "first due area" the Officer on R3 is usually the Incident Commander until relieve by the Battalion Chief. This will help develop my skills as an incident commander. Although the promotion came a year earlier than expected, we are excited, and I am ready for the challenge.

Thanks again for the love and support.

Steve

When life come at you fast......

You adjust and thank the Lord for the blessings in life. With that, here is what's going on. Owen is going ever so quickly and making his presence known more and more each day. He is kicking hard enough that we can see the belly move. Here we are with only 3 months left and seems like just yesterday we were finding out that we are prego.

It's amazing how plans work, which reminds of a line in a song that goes like this: "If you want to hear God laugh tell him your plans..." Well, since he knows our thoughts, I can hear him laughing right now. Our plan was that I would stay at my current station assignment until next March or July, Owen would be sleeping through the night and things would be calm at home just in time for a promotion. As it turns out, I got the call for a second interview with our Chiefs a week ago and today was the day. So, here we are 9 months ahead of our schedule and HR calls to inform me that I WILL BE PROMOTED to LIEUTENANT with my swearing in on June 29th!

Thank you to all that have supported and encouraged me through these years. Special thanks to Aubrey for putting up with the long days/nights, extra projects, countless hours of "thinking", and stressful months prepping for the tests and interviews. I can be normal again. Thanks Mom and Dad for teaching me about how to be compasionate towards people and to help them to achieve their goals. Thanks Mom and Dad Gold for time on the lakes, fishing is the only place where I can completely relax and clear my mind...

Steven