More Reasons that I Am Not a Morning Person

I hope everyone gets a kick out of what goes on at my house in the morning. There's always some sort of craziness in the Owings' house. This morning was no exception.

We went to Atlanta for the weekend, and we got home at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday night. Jon unloaded the car and told me that he had brough everything into the house. I was completely exhausted and finally got to sleep around 10:00 p.m. I overslept a little bit (like an hour), so the morning was super rushed. At some point during the morning, I checked my purse to make sure that my car keys are in it, and they were. I was running late, and I looked around for my makeup bag to do my makeup. I couldn't find it anywhere. I tore up the house looking for it, but it was nowhere to be found. I called Jon and asked where he put it. Apparently, he hadn't completely unloaded the car. My makeup was still in his car 45 minutes away in Collierville. Just great. No makeup today.

It was then time to get out the door. I wanted to change Nash's diaper before putting him in his car seat. I got him all ready, and then I heard him fill it up again. Great. I changed another diaper. While I'm changing this one, he pooped some more. Just what I needed! I finally get him ready to go. Meanwhile, Shea had climbed back in her bed and didn't want to leave. It took some coaxing to get her down and out the door.

We were finally walking out the door about 15 minutes behind schedule. I was lugging Shea's backpack, Nash's diaper bag, a grocery bag w/ Shea's sheets and blanket for daycare, my purse, and Nash in his car seat while Shea walks ahead of us. We got to the car, and I looked in my purse for my keys. Umm, they're not in there. I put everything down and frantically searched for them. No such luck. After re-searching a few more times, I realized they really weren't in my purse. At least I remembered my cell phone. Now, my next-door-neighbors had taken care of Leia (our dog) while we were out of town, and they had a key. I didn't see a car in the driveway, and they didn't answer they're home phone. No problem. I though, "Valerie lives a block away and she has a key." No answer. I called my neighbor's cell phone, and she said her daughter was home asleep and that she'd call, wake her up, and get her to walk the key over. I wait a few more minutes. Then, I saw Valerie's car driving down the street. I called her again. Thank goodness that she answered the phone! She had may house key with her, so she turns around to come let me in. She watched my kids in the yard while I run in to get my keys. I, however, could not find them anywhere.

I had to go get my kids and bring them back inside so Valerie could get to work (and tell everyone why I'll be late). I turned the house upside down looking for my keys. I called Jon asking him where they are and made him check to see if he'd accidentally picked them up. At the same time, Nash was screaming because he's still in his car seat. I heard Shea say uh-oh, and I turned around to see her standing in the living room in a puddle of pee. I was about ready to pull my hair out. I took her to the bathroom to clean her up, and low and behold, there are my keys! They were in the bathroom. I'm not sure how they got there, but I suspect Shea may have had something to do with it.

I finally got us all out the door and got to work almost an hour late. Then, I didn't have my "fob" to get in the door, so I had to go up front to get the receptionist to let my into my office. What a morning! I think that sometime soon I'll be able to laugh about it.

Nancy's Wedding

We had a great time in Atlanta at my cousin's wedding. Here's a rare picture of my whole family together.

From left to right: Shea, Jon, Nash, Laura, Emma, Michael, Sara, Patrick, Bess, Mom, and Dad










My grandmother got to meet Nash. Shea and Emma enjoyed patting him on the head.
Shea and her cousins, Emma and Bess, were crazy as usual.











Michael and Patrick were their normal selves. Jon and I were tired, but we still had a good time.

NKOTB!!!

I have a confession: I am a HUGE New Kids On the Block fan! When I was in 4th and 5th grade, I was in love with Jordan Knight. I was crazy about New Kids. I even had a NKOTB lunch box. Well, the big news is that they're back together for a reunion tour. I'm so sad that they're not coming to Memphis. I think the closest that they'll be is St. Louis or Atlanta. I would LOVE to see them in concert. Here's their website for anyone who's interested:
http://nkotb.com/

You know, I'm not the only NKOTB fan in my family. Michael used to really enjoy dancing to their music. We have some great home video of Michael dancing to "Step by Step." In this video, Michael is about 7 years old, and he's singing and dancing around having a good old time. Patrick (4 years old), however, begins pestering Michael, but Michael completely ignores Patrick while continuing to dance and sing along with the New Kids. Well, Patrick will not be ignored and continues trying to get Michael's attention. The next thing you know, one of Michael's dance moves ends with his elbow accidentally in Patrick's face. Ouch! Michael, of course, continues like nothing happened, but Patrick is crying and walks up to one of my parents wailing, "Michael hit me in the face--on purpose!" It's great that we have video documentation that it was, in fact, accidental and mostly Patrick's fault. I need to get that video, edit me out of it, and upload it. :) It's a classic Shea family moment.

Weekends

I'm not very good at resting and relaxing. I think possibly my ADD/ADHD makes it really hard for me to enjoy any down time. I get bored if life isn't a little bit crazy. My husband, however, really likes to relax. We first had problems with our opposite tendencies when we were planning our honeymoon. I wanted to go somewhere "historical" where we could do lots of stuff, and Jon just wanted to go somewhere and lay on the beach all day. We compromised and went to Charleston, SC. We saw lots of cool things and spent some time at the beach on Kiawah Island. It was great.

Now that I'm older and wiser, and occasionally medicated, I've learned to see some value in down time. However, not much value. I'm really just a glutton for punishment. My cousin is getting married in Atlanta this weekend, and we've decided at the last minute to go. We'll be leaving Memphis at 4am Saturday morning, attending the 5:30 p.m. wedding on Saturday evening, and then driving back to Memphis on Sunday. We have to get back in town in time for Clay's graduation celebration dinner at Red Robin at 5:00 p.m. Sunday night. We don't want to miss that! Yikes! We are really nuts.

Not a Morning Person

Anyone who really knows me knows that I am not a morning person. I'm more of a night owl. However, because I have a job and two small kids, I must get up ridiculously early every morning. That's bad enough in and of itself. Combine that with a two-year-old who is more of a night owl like her mommy, and mornings at our house aren't a lot of fun on a good day.

Well, yesterday morning started off normal. We woke Shea up, and she refused to go to the potty like normal (we're potty training), but eventually complied. I poured her what orange juice we had left, she drank it all, then asked for more. There wasn't any more, so she threw a tantram. Not fun to deal with. I have to feed Nash, and while doing so, Shea is crawling all over me because she wants me to hold her instead. She throws multiple tantrums while I try to fix her crazy hair, and I have to discipline her multiple times. Again, not fun.

I finally get everything ready to walk out the door. I'm a couple minutes late, but no big deal. I pick up the kids bags, my breast pump, my lunch, and Nash in his carseat, and head out to the car with Shea. While we're walking to the car, Shea is a few steps ahead of me on our walkway to the driveway. She stops abruptly with a scared look on her face. I wonder what's the matter, and then I see the pee pooling around her feet. Just what I needed. I have to unlock the front door, throw everything I'm carrying back inside, run back outside to grab Shea, and take her to the bathroom. It was such a bad accident that the pee had pooled in her tennis shoes. Now, I have to strip her down, put her in the tub, and spray her down because she's got it all over her lower half. She, of course, is really unhappy with this scenario. I redress her, get out the door, and finally get the kids to daycare. Upon arriving at daycare, I realize that I have left Nash's bottles at home for the day. He only eats breast milk, so there's not an easy fix for this problem. It was just a crummy morning.

I was hoping that this morning, everything would go smoothly, but that wasn't the case. To get to work on time, I have to be ready to walk out the door when I get the kids up. This morning, I fit into a suit (dry clean only) that I hadn't been able to wear since getting pregnant with Nash. I went to wake Shea up at 6:45am. Once again, Shea didn't want to get up. I picked her up, and she lunged for her bed crying, "My bed, my bed." I set her back down on it and said I was going to get her Daddy, and she said, "Daddy's turn, Daddy's turn." I holler at Jon that he's going to have to get her up, and I go to get Nash up and feed him. While feeding Nash, I feel something warm on my leg. Bad feeling. His diaper wasn't on properly (my fault), and he peed all over me and my nice pants. How do you get urine out of dry-clean-only clothes? I have to find something else to wear (not an easy task these days) and hope that nothing else goes wrong.

Thankfully, nothing else out of the ordinary happened. Shea wouldn't eat her breakfast and threw tantrums while I fixed her hair, but that's all normal. I was able to get them to daycare without any problems, and I was on time for my 8am meeting. I'm hoping that we'll have a "pee-free" morning tomorrow.

Fear and Idols

I'm hesitant to post this after dealing with my motivational issue, but I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway.

Yesterday in church, JR said something in his sermon that really convicted me. He basically said that if we're not a little bit afraid, then we're not being dependent on God. I know that depending on God means that life may not go the way that I want it to. He may ask me to give up everything. I was okay with that for many years. Then, I had children. While there were many things in my life that I would have been upset to lose, nothing would upset me more than losing my children. In my previous post, I blamed my lack of spending time with God on my busy life. That's only partly true. I think that I'm afraid of totally depending on God because I know that he may take me down a path that I really don't want to go down. It pretty much boils down to this: I'm treasuring my children more than I'm treasuring God. I don't think there's an easy fix to this. I hope and pray that God will change my heart so that I no longer make my children idols in my life.

These thoughts remind me of one of my favorite excerpts from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis:

[Lucy asks,] "Is Aslan quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver. "If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or just plain silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

In another exerpt from C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair, Jill is very thirty, but Aslan is standing by the water:

"Will you promise not to do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion...
"Do you eat girls?" she asked.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I dare not come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.

Basically, we all have two choices. Submit to the God who is in control but not safe or die of thirst. Following God isn't safe, but I must stop idolizing my children and follow him because I am so thirsty.

Rotten

From time to time I read other people's blogs. Some posts give me family updates or make me laugh. Other posts are really clever, and some really minister to me spiritually and cause me to think. I'm normally very impressed with the people who post such spiritual and thought-provoking insights. I say all that to let you know that since beginning a blog, I've actually had the thought that I need to spend some time in the Word so that I can post some cool spiritual insight that will impress people. You see, I'm adjusting to juggling my two kids, my husband (or kid #3), a full-time job, extended family, and a busy social calendar. I haven't handled all this as well as I should, and my time with God has been lacking. I did, however, experience the motivation to spend some time with him just so that I could have something clever to post. How rotten am I? I'm sure that no one else has ever wanted to post something just to impress other people. Well, maybe someone has. Anyhow, it's just one more thing that reveals to me how fallen I am and how much I need God to continue changing my heart. I hope that I will experience God's work in my life and be able to share about it, but I hope my motivation for sharing will ultimately glorify God and not myself.

Crazy Crazy Crazy

I never knew how much trouble it would be to celebrate my anniversary with my husband. I thought that our wedding wasn't at a particularly busy time of year, but I feel like I'm even busier this month than I am at Christmas time. Jon and I were married on May 31, 2002. May 31 is this Saturday, and I have a baby shower to attend during the day, a couple's shower to attend in the evening, and a birthday party that night. On Sunday, after church we have the option of ultimate frisbee at Johnson park or the sprinkler park in Collierville. What a crazy weekend! That just leaves Friday night for us to go out (because, of course, we can't miss any of the excitement with our friends this weekend). Going out Friday night requires me leaving work early to get everything ready to leave the kids for an evening. So much trouble for one date! Yikes! It will be worth it to spend one evening with my wonderful husband whom I'm blessed to have been married to for six years.

Sexism and Politics

I read an article today that really made me think.

Is There Really a Bias Against Women in Politics?
Are women really discriminated against in politics? Sen. Hillary Clinton surely thinks so. But history suggests otherwise.

Indeed, she believes this year's presidential campaign has shown that sexism limits women's influence in politics. She claimed last week that "every poll I've seen shows more people would be reluctant to vote for a woman [than] to vote for an African American."

It's possible that Democrats are particularly sexist, but with women making up the majority of voters, one would think that politicians were ignoring women at their own peril.

In 2004, women made up 54 percent of voters. At least through early February of this year, women made up a much greater share of Democrat primary voters — accounting for between 57 and 61 percent of the vote in primaries and caucuses.
But whatever difficulties Clinton might be having, it seems that the policies adopted are much more important than who puts them into action, and the evidence indicates that women have long gotten their way. . . .

Read more here.

While the article had some incredibly compelling points regarding women's suffrage and political leanings, I don't think it really addressed whether there's really a bias against women in politics. While he addressed a number of issues, his argument boiled down to the fact that over 50% of voters in the U.S. are female, so there's no discrimination against women in politics. The author, a man, failed to appreciate, however, that many women are also sexist.

Until recently, I've never experienced career-related adversity because of my sex. The fact that I was female didn't matter in my education. I didn't feel that my sex mattered in my short stint in the corporate world. In my current job, nevertheless, my sex has really mattered, not to my employer or supervisors, but to my clients. As a plaintiff's attorney, I represent individuals, and a surprising number of individuals are sexist. I never dreamed that I'd actually have a client refuse to permit me or another female attorney defend him during a deposition. He would only permit the male attorney (who has half as much experience as the other female attorney I work with) defend him because he didn't think that a woman could do as good of a job. I've encountered a client who was unhappy with her offer from the insurance company and wanted her case transferred to a man because she thought a man could get her a better offer. That's just the tip of the iceberg. These people, both men and women, for some reason think that a man will better represent them in their lawsuits. These people are also voters. I imagine that if they don't want a female attorney, they won't vote for a female politician.

In my limited experience as an attorney, I've learned that sexism is alive and well. Further, it is not just men who are sexist, women do not trust their own sex to represent their interests well. For some reason, these women think that a man can do a better job in the legal, political, and business world than a woman can. Perhaps we all are a little sexist. How many of us think that a man can run a household or clean as well as a woman can? What sexist tendencies do we all harbor without even realizing it?

Shea is pretty.

Yesterday, when I picked up Shea from daycare, one of her teachers had a story for me. She had asked Shea if she was a big girl and Shea had replied, "No, I pretty." At least she knows that she's pretty!

Nash Davis Owings

Nash Davis Owings was born on Monday, April 7. He weighed 9 lbs and was 22 inches long.

Here's the labor and delivery story (long version).

I was so ready to have this baby that I was doing just about everything that I could to go into labor. I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a while, and I'd had my membranes stripped. On Sunday, Jon and I took Shea to the zoo to walk around. We were hoping that the walking might help start something. It just may have worked!


I got up at about 6:15am on Monday morning, and as I was stepping into the shower, my water broke. I almost went ahead and took my shower, but I was too excited and just wanted to get out the door. I called my parents and caught them just in time. My dad was supposed to drive to Atlanta that morning. He was able to postpone leaving until after Nash was born. We got Shea up and were in the car on our way to the hospital by 6:35am. It was too early to drop Shea off at daycare, so we took her with us to the hospital. My water was really gushing by the time we arrived, but they put me in a triage room (Room #1) to make sure it was amniotic fluid (as if there was any doubt). Of course, it was, and I was dilated about 3-4 cm. We were in that room for about 45 minutes and watched cartoons until my parents arrived to take care of Shea. Shortly after they got there, we were moved to the labor and delivery room (Room #2).

Mom took Shea to daycare so she and Daddy could stay in the room with me without being distracted. I got hooked up to all the devices. I had to have the intra-uterine monitors for fetal heart rate and contractions because my attempted VBAC was high risk. My contractions got really painful, and I needed Jon to apply a lot of pressure to my lower back to help me get through them. I was having pretty awful back labor, but I was getting through them with my relaxation techniques (and Jon's help). I didn't want an epidural because it could slow down labor. I was attempting a vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC), so I couldn't be induced with pitocin and didn't think my ob would give it to me to augment my labor because of the increased risk of uterine rupture. I really wanted to avoid another c-section, so I thought that I'd go natural. Well, my ob mentioned that if I did get an epidural and needed some pitocin to augment my labor, she'd give it to me. It didn't take me long to decide that I really wanted the epidural. Sometime around lunch time, I was about 6cm dilated, and they came in to give me the epidural.

My last epidural was just perfect. This one was not. The first person who attempted to give it to me was unsuccessful and had to get someone else to do it (a little scary). Once I finally did receive it, it only worked on my right side. So the nurses had me roll to my left side to see if gravity would help it out. Nash's heart rate immediately plummeted. I think 120-160 bpm is about normal. When his dropped to about 90, it seemed like about 10 nurses rushed into the room. His heart rate dropped all the way down to just under 70. I was quickly turned to my right side, and it began to steadily increase. It eventually got back to normal, but it was scary for a couple of minutes. Nonetheless, my epidural wasn't working properly, and I couldn't turn to let gravity help it out. The anesthesiologist said that I could have another epidural, but after my experiences with the last two attempts, I didn't want anyone else poking around my spine. The epidural was at least dulling the pain. It also slowed my contractions down, so I did need some pitocin.

By 4pm, I was at 10cm and could start pushing. After about an hour of pushing, I was wondering why I wanted a vaginal birth instead of another c-section where the doctor just plucks that baby out of my belly. I pushed for 1 hour and 45 minutes before Nash made it out. Needless to say, I was glad for the rest the epidural afforded me because I sure did need my energy for that. Nash was face up, which caused my awful back labor and combined with his large size to make it really hard for me to push him out. He was a little blue when I first saw him, and that made me slightly nervous. He looked a little alien-like with his cone head, but he was beautiful at the same time. He did have a complete knot in his umbilical cord just like Shea did. He weighed in at 9 lbs and was 22 inches long.

New Blog

I guess that I should have a blog to post comments about our growing family. I'll try to keep this updated with things going on in our lives.

About Me

I am a follower of Jesus.

I grew up in a Christian home with parents who love and serve the Lord. I "prayed a prayer" as a child, but I never truly followed God until later in life. As a teenager, God showed me that being a Christian was not about praying a prayer but about loving God and giving my life to him. As I grasped that concept, I decided that I didn't really want to give my life to the Lord because I thought that it meant the end of fun and happiness for me. Thankfully, God brought me to the point where I realized that life wasn't really worth living without Him. He showed me that losing my life was really gaining it, and I began to follow Him and allow him to change me from the inside out. He began changing my heart to desire what He desires. I want to obey God because I love Him and want to honor Him in all that I do. I often fall short of this, and I am so thankful for His unfailing love, mercy, and grace in my life.

I am a wife.

I became involved in Campus Crusade for Christ at Baylor University, and the summer after my freshman year (1999), I went to Ocean City, New Jersey for a summer project with Campus Crusade. There, I met this awesome guy who went by J.O. and attended the University of Southern California. We began "dating" at the end of the summer and continued our relationship long distance after we both returned to our respective campuses. We spent the following summer (2000) with Campus Crusade in London. Jon graduated from USC in December 2000. I went to California to visit Jon during my spring break in 2001. Jon picked me up from the airport, had my favorite flowers, drove me to a park on the side of a mountain in the LA area, and proposed to me. The following month, he moved to my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee to find a job. I spent that summer (2001) interning at FedEx and planning our wedding. We had a 14 month engagement. (I don't recommend it, but we didn't have much choice.) In May 2002, I graduated from Baylor and moved back to Memphis. We were married on May 31, 2002 and began our journey through life together. I am so blessed to be married to a man who is passionate for the Lord and loves his family.

I am a mother.

I have the two most wonderful children, Shea and Nash, and a sweet dog, Leia.

Shea Marguerite entered our lives on January 22, 2006. She's now two years old and full of personality. She loves to talk and ask questions. She's always busy and is an extreme extrovert.

Nash Davis was born on April 7, 2008. This bundle of joy weighed in at nine pounds and has continued to be at the top of his class in height and weight. He is easy going and is generally a very pleasant baby.

I also have my dog, Leia, who was my furkid before I had real kids. :) She's a border collie mix, and she's very sweet but full of energy.

I practice law.

After working as a technical writer for about a year, I was ready for a career change. I began law school at the University of Memphis in 2003. I'm one of those few people who actually loves school. I graduated with my juris doctor in May 2006. I thankfully passed the bar and began practicing law in the fall of 2006. I handle nursing home abuse and neglect cases, and I'm thankful to be working in an area of law where I feel that I'm actually helping people.