Our House

Our house is very open and inviting. You walk into a small entry way that contains a coat tree and mat for your shoes. We do not allow shoes past the door on most occasions.

Our family room is to the left and the dining room is straight ahead. Past the dining room is the kitchen. Off of the dining room is the bathroom, stairs to the upstairs, and a storage clocet. All closed off by doors. Off the kitchen is the laundry room and computer room. There is also a bedroom/toyroom off of the kitchen as well. That is the only room that is not open to the rest of the downstairs.

When you walk up the stairs, you come right into the back bedroom that also has a half bath. There is another bedroom in the front of the house.

Since our house is very open, it allows us to talk to each other pretty much wherever we are. We are also only a family of three, so a smaller house works great for us.

Our house is decorated to suit both Jake and my taste. Our furniture in the family room is very comfortable and inviting, and our dining room table is rustic and country looking. It is all very inviting and simple in a way. This allows our guests to feel comfortable and not afraid to sit down. It is also great for communication in our own family. We are comfortable in our own house and feel that it is ours.

We have set boundaries outside our home by puting up a privacy fence that sets a limit for our child and dog. It also does exactly what it says it does, creates privacy. We also have dead-bolts on all of our exterior doors. The book talked alot about security systems and buzzers, but the one safetly device that creates the best boundary for me with a possible intruder is my hand-gun that is obviously kept locked, but I am able to get to it quickly.

We do not have many boundaries with in our home. We have friends and family stopping over all of the time and we enjoy that.

We are an isomorphic fit becuae we fit with each other as well as our environment. Our house is an open floor plan which creates great communication flow as has great spots for open communication. We have nice soft carpet in our family room that is great for playing on and reading stories, while that rest of the house has hard wood floors.

Family Stressor

A major stressor in my family was when I got pregnant at 19. Oops!

It seemed to effect my whole family including:
Boyfriend at the time, Jake, now husband
My Mom, Penny
My Dad, Dan
My sister, Carrie
My brother, Jesse
Sister-in-law Liz
And obviously Jake's family but I would be typing forever if I typed out all of them down.
This happened a little over three years ago and has effected multiple generations. Our parents are now grandparents and our grandparents are now great-grandparents.

I would consider this a horizontal stressor because it was an unpredictable event and it effected myself and my immediate famly, but not beyond that. It also was an interuption in the life cycle.

Our famly did experience some of the stages of grief during the crisis.
Shock: Everyone was shocked, my Mom most of all, and it took everyone a long time to openly talk about it.
Recoil: My Dad definately did a lot of blaming, not in front of me, but the blame was there. He was also very mad at the whole situation.
Depression: I do not believe that it got to the point where anyone was depressed.
Reorganization: Once everyone accepted the fact that there was a baby on the way, it was a joyous event that my whole family shared in.

My family didn't seem to use any of the coping methods.