February In Review

What a month it's been. I'm humored that it's Leap Year tomorrow because it has felt like we've fit in at least one more day this month than is normally calendared. Referencing a quote referring to parenting little ones feels very apropos: "the days go slow and the years go so fast".

Here are a few of the highlights from our past 28 days...

The month began with a brave and committed attempt to potty train our first two children. With carpets lined with plastic and counter-tops filled with fun drinks and celebration treats, we began potty training first thing Saturday morning.  Judah was a superstar and was literally potty trained by his nap. Since then, he's only had a couple accidents and stays dry most every nap and overnight. His confidence, independence, and overall joy-factor has increased exponentially. So have ours. Addise is another story. Our strong willed daughter had no problem peeing all over herself and standing in her urine. Un-phased. We quit potty training her in about 24 hours after she proved no interest or desire to follow her brother's lead. Hopefully we'll get her taken care of before baby #3 enters the party.

You can tell Judah is already so proud (and modest). PS. his shirt says, "my dad's tattoos are cooler than yours". My mom bought him this shirt. Awesome.

Capri Sun 100% Juice was a great incentive!

So proud of him! Thomas the Train undies are his favorite. Mommy's favorite are Paul Frank undies.

Shortly after our potty training failure, our baby girl turned two years old. She's still topping the height and weight charts, as is her daily word count. We decided to celebrate her birthday by renewing our Disneyland annual passports and spending a couple days there as a family. Seeing the happiest place on earth through the eyes of our kids is truly magical!

Our beautiful giant on her birthday holding her "big" brother's hand. Poofs and all.

After riding "It's a Small World" at Disney. Fitting for our multi-cultural family.

Love her buttery skin, expressive eyes, and ever-moving mouth.

Exploring her blocks from Grandma and Grandpa. LOVE them.

We also were gifted by a friend with a photo shoot to capture Addise's 2nd birthday and our 1 year anniversary as a family. We went to Balboa Pier on the ocean and had a blast snapping pics of our crazy kiddos on a sunny, warm February Friday.

Loving each other on the pier

Like father like son

How do you put a caption to this??

Oh, yeah. And I'm now 6 months pregnant with our son. This has undeniably been the best month of pregnancy. Of course, I'm still exhausted and uncomfortable at any given moment, but I'm grateful to feel our son kick to his heart's delight. Last night I felt his hiccups for the first time. He also is very fond of digging into my ribs. I'm less fond of this. My pregnancy app says he's now 2 pounds and 10+ inches long. I'm dreaming of him exiting the womb with a head full of dark curls like his daddy and praying some Puerto Rican genes win out. In other news, I'm losing my belly button at an alarming rate, all my shoes are cutting off circulation, and rolling my body out of our Honda Civics is proving more difficult by the day. Perhaps the most entertaining pregnancy news was the overnight swelling of my ring finger. For 5 days I diligently attempted to remove my rings with every known technique and product. To no avail. Finally, I went to a jewelers per my grandmother's urging and they CUT OFF my engagement and wedding rings. The jeweler affirmed those babies had to get off STAT.

Before.

After. Yes, my finger is bruised.

I also began registering for baby #3 and shockingly realized that I have now registered for MORE items for our newborn/infant son, than I did for Judah and Addise combined. What?!?! The amount of "stuff" required for a breastfeeding infant is a bit overwhelming.

Brian's birthday and Valentine's Day also went celebrated as we got two date nights this month. What a gift!

Throughout the month I've also been doing some mad research on a couple major purchases that need to be made in the before labor and delivery. Due to 3 kids in car seats for the next several years, we have to move from a Honda Civic to a minivan. Yes. It's true. However, I'm getting quite excited about this purchase as my bulging body and growing toddlers are oozing out of our economy car. We are also exploring remodeling our master bathroom to include a stackable washer-dryer unit. The amount of laundry we do without an infant is mind-boggling and has become unmanageable in a shared laundry room. In an 1100 sq ft condo, we are having to maximize every square inch of our space. We are praying for some divine miracles in these two purchases and trusting God to provide exactly what our family needs. We've already seen him move in extraordinary ways and believe he'll do it once again.

So, that's our month in review. Celebration. Preparation. Anticipation. Here's to March...

365

What a difference a year can make. 365 days ago we stumbled off an airplane into the arms of sweet friends after a harrowing 40+ hour of flights plus emergency 24 hour DC layover so our new family of 4 could catch our breath after the trauma of our kids' first transcontinental flight.

Proof that we were utterly spent after this trip HOME.

The first time our kids had ever been in a car seat.

365 days ago Judah didn't know a word of English, and Addise didn't have a single tooth.

365 days ago I had no idea how much my heart would expand in ravishing love for our 2 babes.

365 days ago I had no idea how much it'd cost us to raise two toddlers.

365 days Brian and I wouldn't have guessed how many stories we'd tell each other after they went to bed, instead of just talking amongst ourselves.

365 days later, we celebrated our 1 year together at HOME as a FAMILY of 4+1 in a most unusual yet fitting way. This morning, Brian ran his first half marathon (that's 13.1 miles!!) for our friends in Malawi. On behalf of World Vision he raised over $1000 to help build clean water wells. He ran alongside over 700 other World Vision runners who together raised over $350,000 for the forgotten and poor of our world. It was only fitting that with our children, who are no longer orphans, we remembered those who are once like they were.

Celebrating 1 year HOME together!!! Picture just moments after Brian completed his 13.1 mile race in support of our friends in Malawi (with World Vision).

Today, I kissed our babies a little more than often, snuggled them after their naps a little tighter, practiced more patience in their difficult moments, tickled them longer, and deeply thanked our God for our growing family.

Tonight, we celebrated Brian's race and our big family day with PJs, special prayers of blessing, and pizza.

What a difference a year can make! 

Here's to year two as a family of 4+1.

How we found out we were having a BOY

What a week it's been! Tuesday we discovered we were having a SON. Wednesday we remembered how 1 year ago we stood before a U.S. Embassy employee in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and were granted permission to bring home our first two children.

Who would've thought a year ago that I'd be laying on a table, jelly on my belly, learning the gender of my baby who looks more like an alien than a boy? I didn't guess it. God's like that.

I woke up nervous on Tuesday morning. Your guesses about the gender didn't give me any clarity either. Really, it was a very even competition, though some of you had a VERY strong opinion and some of you were wrong. HA! In our gut, Brian and I thought there was a girl stretching out my flat tummy. Maybe partially because we've had a girl name picked out for ages and the meaning behind that name seemed divine for this pregnancy. Yet, we both also sensed that since nothing has gone according to plan the past 5 years in the baby area the gender of this baby probably would surprise us, too. And surprised we were!

We showed up to our appointment on time and I sat in the waiting room biting my fingernails. I prayed we wouldn't have to wait long into this 45 minutes sonogram to hear, "It's a..." But when we got into the room, our technician said she'd take measurements for 25 minutes, then turn the monitor toward us, and show off our baby to us. I asked if she'd search for gender and she confirmed. So I sat staring at Brian's face, the drop-ceiling, and studying corners of the room for about 15 minutes.

Then, as the technician rolled the wand across my 18 week, 2 day belly she abruptly announced, "it's a boy" rather anticlimactically. WHAT?!?!? She semi-rotated the monitor in our direction to show us the family jewels and it became clear. Atta-boy. Then, Brian and I stared at each other and had a brief non-verbal conversation with each other. WHOA. Not a girl. A boy. Out of nowhere, we were told we were having a boy. Finally, she turned the monitor in our direction and gave us a guided tour to our son's forming body. It was miraculous and alien and mysterious and shocking.

Our son is active. Strong heartbeat. Did I say VERY active? He was gracious enough to show us every part of his growing body - long fingers, itty bitty feet, brain, nose, between the legs. His belly is all swollen, reminding me of Judah's when he first came home. He sucked his thumb. Opened his mouth. Pulled on his ears. Posed for a few great profile pictures. Showed off a few somersaults. Crossed his feet. The whole thing was surreal, but we walked out with about 6 feet of pictures to prove we really are pregnant with a boy.

Surreal! So as we settle into the last half of this pregnancy with the knowledge of our son's place in our family, we need your help.

Names - Where are the best places to search boy names? Naming Judah and Addise was really easy. For this pregnancy, we had "the name" for a baby girl, but have no idea where to start in naming our son. And we have to come up with a middle name, too? Oh man. Seems like an overwhelming - and most important - task. Naming our son is so important to us. It's an identity, a calling, a blessing. We want his name to mean as much to us as our first two kids' names.

Also, at this point, we've decided not to share our son's name before he's born. We want some element of surprise when he arrives. And we don't want anyone's attempts to sway us if they don't like what we've determined. So, you know it's a boy and that's all you'll know until he makes his appearance. :)

Infant Items - What were your non-negotiable items for your newborn and infant? I have no idea what we must register for. Remember, I've only parented an 11 month old and older, so this newborn thing is NEW territory for us! Be simple. Be multi-purposeful. And for heaven's sake, be fashionable!

Thanks for your congrats and joy. Every bit of it I'm savoring in my heart and is growing my excitement. I cannot imagine parenting without a village.