We had a great Christmas! It was a little bittersweet not getting to go home to KY and spend time with the whole family but we really enjoyed our first family Christmas. Liam was so excited when he woke up and there were presents under the tree, he was just excited about the boxes he didn't know there were toys inside them. It was really cute to watch him open the gifts and find out. We didn't go crazy and buy him a ton of stuff but he still got pretty spoiled I think :). I cooked my very 1st Christmas dinner, turned out pretty good but I may have gone a little overboard for the 3 of us...I probably would not do it again while 37 weeks pregnant since I am still recovering from all the work but it was worth it. Liam and Josh spent the whole day playing with all Liam's new toys and watching Christmas movies, it was a really great day. I think the best part was that Josh had a 4 day weekend and got to spend some much needed time with our little man.
Liam has been with us for almost 3 months now. At Christmas last year we had just gotten home from meeting our little guy and were so ready to go pick him up and bring him home..what a long year, but I don't even think about the wait now, sometimes I forget he has only been home for 3 months. He has finally finished his Vitamin D supplements and has to have his blood draw sometime this week to make sure he is back up to where he should be. He is also ready for his 2nd round of shots (oh joy). He is also going to be starting a mother's day out program at one of the local churches one day a week, which I think will be good for both of us, he will get to play and learn with kids his own age and mommy will hopefully get some rest, and some time alone with Raegan. Its going to be another big year of change for him but he has handled everything so well I don't think we will have any issues other than some jealousy.
We are going through our can't let mama out of our sight faze right now, which seems to be getting better. I am not able to pet the dog without Liam crying or pushing the dog away and getting in my lap. He is very upset if we talk about the baby and I touch my belly...yesterday he laid across me so I could not touch the "baby" and would push Josh's hand away if he tried. Its cute now, but hopefully he gets over it pretty quick once the baby is here. I think he will be a really big helper, will love her, and will be a great big brother it just might take some time after being so used to getting all the attention for the past few months. I am very emotional right now anyway but I was trying to explain to him that he would be a big brother the other day and ended up in happy tears instead after thinking only 3 months ago he was an orphan living in a transition home with about 15 other children waiting for their forever families and now he has a mommy, a daddy, and is going to be a big brother! Isn't God Good! We are so blessed that we have had this opportunity, it was a hard decision to make, a long and emotional process, but look at our reward we have such an amazing happy baby boy! He is so full of personality and so full of love. I can't imagine life without him.
4 years ago tomorrow God gave me another amazing man! Josh and I will be celebrating our anniversary, I cannot believe it has been 4 years! There have never been 2 people so totally perfect for each other! I still remember our first few months together as we discussed how we would fold our towels so they would all be the same and the correct way to stack undershirts so they fit together perfectly hahaha true story! I am truly blessed with an amazing man, a man who loves God, loves his family, and loves his country.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
37 weeks
Its hard to believe I am already at 37 weeks! January 14th is moving in fast and I am so very very ready! I have had a pretty easy pregnancy so far other than the 1st trimester which wasn't as bad as others but it was still pretty rough. But this last month has not been very much fun at all, I am swollen, mostly my feet and my hands, I have carpal tunnel which my doctor said will go away but I seriously have not been able to feel my fingers in weeks....that is getting old. I am so uncomfortable, I am not sleeping very well since every position hurts after a while which means poor Josh isn't sleeping either. I'm short of breath, I can't breath through my nose, I am so thirsty, and I have to pee all the time. It is so beautiful :) BUT I am so thankful because it is so worth it and even though I complain sometimes I am so happy to get to experience this. I love to feel the baby move, it is so amazing how strong she is, I love that I can tell where she is laying because there is a big bulge sticking out of my belly. I had no idea I would enjoy being pregnant since I was so terrified when I found out we were pregnant.
I was afraid I would be a psycho pregnant woman, crying all the time, yelling at people for no reason, etc. etc. we have all known at least one :) but so far I have been pretty normal, maybe a little bit more blunt and a little short tempered but I really think I am keeping it under control...you may need to double check that with Josh and Liam hahaha. I am super happy that my belly button is still hanging "in" there for now, only 3 weeks to go will we make it??? We will see. :) So far thanks to my mama's awesome genes I haven't gotten any stretch marks, hoping to stay that way but we shall see.
Last Wednesday night I had contractions, every 20 minutes for 4 hours lucky me those were between the hours of 1:30 am and 5:30 am then they just stopped and I got to get about 2 hours of sleep before Liam woke up. I had a doctors appointment already for Thursday afternoon, he said that was pretty normal and that his wife had contractions every 20 minutes for a month, not really what I wanted to hear. I was hoping more for "ok lets have this baby"....but good to know its normal I guess. I haven't had any regular ones since then, I have had a few that were an hour apart but none that were consistent. I finally got my other ultrasound!!! Raegan is still a girl! She was still being difficult be he is pretty confident she is a she. Everything looks good, he said she looks a little chunky which is good for her, maybe not so much for me. I didn't get a picture, since she is so big it was a little hard to tell what we were looking at sometimes but I did get a pretty good look at her face, so exciting! I cannot wait to see her! Josh has been staying with Liam while I go to the Dr. so he missed it but its nice to actually get to focus on the doctor and not have to be watching Liam at the same time.
I am packed and ready to go, hopefully I will be able to go into labor on my own and will not have to be induced. This is the hardest part for me, having no control. My type A personality is really struggling with the inability to plan anything to do with when she will be born. I am a little nervous but I think I have just reached the point where I am ready to not be pregnant anymore and labor doesn't seem so bad after all.
I was afraid I would be a psycho pregnant woman, crying all the time, yelling at people for no reason, etc. etc. we have all known at least one :) but so far I have been pretty normal, maybe a little bit more blunt and a little short tempered but I really think I am keeping it under control...you may need to double check that with Josh and Liam hahaha. I am super happy that my belly button is still hanging "in" there for now, only 3 weeks to go will we make it??? We will see. :) So far thanks to my mama's awesome genes I haven't gotten any stretch marks, hoping to stay that way but we shall see.
Last Wednesday night I had contractions, every 20 minutes for 4 hours lucky me those were between the hours of 1:30 am and 5:30 am then they just stopped and I got to get about 2 hours of sleep before Liam woke up. I had a doctors appointment already for Thursday afternoon, he said that was pretty normal and that his wife had contractions every 20 minutes for a month, not really what I wanted to hear. I was hoping more for "ok lets have this baby"....but good to know its normal I guess. I haven't had any regular ones since then, I have had a few that were an hour apart but none that were consistent. I finally got my other ultrasound!!! Raegan is still a girl! She was still being difficult be he is pretty confident she is a she. Everything looks good, he said she looks a little chunky which is good for her, maybe not so much for me. I didn't get a picture, since she is so big it was a little hard to tell what we were looking at sometimes but I did get a pretty good look at her face, so exciting! I cannot wait to see her! Josh has been staying with Liam while I go to the Dr. so he missed it but its nice to actually get to focus on the doctor and not have to be watching Liam at the same time.
I am packed and ready to go, hopefully I will be able to go into labor on my own and will not have to be induced. This is the hardest part for me, having no control. My type A personality is really struggling with the inability to plan anything to do with when she will be born. I am a little nervous but I think I have just reached the point where I am ready to not be pregnant anymore and labor doesn't seem so bad after all.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
only 1 month to go
I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband! I have been sick all weekend and Josh has been so great taking care of Liam so I can get some rest. I love to listen to him and Liam it is so cute, Liam is always so happy to spend time with his daddy he gets so excited when Josh is home when he wakes up all he can do is laugh and squeal. They have so much fun together, Liam never stops talking :) so sweet to see Josh try to figure out what he is saying. This morning they are gone to church, Josh got him up, fed him breakfast, got him dressed, and left to teach my Sunday school class for me. It is crazy to think that Josh was supposed to be deployed this year and would have missed out on all of this, I am so thankful that they got taken off the list, I know eventually he will have to go somewhere again but this is such a big year it is so awesome that he got to spend it with us!
Miss Raegan will be here in 1 month!!!! We are so excited! She is moving like crazy and she has had the hiccups I think, its cute because Liam had them at the same time. My doctor said she is measuring a little small which is good since I have gestational diabetes and often that mean a big baby. The diabetes in under control, Dr. said it is just a lab diagnosis and I really don't have to do anything but limit my carbs and sugar intake. So most of my readings have been between 70 and 100 which is perfect! We are all set up for Raegan and after our newborn care class on Wed I guess we will be as ready as we can be. I am still pretty nervous about childbirth and bringing home our newborn but I am so excited to get to see her! I can't wait to see what/who she looks like. I am also very excited because my mama and my sister are coming to see us after she is born!
This is a very big year for our family! Most of you know: 10 years ago my dad was waiting on a kidney/pancreas transplant. He was a severe diabetic and was not doing well, we were pretty much having to sit back and watch him die. At this point he was no longer mobile, he was bedridden and barely able to lift his head from the pillow. We were praying he would make it until Christmas(what little faith we had). Sunday night, Dec. 22, 2002 our church joined hands and prayed for a miracle, we prayed for my dad to get his transplant. The NEXT morning, my mom comes running into my room in tears, I knew he had not made it through the night, but I was wrong!!! We got a kidney! and a pancreas! It was such a long surgery he came out on the 24th, we spent Christmas in the waiting room of ICU that that year, we had Christmas dinner in the UK cafeteria, and it was the greatest Christmas any of us had ever or probably will ever have. It has been 10 years, the pancreas has stopped working but which means he is back on insulin but his kidney is doing great! It makes me aware of how much we limit God's power, while we were praying daddy would live 3 days, God just waiting on us to ask for him to be healed. So often I am guilty of not wanting to ask God for too much when He is willing to give us what we need and more if we just have the faith to ask.
This will be the 1st Christmas that we have not been able to travel home at all. It is bittersweet because we won't get to see our family but we will be spending our first Christmas together as a family and we will be welcoming our baby girl in just a few weeks. On Dec. 31st Josh and I will be celebrating our 4 year anniversary! January makes 1 year since we were stationed in TX, we love it here and have been so blessed with great friends and a great church. This has been a very crazy year! It has been a very amazing year totally worth it!!!
Miss Raegan will be here in 1 month!!!! We are so excited! She is moving like crazy and she has had the hiccups I think, its cute because Liam had them at the same time. My doctor said she is measuring a little small which is good since I have gestational diabetes and often that mean a big baby. The diabetes in under control, Dr. said it is just a lab diagnosis and I really don't have to do anything but limit my carbs and sugar intake. So most of my readings have been between 70 and 100 which is perfect! We are all set up for Raegan and after our newborn care class on Wed I guess we will be as ready as we can be. I am still pretty nervous about childbirth and bringing home our newborn but I am so excited to get to see her! I can't wait to see what/who she looks like. I am also very excited because my mama and my sister are coming to see us after she is born!
This is a very big year for our family! Most of you know: 10 years ago my dad was waiting on a kidney/pancreas transplant. He was a severe diabetic and was not doing well, we were pretty much having to sit back and watch him die. At this point he was no longer mobile, he was bedridden and barely able to lift his head from the pillow. We were praying he would make it until Christmas(what little faith we had). Sunday night, Dec. 22, 2002 our church joined hands and prayed for a miracle, we prayed for my dad to get his transplant. The NEXT morning, my mom comes running into my room in tears, I knew he had not made it through the night, but I was wrong!!! We got a kidney! and a pancreas! It was such a long surgery he came out on the 24th, we spent Christmas in the waiting room of ICU that that year, we had Christmas dinner in the UK cafeteria, and it was the greatest Christmas any of us had ever or probably will ever have. It has been 10 years, the pancreas has stopped working but which means he is back on insulin but his kidney is doing great! It makes me aware of how much we limit God's power, while we were praying daddy would live 3 days, God just waiting on us to ask for him to be healed. So often I am guilty of not wanting to ask God for too much when He is willing to give us what we need and more if we just have the faith to ask.
This will be the 1st Christmas that we have not been able to travel home at all. It is bittersweet because we won't get to see our family but we will be spending our first Christmas together as a family and we will be welcoming our baby girl in just a few weeks. On Dec. 31st Josh and I will be celebrating our 4 year anniversary! January makes 1 year since we were stationed in TX, we love it here and have been so blessed with great friends and a great church. This has been a very crazy year! It has been a very amazing year totally worth it!!!
Friday, December 7, 2012
2 months already!
It is so crazy to think that we have already had Liam home for 2 months. At the same time it feels like he has always been here and I cant believe its only been 2 months not 2 years. He is such a perfect fit with our family, it is so funny to me that he is exactly like Josh in so many ways! I may have the only 2 year old who has to have a napkin on his high chair in order to eat because he cant stand the mess. :) We have had such a busy month it is hard to remember what all has happened.
Thanksgiving was great, we had a little meal at home as a family!!! Then we put up our Christmas tree and turned on our lights that Josh put up the weekend before. Liam loves the tree, he just keeps pointing at it and saying "tree"..."pretty" its really cute, but I don't think we will be putting any presents under the tree until it is time to open them this year.
We went to Santa's Wonderland, which is a little shopping area with a petting zoo, live music, and a hayride through the Christmas lights. We had such a great time, Liam really liked all the lights, he was so excited. He got to take his picture with Frosty but saw Santa in the bathroom and completely freaked out so I don't think we are going to get a Santa picture this year. They also had a snow machine which was really cool, all the kids were dancing and playing in the fake snow, Liam LOVED it!
We had our homestudy which went fine, she had no concerns and saw no issues. Liam did throw his stuffed animal and hit her in the head during the interview portion.....great.....he has never done that before. But we still got a good review even though that made it into the report....oh well.
He is learning so much, we go to music makers at a local church on Friday's where he learns songs, plays instruments, they have a parachute, and story time; it has really helped him pick up on English fast, he also learns some sign language it amazes me when he can say a word and sign it at the same time after just a couple of months. He loves to sing and knows a lot of the words to a lot of songs, of course he would never sing them in front of anyone but us so I have no proof :). We also go to story time at the library which is about the same thing but not as much fun. He is talking so much at home and will repeat just about anything that he hears, so last night Josh took him to batteries plus with him and the cashier apparently thought it was ok to curse in front of not just his customer but his 2 year old son...who oh yes picked right up on that word...thanks man! of course Josh corrected the cashier really quick but why would you do that!?!?! Anyway we are working on colors right now but blue is the only one we really down so far, he loves to look at books and the pictures are awesome at helping him learn, I had no idea there were so many great children's books.
We were at Wal-Mart this week and this older lady walks up to me and asks if he is mine, I say yes. She stares at me and then says "yes but are you his mother" I automatically answer "yes" then she stares some more, until I finally realize what she is asking. So because I think she meant no harm I explained that we had just adopted him from Ethiopia and now we are his parents. Then she asks if my husband is white...if we got to pick him out....etc. I don't think she meant to offend me in anyway but had she been any younger I would have probably told her it was none of her business but I went on and answered her questions and then she told me how beautiful Liam is and how lucky we were so I am glad I was nice...but really does it really matter what race my husband is and no we did not go pick out our son like a puppy from a pound. Wording is very important, next time try how does the adoption process work there instead. Anyway it was nice of her to tell me he is beautiful even if she followed it up with he looks nothing like you hahaha geee thanks. What a fun trip to Wally World.
It is getting harder and harder for me to play or do pretty much anything that involves bending or sitting on the floor. I am so very ready to have Raegan so I can actually play with them and not be out of breath and in pain...not much longer though! Liam can say Raegan and is getting pretty excited about all the baby stuff floating around the house now even though I am pretty sure he is going to be very upset when he learns that he has to share his Mommy. It will be sweet to see how he reacts, he really likes babies but I have never held one in front of him either so we will have to wait and see. Thankfully we have found a great family for him to stay with while I am in the hospital so Josh will be able to stay with us, it is really hard when you live so far from family and it is still going to be hard to leave him even though I know he will be in great hands. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church family and a wonderful military family! God knew exactly where we needed to be right now!
Thanksgiving was great, we had a little meal at home as a family!!! Then we put up our Christmas tree and turned on our lights that Josh put up the weekend before. Liam loves the tree, he just keeps pointing at it and saying "tree"..."pretty" its really cute, but I don't think we will be putting any presents under the tree until it is time to open them this year.
We went to Santa's Wonderland, which is a little shopping area with a petting zoo, live music, and a hayride through the Christmas lights. We had such a great time, Liam really liked all the lights, he was so excited. He got to take his picture with Frosty but saw Santa in the bathroom and completely freaked out so I don't think we are going to get a Santa picture this year. They also had a snow machine which was really cool, all the kids were dancing and playing in the fake snow, Liam LOVED it!
We had our homestudy which went fine, she had no concerns and saw no issues. Liam did throw his stuffed animal and hit her in the head during the interview portion.....great.....he has never done that before. But we still got a good review even though that made it into the report....oh well.
He is learning so much, we go to music makers at a local church on Friday's where he learns songs, plays instruments, they have a parachute, and story time; it has really helped him pick up on English fast, he also learns some sign language it amazes me when he can say a word and sign it at the same time after just a couple of months. He loves to sing and knows a lot of the words to a lot of songs, of course he would never sing them in front of anyone but us so I have no proof :). We also go to story time at the library which is about the same thing but not as much fun. He is talking so much at home and will repeat just about anything that he hears, so last night Josh took him to batteries plus with him and the cashier apparently thought it was ok to curse in front of not just his customer but his 2 year old son...who oh yes picked right up on that word...thanks man! of course Josh corrected the cashier really quick but why would you do that!?!?! Anyway we are working on colors right now but blue is the only one we really down so far, he loves to look at books and the pictures are awesome at helping him learn, I had no idea there were so many great children's books.
We were at Wal-Mart this week and this older lady walks up to me and asks if he is mine, I say yes. She stares at me and then says "yes but are you his mother" I automatically answer "yes" then she stares some more, until I finally realize what she is asking. So because I think she meant no harm I explained that we had just adopted him from Ethiopia and now we are his parents. Then she asks if my husband is white...if we got to pick him out....etc. I don't think she meant to offend me in anyway but had she been any younger I would have probably told her it was none of her business but I went on and answered her questions and then she told me how beautiful Liam is and how lucky we were so I am glad I was nice...but really does it really matter what race my husband is and no we did not go pick out our son like a puppy from a pound. Wording is very important, next time try how does the adoption process work there instead. Anyway it was nice of her to tell me he is beautiful even if she followed it up with he looks nothing like you hahaha geee thanks. What a fun trip to Wally World.
It is getting harder and harder for me to play or do pretty much anything that involves bending or sitting on the floor. I am so very ready to have Raegan so I can actually play with them and not be out of breath and in pain...not much longer though! Liam can say Raegan and is getting pretty excited about all the baby stuff floating around the house now even though I am pretty sure he is going to be very upset when he learns that he has to share his Mommy. It will be sweet to see how he reacts, he really likes babies but I have never held one in front of him either so we will have to wait and see. Thankfully we have found a great family for him to stay with while I am in the hospital so Josh will be able to stay with us, it is really hard when you live so far from family and it is still going to be hard to leave him even though I know he will be in great hands. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church family and a wonderful military family! God knew exactly where we needed to be right now!
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