about a boy

I decided my last blog post couldn't be about a dead dog, so ta-da! Nearly four months later, here's the tale of our most "recent" addition. 

Roger Ian surprised us and entered the world two weeks early, on Tues., March 8th, at 7:10am. 

Monday night, after a delicious girls' night out with my cousin Jen, I was feeling quite restless. I'd been having Braxton-Hicks for a couple days and was starting to sense that this kid might come early.  Around 9:30, I said to Doug, "You might wanna throw some things in a duffle... just in case." He probably thought I was crazy. 

Around midnight, I woke up to a cramp that felt very similar to what I had with Willa and immediately thought "this is it." I tried to go back to sleep but found myself lying there waiting for another contraction. Sure enough, about 10 minutes later, there was another. At 1:30am, my contractions were around 8 minutes apart so I woke Doug up and said, "I think we're having a baby today."

I told Doug to go back to sleep and got in the shower. After, I puttered about - gathering things and preparing stuff for my parents to watch Bo and Willa. Emily had stayed over at our house, so around 3:30am I woke her up to let her know we'd be leaving for the hospital in a bit - she was on child duty until my mom arrived. 

By 4am, my contractions were around 3-4 minutes apart, and I was starting to feel like we should head to the hospital. Doug remembered that the car was almost out of gas, so he drove down the road to the gas station. While he was gone, I had a handful of contractions under 3 minutes apart and the intensity had picked up, so when he got back, I was like, time to go. 

Once we were in the car, my contractions slowed way, way down - like 5-8 minutes apart. I told Doug we should turn around because they probably wouldn't admit us. He insisted that since we were already driving, we should just see what they had to say at the hospital. 

Once I got out of the car and started walking, my contractions started to come more quickly again. We got into triage and I braced myself for news of dilation - I remember thinking "oh please let me be at least 3 inches!" The midwife smiled and said, "We're at 7!" I was floored - and SO excited to be that far along!

We got up to the room around 6am, and I got right into the tub. Around 7am, my nurse and midwife were going off duty, so they both stopped by to wish me good luck. The nurse said she'd be back with her replacement to introduce us and to let her know in the meantime if we needed anything. Pretty much as soon as she walked out of the room, I suddenly had the urge to push. Since I had an epidural with Willa, I hadn't experienced that fully - but whoa. At first I was like "Yikes, I think I might need to push...?" and then with the next contraction, I was like, "I NEED TO PUSH."

Johnny Cash, a word, if I may? You know nothing of the "ring of fire". Sweet mercy. At any rate, I pushed for maybe 5 minutes and voila - a baby boy!! 

6 lb, 6 oz - 21.5 inches

So teeny! He's chunked up a bit since then...

Isn't he just delectable?! 

So life with 3 kiddos has been an adjustment, to offer a trite overstatement. We are all learning and hanging on for dear life and trying to love the good & the bad. I sure love this little pack to pieces. 

And now little bloggity blog, I bid you adieu, at least until the next child arrives. 

[wide-eyed emoji]

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zooey

Our new year had a sad start, as Zooey was hit by a car and killed on New Year's Day.

She was definitely not a perfect dog & certainly drove me nuts at times,

but she was loyal & wonderful with the kids & we loved her & miss her.

Stories & pics of Zoo throughout the years on the blog found here.

our house: willa's room

Well, now that Willa is a year old and we've got another babe on the way,

and we are working on yet another room re-do,

I suppose I should do a post about her nursery. Oops.

Willa's room was originally designated as Bo's nursery when we first moved in.

Our decision was based on two key factors:

(1) This floor was the newest (read: least squeaky) and (2) the door closed the most softly.

Had we known that Bo would become the world's heaviest sleeper, we wouldn't have cared as much.

But I digress. Here are pictures from Bo's time in the nursery. 

I absolutely love this cabinet on the wall:

I was not as huge a fan of the wallpaper border or the 3-curtain closet:

This wallpaper did NOT come off as easily as the hockey border in Bo's big boy room,

so I was very glad it was just a border and not the whole wall.

After that, we had Mark Miller of Brush & Hammer paint.

Since we weren't finding out the gender of the baby, I wanted a nice neutral,

and it doesn't get more neutral than beige. Here's an in-progress picture.

After Mark painted, we had our dear friend John come and help install closet doors.

Which we thought would be fairly routine. Because... it's closet doors.

However, this project turned out to be much more involved than anticipated.

Let's just say that it quickly became apparent as to why the former owners 

chose to put up curtains rather than install closet doors.

The boys ended up removing the molding, adding slabs of wood 

(don't be jealous of my construction lingo knowledge),

and to make a long story short - expending a lot of energy and emotion on this project.

(Meanwhile, Sarah & I went on fun shopping adventures.)

Anyway - eventual success!

In hindsight - should have tackled the closet doors before we had Mark paint, but oh well!
My 8-month pregnant self had fun touching up the molding and painting the closet doors.
A few weeks before Willa was born, the room looked like this:

Ready & waiting for accent colors!

After our sweet girl arrived, I slowly but surely got to work making it a girly nursery.

Crib: Target (formerly Bo's)

Changing table: IKEA (formerly Bo's)

Rug: IKEA

Curtains: homemade, fabric from JoAnn's

Bookshelf: Target

So, I absolutely love that the bookshelf above was "styled" by Doug! 

We were "digging out" the house after Christmas, and I came upstairs and he had

organized all the little horses and put Raggedy Ann & Andy on the shelves!

(Sidenote: Raggedy Ann & Andy made by my step-mother-in-law!)

My grandma cross-stitched the sampler with Willa's birth info in the photo above.

My cousin Victoria made the tiny "wreath" in the photo below. 

The painting was the first one I did a few winters ago.

Opposite side of the room - originally the white bookshelf was against the wall where that desk is.
Like I said, we're already moving some things around in preparation for Baby P #3!

Rocker: hand-me-down from a family friend in Michigan!
Desk: mine growing up!

This painting is one of my favorite pieces of art that we own, along with the watercolors done by my grandpa.

One of my former students and small group girls, Lindsey, painted this portrait of an Ethiopian girl, 

based off a photo I took on a trip to Ethiopia (you can see the photo here).

So there you have it! Willa's girly little room.

My favorite thing about Willa's room is all the personalized touches from beloved family and friends.

Naturally, Willa's favorite thing about the room is getting into the creams & wipes on her changing table. 

Grandma's Christmas Cookies

My grandma's chocolate-molasses cutouts were always my favorite Christmas cookie.

My mom sent me a photo of the recipe from an old family cookbook, 

and I decided to post it here so I can pin it and have it easily accessible.

The family cookbook credits these as "Aunt Ethel's Chocolate Jumbles"

but to me, they'll forever be "Grandma's Christmas Cookies".

Grandma's Christmas Cookies

Warning: halve this recipe unless you are baking for hundreds.

Mix together:

1 c sugar

4 sq Baker's chocolate, melted - or - 3/4 c cocoa

1 c shortening (+ 3T if using cocoa)

2 eggs

2 c molasses

Add in:

2 t soda

1 t cinnamon

1 t cloves

5-6 c flour

Make dough stiff & chill.

Roll thin & cut out. 

Bake at 350 for 7-12 minutes.

Frost & decorate.

gender game, round 2.

As with the last pregnancy, we are not going to find out the gender until baby makes his/her arrival!

Here are the stats of the old wives' tales this time around!

Baby's heartbeat: above or below 140?

12 weeks = 150
16 weeks = 150

20 weeks = 140

Mom's cravings: sweet or salty?

sweet!

Morning sickness: yes or no?

Yes, from weeks 6-8.

No from that point forward!

Mom's skin: soft or dry?
dry

Mom sleeps on: right or left side?

Back & forth & back & forth.

Chinese Calendar: 

Girl

Mom's emotions: moody or happy?

Eh... pretty moody.

Mom's headaches: more or less?
Less.

Girl tally: 4

Boy tally: 3

I think it's a boy.

Bo thinks it's a boy.

Doug thinks it's a girl.

What about you guys?? What do you think?

oh & another thing

As long as I'm updating the blog, might as well include our now public announcement:

 Adding to our patch in March 2016!

ADK 2015

Well, self. You are doing a bang up job* with this blogging thing. *sarcasm

Here's to another effort to photographically chronicle life in general.

SO. Over Labor Day weekend, we went to the Adirondacks!

With two kids in tow, we decided to stop at the Wild Center.

Naturally, we had to take pictures in the moose antlers:

 My little wilderness babes:

And another family photo in front up the uprooted tree...

(Warning: I don't think you're ready for these white legs.)

 Adventures in the new eagle's nest!

 View:

Ever adventurous: 

 Later that day, we arrived at Dartbrook Lodge, where we stayed for the weekend.

 It was a gloriously warm weekend, so we headed to the Ausable to cool off.

 One of my favorite views, across from the Ausable at Marcy Field:

 Cute sunflowers in the community garden:

 And snuggles to end the day at the lodge:

The next morning/night, Doug woke up at 3 to go hike Upper Wolf Jaw (# 35/46!)

When kids & I woke up at a normal human time, we walked down the path to the ADK Cafe for breakfast.

Worth mentioning that Doug was back from his hike before our breakfast was even served!

 Then we ventured out for a family hike of Owl's Head!

About to get started:

 And we're off!

Annoyed that this is blurry, but here's our tiniest "hiker" loving the mountain air!

 I adore this picture of Bo. It captures him so well & his love for all things that his daddy loves.

Also, please note that since Doug was carrying Willa, Bo had to carry Buddy.

 My bubs.

 My family.

A wonderful weekend in a place I love with the people I love best.

this is the day that the lord has made

Three years ago today, I woke up with the Ethiopian sun.

It was hazy and gray - the type of morning that points to a day of sunshine and heat.

I lay under the blankets, butterflies dancing in my stomach, and smiled.

This is the day that the Lord has made...

  This was the morning we were to pick up our son.

64 days after first holding him in our arms...

Thousands of miles of ocean finally evaporated between us...

Reams of paperwork finally in order...

And now, only a few hours and a short car ride separated us.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

An excerpt from my journal from that morning:

My brain cannot comprehend that we are picking up Bo today - for good!

I mean, I understand that it's happening, but it doesn't seem real.

I have been waiting for this day for so long.

I think I keep expecting the worst, in my heart of hearts.

We've been cautioned and have heard so many stories of bad scenarios...

I think all of that is currently assailing me.

I know that God is in control. Father, calm my heart.

3 hours. 3 hours and our lives are going to change so drastically.

This is the day that the Lord has made...

On the drive over and as we made our way to the entrance of the Thomas Center,

I was a bundle of contradictions. Feeling nervous and at peace.

Feeling ready and completely unprepared.

We stepped inside and our translator explained that we were Bonsa's parents.

I heard footsteps on the stairs, and a nanny appeared, holding him.

She placed him in Doug's arms and gave me a bouquet of flowers.

Shortly afterward, we walked back out the door - a family of three.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

My heart is so full.

When I watch Doug holding Bo.

When I listen to Bo's snorty little breathing.

When I gaze at his round tummy... his gorgeous lashes...

touch his soft skin... hear his amazing laugh -

my heart feels like bursting. 

Like it's just too big and full of love to be contained in my chest.

To be honest - every time I look in the mirror, I'm a little surprised to see me.

I feel so different.

This is the day that the Lord has made...

Many times I lose sight of the amazing hand of God in the formation of our family.

I get caught up in the details of daily life.

I think it's our tendency as temporal creatures in flawed relationships.

We forget the enrapturing emotions that once enveloped our every step. 

The way our hearts quickened at the sight of our beloved.

The awe of first beholding a baby that emerged from our bodies.

And the overwhelming joy of holding a little boy that God has led you to from around the world.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Today, as I reflect on our journey of becoming a family,

I'm reminded that every single day is the day that the Lord has made.

And I pray that these days of remembrance become far more frequent 

as we praise Him for His faithfulness to us even amidst the daily details.

Father God, be glorified in and through our family.

May we be a testament to your grace and love.

Thank you for uniting us. Thank you for creating family.

Thank you for this sweet angel boy asleep beside me.

Thank you for my amazing, strong and patient husband.

Draw us ever closer to one another. Be the foundation of our family.

Draw us to you and help us desire the things of your heart.

God, I praise you for your goodness and faithfulness.

And Lord, a very selfish request...

please, please no poop geysers on the plane.

Happy 3 year Family Day, Bonsa Boy.