Am I really 34 weeks already??

It's amazing to me that I'm already 34 weeks along. Yes, there are some days when the time seems to drag and I'm so glad because I doubt that I'm really ready to have another baby in the house. Yet there are other days when the time drags and I feel this little monkey kick and I can hardly wait to hold him/her in my arms!



This pregnancy was so hard at the beginning, I was so sick, and to be honest (I know it sounds harsh), but I wasn't really that excited. I mean really, all the boys can dress themselves, feed themselves, brush their own teeth, etc. so how could I think about being excited about diapers, sleepless nights, solids, teething, and all the other stuff that we must start over with??



But God is good. And He is faithful. And He truly knows me more than I even know myself. He knew it would take awhile for me to adapt and well, that's why He gives us 9 months!! So I just completed 34 weeks yesterday and while my due date is March 13th, I will have a c-section on March 3rd...just 4 weeks away!!! And guess what...I can hardly wait for the diaper changes, the nursing, or the sleepless nights! I feel the elbows (or maybe the knees) pushing against my belly button and I just want to giggle. I toss and turn all night long and don't get any sleep...yet I wake up feeling happy and excited in the mornings. God knew.



Finding out, or in our case--NOT finding out the gender has been a HUGE step of patience for me. I am not patient. At all. But I told Jeff that if we couldn't see him/her clearly at the ultrasound we had at 16 weeks (it was early for an u/s), then I would join him in not finding out the gender. Well guess what--our little jellybean was so stubborn!! He/She had the umbilical cord between the legs and his/her legs were crossed at the ankles! So no chance to get a view on "the goods". Bummer.



So here we are, just 4 weeks out and I'm dying to know if this will be another boy, or a surprise little girl. Of course we will be happy with either, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't say that, right? Yet I find myself obsessing about it all day (and all of those sleepless nights) long!!! I want to know, and I want to know NOW, darn it!! :o) I am tired of buying yellow, green, orange and red clothing....and worrying over every piece of that clothing if it's too "boyish" or too "girlie". Yet we wait.




Because of where we live in Peru, I have had 1 official Dr. appointment!! I know some of you might be aghast at that--what, no prenatal appointments? Our colleagues have a portable ultrasound machine, so they did a couple u/s to make sure the peanut was measuring okay--according to my dates (this was back in October/November). They also took my blood pressure a couple times to make sure that was alright. Then I did go to the hospital 1 1/2 hrs. away to have my blood glucose tested. And then there was that time a couple weeks ago when I met with a Dr. here in Arequipa (the one who delivered Nathan almost 5 years ago) who measured my belly, listened to the heartbeat and told me things looked good. But because I'm an obsessive worrier, I just want to make sure things are okay--so I found a place here in Arequipa that does 3D ultrasounds and I made an appointment to have one done this next week! I just want to make sure that there are fingers and toes and chubby little cheeks growing in there!! I am so excited to see this little person on screen and watch him/her moving around!! I'll keep you posted, but the gender will still remain a secret for another month...then we'll all know!! :o)

Random kid stuff from 2008

I continue to find it amazing that I'm a mom to three boys. It's such a joy (most of the time-ha ha) and I wish I didn't take it for granted as much. I want to cherish these precious lives and remember everything about these years....yet most days I am so wrapped up in me and what I need to get done, I just don't appreciate them as much as I could.

Brandon is such a great kid--he is obedient and while he loves to bug his brothers, he is just a fun boy to be around. I enjoy conversations with him, I enjoy playing card games with him, and overall I just think he's a well-rounded young man. At the age of 8, he really enjoys school (mostly math), soccer, bugs, reading chapter books, piano lessons, playing with Legos, and watching "cool" movies like National Treasure and Prince Caspian. He is finally learning to ride his bike and swim--things he would have learned ages ago if we were living in a place with a decent pool and good bikes! :o)



Jonathon is a typical 2nd born--if you have more than one child, you may know what I'm talking about. He is our "spirited" child, I'm choose this word as opposed to "strong willed"...seems less harsh. lol He is very sensitive and funny he's got such a sweet & tender heart--and at the same time, he can be so spirited that it drives us nuts! He's 6 and also loves school--more for the social times, but he does do very well and managed to get very good grades this year as well. I find it hard to believe he just finished Kindergarten and will start 1st grade in March. He loves math, soccer, catching really creepy bugs in his bug catcher, playing with the dogs, playing with Legos, and we are working this summer (it is summer now for us) on reading. He loves to try to sound out about any word he sees. He is really hoping that this baby will have blond hair and green eyes and look like him. I guess because he is more fair than the other boys, he needs some comraderie. ha ha He brings me much joy.



And then there's Nathan...who is pure sugar! We always ask him if he's pure sugar and he always responds with, "No, you are". :o) He loves most everything about life. He loves school, his friends, his dogs, his Legos, his soccer ball, his sunglasses....well, you get the picture. Math is his favorite thing right now, which is funny since he's only 4--well, he'll be 5 in March, but I still don't know many 4 OR 5 year olds who love to do math problems! He is always asking me to do addition and subtraction for him, and recently he learned to do double digits (no carrying or borrowing yet), which he is very proud of. He kisses my belly everyday and tells the baby how much he loves it--he is the only one that wants a sister--the other two boys want another brother.



I know with confidence that this new baby is going to be loved. These boys have so much love to give and are anxiously awaiting the birth of their new brother or sister.

Christmas

I love Christmas, it's by far my favorite time of the year. I not only love decorating the house, but I love the coziness of having the lights on at night, and the comfort of hearing familiar Christmas songs on the radio. Yes, we get radio stations from home! We pipe in KTIS (Christian radio out of Minneapolis) to our kitchen and listen to it all day long. It's so fun to hear the weather & traffic reports and feel like we've got a little bit of home in Peru.

We typically take a family picture in front of our tree--this year we realized again how short our tree looks!! It's always a challenge to get the boys to cooperate and smile in a "normal" way--not with weirdo smiles or faces.

I like the way our picture turned out this year, and I especially have enjoyed this Christmas as it's our last one with only a family of 5! Next year we'll have a new little peanut running around, we'll have to hang the ornaments higher up, and I won't be able to put the presents out quite as early for fear that he/she will be wanting to open them up.

Of course Christmas for us in Peru also means the end of the school year. There are parties galore and the boys are studying for end of the year exams. Brandon had an entire week of exams and we are proud to say that he got all A's for the year!! We are proud of how well he does in school--not to mention the fact that it's all in SPANISH!!! We also attended an end of the year party for Jonathon & Nathan's class--complete with a clown who later showed up as "Papa Noel" (Santa Clause) and handed out presents. It was fun to see the kids with their presents, and also fun to see our boys interacting so well with their classmates.

Family trip to Huanipaca

So I wasn't that excited to go along...I mean when you only have ONE weekend free in the whole month of December, who wants to be gone for it??? BUT...I decided to suck it up and make the best of it. Jeff wanted to "treat" me to a hostal, located outside a village about 2 hours from home. It's a hostal owned by an Italian couple, and is on the way to the Incan ruins of Choquequirao. He wanted to show the boys and I what a great place it is, and to just get away as a family--I shouldn't have been such a baby about being gone from home, because it was such a great night away as a family!

The drive is a bit dangerous, dirt roads with severe drop offs on the side...made more difficult on our trip by thick fog and rain. But we did manage to get out of the rain for a bit and take some pictures of some villagers plowing their field with oxen. It's amazing to see the oxen plowing and then someone going behind them dropping the seeds in the rows by hand. What hard work!

It rained a bit the night we got there, but the next morning we were able to get a good 4 hour hike in with the boys before the rain started again. We hiked towards the ruins (which are a longs ways off) and enjoyed some fun times of singing, collecting rocks, capturing centipedes, collecting stink bugs (fun for the boys, not as much for me), and just spending time together as a family.