She's here!!

On March 3, 2009 at 9:36am, Sophia Noelle Krohn entered our world!! If you remember, we didn't know if she was going to be a boy or a girl. God blessed us by giving us the desires of our hearts--a baby girl! She's beautiful, of course, and the boys are so in love with her...so is her daddy!


I was the one who named her, Jeff had asked not to be told the name until he/she came out...it was so fun to finally get to tell him what her name was. Sophia comes from Greek origins and means "wisdom". She is so lovely and even after 2 weeks, I can't stop staring at her and kissing her! Our family is now complete!



Another huge blessing has been having my mom here! Not only did she come to help, but she brought a boat load of PINK clothes!!! I'm talking a full TWO suitcases of clothes! Sophia has enough for the first 6 months and I feel totally blessed! It's like playing dress up actually. :o) My mom arrived the Friday after Sophia was born and left yesterday...I will miss her!! Thanks Mom!!!

Why does 3 days seem like an eternity right now?

So I've finally hit a wall...a pregnancy wall. I'm 38 weeks and know that my c-section is going to take place in just 3 days...so why do I feel like it's absolutely impossible to wait for 3 more days?? Seriously, the time is just dragging by for all of us; the boys wake up each morning and anxiously ask how many more days they have to wait to meet their new sibling. Now I realize that 3 days really isn't that long, but the anticipation has hit a high and in my hormonal state I just want to scream.

The plan is that we are to go to the hospital on Monday afternoon. They will do some bloodwork and maybe another u/s, then we will stay the night with the doctor and his family in their home...which is kind of funny to think about. I wonder if he gets nervous before a surgery. I think I'll ask him over dinner on Monday night. Then again, maybe not.

For those who don't know, the hospital is about 1 1/2 hrs away from Abancay, in a small town called Curahuasi. Here is the website to the hospital if you are interested:
http://www.diospi-suyana.de/index.php?id=29&L=2&L=1

So, after staying the night with the doctor and his family on Monday night, I will go into the hospital on Tuesday morning for the c-section. Jeff will stay with me and hopefully get to be right there during the operation, or at least be close enough to get to hold his new daughter/son right after he/she is born. I will also be getting my tubes tied, so it will take a bit longer than normal for them to finish up with me and stitch me back up. During that time Jeff can be with said son/daughter as they check him/her over and do the APGAR tests and make sure that all is well. We are hoping for the most boring, routine c/s ever.

I hope to be able to stay through the week and go home on Friday. My mom is flying into Cusco on Friday morning with a friend, so Jeff can pick them up and as they are coming back through Curahuasi they will pick up the baby and I and bring us all home to Abancay. The boys will be staying in Abancay, one of our missionary friends here has graciously agreed to feed them and stay the night with them on the two nights Jeff will be gone. Jeff will come back to Abancay sometime on Tuesday after settling the baby and I in, then will come back to Curahuasi on Thursday to be with me overnight.

Everything is washed and put away. The bed is clean. The bouncy chair is clean. The swing is clean. I have a few packages of diapers and wipes. The baby's bag is packed. Mine is not. I hope to pack mine this weekend after doing some wash--however the constant rains have prevented me from doing wash the past couple days, so I'm hoping for sunshine today to finish up what I want to do.

I have quite an extensive list of what I need to take to the hospital. If you've had kids in the States, you know that the hospital provides diapers, blankets, onesies, and basically whatever else they think you might need during your stay. Here I must take everything with me--including diapers, wipes, clothes, hats, blankets, towels, etc. So my bag is going to be pretty packed...not to mention the fact that I will be there for 3 full days without any friends or family near (no TV either). I am hoping (in spite of the fact that I'll have a newborn to take care of and a c-section incision to work around) to treat it as a bit of a vacation! :o) I'm taking snacks, books, and maybe even my computer with some DVDs! Of course in reality I'll be sleeping and just staring at my new little one.

A week from today will be our first full day home (if all goes well). I'll be sure to post some pictures. Please pray for a smooth operation and a very healthy baby!!!

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.

Nathan's surgery

After traveling for 3 days straight from Thailand to LA to Lima to Cusco, Jeff & the boys picked me up at the airport in Cusco. It was sooo amazing to see my husband and boys again after being gone for 3 weeks. There were many comments directed towards my growing belly--like, "wow, your belly is HUGE", etc. It was a wonderful reunion.

What the boys did NOT know, however, was that they would be dropping Nathan and I off at the missionary hospital about an hour and half from home where we would stay the night and Nathan would have a minor reparation surgery the next day. It was a tearful goodbye again when Jeff and the oldest boys had to get in the car again, knowing that I still hadn't made it home yet. Nathan and I spent the evening doing homework and just "catching up" from my being gone.

The next morning Nathan and I went to the hospital around 8am, the doctors were expecting us and guided us to one of the rooms where Nathan got to experience the lovely hospital gown. He thought it felt funny to have it on and nothing else underneath! :o) The thing that gave me the most laughs though, was when the anesthesiologist gave Nathan a pill to swallow that would make him sleepy. She was out of the other anesthetic that is easier to take, but he was a trooper and swallowed that thing right down. So the funny part was when it started to take effect...I had kept asking him if he was getting sleepy yet, but he kept saying, "nope, not yet". All of a sudden he looked at me with these glazed-over eyes and in a slurred voice said, "Mommy, you have four mouths and four noses!" I just started laughing and told the nurse that I thought the meds had kicked in.

They came in a got him, he was asleep by then, and rolled him into surgery. The surgery was to repair a "not so well done" circumcision, but since it was so minor, it only took about 45 minutes. Then I was allowed to come in and sit with him, I got to don a gown, fancy green crocs and an elastic head covering. He continued sleeping while they monitored him, and finally, though he hadn't woke up, his oxygen levels were good enough to take him off the oxygen and send him back to his room. It took him a good 2 hours to wake up.

I was so proud of him, he was so brave and didn't complain even one time. When he woke up, all he wanted to do was get on his clothes and eat something (he couldn't eat from dinner the night before and was SO hungry). They told me to wait a bit to let him eat, that he could drink some tea, but nothing else for awhile to make sure it stayed down. I had thought we would be taking a taxi back to Abancay, but when I talked with Jeff he told me to stay put and that him and the boys would drive to get us! I was so glad, it's an hour and a half to get to the hospital on yucky roads, so I thought this was a very sacrificial thing to do--and I appreciate it so much as it gave me more time to catch up with everyone.

Anyhow, Nathan has healed fine and you'd never know he had any sort of surgery. I am so thankful for such sweet boys!

Bangkok

After leaving Chiang Mai, Jen and I flew to Bangkok where we were amazed at the sprawling skyline and the heat of the city! Not only was it hot, but it rained like crazy and was so humid that walking down the street caused me to sweat like I had been at the gym!

The first thing we did was visit a snake farm and watch a snake show full of venomous snakes! It was wild to see the handlers showing off the snakes, snakes like King Cobras and poisonous vipers--the announcer mentioned that the handlers get bitten by venomous snakes a couple times a year!! I think I'd look for a new job.

We also enjoyed walking around Lumphini Park, a large park located in the middle of the city--probably similar to Central Park. It's a beautiful park with a couple large lakes, in which we discovered live some very large lizards! I was certain they were komodo dragons, but Jen says they are water monitors which is probably more realistic than what I thought. Nonetheless, it was a bit creepy walking along the lake and seeing these large things swimming through the middle of the lake and resting on the shore!














We stayed in a great location, right off of a main street and near a Mexican restaurant, an Irish Pub, a French bakery and a Starbucks! We did some great shopping and I even learned that Ronald McDonald does the "Wai", the traditional Thai greeting.

Elephant Conservation Center

Jen and I visited the Elephant Conservation Center that was located outside of Chiang Mai. Instead of paying for a guided tour, we decided to venture out on our own, take a local/public bus and try to get off at the right spot.
It was actually really easy, and not only did we get off at the right spot, but we were able to flag down a bus (thanks to a Thai couple who stood by the side of the road with us) and get back to Chiang Mai as well! It was fascinating how the "mahouts" (elephant trainers) trained and guided the elephants. We got to watch the elephants perform various tasks, follow directions and even paint! After the show we took a 1/2 hour elephant ride through the forest/jungle--all the while trying to communicate with the mahout in his broken English and our non-existent Thai. It was great fun!

A look into the Thai markets

I loved visiting the markets in Chiang Mai! During my 2 cooking classes, we were taken to 2 different markets to see the ingredients we would be using in our class. I thought that

overall they were similar to the Peruvian markets I visit here, but one thing that was really different, was the presentation of their produce. The Thai love to make things look pretty & appealing, and it was fun to see some of the ways they "market" their goods. I enjoyed seeing dragon fruit, the hot chili peppers, the many types of fish sauce, and I won't soon forget the "frog kabobs"...frogs on a stick--all prepared and ready to put into soup!

Doi Suthep-temple in Chiang Mai

The temples in Chiang Mai are the result of influences from its immediate neighbours Laos and Myanmar, and farther afield places like Sri Lanka and China. Doi Suthep is the temple that I visited in Chiang Mai, though Doi Suthep is actually the name of the mountain where the temple is located, so this is what they call it. The temple is said to be founded in 1383 when the first chedi was built; a chedi is a mound-like structure that contains Buddhist relics, once thought to be places of Buddhist worship, it typically houses the remains of a Buddha or saint. When we arrived at the temple, we had to climb the 309 steps to reach the pagodas at the top. Aspects of the Wat draw from both Buddhism and Hinduism. We saw various Buddha imagines, but apparently in most temples the Buddha image will be at the far end of the hall and face east, for that is the direction that Buddha achieved Enlightenment. The buddhas have different looks, some of them have their hands open upward, some have their hands on their laps, some have their hands in a meditating position, and each of these positions mean something different. At Doi Suthep there were many bells situated all around. Large Buddhist bells are usually heard in isolation, and their sound is complex and varied. However smaller untuned bells are arrayed in large sets around temples in Thailand. Devotees strike each bell for the forgiveness of a sin as they ascend the temple; we saw many people walking along striking each bell in the line, how sad they think that ringing a bell will grant them forgiveness.