Category: the Oldest

Our Goga

So we were blessed by my mom staying with us for the week after Hannah’s birthday. While the first few days after returning from the hospital were a bit busier and less “camera-friendly”, I did manage to return to the living and bust out my camera to capture a few pictures. =)

Making “Chicken Toes” (Chicken Nuggets) 

 Explanation.
 Flour. 
Egg.
Crunchy Stuff.
Hannah’s participation. 
Mom also made this cute “welcome home” sign with the girls as a surprise to Hannah, Matt and I.

I honestly can tell you, readers, that my Mom’s friendship and help that week is beyond thank you words. I really am speechless at her patience, willingness to simply serve, and joy in sharing that special transition time with us in the good and the ugly moments of it all. It is through the grace of her loving help that the transition from two to three girls was gentle on all. Matt and I enjoyed the opportunity to just focus on Rachael and Abi while studying and caring for Hannah’s needs. With Mom there to tag-team the girls it gave each of us the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with each little girl to reassure them of the continued love and support they will be getting amidst the new sister. It really just touched my heart beyond explanation to know that Rachael and Abi were getting special love and still keeping up “the normals” amidst Mommy learning to juggle it all. 
I am so blessed to have received the gracious gift to ease into the balance and the joy of three little girls. Matt was also able to return to work and school without abandonment fears. 😉  
And when mom returned to her life on the road with Daddy, the freshness of Hannah had worn off some and the reality of her living with us permanently had soaked in enough to allow for less chaos in the balance equation. =)
I really am beyond thankful at this indescribable gift of my Mother’s to our family. And while it’s taken me a little while to get to post about it (something about having 3 small kids), I did want to be sure to include a post about my awesome Mom in thanks for her love. 
– See my great example to work with in my own parenting? 😉
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Our Little Joy

Our little Hannah Joy is now 2 weeks old as of yesterday. She is a wonderful nurser, good sleeper, and kind little thing that has fit right in amongst the joy of her sisters. Funny to admit, but our lifestyle is really quite conducive for the addition of a newborn and thanks to the grace of God that Hannah’s so mild-tempered and such a good nurser, it’s been less of an overwhelming transition than I expected in moving from a household of two dependents to three.There are certainly moments of “Mommy only has two hands, my dear children” that creep into our world, but I have found life to be quite kinder on me and the girls than I had anticipated.

Abi has also done very well with the transition despite my previous concern regarding Abi’s “Mommy only” moments. We have done our best to ease the transition by not making our family “all about the baby”. We don’t constantly emphasize Rachael and Abi in the context of their relationship to their newest sister. We’re not constantly asking them for help with Hannah or trying to push a relationship that has yet to form with Hannah. Their sisterhood will grow on it’s own and we take delight in Rachael and Abi’s initiative in their relationship with Hannah, like when they ask to hold her or help pick out her clothes, but really are working hard to carry on life as “usual”. And due to Hannah’s “sleeping around the clock” habits, it has been a gentler transition of shared time as moments of needing balance come and go.

I am not anticipating Hannah’s addition to our family to be easy and carefree, but as has been the case with Rachael and Abi’s various life stages, we are all adjusting to each other in an effort to learn how to love. Sometimes the adjustment feels one-sided: just ask Hannah when she has to wait to be fed because Abi needs a new diaper, or ask Abi when she needs to settle for Mommy reading her a book on the couch because it’s time for Hannah to eat, or ask Rachael when Abi needs a Mommy-snuggle time and Rachael has to wait to show me her new baby doll set-up in the playroom. But I am thankful that the efforts to teach Rachael and Abi to love each other through serving each other and taking care of each other (which means sharing Mommy and Daddy too) has naturally and comfortably transitioned into a new normal with Hannah as well. They all have their moments of not wanting to share (so do I, I must confess), but it’s nothing that Matt and I feel incapable or unequipped to parent through. It’s a life lesson we all learn together.

So I’ll share some Hannah pictures for those that we are not blessed to live close enough to and for those that are enjoying soaking up our Hannah too. =)

 Those studying eyes. – Love ’em.
 A little personality, no? 😉
 I never want to forget these moments…
 First experience in her crib (and the subsequent short nap).
 Meeting Aunt Sarah for the first time at her soccer game.
[Hannah’s first date-night with Mommy/Daddy at 8 days old.]
2 weeks old

Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement and support as our family moves into our new world of three, age three and under. =)

– We’re adoring it.

– Thank you, Jesus.
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The Projected Normal

* This is a sample of my current schedule mashed with our old schedule. And therefore the reason for the blogging silence. 😉

Thanks to my Mom staying for over a week, we have not run this schedule but for two days thus far. That being said, we are grateful and yet have found that this schedule is now in full swing with some obvious adjustments should Hannah add in an extra growth-spurt feeding and should there not arise any additional snuggle/teaching needs for the older two.

We just play each day by ear, but at least in this household this is what we’ve found to be most affective for this current phase of having a 3.5 year old, 2 year old and a newborn. Tweaking, obviously, occurs daily. 😉

Between 12:30 and 1:30a – Hannah wake-up feeding #1 (feeding takes 50 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes depending on her level of sleepiness). Change diaper and reswaddle before putting her back in her bassinet.

Between 4:30a and 5:30a – Hannah wake-up feeding #2 (see above). Change the laundry to the dryer (if applicable).

Between 6:30 and 7:10a – Depending on Hannah’s level of sleeping from previous feeding depends on when I, Ms. Roadkill, drag myself out of bed. Hannah feeding #3 (feeding only takes about 30-45 minutes this time). Change Hananh’s diaper.

Between 7 and 7:30a – Rachael and Abi awake. Mommy’s morning devotion time. (If I don’t get in my devotion at that point then I add it to a Hannah feeding somewhere else in the day).

Between 7a and 7:15a – Matt awakes, sets coffee pot, and showers. 

7:30a – Retrieve Rachael and Abi (or send Matt to do likewise). Abi’s diaper change. Encourage girls to go to the table for breakfast or go play while breakfast is being made (depending on our level of breakfast involvement). Put soiled Hannah/Abi diapers in hamper. Take laundry out of dryer. Start folding previous day’s diaper laundry that I never got around to yesterday.

8a – Breakfast for girls (Matt usually makes it). Then Matt’s devotion time while they eat.

8:30a – Remind girls that breakfast is for eating, start girls’ bathwater, settle Hannah into swing or bouncer. Think about showering. Check facebook, email, pinterest (optional).

8:40a – Aid girls in getting into bath. Scrub a dub children. (On the non-bath days, aid the girls in picking out play from the magnet board and getting them on task.) Prep Hannah’s bath. Pick out Rachael/Abi/Hannah’s clothes/lay them out.

8:50a – Hannah’s bath.

9a – Dress and rediaper Hannah. Say goodbye to Matt (maybe asking him to feed the cats or bring out the trash on the way out if he can).

9:10a – Settle Hannah into swing or bouncer. Get Rachael/Abi dryed off/dressed. “Hair and teeth” for Rachael and Abi. Set out diapers to sun (if needed).

9:40a – Think about a shower again and try to strategize how to get one.

9:50a – Hannah feeding #4. Read 400 books to Rachael/Abi during Hannah feeding via their initiative.

10:40a – Encourage independent play or cooperative play or (mood-pending) watching a movie so I can get a shower.

10:50a – After gathering clothes, change Abi’s now poopy diaper, change Hannah’s diaper and settle everyone in so I can take a shower.

11a – I get my shower (victory!) and get dressed for the day while Hannah hangs out in the bouncer.

11:30a – Lunch prep while encouraging the girls to clean up.

11:40a – Rachael/Abi sit down to lunch and I attempt to tidy the house a bit.

Noon – Check facebook, email, or pinterest (optional) or do something for a few seconds “away” while the girls finish their lunch. Turn on nursery fan to aid Abi in transition to nap time. notice that Hannah’s starting to squirm a little. Snuggle time with Hannah. Bring in diapers from sunning (if applicable).

12:05 – 12:10p – Matt comes home for lunch. I usher Abi to say her “hi’s” and “goodnight’s” to everyone while encouraging Rachael to finish eating (she’s slow) and then go to the bathroom in prep for nap. Put Abi down for nap (diaper change and story reading).

12:15p – Hannah diaper change. Hannah feeding #5. Matt helps to usher Rachael to her bed if Hannah won’t wait for me to do it first. Matt makes “Mommy and Daddy lunch”.

12:20 – 1:05p – Lunch/feeding Hannah.

1:05p – Clean up from lunch. Bathroom break. Tidy up a bit (there always seems to be something on the “to do” list). Then settle Hannah in for her nap (usually not hard since the child sleeps constantly).

1:30p – Mommy nap (optional). Otherwise, make wipes, clean something, fix something, laundry needs, etc. as needed. Begin typing or just thinking about possible blog post (may or may not complete it in this 24 hour time period).

2:30p – Notice Abi is starting to stir a bit. Conclude what I am doing or continue to sleep because she’s yet to wake me up on the baby monitor.

3p – Abi awakes and stealthily climbs into Rachael’s bed. Rachael moans and groans. I either wake up (if I was napping) or realize that my productive time is drawing to a close. Hannah feeding #6.

3:10p – Both girls are now fully awake and no longer in the groggy wake-up phase. Listen for their cue to come let them out (they knock on the nursery door) when they’ve decided bed playing is done. Hannah diaper change.

3:30p – Girls are up and out of their rooms. Abi diaper change. Read books to girls while continue to feed Hannah.

4p – “Daddy’s home from work!!!” Participate in celebration and take opportunity to settle Hannah into the swing or the bouncer and “get some things done” tidying, cleaning, decluttering, or whatever that I didn’t get done b/c I was napping or because I ran out of time.

4:30p – 5p – Try to entertain two hungry children and keep them from driving Daddy crazy while he cooks. Change Abi’s diaper. Check Hannah’s diaper and change as needed.

5p – Set table with girls and help them clean up from anything they got out to play with.

5:15p – Dinner

6p – Hannah begins to get uncomfortable for her dinner. Scramble to get dinner cleaned up and prepped for another 50 minute round of Hannah feeding.

6:15p – Hannah diaper change. Hannah feeding #7.

7p – Last leg of play/family activity before bedtime routine.

7:30p – Start bedtime routine. Cleaning up any left-over toys. Pajamas for girls. Brushing teeth. Two books.

8p – Lights out for the girls.

8:10p – Breathe. 😉 Hannah diaper change. Moment to talk to Hannah while her eyes are temporarily opened.

8:30p – Begin bulk-feeding Hannah, getting comfortable because I’ll be here on the couch for a while.

8:30 – 10:30p – Matt/I hang-out time while I’m bulk feeding Hannah. Hannah diaper changes and bedtime prep. Somewhere during this time I pass out cold on the couch. It’s uncontrollable. I have just hit empty. A 20-30 minute nap gets me through the rest of the evening.

10:30p – Hannah bedtime. Kisses, swaddling, fans on, and “goodnight” small baby.

10:45p – Gather all necessary items to make it through the night (diapers -if not refilled, wipes, diaper rash creme, flannel inserts, extra cover, nursing pillow, etc) and make sure they’re bedside since I don’t want to be wandering the house all night long with a crying baby when I could be sleeping. Update blog (setting completed post, if applicable, to a scheduled date). Start cloth diapers in wash.

11p –  Brush teeth, think through scheduling needs of next day, start laundry if needed, feed cats – especially if they were previously forgotten to be fed (my bad), last minute tidy-up. Transfer diapers to dryer or finish wash cycle.

11:30p – Fall over dead into bed… or a few minutes after 11:30p cause something else needed my attention.

*** Scroll to top of the post and repeat tomorrow. =D

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The Five of Us

I’m going to take this quiet moment to post another update on our little family before what I presume to be a bit of a silence as we settle in to our life of being a family of five.

On Hannah’s birthday (Wednesday), we had the girls come up to meet their sister after their naps. When after their naps turned into post-dinner, Matt and I were anxious to see our two little girls and then usher them on to their slumbers (so we could get ours). While the girls were running on the last fumes of an out of the ordinary day of excitement, they were very curious about Hannah.

The Reactions:

Rachael, when coming into the hospital room, immediately ran to me with a hug and then instantly realized someone was holding a baby. She instinctively went to investigate as “this is Hannah, your sister” was resounded from family in the room. Rachael’s nurturing kicked into full gear naturally and she began snuggling and kissing Hannah’s little head. She stroked the baby’s head, staking her place firmly as her guardian. 😉

 Aww, look at her loving on Hannah.

Abi when coming into the hospital room immediately ran to Mommy and stayed there hugging me for about five minutes. I missed you too, my little Abi. When Abi realized there was a baby in Goga’s (My Mom’s) lap, Abi was concerned at first, announcing Hannah’s little baby noises to be “baby’s crying”. It took her a moment to really absorb that Hannah was alive and more than just a bundled doll. Of course the prospect of holding a baby delighted our dear, independent toddler who threw herself onto the couch and stuck her arms out as if we planned on just handing her the weightless Hannah. 😉 And her joy? Oh it was contagious.

My little, holding my littlest. =)

And then she initiated her own affections for her little sister.

Hannah’s reaction? Well as you can see, she just slept the whole time, clueless of their presence or even being passed around. It was her first solid nap on this side of the womb so the poor baby was knocked out cold.

It was cool to witness the next day during the girls’ visit, the normalcy that seemed to be taking hold as the reality crept in. Rachael and Abi were well rested and full of energy, but in many ways they were back to their old ways with less of the bottled nervous excitement. Without a real schedule and no pressing dinner needs, we were able to visit with more relaxation.  The girls brought their hospital bags (my dear friend, Darlene, mailed them goody bags for entertainment during their hospital trips) and happily colored, ate snacks and shared.

Hannah’s routine check occurred while the girls were there and there was instant fascination. I was so grateful for the nursing staff’s desire to answer kid questions and help build the bridge between Ms. crying Hannah and her concerned sisters. During the check-up I think is one of the firs times Abi really realized Hannah was real. She was very concerned about Hannah’s well-being and it was really the first time Abi took on a “big sister” roll in her concern. My mom and the nurses were fantastic in reassuring Abi that they were not hurting Hannah and helping to normalize the “new to Abi” cries of a newborn.

We also got the opportunity to take Hannah for a walk through the Mother/Baby Unit hallways. Rachael and Abi helped push Hannah along in her rolling crib-cart as we all enjoyed the delights of hallway art, windows outside, a scale (we all needed to be weighed), and peeking into the nursery from the outside glass. We were happy to discover a Daddy in there caring for his newborn girl which brought up all kinds of conversation about babies. It was also the first time I realized that while Hannah is a deceptive 10lb baby (she’s primarily just seriously long, but has a small head and small feet and is well-balanced weight-wise) she is certainly big in comparison to little scrawny newborns. hehe.

After an animal cracker snack, Daddy escorted Rachael and Abi downstairs to the exit and grabbed himself something to eat on the way back up. The departure this time was a little more difficult for the girls since they weren’t quite as keen on us staying at the hospital a second night, but the hope of us all coming home the following day added to Daddy’s escort seemed to help in the equation.

Hannah and I had a quiet few moments alone while Daddy was transitioning with the girls and enjoyed some special snuggle time.

Then came a harder night with latching problems, Hannah discovering her pterodactyl scream (ouch!) and a general discontentment presiding over our once-gentler daughter. While it was a rough night, not going to lie, it was reassuring to discover in the morning that those behaviors are normal for a newborn (especially a breastfed one) on day two and day three due to them trying to figure out the balance of fussiness/feeding in the context of encouraging Mom’s milk to come in. 

This morning (Friday) we “slept in” til almost 9am (I called it napping since I had only gotten about an hour of consistent sleep from 11p – 7a). Hannah’s jaundice count was taken again, for some reason someone chose 6am as a good morning wake-up time. And we found ourselves doing “the lasts” to prepare for our hospital discharge. 

Hannah’s thrilled to go home…. really. 😉

Doctors visited, paperwork was drawn up, and the girls and my mom arrived to bring us home. 

After loading up the car with three children, 1/2 a country’s worth of luggage, and two tired parents, we circled round to pull out of the parking lot when we saw a familiar woman waving down our car. It was my mom. Puzzled we wondered why she wasn’t in her car. She then explained that her car would not start. So since Mom’s car was blocked in on all sides by various other vehicles, we popped up our second stow-away captain’s chair in the van, loaded in more luggage to the car, and added my Mom to our van-load with promises to return to the hospital at less “visiting hours” time to jump her car and bring it back. So it was a funny little spin on our “uneventful” discharge from the hospital. 


Back at home the girls went down for their much-needed naps, Matt and I ate lunch, Hannah was fed/rediapered, Mat started and I transferred laundry, and we proceeded to settle in. After caring for Hannah’s needs, I started to nod off on the couch (something about having slept a total of 7 hours over the past 3 nights) and found my refuge snuggling Ms. Hannah in my own bed. I awoke groggily to a confusing scene of people coming in to visit, later streaming it all together to being various instances of my girls and Matt beckoning me to dinner. Homemade pizza, thanks for the expert cooking of my Mom and the girls’ topping distribution, hit the spot in more ways than one. 

With bedtime around the corner, the girls played, cleaned up (reluctantly) and were ushered back into a variation of their normal routine (extra cuddling was needed for the toddler and extra attention for the preschooler to reassure them without words that they are still “our girls” and are not being replaced). Hannah was gracious to snuggle my mom with minimal vocalizing. 😉

After the girls were tucked into bed, Matt and Mom left to go retrieve Mom’s car and enjoy the fun of night-time grocery shopping. That left Hannah and I and a quiet house. Hannah HIGHLY reluctantly received her first bath at home 

 Sponge bath = no good.

and then found her comfort in the swaddling wrap. 

 Swaddling wrap = good.

And then I got to sit down here in the quiet and record the blessings of the first few days of “the five of us” while yawning. =)

So thus far on out there will probably be a little lull of “long” blog posts. You can only do a “new family” the right way once so I’d like to turn my attention from the blog/electronic communications to communicating love, trust, and full attention (or as much as can be given between naps) to this wonderful family in which God has graced us.


Thank you for your love and support and encouragement. 

We are so excited and delight to get the opportunity to settle in to 

“the five of us”. =)


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Another Addition to the Fam.

Before Matt and I had kids, we decided it would be a priority in our household to sponsor children in poverty-stricken countries and situations “overseas”. We decided that our family would add one additional sponsored child per biological (or adopted) child in our household. We figure if we can afford to add on a child to our mix, we should make it a priority to afford a $30/month sponsorship as well. God has blessed us beyond measure and we trust He will continue to enable us to glorify Him, even if things get tight. Priorities require sacrifices, but some sacrifices are so right they feel like breathing.

With that being said, we first picked our Lidia back when Rachael was a baby. Sweet Lidia was the youngest child available that day when we walked into a local Family Christian bookstore and checked out their “World Vision” sponsorship rack. Sweet Lidia was just a petite little almost two year old (who looked more like a new one year old) when we first sponsored her and is now a thriving five year old starting school this year.

When Abi was born we discussed another sponsorship child. Our dear Tofic fell into our laps when the youth group was no longer able to provide funds to upkeep the little guy’s needs. So we joyously took on our dear Tofic in Abi’s honor. Tofic is currently an active seven year old (his birthday was 8 days ago) enjoying his second year of schooling. We love the hand-drawn pictures he sends us.

Lidia and Tofic are precious in our family as we learn about their loves, lives and families. We have clocks hanging on the wall to remind us of their real-life times and schedules. We pray for them at meals and talk about them during the day. They are two sweet kiddos who have just been  dealt a hard hand and we are so beyond blessed to come alongside of their families and their communities to help them “learn how to fish” in a desolate place.

So with the addition of Hannah to our family on the horizon, Matt and I took the girls back to the bookstore to the familiar World Vision rack. We studied the faces, learned new name pronunciations and worked together to pick out Hannah’s sponsor child.

It was a given when we came across her. Valentina from Colombia. She’s a cute little two year old with a birthday split between Rachael and Abi. The sweet thing is the only child of a single mom, for whatever reason, who is doing everything she can in upholding a daily wage earning job to try to provide for herself and her little girl. Valentina is growing up in a poor community in Colombia. World Vision just recently expanded their efforts in Colombia to come alongside struggling families after a devastating earthquake.

While we still have much to learn about Valentina and anxiously await our packet of information about her that we will be getting in the next few weeks in the mail, it was so neat to watch Rachael’s excitement and curiosity about this precious life. And our dear Abi clung to Valentina’s brochure with joy. We read and reread the few paragraphs we have about her before bed that night and since then.

It’s such a blessing to watch our children’s eyes slowly opened to the precious opportunity we have to love on children in the name of Jesus that we may never meet.

So welcome to the crew, Valentina. Rachael wants you to know that she loves you very much.

*** This post is in no way to bring glory to us, but to give it to God in thanks for the privilege of bringing Him glory in our daily lives.

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