Boys

Cousins.

Fast friends.

Making mischief.

Bubbles + Dirt = Mud 

Mud is every boy's dream come true!

Kill shot with a squirt gun!

Can't imagine a day without a few sticks.

  Swinging with an awesome uncle.

Flying a kite with the world's best dad.

Wuv Woo

Had to share something that has brightened my last several days:

Lately K has started the cutest thing with his little brother.  He'll come up to Baby K, kiss him on the cheek, and say, "I love you Baby" (which sounds like: "I wuv woo baby").  If you can guess, I completely melt when I witness this and am so grateful that the transition from only child to older brother has gone so smoothly so far.  He truly does love his little brother and this has been evidenced in the little kisses, soft pats, and even the sharing of his favorite toys (though Baby K can't exactly play with them yet).  I'm sure the day will come when this will change, but these simple things make me so happy.  

All Smiles

Here's what we've been enjoying the last 2 weeks...

 Hope you're all smiles too!  

The Big Leap (the long awaited update)

So I recently took a test that calculated stress levels.   681.  The scale said that 0-149 was low susceptibility to stress related illness, 150-299 was moderate, and 300 and over was high.  681.  Seriously?  Stressed?  The funny thing is that I don’t feel stressed, but honestly, it must be there and underlying.  A little over a month ago, I gave birth to our second child.  6 days later Kai’s resignation was final.  12 days later we packed up our house and moved from one coast to the other.  We crossed the country with a newborn and tried to reassure ourselves that he would be fine.  We were neurotic about germs and sterilizing e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g along the way.  We successfully made it to the other side of the country with our family intact and relatively healthy.  And then…what?  What was our plan?  Why would we even consider doing something so…reckless?  Well, here’s the abbreviated story…

We loved a lot about Vermont.  In fact, we were making plans to stay there for many years.  Kai put an offer in on the practice he was working for, the owners accepted, and he was in the process of getting a loan to complete the deal.  We were really excited about owning the practice and had started to see ourselves living in Vermont for the long term.  Throughout the whole process, we were praying for God to lead in the deal.  We had a lot of things that we were really looking forward to, but we had some major hesitations as well.  So our prayer was simply that if God didn’t want the deal to go through, that he would close all the doors and make the process impossible. 

Long story short, somewhere in the middle of the whole process the owners changed their minds and wanted significantly more money for the practice than we were willing to pay.  At that point we decided to walk away from the deal.  When Kai signed his contract in the very beginning, there was a clause that said if he resigned then we would have to move at least 35 miles away from the practice so as not to take any patients from the practice with him.  We knew this before he put in his resignation, but we decided that since he wasn’t buying the practice, which had been his intention, he would put in his 2 month notice and we would move on even though it meant moving at least 35 miles and moving at a tough time (right after the birth of Baby K).   I’ll spare you all the details, but we considered all the options to try and stay in the area, even considering buying the non-compete clause which would allow us to stay, but the owners wanted to charge close to a couple of hundred thousand dollars for it even though the going rate is in the ten thousands range.  Kai is apparently very valuable :-)   We realized that our prayers were being answered even though the answer was different from what we had expected.  It seemed that God was obviously and completely steering our ship in a different direction. 

So knowing that we had to move at least 35 miles, we decided to start thinking about where we really wanted to live.  We were crushed to have to leave the close friends we had made in our short time there.  (I cannot say enough that the friends we made while in Vermont were some of the best people we’ve ever known!!  We have already been missing them!)  So we started trying to decide.  Would we move somewhere else in Vermont?  We didn’t know anyone in Vermont when we first moved and now moving 35 miles from where we began would mean starting over making new friends again.  We thought of Michigan where we have family and lots of friends.  That was a very real option, but we’ve discovered that we’re not very fond of the cold.  Texas?  Warm weather and it’s rumored there are tons of jobs, but again, we would be starting over making new friends and not knowing anyone.  California?  Where we just moved from almost a year ago?  We have so many family and friends and we love the weather.  We love all the busyness of the city and all there is to do, but a big drawback is that the market is overly saturated with dentists.  Kai had many friends that had wanted to stay in Southern California, but never found jobs and had to move away.  From what we’ve heard, the job situation hasn’t changed.  But one thing we knew for sure was that we loved it there and missed our friends and family.  If we had to start over, why not try in a place we loved?  God had answered our initial prayer (not the way we expected), so we continued praying and decided to make a huge step out in faith. 

Our plan was simple.  2 months.  We would move back to California and give it 2 months of long, hard, persistent job searching.  If after those 2 months Kai still didn’t have work, then we would look at our options again.  That decision was both simple and formidable.  It was simple because it was obviously what we wanted, and if you know us, you know that we don’t mind a little adventure in our lives.  But it was formidable because we had an idea of how tough it would be and while we love adventure, we don’t like to be irresponsible.  With 2 children, 1 of which would be a newborn at the start of this “adventure”, the feeling was dangerously close to that of irresponsibility and thus, left us with an uneasy feeling.  Yet that uneasiness was overshadowed by a feeling that we were, for some unknown reason, heading in the right direction. 

So we packed everything we owned back into a 26’ Penske rental truck and moved out of our house a mere 12 days after Baby K arrived.  We took our time getting from coast to coast with a stopover in Michigan to visit family and friends, and a stopover in Texas to break the trip up and see if it would be a potential “plan b” if things didn’t work out after 2 months in CA.  We also met friends for dinner along the way and introduced Baby K to 13 new states.  Traveling 4000 miles with 2 small children is daunting.  Between books, stories, movies, snacks, feedings, changings, and bouts of screaming (mostly the kids—though Kai and I joined in to make a merrier chorus at times ;-), we were thankful to reach our destination! 

We arrived on a Saturday night and Kai had 2 interviews scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.  Both interviews went well and one of them wanted a working interview on Thursday.  Both places offered him jobs and Kai came home Thursday after the working interview with full time work!  What a HUGE blessing and relief!  I had thought for sure that it would take almost the entire 2 months to find anything and I was steeling myself for the reality that we might end up resorting to “plan b” in the end, and yet everything worked itself out in less than a week!  This whole experience reminded me of 2 of my favorite Bible verses:   

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9 and 

“I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. 

Things are far from “completed” yet and we still have a lot ahead of us, but one of the major pieces in our uncompleted puzzle has been placed and it makes it a little easier and less stressful as we plan for the future.  I’m thankful that we decided to take the leap of faith, though it was stressful and seemingly reckless, and I’m so thankful for the way things have worked out so far.  For the record, both boys are doing great.  I hardly find the time to check my email and blog lately, but now with this megapost completed (which has been hanging over my head since the inception of this whole ordeal), maybe I will allow myself a few minutes to post smaller bits and pieces of our lives on a more regular basis and catch up on the blogs of those that I have been seriously neglecting.  Thanks for your patience!   

Dancing In The Mine Fields

For those of you who know what this is all about...beautiful!

Birth Story

Life is busy with two!  Not to mention all that’s been going on the last few weeks, which I will post about again soon (as I’ve already promised so many of you waiting for an update on that), but first things first.  As promised, here is the birth story of our 2nd perfect baby boy! 

This pregnancy had been a little harder than the last in regard to the timing of the first trimester sickness, some killer back pain that made me immobile at times, and at the very end, the return of cholestasis of pregnancy which I developed with my first pregnancy also.  This condition is very serious as it increases the risk of stillbirth.  After seeing my doctor, he decided that it was best to induce me to prevent harm to the baby.  The induction was scheduled for the next morning at 6 a.m.  As you may (or may not) remember, my due date was March 17 (St. Patrick’s Day).  

Kai and I let his mom watch K and went out for a “last supper” date.  We went to our favorite local restaurant and had some delicious food.  It was great being able to tell the waiters and waitresses who had watched my belly grow the last 9 months that we would finally be meeting the baby the next day.  They served me up a virgin cocktail on the house in celebration of pregnancy and delivery.  We savored every minute knowing things were just beginning to get crazy.  The entire meal I had irregular, but fairly strong contractions which lasted all night and until I went into the hospital the next morning.  

Being induced is a completely different experience from spontaneously starting labor and then heading to the hospital, which is how older brother K arrived.  We arrived at 6 a.m. freshly showered and excited to meet the newest member of our family.  The nurses laid out my hospital gown and warm blankets and took all of my information while I was not experiencing intense contractions--much better than last time when I was trying to give answers in between major, piercing, awful contractions that had been going on for days. 

 At the very beginning

Around 7:30 after the information gathering, etc., the doctor came in and broke my water (painful!!!!) and started me on a pitocin drip.  I already had requested an epidural on my birth plan, but hospital policy wouldn’t allow it until I reached 4 cm.  The contractions started immediately and were 2 minutes apart for the next 6 hours.  They didn’t start off too bad, but after about an hour they started getting pretty intense and after 2 hours, I was close to begging for my epidural.  Thankfully I got my epidural around 10 a.m. because I had reached 4cm!  Once the epidural was in, life was great!!  I watched the contractions continue and felt only the hardness of my belly.  The nurses came in and marveled at how intense the contractions were on the monitor and told me that I was ready to have this baby and probably would have gone into labor on my own that day or the next.  The highest dose of pitocin they administered was 10, which according to them was not much at all. 

I remembered that I had promised to tell several friends and family when we started labor, so I pulled out my phone and started updating.  I then came across the sad news of Japan’s devastating tsunami.  We realized that while we were having one of the best days of our lives and would soon meet our beloved new son, thousands of families had just been torn apart by tragic loss and destruction.  It was sobering to say the least.  We will always remember the day baby K came into this world and now we will never forget one of Japan’s worst moments in history. 

Finally around 12:15, less than 5 hours after everything was started, I told the nurses that I felt like I needed to start pushing.  After a check, they agreed that it was time.  What a difference!  Last time my labor lasted for 5 days, this time a little over 5 hours!!!  Kai got into his gown as he was planning to deliver baby K, just as he had delivered older brother K.  Pushing with my first labor experience was painful.  Even with an epidural, it was bad.  So I was expecting/dreading the same thing this time too, but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t painful.  Yes, I felt the pressure, but there wasn’t pain involved like the last time.  I can only guess that the last time they had backed my epidural off and I was feeling everything.  This time was soooo much better and soooo much easier.  I pushed for a little over a half an hour and at 12:57 baby K made his appearance!! 

 

No, I didn't take this picture, the 2nd delivery nurse did :-)  

They put him directly onto my chest as soon as he came out and his cries were immediately calmed by my voice.  He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and measured 20 inches in length.  He was perfect.  His tiny fingers grasped mine and were formed beautifully.  His tiny little legs curled beneath his small body and he felt so extremely helpless in my arms.  After holding a solid 2 year old, he felt so fragile in my arms.  I was in awe that God had blessed us with 2 seemingly perfectly created little boys.  I had been afraid during this pregnancy that something would be wrong or go wrong.  When I looked at older brother K and realized how wonderful he was, I was sure that it wasn’t possible to have 2 healthy babies with all the potential risks.  But holding him in my arms and staring into his beautiful face made me thank God that even though we don’t deserve 2 amazing little boys, for whatever reason, He blessed us with them both.  I felt such a immense sense of responsibility that I graciously accepted.  Being a mom is one of the best things I’ve ever attempted. 

His red hair!  I hope it stays!!  

We spent the next 2 days in the hospital recovering.  Kai stayed with me and older brother K stayed at home with Kai’s mom who had come to help with him during the delivery (he came to visit several times though).  The hospital staff were wonderful and we actually got some rest in the hospital this time.  By the way, the only people present for the delivery this time were 2 nurses, the doctor, and us.  Much different from the approximately 20 that were in the room last time!  To be honest, both birth experiences were wonderful.  They were completely different in so many ways, but they were both wonderful.  Both times we had fantastic doctors and nurses.  Both times the boys were very well taken care of.  Both times we marveled at what a positive experience it had been.  But each delivery was completely unique and different.  

We have been enjoying baby K so much these last several weeks.  He’s such a sweet baby.  His personality is different from older bother K’s so far.  Older bother K has a “grab life by the horns” approach and has always been so full of energy and activity.  We have always loved this about him!  Baby K seems to be much more relaxed so far.  He only cries when he’s hungry or needs changing, and is content to be held and stare deeply into your face.  This makes anyone holding him completely melt—me included!  He seems to adore his older brother already when K comes over and strokes his face or touches his tiny hands.  Older brother K has adapted so well.  He jumped into the “older brother” role immediately and has done amazingly well.  Of course there have been occasions when he’s acted out more than normal, but those are rare and he’s easily deterred from those moments.  In his defense, he’s also gone through so many more changes than is “normal” for his age...  But more on that in the next post…  :-) 

Cute little feet!  

Beautiful boy!  

A Teeny Tiny Announcement

Our beautiful baby boy arrived on March 11, 2011.  He came into this world weighing 6 pounds, 12 ounces and measuring 20 inches.  The delivery was much easier this time around!  And for the record, he's a GREAT baby!  He has been sleeping all the time (not through the night though, of course) and seems so much more relaxed than our first little guy was at this point.  Older brother K is very captivated with him and has been such a great helper since baby K arrived.  I will share the whole birth story in another blog post, but that will have to be another day because things have been pretty busy around our home with 2 amazing boys to take care of.  We are so blessed to have the privilege of raising these 2 wonderful little guys.  

 Kai delivering K.  (He also delivered older brother K)

 Older brother K and baby K meeting for the first time

 Daddy and K's first skin to skin time  

First family picture

Mommy and K's skin to skin time a few minutes after delivery 

Road Rash

Here's a picture of K with his first major accident (at least one that left a major mark).  It's funny because he's taken falls, etc. before that probably hurt worse, but this is a rug burn down the entire length of his nose and it looks terribly painful!!  He was playing with an older boy at church who adores him.  Anyway, they both took a tumble and K's nose apparently took the brunt of the fall.  Poor little guy! :-(  Although as you can tell, he doesn't let much get him down.  He's still as happy as ever!  He's such a huge blessing!

Week 38 and a 1/2

(I had to include one where I'm wearing a maternity outfit instead of the boring black and white regular outfit!)

How far along:  38 1/2 weeks

Best Moment of the Week:  Last week I had a great baby shower brunch with local friends from K's playgroups.  It was so much fun and we got all kinds of awesome gifts for our new little guy.  It was a completely different shower than I've ever had before.  The food was all maple themed because of the start of maple syrup season here and every present we received was made from organic, all natural products.  Several gifts were even wrapped in cloth instead of paper!  Very cool!  

Movement:  He’s slowing down a little now probably because he’s out of room.  He still stretches and moves quite a bit, but it’s not as sudden and jerky.     

Food Craving: Now that I’ve been on iron for a few weeks my ice cravings are gone.  No big cravings at the moment, although today we went out to brunch with some great friends at a Victorian Inn and had some of the best food I’ve had in my life!!!  K ate his fill too, eating as much or more than I did!  He surprises us like that at times. 

What I'm looking forward to: There are soooo many changes taking place right now.  Life is so crazy!!  At the moment I am just ready to meet this little guy and be done with pregnancy.  I love being pregnant, but the last month is soooo hard!  My list of complaints are: not being able to sleep well, back aches, not being able to bend over easily, etc., etc.  But who likes to hear all of the complaints?  On a positive note, people are even more friendly (if that’s possible in our state which I swear has the largest grouping of the friendliest people on earth!) when you’re huge with child.  I get help all the time—from the grocery store to the airlines to the doctor’s offices.  I will miss the special treatment once pregnancy is over.  ;-)

Weekly Wisdom:  A parent's love is whole no matter how many times divided.  ~Robert Brault

Big Brother:  Have I mentioned what a great helper he is lately???  Wow!  This week it seemed we had a doctor’s appt everyday trying to get everything in before I go into labor (K’s 2 year checkup, dermatology appt.’s, OB, and a couple others—our insurance is going to love us!).  Well, K made friends with everyone at every single appt.  From the nurses and doctors all the way to the other patients in the waiting room.  At one point he had 4 different people all playing cars with him.  It was a huge relief because it’s much harder for me to get on the floor and play with him myself at this point. 

Also this week at church, he took a spill and got a nasty rug burn that runs the whole length of his nose.  It looks absolutely terrible and will likely still be there for our first family pictures when our new little one arrives.  I feel so bad for him every time I look at him.  Poor little guy!  He was really tough though and handled it well.  He did catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror while we were brushing his teeth and stared for a long while at his road rash.  I don’t think he liked what he saw either. :-(  It was really cute to see him look so puzzled though!    

Weight:  Several people have asked about how much weight I’ve gained this pregnancy.  I've found that pregnancy affects every woman’s body differently and I’ve had friends that have gained 100 pounds and others that have gained 5 pounds and the shock of it all is that even those that have gained 100 pounds have had it all come back off after the baby comes.  Soooo…with that said, I’ve had a personal goal with each pregnancy to gain in the neighborhood of 20 pounds because for me it seems that weight doesn’t just pour back off of me when I want it to like it seems to for other people.  With K I gained 19 pounds and with this pregnancy I have gained 20 so far, but he’s not here yet, so who knows what the final number will be…  Honestly I don’t think my body could handle much more than that (see my list of complaints above).  

Hopefully my next post will be pictures of our new little guy... :-)  

2 Is Grand!

Last week we celebrated K’s second birthday!  How can it be that he’s 2 already?  We celebrated at home as a small family on the actual day (see pictures) and then had a party with all of his local friends on the weekend (see pictures).  We rented the gym where he has his gym classes every week.  They put on a fantastic birthday program that all the kids seemed to really LOVE!  I think the best part was watching K’s face and excitement.  He seemed to realize that the night was all about him and this reality made him even more thrilled. 

Since he adores Thomas the Train (even though he rarely watches any of the movies), we themed his decorations around that.  He also loves anything having to do with transportation in general—trucks, airplanes, excavators, trains, buses, etc., which makes going anywhere with him an absolute blast because he’s bound to see one and bubble over with excitement.

 

 Our little family celebration at home

 He actually liked his dessert this year! 

 I have no idea where he gets his sweet tooth...;-)  

 His cake (Sorry, I blurred out his name).  

 I love his expressions!  This was taken while everyone was singing to him.  

 Blowing out his candle.  This was taken just before he took Thomas and started trying to make him "drive" on the tracks of his cake.  It was a great, fun mess! 

 So many friends turned out to make the day special!  We are so blessed!

 Circle time of songs and movement

 The proud birthday boy!! 

 K demonstrating for everyone how get up the beams 

 Backwards roll

 Even dads need to have a little fun sometimes!  

 Practicing the "bear crawl"

 Under the parachute 

 Swinging from the rings.  He loves this one! 

 This is another favorite too! 

 Getting awarded his birthday medal 

 Obviously thinking he's pretty special :-)

Group picture with most of the kids--at least the ones that could sit still long enough for a picture.  

This was/is his favorite thing to do.  He absolutely LOVES it and we have such a great time watching him go. He's extremely fast!  Enjoy! 

Last of all, they finished with the bounce houses.  He had a blast on these as well.  

All in all, being 2 has started out well.  K has been such a helper lately which is so nice because my growing belly is making everything a little tougher these days.  By the way, contrary to the pictures above, I was at the party, just the one behind the camera!  I will try to post what will likely be my last belly picture in the next day or so.  Any day now Baby K number 2 will arrive and I think K will be a fantastic big brother!  Thanks for taking a few minutes to re-live his big day!