So if you're at the OB/GYN...

and you're lying flat on your back having fetal heart monitoring done...

and they leave the room for several minutes...

and you start feeling light-headed and dizzy...

and you think you're going to throw up...

and you get overheated and your face gets really clammy...

and you're about to pass out...

and you manage to look over and see that your baby's heart rate has dropped EXTREMELY low...

Then you would be me today. Yes indeed, I had a bit of an "episode" at the doctor's. Turns out there's some huge artery between your uterus and spine, and if you're lying on your back and your baby decides to lay just right, it can press on the artery and cause your blood pressure to either sky-rocket or drop really, really low. Mine dropped really low. It was extremely scary, I had no clue what was going on. The girl came to check on me and hurried out to get the nurse practitioner, who then had me roll onto my side and I started feeling better, and the baby's heart rate went back up. THEN I had to be hooked up to the monitor for several more minutes so they could monitor the baby's "recovery."

Shouldn't they warn patients about this when they have them laying on their back unattended for so long during a test like this? And who is this kid, trying to cut off my blood supply?!

Other than that, I'm good. :) My revised due date based on ultrasound has always been March 8th, which is mathematically too late because of when I got a positive pregnancy test result. Between February 19th and March 5th is the right window I think. SO it should be soon, though I've been saying that for awhile. The nurse today said the baby is probably about six pounds now.

So that is all. Thankful things are okay and that I've got a rockin' husband who's willing to work from (our crazy) home, greet me with a big hug when I come through the door, feed the kids lunch and put them down for naps, and make me a quesadilla when I'm hungry. He makes everything all better!!!

Money and adoption

Friday morning as I sat with Yosef and Biniam waiting for their doctor's appointment, a medical assistant for the pediatric dental office was taking her lunch break on a bench next to us. She was probably in her mid to late forties. She began asking me about the kids, and it came up that the boys are from Ethiopia (I don't generally just offer this information at random, but she asked if I had other children and how old they were, and Anna's only 8 months older than them.)

Then she was asking some typical adoption questions: how long the process took, was it difficult, and how much it costs. I answered her questions, including the one about the cost, trying to keep it generalized. She said "Wow, that's a lot. You must have a lot of money to be able to do that." I suddenly felt REALLY awkward (and desperately wanted to invite her out to the parking lot to check out my car.) I told her that you DON'T have to be wealthy to adopt, that you don't have to have tons of cash just sitting around to do this, etc.

Anyhow I think it IS a common misconception that you have to be really well-off (by American standards) to complete an adoption. So I am posting about this in case anyone out in blogland worries that they aren't ever going to be in a financial position to do this.

--For one thing, there is something called the federal adoption tax credit. For each child you adopt, you get five years to take $10,000 right off the taxes you pay (this goes into effect the year the adoption is finalized.) Go government! Also, many employers offer subsidies to employees who adopt. SO, if you are able to pay the money as you go through the process, quite a large chunk of it can come back to you later (again, the year the adoption is finalized.)

--There are lots of grants available out there, generally based on income. Google is a great way to locate these. Also, I know our adoption agency offers grants through what they call the Grace Fund to families adopting harder-to-place children (older and special needs children basically.) You can also get adoption loans through banks.

--You don't pay all at once. The thing is, you are paying for all the steps of the process, NOT the child. The child's case goes to court in their birth country, a lawyer represents you, you pay to travel/have the child escorted home, our own country requires you to have some pretty pricey fingerprints taken, the list goes on. You pay throughout the process as you go.

--Finally (and most importantly), I REALLY believe that God will bless our efforts if we step out in faith to do His work. I really do. I'm not advocating reckless spending or mindlessly going into something. BUT I believe that the Lord will provide a way. Very few people will look at the total cost for an international adoption and feel like it's no big deal, they've got it all covered. But God is faithful.

So that is my adoption post for the day. Or month since I haven't done one in a long time. Don't automatically feel discouraged by the costs; with some planning and praying and maybe some sacrificing, it can be done.

The Office

So Kevin and I never watch TV (well besides the sports he watches.) We have a few shows we like from the past that we own on DVD but that's it. A few months ago though we started watching "The Office" to check it out. And were totally irritated that we hadn't watched it sooner!

How awesome is this show?! I love all the awkwardness and sarcasm. We borrowed the first and second seasons from a friend of Kevin's at work to catch up, and also a season of the original British version from a friend in SLO, which isn't (in my opinion) nearly as funny, though the boss is pretty hilarious.

Anyway we have totally plowed through the seasons the last several weeks in the evenings (finished up Season 2 last night), as I've been too exhausted to do much else once the kids go to bed. Well that and we're apparently addicted!

Yosef and Biniam's 2 year check up

(Okay so still no baby being born for me...when is this going to happen?) Anyway, Friday morning the boys had their two year well-check. Yosef is on the charts, though barely, for both his weight and height, and Biniam is (barely) on the charts for height, but not weight. Once the baby is born I'm going to talk more to the pediatrician about possible causes for him being so small, but it's possible he is just little. I DID find out, however, why he is so prone to colds hanging on, why he snores and why he talks in such a nasally voice. Apparently his tonsils are completely huge and oversized, poor kid! The doctor said within several years he should grow into them, and that unless he stops breathing in his sleep (like sleep apnea), which we've never seen happen, he doesn't have to have them out. I feel bad that he is always so nasally but I'm grateful it doesn't sound like he has to have surgery, as the problem should correct itself in time.

So that's it. I also had an OB visit Friday which went well, though I'm getting tired of them, as I have two per week these days. I wasn't on the computer at all this past week (very odd but kind of nice!) but will probably be on more this week and will definitely post something if I ever actually go into labor. :)

OB visit this morning

Had my OB visit at 9 today...running on about 2 hours sleep is interesting! I had my scheduled NST, which went well. Kevin mentioned this in the little comments section on the last post but yeah, I'm definitely not in active labor, or seemingly any sort of labor. With subsequent pregnancies just the baby being in birthing position can dilate you. In fact my doctor said he just had a patient dilated to 5 cm who was not in labor--crazy!

He DID say I was right to go to the hospital and if that same thing happens again, because my labor was so fast with Anna, that I need to return to the hospital. He said maybe I'll end up going in two or three times and will be sent home, but if I'm having regular contractions for an hour or two he wants me to be vigilant.

So, my mom is staying with us till Friday night so Kevin can go away to work. That way if these contractions happen again like that I can just head to the hospital, and if they decide to keep me, I can Kevin at that point and he can come home from Goleta. Poor Dad has to spend his birthday alone tomorrow! :(

Probably won't update this anymore until something actually happens, like me getting admitted to the hospital.

Rejected (and 3 reasons why people should be like Jeannett and have a home birth)

So Kevin and I headed to the hospital last night (well early this morning) where the first nurse checked me and said I was dilated 3 cm and 75% effaced. She brought in another nurse to "confirm the findings" but the other nurse (who seemed to have more authority) said I was dilated 1.5 cm and 50% effaced. SO they booted me out of course and sent me home until the contractions become regular again and stay that way or something.

Of course I WAS in the hospital long enough for the following three incidents to occur:

1). All of a sudden (they had me in the labor/delivery unit) there was a woman (presumably giving birth) SCREAMING like an animal--seriously, this was not human. Really made me think twice about this whole giving birth thing!

2). As we were leaving and walked out into the hallway, we were hit with the strong scent of fresh vomit. Yummy!

3). As we were exiting the hospital building (you go through and out the ER), we happened upon a very bloody rag/paper towel on the ground outside. Fantastic.

Well that is my update. I have my scheduled doc's appointment in about twenty minutes so hopefully he'll check me again and we'll see where we're at. I'm having strong contractions this morning with the same lower back/abdomen pain. I hope this baby comes soon! (Kevin is working from home today. Well actually right now he's still sleeping from being up all night, poor guy!)

Stay tuned...

Well it is 1:24 a.m., my lower back/abdomen are in pain and I've been having what seem like regular contractions for a little over an hour now, about 5 minutes apart. My mom and dad are on their way and we're dashing around doing things like running the dishwasher, I'm packing my bag, and worrying that this could be a false alarm and my poor parents will have traveled an hour to our house in the middle of the night for nothing!

This is all totally foreign to me; with Anna my water broke and she came out six hours later, pretty straight-forward and easy (okay the labor wasn't particularly easy but you know what I mean.) Now I'm having to mess with timing contractions and such.

Will keep you posted!

One year ago today...

...Yosef and Biniam left Ethiopia. As Jemal drove us to the airport and dropped us off, I began reflecting on my excitement to return home to Anna and to my familiar surroundings, but I also began to feel some sadness, too.

This was the most emotional part of the trip for me. As we sat there at the Ethiopian Airlines gate waiting to board, Yosef sleeping in Kevin's lap and Biniam in mine, I looked at our boys and it hit me--hard--that these children were leaving behind their life, past, culture, birth mother and biological sister...it was a really huge thing to think about.

The weight of what we were doing also hit like a ton of bricks--WE were taking them out of Africa, to the United States, to be part of OUR family. These boys would be raised in America and have no memories of their beginnings. Their lives would be radically, radically different from here on out. I sat there teary-eyed reflecting on the vastness of God's plans, on His promise to turn mourning into dancing and to make beauty from ashes. I thought about the "bigness" of God and about how His ways are not our ways, and about how crazy it is that God chose US to raise these two precious children born a world away. I reflected on the (lack of)prospects the boys would have faced if they had not been some of the rare few orphans who landed in the hands of people who could care for them.

Meanwhile, next to us sat the other family leaving that night for America with their two adopted children. We'd gotten to know them a bit over the week as they were staying at the guest house--the kids were amazing. Their new son, about ten years old, had his head in his hands crying softly. He was so excited to be part of this new family, but devastated to soon be leaving behind his dear older brother who'd been caring for him and his sister. There was a good chance he'd never see him again, and he knew it. It was heart-wrenching and I think I just sat there in shock over the grim reality of the situation. And these were the "lucky" kids.

Praise God that He is near to the orphan and the widow in their distress. I'm so grateful that Jesus can redeem a life, a situation, and make all things new. That even a tragic situation can lead to something beautiful and good. I felt so protective of our little boys as we boarded that plane and I remember feeling the huge responsibility of caring for them, my children. Heavy stuff--I'll never forget that night or the things I felt and saw. But really, I don't want to forget...

Four ill Heldts

So I have apparently come down with a cold, as has Biniam (poor kid, he's so sick today!). Yosef and Anna are also under the weather. Let's hope these colds don't last very long! We'll be laying low today (much to Anna's dismay; she keeps asking to go to the park) and doing lots of cuddling and video watching. I have a "no more than one short video a day" rule around here for the kids but today may just be an exception--drastic times call for drastic measures!

(Today is my due date by the way, but still no sign that baby is coming. I have however been "nesting" like crazy. I wish I was always so eager to organize/clean!)

Keeping up with Biniam

Not to be outdone by his brother, Yosef up and helped himself to Anna's potty chair today and went pee-pee in it...all by himself! Who are these kids? Sheesh. Kevin called me on the cell phone while I was at the doctor's to inform me of this and told me to stop on my way home to get another potty chair for the boys to use. I got some pullups and big boy undies (which are probably WAY too big right now but oh well!) also. I am so not wanting to dive into this what with a baby about to be born (and all the chaos that will surely ensue from that) but these kids are leaving me no choice!

OB visit

Well, still no baby, no "real" contractions (though I'm having the Braxton Hicks contractions all the time), no water breaking. I am getting a little antsy!

Today I had my OB visit. Yet again I didn't really gain any weight, however when the nurse practitioner measured my stomach it grew a bunch over this last week, which is good. They did the NST on me where they hook you up to a fetal heart monitor for several minutes to see if the baby's heart rate increases--and remains elevated--any time she moves. It was really interesting. They said the baby is "textbook perfect" on that, so yayy! Even though they think she's small apparently she is strong and healthy.

I also had an ultrasound today to check the amniotic fluid level. That was also perfect. (What a high achiever my baby already is.) I guess that the reason they do these tests is to verify that the placenta is providing enough oxygen/nourishment to the baby. So with a thin baby they want to make sure. I go back again on Tuesday for another NST.

Funny thing was, I had some errands to run afterwards which included a stop at the grocery store. The nurse practitioner was in there! And for some reason I felt awkward seeing someone that just an hour ago or so had been rubbing jelly on and measuring my huge, bare stomach. I don't know if she saw me, but I didn't go say hello. I am so weird sometimes!

One year ago today

Wow I cannot believe that last year at this time we were in Ethiopia getting to hold and kiss our sons for the first time! What a surreal experience to, first of all, be in a foreign country like Ethiopia (neither of us had ever traveled out of the US unless you count a 4 day cruise to Mexico, which we don't), then to go to Layla House and have someone hand you your new sons! When we showed up that day I remember looking for the boys inside the baby room. Gail (orphanage director) found Biniam sitting in a crib, and after awhile spotted Yosef sitting on this little shelf on the ground in the corner!

The past year has been filled with a lot of blessings but has also been challenging. Adjusting to an increased workload around the house took a little while. I can remember in the first weeks and maybe even months home, once the kids were all in bed Kevin and I would literally collapse on the couch in exhaustion. "Will it get easier?" we'd wonder with eyes half-closed, and then in the next breath would reflect on the blessing of these children and the fulfillment that comes from parenting, even when it's hard. I know without a doubt God sustained us during that time. I can also remember in the early weeks of being home with the boys how they would cry out mournfully in the night, grieving and upset. We'd comfort them, put them in bed with us, assure them it would be okay.

One year later our sons are well-adjusted, happy little boys! When I pick them up from the nursery at Thursday morning Bible study, Biniam runs at me shouting "Mommy! Mommy!" They love to cuddle, are playful and affectionate, adore their big sister, and you would think they'd been in our family all along. They seem to have attached very well and I am always in awe of the fact that these two precious boys spent the first 16 months of life living in multiple orphanages. What a testament to God's grace, mercy, provision, not to mention the love they received from their caregivers (and most likely birth mother during the month and a half she cared for them) in Ethiopia.

The first two pictures above were taken in Ethiopia shortly after they were placed in our arms for the very first time, and this last picture was taken yesterday right before our outing to the park. When I watch them running around on the play equipment, and especially when I see Biniam tearing down the big green slides, I seriously shake my head in awe of the fact that just one year ago these kids had no family, Biniam was developmentally delayed and couldn't even walk, neither boy was talking. That seems like another lifetime to me. What an amazing year; God is so faithful! (To read a previous post about our first day meeting our boys in Ethiopia, you can click here.)

Happy V-Day

Okay so I totally stole this blogpost idea from my friend Lisa. :) Anyhow it's Valentines Day and I thought I'd post some old pictures of Kevin and I when we were dating/engaged. Hee, hee. We have had some fun over the last six years or so that we've known each other. Back then we were just two Cal Poly students that happened to meet at college group at church, but before long we were inseparable. Both of us knew pretty early on we wanted to marry each other--in fact, looking back our only regret actually is not getting married sooner!

The (above) pic to the left was taken while we were dating at Kevin's childhood church. Below that we are engaged attending one of the dinners I used to have to go to for my job with Abel Maldonado--college kids love free food...okay I still do! The scary one of us masquerading as aggies was taken at the Grace Church college group ho-down the year we were engaged. Note Kev's homemade belt-buckle which I believe reads "Handyman Special." And the final picture was taken at Christmastime that same year--gotta love my ghetto college apartment.

I'm so glad that I married Kevin. I (and the Gibsons!) always hear people warning against marrying young (I was 20, Kevin was 21 when we got married) because you don't know who you're going to be yet, your interests might change, etc. Well, some of that is true. Kevin and I have both changed quite a bit since June 22, 2002, but the Lord has brought us along TOGETHER and knit our hearts closer and closer to one another. He has taken our passions and ideas and values and changed/grown them together. Back in 2002 neither of us felt a strong calling to adopt children, to advocate for Africa, or to have four children within five years of marriage. We found who we wanted to marry pretty early on, followed God's leading and now here we are. God has moved and stirred both our hearts in new, but the same direction these last four-plus years--what a blessing! Three great kids, one on the way, lots of great memories and hopefully some more of those on the way, too! All of that to say, love and marriage are pretty sweet. We certainly don't have life all figured out and who knows where God will take us next but I'm so glad that we get to do it together!

Pleasant surprise

Earlier this morning I was actually reading a book on the couch and the kids were all playing happily in Anna's room. However, they'd been in there for awhile and being the suspicious mommy that I am I decided that at least one of them must be up to no good. I put my book down and went into the room to check on them, only to discover Biniam sitting pants-less and diaper-less on Anna's potty chair (we keep it in there for her for naps and at nighttime), in which he had gone pee-pee!!! All by himself!

What in the world?! This boy has apparently potty trained himself, or is well on his way! He was just sitting there non-chalantly, but got a huge grin on his face when I made a big deal about it. Then we called Daddy at work to tell him. This is HUGE, as Biniam was pretty delayed in meeting some of his milestones (primarily walking), and so it's extra sweet to see him catching up (or in this case, pulling ahead!) Anyway this totally made my day; I am SO PROUD of my little 2 years and 3 months old boy!

3 years old

Saturday was Anna's third birthday! We had a party for her at our house with some friends and family, and I had let Anna decide what the theme and food (hotdogs, cake and ice cream--how healthy) would be. "Do you want Dora on your cake?" "No, I don't want that." "Well do you want Disney princesses on your cake?" "No, I don't want that." "Well Anna, what DO you want on your cake? What should the theme be?" "Zoe!" she exclaimed. "Oh, like Zoe, Elmo's cousin from Sesame Street?" "No, Zoe, Grandma's orange fish!"

Um, okay. My mom has a fish named Zoe that Anna really likes. It's not a goldfish, but it's orange. I was pretty surprised to hear that my little girl wanted the theme of her party to revolve around her grandmother's pet, but who was I to override her decision?

SO, I made some random invitations with orange fish on them, found some orange fishes and assorted sea animals to decorate with (each kid got to choose one to take home as they were little bathtoys), and Jeannett generously offered to make and decorate Anna's birthday cake, complete with an orange fish on it. (The cake was AWESOME; I seriously think Jeannett should go into business doing them. Thanks so much!!!)
The party was fun although Anna was ready for her nap before anyone got here! Oops! Last year we did a party in the evening for Anna (and in November we had a party for the boys at night) but this time I thought I'd do one in the early afternoon. I think I should probably have gone for a night-time party again but oh well. (I also accidentally blew Anna's birthday candle out, which we had to re-light--I think maybe I should stop coming to these parties altogether!)

I always feel so blessed by our friends that come to these events to help us celebrate our kids. I know Anna felt special and had a blast too, even if she did seem half asleep! Here are some more pics of the party:

This is what grown men do to stay entertained at a 3 year old's birthday party:

And finally, after a busy day at a party, Biniam is sound asleep in his high chair after dinner.

Pregnancy update

Yesterday I had an ultrasound and my weekly OB visit. Kevin worked from home so he could come along, which was such a blessing. The baby is still a girl--hooray!--and is head down, also a hooray. Everything major looked good. Apparently she is pretty thin however! Her head measurements indicate a February 19th due date (my initial due date, based on my LMP, which I maintain is correct) but her abdomen is indicating that she is due much later, which means she's skinny. (The first ultrasound we had showed her measuring at a due date of March 8th, but I think this is incorrect. Same thing happened with Anna and they are still convinced she was born four weeks early. Uh, I don't think 7 pound, 13 ounce babies are a month early! I wish they wouldn't always base your due date on ultrasound.)

Because of this I guess the doctor will be monitoring my amniotic fluid through an ultrasound each visit from here on out (though it was perfectly normal yesterday), as well as doing the NST (non-stress test to check the heartbeat) bi-weekly. This is kind of annoying, but apparently he says smaller babies are more at risk for problems during delivery or something. (I realize he doesn't think my baby is in any imminent danger, but I can't help but worry!)

Let it be known that I was only 5 pounds, 8 ounces when I was born, and healthy as a horse. I wasn't born prematurely, either. I was surprised to hear that I have a skinny baby this time around, since Anna certainly wasn't and I've gained plenty of pounds myself this pregnancy. Right now the ultrasound indicates the baby weighs about 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Maybe my babies just grow at strange rates--Anna's head to abdomen ratio was an "issue" as well, but the other way around. Her abdomen, for awhile, was measuring big for her head, indicating a fat baby (and therefore the doctor wanted another ultrasound to rule out a problem like diabetes or something?), and by the next ultrasound it had evened out.

I also didn't gain any weight this last week, which I found intriguing but maybe for the best since I gained those two pounds last time. Right before I had Anna (as in my appointment the day before I went into labor) I discovered I hadn't gained any weight that week. Maybe this is a sign that the birth is near?

Flashbacks

I like to walk the kids in the stroller down to the little park near our house to play. This park happens to be right next to a junior high school, right next to the athletic area of the junior high school to be exact.

There is always a PE class outside when we're there, doing jumping jacks in their squads, pushups, playing games, running...

This takes me back in time to my own junior high and high school PE classes. Which I HATED. I am one of the world's least athletic people (unless you count ping pong, which I am semi-okay at). I DREADED, and I mean DREADED, when we'd have to run the half-mile, mile, and worse yet, the mile and a half. I was HORRIBLE at pullups (darn that presidential fitness testing!) and would have to resort to doing the flexed arm hang instead. I always felt like the teachers expected that if you weren't overweight or injured, that you should be some stellar athlete.

I always marveled at how PE teachers essentially got paid to make kids' lives miserable. SURE there were the kids who excelled at running and sports and who finished the mile several minutes ahead of me and the kid with the broken ankle. But for the rest of us, it was torture! I also thought it was real easy for the teacher to tell us not to stop to walk, or that our time wasn't fast enough--they just got to stand there all day in pj's (oh, excuse me, warmup clothes) holding a stopwatch.

I got straight A's in Jr. High, all except for my PE class in which I earned a B. I never earned "honor shorts", I always had the basic, "I'm not good enough" orange shorts as opposed to green, blue or gold. I tripped and fell during the mile and a half once. And it was utterly HUMILIATING having to perform a solo gymnastics routine during the gymnastics unit in 8th grade--I couldn't even come out of a backbend on my own and I had to have a "spotter." LOSER!

So, as I sit and watch my kids zoom down the slides at the park, I hear the students counting off jumping jacks in the background. Today I saw them playing some sort of street hockey game. It just about gave me chills hearing the PE teacher yelling things like "Keep your stick down!" or "Keep your eye on the puck!" So to all the kids suffering through physical education at Tommie Kunst Junior High School, my sympathies are with you!

Funny things are everywhere...

That is a line from "One Fish Two Fish" by Dr. Seuss. Do you ever have one of those days where all sorts of amusing things happen? I've had people tell me I'm easily amused before, and I guess I really am. So here are some anecdotes from my day that gave me a good laugh.

1.) This afternoon I had my weekly OB/GYN appointment. Found out I am TWO POUNDS heavier this week than last week. HAHAHA!



2.) After my appointment I went across the street to the hospital to pre-register for the baby's birth. First I encountered a particularly senile hospital volunteer at the front desk who had a hard time grasping that I needed to pre-register or something. After he finally directed me to the right place (the ER), and I filled out the forms, the woman helping me (also a volunteer, though not senile) started telling me if I have any questions to call Labor and Delivery, and when I go into labor to go there and I'll be admitted. "Oh wait," she said, "actually there is going to be a bunch of construction going on so I don't know how you'll get in." I fully laughed out loud and told her I'd find a way in "somehow." Cracked me up, picturing myself in the throes of labor frantically trying to find my way into the hospital through all of the construction!



3.) After an uneventful visit to the lab to have some blood drawn for hemoglobin or something, I visited the infamous Santa Maria post office to mail off our adoption finalization documents. The line was long and I happened to be standing in front of a man probably in his mid-forties, well-dressed, African American, talking on his cell phone to someone and wondering if they'd called him earlier. They must have said no, because he said, "But it shows a private number called my phone, on February 2nd, 2006. Guess I'll have to find out more to figure out who called." Apparently neither of them picked up on the year. (This struck me as amusing at the time, I don't know why!)



4.) After paying and mailing my papers, as I was walking out of the post office, the same man who'd been behind me in line, also apparently leaving the post office, said "Excuse me, ma'am?" I turned around and said "Yes?" (Now what I am about to say is NOT me patting myself on the back, or bragging, or anything weird and egotistical like that. It was just plain hilarious and oh so blog worthy.) He then proceeded to tell me he thought I was the "prettiest pregnant lady" he'd seen. HAHAHA! "I wasn't going to say anything, and I'm not hitting on you, I just had to tell you..." Heehee! Oh this was just too, too much. Funny thing was, he was really nice and respectful and WASN'T creepy. Then he asked when I was due, what we were having, a boy or a girl, and said congratulations. I told him it makes a pregnant lady feel good to hear such a nice compliment and told him to have a good day. (He drove off in a minivan so I'm assuming he's probably married with kids himself.) At any rate, I figure that balanced out both my previous post office experience AND my two pounds in a week weight gain. I had a great laugh about this pretty much the whole way home--how random.



5.) Finally, tonight, I was changing Yosef's diaper in the family room and Anna was sitting playing with her toys. "Look Mommy!" she says excitedly. I look up to find, well, THIS creation in her hand! Kenya Barbie meets Superman. (Anna fell on Kenya Barbie a few months ago and the head snapped off. So apparently now she is improvising.) This just made my day. I think she will be known around our home as "Kenya Superwoman."