Dara-n-Tico's adventure: 2008

Sunday, 28 December 2008

The Christmas surprise!!!

Well, due to popular demand, I am posting a photo of the most precious little present we got for Christmas this year. He was quite anxious to beat the new year...so surprised us by coming 5 weeks early. Thankfully we were given excellent care by a hospital 2 hours away by bus (as our local hospital had no neonatal beds....sounds like the christmas story) and Kaleb was finally discharged after 12 days and we arrived home on Christmas eve. There is much more to the story....and I like giving all the details...but don't have the inspiration to write it just now. But Kaleb is here and is well and is TINYYYYY and is adorable! He is our precious treasure and we are blessed by his safe arrival!

Kaleb with his feeding tube in (4 days old)

Kaleb and his proud daddy!

Kaleb in his little incubator in the special care baby unit

The little guy who rocks our world (minus feeding tube...yeah!)

At home and looking chubbier than before...Thank God!!

Saturday, 22 November 2008

visiting family

Our trip to the USA has been a great, great success!!! We had the chance to see and spend time with all our immediate family as well as other relatives and friends. It was so wonderful to see some people I hadn't seen for YEARS!!! (including Beth Kellogg Kinzler a couple days before Syndey arrived!) Kaleb was a good boy and stayed inside for the entire trip (and kept growing steadily!!!). He freaked some of my relatives out when he did his little wiggly thing and made my tummy move....others thought it was cool and wanted to feel him do it again! He kept us entertained...like his daddy! I will put a few pics here now and will update more later.

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

life...

(24 weeks...)

I haven't written here for ages! Maybe cuz there isn't much news. We are slowly gathering things for baby Kaleb...we joined Freecycle (yahoo) where people advertise things they want to give away. We got a lovely car-seat/baby-carrier. We also got a couple bags of little sleepers (I don't know the official name) for Kaleb. They are all washed, ironed and ready to use. I couldn't help thinking as I sat ironing them that this may just be the only time they ever get ironed! ha! I want to have my son well presented, but I have been told the life of a new mommy is pretty hectic and as the baby gets his clothes changed several times a day to begin with, maybe wrinkle-free clothes aren't going to be a big priority! ha! We are slowly gathering together a circle of friends...it isn't the easiest thing to do here as we live just outside of the city centre and basically everyone is pretty busy with life, so we don't always have opportunities to meet people. Sadly I was unwell the last 2 sundays so missed church...which is something I DO miss! I love church...I know some people hate church...but I am not one of those people. Church isn't only a wonderful social opportunity...it is a wonderful worship opportunity and I love singing and praying to God without distractions of dirty dishes in the kitchen or dirty laundry needing washed. So as I was saying, we are gathering a circle of friends and it is wonderful. We realised that in London our friends were young and just trying to find their way in life...whereas here we have lots of 'professional' friends...they have their careers sorted out and have families of their own. But anyway...that is the fun of this journey called life! Everyone God brings into your pathway...is there for a reason...to be blessed by you and to bless you! God is good. Speaking of God's blessings...the bump is one of our constant reminders of God's blessings. Little Kaleb is a bundle of activity...mostly at night! The other night our neighbors had a party...complete with Karaoke playing a variety of very LOUD music until 5am. Our little flat pulsated with the noise and Tico and I were laying in bed with pillows over our heads trying to sleep in spite of it...while Kaleb was dancing and jiving and kicking and having a great time! But about the time I wondered if there was any stopping all this activity so I could get some REST...I remembered that having an active baby is much better than not having one at all! So instead of complaining I said a thank you to my God...he is so kind! The decisions I need to make for the next phase of my life are big life-changers for me. I have always dreamed of being a stay-at-home mom...and now that that possibility is facing me...I have all the dread and worry of how we are going to make if financially without me working, etc. But it is a journey of faith and I know God will provide for us. I just need to exercise more faith! I remember my mom (until the day she died) regretting having to go straight back to work after her kids were born. I don't want to have that regret...but making decisions like this aren't easy! Then the other worry is whether I am going to be good at my new 'job' of being a mommy! Will Kaleb like me...will he respond to me....will I be wise as a mom...will I balance the love I have for my husband and for my son properly? Will I build a beautiful nest of love for my family to grow in....will I be able to prepare my children for life in the real world? I suppose all these things are normal worries...but the other day I came to the realisation that I am not going to have all the answers before the journey even begins. I WILL make mistakes, I will not do everything perfectly....but I will try to be teachable and keep plugged into the Holy Spirit so that I can be a kind of mom/wife that is continually improving and not so sure of myself that I can't take advice. I will sign off by putting some pictures on here of random happenings in our life... Oh AND...the most exciting news is that we go on holiday to USA in 3 weeks!! Tico is so excited!!! and so am I!!!! Hope we can see some of you while there!!!