To borrow from Mrs. Z, Can someone tell me who this child is that is living in my home? Boy oh boy has Judah been the moody little one -- happy normal self to insta-crank in a split second. Lack of sleep? Still not 100% better from last week's virus? Teething? New level of expressive sinful will? ALL of the above? :-P No worries. He's still cute as ever when he's not Grumpy Gus.
Note to Self: Choose proper reading material when going for a gestational diabetes blood test. You're hungry. You have to drink the sweetest "soda" ever. You have to sit for an hour with quite the interesting group of other patients. You're pregnant which means more emotional as well. It's a Thursday, your most emotional day. So what did I take to read? Mm hmm. Yeah. I took Let's Roll which I've been working on reading for a while. And I happened to get to the "Inside the Nightmare" chapters where Lisa describes all that happened the week of 9/11 from her perspective as well as a few other key players. Hey, I look at it as having had a great opportunity to learn to control my tears in public. Not one fell. But at least I would have had a good excuse had someone noticed I was all choked up -- who can hear personal accounts of 9/11 without being touched to the core since ALL of us were affected by it? Such a good book...
And can I say that I might just trade a top floor apartment for a bottom one JUST to avoid the cooking smell that usually rises from the depths of the Indian couple's kitchen below us? Today's menu must include fish. And the smell of their cooking usually permeates almost our whole apartment. Forget opening a window -- that just lets more in. .......I'm SOOOOO glad that I'm not one of the really sick preggies out there. I would never survive a pregnancy living above these people. They are very sweet and friendly, don't get me wrong. But me and these Indian food smells? Nuh-uh.
Nap time!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Whew!
What a crazy-busy weekend we had! Two parties to throw/help-with in less than 24 hours! Both went splendidly well and were tons-o-fun.
Dinner-for-Six Notes:
~When making Macho Nachos for a gathering of 12, you do NOT need 6 bags of tortilla chips. We only went through two and only pawned one other off. So we've got 3 bags of chips to ourselves now. Not that I'm complaining -- we like tortilla chips. But we'll have some for a while now!
~Two pounds of hamburger is enough, not four and a half! So now I've got enough frozen cooked hamburger for two more meals.
~Macho Nachos is GREAT to serve for a crowd, especially when everyone contributes. We only provided the meat, cheese, chips, and dessert. The rest (lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, etc.) was divided among the other 5 couples. And there was PLENTY of food!
~See my pretty Cool Strawberry Cloud? Yeah, I'm gonna try using just strawberry preserves next time instead of fresh strawberry slices. The strawberries were frozen solid (as expected) and didn't thaw quickly. So we all jack-hammered through those parts of our slices. It was still tasty though! Even just layering strawberry ice cream and angel food would be superb! Or any flavor ice cream for that matter...
Welcome home, Joseph! Notes:
~My heart swelled with pride when I saw Joseph walk into church yesterday with his family. I feel like he's "my Marine" because of how close we are to the Chews and how much Diane has shared his life with us while he has been deployed. Praise God he is safe at home...I saw just one picture of many close-calls he had. God has a reason for him to be alive!
~Lots of people showed up! It was wonderful! Food was bountiful and I had SO MUCH FUN putting the buffet together! I've never gotten to do something as large as this with all my Simple Additions dishes. The white dishes looked awesome withe red and blue tablecloth and paper goods. It was so fun to make the sandwich tower -- 3 tiers built out of Simple Additions with bread, meat, and cheese. It looked great! And Diane found little toothpicks with paper American flags on the tips, so I stuck those sproadically all over the food. I hope I can get ahold of a picture!
~My friend Kim is pregnant! Woo hoo!
Judah Update:
He's better! No more rash or anything. I think the residual occasional crankiness today was just the typical Post-Sunday blues. I'm glad to be getting my happy Judah back! I did get a (blurry) picture of the rash on his face. It got worse than this, but you get the idea. :-P It was sad to see!
Matt Update:
Still a workin' guy. Excited about Spiderman III next week, as am I! I hope we can find a babysitter...I want to take him for his birthday! And if none of you caught his "Aha! A Zap Rejoins Earl" post, that was totally a hint at Elijah's name...it's a scramble of Elijah Aaron Esparza. So if any of you were keen enough, the name game would have ended almost as soon as it started! ;-)
Me Update:
Feeeeet hurt. But, the weekend was worth it! I'm supposed to go sometime this week for the gestational diabetes testing. I hope it goes well. Last time I ended up having to do the three hour test because I didn't pass the first one. And last pregnancy I was MUCH better about diet and exercise. :- We'll see what happens. I feel like my belly is bigger than it should be for 5 1/2 months. But as Autumn always says, every pregnancy is different for every woman. I just don't like that I'm already having those days where I feel my belly couldn't possibly get any bigger. I had those alot with Judah -- but by God's grand design of the human body, it can get bigger and it will. Oh, and pretty sure I'm gonna end up with an outie this pregnancy. That's saying ALOT considering my belly button has aways been deep and cavernous. I defied the books when I never got an outie with Judah -- everyone I've read/talked to says it's inevitable. Well, this time around I guess it is.
I go to relax and read beside my homeworkin' hubby. Have a good night, all!
Dinner-for-Six Notes:
~When making Macho Nachos for a gathering of 12, you do NOT need 6 bags of tortilla chips. We only went through two and only pawned one other off. So we've got 3 bags of chips to ourselves now. Not that I'm complaining -- we like tortilla chips. But we'll have some for a while now!
~Two pounds of hamburger is enough, not four and a half! So now I've got enough frozen cooked hamburger for two more meals.
~Macho Nachos is GREAT to serve for a crowd, especially when everyone contributes. We only provided the meat, cheese, chips, and dessert. The rest (lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, etc.) was divided among the other 5 couples. And there was PLENTY of food!
~See my pretty Cool Strawberry Cloud? Yeah, I'm gonna try using just strawberry preserves next time instead of fresh strawberry slices. The strawberries were frozen solid (as expected) and didn't thaw quickly. So we all jack-hammered through those parts of our slices. It was still tasty though! Even just layering strawberry ice cream and angel food would be superb! Or any flavor ice cream for that matter...
Welcome home, Joseph! Notes:
~My heart swelled with pride when I saw Joseph walk into church yesterday with his family. I feel like he's "my Marine" because of how close we are to the Chews and how much Diane has shared his life with us while he has been deployed. Praise God he is safe at home...I saw just one picture of many close-calls he had. God has a reason for him to be alive!
~Lots of people showed up! It was wonderful! Food was bountiful and I had SO MUCH FUN putting the buffet together! I've never gotten to do something as large as this with all my Simple Additions dishes. The white dishes looked awesome withe red and blue tablecloth and paper goods. It was so fun to make the sandwich tower -- 3 tiers built out of Simple Additions with bread, meat, and cheese. It looked great! And Diane found little toothpicks with paper American flags on the tips, so I stuck those sproadically all over the food. I hope I can get ahold of a picture!
~My friend Kim is pregnant! Woo hoo!
Judah Update:
He's better! No more rash or anything. I think the residual occasional crankiness today was just the typical Post-Sunday blues. I'm glad to be getting my happy Judah back! I did get a (blurry) picture of the rash on his face. It got worse than this, but you get the idea. :-P It was sad to see!
Matt Update:
Still a workin' guy. Excited about Spiderman III next week, as am I! I hope we can find a babysitter...I want to take him for his birthday! And if none of you caught his "Aha! A Zap Rejoins Earl" post, that was totally a hint at Elijah's name...it's a scramble of Elijah Aaron Esparza. So if any of you were keen enough, the name game would have ended almost as soon as it started! ;-)
Me Update:
Feeeeet hurt. But, the weekend was worth it! I'm supposed to go sometime this week for the gestational diabetes testing. I hope it goes well. Last time I ended up having to do the three hour test because I didn't pass the first one. And last pregnancy I was MUCH better about diet and exercise. :- We'll see what happens. I feel like my belly is bigger than it should be for 5 1/2 months. But as Autumn always says, every pregnancy is different for every woman. I just don't like that I'm already having those days where I feel my belly couldn't possibly get any bigger. I had those alot with Judah -- but by God's grand design of the human body, it can get bigger and it will. Oh, and pretty sure I'm gonna end up with an outie this pregnancy. That's saying ALOT considering my belly button has aways been deep and cavernous. I defied the books when I never got an outie with Judah -- everyone I've read/talked to says it's inevitable. Well, this time around I guess it is.
I go to relax and read beside my homeworkin' hubby. Have a good night, all!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
7 Is the Number of Completion!
Well, one guess after having our first winner, and we have our second winner. The game is officially over! Erin and Jason & Jodee both guessed the correct name. Congratulations! Just e-mail me your addresses and we'll get your prizes to you!
If you didn't get the 7th clue, we broke from the Biblical clue trend. "We don't mean to knock on [Elijah] wood, but we think the [Aaron] spelling is pretty good." ;-)
Elijah Aaron is the name we finally arrived at for our new little son. It means "My God is Yaweh, exalted and strong." Pretty cool, huh? I've already caught myself easily and endearingly calling him Little Lijah. It just rolls off the tongue! Judah Gabriel and Elijah Aaron. ::happy sigh:: I love it!
An honorable mention goes out to Matt & Kara whose guesses included Elijah Daniel and Jonah Aaron. Elijah Daniel got our adreniline pumping because we SERIOUSLY considered that name. Jonah Aaron got the middle name in the running list of guessed names. Good job, you two!
So without further ado, we are proud to introduce Elijah Aaron to you!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
An Interesting Development & Seventh Clue
Sooo...we're changing things up a little with the name guessing game. As you might have wondered with my "Email Me" post yesterday, someone did indeed guess the correct name. Her name is Erin and she lives out here in California. We went to church with her parents while we were at Master's and met her when she and her husband lived up here in Monterey. But, since we don't know her very well, we kind of wanted to keep the game going for the rest of you. She was very gracious and said she didn't need the Sbux card, but we want to be fair! She did win after all! (Don't go looking for her guess because we deleted it as soon as my mom found it.) So we're going to split the prize and send her a $5 card, which means there is still another $5 card to win! Consider it moving on to a "first and second place winners" rather than just a one-winner game. :-) Don't give up...we're running out of non-obvious clues. I wouldn't be surprised if someone got it with the Seventh Clue...
1) It's a boy.
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
4) Both are mentioned by name in the NT but didn't live during that time.
5) Neither name is found in Hebrews 11.
6) The letter "a" appears three times total in the first and middle name.
7) We don't mean to knock on wood, but we think the spelling is pretty good.
1) It's a boy.
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
4) Both are mentioned by name in the NT but didn't live during that time.
5) Neither name is found in Hebrews 11.
6) The letter "a" appears three times total in the first and middle name.
7) We don't mean to knock on wood, but we think the spelling is pretty good.
Friday, April 20, 2007
E-mail me
Look back at the 6th clue comments. If your comment was deleted please e-mail me at spanishmorning@yahoo.com
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Sixth Clue: Alphabet Soup
1) It's a boy.
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
4) Both are mentioned by name in the NT but didn't live during that time.
5) Neither name is found in Hebrews 11.
6) The letter "a" appears three times total in the first and middle name.
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Poor Judah has been battling a fever ranging from 101 to 103.5 the past two days. We took him to the doctor this morning, and thankfully his ears are still perfect. Dr. C said it's just some kind of virus that will run its course and should be over with in a day or two. So we're just doing the tylenol and extra fluids thing...and prayer! He's been his normal self personality-wise, but he has definitely been more lethargic and cuddly. I think his appetite and thirst has increased, too, so at least it's not hard to feed him! Judah is such a sweet little guy. I wish all of you could meet him in person...but for now, enjoy his sweet face and new trick!
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
4) Both are mentioned by name in the NT but didn't live during that time.
5) Neither name is found in Hebrews 11.
6) The letter "a" appears three times total in the first and middle name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Poor Judah has been battling a fever ranging from 101 to 103.5 the past two days. We took him to the doctor this morning, and thankfully his ears are still perfect. Dr. C said it's just some kind of virus that will run its course and should be over with in a day or two. So we're just doing the tylenol and extra fluids thing...and prayer! He's been his normal self personality-wise, but he has definitely been more lethargic and cuddly. I think his appetite and thirst has increased, too, so at least it's not hard to feed him! Judah is such a sweet little guy. I wish all of you could meet him in person...but for now, enjoy his sweet face and new trick!
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Fifth Clue: Guess Again
1) It's a boy.
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
4) Both are mentioned by name in the NT but didn't live during that time.
One commenter mentioned Hebrews 12 as the best place to grab OT names in the NT. I think he meant Hebrews 11, the Great Hall of Faith. And, true to his observation, a great deal of the names guessed are indeed found in Hebrews 11. So for today's clue...
Neither name is found in Hebrews 11.
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And for anyone interested, I'm doing a mini-interiors series for my freshman roomie from college on Sanctifying Truth. So far I've done the living room and master bedroom. Not totally spiritual, I know. But making the house a home is part of being Proverbs 31 woman!
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
4) Both are mentioned by name in the NT but didn't live during that time.
One commenter mentioned Hebrews 12 as the best place to grab OT names in the NT. I think he meant Hebrews 11, the Great Hall of Faith. And, true to his observation, a great deal of the names guessed are indeed found in Hebrews 11. So for today's clue...
Neither name is found in Hebrews 11.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And for anyone interested, I'm doing a mini-interiors series for my freshman roomie from college on Sanctifying Truth. So far I've done the living room and master bedroom. Not totally spiritual, I know. But making the house a home is part of being Proverbs 31 woman!
Fourth Clue: Speak of the Dead
Clue Review:
1) It's a boy.
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
and now...
4) Both individuals are mentioned by name in the New Testment, but neither were alive during that time period.
Remember, only one guess per person per day. If you realize you have been told the name by either Matt or I previously, you may not guess. We will only reveal the correct name when someone has guessed both names in the correct order.
Today, the pool actually felt heated, as it claims to be. So despite some ocean winds, we took Judah for his first dip in the pool! I can not tell you how excited I am to finally have gotten my son in a pool. I am one among many in a family of Water Babies. So the fact that I had to wait so long that my son was already one by the time he had his first dip has been rough. :-P He wasn't sure what to think of it and only cracked a true grin once. The wind made it difficult, I'm sure. Never seen him with goose bumps until today! We didn't keep him in long at all, and Matt took him back up to the apt. and let me swim some more. I did some good exercise swimming and then some yoga stretching (for you, Jodee!). It was GLORIOUS to be able to move my body without pain in my back/joints! I think I got some sun on my paler-than-ever skin, too! Perhaps we'll be able to work it out to where I can swim more often for the exercise, relief, and relaxation. I also bought a maternity belt today to see if the extra support will help my back pain. So far it has stopped the vertebra from knocking against each other (or whatever it does in there) which is good. Anyway, enough about me...watch and enjoy then give a good guess!
1) It's a boy.
2) Both names are Biblical.
3) Both are names of human beings.
and now...
4) Both individuals are mentioned by name in the New Testment, but neither were alive during that time period.
Remember, only one guess per person per day. If you realize you have been told the name by either Matt or I previously, you may not guess. We will only reveal the correct name when someone has guessed both names in the correct order.
Today, the pool actually felt heated, as it claims to be. So despite some ocean winds, we took Judah for his first dip in the pool! I can not tell you how excited I am to finally have gotten my son in a pool. I am one among many in a family of Water Babies. So the fact that I had to wait so long that my son was already one by the time he had his first dip has been rough. :-P He wasn't sure what to think of it and only cracked a true grin once. The wind made it difficult, I'm sure. Never seen him with goose bumps until today! We didn't keep him in long at all, and Matt took him back up to the apt. and let me swim some more. I did some good exercise swimming and then some yoga stretching (for you, Jodee!). It was GLORIOUS to be able to move my body without pain in my back/joints! I think I got some sun on my paler-than-ever skin, too! Perhaps we'll be able to work it out to where I can swim more often for the exercise, relief, and relaxation. I also bought a maternity belt today to see if the extra support will help my back pain. So far it has stopped the vertebra from knocking against each other (or whatever it does in there) which is good. Anyway, enough about me...watch and enjoy then give a good guess!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Third Clue: Humans
Both names are the names of human beings as opposed to spiritual beings, places, etc. And no, this is not a dumb clue. Our girl name was Eden Marie. We like unique names, so the fact that we tell you the names are human beings does, in fact, narrow it down...at least a little. ;-)
Remember, only one guess per person per day. If you realize you have been told the name by either Matt or I previously, you may not guess. We will only reveal the correct name when someone has guessed both names in the correct order. Who said earning $10 Sbux was going to be a cheap cup of coffee?
Judah's going through phase 2 of walking! He's walked more today than his whole life. He walked about 5 feet down the hallway to me and once he went from coffee table to chair without hesitation. He also stands alot more now! Doesn't he look so adorable in his Daddy's shirt? Every picture I took of him today, I realized how much of a little boy he is now rather than a baby. Bittersweet, but not for long since I always remember I've got another one inside me!
Yesterday, his lip accidentally got pinched with his car seat strap. It has been a small red area since. I gave him some new Gerber cheese crackers today. Bad idea. First of all, the cheese powder mixed with his saliva and created a nice coating to make him rash up with redness and bumps. Then, I guess the powder must have gotten inside a small cut where he was pinched because it swelled up pretty badly! Poor kiddo! Notice the swollen left side and rashiness? I think his facial expression in the second pic is hilarious. Reminds me of Veggie Tales for some reason.
We let Judah try asparagus, pineapple, and red grapes for the first time tonight. He loved them all...and his eyes LIT UP in wonderment and delight with the pineapple!
And since I rarely talk about how Matt and I are doing -- Matt is really plugging away at his thesis. He's got approx. 35 pages written and is getting somewhere with his experimentation. Keep praying with us that he can finish before the end of July when Esp2 comes along. I'm doing ok save for the joint/lower back pain that has arrived. I think someone must have been praying for me today...the more the day wore on, the more ease I felt in my back which is the opposite of how it usually is. Pray I can either keep the pain under control or that it lessens/goes away. I can't see how the next three months would work well in the housekeeping/mothering area if I have to limp everywhere and be careful what I do.
We've chosen the monkey as Esp2's animal. It's to keep with the safari theme and is also appropriate because the little guy is SO active and all over the place. I've created a small registry at Target for the few items we'll need. Already, having a boy has saved me some time and effort as opposed to creating a registry for a girl. ;-)
Remember, only one guess per person per day. If you realize you have been told the name by either Matt or I previously, you may not guess. We will only reveal the correct name when someone has guessed both names in the correct order. Who said earning $10 Sbux was going to be a cheap cup of coffee?
Judah's going through phase 2 of walking! He's walked more today than his whole life. He walked about 5 feet down the hallway to me and once he went from coffee table to chair without hesitation. He also stands alot more now! Doesn't he look so adorable in his Daddy's shirt? Every picture I took of him today, I realized how much of a little boy he is now rather than a baby. Bittersweet, but not for long since I always remember I've got another one inside me!
Yesterday, his lip accidentally got pinched with his car seat strap. It has been a small red area since. I gave him some new Gerber cheese crackers today. Bad idea. First of all, the cheese powder mixed with his saliva and created a nice coating to make him rash up with redness and bumps. Then, I guess the powder must have gotten inside a small cut where he was pinched because it swelled up pretty badly! Poor kiddo! Notice the swollen left side and rashiness? I think his facial expression in the second pic is hilarious. Reminds me of Veggie Tales for some reason.
We let Judah try asparagus, pineapple, and red grapes for the first time tonight. He loved them all...and his eyes LIT UP in wonderment and delight with the pineapple!
And since I rarely talk about how Matt and I are doing -- Matt is really plugging away at his thesis. He's got approx. 35 pages written and is getting somewhere with his experimentation. Keep praying with us that he can finish before the end of July when Esp2 comes along. I'm doing ok save for the joint/lower back pain that has arrived. I think someone must have been praying for me today...the more the day wore on, the more ease I felt in my back which is the opposite of how it usually is. Pray I can either keep the pain under control or that it lessens/goes away. I can't see how the next three months would work well in the housekeeping/mothering area if I have to limp everywhere and be careful what I do.
We've chosen the monkey as Esp2's animal. It's to keep with the safari theme and is also appropriate because the little guy is SO active and all over the place. I've created a small registry at Target for the few items we'll need. Already, having a boy has saved me some time and effort as opposed to creating a registry for a girl. ;-)
Second Clue: Biblical
Both the first and the middle name are found throughout the Bible.
Remember, only one guess per person per day.
And may I say that in the days since the ultrasound, both of us have become increasingly grateful that this is a boy and not a girl. SO many reliefs are wrapped up in having the same gender twice in a row:
-No new clothes, towels, toys, decor, sippie cups, etc. to worry about buying or keeping up with
-No qualms about getting Judah more clothes since we KNOW we'll be getting ample use out of them...and on the flip side, no temptation to buy oodles of cutsie-ness
-No stressing over another baby shower and receiving much too much pink for our taste
-No worries about having a navy blue infant car seat because another boy is going in it
-No headache over what color to paint the kids' room when we move
-No wondering when it's proper to separate a boy and girl concerning bedroom and bathtime
-No issues with differing playtime activities
-No need to intercede in sibling disputes :) -- just a caution for them not to break anything :) (that's Matt's idea anyway...)
I know some of you will roll your eyes at these, but I don't care. The relief is there all the same. The only stress we've had has been finalizing a name! We've said that it was this name or that name, but then sleep on it and change it the next day. But I think this morning on the way to church we finally arrived at a name. The only issue now is me -- fear of committing to such a weighty decision and just the unfamiliar territory of having a name for this baby AFTER finding out what he was (we had Judah's names picked out the day after we found out we were pregnant and always knew he'd be Elaina or Judah). I'm pretty sure this is it, but of course as the parents we reserve the right to change the name later on if something drastic occurs that would lead us to do so. :-P For me now, I believe I'm at the point of knowing this is his name and just praying that I quickly become accustomed to attaching the name to the baby.
Random Note: Judah loves beef broccoli stir-fry, chicken pot pie, pizza (homemade), spaghetti...it's been so fun to start really introducing him to eating exactly what we are having for dinner. Now that we've given him enough individual foods, we feel ok giving him those foods with seasonings and such that I use in cooking. It's SOOO nice to not have to think about a separate meal for him. Oh, and he will eat lima beans, too. And strawberries? LOVES them and is NOT allergic! Praise the Lord!
Again, Kohl's here is SO nice. The fitting rooms are nicer than most homes...no lie! Dark woods, leather chairs in the "waiting area" - wow! We saw a boy onsie today that had a muffin on the front with the words "Stud Muffin." I literally laughed outloud! Funny girl onsies included "Does this diaper make my butt look big" and "You'll sleep when I feel like it." Hilarious!
Have fun guessing -- it's way early in the game!
Remember, only one guess per person per day.
And may I say that in the days since the ultrasound, both of us have become increasingly grateful that this is a boy and not a girl. SO many reliefs are wrapped up in having the same gender twice in a row:
-No new clothes, towels, toys, decor, sippie cups, etc. to worry about buying or keeping up with
-No qualms about getting Judah more clothes since we KNOW we'll be getting ample use out of them...and on the flip side, no temptation to buy oodles of cutsie-ness
-No stressing over another baby shower and receiving much too much pink for our taste
-No worries about having a navy blue infant car seat because another boy is going in it
-No headache over what color to paint the kids' room when we move
-No wondering when it's proper to separate a boy and girl concerning bedroom and bathtime
-No issues with differing playtime activities
-No need to intercede in sibling disputes :) -- just a caution for them not to break anything :) (that's Matt's idea anyway...)
I know some of you will roll your eyes at these, but I don't care. The relief is there all the same. The only stress we've had has been finalizing a name! We've said that it was this name or that name, but then sleep on it and change it the next day. But I think this morning on the way to church we finally arrived at a name. The only issue now is me -- fear of committing to such a weighty decision and just the unfamiliar territory of having a name for this baby AFTER finding out what he was (we had Judah's names picked out the day after we found out we were pregnant and always knew he'd be Elaina or Judah). I'm pretty sure this is it, but of course as the parents we reserve the right to change the name later on if something drastic occurs that would lead us to do so. :-P For me now, I believe I'm at the point of knowing this is his name and just praying that I quickly become accustomed to attaching the name to the baby.
Random Note: Judah loves beef broccoli stir-fry, chicken pot pie, pizza (homemade), spaghetti...it's been so fun to start really introducing him to eating exactly what we are having for dinner. Now that we've given him enough individual foods, we feel ok giving him those foods with seasonings and such that I use in cooking. It's SOOO nice to not have to think about a separate meal for him. Oh, and he will eat lima beans, too. And strawberries? LOVES them and is NOT allergic! Praise the Lord!
Again, Kohl's here is SO nice. The fitting rooms are nicer than most homes...no lie! Dark woods, leather chairs in the "waiting area" - wow! We saw a boy onsie today that had a muffin on the front with the words "Stud Muffin." I literally laughed outloud! Funny girl onsies included "Does this diaper make my butt look big" and "You'll sleep when I feel like it." Hilarious!
Have fun guessing -- it's way early in the game!
Friday, April 13, 2007
First Clue: IT'S A...
NO mistaking this one! Another little "turtle" just like Judah's (as Dr. G calls it).
A good spinal shot -- amazing how tiny yet comlpete those little bones are. Talk about a visual Psalm 139!
The top picks of the 4D pics. The clarity was amazing! This little guy didn't keep his hands in front of his face like his big brother did. And he moved around quite a bit. At one point, I felt him move and saw his hand come up to his head. How strange to feel it AND see it at the same time!
First - still no mistaking it's a boy.
Second - A foot in front with all five toes, and a knee down to the foot in the background.
Third - An excellent profile shot...his features look a little more dainty/angular than Judah's and perhaps a small cleft in the chin??
Fourth - Another foot and leg shot.
I love you, Baby Brother!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Rainy Day Rambling **With Added Content**
Ok, so I've added content twice to this post since originally posting it. And that's only because I don't want to post another official post until it is the first clue to the Baby Name Guessing Game (BNGG). Which, the rule will be: You can only guess one name once a day so that everyone who wants to play can have a chance to check my blog and guess each day before someone gets the right one. I will post a clue either every day or every other day depending on how many responses each post gets. You must guess both first and middle name to win the Starbucks card. If you already know the names we have chosen or have discussed names with us, obvioulsy you may not comment anything that would give extra clues. If you do, you owe US a Starbucks card!
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So, not having cable means we haven't been able to get local news/weather. Kinda weird to not know what the weather is supposed to be, but it was nice to wake up to rain this morning. Haven't had it in a while. But it puts me in a talkative, posty mood. So watch out! ;-)
Brenda sent some Christmas pictures from their camera. Talk about fun to walk through memory lane! They snapped some good ones, too! It's hard to believe we first started introducing table foods to Judah in Eville -- it seems like forever ago! He also learned how to crawl up stairs. Autumn and Andy stopped through on their move to LR. The good food, the reconnecting with extended family, the time to rest. Judah's real first crack at opening gifts. The QUILT we received from Helen (which is currently on our bed to bring in spring!...can't wait to get a sheet/pillowcases set that will go with it...we're thinking purple). Those are the highlights I remember at the moment! Enjoy the pics...
My growin'-up, beautiful sister-in-law!
This morning, I was doing my regular kitchen routine and noticed Judah was being VERY quiet. This hasn't been too much of a problem as of late because he is usually playing with a toy. But the Instinct told me to go peek in on him. Tell me, how on earth did he do this? No blankets were disturbed on the changing table, and I always thought his head was too big to fit in between the furniture. But there he was crouched playing with his thermometer. That thing fascinates him!
The other day, I made a card for Alicia's birthday (tomorrow!) and let Judah color with some pencils for the first time. He got the hang of it...but then threw a temper when I tried to stop him from chewing on the pencils. This is new -- the temper thing. Woah. As the brain intelligence increases by leaps and bounds right now, so does the ability to express the sinful will. It's SHOCKING to see your sweet "innocent" baby purposefully look at you angrily and yell at you because you told him no or took something away. And yet how many times do we do that to our Father? But, all in all, it's fun to have a "first drawing" picture...and a lessened temper due to mostly consistent discipline and patience!
Last night, I found out that Bible study is going to continue through the summer! Woo hoo!!! This excites me 1) Because it is good accountability to spend time with the Lord on a more consistent basis, 2) It allows me one night out a week to spend with other women. We're going to decide what book to do next at next week's study (which would have been our last week). I jokingly said Romans...then Norma said that's what she and Nancy had discussed. :-P I'm gonna go with another lady and suggest 1 & 2 Peter. We started studying that with the Chews when they still lived in Salinas, and it was wonderful!
That leads me to ask for prayer for Kristen. She is a lady that attends the study and is a couple weeks behind me in pregnancy. She found out a few weeks ago that their baby has some birth defects and is not expected to live past birth. Being in tune with pregnancy myself and all the emotions, fears, and joys that come with it, I have felt a burden to pray for and think of Kristen often -- especially putting myself in her place to try and understand all she must be going through. Matt told me last night maybe I shouldn't do that, but I really think it helps me pray for her better and more deeply. I got her prayer card (again) last night and this is what she asks for: "Pray for strength, wisdom, and mercy as we prepare for Samuel's arrival in a few months. Pray that God would use this for His glory." Please pray with me for this and also for God to work a healing miracle if He sees fit.
The lily in the Easter bouquet from the E-side of the family exploded. It's seriously the biggest one I've ever seen!
And last but CERTAINLY not least! Today is exciting because Kohls opens in Salinas -- and apparently it's one of the newly designed ones. I'll let you know how classy it really is after we visit tonight! But that's not what is most exciting...
Friday morning is less than 48 hours away! Pray Baby cooperates! And we MIGHT actually have a boy's name (just not a middle name yet). Get your blog-checking and name-guessing gears ready if you want that Sbux card!
~~~ADDED CONTENT SINCE FIRST POSTING~~~
So we went to Kohls grand opening here in Salinas to return a place setting we were trying out and look around for a new one. They really don't get new designs as often as they should. I mentioned in this post that we have been thinking about starting to look for purple sheets. We've been thinking about a dark purple set to match both our quilt (that his grandmother made...AWESOME) and comforter. The quilt is all different colored squares, very playful and vibrant. The comforter is a romantic Morrocan design...polar opposites. But dark purple goes with both. So, Matt saw a dark purple king sheet set including pillowcases for $100. But since it's Grand Opening, they were on sale for $50. But we had a gift card for living in the area. But we had a coupon for 15% off. But since it's Grand Opening, you can scratch a card to receive an additional percentage off (if you have a Kohls card). So we got a KING SIZED sheet set with pillowcases, 400 thread count, for TWENTY-SEVEN BUCKS! Talk about a blessing that God chose to give when we hadn't even asked it of Him! Wow!!!!
We had a fun family photo shoot tonight. The first pic is an example of Judah's odd habit of laying all over me if I'm on the floor. Usually, though, he is sucking his thumb and his favorite spot is my belly. He doesn't do it to Matt, just me. And we're not sure why!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, not having cable means we haven't been able to get local news/weather. Kinda weird to not know what the weather is supposed to be, but it was nice to wake up to rain this morning. Haven't had it in a while. But it puts me in a talkative, posty mood. So watch out! ;-)
Brenda sent some Christmas pictures from their camera. Talk about fun to walk through memory lane! They snapped some good ones, too! It's hard to believe we first started introducing table foods to Judah in Eville -- it seems like forever ago! He also learned how to crawl up stairs. Autumn and Andy stopped through on their move to LR. The good food, the reconnecting with extended family, the time to rest. Judah's real first crack at opening gifts. The QUILT we received from Helen (which is currently on our bed to bring in spring!...can't wait to get a sheet/pillowcases set that will go with it...we're thinking purple). Those are the highlights I remember at the moment! Enjoy the pics...
My growin'-up, beautiful sister-in-law!
This morning, I was doing my regular kitchen routine and noticed Judah was being VERY quiet. This hasn't been too much of a problem as of late because he is usually playing with a toy. But the Instinct told me to go peek in on him. Tell me, how on earth did he do this? No blankets were disturbed on the changing table, and I always thought his head was too big to fit in between the furniture. But there he was crouched playing with his thermometer. That thing fascinates him!
The other day, I made a card for Alicia's birthday (tomorrow!) and let Judah color with some pencils for the first time. He got the hang of it...but then threw a temper when I tried to stop him from chewing on the pencils. This is new -- the temper thing. Woah. As the brain intelligence increases by leaps and bounds right now, so does the ability to express the sinful will. It's SHOCKING to see your sweet "innocent" baby purposefully look at you angrily and yell at you because you told him no or took something away. And yet how many times do we do that to our Father? But, all in all, it's fun to have a "first drawing" picture...and a lessened temper due to mostly consistent discipline and patience!
Last night, I found out that Bible study is going to continue through the summer! Woo hoo!!! This excites me 1) Because it is good accountability to spend time with the Lord on a more consistent basis, 2) It allows me one night out a week to spend with other women. We're going to decide what book to do next at next week's study (which would have been our last week). I jokingly said Romans...then Norma said that's what she and Nancy had discussed. :-P I'm gonna go with another lady and suggest 1 & 2 Peter. We started studying that with the Chews when they still lived in Salinas, and it was wonderful!
That leads me to ask for prayer for Kristen. She is a lady that attends the study and is a couple weeks behind me in pregnancy. She found out a few weeks ago that their baby has some birth defects and is not expected to live past birth. Being in tune with pregnancy myself and all the emotions, fears, and joys that come with it, I have felt a burden to pray for and think of Kristen often -- especially putting myself in her place to try and understand all she must be going through. Matt told me last night maybe I shouldn't do that, but I really think it helps me pray for her better and more deeply. I got her prayer card (again) last night and this is what she asks for: "Pray for strength, wisdom, and mercy as we prepare for Samuel's arrival in a few months. Pray that God would use this for His glory." Please pray with me for this and also for God to work a healing miracle if He sees fit.
The lily in the Easter bouquet from the E-side of the family exploded. It's seriously the biggest one I've ever seen!
And last but CERTAINLY not least! Today is exciting because Kohls opens in Salinas -- and apparently it's one of the newly designed ones. I'll let you know how classy it really is after we visit tonight! But that's not what is most exciting...
Friday morning is less than 48 hours away! Pray Baby cooperates! And we MIGHT actually have a boy's name (just not a middle name yet). Get your blog-checking and name-guessing gears ready if you want that Sbux card!
~~~ADDED CONTENT SINCE FIRST POSTING~~~
So we went to Kohls grand opening here in Salinas to return a place setting we were trying out and look around for a new one. They really don't get new designs as often as they should. I mentioned in this post that we have been thinking about starting to look for purple sheets. We've been thinking about a dark purple set to match both our quilt (that his grandmother made...AWESOME) and comforter. The quilt is all different colored squares, very playful and vibrant. The comforter is a romantic Morrocan design...polar opposites. But dark purple goes with both. So, Matt saw a dark purple king sheet set including pillowcases for $100. But since it's Grand Opening, they were on sale for $50. But we had a gift card for living in the area. But we had a coupon for 15% off. But since it's Grand Opening, you can scratch a card to receive an additional percentage off (if you have a Kohls card). So we got a KING SIZED sheet set with pillowcases, 400 thread count, for TWENTY-SEVEN BUCKS! Talk about a blessing that God chose to give when we hadn't even asked it of Him! Wow!!!!
We had a fun family photo shoot tonight. The first pic is an example of Judah's odd habit of laying all over me if I'm on the floor. Usually, though, he is sucking his thumb and his favorite spot is my belly. He doesn't do it to Matt, just me. And we're not sure why!
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Happy Easter!
I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating our Lord's victory over the grave! Were it not for His death, we could not be forgiven. Were it not for His resurrection, we could not be given eternal life. Jim's message this morning was WONDERFUL! He spoke on the 6 marks of true faith. Look for it soon on Sanctifying Truth, along with an explanation and pictures of the eggs Judah hunted for today.
Lunch was awesome! Lots of people were there, the food was good, and the fellowship sweet. Judah had about a 20 minutes nap before we left for church...and that was it until 4:00 when he slept in the car on the way home. He didn't cry when I left him in nursery, though he still apparently wanted to be held by the guy worker the whole time. He was so sociable with everyone at the potluck lunch -- especially Derek, who is very good with kids. It was a pleasure to be able to relax while someone else played with Judah! Thanks to Gary and Janet for opening their home to all of us! And by the way, her kitchen is TOTALLY the Bahama colors I've been looking for...my kind of gal! She even had the potholders from Target I've had my eye on...
Totally forgot to get a "dressed-up" Easter family photo. So we snapped a casual one. The only difference was that I was wearing khaki pants, Matt was wearing black pants and an awesome black/purple tie, and Judah was wearing kahki pants and an orange sweater vest (as seen in his birthday photos. We got comfy in denim afte church. At least we got a pic at all!
Well, we got another Easter flower blessing yesterday! Flowers are so beautiful and cheery! Thanks to the Esparza parents for the spring explosion that beautifies our mantle! I also took an update photo of one of the roses in the bouquet my mom sent because it's blossomed so spectacularly!
Enjoy these pictures (video to come), and then have a relaxing evening!
Lunch was awesome! Lots of people were there, the food was good, and the fellowship sweet. Judah had about a 20 minutes nap before we left for church...and that was it until 4:00 when he slept in the car on the way home. He didn't cry when I left him in nursery, though he still apparently wanted to be held by the guy worker the whole time. He was so sociable with everyone at the potluck lunch -- especially Derek, who is very good with kids. It was a pleasure to be able to relax while someone else played with Judah! Thanks to Gary and Janet for opening their home to all of us! And by the way, her kitchen is TOTALLY the Bahama colors I've been looking for...my kind of gal! She even had the potholders from Target I've had my eye on...
Totally forgot to get a "dressed-up" Easter family photo. So we snapped a casual one. The only difference was that I was wearing khaki pants, Matt was wearing black pants and an awesome black/purple tie, and Judah was wearing kahki pants and an orange sweater vest (as seen in his birthday photos. We got comfy in denim afte church. At least we got a pic at all!
Well, we got another Easter flower blessing yesterday! Flowers are so beautiful and cheery! Thanks to the Esparza parents for the spring explosion that beautifies our mantle! I also took an update photo of one of the roses in the bouquet my mom sent because it's blossomed so spectacularly!
Enjoy these pictures (video to come), and then have a relaxing evening!
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