Family Update

It's about time I give an update on how we are doing, but most of this is about our girl. Ella will be four later this month!  We'll be in the US and Canada with family (we leave in 6 days) and it will great to celebrate together there.  It's our annual furlough when we get a month to travel around North America. We'll be splitting our time between Colorado, North Carolina, Alabama and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Andrey has additional work-related travel to Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Seattle.

These days just seem to be going by fast.  It's been a busy season and I can barely keep up on some things I used to do often, like blogging.  I find myself splitting my time between bringing Ella along in whatever I'm doing in the community and spending focused time with her doing fun things she enjoys.  We may go to play area in the mall or the pool or a play date or baking together at home.  She is such a trooper and doesn't seem to mind joining me on most things I do, although I can occasionally leave her with someone.

In general she is doing great.  She frustrates and delights me every day.  I guess that's the way it is with kids.  It's hard to keep up with all the new things she is doing/into because she is always changing.  I guess that's how things go when you have a healthy, growing child.  I'm so thankful that she's thriving and loving life. 

I am planning a small home school pre-school for her in our home November to March.  I will hire a teacher for two afternoons a week and one of the three moms of the four, four-year-olds will rotate so one of us is here to assist at each class.  I just have to find the right curriculum.  I think this will be a great intro to school for Ella.  Depending on how it goes, we will either continue to home school next year or I will put her in kindergarten in a school I checked out last year and really like. I had considered putting her in pre-school there last year but wasn't ready to put her in 5 days a week.

Ella treasures her time with Daddy more than ever.  This includes a morning walk, evening play time during the week and swimming on the weekends.  She just loves her time with him and can really get thrown off emotionally if she misses out on any of it. 

Heading out for a morning walk

We have seen a real increase in her confidence lately.  She doesn't mind the camera like before and even poses sometimes!  She plays more with other kids and has lots of friends.  One time during a visit to Ana Mae's neighborhood all the local kids were play in a separate room of a bamboo hut.  She really wanted to go in but looked to me for permission to join them. When I encouraged her to join them she flung the curtain dividing the two rooms open and announced to the kids, "Hey guys! I'm here!"

Photo shoot in the garden!

With a good friend, V

 

 

 

Ella amazes us at her fearlessness when it comes to animals.  We recently took in a grasshopper from our garden and managed to keep it alive for about a day, even after Ella tore off one of his legs. She let "Hoppy" crawl all over her.

Ella loves playing with "Ate Rau Rau."  Raulyn is a good friend and watches Ella about once a week. 

 The other day, Ella and I brought a young mom and her baby to the pediatrician for a check up. Ella said sincerely, "Baby going for ketchup?"

Ella is quite amazing at pretending these days. Here she is as an adorable little doctor.

I'm still exercising regularly! I'm not sure what's gotten into me, I can't ever remember a time when I was this consistent.  I've been working out at home with Jillian Michaels five days a week since the end of May and I'm loving it!  I'm getting stronger, I've lost a few inches and pounds and I'm feeling great.  Sometimes when I'm just hanging around doing nothing in the evenings I have a strong urge to get into a plank or do some push ups.  Weird.

Not much is new with Andrey except that he is busier than ever with work. Somehow he still manages to be totally present with us for family time and doesn't let the stress of work get to him too much.  (If I were him I would be one big stress ball and NO fun to be around).  He travels regularly but it's usually for just a few nights at a time which is quite manageable for us.  He is amazing and wonderful and we still get out almost every week for a date night.

To wrap this up, I'll add a few recent photos.

Mud at the beach during low tide (definitely a father-daughter activity!)

Have to watch this girl with the sugar packets!

Still dominates Gerald

Birth Videos and Dreams of More Children

My daughter loves to watch birth videos. Yes, I show her birth videos and you may think that's strange but it happened quite naturally, if you factor in me being a midwife.  Ella does come with me when I do prenatal check ups and she is always there beside me touching the pregnant belly and playing with my fetoscope.  She often prays for babies in the womb with me.  One day I thought I'd show her a water birth video. She was so interested and at one point said, "This is awesome!" We watched them regularly then things began to back-fire.  Ella started to verbalize what she was learning. In the grocery store. In a loud voice... "Babies come out woman's vagina!... Mans don't have babies, only womans! Giving birth is hard work!"

One of the best things is when I'm exercising and sweating and grunting from the Jillian Michaels-inflicted pain in my quads and Ella does for me what she observed in birth videos - wipes my forehead with a cloth, brings me water saying, "I know, Ella help you!"

Then things started getting annoying.  Anytime we are in a shallow pool, she wants to act out a water birth.  She'll say, "I know! Ella catch your baby out!"  Sometimes she mixes up the words push and pull, which is hilarious.  We have taken a break from birth videos for a while, as I got really tired of pretending to have a baby all the time and her asking me constantly to watch another birth video. Seriously! The girl was becoming obsessed!

There was one side effect for me.  I watched so many natural birth videos there for a while that I became especially committed to the idea of having a home water birth, when my time comes! Not sure I could try it another way!

Some of the birth videos have older siblings at the birth and I fantasize about having Ella present when I'm in labor someday.  I really, really want to have a baby someday.

I'll update you on that topic. I mentioned a few months back that we might adopt again. Well, (in my best Southern accent) that just ain't goin to happen!  It's disappointing and relieving all at the same time.  Disappointing because while I hope for a biological child, I also hope for more adopted children.  I really love the idea of having two Filipino children but as of now, that doesn't look likely.  Long story short, on paper we seemed eligible to adopted domestically from the Philippines because we've lived here for 5 years but in reality we are unable to obtain some of the requirements to prove we are residents.  It took us months of research to learn that it's just not going to work.  Every door we pushed on didn't open.  Our research began to wane when an immigration officer, after he told me there was no way to get the document we needed, laughed at me and said, "What? You can't produce!?" I left his office crying.  That was my low point.

Relieving because we don't have to go through a process that is way too complicated than it needs to be, especially for Americans for some reason, and we don't have to put ourselves at the mercy of an unpredictable court system after we receive a child, and I won't have to be grounded, not able to travel outside the country during the process.  Honestly, the process we went through for the inter-country process was way simpler, not simple but simpler, and standardized.  Even attempting this domestic adoption process was a massive headache. Getting information was SO difficult. Oh the relief!

So for now, we are (still) hoping and praying for a miracle pregnancy.  I believe it will happen, I just don't know when.  I have recently been encouraged by a few things.  The timing of me hearing these things is all God, if you ask me.

We recently were with a friend during Sunday morning worship and we were encouraged to pair up and pray for each other for what we deeply desired to see/receive from the Lord.  Me and Andrey paired up with our friend who was with us, a British guy volunteering in Cebu for a while.  Naturally, Andrey and I shared our desire for a baby.  This guy got so excited and then told us his family's story.  His parents tried for 16 years to have children.  At one point they had received a prophesy that they'd have a son.  Soon after they were pregnant with a girl.  A few years later they had a son, our friend who prayed with fervor for us to experience a similar miracle.  Yes!

A week later I was at the chiropractor having an adjustment.  We casually chatted about nothing on this topic when he told me that his receptionist's sister was told she could never have children but became pregnant at age 45.  Apparently she just learned she is pregnant again!  At age 48!

So I did a little internet research and found records of lots and lots of woman in their 40s and 50s having babies, many of them their first.

Not that I plan on waiting that long, it does help expand my understanding of what is possible. I may be 37 but I still have lots of time!  I will not dwell on my age. I will dwell on what I know is possible.

It's a good thing I'm getting so fit - because after all, "giving birth is hard work!"  I will be ready!