10 on 10 :: May 2016

The Gift of Waiting

Before Ellis arrived, I started this blog post...but never finished it.

My goal is to get his birth story all typed up and posted in the next few days, but before I can mentally go there, I want to finish this post. 

Here goes:

The way my maternity leave worked this time around, I was able to be home for my spring break plus another week before my scheduled c-section.

It was such a gift to be able to take time off beforehand because with Harry I worked up until the day he was born.

So here we are, waiting. I'm mostly hanging out with Harry while Josh works, but we also plan on having plenty of time just the three of us before brother makes us a family of four.

I'm so thankful for a pause to wait. A break from my normal routine of teaching and mothering...to just enjoy my firstborn. Time to wait and rest (and nest). I know that once Ellis arrives, life will never be the same, and it's a change that we've longed for, for a long time now. All of this is so good and I am so thankful...and yet I find myself holding tightly to these days before. Wanting to savor and cherish them because I know that I'll never get them back.

And because I haven't posted much of his nursery on the blog (mainly because we just got it put together in the past few days ;) here are some pics of how we've personalized the nursery to be Ellis' new room.

This is how I initially "styled" his shelves and the wall above his crib:

And here are some updates I made...

We received this adorable little garland (after he was born) from my cousin Catherine...and I LOVE how it adds to the wall above his changing table. We will enjoy it every time I change his diaper! 

Here is the initial wall above his crib...

And here it is now :)

Transitioning

Yesterday Harry asked if he could take a picture of me feeding Ellis. I love this picture of me with my messy hair, Ellis in one of Harry's old outfits, and the sweet four-year-old who was behind the camera. 

I have to say that the best and hardest part of transitioning to having two has been with Harry.
He tenderly loves his baby brother and hasn't shown any signs of resenting Ellis or even really feeling jealous when I'm caring for one of his many newborn needs. He's been super helpful too.
And in the midst of loving his brother so much, Harry has also been struggling with his attitude. He often throws little fits (rude tone, foot stomping, etc.) when he's told "no" or doesn't get his way.  We have had to correct his behavior a lot since coming home from the hospital (or at least that's how if feels), and I'm honestly having a hard time with it. Of course we can't let him behave with rudeness and disrespect, but couple this with the extra reminders to "be careful around your brother" and "watch out for mommy's sore tummy" (and the other normal reminders you have to give a little kid when there is a tiny baby and a mom healing from surgery....) and it feels like that's all he's hearing all day long.

There have been many tears shed by both Harry and I in this process. Josh and I are trying to encourage and praise him often. We are also trying to include him in things like cooking meals, listening to music, watching movies together as a family, and even reading a chapter book (his first one (!) James and the Giant Peach). I'm reminding myself that we would be correcting Harry about his behavior even if Ellis weren't around; this is what parents do...it's part of the job. And I'm a little over-sensitive right now with all the hormonal changes in experiencing physically. We've also been hugging it out more. Letting Harry know that our love for him isn't based on his behavior. That just like Jesus loves us all the time, no matter what...even when we sin...our love for Harry as his parents will never go away. ...and when the emotions feel overwhelming, I'm also giving myself permission to just go to sleep. Waking up from a nap, or in the morning, I feel a lot better. 

So that's where we are at. Head over heels in love with Ellis and savoring this short stage in the life of our family. We love watching Harry, who has truly been the apple of our eye for the past four years, grow into a brother. We are tired and a little emotional, at least Harry and I are ;). We are messing up, feeling frustrated, and giving/receiving forgiveness on a daily basis.


Mostly, we are thankful. The road to get here, to have two sons, hasn't been without pain and loss and grief. And here we are on the other side of it, so very thankful because each of the boys God has entrusted us to raise up are a gift and a blessing. As much as I look forward to the point where we have settled into our new normal, these growing pains are completely worth it because we get to be parents to these two boys. We are so very thankful!!!

O N E Week Until Baby Brother Arrives!

...and we're not excited at all ;) 

15/52 (2016)

We Got a Mini-Van

After twelve faithful years, we said farewell to the my Honda Civic, Esmerelda. She came into my life at the beginning of college and has seen me through many phases of life: college, engagement, marriage, first home, becoming a teacher, our second home, having Harry...

There'll always be a special place in my heart for this car...but man are we excited about the upgrade! Harry most of all :) The whole time we were shopping for the van, Harry kept asking "Did you find the perfect mini-van yet?" 

And when we actually got it...he was LITERALLY over the moon with excitement!

We haven't decided on a name yet, but his first idea was Jupiter (he's a little space-obsessed these days).

Here's Harry giving Daddy a high-five before we signed the paperwork. He chose gray for the color, which we all approved of!

And here I am standing in front of my very own "swagger-wagon". Whoever dislikes mini-vans, just come for a ride with us and maybe it'll change your mind. It's AMAZING! :) 

A boy, and "his" mini-van!

Here are a couple of videos I took of his first reaction to the van!

I'll end with my favorite quote so far (he has asked me to stop telling people the story because it makes him embarrassed...how did he get so grown up?!). When we went to church the day after we got the van, Harry excitedly said:

"I'm going to tell my teacher about our new mini-van, and she's going to be so impressed!"

...we'll see if he still loves the van in eleven years when he's learned to drive in it ;) lol! But I have proof in these photos and videos that he LOVED it when was four! 

10 on 10 :: April 2016

That Day I Ran a ½ Marathon! BAM!!!

I meant to write this last weekend. Was it really only a week ago that I ran my first ever ½ marathon?! Yes you read that correctly...I RAN a ½ MARATHON! 

It was epic!

Here are pictures to prove it:

Before the race I met up with two of my biggest supporters. My former principal and my current assistant principal. Jon and Aliscia are seriously the BEST! Jon is a rockstar runner. No pun intended (it was the Rock 'n' Roll ½). He runs a LOT and SUPER FAST, but he's been cheering me on throughout my training, no matter how slow I am. And Aliscia has been incredible. Encouraging me along the way with her own training. She ran the Tinker Bell ½ in Disneyland Mother's Day weekend and then decided to go for the Rock 'n' Roll in June. I am SO glad we got a quick pic before we hit the starting line!

Hilary, Karla and I living it up before the race started. Both girls have been the BIGGEST blessing to me. Both have had miscarriages and loved me as I've slowly worked through my healing. I ran with both during my training...especially on the long runs...and can honestly say that I wouldn't have made it without them.

Funny story. A race worker asked me to hold our "corral sign" which was slightly awkward (especially when random people came to me with their questions because I looked "official"). It took us about 45 minutes to actually make it to the start, but because I had the sign we were literally at the front of our corral line and got to cheer and count down from the very front of our group. It was EPIC. Maybe you had to be there...but Hilary, Karla, a random guy from Florida, and I can attest to the fact that it was a fun way to start. Even if the wait was long.

My whole family came to cheer me on. Seriously BLESSED! Especially by that sweet/hilarious boy!

There's the finish line :)

Karla and I loved the cheering squad just before the finish line. I shaved my armpits that morning, just to make sure I was fresh for the fist-pump photos! I guess I wasn't really making fists in the picture, but man did it feel good to be within a stone's throw of that finish line.

Just a few more yards and we were DONE! BAM. Nailed it! :)

Post race. Completely drenched in sweat, but still smiling. I think we may have smiled our way through all 13.1 miles. It was a glorious day: sunny, breezy, and even though there were some hills, they were gradual. Plus the route was filled with GORGEOUS views!

The two men in my life cheering me on! Josh gave me a huge hug...and Harry kept saying "My Mommy WON!" :) 

I happened to be standing right next to two college friends in the recovery area. They ran it too and we couldn't resist taking a picture together. Of course Harry wanted in on the action.

Dad, Mom, Griffin, Josh, Patti, Ashley, Gigi, Harry and I. This was right before we gorged ourselves on the most delicious breakfast ever. French toast, eggs, and sausage. I was hungry after running for almost three hours! ;)

Not sure why my app said I ran 3.79 miles, but whatever. Also there was a brief bathroom break (or two) during which I forgot to stop my watch. I think we actually finished in 3:45. But who's counting.

We started and finished strong!!!

You better believe I took a nap that afternoon! I think I ended up with just over 35,000 steps total that day. My knees and ankles were so sore for about 24-hours, but after that I felt pretty good.

And here is the current resting place of my medal. Right above my computer so I can see it whenever I'm working here in my craft room. I'm not sure where its final resting place will be, but you better believe I'll be running another race in the future. Not sure exactly when (maybe the Fall?!?!)

.    .    .

Thanks to everyone who has rooted for me along the way. It has been such an incredible journey, both physically and figuratively. God put it on my heart to run, He gave me His strength to do it, and the race was honestly the icing on the cake. It felt like a glorious gift from my Loving Father. He knew I needed to do this training. He knew I desperately needed to rely on Him throughout the process, to surrender to Him in my weakness, and to accept the strengthening/healing of my body, my faith, and my heart that only He could have given me.

He is certainly a GOOD Dad who loves His kids. I can call myself blessed because of Him...not because of anything I have done!

So there you have it. 

My ½ marathon is done, but it is definitely one of the top 5 moments of my life! 

Even with the pictures and my attempt to describe the experience in words, I can't really do it justice. 

You'll just have to take my word for it, and maybe sign up for a race with me...so you can experience it for yourself! :)