Josiah Henry

The doctor tried to tell me to wait, don't push yet, hold on one more minute.  Sorry lady, no can do.  This 6lb 8oz child currently feels like a line backer in the 4th quarter of the most important game of the season.  He's coming right now whether you're ready or not.

I should have known.

He arrived just after noon on his due date.

I should have known.

Where his brother embraced practically every new food we threw at him, I'm pretty sure Josiah would have been content to live out his life on breast milk, given the opportunity.

I should have known.

Before he could even walk, he figured out how to give his brother a wet willy to get him to release any given wrestling move.

I should have known.

At 9 months old he could already climb the entire flight of stairs in our house.

I should have known.

At 10 months he took his first steps - determined to keep up with every move his big brother made.

I should have known.

I should have known this kid was filled with determination from the beginning.  I should have known he would always know exactly what he wanted and when he wanted It.  I should have known the sheer force of his will.

I thought will-power wasn't supposed to fully rear it's head until the second year of life.   Isn't that why they call it the terrible twos?

But this child, Josiah Henry, my beautiful surprise, with a gorgeous grin, expressive eyes, and precious cuddles, this child has been practicing the art of will-power from the very beginning.

And now he's one year old.  An entire year has passed since his birth.  Now I'm weaning him.  Now I'm moving past the stages of praying that tonight will be the night he sleeps through the night, carefully propping him up in case he falls over while sitting up, and pureeing all his food.

Infanthood is behind us and there is a little boy growing rapidly in front of me.

I should have known it would all go by too fast.

Happy birthday, baby boy!  I can't wait to see all that God has in store for you!

30 is just 10 days away now…that big bold number looms in front of me.  It’s not that I’m afraid of it.  I know it won’t really change anything.  But there it is.  Big. Bold. Round.  I’m the last of most of my friends to turn thirty so at this point it really just seems inevitable, expected. 

My twenties are rapidly coming to an end.  It’s been an amazing, beautiful decade of life.  Over the last ten years I have accomplished more quantifiable achievements than I may in any of the decades to come.  I graduated college, got engaged and married to a faithful, loving man, who continually keeps me on my toes, completed a masters degree, gave birth to two amazing little boys, and moved to a foreign country. 

Parenting those two precious little men will probably be my greatest accomplishment over the next couple of decades.  I’m not belittling this task by any means.  I know that some of my greatest challenges are ahead of me.  I still have so much to learn as a parent; so much to experience alongside them.  I’m looking forward to it and terrified by it all at the same time. 

Yes, there is much beauty and challenge yet to be had in this next decade that begins with a 3.  I think I’m ready to embrace it with open arms.  My life is full of so many wonderful things already and so many memories to look back on in thankful wonder.  I’m humbled at the thought that God still has more in store for me - more gifts to add, more grace to bestow, more challenges to grow and shape me.

 

Bring it on 30.  I’m ready for you!

Dear Eli,

Today is your second birthday.  I simultaneously cannot believe you are 2 years old already and have a hard time picturing my life without you.  For the last 2 years you have brought us so much joy.  Yes, you have certainly tried our patience at times, but the times you have brought a smile to my face far outweigh the other times.  Thank you for being such a happy child.

You have taken on being a big brother with amazing gusto.  I have yet to see you be truly jealous of your little brother.  Instead you have welcomed him with open arms and rather aggressive hugs and kisses.  You have taken the adage “the more the merrier to heart.” Thank you for continuing to bless us with your openness to change.

Your vocabulary in both Spanish and English continues to grow exponentially.  There are still many things you say that we don’t quite understand and some consonants you haven’t quite figured out, but the things you say clearly continue to amaze me.  You use please and thank you lavishly and at surprising moments.  Thank you for reminding me to tell people I appreciate the little things. 

You love whole-heartedly.  Some of that love is given to “choo choos” (anything with wheels), Buzz Lightyear, and Dora (who we’re pretty sure we can count as your first crush), but so much of it is poured out on those around you.  You love your cousin Isabella incredibly and have not quite learned that her need for personal space is much greater than yours (which is virtually non-existent), you adore talking over Skype with your grandparents and showing them the new things in your life, you tell your little brother you love him often even though he’s not yet able to give you any kind of response, and you melt my heart every time you suddenly grab mine or Daddy’s leg and proclaim “I lub you.”  Thank you for being an amazing example of why our Heavenly Father said “let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

I love you, Eli and I’m so proud to be your mommy.  Happy birthday, Buddy.

Love,

Mommy

Since we commemorated Eli turning 1 month here I thought it was only appropriate to do the same for Josiah.   He wasn't super thrilled with being my model, but here he is:

I can hardly believe that it has been a month already! What a blessing this little guy has been.

It's official...on August 21 at 12:37PM Josiah Henry was born and we became a family of four.  As an only child, I've never been a part of a family of four before.  It still sounds a little strange for me to say.  

However, so far, being a part of a family of four has been a wonderful experience.  From the beginning Josiah has done his best to make life pretty easy for us.  Yes, he's only 2 weeks old now and I have yet to spend a day alone with two kids (thanks hubby, mom, and mom-in-law for making this possible), so we have a long way to go, but so far life is good.

Here's a quick ( not at all graphic) run down of the birth experience and life with Josiah so far:

Contractions started at regular 7 minute intervals at 2 am on my due date (seriously, how many babies actually arrive on their due date?) and increased to a steady 5 minutes apart over 3 hours.  This was actually ideal for us, as it meant that Dave was home and my very pregnant sister-in-law was off the hook for driving me to the hospital while Dave was at work.  Plus, that early in the morning is a pretty low traffic time here in Mexico City, which relieved the stress of the 45 minute plus commute to the hospital.

My doctor arrived at the hospital as we were checking in and was there for almost the whole time I was in labor.  The whole time I was in labor at the hospital amounted to a grand total of 5 hours - so much better than the twenty hours I went through after I was induced a week after my due date with Eli.

Everything progressed quickly.  I turned down an epidural knowing that last time I had made it a full 10 hours without one and it had largely worn off by the time I actually gave birth.  Although, I realize that it is no great feet to give birth without anesthesia, people in Mexico (including my doctor) seem to be amazed that I did so.  Apparently it's practically unheard of here.

After three quick pushes (so much easier than the 1 hour plus of pushing last time) out popped our healthy, 6lb 8oz. 19.5in. little boy.  My doctor has since likened the experience to being on a roller coaster with her driving and me on the accelerator.

Since then he has been amazing.  He breastfeeds without any problem and pretty much just sleeps or quietly looks around when he's not eating.  He already regularly gives us 5-6 hour stretches of sleep at night.  Seriously, Eli wasn't a difficult baby at all.  How did I get SO blessed this time?

So, for all who have looked at us with concern as we have prepared to have a baby in Mexico, do not be concerned at all.  We had a wonderful birth experience and received great care during our stay at the hospital.  My biggest complaint would be the amount of moving around they made me go through during the birth process. Four different rooms and five different beds seemed a bit excessive, but certainly not a reason not to have a baby in Mexico.

So here we are, getting used to life as four:

As I mentioned previously, on my birthday we had the opportunity to attend our first quinceañera.   It's been a couple of weeks, but I wanted to go ahead and take the time to share the experience with you, because it was like none I have had before.  The closest I have come is watching MTV's Super Sweet Sixteen, but this involved a much less bratty birthday girl.

How did we end up at a quinceañera, you ask?  Well, when Dave was finishing up his time teaching in Reno and we were getting ready to move to Mexico one of his previous students told him that her sister would be having her quinceañera in Mexico City in the next years and she wanted to invite our family.  Dave didn't think much of it at the time.  I hate to burst your bubble, but high school students do not always follow through with the things they tell their teachers, and an invite to a party in another country seemed particularly improbable.  However, a year later a message popped up on facebook officially inviting us to the  quinceañera.  Surprise! 

So we dressed up for the event, took a cab WAY across town and joined the party.

Now, if you have never experienced a  quinceañera  either let me first say that they are not all the same and we only attended the after party.  There is a more traditional church service that takes place before the party.  As the majority of Mexicans are Catholic (at least in name), the whole event is something akin to a confirmation mixed with a coming out party.

Anyway, the party took place at a banquet hall and the room was set up very much like a wedding reception with round tables around a dance floor each with a large floral centerpiece.  As we entered (fashionably late as we have learned is standard in Mexican culture) the birthday girl was in the center of the dance floor surrounded by six young male dancers.  This was her entrance dance and the first of five choreographed dances which were performed throughout the evening.  The male dancers were hired for the for event (I have included a shot of their business card if you are interested:)) and the birthday girl came down from the US a month early to learn each of the dances.  

After the entrance dance there was a brief ceremony with the family where the birthday girl received a tiara.  Unfortunately, my Spanish is still limited so I understood very little of this.  Next came a choreographed father daughter dance which began with the waltz and went through an eclectic dance mix including both the chicken dance and T-Pain's Apple Bottom Jeans.  This was followed by a dance in which each male family member was presented with a rose.  Next came the dances with the hired dance team including a waltz, a Michael Jackson number, and a Shakira number.  The birthday girl and her dancers had a costume change for each dance.  Oh and I can't forget the guy who's job it was solely to periodically shoot off a confetti cannon over the dancers!

This was followed by a three course meal during which a solist dressed in traditional mariachi costume sang and showed a video of himself with various Mexican celebrities (a little self-absorbed for my taste). Throughout the evening professional photographers and videographers documented the event.  I am sure that in years to come the birthday girl is going to wonder about the shots of gringos she never met before.

Unfortunately, we had to leave at this point.  It was already nearing midnight and we had a long drive back and a toddler to pick up from the baby-sitter.  I do know that there was a very large wedding-looking cake to be served and as we exited we passed two clowns on stilts with balloons who were headed into the party.  Also, one of the birthday girl's aunt's stopped me and told me that we should not leave yet because the party was just getting started.  I was a little too pregnant to picture myself dancing the night away though.

Oh well, I think I experienced enough to say I have been to a quinceañera.  Above all it made me glad that I will not have a daughter who grows up in Mexico, because that was one expensive event!  

One year ago today, on my 28th birthday, with our car packed to the brim, we set off for the first leg of our journey to Mexico. One year ago today I was full of excitement and trepidation as we began a new stage of life.

It has been a year of adventure, a year of growing, a year of ups and downs.

Today, on my 29th birthday, I'll go to dinner at a traditional Mexican restaurant in the historic center of Mexico City and then attend my first Quincenera (yeah, it randomly falls on my birthday). Today begins the last year of my 20s. Tomorrow it is one month until our second child is due. Tomorrow we will get the keys to our 5th home in not quite 7 years of marriage.

Maybe one day our lives will slow down. Maybe one day we'll settle into a single location. But this isn't that year. This year the adventure continues.

This past weekend we had the opportunity to attend our friend Marco’s birthday party.  About the time we moved into our apartment complex Marco began a new job as one of the security guards at the front gate of the complex.  Over time we got to know him as we entered and exited the complex and took our dog for walks.  Marco does not speak English and our Spanish is still very limited, but he became especially fond of Eli who always said “hi” and “bye” to him as we went by the gates. 

A couple of months ago the apartment complex switched security companies and all of the guards were replaced (apparently this happens from time to time).  On his last day of work Marco made sure to come and trade contact information with us so that we could keep in touch.  A couple of weeks later we had Marco and his college-aged son, Obed, over for a couple of hours to visit and get to know them better.  Obed is the first in the family to attend college and speaks fairly decent English, so we were able to get to know a little bit more about Marco and his family.  After our visit we continued to keep in touch and Obed called again a couple of weeks ago to invite us to Marco’s birthday party.

Eli with Marco's daughter and several of the children at the party.

We gladly accepted the invitation and this past weekend drove up into the mountains just outside the city to their home for the party.  We entered the plywood gate to their front patio and walked down concrete stairs onto to concrete floor of their kitchen and master bedroom/dining room/living room.  We soon discovered that they had no running water and that the toilet was to be flushed with a bucket of water.  Obed apologized for their poor state, but I couldn’t help but focus on the happy and welcoming nature of this sweet family.    

We met Marco’s wife, their five children and their spouses/significant others, their grandchildren, and basically the entire extended family.  The event included us (the token gringos) and around 50 family members.  They all told us how handsome our guerro (blonde) son is as they petted his head and remarked often about my blue eyes.  We certainly stood out as being different, but were not treated as anything but family.

We were served ceviche and a seafood stew full of whole crabs, shrimp, clams, mussels, and large chunks of fish.  This was not the kind of meal that the average American would consider affordable to feed to such a large crowd, but nonetheless heaping portions were placed in front of us.  They were incredibly generous and made sure to check on us throughout the evening and help take care of Eli.  It was a beautiful sight to see him play among Marco’s grandchildren and great nieces and nephews.

It was a wonderful evening of celebrating with new friends, but also a time to reflect on all that we are blessed with – yes, there are the items that we are able to purchase, but more importantly there is the gift of family.

Dave asked me at one point during the evening “Could we be as happy as them living like this?”

All I could say was “I hope so.”  I hope my happiness is not counted in monetary value.

One year ago today marked the culmination of...

14 months of trying to conceive

41 weeks of pregnancy

and 

20 hours of labor.

One year ago today I finally got to meet this little guy face to face.

All of the waiting was more than worth it!

Happy First Birthday, Eli!

I am amazed at the little guy you have become in just one year and so proud to be your mom.

Happy 30th Birthday to my amazing husband - a man who is always ready for the next adventure!  You keep my life exciting.  


Love you!

I'm 1 month old today!