Meet Noah!!!

Here are pictures of Noah!!! Hope you enjoy him!! He's super sweet! He was born November 30, 2007 in Rivne, Ukraine. He was 4.18kg (about 9.2 lbs) and 55 cm (about 21 in) long. He has tons of blonde hair, and I know I already said this, but he's just so sweet!

Lindsay in the hospital. The whole process from very beginning until he was out took only 8 hours!!! She only had 2 and a half hours of hard labor with 45 minutes of pushing. :)

This is Noah about an hour after he was born. The midwife, Valya is checking him all over! Valya was really sweet. I can still hear her voice in my head saying, "Good job, good job, good job." (Except in Ukrainian. :)

Here he is up close!!!

This is the view that I had of him the next day. I couldn't sit up, because of stitches, and I couldn't stand because I was woozy, so I just laid and watched him through the little bars in his crib. It was our first bonding time.

Here's Noah and Daddy. They are a great pair!

Here we are getting ready to leave the hospital after being there for 5 days. It was a hard time, not being able to always understand, but God really blessed it as well. The nurses were very nice, and I feel like I learned a lot while I was there!

Noah and Nikita for the first time together!

Nikita really likes to just sit and watch the baby. He's definitely a wonderful big brother!

Noah with great-grandma Valya.

Noah with Nana Sickels. Nana has been a huge help since she's been here! She got here the day after we went home.

The men of the fam.: Nikita, Noah, Grandpa Anatoliy and Andre

Sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed.

In his little chair! That thing is so great!!

Again sleeping! He's a good kid!

Here he is awake! I know, exciting stuff!

We think that he kind of looks like a turtle sometimes. When he's hungry he extends his neck super far. He's the cutest turtle in the world!!!

Here we are getting ready to venture out for the first time. We were only outside for about 5-10 minutes, but he fell asleep right away. The fresh air did him good!

So, that's it for now. I hope that you all are enjoying your December. Ours is flying by, I must say! But we are enjoying our new addition! We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and may God bless you with an understanding of His amazing grace!!!

Christmas Tree O Christmas Tree

Here are some lovely pictures of us putting up our Christmas tree. We did this a few days before Noah was born!!!

Here's Andre and I concentrating really hard. Nikita is manning the camera!

Here it is all big! Nikita and I then put all the decorations on!

Here's the after picture! You can't really see the lights, but we have them!!!

Still Waiting :)

39 weeks
(Like the clown-esk pants :)

Once again, still pregnant. :) I'm much more ok with that fact this week than I was last week. I got so scared when they told me that it was soon, that it was really frustrating when it didn't happen as soon as they thought. I went in for another appointment, and they once again said everything is ready. I'm feeling good and getting around really well. We're ready and waiting for the little one, and whenever God wishes to give him/her to us, we will be so excited!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Not Yet!

We just wanted everyone to know that I'm still pregnant. We are pretty much all ready now, though, which is a great thing. Last week, when they said it would for sure be that week, we were not ready at all. We had a few very frantic days of getting ready, but now we're ready for whenever the great moment will happen. I can safely say that with each day I'm more and more ready and more and more excited to actually become a mom of a baby. It's going to be great. I'm sure of it! Maybe this week and a half of "preparing" has been about more than just preparing the stuff that the baby will use, but preparing my heart to truly desire to meet this little one that's been living in me for 9 months. Not that I didn't want to meet it before, but I didn't desire it like I do now. I'm actually looking forward to taking care of the baby now, and I feel like it's going to be a huge blessing to our family and to me personally. I know that it's going to be hard, but it's ok. Most wonderful things in life are hard. :)

If you have a chance or desire to pray, you can ask God to bring this baby as soon as possible. I must admit that as I become more and more prepared, waiting is getting harder and harder. :)

Snow

So, I woke up this morning to find a beautiful blanket of snow outside (2-3 inches). In fact, it's still kind of snowing. It's one of those times when you're glad to look at it, but you just hope that you don't have to be out in it for too long. :)
Andre and I have been very busy the past couple of days, running as many errands as we could get done and preparing in anyway we saw for the baby. Andre bought snow tires for the car and is having them put on today, just in time. I put sheets on the baby's bed and packed my bag for the hospital. We cleaned the apartment and did laundry. It was just a few days of focused preparation. I must say that I feel more ready to go into labor now than before.
I still don't really know quite how I feel about the whole thing, but I can picture the baby here now, more than I could before. I don't really know if it will come this week, but if it doesn't, at least we were shocked into action to prepare for it.
I was reminded today about an update that I'd written a while ago, about a storm and how I felt like before we got Nikita I could see the storm coming, but I had no idea how violent it was going to be. Well, now, after that storm seems to have subsided, I can safely say that I'm glad we went through it. Someone asked me if I was "just loving being a mom." My response is this. I do not love the responsibility of it all. That's kind of intense sometimes. But, I love Nikita, and he makes it all worth it. A few nights ago, we had a talk, after some misbehaving. Andre and I both reassured Nikita that this is it. That we are his daddy and mommy, and he's going to live with us forever. It was interesting to see the difference in his attitude after that. He's been trying so hard to listen, to be a good boy, etc. You can see the peace and comfort on his face and in his actions. It's like the little things aren't as important, because he can see a bigger picture. Now, I know he's only 5, so maybe he can't articulate all of these things, but I still believe that he feels them very deeply.
All that to say, it reminds me of being adopted by God. Now that I have that bigger picture, that greater security, he can take away things or allow hardships and trials to come, but I can endure much easier and with peace, because I can see that there's something much greater than what's happening this present moment. I am so thankful that I am a child of God!

Nikita as a Tomato!!! (pictures, video to come)

Here are some pictures of Nikita's Tomato debut!!!

Dad had to help put the costume on as mom had no idea and also can't bend over as easily anymore! :)

With mom before the big performance!

They had traditional Ukrainian costumes for all the kids to wear! (The tomato hat is not a part of the traditional costume. :)

Here is his class. There are twice as many boys as girls!

WHAT!!! THE BABY COULD COME NOW???

Ok, so here's an update on us. Nikita was a tomato yesterday in the pre-school play. It was one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen. He was so funny and said his lines loudly without mistakes. We were so proud of him. We will add video ASAP.

We received some interesting news yesterday. We went to the doctor for a normal weekly check-up, and after touching my stomach she said that I was very far along and should expect the baby within a week. (WHAT???) Then she did a...let's say more uncomfortable exam and said that she was sure that this week was the week. (WHAT???) Ok, so I know that most women want their babies early. They want to be done with being pregnant, and they want to meet their little one. Well, those things are true about me. I would love to walk without an occasional leg or rear cramp, to sleep on my stomach if I want, and to fit into my winter coat. :) And, I do want to meet our baby. However, over the past week or so, I've thought to myself, I really like sleeping through the night, and I feel like I've got this pregnancy thing down. Basically, I thought, it might not be so bad to go a little late. I mean, the baby is going to be gigantic no matter what. (Besides 2 people, all the babies on both sides were over 8 lbs. and my dad was 11lbs 10oz!!!) So, I guess, maybe God doesn't want me to be on tv with a 15 lb baby and is going to have me go early, but I was getting used to the idea of another 3 -5 weeks of sleeping and relaxing.

Well, maybe the doctor's wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. But, to be honest, I have been feeling contractions and other signs that it might be soon. We'll just have to see. We'll keep you all updated as things happen.

37 Weeks

36 Weeks

I'm coming into the home stretch! Theoretically, the baby could come anywhere from 1-6 weeks from now and be considered in "normal" range. However, I'm betting more toward the 3-4 weeks than 1 or 6. At least, I hope! :)

Boxes!!!

Nikita opening our boxes!

Today, we were so blessed to receive 2 boxes from America!!! They were pretty much full of baby clothes and other baby essentials, however there were a few other goodies in the mix. It's getting closer and closer to baby time. I must say that I'm pretty much over the part where I'm scared to give birth, which is good. I had some good talks with mom, Nicole and friends. However, I must say that I'm not exactly ready to give up all that sleep! :) I know that once the little bundle is in my arms, I won't be thinking about sleep; I won't have time to think about sleep! It's going to be great and difficult all at the same time, I'm sure.

Along with the boxes, we got our Christmas decorations. I don't know about you guys, but I love Christmas music! I bought some of my favorites off the internet including: Kathie Lea Gifford, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers!!! I know, totally lame, but it's tradition. What can I say? Andre didn't know what to think at first, but then we played Dolly and Kenny all day, and he liked them! I think that's called brain washing, but whatever! :) I can't wait to get our Christmas tree! Since the baby is coming at the beginning of December or end of November, we are going to put it up early! I love this time of year!

Our Little Helper

Here is Nikita helping with the dishes!
He was so focused, he didn't even realize he was being taped for a long time!
If you can believe it, he actually asked to do it!
Imagine that!!!

Belly Pics

I thought you might like to see the belly progression. Here are the five belly pics that I've taken throughout pregnancy. Right now, I'm 34 and a half weeks a long. I'm feeling big but good. The baby is BIG already, about 7 lbs according to the doctor with about 5 weeks more to go. What did we expect? All the babies in our family are GIANT! :)

21 weeks

23 weeks

25 weeks


27 weeks

33 weeks

Venturing Out

So, we're venturing out and starting a new blog complete with pictures and events from the family. We will not be sending out emails notifying people when we've updated, so you'll just have to mark us as a favorite and check every now and then! Hope you enjoy reading about our family life here in Ukraine! There's usually never a dull moment! :)