Officially On Our Own

Well my mom left Sunday after being here for two whole weeks. I cried. It was also my birthday and the day that we had a T-stan fundraiser evening at church. Troy & Jenny are leaving the 30th of this month! I felt sad, hormonal, and exhausted all day - especially at the thought of having Troy & Jenny and Myles gone in two weeks. It's funny because we will be joining them in September - long before anyone else from the states gets to see them - but we've become so accustomed to living life with them and can honestly say that they are like family (the wonderful kind of family) to us. Two - three months seems like forever to be without them. In light of that and my mom leaving (who, once again, couldn't have been more loving and helpful to us while she was here) I have to say - I was feeling depressed about how this summer would go. By the way, thanks to all the ladies who have been so understanding and supportive and who have given me permission to let the tears fly :) 

I'm happy to report that we've survived the first 48 hrs "on our own." All of you with multiple children (Cooks, Wilburs, Andersons and Dodges - wow) are inspiring. It's actually not been too bad, either. It may help that Hannah's been sick since yesterday evening - one of the only things that slows her down - so I can actually keep up with her. I'm increasingly aware that if I thought parenting one child was a full-time job, two somehow makes it more full-time and there probably isn't a word to describe the 3+ children work of parenting.  I say "job" and "work" because I've been feeling convicted to think of it as my main vocation and purpose at this time of life. The weight of that responsibility is startling all over again. But God's help is even more impressive to me at this time too. I was convicted yesterday to let go of the hour of whiny, confusing, can't-be-pleased behavior from Hannah to appreciate the following five minutes of sweetness. It's too easy to let a bad spot in the day negate the good spots and I don't want those hard times to be what determines how I perceive my child(ren). The reality is - I'm very blessed. I have had no trouble getting pregnant, had completely low-risk pregnancies and great birth experiences, have two healthy, sweet kids and a husband who is a great partner (not just a helper). So for today, I'm trying to take one moment at a time. I know in the whole scheme of things, these are such precious, fleeting days. 

Our First Days Home

We are so blessed with the kids we were given! Hannah was born a pure extrovert and still is fun, funny and ver relational. What she challenges us in will is balanced by her sweetness, resourcefulness and laughs - though in the midst of a tantrum or particularly obstinate behavior, I have to remember all those wonderful things :) Emmett is a very sweet baby. Only cries if he's hungry, gassy or needs a diaper change. At times he'll even lay in his Pack 'n Play looking around, perfectly content. He's a good nurser too, much to my relief.
My mom has been here taking care of all of us - what a gift! She'll be here through the 14th and I'm sure I'll cry when she leaves. She's been cooking great food, doing laundry, dishes, chasing Hannah around and always has fresh coffee brewed when I get up in the morning. Hannah loves her baby brother, but has been a handful to us. I'm just trying to take one day at a time, asking God for wisdom and sensitivity in picking my battles and helping her adjust. My mom assures me this is just "transitioning" behavior and that we really will eventually get in the swing of things. Now she didn't say if that was while Hannah's still a toddler or if that's not until she's 18 :) I appreciate all the words of wisdom and advice you mothers of more than one child have offered. I'm sure I'll continue to need it.
Well, Hannah's taking a nap and Emmett's about to, so that means I should too. 

Yay! Emmett is here!

So happy to welcome Emmett Kristofer to the "outside world." Born May 30th at 9:10pm. After 2-3 days of mild contractions that would start and stop we were wondering when this guy would make his debut. Had the first serious contraction at 6pm yesterday evening, got to the hospital at 7:30pm and Emmett was born at 9:10pm. 
Sound like a breeze? Hardly! Rees can attest to my dramatic personality change, but you'll have to ask him about it :) He was the picture of a calm, supportive labor partner. He and the midwife, Helen, deserve a lot of credit for helping me through. 
Hannah seems to be adjusting pretty well. Seemed a bit shy at first, but soon wanted to look at her baby brother, touch his hair and even gave him an unprompted kiss. When grandma walked in, she pointed to Emmett and said, "look what I have!" As for the stats: 7lb, 5oz and 20.75" long. I can't believe the head of thick, brown hair this kid has! As all you parents of more than one kid have said, your heart just miraculously expands and you suddenly have more love to go around. We are really enjoying this little guy. Remind us of that when we start looking haggard :)

Still waiting for Emmett

What a novelty - a three day weekend where we get to hang out as a family all three days! Hannah and I are still making cookies. I thought I'd make cookies in the early part of labor - to distract myself, right? Finally I decided it would be more fun to just make cookies with Hannah and eat them. She and daddy have been snuggling a lot in the morning watching Veggie Tales together. I really can't complain because I 

feel much more energetic at this point than I did with Hannah. I also haven't gained as much weight and it seems to be pretty well localized to my belly this time - I guess we'll see if that's truly the case once the baby's out :) The midwife felt optimistic that he wouldn't tarry too far into this week, but we'll see...

I've been walking at least 30min every day and even ate spicy Thai food last night (which got me up in the middle of the night w/ gut issues, not labor). So, while Hannah is still an only child, we'll keep going to the park and playing in the sandbox everyday and hope to report news of this little guy's arrival soon.

By the way, we are currently leaning toward Emmett. Just because the double t seems to be the more traditional way of spelling it and it kind of looks cool w/ the double t in our last name: Emmett Bettinger :)

Hannah's sandbox

Rees built Hannah a sandbox for her second birthday and she loves it. Even though we won't be living here a whole lot longer, we'll make the most of it while we're here. It's right under a big pine tree in the back yard - so plenty of shade during the hot part of the day. As an oncology nurse, I'm pretty cautious (some may say paranoid) of protecting her skin especially during the peak hours of UV exposure so I'm really happy to have some shade :) Hannah loves to have daddy bury her and then get sprayed off by the hose when she's all done. I'm so thankful that she loves dirt, rocks, sand and sticks. It doesn't matter where in the world we are - these are "toys" she will have wherever we go. Building this was a brilliant daddy move. Rees even got a "good job, daddy!" from Hannah for this one. I think baby brother is even planning on giving her some new sandbox toys when he arrives. Isn't he thoughtful?

What we like to do these days

 Fortunately Hannah loves being in the garden with  me and making cookies. We make a mess of both,  but we have a good time.  

FINALLY!

After a lot of talk and no action, I finally started this blog. It helped that Rees got us a new lap top (Yay for MacBook!) so I can actually have a little more predictable access to the internet (thank you Rees!). I can't promise this will always be interesting (or ever be interesting :) but we plan on posting about our soon-to-be new addition to the family and our progress toward leaving for Central Asia in September. By the way, we are naming this little boy bundle Emmet but haven't totally decided on how to spell it. I'm leaning toward the above, but Rees kind of prefers Emet and there's always Emmett or Emmitt and on and on. I just don't want him to be called E-met and with the two t's in our last name, it seems that double m and double t in the first name is kind of consonant crazy. I've been informally polling people and welcome any further thoughts about that. For now, I'll refer to him as Emmet. 

Emmet is due on the 24th (ish) and we are so excited to meet him. Also so excited for my mom to come stay with us for two weeks after he's born. She took such great care of us after Hannah was born and I'm almost just as excited to have her come as I am to have this baby. Hannah is a delight. She's two now and is kind of a wild, free spirit - in a good way, of course. She's very articulate and we are fortunate that she is such a good communicator. She did tell me last week, "I want to hurt baby brother" and after I tried to clarified if she truly meant that she seemed to think better of it and hugged my belly saying, "big hug for baby brother." Needless to say, I'm going to need to keep a close eye on her with him :) She's otherwise been kissing, patting, hugging and tickling my belly ("baby brother"). I think she'll be a fantastic big sister. I'll try to post some pics of her and try to stay on top of this whole blogging thing.