Randomness

Well, I have been a complete slacker about posting anything on this blog.:( I promise to put some recent pics up soon, but thought that any entry is better than none.
Kai is 6 weeks old today! Time flies!! Not only does he look just like his Daddy, but he also seems to have his laid back personality! Yay! He has been doing a lot of "talking" and smiling these days, which I love! He is my first bottle baby, as Eliana would NEVER take one. I had a very difficult time nursing him, so after a lot of tears and discussion, we have gone to formula. I didn't think that I would ever do that. I didn't exactly like nursing with Eliana, but I was able to do it... so this was a very hard road for me. I think that I am mostly over that guilt, dissapointment hump now, and Kai is thriving and growing and eating like a champ so that is good. Phew! It was a hard road there for a while though.:( When I look at my baby boys face, I am just continually in awe of our God and how specifically He answered my prayers for a baby boy! He looks exactly like what I asked God for! How he pulls the Asian side even more than Jon, can only be God!:)
Eliana is doing pretty well. She adores her baby brother and loves to hug him and kiss him and help me with him. She gets real shy and quiet(and sometimes ornery) when others are admiring her baby brother and not her. Other than that she is mostly her normal happy self. The thing that she is really into these days is playing "school." She will sit at her little table and do her "homework" and then plan all these other activities that children do at school.
Many of you know that Jon is taking seminary classes online from Liberty University. We are still praying about it, but he may go back into the Navy as a chaplain. A few weeks ago at church he was given the opportunity to preach on a Sunday night. He did such a great job and I was so proud of him... don't know who was more nervous about the whole thing, me or him.:) It will be so interesting to see where God leads us!! Oh yeah, the really neat thing was that his Mom was here at that time and so she got to hear him preach. I know that meant the world to her.
I am going to brag on my Hubby one more time... this afternoon I am headed out of town to go and hear Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, and Priscilla Shirer at a Deeper Still conference with ladies from my church. I absolutely LOVE Beth Moore, so I am just beside myself with excitement to hear her live! Originally the plan was for me to take Kai with me, but now that he is taking a bottle that wasn't as imperative, but I was still going to take him. Then my wonderful husband said he would keep both kids because he knew I wouldn't fully be able to enjoy the conference if I had to watch over Kai. So he is coming home early from work and going to keep both kids until dinner time tomorrow night when I will be home! What a gift he is giving me!! I get a full nights sleep tonight!!:) More than that, I get to sit under some amazing godly women and soak up their teaching without distraction! I am like a hungry sponge and cannot wait to be fed!! Thanks My Love!! You are my Hero!!
Well, that's all for now. I WILL post pictures soon!:)

Chinese lesson

Grandpa is teaching Eliana how to write Chinese characters. It was cute to watch her and to see her so deep in concentration as she tried to copy Grandpa.

Eliana's late night exercise session

There are times when Eliana gets to sleep on the floor in our room. Usually it is when it is storming outside, as she is fearful of thunder, or in this case, it was July 4th evening and there were fireworks going off outside. So we put her down and went to relax and watch a movie. When we went back in our room to go to bed ourselves, this is how we found her! She must have been planning do some exercise with the ab ball or something.:)

Some recent pictures...

Well, it has taken me a while to post these, but here are some recent pics of Kai and Eliana. We are all doing well and adjusting into our role as a family of 4. My Mom and step-Dad were here to help out right at Kai's birth and then we had 3 days on our own with no help. Now Jon's parents are here and we are enjoying their help as well. Kai is doing very well, and seems to have his Daddy's easy going personality. Eliana is loving her role as "Big Sister" and loves to hug, kiss, and hold her baby brother. She is a very big help! Enjoy the pics, and I will try and not take so long the next time to post some more.:)

He's here!!!

Our baby boy arrived at 9:15 am and weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 inches long. We still cannot get over the size of him, especially considering #1- the size of his parents, and #2- the fact that he was born 3 weeks before Eliana was and still outweighed her!! Crazy!! Unfortunately because of the c/s, he has had some trouble with fluid on his lungs and is still being monitored in the nursery. Jon got to hold him for a bit in the OR and I got to see him some, but still haven't held him. We are hoping/praying we will get him soon! We will post some better pictures later, when we actually have him with us, but for now, these are just a few from the OR. Thanks so much for your prayers!! I am feeling really well... just anxious to hold my baby boy!:)

Here's the scoop...

As of today my c/s is schedule for 8:30 tomorrow morning. I guess that is if I don't get bumped by any ladies that are already in labor and may need a c/s. So we will be heading to the hospital a little after 6 tomorrow morning and then just counting down the time until we first lay eyes on our little Matthew Kai. We would definitely appreciate your prayers for baby, Mommy, Dr., etc... It is a little more scary this time knowing what to expect from a c/s. We will try to post pics and the news as soon as we can.

The finished rooms!!

Hooray!! The rooms are done and the decorations hung, with the exception of Kai's surfboard, which will arrive with Grandma and Grandpa Ohio on Wednesday of this next week. I am so thrilled with how Eliana's room turned out, after all that worrying.:) Her favorite part is her reading corner by far! I think it would be mine too.:) As you can see from the pictures, Maka also enjoys the reading canopy. I was also thrilled with how the name signs turned out for each child. They were so much fun to do!! A week from tonight we will be making final preparations to head to the hospital in the morning to finally meet Matthew Kai! Very exciting times!!