A Whole New Experience: Toddler Puke

Oh my goodness, so I thought I knew all about baby puke. I do. But toddler puke?! !! My sweet 13 month old has not been feeling well for the past three days now. She has a fever, sleeps a lot, whines and cries a lot, snuggles a lot (yay!) and is basically a depressed version of herself. Not fun when all is said and done. On to my story ... I was on the phone with a nurse at our small local hospital asking her a few questions trying to decide if we should take her to the emergency room. While I was on the phone, Kailyn puked more than I even thought possible. My poor husband was covered. And while I can handle baby puke, this was a new experience. Everything she had eaten in the past two days came up including A LOT of curdled milk. Yuck. Josh actually just stepped into the shower clothes on and Kailyn joined him! Needless to say our apartment now has a faint whiff of puke every now and again -- this heat isn't helping matters any! We took her to emerg (we walked to the hospital -- that's how close we are) and had a doctor from our church take a look at her. Apparently everything is fine. A "viral infection" with the instructions to give her Tylenol and keep her cool. We are doing our best but I must admit, I am ready for her to be her stinker self again. In the future I am going to very careful about what I feed my child if she is not feeling well -- something I can handle a second time. I know, gross.

~ April

Camping in the Rain, Splish Splash

I love camping -- even in the rain -- but only for so long. While we had a great time camping these past five days, we called it quits two days early. And not a minute too soon. The rain started coming down as we were driving out of the campground and hasn't stopped yet. We had a wonderful time though. We hiked, biked, rafted, beached, read, ate, napped, sat ... all reasons to simply adore camping. And the best part is that Kailyn loved it. She got to throw her food on the ground, play in the dirt, sleep between mommy and daddy almost every night, play in the water, see tons of wildlife and have our attention on her 24/7. Ideal vacation for a toddler. So, all in all, we had a great time. The weather could've been better but we got to be together with no interruptions for a few days.

~ April

The Heat is On

I love heat (outside, AC inside :). I love sunshine. I love the beach. I love long weekends. I love when my hubby is done his school work. I love a happy baby. Life is good when all of these coincide as in this afternoon and tomorrow. What a lucky girl I am. I think we might actually hit the beach tomorrow armed with sunscreen, snacks, bathing suits, hats, lawnchairs ... oh my, maybe the kitchen sink too! Although it will take a bit of packing to get ready for a day at the beach I know it will totally be worth it. No more sitting inside enjoying the AC, outside to the sun and heat and glory of the beach. Enjoy your weekend :)

~ April

Sugar Mama

As of this past Saturday, I am the proud wife of a Master of Theology (Th.M.) graduate. Not only does my hubby have a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.), he now also has a Th.M. to add to his list of accomplishments (and the letters behind his name!). Even though our deal was one Masters level degree for him and then one for me when we began this journey, I am wowed by his academic ability and his determination and perseverance to earn both of these degrees.

Throughout these years I have been a self-proclaimed "sugar mama". What does this mean to me? A few things ...

1. Trust. I trust my husband. This seems easy to say but truthfully, to give up my job, my home, my church and the close proximity to family and good friends to embark on pursuing his career was a huge step of trust. Of course, I also trusted the fact that he felt God's call on his life (and mine by association!) loud and clear. This detail is important because I was pretty sure he was simply making stuff up.

2. I work my rear end off trying to make ends meet

3. I ask myself the following questions on a pretty regular basis:
i. What am I good at?
ii. What do I like to do?
iii. How can I use both of the above answers to earn money?
Surprisingly, there are a number of things that fit all three questions! Who knew?

4. And finally, which almost goes without say, I have learned to trust God even more. Somehow, some way, all the bills have been paid, we have adopted a daughter, my husband has achieved two degrees, and we are still eating everyday and even enjoying the wonder of air conditioning as I write!

So, yes, I am a sugar mama. A proud one too. I hope these days come to an end sooner than later but in the meantime, I am enjoying exploring my gifts and abilities.

Good thing my hubby has a sweet tooth :)

~ April

Love at First Sight

A year ago today I laid my eyes on my daughter for the first time. After a very short night of sleep and what felt like a lot of waiting we finally were on our way. We arrived at the hospital with a lot of emotions mixing around. We didn't know what to expect but oh my goodness, when my eyes saw the wee bundle in the hospital crib, my heart skipped a beat. There she was. My baby. My daughter. The epitome of love at first sight.

Her birthmom was a joy to meet but not without some awkwardness and tentativeness on both our parts. I can't imagine her journey up to this point and even at that moment when she met the people she had chosen to be the parents of her child based on a few pages of writing and pictures. What did she think of us? Were we what she expected? We still don't know but what we do know is that she has permanently entrusted her child to us. She has allowed us to be Kailyn's mommy and daddy. Wow.

This day will always be special to me. I suspect that every year I will get slightly teary eyed thinking about how incredibly happy I felt that day. We got to call dozens of friends and family and share our amazing news. We finally got to be the ones who got to announce our joyful arrival. We were finally the ones who got to show off our baby. It had taken years but at that moment all the waiting was totally worth it. I never thought I would say that.

Birthday x2

Today my husband and I celebrate our daughter's first birthday. A whole year, twelve months, 365 days (ish) ... subtract one. Yup, you read it right. We didn't even know our daughter was born at this exact time a year ago. I was actually on bedrest, being a bit of a cranky patient, waiting for the time to pass so I could resume my normal activities ... more on that later. Needless to say, we did find out, we met her (insert goose bumps here), took her home (28 hours after finding out about her) and became her mommy and daddy. Wow. That was quite a ride that has only slowed slightly since those early hours of motherhood.

So, Happy Birthday my sweet daughter, my firstborn, the one who made me a mom. I guess in a sense it is my birthday too: my birth as a mom, a mama, a mommy, Kailyn's world. Could there be a sweeter or more rewarding title? I don't think so.

If you are a mom, celebrate. If you want to be a mom, celebrate.

~ April