snapshots of life since returning

writing one handed, so sorry about skipping puntuation...

*the peaceful death of a 96 year old man, and the grief of a large family extending to the 4th generation (about 85% of my church is a part of this family). burials here happen within about 24hrs - the grief is quite raw

*visiting an aquaitence, a 32 yr old man who suffered a severe stroke while we were away and is slowly regaining use of his left side. has a diagnosis of being a walking time bomb. surgery that could help would cost 2-3 yrs gross salary. waiting for a miracle.

*something like 15,000 people in our city have lost their jobs recently. tens of thousands more are at risk of losing theirs and are currently only receiving half pay. (our economy has depended heavily on such factories as GM and Chrysler...)

*job hunting....there just isn´t even anything to try applying for...

*enjoying being together 24/7 after a long distance courtship/engagement and a year with 70-80 hour work weeks

*an almost 5mo old baby girl who delights us with her many smiles and all she is learning

*sun :) 60-70 deg highs :)

*visiting with all the friends and family that missed us while we were away

*finally receiving some clarity, insight and direction on a spiritual issue that has hung over us like a cloud for over a year

*yet another level of freedom in an area of bondage

*attempting to explain Rochester weather to people who think anything under 65 is cold and rarely experience anything under 30

Final moments

Strangely enough, the final moments of our trip.... are a day longer and later than planned. We worked hard to get every last gift and hand-me-down squeezed into the suitcases, made sandwiches to get us thru a long day, got up really early to head for the airport...

and found out that the last leg of our trip doesn't exist today!!

It was the Lord's grace that we found out here and not in Houston - can you imagine if we had made it to Houston, and then they told us? With the baby, and not packed in a way to facilitate such a stop, and without a way to call the family in Saltillo and warn them?!?! It was thanks to the lady who checked us in and my dad that we did find out - the 1st two legs of the trip were a different airline than the last leg, so we had the boarding passes to get started. I was inclined to use our 2.5 hr layover in Houston to worry about the last boarding passes, but the woman behind the counter and my dad both encouraged me that there was time to do it before heading thru security.

So, here we are, one more day. Weird, huh? Good thing we don't have anything pressing awaiting us.

But after a week or so of really not feeling up to leaving and not wanting to leave my family, when it came down to good-byes last night and this morning I was feeling pretty good. The Lord's grace was very apparent in the final moments, and I was ready. (I assume that will be true for the good-byes the 2nd time around too!) :)

We appreciate prayers for the trip home (calm baby, no weather issues despite the forecasted snowstorm), as well as Herme's job search when we get back. Also, we are going to look for a house on the other side of town, closer to my in-laws, church, pastor....and now my closest friend in Saltillo moved to that side of town too.

Time to go

Katya is getting fussy quickly, but I'm gonna go ahead and try to write this post as fast as I can because I may not get another chance.

We leave early Tuesday morning, and I am not too sure how I feel about that.

Last time I came up, I was more than ready to head back to Saltillo. But my husband was waiting for me there. 2 weeks was a long time to be without him. This time, he is here with me. And we have been here long enough to have really settled in, for me to feel 'home' again here. I have no real excitement or urge to get back this time.

I am sure that once I am there, and in our home, back in our own little routine, that I will settle back in and be ok. But I have a feeling that the good-bye is going to be rough. And that getting back in our own little routine will take a little while (it will be much quieter and a bit lonelier not having several family members around at any given time).

Another factor here - last time I knew it wouldn't be too long before I saw everyone again. My dad had already started talking about bringing us up so everyone could meet the baby. This time, I have absolutely no idea when I will be back or see anyone from here again. I remember that feeling of not knowing how long it would be before I saw family a year ago - it easily brought me to tears on occasion. But I was also pregnant at the time, and therefore a bit more emotional than usual. So we'll see how that goes this time.

Ok, baby is fussing more and more - time to go...

Sorry - it's been waaayyyy too long!!

Ok, it has been an embarrassingly long time since I last blogged. Sorry about that. It had to do with online access/time, changes in schedule, hands full of baby.... and eventually just being out of the habit of blogging.

So, let's see. Just to quickly get back up to speed...
(BTW, after talking it over with my husband, I'm gonna start using his real name, Herme, here)
Without getting into all the details, we basically are completely broke and provided for at the same time. Herme left his job at the beginning of December and will be looking for a new one when we get back. We had about 10 days together before leaving Saltillo, which was really nice after all the crazy hours he worked over the last year+. Thanks to those of you who have been concerned about the job situation - sorry I have been so bad at replying! Obviously, we appreciate your prayers for a short search and a good find :)
It took some running around, but we were able to get all the passport related paperwork done in time and have finished passports in hand. (We have to travel with 2 passports for Katya, and a passport and a visa (for opposite countries) for Herme and I. Gets a little confusing!)
Katya did great on the flight up - slept and ate at the perfect times, barely made a peep all day, and even arrived awake and smiling to meet her grandpa and the first few aunts and uncles. I could really feel the prayers, between how great she did and how smoothly and quickly the day went despite a delay on our first flight causing us to arrive several hours later than planned. We discovered that I can go through American customs and immigration with Herme on the visitor side, which is nice because then we can go together and help each other juggle carry-ons and baby(s).

Our visit has been really nice, of course! :) I was grateful to see E&J and kids while they were in town visiting, as well and R&J and their new baby. We've seen both of my grandparents and almost all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. For five days in between Christmas and New Years, we had all of my siblings and their spouses and kids in my parents house - all 18 of us! It was really nice to get everyone together, the first time since my wedding. We're working on visiting assorted friends - many wanted to wait till the holidays were over. We stopped in today at my school to say hi to old coworkers. It was funny to see the looks the kids gave me - 1.5-2 years is a long time in the life of a kid to remember a teacher/principal.

Oh, and we have been very blessed by assorted gifts of money and clothes (mostly for the baby), as well as some favorite children's books and a couple of stuffed animals. :)

______________________

On a completely different note, I felt called to do something a while back and have wanted to share it here. I wrote a thank you note to President Bush for all his hard work over the past 8 years. Having been in leadership positions, I know how hard it can be.... although you try to do your best, it isn't always understood or appreciated. Many have written Bush off the last few months, many are pointing fingers and blaming him for a variety of problems. But I felt it important to acknowledge all he has done and invested these past 8 years. If you would like to encourage or thank him as well:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
or
comments@whitehouse.gov
or
Check this link for other contact related info.

-------------------

A few baby updates before I sign off...
She weighs about 15 pounds these days, and is about 3 1/2 months old already. We are beginning to feel like we have a decent routine coming together, although the travel and lots of people keep us from quite nailing it down. The last couple of weeks she has really 'come to life' - everyone always talks about the difference after hitting 3 months. It seemed all of a sudden that toys that barely caught her attention a short time ago, she now tries to grab at and can entertain herself for some time. She started rolling over 2 or 3 days ago (stomach to back), and not only smiles alot these days, but laughs alot too! She is really a very happy and easy to care for little girl, and everyone has been telling us how beautiful she is (so it's not just her proud parents that think so)! Oh, and she got her ears pierced just before we came up.

Well, I'll try not to wait around so long before the next post ;)

A Quickie

I haven{t been online much lately, and have apparently poorly chosen the times I´ve been on (hard to predict a 2mo old sometimes), so I feel way behind on blogging...and currently have only a few minutes and only one hand.

But I wanted to let everyone know that all 3 of us will be in Rochester 6 weeks, 12/17-1/27. Should be able to many of those I missed last trip up. :)
(Out of towners making any Rochester trips in that time frame???)

Ok, baby is done so so am I.

Pictures!

The green outfit was for her passport pictures.
The one with me is at the US Embassy, just after being officially registered as a US citizen!

The others were just too cute not to share. The one in the brown dress is from just a day or 2 ago.

About a week ago she started smiling and cooing when she sees me )

Quick bullet points

- The baby and I both had check-ups today. I weigh 11 pounds less than my first prenantal appointment :) and she has gained about 3 pounds in her 1st month of life (she`s at 10 pounds already!). We are both healthy and good in all other aspects.

-Please pray for us in the coming days as my husband was informed near the beginning of the month that if his numbers didn`t go up this month he would be let go. We haven`t heard anythng else since (like how his numbers are, etc), but have no indication that things are any better.

-One week from today we head to the nearest embassy to register the baby as a US citizen. (Please pray we don`t get lost, no complications, etc.)

-A week ago I sent in my presidential vote! (Here`s hoping the unreliable Mexican postal system gets it to the States in time!) A good friend just got cable, which includes CNN (in English) - I`ll be at her house on election night checking in :)

I am still here...

...just need to figure out how to hold a baby and type at the same time :) One handed is realllyyy slooooowww!
I finally bought material to use like a Moby Wrap, so maybe that will help.

I wanted to post a few pictures, then realized I am on that ancient computer sans USB port again. But she is 4 weeks old today and already so much bigger! That could possibly be connected to the never ending nursing we seem to be doing, even right this minute :) She loves to hold her head up (she started when she was only a few days old, and now can hold it up pretty steadily for extended periods already), recognizes me on sight, and is tracking us with her eyes. Everyone always comments on how alert she is. I have a tendency to hold her a lot (I don´t always, but a lot)... but I waited a long time for this sweet little girl and figure in 1 or 5 or 10 years I probably won´t look back and wish I did more housework and held her less.

I feel a little like it was forever ago now, but I still would like to share some about the birth and hospital and what not from my perspective.

I had gone to the Drs Tuesday am, and was 0 cm dilated. He was talking induction if I didn´t go into labor within a week. I started soon after having contractions of varying strengths and intervals. With 0 cm on the brain and hoping to go naturally, I made a point of walking little laps the rest of the day. We made sure everything was ready to go to the hospital that afternoon. Wednesday I again had inconsistent contractions. Weather was yucky, so I walked in the house and up and down the stairs. I´d had other days with contractions lasting a few hours and then disappearing, so I wasn´t reading too much into things. They were only rarely of an intensity to make me actually uncomfortable.

We got to bed around midnight Wednesday. At 1am I got up and headed for the bathroom. I mean, thats what I´d been doing every other time I woke up for the last nine months. It took me a minute or 2 to realize I hadn´t woken because I needed to pee, but because of a contraction. They started out every 7-8 minutes. They shortly were coming every 6, and I asked my husband to start timing how long they were...65-75secs. By 2:30, they were every 5min, and we called the Dr. He, thinking 1st labor, told us to hang tight and call back when we saw blood. By 3:30 they were every 3 min and lasting more like 90 secs. I convinced my husband that the Dr wasn´t expecting things to move so fast and to call even though there was no sign of blood. The Dr wisely :) agreed to meet us at the hospital. We arrived around 4am.

I had gotten the distinct impression that epidurals weren´t done here, and didn´t think I wanted one anyways. But when the Dr started talking induction, he mentioned the possibility of an epidural. And I got to tell you that around 3am, I started changing my mind about having one. I know it was great that my labor moved along so fast, but it was intense! I was going from nothing (remember 0cm?) to pushing in a few short hours. When the Dr came in to examine me, I felt better hearing him say something about what strong and fast contractions I was having (so it wasn´t just in my head). They never actually asked me, they just went ahead and worked on getting me that epidural. I think it happened around 5ish or just before, and it was a wonderful feeling :)

I was just thinking maybe I felt the urge to push when they realized I wasn´t feeling much and should cue me in. I started pushing at 5:15, and my baby girl was born at 5:30.

My husband was at my side every step of the way, and was a wonderful support. I don´t totally understand how his presence made such a difference, but it did make things so much better when he was with me for a contraction. I don´t know how I would have made it thru the entry procedures, during the strongest/longest contractions, without him there. And it was obviously absolutely wonderful to share the moment of our daughter´s birth with him. He still talks about it. A million thank yous to the person who made it possible for him to be with me.

Some of the words that describe our hospital experience...
beautiful
quiet
friendly
good service
good food
comfortable

Everyone who came to visit us was impressed. And I got a few comments about how much better this type of experience was than being in a room with 15-20 other woman giving birth (can you imagine??!! and without a husband at your side!?!)

Oops, out of time. Writing one handed takes ages :)

Hope to be back on soon!

What up Gs

Here's some more pictures.

Pictures

We just couldn`t wait to share - I`m here in the cyber for about 5 minutes :) Enjoy!

Oh, and offical measurements are 3Kilos 270grams and 51 cm. I`ll let you all do the conversions.