Chicken Pox...Ahh!

Well, the past 2-3 weeks have been disease-filled weeks for us. :)  Three weeks ago Jakub had a bad chest cold with a cough that just kept getting worse and worse.  He had to stay home from school, but was still feeling well otherwise and full of energy.  The weather was still snowy and very cold so it was difficult for him to stay inside all day, every day.  Then the doctor finally started him on some antibiotics when she felt his chest was compromised and possibly starting a little pneumonia.  After one day on them he was so much better... and then on day two he began to have chicken pox.  I wasn't even sure that's what it was at first since in the U.S. we don't have much experience seeing them anymore in children.  I thought maybe he had a bug bite under his arm... and maybe that bug somehow got him on his spine a couple of times a few hours later...but then there was no way that bug was eating away everywhere without my finding it. :)  Of course after a few hours that Saturday it was clear what was going on.  Josh happened to be out of town that entire day and evening and for a moment I felt panicked since Sofia had been getting lots of brother's kisses before I knew what was going on.  Thankfully, Jakub handled them like a dream and Sofia has yet to receive them.  We've said lots of prayers that she won't since she's still a little young for them and at greater risk for high fevers. Jakub never had fever with his.  He didn't even scratch at them the first two days and I thought we were going to get by with a light case.  Nope.  His worst moment was the night of day 3.  He woke up and couldn't stop scratching and crying.  The next morning I got some cream from the pharmacy and he was fine after that with little scratching.  All that to say, that's all we've been doing the past few weeks- taking care of these two kids and Jakub constantly being ill with something.  It's been so hard for him not to love all over his sister in the mean time.

Thankfully, our weather is now beautiful and sunny EVERY day.  Praise God!  Yesterday and today it's been 70-80F.  Wow!  It's like summer already.  Jakub is well now and back at school, Sofia has remained healthy, and I've been cleaning and airing this house out like crazy.  Prayerfully the long winter of snow and illness is behind us and we can have better and calmer days now.

A couple of new or fun things he's doing right now:

- Learning to write his name.  He can write every letter, but doesn't put them in the correct order yet.
- Recognizes all letters and can sound a few out in words when reading.
- Singing many songs now by heart- the best ones are the praises to God.  It melts my heart.  His favorites are: I love you with the love of the Lord, Tento je den (this is the day that the Lord has made), Jesus loves me, Jesus loves the little children, and Blue skies and rainbows.
- He LOVES to be outside in this beautiful weather and playing soccer is his favorite thing to do.  When I picked him up yesterday from school he was outside playing with older boys at school and their male teacher.  His teacher said he didn't want to play on the slide and swings with his own class. He asked to be with the "big boys" and play soccer.  :)
- He's imagining a lot and telling lots of stories or making up games to play with his cars.  Playing with his cars and trains is still his favorite thing to do inside.  Lightning McQueen is still "the best and fastest auto" to play with and is almost always in his hands at home.
- He says sweet things like: "I miss you when I'm at skolka."  "Sofia, you are so beautiful and I love you!" "Mom, that's a pretty shirt."
- He also gets angry very quickly right now if something upsets him.  His face turns red and he gets flustered.  We're working on that and going to his room to be alone seems to help him calm down the best... if he'll stay there and not be so angry he wants to remain near us and yell at us.  I'm not sure where all of that pent-up frustration is coming from... maybe it's just a phase.  We're trying to help him find good habits for calming down and expressing himself differently or with words better.
 - He likes to learn about everything, to know how things work, to know what rules to follow, to be right, to be stubborn in his "rightness", and he wants to be "a big man" soon.  :)
- He can brush his teeth completely by himself and does a good job.  He also wipes himself after using the restroom now and is so proud of himself when he's completely self-sufficient.  He's growing up so quickly!

This sweet girl is doing well, overall, and growing like crazy.  Just yesterday I had to pack up a huge bag full of her newborn, 0-3, and 3mo clothes.  Some of the 3mo ones still fit, but also the 3-6mo ones are working now.  She has a long torso like Jakub did, and like I do.  It's hard to get shirts and tops to snap down over her belly and diaper. :)  She's also got some very adorable and chunky thighs that make smaller 3mo pants or zip-up onesies nearly impossible to wear. Jake was the same way.  I don't mind at all.  I love a big, healthy baby.  The past couple of weeks we've seen her become a little more gassy and having problems with some of her feedings and the time immediately following them. Thankfully, a good friend of mine knew a great lactation specialist and they both came to my  home last night to work with me and Sofia and help us figure out and correct a couple of things.  Last night was the most peaceful night we've had with her in a week.  Hopefully we'll have many more to come now.  She just needs lots of help with the burps and hiccups and some better feeding positions.  The specialist was so calm with her- definitely a baby whisperer. :)  Sofia loved her and smiled and giggled at her a lot.  The lady has had five children of her own, I guess she should know what she's doing. :)

A few things about her right now:
- I weighed her myself and think she's somewhere around 6.5-7 kilo or 14-15lbs.  A little bigger than Jake at this age by a couple of weeks.  I think she's 57cm or around 22.5 inches.  We'll see at the doctor in 2 weeks when we go for her 3mo check-up.
- The past 4 nights she's eaten for the last time around 830-9pm and then gone to bed around 10 or 1030 depending on how long it takes to get the burps and gas out, and slept until 5 or 6am.  She also goes back to bed after the morning feeding and sleeps around 3 1/2 - 4 hours before the next feeding.  I'll take it. 
- She's still usually only awake 1 1/2 hours before wanting to sleep again.  She doesn't get to play much since we're still working on gas and hiccups a lot after feeding, but she's content through it all and doesn't cry much at all during the day.
- She's started laughing just a little at Josh when he makes funny faces and noises.  She still loves something about his hair. :)

That's it for now.  I hope to get a lot more pictures downloaded soon and put on here.  We had family pictures taken at Jake's school 2 weeks ago and should get those back soon. I also took some of Sofia for fun the other day and I'll work on putting those up as well.  

Happy 2 months Sweet Sofia!

I have only a few minutes and one picture to do this with right now so I'm going for it. :)  Happy 2 months to our Sweet Sofia!  We can't believe it's been two months already!  Every day with you is awesome, even when it's trying or exhausting, and your super huge grins are making every moment worth it.  As you begin to stay awake a little more often and as you find things about us interesting to look at or funny enough to crack up at with that huge grin we fall more and more in love with you!  So far it seems the things that really please you are your brother's voice and closeness, your Daddy's hair, and my glasses.  Whatever it may be, it melts us completely when you look at us the way that you do and get that big, toothless smile on your face.  You're even starting to coo, just a little, and I can't wait to hear more of the sound of your voice as you learn to use it.  I know it won't be long before you're laughing with us and trying to talk to us.  I know your brother can't wait until you can play and talk with him and trust me, he will talk your ear off! :)  He definitely loves to entertain you and take care of you right now.  I hope these things remain. 

A couple of sweet things he likes to say to you:
- I love you SO much Sofia!
- Don't cry Sofia, Mommy will feed you!
- Don't worry Sofia, God loves you and He will take care of you.
- You are SO beautiful ( I wish you could hear how much love is in the word beautiful).

A couple of things about you right now:
- You wear 3mo clothes and some of them aren't long enough in the legs
- Your eyes are still very blue and getting lighter in the middle
- You don't like to wear hats on your head, which is unfortunate as we are having the longest and snowiest winter ever right now
- You like to sleep only on your belly
- You are sleeping pretty well through the night with only one feeding, usually, around 3-4am (others at 9 or 10pm and 7 or 8am)
- You look the best right now in shades of blue/turquoise or green
- You like to sit in your bouncy seat for about 15 minutes at the most
- You seem pretty social already and have a hard time wanting to sleep if people and noise are around... your brother was also this way. :)

Ok, that's all for now.  Easter and family photos to come soon.  We love you so much Sofia!!!

1 Month!

 

 If you follow me on Facebook then the above pictures are not new.  Sorry!  Josh just recently downloaded some new ones to his computer so I'll try to put those on the blog soon.  As you can already tell, though, I'm not blogging as regularly right now. :)  I'm not doing much of anything right now except take care of these two precious kids.  And sometimes I eat and shower.  And maybe sleep.  That's about it. :) 

So, Sofia is really 7 weeks old now, but I have to catch up, so this is her one-month-old blog post.  I did take these pictures on the day she turned one month.  The time is going by even more quickly with two and recording the details about her is going to be a challenge!  I hope to do it, though, because I have loved looking back on the first 3 years of Jakub's life through my blog.  I had it all printed as a Christmas gift for our family.  Maybe I'll make it 3 more years on here so I can print a book for her to keep as well.  

So, at one month she had a great check-up at the doctor.  Here are some of the things I remember about her at that time:

- She weighed 4.35Kg or 9.6lbs, which was an increase of more than one pound since birth

- She already out-grew her newborn clothes and was fitting better into 0-3, and really 3mo clothes in length of arms and legs.

- Her feet are really long and skinny and the smallest newborn socks won't fit well. I think she's going to be tall! :)

- Her hair is still present and still very brown with some reddish highlights in the sunlight.

- Her eyes are just starting to lighten up around the very center and still look very blue

- She smiles a lot with gas, but not at us, yet. :)

- Jakub LOVES her and often kisses her, hugs her, and calls her "his Sofinka" or "his baby."

- Jakub likes to rock her and care for her, and if she cries he makes sure to tell me that she wants to eat

- Sometimes when she cries Jakub will say "I think her wants her brother."  All girls are a "her" right now with him.

- She's eating about every 3 hours in the day, sometimes 4, and she's making one 5 hour stretch at night between 10pm to 3am, then she goes back to 3-4 hour intervals.  

- She only cries when hungry or with some gas, other than that she's a pretty happy and peaceful baby. 

- She likes to be held when she has gas and especially seems to be clingy to her mama. :)

- She already tracks you with her eyes and will follow a finger or toy for a bit from side to side.

- She did really well at the doctor, just like Jakub used to, and didn't cry but just watch the doctor curiously as she was examined.  They said everything looked good and healthy, including the hematoma site on her head from the extraction.  It's getting harder now and slightly smaller, and if you didn't know where to look you wouldn't even know it was there.  I can't help but see it though and I'm thankful it's getting better.

Well, that's all for now.  I better not push my luck with writing for too long. :)  Josh and Jakub are at the store getting groceries and Sofia is sleeping, so I'm enjoying a rare moment to myself. Overall we're doing well, but we're definitely having a week/week-end of adjustment right now since our parents have all returned to the states and we're on our own now with the two children.   They helped us so much, and we greatly enjoyed the company and having family with us for so long, and we're missing them now!  Jakub's needing more focused attention from us and he gets upset sometimes when we can't be with him or play with him the way that he wants.  And Sofia has suddenly decided she would rather sleep in our arms for her daytime naps (thankfully she does really well at night still) so it's been challenging.  We'd appreciate your prayers as we learn what life with two will be like for us here.  We are loving them both so much, though, and thank God for two healthy and beautiful kids!

 

Sofia's Birth...

Sofia Lane Beall was born early Thursday morning, February 7th, at 0104am.  She weighed 8 lbs 5 oz and was 20.5 inches. 

Her birth story begins Wednesday morning, Feb. 6th, at 930am when the doctors first induced me with a pitocin tablet.  Over the next few hours labor slowly progressed.  Around 2pm the doctors said I had progressed to 2cm (I guess I wasn't already a 2 as one doctor had predicted weeks ago...) and was fully effaced.  At this point the contractions were about 10-12 minutes apart and uncomfortable, but not strong.  Hot showers, walking, and rocking on the large exercise ball helped a lot.  I also played angry birds with Josh and listened to some music he prepared for me.  :)  By 5 pm I hadn't changed any further, but the contractions were stronger and about 5-6 minutes apart.  They decided not to give me any more medicine but to let the labor continue as it was.  More walking, rocking, waiting...   It all gets a little fuzzy after this point so you'll have to forgive me for not remembering all of the details.  I bet my Mom, Josh, and his Mom remember them much better than I do!  I'm thankful they were all able to be there with me despite the ban on visitors due to the flu.  I had some amazing nurses who were very, very kind!  So, somewhere around 10pm the doctor decided to break my water and take it all out at once.  That helped labor progress very quickly after that.  By midnight I was 10cm and ready to push.  By this time the contractions were 30 seconds apart and lasting about one minute.  It was intense but Josh and my Mom let me break their fingers through each one. ;)  I felt very quiet, very focused, and ready for her to come out and give me some relief!  I also felt mean a few times when they were coaching me through them and I felt like I was already doing everything they said.  I guess that's how it goes. :)  They said I was actually polite and said "I'm sorry" a lot after I told them I was already doing all they asked.  I guess that's good.  I don't remember.   So, the nurse told me I was a 10 and I could start pushing if I wanted, and then she left...

I was a little shocked and just looked to my Mom for guidance since she's a labor and delivery nurse herself.  She and Josh talked me through the pushing and we went for it.  With each push they saw progress which encouraged me to keep going knowing Sofia would soon be here.  The nurse came back in a bit with a full support staff ready to deliver Sofia.  With some help she came out crying and beautiful at 104am and I immediately was able to hold her and be with her.  That was an amazing moment I will never forget.  They let Josh cut the cord, which is not something they typically do here.  I'm so thankful he could be there for her birth since our story with Jakub's birth and the c-section is completely different.  For the next 2 hours we were able to stay in the room all together and spend time with Sofia and each other before they moved me to my recovery room.  The following week is another story for another time. 

At her birth I remember thinking:
- She's crying! Yeah! She can breathe!
- She's beautiful!
- She looks like Jakub.
- She has a lot of dark brown hair (which I thought she would have).
- She has the longest, skinniest, feet, toes, and fingers I've ever seen.
- She's already calm, sweet, and gentle as she just laid on me so peacefully.
- She's big - how much will she weigh?? (8 lbs 5 oz, 20.5 inches)
- I can't believe it's over and she's here.  What a long day and night.  I can't believe we did it. :)

Ok, that's all for now.  She's about to wake up.  She's so, so sweet.  Thanks for all of your prayers, well wishes, and messages.  Love you all!

Coming soon... Sofia!

Hi everyone!

Sorry I don't have any pics for this post.  We've taken several recently, but I don't have them uploaded yet.  I just wanted to write a quick update and ask for your prayers as we will be going to the hospital in the morning around 8am to be induced.  I'm 40 weeks and 6 days according to ultrasound measurements of Sofia, even though my due date is the 16th, so the doctor would like to go ahead and induce tomorrow.  I've been having lots of contractions, some are even pretty uncomfortable and happening around every 10 minutes for a couple/few hours, but then they get further apart again and always stop during the night while I sleep.  I'm already making some changes so that's also good.  Hopefully with a small "jump start" in the morning we'll be on our way to having a healthy baby girl by the early afternoon.  I can hope, right?  :)  Please pray for us and for Sofia.  Please pray I'll be able to have her well and we won't need a c-section in the end.  No matter what I know God is over all of this and I will have peace knowing it's in his control and all we can do is pray about it and pray for her.  I look forward to seeing what she looks like!  And I can't wait to show her to everyone who's been waiting to see her and so kind to keep up with us and support us through this pregnancy.  We love you all and hope to have great news for you tomorrow! :) 

37-38 weeks!

Well, this MAY be the last time I'm able to post for a while so I thought I would put a few more pictures up and give an update on Jakub and Sofia.  Firstly, thanks for your thoughts and prayers after my last post when I mentioned that I was not feeling well.  Little did I know it was going to get a lot worse for both me and Josh.  We both caught a terrible chest cold with all the things that go with that.  It was hard on both of us to keep going with all of the work that needs to be done right now- inside and outside the home!  I've never been that type of sick with a pregnancy before and boy did it make me exhausted beyond belief and feeling like I couldn't get a single thing done.  Thankfully, we're both almost back to completely great health and I am thankful to God that it's passed and that Jakub never caught it other than a slightly runny nose. 

Here's a picture of my boys from this week.

You have to love that awkward-smiling phase kids go through. :)  Jakub's started noticing the recent, baby-related, changes going on around the house and has been having a hard time with listening, discipline and other things lately.  He never seems bothered by anything related to Sofia, or her coming soon, but in other areas of life is showing that he's sensitive to the changes around us.  I'm sure it's normal, but it's hard sometimes for Josh and I to know how to best handle it all and help him, while also disciplining appropriately and being consistent with him.  He's begun wetting the bed a little this week, started talking back to me if he's embarrassed by my getting on to him, and not listening at times and repeating bad behavior that's not usual for him.  I'm sure it will all ease in time so we're just being as patient as we can be and trying to give all of the attention and discipline he needs as best we can.

It's definitely not all bad, though, not even close.  He's a lot of the time really a great kid and very loving as well.  He's constantly been kissing on my belly and talking to Sofia.  He's told her he's ready for her to come out so they can play and so he can show her all of the toys we have at home.  He likes to look in her new bed and to see all of the little clothes and blankets we've been given.  If I make a move or grimace that he interprets as painful or anything he asks if she's kicked me and if she and I are ok. :)  I hope his eagerness to see her and his desire to tell her he loves her and wants to talk to her will continue once she's here! :)

** Warning**  Too much personal/pregnancy information coming up soon.  Feel free to skip ahead. :)
Last Monday, at 37 weeks I went to the doctor for a normal check-up and found out that Sofia is getting ready to come "soon."  I was already thinned out a lot, though by their measurements here it's unclear how much that actually is, and 2 cm dilated.  The doctor said he believed I would begin labor or my water would break within 1 to 7 days.  Yikes!  I have to admit I got a little teary-eyed and a little flushed with the sudden realization that she could come very, very soon and even earlier than I ever thought she might.  Of course we talked with our Moms to let them know and let them make their own decisions about whether to come sooner or not.  They were supposed to come Feb. 8th for a Feb 16th due date.  Well, I guess Sofia might have other things in mind.  And our Moms changed their tickets and they will be here Tuesday afternoon.  Yeah!!! :)  So, I'm doing my best now to keep Sofia calm and not wanting to make her debut until after Tuesday.    Every day I notice more minor changes that seem to indicate she's barely holding on  We'll see what the doctors say tomorrow as I have my first hospital check-up and monitoring in the morning.  This week I'll be 38 weeks, which is when my water broke with Jakub.  Hopefully our Moms make it in time! :) 

Oh, and the beautiful cake above is one that my friend made for a small baby shower they wanted to give me at our weekly Bible study. 

 

We also received a very beautiful and generous gift-package this week from Scott and Denise Karnes- dear friends of ours who live and work as missionaries in Ireland. Denise made all of these things for Sofia and they are gorgeous!  I love all of the different colors and patterns.  It's just the look that I love for little girls.  The quilt is now waiting for Sofia in her baby bed.  Thank you, Denise!!!

 And this might be the last picture I take pregnant, except for hospital photos.  We'll just have to wait and see what the doctors have to say tomorrow.  If I have time to update again I will.  Thanks for all of your prayers and please keep them coming.  I pray Sofia will be healthy, that Josh and I will do well through delivery, that God will give us peace and comfort while I deliver and then we welcome her into the world and her family, that our Moms will get here safely and in time for the delivery, and that Jakub will love his baby sister.  I'm excited about and thankful for our growing family.  I don't take it for granted and even with the minor bumps and illnesses I know I have truly had a blessed and healthy pregnancy.  I hope recovery will be the same!  Sofia Lane is almost here!

Ježíšek and Winter Snow...

Well I'm laying around on the couch today with a bad cold and some chills, so I thought I would add a couple of videos from our holiday time.  Hopefully baby Sofia will not want to come any time soon because I imagine giving birth feeling like this would be pretty miserable... not that it's going to be a walk in the park anyway. :)  However, I would like to be able to breathe through my nose and not have a sore throat when that time comes.

It's an interesting day outside as it's really cold and going back and forth between beautiful sunshine and downpours of heavy snow.  It isn't snowing for long enough at one time to really accumulate, but it's beautiful all the same.  It's snowed a little bit every day this week and it's been nice.  I enjoy snowy winters here very much.  In fact, on the heavest snow day this week, when we ended up getting about 3 inches, I sent Josh to pick Jakub up from school with the snow sled so Jake could have a ride home in it. :)  Here's a video of the fun they had.  I wish I could have pulled him home- I miss doing these things with him right now!

They ended up staying outside for one hour playing in the snow and sledding down a nearby hill that's perfect for children.  One of Jakub's good friends, another Kuba. was outside so they were able to sled together!



I also have a Christmas video to share from Christmas Eve.  We took a ton of videos over the two days, but I still need to sort through most of them.  Grandparents, this one's for you.  It's a little long, but we thought you would enjoy seeing his excitement.  We started our family Christmas celebrations this year in the traditional Czech style since this is where we live and it's truly Jakub's home for now.  Most all Czechs celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th.  They have a long-standing custom of Ježíšek (baby Jesus) bringing the gifts on Christmas Eve when no one is looking, and then you hear a bell ring to signify he's visited.  You can read a little more about it if you want here:  Ježíšek

We decided this year, since Jakub actually understands what is happening now, that we would like to incorporate some of this tradition into our family since this place has become and will always be a huge part of our lives, and the place where Jakub was born.  So, we celebrated Ježíšek on the 24th and also a traditional American Christmas on the morning of the 25th.  Throughout it all, and all of the holiday season, we tried to keep an important focus on the meaning of the season and giving thanks to God for all of our gifts in life, because they come from Him.  The greatest gift is of course Jesus and celebrating baby Jesus bringing some gifts on the 24th seemed to fit in perfectly with our family focus.   Here's a video of him just after bath time and when he hears the bells ring.  It was a very sweet and peaceful time for our family. :)

More to come later from Christmas morning.  We hope you all had a happy and blessed holiday season and are having a nice start to the new year.  Thanks for all of your prayers for baby Sofia and please keep them coming.  Hopefully she'll hold out until our Moms arrive on Feb. 8th.  I have another doctor's appointment on Monday and then will hopefully update the blog and add some more pictures then.