A Lot to Celebrate!

Merry Christmas to you all! I pray you have a peaceful and safe Christmas holiday with your friends and family. Above is our Christmas card that Josh made for us this year. I just love it! It's in our new living room with our new son. We have a lot to be thankful for this season. The birth of our son reminds us even more of the amazing birth of Jesus and adds new meaning to His story in our lives. We're also thankful that several of our family members can be with us during the holiday. We won't forget, however, that sometimes this time of year is especially hard for others. We will remember in prayer all of those who are suffering now and for whom this holiday will be a difficult time. Please be praying for our friends who have lost husbands, fathers, and friends over the last year. Just last year our Christmas holiday time was one of the hardest in our lives with our miscarriage so, we don't forget that God sees us through all of these things and that there are both ups and downs in life and we will serve Him through it all.

On the weekend Josh and I celebrated our 6th anniversary together. We enjoyed some time away Christmas shopping and going to dinner together. We left Jakub at home with his grandmothers and Aunt Laura:) While we were away they had a photo shoot with him and we hear he had a blast and during it was talking and laughing. The pictures are proof. It was also a celebration of him turning one month old. I really still can't believe how quickly the time goes by now. Above, you can see him talking to the ladies:) He's laying on a beautiful quilt that Josh's Mom made for him. You'll see more pictures of it below. She also stitched his name, birthday, and Olomouc on the flags over one of the castles. It's really gorgeous!
Here he is talking to Josh. It's so sweet to watch him as he starts to coo more and interact with us. I also believe that yesterday he gave me his first 2 real smiles for me. It's wonderful:)

Here he is in one of Josh's baby outfits from when Josh turned 4 weeks old. They look pretty similar when we compare photos. Jakub is already bigger and longer than Josh was, though. Can you see how long those legs are at 4 weeks? Wow.

Here is a better shot of the quilt. You can see the flags above his head.

Playing with his Grandma Babi (Grandma "bobby" - which means grandmother in Czech).

He had such a good time with them and it was a treat to go on a date. We'll take advantage of that while they are here with us:) I think it will be a little while before we get another one.

I look forward to posting more pics after the holiday. We're also looking forward to the arrival of my Dad and sister tonight- they can't wait to officially meet Jakub. Again, Merry Christmas to you all!

3 Weeks Old and Olomouc Christmas Markets

Jakub is over 3 weeks old now and still doing really well. Here he is with my Mom, "Nana," above... doing what he does best right now- other than eat:) He's a good eater! He's growing well and definitely not wearing any 0 month, newborn clothing anymore. He's on to the 0-3 month clothing and even wore 3 month old pants the other day well in length, though they were big in the waist on him. He's definitely a long, tall baby already.

Here he is with Josh's sister, Laura, still sleeping:)

We finally have some of him awake and trying to talk to us. He's starting to get out some noises after several raspy, but sweet, attempts at talking. It's so fun to interact with him and talk to him. He's not awake for very long usually, but I love it when he is!

Here, Jakub is meeting his "Papa" for the first time via Skype. That's Josh's Dad and we were able to talk with him recently and introduce him to Jakub. It was really sweet and I'm thankful for programs like Skype where we can visit together and see one another.

Here are some pictures of our town square at Christmas time. We have beautiful Christmas markets that are set up with traditional Czech gifts and typical Christmas gifts to buy and various fun foods to eat. There are also concerts each afternoon and Christmas music that plays while you are there.

Here is our tree for this season. It's really beautiful this year with lots of lights on it (which I don't have a picture of, yet).

Here are some traditional pernik houses you can buy for your home. Pernik is similar to our ginger bread, but it has some other types of spices in it as well.

Another picture of the markets. We took Jakub there recently for a short visit and to get out of the house for a bit. It was an enjoyable walk there and tour around the square, but also exhausting and cold. I'm glad we did it before today, though, because we've had a cold front come through and our first "big" snow today and it's now too cold to go out with him for several hours at a time. We only have maybe 2 inches, but we are anticipating more and the temps are now in the low 20's during the day.

One last picture of Jakub playing with his Daddy. He was very focused on Josh here, as you can see:) It's so sweet to see them together and he loves to hear Josh sing to him. I'll have some more pictures of him soon with our Christmas tree and hopefully I'll have some fun pictures of the snow outside (though not with him in it:).

2 weeks old!

Well, Jakub is over 2 weeks old now. The time really does go by so quickly now. He's doing so well and we are very thankful for this. He had his next check-up at the doctor today and everything went well. He now weighs around 10 lbs 4 oz. He's definitely not starving or anything:) It's funny how much I've fretted over whether he's getting enough milk when he eats, because you can't see what all he is getting when he breastfeeds. I don't think I'll worry as much now! He's still a very content baby who mostly sleeps and eats. He has some fun times where he's alert and awake for a bit and it's wonderful to see and to talk with him:) He already focuses on our faces and he seems to watch everything around him and take it all in. He loves to hear Josh singing to him and this has been very helpful at night when getting ready for bed and during some diaper changes. He sleeps well in his own bed at night, or anywhere really. There's definitely been lots of snuggling with me, Josh, our Moms, and Josh's sister Laura:) Though it doesn't really look like it in the pictures above, he doesn't mind his bath time, which is good. He really doesn't get bothered by much until he's hungry:) He can go from calm to majorly upset very quickly when he realizes he's hungry:) It doesn't take long to get settled back down, though, and then he's content again. He'll sleep, usually, up to 3 1/2 or 4 hours in the night before I wake him to feed again. He really is doing well and we feel so blessed by him being here with us. It's amazing how much time can be spent just staring at him:) I'm recovering well, also, and able to do a little more each day. We made our first trip to the main square recently to look at the Christmas markets and to see the large Christmas tree. I'll post some pictures from that soon. We also put up our Christmas tree together last night. We hope to take some family photos soon for the holiday. Thanks for all of your prayers and please keep them coming!! Please pray for my Dad and sister as they will be traveling here in 2 weeks to be with us for Christmas. It will be a very special holiday time together!

One more thing...

I forgot to mention in the previous post that there is a picture of one my closest friends, Petra, with her new son. We had our sons on the same day, which was very special. She had the room next door to me so we were able to hang out together and help each other. She speaks both Czech and English so she was able to help me a lot. Also a huge blessing and such a special gift to share in together!

He's Here!!

Well, the pictures are all out of order, but you can take a look above and see them as I talk about them. As you all know, I'm sure, Jakub is here! He was born 10 days early, on November 20th at 540pm our time. I did end up having a c-section due to his head remaining up top. Thankfully, our Moms had just arrived the night before and Josh had driven to Prague to get them and bring them back to our home in Olomouc. We had a nice dinner together and some time to visit. We all went to bed and slept well that night. Boy am I glad for that!:) The next day we had a nice relaxing breakfast together and sat around visiting some more. I enjoyed opening some baby gifts they brought with them from the states. Around 12 I got up to make everyone some lunch (only sandwiches and such) and decided I needed to use the restroom at one point. When I did, I then heard a loud pop that sounded very strange and I felt sudden gushing that was not normal. It didn't take long to realize what was happening. There was a bit of a sudden moment of panic as it all sunk in and I realized I wasn't ready:) Of course, I was ready to see Jakub. However, it wasn't our plan for it to happen this way:) There hadn't been enough time to play with our Moms and his room was still completely in boxes. Oh well, God and Jakub new it was time and, thankfully, the hospital bags had been packed for several weeks:) So, we let everyone else get some lunch and eat since it might be several hours before they would again. I sat and watched since I knew a c-section was likely and that I shouldn't eat. Another good thing was that I had not eaten since our 8am breakfast, so it wasn't going to be a problem for surgery. Then, we headed off to the hospital in the car. I began having some contractions, which were about 15-20 minutes apart. At the hospital we checked in and found out it would be about 3 hours before surgery due to another emergency c-section. They examined me and gave us a private labor room to wait in. I dilated to a 3 and continued having some contractions. They really weren't too bad at that point. Josh gave me some music to listen to and rubbed my back some. We waited and about 2 1/2 hours later they came to get us for surgery. We then found out that Josh could not go with me. That was a bit of a shock and caused another moment of private, internal panic:) Then, I focused more on what needed to be done and off we went. I had an epidural put in and then waited for surgery to begin. It was strange to lay there and not know all that was being said, but the doctors took good care of me and explained the most important of everything I needed to know. The surgery itself took about 30 minutes and wasn't bad. They numbed me a little too high and so I had some oxygen at one point to help. Then, I heard Jakub cry and the doctor said "je to kluk!," (it's a boy!). He weighed 8lb 14oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. They showed him to me, but I was crying a little and had no contacts or glasses on so I say a whitish blur rapped in a blue blur and then he was gone:). I was comforted to know he came out crying well and breathing well from what I could hear. They sowed me up, which caused a little bit of nausea and vomiting, which is not fun to do laying flat and unable to move. They helped me, though. Then, they took me to my recovery room where they kindly let both of our Moms and Josh stay with me until midnight. Josh stayed the whole night. I got to see Jakub for a while, but then they also took him for the night so I could sleep and to give me time to get back full movement in my body. It was so good to see him, but so hard not to be able to move and to feel slightly sick and very tired. I also had lots of normal shaking after the surgery. So, once those long hours of the night passed they moved me to a normal post-partum room and brought Jakub to us to stay with us. Things were much better from that point on. He's done so well and is such a blessing. So far, he sleeps and eats well and that has been a huge blessing for my recovery. He already sleeps 3-4 hours at night before I wake him or he needs to feed again. He's had some wonderful awake moments during the day where we get to look at each other and talk together:). Our Moms and Laura, Josh's sister, have been a huge help at home, also. We're enjoying lots of home cooking and time together! I'm feeling better each day, though it's a slow process, as many of you know. Well, I better go for now. I can hear him wanting to eat again:) Thanks to all of you for your prayers, wishes, and gifts! We are very blessed. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully there will be many more to come!

Check--up...

We had our check-up at the hospital today. Everything went well! The urine and BP tests were normal- 125/80. The fetal monitoring was normal- his heart rate was upper 140's. It's always nice to sit back and listen to his heart beating. It also fun to watch him kick against the devices. I found myself wanting to just zone out while listening to it all and to take a little nap. My physical exam was normal- no changes noted. Then we did an ultrasound and found that little Jakub's head remains up high under my ribs on the right. I could have told them that without our looking, but I think we all hoped we might see something different:) I was so tuned in to seeing that head there that I forgot to ask them about his size. Oh well, he's a healthy size, that's for sure. If he's stayed on track with how he's been doing so far, then he should weigh around 6 1/2 to 7 lbs now (of course it's still a guessing game at this point... we'll see what he's really like when he comes out:). So, the doctor said we'll leave it until next week and we'll see how he's doing then. Our appointment will be next Wednesday at 1130. If he remains breech, then we'll also schedule for next week an appointment with the surgeon and anesthesiologist to ready ourselves for a c-section. There will be some pre-surgery blood tests to do and information to go over. They don't know when that surgery date might be scheduled because it will be up to the next appointments results and then the surgeon if we have to meet with him. We'll just wait and see how next Wednesday goes.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers for my friend. She had her little boy by c-section last Wednesday night. They are home as of today and doing well (common to stay in hospital here for 5-7 days after a c-section). He weighed 6.9 lbs and is beautiful. I can't wait to visit them soon! Here, people don't often visit anyone in the hospital when they have a baby because everyone wants the Mom to get as much rest and peace and time for adjustment as she can before she goes home- that's really a good idea probably:) It's been a special journey to share in our pregnancies together and she's helped me learn a lot about their system here.

Thanks, also, for your prayers about our moving situation. We found a new home to move to and we picked up the keys and began the contract today. It was a quick process and we're still adjusting to the fact that we have a new place to live. We knew God would take care of this situation, and of us, but it's always amazing when he takes care of things in what seems the sudden blink of an eye. Yesterday morning we weren't sure at all where we would be living 2 weeks from now, and we were still viewing apartments, and by the end of today we have keys to a new place. We'll stay in our old place for a while to finish packing up and such, but it's such a blessing to have found this new place. Please pray this will be a good home for our growing family for a long time to come! I'll have more details and pictures in the next few weeks.

English class

I don't think Sarah K. and I have ever managed to take a picture with any of our friends from our English class we teach for young Moms and their children. This week (though, sadly, Sarah K. is away in the states right now) we finally managed to take one together. Our good friend Petra, who is due 2 weeks before me, wanted a picture of all of us before she's gone for a while having their little boy. Next week will be her last time with us for a while. She, and her daughter Klara, are on the far right. We also didn't have all of our Moms there this week, but that rarely happens anyway with the way schedules can change in an instance with small children. I'll be finding that out soon, myself. We had a good time together, though. Klara, who has been in our class the longest of all these kids, knows many of the songs and stories well by now so, it's always fun to see her doing the motions and trying to say the words. Her parents speak a lot of English with her, so she is learning the vocabulary very well. It's a wonderful group and Sarah and I are blessed to know around 10 different Moms and kids who come off and on to this group we've been offering since last winter/spring. We're always glad when they tell their friends and invite new Moms to join us. Many seem excited about the possibility of having a warm place to go this winter with their children. The days here can be so cold and dark, for so long, that it's nice to offer a place they can get away to and have the children play and learn, and they themselves can meet other Moms, be encouraged, and have some hot tea:) I pray it will keep growing and that Sarah and I can continue to share our faith and lives with them, even as we go through some major changes of our own over the next few months. These Moms are a great support system for us as well and are always trying to help us in any way we need. I just wanted to share some about our group with you. Please pray it will continue to grow, and that Sarah and I can be good friends and examples to them of Christian women and mothers.