Things I Have Learned After Having A Baby===A.K.A. I need to vent!

These are some things that have been on my mind lately...after having Ellis for over 6 months now! Wow I have a 6 month old!

~People should not tell women your going to be loosing your baby weight...Example...when I was ring shopping the lady suggested I not get a bigger size because I am going to lose weight....I had already lost it. Another example...your clothes are going to be fitting better....again I had already lost the baby weight. Instead, just say...wow you look great....no matter where on the scale you think the lady falls.

~As a pregnant woman I did a lot of assuming...
-I thought I would never let my baby hang out in just a diaper, I do!
-I thought I would never let my baby in bed with me, I do every night. It is easy to nurse laying down going in and out of sleep.
-My goal was to wait a month before giving my breastfed baby a paci, I lasted four days.
-I thought it was gross when babies had crusty stuff on their face, my baby can frequently be found with dried rice cereal or sweet potatoes on his face. Maybe even a little booger.
- I thought I wouldn't talk baby talk and look like a fool, but I am a sucker for his smile and will do whatever it takes to see it.

~Earlier on in Ellis' life I told my sister-in-law that I would never give bibs to an expecting lady. This was because I had an insane amount, I should not have spoken so soon...you see at that point Ellis did not really need bibs. Now I get it-bibs are great...lots of bibs are great...unless you do laundry all the time.
-Other things I said in that conversation I would not recommend giving a pregnant lady are blankets, outfits for early on (3 months or younger), little shoes (they fall off), and of course things that are not on the registry!
-My favorite gift was practical things you know I will use...although it does not look pretty when you open it, not having to buy diapers has saved me a lot of money. I have enough shampoo to last Ellis until he is a toddler.

~People should not give new moms advice if they do not have children or have not had a baby in a while. Even if a non parent gives great advice...it is just annoying. If they have children but it has been a while then my advice would be to hold off on sharing advice, simply because times change...research is constantly taking place!

~Two Hours goes by so fast...I had no idea babies eat that often...this makes movies or TV shows, like Lost, very unrealistic.

~I lived in Mexico for a while I was pregnant, then I came home to register for baby items...lets just say seeing how babies survive in Mexico greatly affected what I thought I needed. I also talked to a lot of new moms and asked what could they live without. I have not regretted my decision to skip on some "must have" baby items.
-Things like: wipe warmers, playpens, sanitizers, food warmers,diaper genies (Wal-mart bags and an on top of it husband are cheaper), teething gels (I read it doesn't work), expensive paci clips, smock outfits, bottle warmers, and lots of other gizmos in Babies R Us.

~Ear thermometers do not work...just take the babies temperature the good ol' fashioned way...under the armpit. Sad fact to learn because someone gave me one, I used it, it didn't work, and then the doctor said yeah...they don't work.

~EVERY PARENT IS DIFFERENT AND EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT...therefore no advice or comment is valid...even what I have just said might change or won't apply for someone else.

Trendy Hawks are Going Green

Will's latest hobby has been gardening. He has been working for a couple months on preparing the land and starting the seeds. He has spent most of his free time outside enjoying the Spring weather and putting energy in to his new little area. First he started beds inside and then he has been slowly moving the plants outside. Hopefully sometime soon we will have lots of fruits and veggies to eat!

Ahhh Solid Foods

Last night we added one more thing to our nightly routine..."solid foods".

It was a fun experience, Ellis was a trip...he had to warm up to it lets just say.

Enjoy the pics!

Almost A Big 4 Months!

I was walking with my mother in law today and she asked me about professional pictures...I told her I was going to wait until 4 months...she pointed out that 4 months is next week!

Four months next week-wow!

This month has flown by. Ellis is now a supported sitter and I have been reading about adding rice cereal to his diet. He smiles and laughs all the time. Everyone makes making Ellis smile a goal when they are near him. We enjoy reading and playing with new toys everyday. He is still a little guy as far as weight goes...pray that he gains weight and that all is well in his little body. He sleeps for five or six hours at night and we all love every minute of that trend. I had a proud mom moment when I framed several pictures of Ellis and displayed them around our house.

Today we had a big "Praise God" moment... I tripped and fell with Ellis in my hands on tile floor. It was horrible but Ellis was ok. I have bruised knees, but I can live with that. We are so thankful Ellis is alright.

Three Months with Ellis

Well Ellis is three months old now.
We have loved all three months.
He can now smile and has even laughed!
He sleeps until about 4 or 6 o'clock in the morning, which is lovely.
The doctor wants him to gain more weight, so he is taking some medicine everyday and we go in to check on the 26th of February...well see how much weight he has gained over the past month.
Life is much richer with a baby!

Like Father Like Son

How precious is this scene?!?
Will has always slept with his arms up like this and now we have noticed Ellis doing it a lot too.

I learned from Judy (Ellis' Grandmother) that more family from the Hawk side sleep like this as well.

Ellis is about 2 weeks in these pictures:)

Road Kill

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This is one cute reindeer.....maybe too cute!

The outfit is a little big, but very cuddly....Ellis loves it...he sleeps better when he wears it and mom loves that!

Last Night

Last night I was admiring Ellis while he was up to nothing....he was just cute looking so I recorded for a second.

A few Pics

Still Waiting---38 Weeks

Just in case you were wondering...no baby yet! I go back to the doctor on Monday to hopefully receive great news...but at this point I am beginning to think he will be right on time!

The Waiting Game

Will and I are currently playing the waiting game. We were told we were having a turkey baby originally....but now it looks like we will be having it much sooner....maybe even perhaps a Halloween baby. Last Monday the doctor said we would not have to wait until Thanksgiving. In fact he said that it could be any day now but no more than 3 weeks (by now that means less than 2). I have an appointment today so I will post more information when I know more. Until then Will and I are using every spare second to try to prepare for the new addition!

Home Sweet Home

Just wanted everyone to know that we are officially home.

We left Friday morning at 5:45, crossed the border smoothly (dogs and all), and were on our way. We had a flat tire in the middle of Texas...it took us 3 hours to get fixed and then we were back on the road.

On the way down, Will and I took three days....we broke up the long hours of driving and spent some quality time together. We were so ready to get home this trip that we just kept driving. We ended up getting back at 3:30 Saturday morning.

It was a long day of travel and swollen feet, but when we got home we couldn't just crawl in bed. We spent about an hour walking around our house and yard (which is looking really good thanks to my sweet dad).

Both Will and I said that we would do it all again. It was an incredible summer...it was tough, but well worth it!

Thank God for America, we are beyond blessed to live here and to have the kind of lifestyles we have. Walking through Babies 'R' Us just isn't the same after living in Mexico and seeing how they live.

We are BLESSED!

When Scorpions Attack

So the count is at 12. Hoping to make a bakers dozen before we head for home. Most recently I accidentally bare-handed one while I was cleaning dishes. I have kind of been hoping to get stung to see what it feels like but I haven’t gotten to the point of just allowing it to sting me.

Tuesday was great. It’s getting hard knowing how many goodbye’s are on the way, but at the same time we’re ecstatic to be heading home. I’m going to miss a number of our staff and translators. But most of all I think I’m going to miss Pastor Vazquez. We have built a very close relationship considering the language barrier and our 3 week time together. The group this week is interesting. I enjoy the leadership opportunities that are presented, especially the difficulties which I’ve begun to appreciate as they lead to so much growth. Indeed, we have had a large number of hurdles to overcome. There is only 1 church this week. They brought 120 people from their 700 member youth group – crazy! It makes me sad though to see leaders working beside kids whose names they don’t even know. We’ve started packing.

Wednesday was of course carnival day. And seeing as the big tent was taken down for the hurricane and not replaced we were going to have to make adjustments. I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. We had over 60 Mexican’s join us, which is huge and the carnival ran quite smoothly. I spent time with Gabrielle (a translator who is Eliezar’s brother) cooking chicken for almost 200 on a grill built out of an old propane canister (it’s huge). I was able to have a 5 minute convo with a Mexican over dinner tonight without a translator! It’s amazing how much language God has blessed me to learn in this short time. In addition, Luc and her two children and another prostitute were able to come tonight for the carnival and cookout. While this may be a little much I think it is important to share that the ministry to the prostitutes is continuing to grow and bless. (I will try to be sensitive) Tonight Luc’s boss did not require us to pay him for the time she spent at the carnival, which is basically unheard of. Please continue praying for this ministry.
KA went to the States today on her 2nd day off of the summer with some friends as well as the market and Soriana (Like Walmart) and had a blast. We are packing, planning, and praying. Oh, and 1 more thing Ellis is on the move. I have been able to “hang” with him tonight as he responded to my voice and gave KA some tummy kicks.

Will

A Blessed Life

Me and Juan Jose at Living Water....I am a master at filling up cups now.

I got to hear two amazing testimonies today….one from the Pastor at the church we work at and one from a translator we work with. The Pastor’s was more of a story about how the Lord healed his two boys and Gilbert’s, the translator, was more about his entire life and how he ended up where he is today. It blessed me to hear amazing stories about God’s glory.

My feet reached a new low today, looking fatter than ever. It is gross looking, but it is worth it. Thought you might enjoy a picture...the strap lines are from crocs (you know the shoes that are lose, lightweight, and comfortable)

I asked one of our youth leaders this week if he packed bug spray, he said yes but that it normally takes ten days after rain for mosquitoes to come out…..HA! I didn’t say anything, but in my head I was sooo thinking…you are in for a rude awakening. Sure enough tonight they were out in full force. I’m talking swarms right when we stepped out of the house. We park our car as closely to the door and then run to wherever we are going. It is bad again, but we have a finish line this time.

At Living Water I taught a little boy (8 yrs. old) name Juan to throw away his trash. He kept coming back to me wanting more water. I told him that I saw him and his friends throwing the cups down in the park and it upset me. He brought back one of the cups and I refilled it. Then I had a mini lesson with him about making the park beautiful and not trashing it, etc. The next time he came up to me he had trash in his hands and he wanted to show me that he was collecting it and throwing it away. He did this several times and each time I praised him and gave him a high five. He also helped me fill water cups and was really receptive to my English praises. I showed him the book in the Bible named Juan (it was a Spanish Bible) and we read Juan 3:16 together….fun times! Pray for him if you think about it, his friends picked on him for doing the right thing.

The scorpion count is now at 11, by the way. This one was large and it was in our pantry. Will knocked it out and we took a picture of it.

When the groups were loading up on the bus today, Pastor Vazquez and his wife asked to speak with Will and myself. We had a translator and they said they wanted to bless us on our last day at the church with them, we of course told them that they were already a huge blessing and that was not necessary. They said they wanted to and that God put it on their hearts. So Thursday at snack time they are going to bless us with a special surprise. I think it involves food for Will, me, and the group. I am excited to see what it is:)

I had some free time this morning and I started packing, it is surreal that the summer is coming to a close.

We asked Gilbert, the amazing, godly translator, to make us a piñata for a coming home party Will and I have decided to throw ourselves. I won’t tell you what it is, but it is very representative of Mexico. By the way Gilbert makes piñatas for a living; AIM helped him start his own shop, so now everyone who wants a piñata goes to him. Oh and he can make a mean piñata, I’m talking the size of a six year old.

Almost 50 people got sick last night. We think it had something to do with the food. It was not a fun morning for Will, being the head PF of a lot of sick people…he had a lot of fires to put out.

Will misses his friends tremendously and I am growing bitter about Mexico and the youth leaders/group. So if you could please for us in that department….we want to be tools for the kingdom until the very last second we are here.

Rei Girl Lives On

We started today with a quick breakfast and then we were off to the Market. This was our LAST trip to the Market for the summer. This time however we had one unexpected passenger, Rei. She rode along so we could take her to the vet. The vet was a few blocks down from Garcia’s (the place we hang out at the market). We asked a translator to go with us, which was a great idea…trust me! When we got there the vet said it was going to be $100.00 because it was an emergency, he opened up just for us, we told him we could not afford that. He went down to $25.00 plus medicine…we said deal! He is normally $15.00 a visit. Rei has a bladder infection more than likely and she got a shot today and medicine to take every morning and night. He also said that he thinks she was born with some sorta condition that makes sand like substances form in her bladder, so he said we need to buy fancy food for her to change the ph level in her diet. It was sad to see her sick, but I am so thankful for that doctor. The rest of day was great and it was fun and sad saying all day… “this is the last time we will…” Thanks for your prayers, keep praying please….I have to go because the room I am typing in has no AC and Will is concerned for me. It is like 90 degrees plus…it is like Hell…well it is what I picture it being.