Big brother Judah

Judah's birthday present

I love this video-thanks grandparents for the sweet workbench. Now I just have to teach him to hammer quieter! I love Judah's double-tasking skills at the end of this-check it out!

When I look at Judah it's hard to believe that he is already two! These past few years have been an amazing journey learning how to take care of him. We have learned and grown so much. It's awesome now to see the fruit of our labor and to see Judah's personality more everyday.

Yesterday Jake was at planning meeting for the next Vida Joven club so I was at home with the two boys and instead of having an extra hand I was doing the nightly routine on my own. I have to hand it to single parents, it's no easy task being outnumbered. I was outside watering our yard, I put Asher in the stroller so he could be in on the action and Judah helped me water. This usually turns into him drenching himself with the hose or bucket and I end up stripping him down to a diaper. Well, last night he found a leaf from a huge tree in our yard and started pretending it was a turtle. What amazed me most was that this lasted a half-hour. He continued to entertain himself finding turtles and flying them around the yard. He loved it so much he brought one in the house.

I love birthdays because not only is it a great time to celebrate those we love, but it's a good time for us parents to reflect on our children's lives. The days might be long, but the years sure fly by! I hope I can remember that when I'm exhausted and can't imagine several more years of being at home with the boys. It really does go by fast and I want to savor every moment. Judah's calling my name to come color turtles, so I guess I better go now!

Life goes on

Obla-dee-obla-dah life goes oooon, oh how the life goes on... Remember that TV show? Now that I think about it, it was one of my favorites. It's crazy how life goes on. On Thursday I am celebrating my 29th birthday, wow. I know, I'm not that old, but it is pretty wild that ten years ago I was 19, and that used to feel "old" to me. Now I am the mother of two children, we are a family of four, and life looks so much more different than life at 19. I do miss the freedom of being childless at times, but never would I replace it with the wonderful fullness that I am now experiencing as a mother and wife. So what does life look like right now?

Well, slowly but surely we are adjusting to two children. We are still trying to convince Asher to sleep through the night. We spend an hour to two hours, depending on the evening, feeding Asher, burping Asher, changing Asher and lulling him back to sleep. My wonderful husband helps me with all of those things and tries to stay awake by killing mosquitoes in our room with our electric racquet. It's really quite funny because after killing about five or six very large mosquitoes, full of our blood, Jake looks like he has just slayed a dragon. I am relieved for the entertainment too as I can usually barely keep my eyes open and remember that there is a child in my arms as I feed Asher.

What else? Judah is constantly making us laugh. He is funnier than Jake and I combined, which is pretty funny :) He likes to be really loud when we are trying to get Asher to sleep, I would say he knows what's going on. His favorite animals are hepecants (elephants), weegas (zebras), lali (lion), and gatos (lagarto=lizard in spanish). He loves to speak Spanish to anyone who will listen, his favorite word to repeat over and over is harriba (arriba or up). He is also very sweet. He is a good sharer, shares his toys with Asher, snacks with Mommy and kisses with his favorite little friends.

Besides that we are keeping busy, prepping for the summer and enjoying loving Jesus and loving the people he has put in our lives. I have really been excited about spending more quality time in the word and making my time with God a bigger priority. The more time I spend with Him the more I fall in love with Him. I am constantly reminded to tend this relationship and realizing that HE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MY LIFE! It's not about what I do or what I have, it's about knowing Him! I don't have to worry or be concerned about other things, when I am spending time with the Lord and meditating on his word and praying constantly, He will answer all of my questions or at least put me at ease. So, with that being said, I am going to fill myself up with Jesus and spend time with him before the two kiddos are awake!

Love you all, whoever reads this, thanks for listening...
Kyla

The arrival of Asher!

As many of you know Asher arrived a little late. My due date as March 29th and he was born April 1th at 11:25 pm, almost in his 43rd week of being in my womb! So, I was getting a little bit stir crazy waiting for this little guy to come. Thankfully on Sunday night I started to get contractions on my own instead of having to be induced on Tuesday. I waited them out, although didn't sleep much and on Monday afternoon when they were about 10 minutes apart we left for the hospital.

I went with Jake as well as my friend, Erin. when we arrived at the Dr.'s office my contractions had subsided and I was only dilated to 2cm so he told us to try to spend the night somewhere close to the hospital (we live about 1 hr away) and come when the contractions were stronger. we left for our friends' house and spent the night there, me still contracting and Jake and Erin timing them and helping me through each one. I think my highlight from this night was a few moments of relief while watching some of Nacho Libre and drinking a beer. I tried to put my mind at ease but throughout the night I as having painful back labor and again couldn't sleep. In the morning I was getting desperate to get to the hospital. I didn't want to give birth at our friends' house and by this time I was throwing up and feeling a lot of pain with each contraction.

we arrived at the hospital and again, I was only dilated to 4 cm. It was really hard not to feel frustrated as my Dr. kept checking and saying I was not progressing very far. The day continued and I spent from about 10am that morning until 10 pm that night continuing with contractions, eventually less than 5 minutes apart and only dilated to 5 0r 6 cm. I could not go on any longer, especially as I had decided early on to do things naturally so I hadn't had any iv or pain medication. The Dr. said that what was going on was called failure to progress in labor and for some reason which we couldn't know at the time my cervix just wasn't dilating. I decided at that point that I did not want him to put me on pitocin since I had labored for so long already and we didn't even know if it would help. He said he saw only one option, c-section, and I agreed with much relief! At this point I was yelling for the anesthesiologist! I could not endure a third night of no sleep and fruitless laboring!

So they wheeled me into the operating room and about 30 minutes later, at 11:25 pm. Asher David Salmond arrived! He was posterior, or sunny side, up which explained the back labor and slow labor. But, he was also very healthy: 8 lbs. 4 oz, 22 inches long. Asher arrived just in time, I was able to nurse him right away, and then we all rested up.

Recovering from surgery has not been easy, but I am so glad to have Asher in my arms. It's now a week later and I am feeling much better. My family has helped me so much and hopefully in one more week when my mother-in-law has to leave I will be more than capable of taking care of Judah and Asher by myself. what an adventure this last week has been. I know there is more to come. I am so thankful to God for protecting me through everything and providing the support and sustenance that I need. I cling to Him as my comforter and my healer. I love Isaiah 40:30, "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength...".

Blogging comeback?

I'm wanting to give this a shot one more time, especially with a new baby on the way. I think I will mostly post pictures and videos, so I hope you all enjoy. Here are a few pictures of Judah from going to the zoo with our friends in the capital. Also here's one of Judah being a "moto concho" for his little friend Ezri and using his "reading glasses". Enjoy!

Judah is almost a year!

We have been having fun lately with Judah as he is becoming way more mobile! I took some videos of Judah that I wanted to share. You might want to turn down the volume because as I listened to my voice I realized that my "mommy is excited voice" is a little high-pitched :).

Enjoy! (This is especially for Judah's grandmas who I knew would love to see him in action.)