New Website

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Curious things about our new home and community

A few snippets and photos from our new home and what is like to live here:

buying fresh tortillas just about across the street, 2 for a Lempira

rain that is so loud on our tin roof that we can not even talk across the table during a storm

the many smiles and greetings that we get when we take Guillermo David out and about

the crib is extra protected- a mosquito net for mosquitoes, cups of liquid on each leg for ants and strategically placed to avoid leaks in the roof

washing clothes in the washer and hanging them to dry makes us feel very fortunate and sad when we see our neighbors carrying a bucket of water 5 blocks

getting used to new sounds: chickens, dogs, gun shots, buses, a traveling circus that was nearby for 2 weeks

getting to walk to work and eating lunch together at home

having youth stop by to say hello

observing the creative systems our friends have to trap the water from the gutters

after meeting a lot of people at the assembly last Sunday, we are running into more people we know on the street

Guillermo checks out Los Pinos from our roof

Our wash area, complete with a security gate, provides fresh air for the back of the house

Guillermo David gets his daily bath with bottled water as tap water is unsanitary

Spending time with friends in the hamaca in our back hallway

Our street

Entrance to our apartment

Favorite mode of transportation as there are few places to use a stroller

3 months

We have a big boy!

still in 95% for height at 25.6inches
still 90% for weight at 15 lbs 4 oz
50% for weight by height (meaning he is well proportioned, not too fat or too skinny)

2 months

Time flies… sometimes!  Guillermo David turned 2 months old yesterday.  He celebrated with some shots at the dr’s office.  He weights 13.5 lbs and measures 24.8 inches… like a 3 1/2 month year old according to the doctor.  So he is a big boy!  My arms, shoulder and back would agree-he is heavy to carry around.  Here are some more stats and pictures:

Favorite activities: eating (every 2-3 hours still), chatting with mommy and papi, looking at the toys hanging from his play gym, kicking his blankets off when he is going to sleep, pooping! (and now crying, but that probably isn’t his favorite, he just does it a lot!)

Favorite places: mom’s chest for sleeping, papi’s shoulder when he has gas, bouncy chair and play gym for awake time.

 

 

one month

Yesterday we all celebrated one month of Guillermo David’s life as well as surviving one month of parenthood!  Hooray!  For reals-the first month is rough, but also amazing.  We have made it through getting all of his feeding figured out-it took about two weeks to get him to be just breastfed with no other supplementing or help.  Currently we are working on sleeping and he has not quite figured out what day and night mean.  We got him a bouncy chair with the hopes of keeping him up and awake more during the day.

Yesterday we had a Valentine’s Day lunch with the Jimenez family and then stopped by pricemart and then went to the dr for his one month check up.  We (especially me) were excited to learn that he is a big boy- he has gained 4 lbs and 6 cm in one month.  Of course I would be glad to see him growing under any circumstance, but the fact that he his 100% breastfed makes me feel very accomplished and proud.  Here are his one month stats: length 58 cm, weight 11 lbs, head circumference 38 cm.  This puts him in the 90-95% for height and weight.  He is also going bald, slowly, via a receding hairline!  Here are some pics of reading with dad:

OshKosh

These overalls are size 3 months, but they fit him pretty well.  So adorable!

 

 

reflections

Having a baby makes you appreciate things that money can’t buy:

sleep

free time

love

family

friends

success in breastfeeding

your mom

a baby who knows night from day (and sleeps accordingly!)

getting out of the house on a regular basis

an awesome husband

Welcome Guillermo David!

Welcome Guillermo David!  Our son made his appearance on January 14, 2011 at 1:50 pm.  Here is a summary of his birth: My first contraction was at 3 am- it woke me up from a solid sleep!  It was 2 days after his due date and I had had a really hard time going to sleep that night with the worst case of restless legs.  The contractions were about 10 minutes apart and I had a little blood, so I knew this was probably the real thing.  We waited to call the dr at 5, after the contractions had been consistently 10 minutes apart.  For those two hours we tried to sleep and rest.  The dr said to come in and get checked at 6 at the clinic in Tegucigalpa.  Of course when I got up and showered and finished packing, things slowed down.  That ended up being true for the whole labor: when I walked around, things slowed down, when I layed down, things moved faster.  We drove down to the clinic and the dr checked me, I was at 4 cm!  Better than I expected because I was at 0 only a couple days before.  We went up to the hospital in Valle de Angeles, stopping for some coffee along the way for Guillermo.  We checked in at 8.  The morning was pretty mellow- I was in between walking the halls and laying in bed.  I felt pretty comfortable most of the time-only in pain during the contractions which were manageable.  By noon I was around 7 or 8 cm and the dr broke my water.  At 1 they took me to the delivery room.  Guillermo was with me the whole time and was a great support!  He watched the birth and accompanied Guillermo David to the nursery for clean up.  All in all, labor was easier than I thought and delivery and pushing were harder than I had imagined.  The little guy came out screaming and was in great shape. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and measured 20.5 inches.

 

Here are some pictures from his first 3.5 weeks of life- he has changed so much already!  My mom (Nana) and my grandma visited for 10 days.  They were a huge help and we had a great visit.

1 day old

 

Little cutie pie!

 

1 week old

2 weeks old

Little soccer star! (3.5 weeks old)

only missing one thing…

…the baby!

Here is a quick tour of Guillermo David’s room.  I think it as turned out so cute!  The great thing is that most everything you see here is gifted or loaned, we have been so blessed by friends and family!  We found out yesterday at the Dr. that the latest he will be allowed to come is the 19th.  If I make it to 40 weeks (next Wed), I will get an ultrasound and see how things look.  If they look good, I’ll be allowed to go to 41 weeks.  If conditions are not adequate or he doesn’t arrive by 41 weeks, he will get an eviction notice.  I’m having a few more signs of early labor, so hopefully he will come around his due date.

Everything came together so cute and matching!  I found the fabric to make a cover for the couch at a fabric store after almost giving up on finding an already made sheet set.

This is the changing table Guillermo made- it turned out awesome!  A friend is making the cushion to go on top and we will find some little shelves to go underneath to hold diapers etc.  Our good friends Jose and Karla stopped by to drop off the curtains that Karla made.  They match great with some bedding I got at a baby shower in CO.

Need a little inspiration?  These are on the bedside table: a card someone gave me that I loved, a Che Guevara figure that Guillermo had, and 2 kids Bibles (not pictured).  The card says: “Just when you think you know Love, something little comes along to remind you just how Big it really is…. a beautiful little baby.”

His crib is one that many in our church community have used.  The original family’s kids are now in high school, but they have passed the crib from one family to the next.  Its previous user was Guillermo’s cousin’s daughter.  She (Jessika) is also the one who made this awesome mosquito net!  Living here we see year round bugs, so most babies use some kind of a net over the bed.  She put her finishing touches on the white net, adding the top cover and button decorations.  The poster on the wall is something Guillermo got from his dad when he was little, it says “Daddy, thanks for sharing your life with me because from the first moment, you wanted us to be friends.”  So special!

Close up of detail

Suitcase for hospital-check.  Car seat-check.  Diaper bag-check.  The cute calendar is from Tia Carmen.

His closet is organized and ready with clothes, diapers, blankets, bath stuff and more.  We’ll have to hang his welcome sign too.

building

Guillermo is building a changing table for the baby- his first major carpentry project and a chance to use his tools.  I’ll post some pics when it is done.

We are still waiting for Guillermo David to make his appearance.  His due date is not until January 11, so not to worry.  It is hard to stay mentally prepared for “it could be today” and “it could be January 18″ at the same time.  One thing that has encouraged me is this article, which I came upon.  It looks like babies need as much time in the womb as possible.  I do feel a lot of women want to be done with pregnancy at 37 weeks when babies are generally considered full term.

We have been laying low around the house this holiday season.  I basically finished work on the 23rd (minus some work via email that I am still doing).  We had traditional Honduran Christmas dinner on the 24th with Guillermo’s family and then a Christmas breakfast (my preference) on the 25th with just us.  I made homemade cinnamon rolls and they were delicious!