Not sure if I have any readers left but....here goes nothing :-).
I am nearing the end of this pregnancy journey so I wanted to post some thoughts. I am so excited to meet this baby and we will have our first introduction in 18 short days. Here are a few random thoughts on how things have gone....
1. This has been a harder pregnancy physically than the others. I think the primary reason is because I have been taking care of Ellison and Jude. Ellison has really enjoyed her afternoon tv time while mom catches a nap, however.
2. This little one is incredibly active. I mean crazy movement!! This is for sure more than I remember with the other 2. I love it though because it's a reminder of what's going on.
3. Boy or Girl?? Ha I have no clue. I love hearing all the guesses of those around me. The overwhelming majority of people are saying boy, but I keep thinking girl for some reason. I've been wrong on my guess both other times so....
4. We have a nursery ready! This is the first time we've ever been able to do this and I've had a lot of fun. We were living with Ian's parents when Ellison came and little Jude decided to come 5 weeks early. I went into labor the night that we put his crib together. So I have really enjoyed getting things ready ahead of time.
5. I'm really looking forward to maternity leave. It gives me permission to completely stop...everything and I'm really excited about having some down time with all 3 children and watching this new little one become a part of our family.
6. I'm praying Big for a healthy baby that will come home when I get released from the hospital. That is truly a gift and I didn't fully realize that until I had to walk away from the hospital without our baby boy. So I'm really praying that we will be the norm this time.
That's really all that I can think of right now. Just really excited to meet this baby and to see how our kids react to another sibling.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Hello Friends!
It's been far too long since my last post but a bit of normalcy has returned so here we go. There is so much that I can update about since it's been ages since my last post but here are a few new happenings in the lives of the Chadwicks.
1. We moved! That's right... the weekend before Thanksgiving we changed residence. It was not really by choice, but as always God provided and we are settling in nicely. There are so many stories of his provision and faithfulness all wrapped up in this one story, but I just want to say...YAY God. We decided to put the kids in their own rooms because the sleeping together was getting out of hand at our last place and led to much earlier wake ups than we wanted. So far things are working out nicely and everyone is happy in their rooms.
2. December was such a great month! We started a some new traditions this year and got to spend so much more time just hanging out as a family. One of the highlights of the month was taking Ellison to see The Princess and the Frog. Man she lit up! She loved every minute of it and I had more fun watching her giggle and smile than seeing the movie itself. She has been asking for us to go on a date and this proved to be such a special time for the both of us. Christmas Eve and morning were very memorable too. The funniest story is that Ellison has been asking for a double stroller since October. So we took her to see Santa and that was all she asked for once again. So we knew that it had to be downstairs when she woke up. About 10PM on Christmas Eve we go to open the box to the stroller and there are 2 wheels missing!!! This led to me running up the stairs in tears and Ian and Marcel headed out the door to find some sort of makeshift replacement. The boys came through and Ellison did not know the difference on Christmas morning.
3. The Beard. Because my friend Allison asked me to please document this I did. I will attempt to post some pictures below but unfortunately I still am not the best at getting the pictures in the right order with captions. This is now a December tradition (according to Ian) but he goes from a full beard to clean shaven in 4 days. The final day is hilarious.
4. Baby #3. We are all very excited about the baby coming in May. Although my due date says the 12th of May, I'm measuring for the 5th at this point. They will determine my c-section date in March. I'm feeling movement and we even got to see my belly move for the first time 2 nights ago!! The verdict is still out on names and we actually haven't really had any major discussion about it yet. Hopefully we'll land on a good one.
For the sake of this post not being too long, I'll end it there. I hope you enjoyed your holidays as well. I look forward to sharing more timely updates now that life is settling in again.
Day 1-Full Beard (sorry hard to see)
Day 2 (This is my favorite of the days)
Day 3 (hmmmm)
Day 4 (This is just funny)
It's been far too long since my last post but a bit of normalcy has returned so here we go. There is so much that I can update about since it's been ages since my last post but here are a few new happenings in the lives of the Chadwicks.
1. We moved! That's right... the weekend before Thanksgiving we changed residence. It was not really by choice, but as always God provided and we are settling in nicely. There are so many stories of his provision and faithfulness all wrapped up in this one story, but I just want to say...YAY God. We decided to put the kids in their own rooms because the sleeping together was getting out of hand at our last place and led to much earlier wake ups than we wanted. So far things are working out nicely and everyone is happy in their rooms.
2. December was such a great month! We started a some new traditions this year and got to spend so much more time just hanging out as a family. One of the highlights of the month was taking Ellison to see The Princess and the Frog. Man she lit up! She loved every minute of it and I had more fun watching her giggle and smile than seeing the movie itself. She has been asking for us to go on a date and this proved to be such a special time for the both of us. Christmas Eve and morning were very memorable too. The funniest story is that Ellison has been asking for a double stroller since October. So we took her to see Santa and that was all she asked for once again. So we knew that it had to be downstairs when she woke up. About 10PM on Christmas Eve we go to open the box to the stroller and there are 2 wheels missing!!! This led to me running up the stairs in tears and Ian and Marcel headed out the door to find some sort of makeshift replacement. The boys came through and Ellison did not know the difference on Christmas morning.
3. The Beard. Because my friend Allison asked me to please document this I did. I will attempt to post some pictures below but unfortunately I still am not the best at getting the pictures in the right order with captions. This is now a December tradition (according to Ian) but he goes from a full beard to clean shaven in 4 days. The final day is hilarious.
4. Baby #3. We are all very excited about the baby coming in May. Although my due date says the 12th of May, I'm measuring for the 5th at this point. They will determine my c-section date in March. I'm feeling movement and we even got to see my belly move for the first time 2 nights ago!! The verdict is still out on names and we actually haven't really had any major discussion about it yet. Hopefully we'll land on a good one.
For the sake of this post not being too long, I'll end it there. I hope you enjoyed your holidays as well. I look forward to sharing more timely updates now that life is settling in again.
Day 1-Full Beard (sorry hard to see)
Day 2 (This is my favorite of the days)
Day 3 (hmmmm)
Day 4 (This is just funny)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Halloween
Just wanted to share some pictures from Halloween. The kids had a great time. This year I ventured out and made Ellison's costume. It was so much fun for me and the fact that she loved it made it that much better. I used the pottery barn costume here as my inspiration.
Hope you had a good Halloween too!
Hope you had a good Halloween too!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Saying Good-bye
Just as quickly as he came Malik left our home today. We had a feeling that it could happen this week but after a mix up of court dates, and a positive meeting with his advocate, we weren't sure that he would leave. In some ways we were thinking the courts would change the course of action and somehow choose to keep him with us. DFACS called me at around 11AM this morning and said that the judge had granted guardianship to Ms. Jackson (a friend of Malik's family). I was told to have all of his things packed by 1:30. That was it.
My immediate reaction was one of deep sadness. On a number of levels really. Although it's been a difficult 3 months saying good-bye to Malik closed a chapter, (at least for now), in our lives. I feel sad because our hearts had hoped that he would become our son. He had already begun to bond with our kids and with us. He learned how to eat, crawl, cruise and stand while he lived in our home. He started talking and using da-da and ma-ma when we were around. Although we would pass on his scream :-) his squeels of delight were a joy to us all. I will really miss seeing him and having him as a part of the Chadwicks.
As I type my eyes and heart are so very full right now. Maybe I'm hoping that this will help to heal this sore spot that his absence has left. We prayed for Malik as a family before he left. We prayed that God would not forget him and that some day he would be a son of God. Honestly we have no regrets. We had a dream and went for it. It didn't work out the way we planned but we have to trust that we obeyed God and we pray that He was honored by the past 3 months of our lives.
Please pray for our family and mostly for Malik. His mother is currently not complying with her requirements to obtain custody of him. As always kids are resilliant, but Ian and I are sad. I know the sadness will go away and time will ease the ache, but today we just miss him and we are putting to rest the idea that he would be a part of us forever. At some point in our lives we do hope to be on this journey again, but for now it seems wisest for us all to wait.
My immediate reaction was one of deep sadness. On a number of levels really. Although it's been a difficult 3 months saying good-bye to Malik closed a chapter, (at least for now), in our lives. I feel sad because our hearts had hoped that he would become our son. He had already begun to bond with our kids and with us. He learned how to eat, crawl, cruise and stand while he lived in our home. He started talking and using da-da and ma-ma when we were around. Although we would pass on his scream :-) his squeels of delight were a joy to us all. I will really miss seeing him and having him as a part of the Chadwicks.
As I type my eyes and heart are so very full right now. Maybe I'm hoping that this will help to heal this sore spot that his absence has left. We prayed for Malik as a family before he left. We prayed that God would not forget him and that some day he would be a son of God. Honestly we have no regrets. We had a dream and went for it. It didn't work out the way we planned but we have to trust that we obeyed God and we pray that He was honored by the past 3 months of our lives.
Please pray for our family and mostly for Malik. His mother is currently not complying with her requirements to obtain custody of him. As always kids are resilliant, but Ian and I are sad. I know the sadness will go away and time will ease the ache, but today we just miss him and we are putting to rest the idea that he would be a part of us forever. At some point in our lives we do hope to be on this journey again, but for now it seems wisest for us all to wait.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
First Trimester- A challenge
Although I love being pregnant, the first trimester of pregnancy is always a little tricky. I'm always eager for those signs that show the world that something is really going on in there. Also, my personality is one where It's really easy for me to hold back emotion and I feel like I've been doing that this time around more than normal. Honestly I think I've heard story after story of pregnancy loss or newborn deaths and the reality of the fact that things don't always turn out the way that you want them to is staring me in the face. So I admit, I've been holding back a bit. That combined with a busy lifestyle and the unknowns of Malik have just left me feeling.....weird. I just keep moving and hoping that another week passes quickly. Another week to check off and get me on to the next. I know, however, that that's not how it's meant to be.
Even as I type this I am reminded of the scripture that says, "This is the day that the Lord has made, we should rejoice and be glad in it." It's probably one of the first verses that I memorized as a child because I can remember my dad saying it all the time. (Thanks Dad!) My challenge right now is to stay in each day, to be thankful for the nausea and other pregnancy unmentionables that are going on. They serve as reminders to me that today I am carrying a little miracle inside of me and what a gift that is.
Please pray along with me that I can celebrate each day and put the rest in God's hands.
Even as I type this I am reminded of the scripture that says, "This is the day that the Lord has made, we should rejoice and be glad in it." It's probably one of the first verses that I memorized as a child because I can remember my dad saying it all the time. (Thanks Dad!) My challenge right now is to stay in each day, to be thankful for the nausea and other pregnancy unmentionables that are going on. They serve as reminders to me that today I am carrying a little miracle inside of me and what a gift that is.
Please pray along with me that I can celebrate each day and put the rest in God's hands.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Good News
So we have been blessed with some great news in our home. First we found out that we are expecting our next child in May! We are so excited we can hardly stand it. We actually found out before our vacation, but went to the doctor last week and confirmed that there is a little bean in there. I thought I'd answer some questions that we've been getting in this post.
Lots of people have asked us if we "planned" our pregnancy. Honestly after the difficulty of getting pregnant with Jude we earned a whole new insight on the idea of "trying" to get pregnant. The miracle of conception and birth are overwhelming. Because of that we decided that we wouldn't try to "plan" this one. We have just left the timing up to God and we're grateful for each day that I get to carry this child and we are praying for the day that we will bring him/her home.
What about Malik? In case you've missed other posts, we do already have 3 children in our home :-). Malik is still with us. There are lots of emotions that roll around concerning that little guy. As of right now we are still his foster parents and it appears that he will leave our home at some point. (The other day Ellison heard me say that "it looks like he will leave our home" to someone and she said to me later "he doesn't look like he's going to leave our home to me." It's really cute how literal she is.) Our hearts are torn and we are not looking forward to the day, should it come, that he leaves. He really fits in with us so well and we'll have to wait and see what the Lord has in store. The next court date is in mid October. Until then, Malik is our son and we will love him as such.
About the gender? We waited to find out the gender of our first 2 kids. Ian told me that the choice is mine about finding out the gender this time. At first I thought it would be fun but after some thought, I think I want to wait again. We already have one of each and I love the excitement towards the end of the pregnancy and on the day of birth. This child will be delivered through c-section, so we will know the birthdate long before it comes. Keeping the gender a surprise is something special for us so I think I'm going to wait until his/her birthday. As for the nursery, the funny this is, we've been in transition when each of our kids arrived so I've never really done anything super fancy. This time will be no different....
Which leads me to my second bit of good news. Over the past 5 years we have pursued going back overseas. It has indeed been a pursuit. Multiple applications, a trip to Austria, numerous conversations with our missions staff at church, prayer, tears, and more prayer. On our last day of vacation, we finally completed our application to a sending agency that we've had a relationship with over the past 4 years, and last Friday we found out that we are officially candidates! The final step is to become an appointee but that happens a few months or weeks before going to the field. Right now there are lots of details up in the air and we, along with our church, are prayerfully considering where we would fit in. Our hearts have always thought that it would be Austria, but we are not sure that's going to be where God is leading us.
So, there you have it! 2 big bits of news in our home. Please be praying that God will keep this little one safe in my womb and for our family as we earnestly seek God's direction in his will for our lives overseas. We are so excited to see what he's up to!
Lots of people have asked us if we "planned" our pregnancy. Honestly after the difficulty of getting pregnant with Jude we earned a whole new insight on the idea of "trying" to get pregnant. The miracle of conception and birth are overwhelming. Because of that we decided that we wouldn't try to "plan" this one. We have just left the timing up to God and we're grateful for each day that I get to carry this child and we are praying for the day that we will bring him/her home.
What about Malik? In case you've missed other posts, we do already have 3 children in our home :-). Malik is still with us. There are lots of emotions that roll around concerning that little guy. As of right now we are still his foster parents and it appears that he will leave our home at some point. (The other day Ellison heard me say that "it looks like he will leave our home" to someone and she said to me later "he doesn't look like he's going to leave our home to me." It's really cute how literal she is.) Our hearts are torn and we are not looking forward to the day, should it come, that he leaves. He really fits in with us so well and we'll have to wait and see what the Lord has in store. The next court date is in mid October. Until then, Malik is our son and we will love him as such.
About the gender? We waited to find out the gender of our first 2 kids. Ian told me that the choice is mine about finding out the gender this time. At first I thought it would be fun but after some thought, I think I want to wait again. We already have one of each and I love the excitement towards the end of the pregnancy and on the day of birth. This child will be delivered through c-section, so we will know the birthdate long before it comes. Keeping the gender a surprise is something special for us so I think I'm going to wait until his/her birthday. As for the nursery, the funny this is, we've been in transition when each of our kids arrived so I've never really done anything super fancy. This time will be no different....
Which leads me to my second bit of good news. Over the past 5 years we have pursued going back overseas. It has indeed been a pursuit. Multiple applications, a trip to Austria, numerous conversations with our missions staff at church, prayer, tears, and more prayer. On our last day of vacation, we finally completed our application to a sending agency that we've had a relationship with over the past 4 years, and last Friday we found out that we are officially candidates! The final step is to become an appointee but that happens a few months or weeks before going to the field. Right now there are lots of details up in the air and we, along with our church, are prayerfully considering where we would fit in. Our hearts have always thought that it would be Austria, but we are not sure that's going to be where God is leading us.
So, there you have it! 2 big bits of news in our home. Please be praying that God will keep this little one safe in my womb and for our family as we earnestly seek God's direction in his will for our lives overseas. We are so excited to see what he's up to!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Soccer
First of all, hello! It's been a while. I feel like I should introduce all of my posts by saying "This week on I & B +3." (Like John and Kate plus 8) Life is going so fast these days and it feels like the laundry is never done and there is always work to be done. Tonight I have a few free moments (well I'm taking a few free moments) to update so here we go....
For those of you who know our little girl Ellison, this post should come as no surprise at all. Tonight we had our first soccer practice. Ian and I have been so excited. I think Ian has been especially excited since he's really taken an interest in soccer over the past couple years. For about a month now, I've been on the lookout for some soccer cleats and we finally got some shin guards and soccer socks yesterday for the big introduction.
Let's start our story by saying that things were not well on the home front. Ellison had a complete meltdown 5 minutes before we were set to leave (I took away her blanky as punishment for the way she was treating Jude). On top of that, I had to put a "sportsy" outfit together for her which she did not approve of and that led to a further outburst of tears. I mean, I liked the blue on blue ensemble with the orange socks (her team color) but she obviously did not. Through her tears she told me that none of the other kids would be dressed like that. Oh really...and how old are you again??! At just the right time, Ian came home from work and brought some calm to the storm. We may not have made it to soccer had I been doing it alone.
We finally load everyone into the van and within 2 minutes our little soccer player is knocked out cold! Mind you the church where she is playing is only 7 minutes away with traffic. So we wake her up and she and Ian run onto the field. Thanks to the little meltdown, we were unable to leave home in time to be there early. Me and the boys arrive on the field to see Ian holding Ellison running from coach to coach looking for her team. He is finally able to find her team and they are already doing drills. NOT GOOD! She immediately clammed up and would not leave Ian's side. All of the kids practiced their dribbling and shooting ...but not our girl. She watched and observed. She sat very close to daddy the entire time. Nearly an hour passed without a bit of action out of Ellison. That is until the snacks were pulled out. This was the only time she actually sat near the team without Ian around.
I can see so much of me in that little girl. I am the same way. Although it's not approaching a soccer field in an outfit I don't like with kids I don't know and a coach who I'm not sure about, I have to feel a situation out before I'll dive in and try something. It's amazing what they pick up! I am so blessed to be complimented by my husband because he is nothing like that. He goes after life 100%. He really wanted her to be a part of organized sports to help her overcome some of her fears. I'm so thankful for his insight and love for his 2 hesitant girls.
Oh and BTW... I cannot conclude this post without a note about the Juder. He had to be pulled off of the field by yours truly, with Malik in the Baby Bjorn, multiple times. He even lined up with another team as there were practicing their drills. If I could have I would have gotten a picture. He was so ready to kick one into the net!
I hope you are all well. Thanks to those of you who keep up with our lives. The fun just keeps on coming. I hope to update tomorrow about our vacation.
For those of you who know our little girl Ellison, this post should come as no surprise at all. Tonight we had our first soccer practice. Ian and I have been so excited. I think Ian has been especially excited since he's really taken an interest in soccer over the past couple years. For about a month now, I've been on the lookout for some soccer cleats and we finally got some shin guards and soccer socks yesterday for the big introduction.
Let's start our story by saying that things were not well on the home front. Ellison had a complete meltdown 5 minutes before we were set to leave (I took away her blanky as punishment for the way she was treating Jude). On top of that, I had to put a "sportsy" outfit together for her which she did not approve of and that led to a further outburst of tears. I mean, I liked the blue on blue ensemble with the orange socks (her team color) but she obviously did not. Through her tears she told me that none of the other kids would be dressed like that. Oh really...and how old are you again??! At just the right time, Ian came home from work and brought some calm to the storm. We may not have made it to soccer had I been doing it alone.
We finally load everyone into the van and within 2 minutes our little soccer player is knocked out cold! Mind you the church where she is playing is only 7 minutes away with traffic. So we wake her up and she and Ian run onto the field. Thanks to the little meltdown, we were unable to leave home in time to be there early. Me and the boys arrive on the field to see Ian holding Ellison running from coach to coach looking for her team. He is finally able to find her team and they are already doing drills. NOT GOOD! She immediately clammed up and would not leave Ian's side. All of the kids practiced their dribbling and shooting ...but not our girl. She watched and observed. She sat very close to daddy the entire time. Nearly an hour passed without a bit of action out of Ellison. That is until the snacks were pulled out. This was the only time she actually sat near the team without Ian around.
I can see so much of me in that little girl. I am the same way. Although it's not approaching a soccer field in an outfit I don't like with kids I don't know and a coach who I'm not sure about, I have to feel a situation out before I'll dive in and try something. It's amazing what they pick up! I am so blessed to be complimented by my husband because he is nothing like that. He goes after life 100%. He really wanted her to be a part of organized sports to help her overcome some of her fears. I'm so thankful for his insight and love for his 2 hesitant girls.
Oh and BTW... I cannot conclude this post without a note about the Juder. He had to be pulled off of the field by yours truly, with Malik in the Baby Bjorn, multiple times. He even lined up with another team as there were practicing their drills. If I could have I would have gotten a picture. He was so ready to kick one into the net!
I hope you are all well. Thanks to those of you who keep up with our lives. The fun just keeps on coming. I hope to update tomorrow about our vacation.
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