First day home!

Yes, we just want to eat his cheeks, but we try our best to resist!

Comfy and cozy!

First bath! He cried but he really likes the water being poured on his head.

Our precious angel...sorry it's turned the wrong way.

the birth story

The following is a real story, based on real events, with real people: Rated PG...nothing too detailed though


A long story short:

Diego was born Friday March 20th at 10:56 pm after about two hours of labor. My midwife had given me this magic potion to drink earlier that day to induce labor. It was an all natural birth without an meds! He weiged 9lbs. 6oz. and was 21 inches long.

The long story long:

At my appointment on Friday, the midwife "stripped my membranes" ...yes it sounds gross and yes it hurt but only lasts about 10 seconds...and gave me her birth drink to take around 4:30pm. I had to mix it with champagne which I probably had doubled the amount called for because the drink was so yuck. At 9pm that night I started having strong contractions and thought it was best to call her...she agreed I should probably come in. So we got to the hospital and she checked me around 9:30 and I was only 4-5 centimeters.
Here's a little side note: Do any of you watch lie to me? It's about this guy who can tell if someone is lying by their gestures. Well, one of the obvious signs is when you say yes, but shake your head no at the same time. Have you ever tried to do that? Well, it is really hard. Anyway, the midwife said it was good that we had gone ahead and come to the hospital, but her head was shaking no. I didn't notice, but Juan Pablo had pointed it out to me. I said she probably thinks this will be a long labor...not what I wanted to hear... so she tried to cover it up...Thanks for pointing that out JP!
So the midwife told me to walk around to get things moving. We did that a couple of times (did I mention I was the only baby that night! we had the floor to ourselves) Then I wanted to sit down on the bed. I started feeling hot and knew I was going to throw up (never done that before!) Juan Pablo ran and got me a bowl just in time...so no mess. We told the nurse, thinking maybe she might want to tell the midwife that. Next, the pain was getting pretty bad, so I wanted to lay down and I felt this big pop...I couldn't tell if it was him kicking me really hard or my water breaking...but we told the nurse I think my water just broke. Well, all this information was not getting passed along to the midwife. She had told the nurse, "when she asks for an epidural come and get me because that means the baby is on the way." We all usually get to that point and think, "I can't do this without an epidural." But I knew this too, and had told myself I'm not going to say that no matter what. So when i got to that point, I didn't say it...I was thinking it, but I didn't tell anyone. So the next thing you know, I said I had to push and the nurse had to run and get the midwife who obviously was a little shocked at how fast everything had progressed. Diego did have the cord wrapped around his neck so they had to massage him or something to get him to cry out, but he was fine. Juan Pablo said it was the easiest delivery of the three. I'm not sure, but I'm so glad he's here now.

Diego Fernando Medina

Here are some first pictures of Diego. The kids are so proud and are doing a great job holding him and helping. The picture with Juan Pablo is when he was just born! There will surely be more to come!

blogs

First things first....stll no baby. I go back to the midwife tomorrow to see what we shall do about this. Today Juan Pablo and I took a huge hike on a trail through a park. We both thought we would never make it out of there. At one point I said, "I'm having contractions"....and Juan Pablo said, "Me, too."
Okay, on to other things....I found this great blog the other day, of a mom of 6, who takes the most wonderful pictures and has great decorating ideas!!! She had a post about redoing her kitchen and all the decorating cost no more than $10 I think! If you get a chance, check out the new link on the side resloved2worship.
And I'd also like to say that I love reading the wonderful blogs by all of you creative moms out there! It so great to share ideas and get inspiration by seeing what you are each doing with your families. As anti-electronics as I normally am, I do love blogging....I was never great at keeping a journal, and whenever I would go back and read them, they would sound pretty silly. But blogging is somehow different and the pictures to go along with the entries make it that much better. It's not hard to do...so if you don't have one, check it out and see how easy it is!

a rainy day activity

Here's a great rainy day activity when your kids don't know what to do with themselves! They put these tattoos on all by themselves and must have taken about 2 hours to do it. Joaquin has them all over his stomach, back, and up and down his legs. Isabela has them mostly on her legs...she spelled words with hers. Of course, they're not that easy to come off...so you might want to take that into consideration...but we didn't!

the stranger

This is a great poem I read long ago.
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"A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.

As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. In my young mind, each member had a special niche. My brother, John, five years my senior, was my example. Sara, my younger sister, gave me an opportunity to play 'big brother' and develop the art of teasing. My parents were complementary instructors-- Mom taught me to love Jesus, and Dad taught me to how to obey Him. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening. If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science, he knew it.

He knew about the past and seemed to understand the present. The pictures he could draw were so life like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, John, and me to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several famous people.

The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn't seem to mind-but sometimes Mom would quietly get up-- while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places-- go to her room, read the Bible.

I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house-- not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge, the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in his home - not even for cooking.

But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often.

He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (probably too much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I know now that my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by the stranger.

As I look back, I believe it was God's Mercy that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly so intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if I were to walk into my parents' den today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name you ask?

We called him TV.

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I post this because we've been watching way too much tv around here....and to top it off, Juan Pablo came home yesterday with a 32" flat screen that is now mounted on the wall in the big room. Yes, the picture is great...and you can actually read the words that sometimes appear on the screen...but how I wish we didn't have one!

a full day!

What a great morning we had today! I got the kids up early so we could make it to the Lowe's building project by 9:30am. This was our first time actually doing it...we went once and were too late to get a spot. Today's project was a table top basketball game. The kids we so excited and it was so easy! The whole kit has everything you need, and they give you the apron and goggles, too! And then you even get a certificate and a patch that you can sew onto your apron for everytime that you go. We did put the score boards on backwards twice, but it wasn't hard to fix, and the nails were very easy for the kids to hammer in. Then we left there to go to Michael's for a birthday present...and they were having brownie decorating with icing! So the kids got to do that for free and eat a yummy snack! Then we headed over to Barnes and Noble just because and who should be there but Clifford the Big Red Dog! The kids weren't actually that impressed with him, but I just couldn't believe how great the morning was! But, as you know, all good things must come to an end. Joaquin started acting up as we were checking out...yes, he was probably a little tired from being good all morning...but after he screamed that my breath stunk in front of everyone...definitely time to cut my losses and leave quickly! (By the way, still no baby!)

March 12 has arrived!

So today is the baby's actual due date. Yesterday, I thought I'd take one last picture of me pregnant because I knew the baby was coming yesterday. I didn't even send Joaquin to school because I wasn't sure how I would pick him up! But I still look like this today. When I see the midwife today, I'm sure she'll tell me any day now....which is what I've been thinking for several weeks! Does this mean the baby's going to dilly-dally his whole life?

patience

I'm always telling the kids "patience is a virtue" in that sing-songy motherly voice that we use to pass along wisdom to our children. I must have heard the phrase a lot from my mom growing up. Well, apparently I didn't have any back then, and I still don't! There's still no baby, but the midwife assures me that I am going to have one. God loves it when you work on qualities that you lack...that's why waiting patiently is always on my daily to do list. Whether it is for a school bus, a red light, the bathroom, or a baby! If you think about it, it can be relieving to have to wait....there is nothing you can do about it, and it's a great time to pause and say a prayer, reflect, prepare, be in the moment, have a meaningful conversation and many other things we wish we had more time for. I'm not sure waiting will ever get easier for me, but I have at least learned to recognize WHEN I'm doing it. Then instead of complaining, I do one of those purposeful activities and before you know it, the bus is here, the light is green, the bathroom door opens and the baby is born!

icicles!

We've had the most amazing icicles at our house!! I don't remember ever seeing them so long before!



Star Wars!

bienvenidos

Juan Pablo's family arrived safely yesterday. The kids helped me make a large welcome sign for them. They were so excited, "when are they going to get here, was all I heard yesterday.


We also made cookies. Basically, it's like eating a stick of butter.


They came with lots of gifts for everyone. This was the cutest one, though, matching soccer uniforms! Joaquin has it on again today.

bed and breakfast

Welcome to the hotel Medina! We've set up our big room for Juan Pablo's mom and brother who arrive from Bolivia on Tuesday and will be staying for three weeks. We pulled the trundle out from Joaquin's bed, and moved Isabela's bed out there so they both have drawers underneath for clothes. (Isabela's bed in her room is on one of those metal frames we had stored away.) We had to buy just one mattress which we got a great deal on from Craigslist. So if anyone ever wants to visit, we have a cozy place for you to sleep, and it even has a fire place!

the big snow

We finally got a big one! This is the biggest snow my kids have ever seen. I was so looking forward to it, right up until our power went out at 8pm that night. The kids were already asleep, so they didn't notice until around 4am when Joaquin woke up asking why his night light wasn't working. The house got down to 55 degrees, but thankfully we have the gas fireplace in the big room, so that room was nice and toasty. Our power was back on around 9am, so that made it all better.



Those snow boots I bought the kids finally came in handy! I sent them out to play several times throughout the day...I didn't go out because I only have a few pair of pants that fit me now, and I didn't want to get all cold and wet. The kids would come in covered in snow so they changed clothes at least three times. I had told them not to go on the tree fort because it would be slippery, but who listens to me? I'm no fun anyway!


Joaquin found his bike buried in the snow!


They're melting!!!!