Maybe, just maybe...

So, we went to Walmart yesterday.
I had a cart with all three kids in it at one point.
Samuel fell asleep on the way there.
Katrina was tired and wanted to ride.
And of course, Joel needed to ride.


There was absolutely no room for ANYTHING!
I had to put a watermelon next to Samuel
in the front part while I asked
Katrina to please walk and held the
infant carrier for a majority of the
time we were there because Joel was
not happy riding in the cart.
It was definitely a sight to see.
I could tell by all the looks.

There were some who looked on with
eyes that said, "Are you out of your mind?"
There were others, a small number, who
looked with eyes of sympathy.
There were still others who looked,
smirked and kept on walking.

Thankfully I did not have to do a big grocery
shop since I made 30 meals for our freezer
before Joel was born and before my in-laws
arrived so we were just getting some
essentials (fruit, tea, etc.).

As we walked to the van
(oh, by the way, my in-laws were along but we
usually separate once we get to a store with a time
to reunite, so they did help quite a bit!)
I could not help but come to the easy realization
that my independent days are over for a little while,
at least.
I really do not like to ask for help.
I do not like to admit that I cannot do it all
myself.
Yet, there is no doubt that I will not be able to
do the big grocery shops that I am comfortable doing.
There is no doubt that I will need Pancho (or my mom) to
either come along and push a cart for groceries
or keep the children at home while I go.
As I pondered this thought I said to the Lord,
"Is this one of the things You want me to learn?
That I cannot do it all alone?"

His response was so clear it hurt my ears.
He wants me to depend on Him first.
And He has gifted me with people who are
willing to come alongside of me to help me,
even in the areas I have designated as "my territories"
(ie. laundry, groceries, house cleaning).
He wants me to depend on them too.

So, maybe, just maybe I will be asking you
to help me with something in the days, weeks or
months ahead.

13 days old

Llegaron los abuelos

Pancho's parents arrived on Tuesday evening and we have been enjoying every moment.

Joel has found a special spot in his Abuelo

and Abuela's heart very quickly.

He has spent quite a bit of time snuggled

into Abuela's arms.

She claims the best place for a baby

is in your arms.

Joel is in 100% agreement!

Nana got her time in

Because Pancho's parents were coming
My mom, Nana, wanted to get in all the
snuggle time she could before their
arrival.
She was successful!
Although I am sure she would disagree.
She still gets to hold him, just not as frequently
because she has to share him with Abuela.

And the BEST Baby EVER Award Goes To...

Joel Thorne Duran

Joel has been a wonderful little addition to our family.
I have not been as rested with a newborn in the house
as I am with him.
Praise the Lord!
Early on we figured out that we should give him a
bottle of breast milk during the night when he wakes to eat
instead of nursing since he is a pokey-nurser but a bottle-guzzler.
That decision has been what has given me 3-5 hour stretches
every night since Saturday night.
What a difference a few more hours of sleep really makes.
We are praising the Lord for this incredible gift.

What do YOU think?

Many people have asked us if we think

Joel looks like Katrina and Samuel did

at that age...

There are some similarities.

There are some differences.

Any thoughts?

Katrina is wrapped in the green blanket.

Samuel is wearing the blue sleeper.

Joel is laying on the blue and white polka-dot blanket.

Joel Thorne

Joel is 9 days old today!

Although he is still quite small,

the days are passing quickly

(and the nights even more quickly -- without much sleep!).

We are more and more in love

with this little miracle

every SINGLE day!

RVA Orientation

Today Katrina, Joel, my mom and I went to Medford for her school orientation.

Katrina is enrolled at Rural Virtual Academy

for the school year.

It is a charter school where we will administer

the curriculum at home.

We are all very excited about this

endeavor!

Katrina met her teacher today:

.

Mrs. Amanda Langdon

We are excited to see what God has

in store for us this year with the RVA.

1st Bath at Home

Big sister and big brother

loved helping give Joel

his first bath at home!

Safe and Sound in Papa's Hands

Chupi Time and Update on Joel and Mama

Yesterday Joel took a chupi (pacifier)

for the first time.

It was love at first suck!

He definitely looks like his older siblings

and in this way, he is acting

just like them!

----------------------------

We have decided to stay in

the hospital one more day.

Our doctor came in this morning at

7 and said that he thought it was

better to stay and recover one more day.

I am experiencing quite a bit of pain

at the incision site so we all thought it was

a good recommendation.

Joel is doing very well.

He slept great last night.

The nurse offered to take him to the

nursery (which was a surprise to us)

so we could get some better rest

and that was such a blessing.

I think I got 6 hours of combined sleep,

which is HUGE!

He is also eating well.

We are enjoying him so very

much and look forward

to getting home and establishing

a new normal as a family of 5.

Already in love

We are already so in love with this little miracle.

So SO in love!

Katrina is so in love with Joel already.

She wants to hold him ALL the time and is a wonderful

help already as well.

Samuel is very loving with his "baby brother."

He also enjoys holding him and watching his quirky movements.

And we are totally in love with being a family of five.

What a gift Joel is to our family!

Praise God with us for this beautiful time of addition.

Welcome ...

Joel Thorne Duran (Joe-L)

Weight: 7 lb. 5.3 oz.

Length: 19 1/2 in.

Date of Arrival: 08/12/2011

Time of Arrival: 11:24 PM

We would like to introduce to you

the newest member of the Duran family.

When we were convinced that God had another baby in store for our family,

we made a deliberate decision to trust Him with yet another part of our lives.

The pregnancy was stressful as we followed the strict regimen set up by the doctors.

Several weeks into the pregnancy, I was feeling very similarly to how I felt being

pregnant with Katrina so we began to think the baby was a girl.

After that I was reading in Luke 1 about the angel of the Lord who came to Zechariah

to tell him about the child soon to be born to him and Elizabeth.

Zechariah's response to the angel's news was, "How can I be sure of this?"

As I read this, those word struck a cord deep within me.

I too was having many doubts and was asking the Lord,

"How can I be sure that this

baby is part of Your plan?"

I continued to read what the angel replied,

"I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God,

and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news."

In that moment I was convinced that the baby's name would be Gabriela Hope.

The next morning I told Pancho and he was 100% on board with the name.

So, a few more weeks passed and we went to the ultrasound,

sure that we would be handed a strawberry.

Much to our surprise, we were handed a blueberry!

Don't get me wrong, we were not the least bit disappointed

but we were so sure about

the baby being a girl that it took us a bit

to get our minds around the idea of another boy.

So, after our party that evening,

I was feeling a little anxious about a name.

Gabriela Hope was no longer an option.

Back to the name drawing board we headed.

I really like names with strong meanings

so I started to send Pancho names that I liked via instant messenger.

He vetoed most of the names.

I absolutely LOVED the name Thorne but it was a no,

until we paired it with Joel,

putting the Thorne in the middle.

I told him that I loved the meaning.

Joel means "God will be willing."

Throughout the pregnancy 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

became very dear to my heart.

"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,

for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself,

there was given me a thorn in the flesh . . .

Concerning this I implored the Lord

three times that it might leave me.

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,

for power is perfected in weakness.”

Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast

about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Therefore I am well content with weaknesses,

with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties,

for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

So, to us, Thorne is what God used to manifest His sufficient grace to us.

Therefore, his name means

"God will be willing to make His grace sufficient."

Joel Thorne

We decided that we would not call him by the original

complete English or Spanish pronunciation of Joel

(are you that surprised since we use the Spanish pronunciation of Samuel?).

In English the name is pronounced: well, you know!

In Spanish the name is pronounced Hoe-L.

So, we combined them.

The first part will be the English pronunciation

and the second part the Spanish pronunciation.

Joe-L.

And then we thought that we could call him

"J.T." for short, should we ever have the desire.

So, we are proud to introduce to you

Joel Thorne Duran

whom God has used (among many other things)

to show us that

He has been willing

to make His grace sufficient for us.

What an incredible gift!