A Heart for God's Word

 

Katrina got a CD set for Christmas from her uncle Shawn and aunt Leanne. It is a set of Bible stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament and it came with a song CD as well.

At first we put the song CD in after our family devotion time and she enjoyed that for several weeks. Then she wanted a different CD in while she falls asleep. So, she has been listening to the first CD from the New Testament CD for several weeks too and has many of the stories memorized (which is SUPER cute). This morning she turned the CD on when she woke up and then wanted to eat her breakfast in front of the CD player.

We are so thankful she already has such a heart for God's Word.

New Gadgets

Katrina has been enjoying playing with Samuel's "appliances."

We brought her car in from the garage and she wanted to give her baby a ride.

This is the best way I could rig it up...

 

 

 

Little Mama

What a little mama!

For those of you who are wondering... I am nursing and supplementing with pumped milk. I had difficulty with Katrina with the nursing and we are trying to prevent issues with weight gain (lack thereof) and so we are giving him pumped milk after he nurses. Tonight Katrina got to help feed him the bottle. She did a wonderful job (and wanted to do it ALL BY HERSELF!!!).

The past few days as a family of four

So many of you are asking for more pictures. So, here are some snapshots of the past few days as a family of four...

Mama and Samuel in the hospital.

Samuel taking a snooze after a little snack in the hospital.

Katrina checking out her baby brother's mouth and ears. She is a GREAT big sister.

Katrina "feeding" her doll. Like Mama like daughter.

Another snooze after an evening snack in the hospital.

Many people have said how big his feet are. Maybe he will be a tall one...

Here we are ready to leave the hospital on Thursday at noon.

He looks like a mouse in the car seat!

Katrina loving on Samuel. She still wants Mama to hold her too! (Don't worry... Pancho gently set her on my lap!)

Samuel's preferred nighttime sleep location.

First bath... NOT a big fan of the tub.

Katrina is such a big helper.

Everyone was much happier once the bath was over (especially Samuel being wrapped in a warm towel).

 

 

 

Bienvenidos al Mundo

Welcome to the world, Samuel Jose Duran. On Monday at 7:19 PM Samuel made his entrance in this (out-utero) world. He weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces and measured in at 19.5 inches long. He has some dark hair and is such a miracle. Papa, Mama, Big Sister and Baby are doing well. I will post the story later, but a little bit behind the name... We have always really loved the name Samuel (we are pronouncing it the Spanish way -- Sam-well) because of its significance in the Bible. In the book of I Samuel Hannah pleads with the Lord for a child and He gives her Samuel, whom she then dedicates back to God and His service. She says, "For this boy I have prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him" in I Samuel 27. This is definitely the beat in our heart for our Samuel as well. Then, a few chapters later, Eli's sons are disobedient and the Lord calls upon Samuel to tell Eli what is going to happen to his sons because of their behavior. Eli's response is something that we have striven to replicate, a response of utter trust in what the Lord has planned, "It is the Lord, let Him do what seems good to Him." (I Samuel 3:18) With each miscarriage between Katrina and Samuel we have pursued this attitude, "It is the Lord, let Him do as He sees fit." So, that is why we have chosen Samuel for our son's first name. Then, onto Jose. Panchito's middle name is Jose, which is Joseph in Spanish for those of you who don't know. This year both Panchito and I are reading through the Bible and we have both again been impressed by the life and attitudes of Joseph as he was wrongly treated by so many people and situations. At the end of Genesis after Joseph and his brothers have reconciled, Joseph says to them, "As for me, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result." (Genesis 50:20) Our hearts echo this as well. Through the course of this "journey" (trying for another baby, losing three after Katrina, dealing with the diagnosis of a clotting disorder and receiving treatment for that during this pregnancy) we could have easily believed that only "evil" would come from it and yet we stand firm on the truth that what the world and Satan meant for evil, God meant for good to bring about this present result. We are exclaiming again, "Great is Thy faithfulness!"

Sweet and Salty

Today Katrina said something so sweet... and later she said something rather salty...

Lately she has been hugging us and saying, "I am loving you, Papa." We are not sure where she picked up that saying, but it is sweet.

So, this morning she was hugging her papa while eating her breakfast and she said, "Papa, I am loving you really hard." She was squeezing his arm pretty hard and it was super sweet.

Then, this evening we were watching a discovery video about animals and she looked at me as I sat beside her and said in all seriousness, "Mama, do animals have butts?"

Rather a salty question, if you ask me, but I must admit she is inquisitive!

 

Ice-Fishing Debut

Today Katrina had her first experience ice-fishing. Because I have had to have the non-stress tests every week since 31 weeks we have tried to not bring Katrina along to the appointments. It is unnerving enough to be lying on the table waiting for the baby to move and then to have Katrina running around the room, rifling through the cupboards, digging in the garbage, etc.

So, this morning I called my brother, Nick, to see if he was up for his weekly babysitting job. He was actually going ice-fishing with my dad and asked if Katrina could come along. After discussing it with Panchito we decided she could go.

So, I bundled her up really well (since it is only 16 degrees today) with tights, socks, jeans, long-sleeved t-shirt, sweatshirt, mittens, socks over the mittens, snow pants, boots, hat and scarf. She was prepared to stay toasty warm (they did have a little sled-tent with a heater in case she was too cold).

Here she is... Ready to go down the hill to the lake.

Here are her two ice-fishing guides (my dad, Nick).

Unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photos of the exact location of the fishing spot. I was also not allowed to take any of them on the lake.

She had a wonderful time ice-fishing and is excited to go again with Papa and Mama and baby brother.

Thanks, Grandpa and Uncle Nick, for my first ice-fishing experience! I didn't stop talking about it the whole way home.

Gymnecricket

We signed Katrina up for gymnastics and today was her second class. She really enjoys it and does a great job. Here are a few shots of her getting started. I would have taken more but I had to help her do an "egg roll" among other things! It is not easy in my "9-months pregnant" condition to help her, but we got through. Some say it might help labor begin...

Stretching

Rabbit hops on the spring board

Crawling through the tunnel

Ready or Not?

Time seems to be inching by these days. Isn't that always the way it is? When you want something to come quickly, it doesn't and when you are satisfied waiting for something to arrive it is there before you blink an eye.

We have tried to fill our days with activities and to also enjoy time together as a family. Last night I wanted to pack the baby's bag for the hospital. Katrina was very eager to help. Take a look at what she packed...

I had to take a few things out of the bag for two reasons... One, we are not planning to stay in the hospital that long and two, some of the sizes of clothes that she picked out were a bit too large!

After we filled the bag she wanted us to go to the hospital and deliver the baby. We told her that it wasn't time for him to arrive quite yet. That was not what she wanted to hear. She feels like she has already waited so long for this little guy to arrive and now we have his bag ready and it is still not time. In fact, the past few Sundays she has been learning about Abraham and Isaac at church and this Sunday at lunch she shared with Panchito and me that she thinks we should name the baby Isaac because we have waited SO long for him to come, just like Abraham had to wait SO long.

 

You know D-day is approaching when...

You know D-day (delivery day) is imminent when...

• you can say in response to the question, "When are you due?" "THIS month!"
• you buy milk at the grocery store and the expiration date is your scheduled C-section date.

If you can think of some other indicators, let me know!