Andy...

Thanks to Miss Blair, we have some fabulous pictures of Andy! He is a big and happy baby. At his two week check up, he had gained 1 lb 5 oz in a week- the doctor was very impressed- so he's close to 11 pounds and isn't going to last long in the 0-3M sized clothes!

Even with bouts of stir-craziness and sleep deprivation, I love having two boys. Through the whole pregnancy I was subconsciously still waiting for something to go wrong. Getting pregnant was such a surprise that I think I was in disbelief it was really going to result in another child. So with Andy here and healthy, I am in awe of the blessing of this child and of the very different stories he and Samuel have of how God brought them to us.

Because so many of my friends had gone through pregnancy before and because I'd done a decent amount of reading, I felt as "prepared" as possible for delivery and a newborn. After all, I'd been with Samuel at a fairly young age and we had fostered a newborn last summer. Well, I have to say I've had my fair share of post-delivery surprises. First of all, with foster baby, Jimmy and I shared feeding duties. Therefore I slept a good amount at night. None of this getting up every two hours or so business! And so many pregnancy books end with the delivery... or maybe that's just as far as I read. Or maybe because that is all TLC's Baby Story shows, I just ignored the whole recovery piece. So I was blissfully unaware of how your body gets hijacked by sleep deprivation, nursing, and the other gross details I won't mention. The whole C-section incision and recovery has also been more involved than I thought. So my plans of trying to train for Hopsital Hill in June may not be oh-so-realistic... maybe the 10K, but I don't think I'll be going for the 1/2 marathon at this point.

I have four more weeks off before I head back to teaching. I miss my students, but love being home. My heart hurts at the thought of leaving the boys in April, but at least it will just be 6-7 weeks and then I'm off for summer. We're re-evaluating if I'll go back to work in the fall or not. Love my job, but LOVE these boys more!

Random side note- anyone read CHOOSING TO SEE by Mary Beth Chapman? I just finished it this week! SOO good. It clearly deals with their adoption stories and the loss of one of their daughters, but I was surprised that it is really just Mary Beth's life story and her struggles/challenges. I loved her honesty and transparency. I highly recommend it!