then along came Liliana...

This last picture are Liliana's feet! Can you see her little toes??!!?? :)



So after a visit to the hospital for my ultrasound today, we found out we are having a girl! I am writing this before even telling Luis, and I can't even imagine his excitement when he gets home and we tell him. Aunt Marybeth, Nani and Papa already know, because I couldn't wait to tell them! At the appointment, Josh and Jonathan went into the room with me. Josh was mesmerized as he watched the screen. He would come over and tell me "I see the head" or I saw the baby's legs". Then, the tech turned to the boys and asked what they were hoping for...and brother or a sister? Josh piped right up and blurted out "A brother!". She turned to Jonathan, and he said "it's OK if it's a brother or a sister". Jonathan and I have been having long talks about how God sends babies, and He send what He thinks each family needs...some girls, and some boys. He had finally gotten over the "it has to be a girl" phase, and would have been happy either way. When the tech told us it was a girl, Jonathan looked at me with excitement and exclaimed "I was hoping it was a girl!" haha...it was so fun to let them be there, and see their baby sister first hand. After the ultrasound, I headed across the street to see my midwife. Josh was showing off the ultrasound pictures, and beaming when he told Leigh and Ana that he was going to have a baby sister. He was not disappointed in the least! In fact, when Ana asked him what he thought about having a baby sister, he told her "I am soooo excited!" I am still amazed, even after having two babies, to see how amazingly God fashions life together. Baby Lily is already so loved, and will be doubly protected by two big brothers, I have no doubt!

and a little child shall lead them...

It was eleven o'clock at night, and Jonathan wandered into our room, unable to sleep. It had been an exhaustive evening last night, and after baseball practice and a meeting following that at church, I was tempted to just tell him to crawl in bed with Luis and I. Somehow I mustered up a bit of energy and walked with him back to his room. As we passed the window in the hall, something caught my eye. A fire was blazing just beyond my brother-in-law's property, and it appeared it was approaching the truck and home of the neighbor down the road. I called Luis, who was already half asleep, to come evaluate the situation. After watching the flames grow for a few seconds, he quickly telephoned his brother, David, and both of them stormed to the neighbor's place. When they got there, the man's truck was already being effected by the laps of fire that were brushing against the passenger door. David ran to the man's house, and banged on the door, but there was no answer. Luis had feared that this man, who is known to be a heavy drinker, may had been intoxicated and fallen asleep inside his truck, but the flames prohibited them for getting close enough to check inside. David ran and got his garden hose (which seemed to stretch longer than I have ever seen it stretch before) and began to douse to flames that were now bubbling the paint on the man's truck. Luis yelled for me to call 911. For what seemed like hours, but was only actually minutes, David and Luis were able to get the fire under control, just before the fire trucks showed up. Jonathan and I were sitting on our front porch, watching all of the flurry of action. The fire department flooded the truck and surrounding area with gallons of water, to ensure that the truck would not ignite. As they were finishing up, the neighbor man emerged from his house, surprised to see all the commotion. Thankfully he had been inside his home, and not in his truck. How he managed to not hear David's banging, Luis and David yelling to each other, the hiss of the cold water on the hot metal and flames, and the arrival of half of the Hampton Fire Department, and Police is beyond me. All I can say is that what could have been a fatal situation, had the truck blown and caught the house on fire, ended up being only some surface damage to the door of the vehicle, thanks to two hero brothers, and a little boy who couldn't sleep.

So many times things happen in the course of our day (or night as it was), that are interruptions that can irritate us. Had I simply told Jonathan to go back to bed on his own, or let him come to bed with us, I would have never seen the flames. All things happen for a reason, of that I am truly convinced. So the next time you are held up in traffic, or forget something and have to turn around and go back home, making you run even more late, remember: Maybe it was God's way of protecting you from some danger that would you have faced, had you been a few minutes earlier. Instead of getting irritated, as I was tempted to do in my state of exhaustion, take time to thank the Lord that He knows exactly how to lead and guide every situation, even if it disrupts our lifestyle and busy schedules.

Scenes from the Family Day/Egg Hunt

Pride comes AFTER the fall...

I was laying on the sofa with my sprained ankle on Sunday afternoon, and Luis and the boys had just returned from the Spanish service. I was still in the same clothes from the day before, and unshowered, since I couldn't walk at all. Just then, two of the families from the Spanish church came over. My first reaction was "oh no" due to the condition I was in, but it was just me being overly prideful, wanting my appearance and house to be in perfect shape, and it wasn't. I quickly got over my childish attitude, and we all just sat and chatted for a couple of hours. Luis's Mom brought over a huge pot of pozole for everyone to eat. I have been humbled and blessed by the help that I was given, just in the short time I was unable to walk. My mother-in-law cooked, another family did my dishes, and a third family brought me "get well" flowers. It's sometimes difficult for me to be on the receiving end of blessing, as I would much rather be on the giving end. But I have learned over the last couple of years how to just say "thank you", and accept the various help, whether it be material, emotional, or otherwise. None of us have it all together, and all of us are needy at times. Before everyone left, we prayed together for various needs, and my foot started feeling better right away. The next morning, I woke up and was actually able to walk without my crutches, only limping a slight bit. I know God began to heal my foot that night, and I almost missed a blessing because of my pride. I wonder how many other times the Lord has tried to get our attention, but we were so wrapped up in our selves to even realize He was there. Help us Lord to get out of Your way!

Sometimes I just have to let my boys be boys...

Sorry for all the "noise"...the wind was whipping today!!

"Ace" returns

Growing up, I seemed to be very accident prone, and many times you would find me on the couch, icing and elevating a sprained ankle. Because of my frequent mishaps, one of my brother-in-law's aptly gave me the nickname "Ace", as he hardly ever saw me without an ace bandage strapped around some part of my body. Well, it seemed as though those days were long in the past, until yesterday, when I was walking down our back porch stairs, twisted my ankle, and fell. For the first few minutes, everything hurt. Thankfully Josh and Jonathan were right there, and Josh ran to the garage to get Luis. It's always awful when someone falls, and always so much worse when they are pregnant. Luis came running, and sent Josh across the driveway to get Uncle David. Luis, who was just in the process of working on a small engine, was covered in grease on his hands. He ran inside to wash, so he could better help me get up. Laying on the ground, in severe pain, I suddenly decided I didn't want a bruised ego as well, and I managed to pull myself up onto the stairs before David arrived. Long story short, I had a bad night, with lots of pain and little sleep, and when morning came and I couldn't walk at all, I thought a trip to the hospital was the best thing. Thankfully the ER in the new Hampton hospital (which I must say is quite nice, compared to the old facility), was empty, and I had no wait whatsoever. My nurse was a former co-worker at the health department, and the x-ray tech and MD were great! Turned out only to be a bad sprain, thankfully. I am off my feet for the next couple of days, and tremendously thankful for a husband who knows how to give baths, cook, and do laundry. Josh even heated up pancakes for he and his brother this morning. What a great crew I have! I am hobbling around on crutches, but thankful that everything else seems to be alright. Grateful that the baby seems fine, and hoping to be back to my old self soon!

This article was published in our local paper...too funny!

Love is in the Air and Covered With Hair

It was our yearly outing at Riverbanks Zoo to celebrate our son's birthday, and nothing brings out a child's inquisitive nature quite like a trip to the zoo in the spring time.
"Daddy, what are those two monkeys doing?" my son asked me.
"I'm not sure, son. Want some ice cream?" I replied. I had a pretty good idea what they were doing, and it seemed like a good time to go grab some ice cream.
"Daddy, what are those two bears doing?"
"Nothing, son. How about that ice cream?" They should really run background checks on those bears before they put them out on display for the kids like that.
Apparently the warm days of early spring are a special time for zoo inmates, a time for each animal to do its part to increase the facility's population. Love fills the March air, whether you paid to see it or not.
Almost every animal we visited last Thursday seemed to be in love - the lions, the tigers, even the goats - but I guess there's not much else to do behind bars in between the 9 a.m. feeding and the 4 p.m. show. Even birds of a feather were flocking together, as were a couple of college kids we saw in the Botanical Gardens.
The monkeys' idea of romance involved alternately chasing each other and picking fleas off one another. Apparently nothing kills the mood quicker than a flea on your girlfriend.
Speaking of ruining the mood, I couldn't spend too much time around the elephant exhibit or the rhino cage without developing an inferiority complex.
Despite the cold, the rock penguins were feeling a bit frisky. Are those the penguins that present a pebble to their prospective lover? Hardly seems like a fair deal to me to get by with a cheap rock when men have to cough up diamonds for their mates.
I visited the Galapagos turtle exhibit for a spell, but the springtime entertainment was progressing too slowly for my taste and, besides, I didn't have all day to watch what appeared to be two large rocks kissing.
The hyenas were having fun, judging by all the laughter.
Even the vultures and the alligators appeared to be in the spring spirit. I guess even ugly critters need love, too.
The giraffes were fun to watch, but giraffe love is also a slow process. When I left they were still just necking.
But the animals that exhibited the most human-like mating rituals had to be the gorillas. One gorilla sat on one side of the exhibit, with arms crossed and bottom lip poking out in an angry manner, while the other sat clear across the exhibit pouting in a similar manner.
They were clearly a married couple.
I think the only animals we saw the entire time that didn't seem to be involved in mating activity were the boa constrictors and the pythons. Either they had just eaten too much to move, or they were suffering from a reptile dysfunction.
Maybe it was all that spring fever in the air, but I got to feeling a bit romantic myself as I put my arm around the Mrs. on our way home from Columbia.
"I've got a pebble in my pocket with your name on it, baby," I said smoothly.
"No thanks. How about that ice cream?"

Grapes

Just in case you are wondering, "What's with all the grapes??", I thought I'd explain. Luis's name (Parra) means grapevine, so there you go. I have decided that when we actually get around to building our house, I am going to incorporate the grapes/grapevine theme into our decorating.