Family Photos

We had family photos taken this weekend by our friend Megan. Meg is a senior at Roberts Wesleyan college. She is an extremely talented photographer, and we were blessed to have her take our pictures before she graduates this coming weekend. She spent about an hour with us in our backyard and the playground next door and gave us 192 pictures! The thing I like most about Meg's photographs is that they are really natural. We just interacted with each other, and somehow she captured some really sweet moments.

Here are just a few of my favorites.

Meg also used our family as the subject of a series of mini-documentaries for her film classes. The focus of the documentaries was our adoption of Jonas. She did one while we were waiting for Jonas to come home, one just after he came home, and the most recent one shortly after Ava was born. Here is a link to the most recent one.

http://www.vimeo.com/11201543

Meg has a passion for social justice, a heart like Jesus, and a love for the poor, the oppressed, widows, orphans, and aliens. I look forward to seeing where God leads Meg and the stories he has for her to tell. I believe He will use her in some big ways!

Ava's Infant Dedication

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord"

I Samuel 1:27-28

In response to God's love and the gift of Ava's life, we dedicated her to the Lord in church on Sunday. Ray performed Jonas' dedication, and that was very special to us. But this time we decided it would be nice if Ray took off his pastor hat for a few moments to just be one of the dads. There were four infants dedicated during the service, all born within four weeks of each other. Two of the couples had experienced secondary infertility and one of the couples lost their first baby when she was only a few days old. Then there was us... blessed by both adoption and pregnancy. It was a very special dedication service.

Ava wore the dress that I wore when my parents baptized me as an infant. I'm glad they kept it. Maybe someday I will have a grand-daughter who can wear it. :)

To my children,
Jonas, you are my long awaited first child. Ava, you are my beautiful surprise. Both of you are gifts from God and I love you both so much. You are God's creations- unique, special, and greatly loved. He has great plans for your lives! My greatest prayer for you as your mother is that you will come to understand the love of Christ and who God has made you to be in Him. I pray that you will discover the unique blend of talents, abilities, and heart's passions that he has placed in you and that you will grow up to be people of compassion, mercy, and love.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Back to Work I Go!

I just finished my first week back at work and we all survived! Actually, I think we did better than survive. Everything went really smoothly. Thank you to all of you who prayed for Ava to accept the bottle! She finally started taking one again about a week before I had to go back to work. I was actually about to give up and I called La Leche League for advise on how to feed with a cup, spoon, or medicine dropper. The woman I spoke with encouraged me to keep trying the bottle, especially since Ava had taken one already. She also said it would do no harm for me to try to give her one because our nursing relationship was well established by that point. Talking with her was great because it gave me hope and more determination, and later that same day Ava finally took the bottle! Then for a few days she would only drink a bottle if I was the one giving it to her, as if she decided that food could only come from me. But the night before I had to go to work she drank an entire bottle for Ray. That gave us both a lot of peace of mind when I went to work the next day! So far it has worked well to feed Ava before I leave for work and as soon as I get home. On my 4 and 4 1/2 hour shifts she takes one bottle. On my 7 1/2 shift she took a bottle in the afternoon, I went home to feed her on my dinner break, and she took another bottle in the evening. So far so good!

Halfway through my 4 hour shift on my first night back I texted Ray to see how things were going at home. His text back to me still cracks me up. He wrote, "Good. It took 45 minutes but Ava drank over 3 ounces. Jonas got artistic with pudding, can open the cupboard door under the sink (with the child locks), and got time out for not stopping putting milk on the window when I told him 3 times to stop. I think he didn't think I'd put him in time out while feeding Ava & he cried a lot but he got over it." It made me laugh because as chaotic as it seemed it was reassuring to me because everything sounded pretty normal. They were doing just fine without me! :)

Here are some recent pictures:

We went to the Zoo on Good Friday. Here Jonas is looking at the rhinos, which he prefers to call "hippos".

The weather was really warm Easter weekend. Ava got to wear this super cute summer dress on Saturday!

This was Easter morning. We were leaving for church a little late, and this is the best shot I could get of both the kids together!

Happy Day!

Monday was Jonas' 2nd birthday! I think it was a fun day for him. We had been telling him that his 2nd birthday was coming and that he would get to eat cake. Each time we talked about it he would say, "Happy day!" or "Happy day cake." He seemed very excited when he woke up Monday and I sang Happy Birthday to him. He went to his preschool class at church in the morning like he does every Monday, and at snack time I came in with mini-cupcakes for his class. That evening my brother and sister-in-law came over for dinner. I think Jonas' favorite part of the day was the cake. :)

Here he is trying to blow out his candle.

He got his fork into the cake before I was able to cut it. I thought it was out of his reach!

He is trying to be patient while I cut him the piece he claimed with his fork.

Finally, the birthday boy gets to eat his cake! :)

I know he is 2 years old now, but I just can't believe how much he has grown up in the past few months. He can now point out all of the letters of the alphabet. He can say almost all of them too. He speaks in more sentences, though most of those sentences begin with "I need" or "I want". He is two, after all. The other day he woke up from his nap saying "I need to go on the moon". I wasn't sure I was hearing him correctly until he said, "I wanna go in the sky". I asked him how he would get to the moon and he said, "in the sky". Then I asked him how he would get in the sky and he said, "get daddy car". Oh, I wish I knew what he had been dreaming about during that nap!

Speaking of naps, sleep has been going pretty well. We are now sitting a few feet from his door when we put him to bed. He usually tries to get out of bed a few times at nap time, but he usually doesn't try at all at bedtime, He is also sleeping through the night more nights than not. I think moving out of the door will be a big step for all of us. I'm not sure when we're going to try that, but I think I'd like to see him settle down as easily at nap time as he does at bedtime. I'm not sure that will happen though!

Ava is doing well. I recently moved her into the crib in her own room. Our room shares a wall with Jonas' and our bed and Jonas' bed are on the same wall. It seemed like her cries at night were waking Jonas up, and she was waking up when he would make noise in his sleep. Since I've moved her she is sleeping longer and longer. She usually wakes up around 3:30 or 4am and then sleeps until morning. I have started putting her in her crib when she is still awake (a big step for me). She is able to settle herself to sleep 95% of the time when I do this. If she cries I settle her and then usually put her back in the crib very sleepy but still awake. She will fall asleep easily from there. I am hoping that she can continue this.
The bad news is that she is refusing the drink from a bottle again. She had been doing pretty well and then got sick with a cold. I decided not to push bottle feeding because she was having trouble breathing out of her nose. I figured she knew how to drink from a bottle, she just needed to get more efficient at it. So we didn't try giving her a bottle for about 5 days. I guess that was a big mistake because now she completely refuses to drink from the bottle. She will occasionally suck on it a bit, but then she will spit that milk out of her mouth. I've tried different temperatures for the milk, but it doesn't seem to help. I tried feeding her with a medicine dropper, but she choked on that too. If she doesn't accept the bottle in a few days I may try a cup. I have 12 days until I go back to work and I'm getting really nervous! Your prayers would be greatly appreciated. I would also welcome any of you who live locally to come over and try to feed her! :) I don't think she is going to take a bottle from me. Ray is not home during the day to try, but evenings are not Ava's best time of day. So seriously, if you are interested in trying to feed her, leave me a comment (If you get these posts via email, you will have to leave a comment here on the blog because we can't access the email address for the blog anymore). On the bright side, when it becomes apparent that Ava is not going to drink the milk, I pour it into a sippy cup and give it to Jonas. Don't laugh at me! I don't know if Jonas was ever breastfed. I am not sure what kind of health benefit a few ounces of breast milk a day can really have for a 2 year old, but I figure it can't hurt! :)

Lessons and Life

Jonas and Ava are both learning new skills this week! I'll start with Ava. I have to go back to work part-time the first week of April (Boo!!). So, about a month ago we started trying to get Ava to learn to drink from a bottle. We didn't try every day, and only for about 10-15 minutes each time we tried. She wasn't getting the hang of it though. I decided we needed to step it up a bit this week to make sure she knows how to eat when I'm at work. I really wish we could just forget about it, but I have to work and she has to eat, so bottle drinking is an important skill. Monday she actually drank 2oz of pumped milk from the bottle. It took her almost an hour. She fussed some, rolled it around on her tongue a lot, and choked some. I felt horrible that she was struggling with it when we both knew there was an easier solution to her hunger. But she drank the 2oz in the bottle and then I nursed her. Tuesday she only drank 1oz before she fell asleep. So we left it at that and I just nursed her when she woke up. Yesterday she guzzled 4oz (it took an hour again, but she drank most of it in the last 15 minutes). She still wanted to eat more after she was done with the 4oz, so I nursed her again when she finished. I'm starting to think I'm going to have to freeze more milk in case she decides to drink it all my first day back to work! :) Today she only drank about 2oz, and it took an hour again. But I think she is doing pretty well for day four of a new skill. Hopefully she will perfect the skill in the next 3 weeks so that I won't be even more worried about her when I go back to work than I already will be.

She just gets cuter by the day!

Jonas is learning the new skill of falling asleep on his own. Some may think we're crazy for not teaching him this skill sooner, but I don't regret the way we did things. But, the time for him to learn to sleep independently is now. He has been in his own room since we moved into our house in November, but he still needed us to lay down with him to fall asleep. He occasionally slept through the night, but most nights he still woke up and needed us to lay down in his room so that he could go to sleep again. It worked fine, but lately he has been taking 30-40 minutes to fall asleep. It is impossible for me to get him to sleep if I am the only adult at home because if Ava is awake at all, Jonas will not settle down. I prayed about it, and thankfully Ray also felt the same way without me bringing it up to him. So, this is what we're doing. We follow our normal routine (Diaper change & books for nap. Bath, PJ's, prayers, & books for bedtime). When we would normally lay down with him to sleep, we give him a snuggle and a kiss and tell him it is time to sleep. Then we sit next to his bed with our head down. If he gets out of bed we give him a kiss and tell him again it is time to sleep. After that we just gently put him back in bed every time he gets out without looking at him or talking to him. Naptime yesterday took 2 hours before he finally laid down and fell asleep. It stunk. He acted like it was a fun game to see how many times he could get out of bed. But thankfully he didn't seem scared or upset. He woke up his normal happy self. Bedtime only took 10 minutes! He did wake up 3 times in the night, but went back to sleep pretty quickly each time. Naptime today took about 35 minutes (about what it took the old way). Hopefully he will continue to improve. Once he stops testing how many times he can get out of bed, we will start to gradually sit farther and farther away from his bed until we are out the door. It may take awhile, but we have time. It may get worse before it gets better, but that's ok. We have a plan and it seems to be working. Please pray with us that it will work!

Even though we are teaching some difficult lessons to our kids right now, I can say that I am loving being a mom! The weather the past week has been nice enough to get outside and go for a walk or play at the playground every afternoon. Jonas gets to burn off some energy, Ava sleeps in my front-carrier, and I get to enjoy the fresh air!

Readoption Day!

Yesterday was Jonas' readoption day! Readoption is confusing to some people, so let me explain. Jonas' adoption was finalized in Ethiopia when we "passed" court on 10/16/08. However, because we were not present for that court hearing, USCIS requires us to readopt him here in the U.S. in order for him to become a U.S. citizen. Up until now he was an Ethiopian citizen with a Green Card. The other thing that readoption does is it allows us to legally change his name. The court in Ethiopia gave him the name Ekra Raymond Hammond, so yesterday we were able to officially change it to Jonas Ekra Hammond!

We were so happy to finally finish the adoption process that we started in August of 2007! The court hearing was held in the Judge's chambers and it was quick, easy, and fun. It was a celebration!

The Judge let Jonas run free around his office.

But Jonas failed to appreciate the significance of the day. He wanted to leave the office and explore other areas!

Before we left, we got a picture of our family with our lawyer and Judge Calvaruso. We never expected to go to Jonas' readoption with two kids of our own!

That night we celebrated at a Chinese Buffet with Uncle Jason and Aunt Jenny. The Ethiopian restaurant would have been more appropriate, but the Chinese Buffet better fits Jonas' attention span right now. :)

6 Weeks

Ava will be six weeks old tomorrow. Tonight as I held her and watched her sleep I was reminded that Jonas was about six weeks old when he was found. It struck me again how small and helpless he must have been. We know that his birth mother was sick, but we assume that he was with her for those first weeks of his life. It must have been so difficult for her to leave him. She gave birth to him. She got to hold him, feed him, comfort him when he cried, and see his first smiles. She probably wondered who he would look like when he grew up and what his personality would be like. It brings tears to my eyes to think about this for two reasons. The first reason might be selfish. You see, I wish I had experienced Jonas' birth. I wish I had held him first, fed him, comforted him, and witnessed his first smiles. I wish he had never experienced such loss in his life. I wish he had not had to spend 6 months without parents. I will be forever grateful for the love the nannies at AWAA's transition home showed to him during that time, but still... He wasn't their son. He was just one of many special children to them, not a precious son. The second reason it brings tears to my eyes is because I feel sorry for Jonas' birth mother. I am his mommy. I'm the one who gets to comfort him when he is hurt, kiss him goodnight, and hear him yell "Mama!" when he sees me in the morning. I get to watch him grow and see his personality unfold. I am so blessed to have him in my life.

It is 11pm and I wish I had some kind of conclusion to this post, but I can't think of anything right now. The kids are sleeping, and I should be sleeping too! I will head to bed now, thinking about adoption and pregnancy and thanking God for both of my children.

Pictures

I don't have much time to blog anymore, but life is good! There is definitely no time to be bored around here. :) I have my moments of frustration when it seems like both kids need me at the same time, but I am learning how to be a better multi-tasker! I gain a little more confidence each time I try something new (like grocery shopping by myself with both kids). Ava sleeps pretty well, which is a huge help. I felt like a walking zombie after 5 weeks home with Jonas because I was so completely exhausted. When Ava has a rough night I remind myself that I survived for months on very little sleep each night, so a bad night here or there isn't going to kill me.

The other day I was feeling sorry for myself because I can't serve in church the way I would like to right now. I was feeling a little like my life didn't have much purpose, and then I realized that loving my children, spending time with them, teaching them, and raising them is my purpose right now. What an important purpose it is!

Ava is getting more alert and more interested in playing and interacting.In this picture, she looks so much like pictures of me at her age.

Jonas has become obsessed with letters lately. The ones on the side of the fridge are the ones he has learned to recognize and say. He also knows the letter O, but we've lost that magnet. :)

I guess he is on his way to literacy! :)

He still loves his little sister. He uses his toy truck as a step stool to look at her.
He also likes to pretend to be the baby. Here he is going "night night" in her seat.

We survived our first week with Ray back to work! It was actually a great week. So far Ray likes the new schedule he made for himself because he feels it helps him to be more focused throughout the day. And Jonas and I love seeing him at lunch-time! My parents have been stopping in for a visit about once a day, which has also been huge for me. I'm not looking forward to when they go back to Florida!

Ava normally wants to eat around 6:30am, so I've been using the time as she eats to read my Bible and pray. Starting my morning this way prepares my heart, mind, and attitudes for the day ahead and hopefully helps me to be a better mom. Of course, I can always find ways I fall short (I'd like to be Super-Mom) but I'm learning to give myself some grace.

Jonas is still doing well. There were a few times this week that he decided to misbehave to get attention, but we're working on that. Having 2 kids has forced us to make sure that we are really consistent in our discipline with Jonas. We always said that we would pick our battles, praise good behavior, and make sure that we disciplined the attitude of his heart more than just his actions. But I admit I sometimes used that as an excuse to ignore negative behavior when it didn't seem convenient to discipline him. Thankfully, we reminded ourselves that it is soooo important to be consistent (I know, that's basic Parenting 101), and sometimes that means giving him a time-out. He is already responding well to this by listening to us before a time-out is needed. He seems to have grown up so much since Ava was born. He's using more and more words and putting more of those words together in sentences. Here is the proud big brother holding his little sis.


Ava is growing and gaining weight! At her 2 week Doctor's appointment she was up to 7lbs 11oz. She has started having a bit of a fussy period in the evenings, but we are learning what she needs when she is like that. Here is our little Princess smiling!

She's Here!

I'm happy to announce the birth of our daughter, Ava Grace Hammond. Ava surprised us all with her full head of dark hair! She weighed in at 6lbs 13oz and was 20in long. She is healthy and does not have any complications from the placement of her stomach. She was born right on her due date, which was also her Grandpa's 64th birthday. My labor was fairly easy and quick, my midwife is amazing, and Ray was a great coach! Those things combined helped me to attain my goal of natural childbirth. It might sound weird, but I'm glad I was able to feel every contraction and fully experience Ava's birth.

Tomorrow Ava will be two weeks old. We've been getting to know each other and we're all doing well adjusting to life as a family of four. Ava is a pretty easy-going baby so far. She doesn't cry much and when she does she is easily soothed. She loves close contact and spends a lot of the day sleeping peacefully in our arms. She also does well in the bassinet in our livingroom while we make sure Jonas gets the attention he needs. So far, parenting a newborn for the first time is much easier than being a first time parent of a 7 month old. Jonas broke us in well. :) The lack of sleep doesn't seem like a big deal this time around. Ava is doing well with sleep though. She usually sleeps one or two 3 hour stretches at night before she wants to nurse again. Sometimes she even sleeps a 4 hour stretch at night.
Jonas is doing extremely well. He loves his little sister and often tries to touch her and kiss her. He gets a little over-exuberant with his affection, so we need to watch him very carefully with her. But he is learning to be more gentle. So far he hasn't really shown signs of jealousy. The only attention-seeking behavior I've noticed is that he has starting pretending to fall down and then he will say "You okay?! You okay?!" until we ask him if he is okay ang give him a hug and a kiss. Overall he's doing better than I thought he would. It has helped that Ray has been home for these 2 weeks. There have been inevitable changes to Jonas' routine, but we have been able to keep things pretty normal for him.
The real test of our adjustment will come next week when Ray goes back to work. Your prayers would be appreciated! :) There are moments that I feel overwhelmed when I think about caring for both Ava and Jonas, making sure that they get the attention they need, and hopefully finding time for myself to at least take a shower! Thankfully Ray is going to adjust his work schedule for awhile to make sure he is home in the morning to help me with breakfast and at lunch-time to help get Jonas down for a nap. In order to do this, he is planning on waking up at 5:30am every day to work for a couple hours from home before we all wake up. I have an amazingly supportive husband and I'm so thankful for him. Hopefully we will get into the swing of things quickly and he won't have to keep that schedule for too long. I know that it was God that planned our family this way, so I am sure that He will help me with the responsibility He has given me. He will be my confidence. Once again, I am feeling extremely blessed. Within 14 months I have been given two beautiful miracle children. Neither one of them would be in our family if God had not acted in some pretty mighty ways!

The day after Thanksgiving we went Christmas tree shopping with some friends. We've used an artificial tree for the past few years, but this year I didn't feel like the extra set up and tear down work that an artificial tree requires. We had a lot of fun picking the perfect tree and we're enjoying the smell of pine in the house! Jonas had a blast running up and down the rows of trees. He took a really long nap that day! :) We might have to make it a new Hammond family tradition.

We had our first snowfall a few weeks ago and Jonas got his first experience playing in the snow. He seemed confused as to why he had to wear so many clothes to go outside, but I think he understood once we walked out the door. He took one step outside and said "cold!". But the cold didn't stop him from sitting in the snow, picking it up, and eating it. Ray taught him how to make and throw a snowball, but Jonas actually had more fun getting hit with the snowballs. He would say "more ball!" until Ray would throw another one at him.


Lately it has seemed next to impossible to get a good picture of Jonas. He likes to look at pictures of himself on the camera, so when we pull it out he usually starts running toward it yelling "Baby!" (He calls himself Baby). If we make him stand still we usually can't coax a smile out of him. So most of the pictures we have are either a blur of motion or a clear picture of a sour-faced boy. :) I wanted to get some good pictures of him in front of the Christmas tree but I wasn't sure how it would go. I enlisted the help of Ray and my parents to keep him sitting and get him to smile. Thankfully we got some good shots. I think he enjoyed having an audience for his photo shoot. :)

We've been getting ready for Ava's arrival. Our lead pastor was a huge help to us by taking time off to come paint the room. The colors are a little hard to see in this picture with the sun coming through the windows. The walls are yellow with white trim, the curtains are purple, and the bedding is pink and yellow with purple accents.

Finally, my friends at work threw me a baby shower and I got a lot of great clothes for Ava. She's got quite the wardrobe already! One of my favorite gifts, though, was this t-shirt for Jonas. I don't think he understands that he is going to have a little sister, but it's hard to tell how much he comprehends. He has become extra cuddly in the past month and I wonder if he senses that change is coming. I am cherishing these last few weeks that he is my only "baby" and that I can give him my full attention. I think he may experience some jealousy at first, but I also think he is going to be a great big brother!

House and Pregnancy Updates

The House-
We moved into our new house last Saturday! In the past week, we've been able to unpack most of our things and it is really starting to feel like home. Next on our to-do list is to paint and decorate the nursery for Ava. If we have time after that, we'd like to paint the living-room and dining room before Ava is born. If not, we can live with the existing colors until this Spring or Summer. We feel extremely blessed to have this house! God provided it for us at a really good price with a really low interest rate on our mortgage. The house is across the street from the parents' house (the house where I grew up!) and next door to a playground. We are within walking distance to some local shops, the library, and the Erie Canal. We couldn't have asked for a better location for our family. We are not really finished decorating yet, but here are some pictures of the house:

Those last two pictures are of Jonas' room. As you can see, we are going to transition him to a twin bed. Tonight will be his first night sleeping in it. We'll see how it goes!!


The Pregnancy-
Everything is going well with the pregnancy. I've been blessed to have very few negative pregnancy symptoms. We had another ultrasound a few weeks ago that showed that Ava's stomach is still not in the right place, but she looked very healthy! She weighed about 3 pounds 6 ounces! It was an encouraging ultrasound because the perinatologist explained that there was still no intestinal blockage, which is a great sign. She does not believe there will be any complications with Ava's health right after birth. She wants us to tell our pediatrician about the placement of her stomach so that he can do testing if it appears that she has certain symptoms as she grows. It may or may not be a problem for her in the future, but we have peace knowing that if it is a problem it would be something that could be corrected. I am 32 weeks along now, so I only have 2 months to go! Time seems to be speeding along rapidly to my due date and I sometimes wish I could push the pause button. It is so different from our wait for Jonas, which seemed so long and unending at times. Maybe it's because our wait to become parents started long before we started the process to adopt, and once we started the process we had no due date, but only rough estimations of time lines at best. But when I get a moment to stop and rest from my busy day I can concentrate on feeling the baby moving inside of me, and I'm reminded again of God's blessings. I look forward to meeting this second child that He has chosen to place in our family!

One Year Home! at OneTrueMedia.com

A year ago today, we stood in a courtyard in Ethiopia and held our precious son for the first time! Here is a picture montage of the past year. Enjoy!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mama, Da-ee, Bapa, Nana, Papa...

Jonas has a vocabulary of about 25-30 words. Here he is practicing family names in the bathtub. He knows how to say Ava, but for some reason he thinks it's funny to refuse to say it. Hmmmm... is this predictive of the kind of big brother he's going to be?

Peek-a-Boo!

Prayer for Baby Ava

We've had a couple of ultrasounds that show that Ava's stomach is midline in her abdomen, instead of off to the left like it should be. Thankfully, everything else appears completely normal and healthy. The perinatologist that spoke with us after the last ultrasound explained that when they find something abnormal in an ultrasound they try to rule out birth defects and problems that could go along with that abnormality. Everything they know that could be wrong was ruled out. The only thing they can't see is whether or not the intestines are rotating normally. The technology just doesn't allow them to see that detail. If the intestines are not rotating normally it could cause an intestinal blockage. There was no blockage at this time though. The perinatologist told us that we could be "cautiously reassured" that the baby will be fine, but he couldn't say for sure. I would rather have some plain reassurance without the caution, but we are trusting that Ava is in God's care. I'd just like to ask for your prayers that the Lord will continue to protect her as he forms her in the womb, and that there will be no intestinal blockages (or other complications) now or after she's born.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139: 13-14

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6