Summer Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's

Well, there isn't much new to share. We are still waiting for our stuff to arrive in Ft. Smith. It may not be there until next Thursday, the 31st. That's a few days later than we were hoping, but what can you do? Our car arrived in Enid yesterday, so that's good. Wayne and his Dad went to Ft. Smith yesterday to meet our landlord, get our house keys, get things set up for water and electric, etc. So, hopefully in a week or less, we'll be there!

As you can tell, Micah is having a blast playing outside. Grandma and Grandpa found this wading pool, which is way fancier than any old circular pool that I was imagining. He has been in it every day. In between minutes in the pool, he loves to get out and roam up and down the yard for a little while and then get back in the pool. Yesterday, he decided he'd just have a seat in the garden, so we had to hose him down before he got back in the pool. I love the picture of him looking through his legs. I had never seen him do that before! So cute.

Not much new to share on how Micah is adjusting to Gabriel. He still isn't much. Still doesn't care for the kid too much. Still cries when he makes an appearance in the room. Still hits and kicks Wayne and me at seemingly random times. We're thinking he might actually be afraid of Gabriel because he gets hysterically upset if we try to bring the baby near him. Sigh. So, we're still waiting and praying for him to be happier and make the adjustment. But, we know he still has more adjusting to do once we move, etc. He does have happy moments, especially outside. Let's just say Grandma and Grandpa (and Aunt Janel until she left yesterday) take him for walks outside a lot, or down the street, or in the little wagon. It's a blessing to have some extra folks to love on him and spread out the attention.

Gabriel's great. He's eating like a champ, sleeping a little longer at night, and I'm sure he smiled at me purposely today. I don't think it was just gas. He's growing and is more alert. He'll be four weeks old tomorrow. I'm sure he has enjoyed being held a lot. There's more of that to come once we get to Ft. Smith and Nanna and Paw Paw come to visit!

We made it to OK

I know many are wondering how the trip from San Francisco to Oklahoma went on Saturday. We made it and are glad that part is over with! Once we got to the airport, Micah was very calm while we were at the ticketing desk to get our boarding passes. We were so thankful because it was taking a long time and the ticketing agent was very graceful. In all of our rush to finish packing last week and get ready to travel, we didn’t even think about needing documentation of Gabriel’s birth. We had nothing… birth certificate, shot records, or anything. We had dumped whatever we had of that sort in one of the last boxes. Apparently, even though they can visibly tell that he was under two (a lap child), they still needed proof. Thankfully, the man let us slide “this time,” otherwise we would’ve had to buy another ticket!

Gabriel traveled great; he slept for most of both flights. Micah did well after we initially were seated on the first flight. For about five minutes, he did not want to be buckled in and was crying and screaming. I was getting fearful that we might be kicked off (as has happened recently on some airlines with unruly children). Thankfully, Wayne pulled out his favorite blanket and he immediately calmed down. We had a 2 hour layover in Phoenix and Micah was so fascinated with the moving sidewalks that Wayne and I would swap kids and take turns taking him back and forth on those. He would squeal and giggle as he stepped on each one. The second flight was good until the last hour and he was quite fussy off and on, but it had been a long day! We made it to Enid around 10:30 on Sat. night.

Micah is still having a hard time adjusting to Gabriel, still having lots of crying, angry fits but we’ve been told by some of his therapists who worked with him in the bay area to expect it still for another month. I honestly think it helps to be at Grandma and Grandpa’s with a few more people around to give attention to him. They got a little wading pool for him that he absolutely loves!

I’ll post some photos soon. Thanks for praying for our travels and for praying for Micah.

First week with Gabriel

A smile from Micah yesterday!
Aunt Paula with Gabriel in Tiburon yesterday. I wanted Gabriel to have at least one photo with him in one of the beautiful spots here.
Cuddling with Daddy.

We finally took some updated photos of Gabriel. It’s amazing how much he looks like Micah when he was a newborn, although his hair is a little darker. The first week and a half with Gabriel has been good, tiring, but good. I am enjoying taking care of him maybe a little bit more than I did with Micah at first since it’s the second time around. With the first baby in the first few weeks of his life, you feel so lost. You worry about every little thing and hope that you’re doing most things right. I’m enjoying watching Gabriel with all of his little stretches and facial contortions and he is opening his eyes more. He is a cutie indeed and I just like the way newborns smell, especially their little heads and his skin is so soft.

The week and a half with Micah has not been so easy. He’s having an extremely hard time with this new person in his house. Some days have been harder than others. He is just really angry, showing lots of aggression and trying to kick or hit Wayne and me at times. He hasn’t gotten near Gabriel; I think that will be much further down the road. He is very clingy to Wayne, wanting him to hold him, pick him up, etc. It seems he gets almost frantic when Wayne is out of his sight. He is having more to do with me (as long as I‘m not holding Gabriel), which I’m thankful for. He was actually a little better yesterday, even tolerating Wayne holding the baby, which he did not tolerate well last week. It’s just interesting because one instant he seems happy and smiling and then will change immediately to getting very upset. There are usually a few times during the day in which the only solution is to put him in his bed in his room with his blanket and a toy. He always calms down immediately.

Wayne’s youngest sister Paula was here this week until this morning and it was so helpful to have her. She took over most of the domestic duties of cooking, laundry, and running to the store. She also took Micah to the park every afternoon and that was great. Janel (Wayne’s other sister) was here two weeks ago and missed Gabriel’s arrival by 2 days! She was extremely helpful as well because she packed up literally everything that could be packed except for what we’ve needed until next week. So, most of that is done and it has helped to not have that added stress.

As for me, I am trying to adjust to about 5-6 hours of sleep pieced together, trying to maintain sanity and not have a meltdown myself when Micah gets upset. Some moments I have succeeded and other moments I haven’t. I hate that his little life is turned upside down right now, but it’s just the way things have worked out. I am praying that it gets better with each day and each week as we leave this area in 9 days. I know many of you are praying as well and I can’t thank you enough or stress how much it is needed right now.

Gabriel's birth story

As Wayne mentioned in the last post, Gabriel arrived very quickly! We were supposed to go to the Kaiser hospital in San Francisco, but when I called at 5:15 am, the nurse told me they had no beds available there and that we would have to go to Oakland. If you're not familiar with the bay area, the Kaiser hospital in SF is about a 15-20 minute drive and Oakland is a little "iffy" with possible traffic on the freeway, crossing the bay on the Richmond bridge, etc, so it can be a 30-40 minute drive. So, I was a little nervous and told the nurse "I delivered my first son an hour and a half after starting contractions," to which she replied "Well, you better get moving, then!" So, Wayne drove 80 mph on the freeway and we even ran a couple of red lights once we got to Oakland. Thankfully, it was early Sunday morning and not much traffic! My water broke in the car just before we got there (nice). We pulled up to the ER entrance around 6 am and he was delivered at 6:33! I think I pushed 4 or 5 times, and out he came! Wayne and Micah had gone back down to move the car and when they walked back into the room, Gabriel was coming out!

He's a tiny, beautiful little guy. Our newborn clothes even swallow him! He's doing well, and I'm doing well. Yesterday, I felt like a zombie. Today, I feel more like a normal person. I think I had about 5 hours of sleep last night which is 2 more than the night before at the hospital. We came home yesterday afternoon. Continue to pray for Micah and for us to have grace and patience with him; he's having a hard time. He seems to have a real attachment to Wayne, following him everywhere crying a lot, wanting him to hold him, and he's not having a lot to do with me and certainly not the baby right now. I think it will take some time.

I'm glad the baby's here and that all went well. Rejoice with us over this new blessing from God!