Micah is Seven Months

So Micah turned seven months old on the 9th of June. During month six Micah started laughing a lot. He loves his brothers. He's tried some rice cereal, but isn't really a great eater. He still is basically a terrible night sleeper. He wakes up every two to three hours normally. When we're lucky he sleeps four. He still loves bath time, but hates passing gas. Micah also is chewing on everything so I anticipate some teeth coming sometime soon. He'll be so cute with two little teeth. So that is what Mr. Micah is up to. We love having him around, and can't wait to see what happens during month seven!

May: A Quick Summary

May 3 - 5     Our MiniVacation to Puebla. Super fun.


May 9     Micah turned six months old, a half of a year! Crazy!


May 9 - 13     Major Medical Outreach here at the children's home. Over 1,000 patients were tended to. We saw hearts and families restored, children serving their community and those that were blind, see.

May 10    My first official Mother's Day.

May 19 - 31 and beyond     Statewide teacher strikes closing over 14,000 schools preventing our primary students from going to school.


All Month Long    A plague of grasshoppers. There are indeed grasshoppers everywhere, under pillows, in Micah's crib, in shoes, in the sink, all along the sidewalks and everywhere else


So that is what went on in the month of May. June will probably be just as busy, considering it's nearly the second week and I am posting from May. More to come.

Puebla

This last Tuesday our little family headed out on Micah's first road trip. It had been a long time since Ricardo and I took a few days off for true rest. So we thought it was time.

We traveled to Puebla which is a city about four hours or so from Oaxaca. It naturally took us longer to get there with stopping for Micah. But he did great in the car and we to go Puebla in the afternoon and met up with our friends Jill, Janelle and Celina.

We were all in Puebla to take a bit of time to relax from the daily chaos of life in a children's home and to celebrate Celina's third brithday. We stayed at a great hotel that had a nice little pool and luke warm hot tub. It was really fun to watch Celina paddle around and Micah had his first swimming experience.

We spent lots of time just hanging out and watching tv, and drinking coffee from the Starbucks across the street. We also visited Chili's for Celina's birthday lunch. It was such nice break and we are thankful to have been able to go. Here are a few pictures of our time.

Micah on his first road trip.

He was such a good traveler.

Micah discovered the tv.

Celina after swimming.

Jill and Janelle at Chili's!

Our little family.

Celina loves Micah!!

Happy boy.

Now that we are back at home, life is in a state of full speed ahead. We are gearing up for a big medical outreach that is taking place on the grounds next week. There about 25 people visit from LA, Baja California and a couple from Georgia who will be helping us to put on this medical and outreach event. Currently we're building a structure on our basketball court for consultations, a dentist office is being set up in the bottom of the visitor center, and the auditorium is being transformed into an eye operating room.

There is lots to do and everyone is excited to see how God works to heal those who come seeking it next week!

Puebla Bound

So it has really been a while since Ricardo and I have taken any time away from the children's home. It seems that each time we try to go on vacation or have an extended period of rest, situations arise that demand our attention. Our track record of late has really not been that good. A year ago when we went to Haiti, there was an emergency in Ricardo's family and we had to return home to Baja in the middle of our trip. Then also this last year when we went to Washington for Thanksgiving, Micah arrived two weeks early changing our vacation again.

So now we have planned a mini-getaway to Puebla. We plan on going this next week just for two nights. Our friends Jill, Janelle and Celina will be going as well to celebrate Celina's third birthday. We really need these couple days away from the boys and to change the scenery a bit.

It will be Micah's first vacation. We're staying in a great hotel with an indoor, heated pool which keeps my baby out of the sun and there is a Starbucks across the street. Also in our little area of Angelopolis there is a movie theater, Walmart and Chili's. It will feel like going to the States. We're so excited and I'll post pictures as soon as we get back. Seeing as we make it back with no unforseen adventures or hold ups.

Easter

So yesterday was Easter, and I must say that I am yet to celebrate a holiday in Mexico the same way we celebrate in the States. The holidays are so different here and Easter is no exception.

For example in American churches, Easter tends to be a rather important holiday. Lent might have been mentioned in March, or at least there would have been a message on Palm Sunday about Jesus entering Jerusalem. Lots of churches have a Good Friday service and then there are sunrise services or special Easter services. Here in Mexico, there was none of that. No mention of it being the holy week or Palm Sunday or Good Friday.

I asked one of my boys about why Easter is not a big deal? I said, why don't we celebrate or even mention more of the events around Jesus' death and resurrection. His response surprised me, he said, "Andrea only Catholics make a big deal out of Easter." Interesting I thought. I guess in Mexico, it seems kinda to be one extreme or the other.

Needless to say Micah's first Easter wasn't that great. There was no cute outfit or easter eggs and basket. Basically this means that one year we are definitely going to have to spend Easter in the States.

Five Months Old

I cannot believe that our little guy is now five months old. It's crazy how quickly the time passes by. Some great things have occurred with him in the last month, here are a few:

-- the morning nap has stretched to three hours instead of two
-- he is smiling at people other than just mommy and daddy
-- he loves to be talked to
-- he controls his head pretty well
-- micah does not like super hot weather anything over 90 puts him in a bad mood.

Micah still isn't sleeping through the night, and you can bet there will be a blog rejoicing the morning after that happens, but we are thankful. He is growing like a weed, and so far he seems to be carrying most of his weight on his face. His cheeks just get chubbier each day.

And as for the rest of the gang, they are all doing well and going on Easter break this next week. I'm not super sure what I am going to do with my ten boys for two weeks out of school, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll find time to write again soon. Here are a few pictures.

4 Months Old

Today Micah is four months old. I can't believe how quickly time goes by. We have already been back in Oaxaca for two months, which is how much time we spent in Washington for Micah's birth. And can we believe it's already March 2011. I feel like the new year just began. I guess when you're extremely busy, time goes by more quickly.

Micah is doing great and going in for his 4 month check up next week. He is nine and a half pounds as of now and seems long. He's is nursing full time and gaining weight just like he should be. Nursing full time is very much a miracle since he was born so early, had a feeding tube, and took mostly a bottle in the hospital. He holds his head up really well and is getting better at controlling his head movements. He has also nearly grown out of almost all his newborn clothes. Our little man has also started smiling more readily. It's not all the time, but definitely more often. He smiles at the Elmo hanging from his carseat and at Ricardo and I when we change his diaper. He also is making more noise and not just crying. He has started cooing and making little noises. It's so cute. He is also is becoming a great sleeper. He sleeps for a good chunk of time at night and takes two great naps during the day. All this great stuff happening and our little guy should really only be about 6 or 7 weeks old.

I love that we are developing a routine. So our average day looks something like this:

3am          Feeding
6am          Feeding and wake up
7am          Breakfast with the boys
7:30 am    Boys head to school
8 am         Devotions and Houseparents Prayer Time
9 am         Another Feeding and a Bath
10am        Micah takes a nap. I do chores, email or other housework, or I hang out with Jill.
12pmish   Micah wakes up and eats. We then go on a walk to the office to visit Janelle.
1:30pm     My two elementary boys get home and the afternoon madness begins
2:30pm     Lunch in the comedor and all my secondary boys get home.
3pm          Another meal for Micah and nap. Homework begins with the other boys
6pmish     Dinner in the comedor and Micah eats again.
7pm         Prayer Tuesdays or Church Thursdays in the Auditorium
9pm         Micah's bedtime routine begins with a massage, jammies and then he eats and goes to bed.
9:30pm    Boy's house is quiet and they head to bed.
10pm       Ricardo and I talk to each other and pray we get through the next day! Then we go to bed.

So our days are a bit crazy. Add to it the 90 degree weather and all the other children running around, there is definitely never a dull moment. Someone always needs clothes from the clothing room, or deodorant or school supplies. Or they want to practice driving or need to make a mask for school. So our days are full, full of challenges and lots of love.

We are so thankful for Micah and how is growing. We're thankful for each of our 11 boys and the blessings they are to us.

Micah is smiling so much more these days.

What Could Be Cuter?

Micah Salvador Bolanos

On November 9, 2010 we counted our 11th boy. Micah Salvador Bolanos came into the world 10 weeks ahead of schedule and just two and a half hours after we landed at SeaTac airport. Two months later I finally have a bit of time to write how his arrival came about and what it was like.

The plan was to go to Washington to celebrate Thanksgiving and have some much needed rest. However, the Lord and Micah had another plan. Our travel day had gone really well. We'd left Oaxaca in the early morning and were excited to be going to visit my family and have some time away from all the hubub of our daily life with ten sons. Our travels had gone without a hitch.

The last hour we were in the air, I had felt uncomfortable, but just thought it had been a long day and I would feel better once we got home. That was not going to be the case. We got down to the baggage claim about 5: 45pm, and I started feeling really bad. Looking back, I was starting to have contractions, but didn't really think that at the time.

So we got our bags. My mom and grandparents picked us up and I was still feeling really uncomfortable. We were heading to my grandma's house in Everett for dinner. No one in the car really pin pointed it down as labor pains. Though the "pains" were a minute long and two minutes apart. I could still talk through all the pain and move around. I don't think I could even have said they were contractions because it was just too early. He couldn't  be coming. I mean I had just gotten off an airplane.

We arrived at my grandma's and the "pains" got more intense. I couldn't sit still and was in a lot of pain. My mom called a friends midwife and she said, "Get her to the hospital. They will stop the contractions." My mom thought, "Contractions? She's not having contractions. It's too early."

But we made our way to the car again and my mother drove like a crazy woman to Providence Regional Medical Center off of Pacific Avenue in Everett. These fifteen or so minutes were the longest minutes of my life. The contractions were coming really close together and the pain was really really intense. She passed the Emergency Room entrance and had to turn around using precious time. As she pulled to a stop in front of the emergency room warm water started running down my legs. Scared to death, I told my mom that my water had broke. I got out of the car without my flip flops on and made my way barefoot into the emergency room lobby. It was about 8pm.

I yelled and cried at the receptionist that my water had broken and I was only 29 weeks pregnant. The lady and everyone else in the lobby just kinda stared at me. It took them a minute to snap into action and even then they weren't moving fast enough for Ricardo's liking. Once I was sitting in the wheel chair he just started pushing me quickly down the hall, though he had no idea where we were going, and he'd barely said two words through the whole evening.

So we were moving toward the Women and Children's Pavilion, the building where women have babies. We came to a curtained off little room where they had me put on a gown and wanted to get my vitals. My mom was parking the car. The nurse was taking my blood pressure when a gush of water from my body.  I told her I felt like I should push. She said, "no, you don't need to push." She continued with the blood pressure cuff. I told her again, " I feel like I should push."

"No. You are going to be fine. Don't push." Mind you she didn't check to see how far dilated I was or anything. She wanted to take my blood pressure and hook me up to a fetal monitor. Apparently I couldn't possibly know what I was talking about in wanting to push.

Within my body things were moving extremely fast, however the people around me didn't seem to realize this. Ricardo was there the whole time, though he didn't really say anything. He appeared scared to death and unable to speak.

Finally, (well it could have only been a minute or two) they started moving me toward a birthing room. We didn't even make it to the elevators. We pulled out of the hallway into the "delivery 'em fast room," and it quickly filled with people, though still no doctor. I would come to find out there were three nurses and the neonatal team of a couple nurses, a nurse practitioner, and respiratory guy. The neonatal team was setting up the recessitation cart and finally the doctor appeared.

Upon his arrival the nurse who I'd been trying to work with said, "She says she thinks she should push," like I had no clue what I was talking about. The doctor took a look and replied, "Well your baby is crowning so go ahead and push." I knew it had been time. So in three short pushes of 10 seconds each Micah entered the world at 8:15pm.

Before the last push, the doctor said he would cut the cord quickly and I wouldn't get to touch him or even really see that much of him so they could make sure he was ok. They took him quickly and cut the umbilical cord and laid him on the recessitation cart and went to work. Micah didn't make any noise and was really purple. It took a few minutes for him to get stable, but he was alive. They rushed him upstairs to the NICU, the Newborn Intensive Care Unit where he would spend the first 52 days of his life.

So that is the crazy story of the evening of Micah's birth. The Lord knew precisely when he was going to come into the world and had it been anytime earlier that day he would not have lived. He's our little miracle and we're so glad to say that today he is thriving, gaining weight every day and getting to know all his big brothers and friends around the mission.

I'll continue to write about our NICU experience and all the ways that the Lord provided for our every need. We are truly blessed.

The first time I got to hold Micah, the day after he was born.

Micah's first Christmas.

It's been a while.

So I know it's been a really long time since I've posted on this blog. And so much has happened in our lives in the last few months. I'm working on the rather long story of our little boys birth. It will be posted soon, but for now, here's a picture of our beloved Micah Salvador Bolanos.