Successful event!

Our event was covered by local press!

One more report and I'm ready to give birth :-)

Lots of pictures! 39 weeks!

39.5 weeks! I'm officially due on Wednesday, but hoping that baby F will hold on until after that since I have a major work event that day (the graduation of our first round of caregivers - complete with press coverage and distinguished guests - from their training program as well as visits from our home office and board of directors).

In the meantime baby F is kicking up a storm (including in the middle of the night). Pictures from earlier this week follow. G loves being in pictures so many of them have him on the side or straight in front of the camera...

G popping up in the picture

39 weeks

G is not sure what we are doing but it seems pretty fun

We recently also had some good friends visit and help out with work in the orphanages. Before we got married there was about 6 months (?) where we all lived in a group house together in Baltimore, so having them here with us was (sort of) like old times ... plus Luna and G and my pregnant belly...

Mirador Catarina

Biking in Grenada

Vulcan Masaya

Also the week they were here I had two lovely baby showers -- one from my staff and the other from our friends here in Nicaragua.

Again G loves being in pictures

With our good friend and her lovely children (right around the same age as ours!)

decorations

Complete with games -- I may look big but not quite THAT big

We have a name :-)

All of the lovely people who were there to share the baby shower with us -- very thankful for good friends here and for sharing our excitement in waiting for baby F!

Hopefully the next post will have some baby pictures!

Almost, almost.... (and some updates)

37 weeks pregnant and the doctor says that any day now we can expect to meet our little girl! We are so excited! He also thinks that she will not be as big as G (10lbs) which I am also pretty excited about...

G (or Ya-YO as he has named himself) in the meantime has become very cuddly.. partially as a ploy to avoid bedtime, but it is a very sweet and successful ploy! After we read his current favorite books ("Nand" Ferdinand, "Wild" Where the wild things are, "Heeeelllo" May I bring a friend) he requests "cuddle". Ya-YO has become very definitive about his likes and dislikes as we approach the 2 year mark. We're not sure if he has the idea that the new baby is coming though we talk to him about it and he does like to give kisses to his sister in "Ama's" (that's me) belly.

Who can resist this face?

Cuddling around my big belly

A month ago we did  a 5K with good friends of ours from Leon -- R ran and I walked while pushing G is the stroller. It was a good workout (40lbs of G + 20lbs of jogging stroller), but luckily I had good company walking with me and it was at 6am in the morning so it wasn't too hot yet.

After the 5K

8mo pregnant

With our dear friends from Leon

The next three weeks are very very busy at work -- we are beginning the development of our Early Childhood Development course for professionals with a local University (a course on evidenced based best practices for care for children in institutionalized settings -- this has been 8 months in the works), graduating our first group of caregivers from the caregiver training program, implementing material improvements in 2 of 5 centers (including soft spaces, books, toys, dress up outfits, and  "lofts"  to be built by a group that supports skill building for people with special needs) and receiving visits from board members and donors.

So I'm hoping that as G was nice enough to stay put in utero so I could finish my clinical hours for my Masters as a Nurse Practitioner, that F will be nice enough to stay put to get through Oct 12th!

We shall see.....

Cathching up on Photos....

Up Up Up!

Me: 31 weeks pregnant (almost 8 mo), G almost 21 months

R, G & I getting ready to go out to dinner

Dad, R & G -- G is ready to escape out the gate

At a wonderful Sushi dinner ... before G started his interpretive dance & yoga routine beginning with some downward dog followed by rolling around on the floor. He even put himself in time out -- Me: G do you want to sit? G: Yes (and then sits).

My two handsome boys after bathtime

At the beach in Leon after G had a dinner of sand

R & G

A gorgeous sunset at the beach in Leon

Just taking the opportunity to catch up on posting some of our more recent pictures!

Growing Boy (and girl and puppy)!

While G is growing and coming up with all new tricks right before our eyes (naked dancing time every night is a favorite), baby girl is growing and growing inside of me (almost 8 months pregnant!) and little Luna our puppy is getting bigger and bigger as well.

R & I at a friend's Birthday party

With the birthday girl!

G likes for us to wear bucket hats in the pool

G, despite apparently having told R for months that we needed to get a dog (according to R...), is still getting used to Luna. He has however mastered his first sentence courtesy of Luna "No Dog!"

G's favorite hiding spot behind the flowers, with Luna in hot pursuit

Where is G?

There he is!

A little bit behind but this is our baby girl at 25 weeks!

 Hope all is well with you all! Besos!

San Juan del Sur

View from the house we rented for the weekend

Last weekend we went to San Juan del Sur, almost 3 hours south of Managua, with some good friends of ours. We rented a hosue just outside of the city with a pool and an amazing view, had a great dinner of surf & turf (lobster tails and marinated meat), then went Playa Hermosa the next day. G loves the beach and runs right into the waves! He and his friend S had a great time playing in the sand. I wish I had fotos of the exit from Playa Hermosa. It was pouring pouring rain when we left and the streams we crossed to get there became rivers with waterfalls. No pictures because I was holding on and complimenting R on his driving expertise as we made full use of our 4WD. Beautiful beautiful beach (near where Survivor Nicaragua was filmed apparently) that we will definitely go back to.

View part two

G, S & S's mom

G & I

Pelicans

G swimming with R

Family time in the pool

Fresh lobster tails

View from the Christ statue

G & S playing at the beach

7 mo pregnant!

Playa Hermosa

R & G

PS. Foto courtesy of our friends of us crossing through the last river on our way out of Playa Hermosa. Wow.