Landon Jose Nunez

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! We are cherishing these early weeks with Landon. He is such a sweet boy! He's been very easy to soothe, laid back and a great sleeper! This photo shoot was from when he was 2 weeks old. Now he is 7 weeks old and I can't believe how much bigger he is! He weighed 13.25 lbs at his 1 month check-up; I would imagine he's gained another 2 pounds at least since then! 

We are overjoyed by this gift God has entrusted to us and our hearts' prayer is that he would love and serve the Lord with all his heart from an early age. We as parents will not be perfect, but through our weaknesses God's grace and strength will abound. Praise God for His good news of hope and salvation through Jesus Christ! 

Photography credit goes to Emily Dinsmore who did a lovely job at capturing out joyous hearts. 

It's Fall!

We had our first family of 4 outing yesterday. Fall is here and I have been missing Edward's Apple Orchard - a fruit farm we went to every year growing up in Rockford, IL. We have a similar one here in OH called White House Fruit Farms. For fall they have additional vendors on the weekends, a petting zoo and pony rides. We were hoping to get Ellie on a pony ride but it rained yesterday, so he wasn't out! But we enjoyed gourmet coffee and donuts, corn dogs and crisp, sweet apples. Ellie loved the petting zoo - especially the soft bunnies! 

The Arrival of Landon Jose

Our sweet boy, Landon Jose Nunez, arrived 9/17/16 at 3:02am at 9 lbs, 4 oz, 22.25 in. 

We have SO many reasons to be thankful! A quick, uncomplicated labor and delivery. A healthy boy - the doctor even commented on his umbilical chord! She exclaimed something along the lines of, "Whoa, look at the size of this chord! This is one healthy baby!" To us that was a sign of God's tremendous intervention...I mean come on! This doctor sees umbilical chords all the time! 

We had been praying he would come on the weekend so Luis could stay with me at the hospital and he did! I also asked the Lord the my labor be no longer than 5 hours (Ellie's was 26 hours!) The uncomfortable and painful contractions for Landon were from 10pm-3am. Exactly 5 hours. But they were SO MUCH MORE BEARABLE than Ellie's contractions, which were all in my back.

Another reason to be thankful was for my family! Landon arrived on the same day that two of my sisters (Hailey and Sharon) were on their way from Dallas for the week. As soon as I got home from the hospital they came over every morning to clean and make me breakfast and then my mom came with lunch everyday! Sharon also pampered me with a facial and styled my hair. Our church also set up a meal plan for dinners which is still going on in Landon's 3rd week. 

Ellie had a blast staying at Gaggy and Pappy's house the two nights we were in the hospital and it was wonderful she could be with her cousins! She has been so excited to receive her little brother into our home and has fully embraced him and looks for every opportunity to hold him and kiss him. It cracks me up because when she is done holding him she will say, "Ok go back to your mommy." 

Also, my other sister Cate came for a whirlwind visit to meet Landon over the weekend! We had a wonderful visit with her and Sohee and her friend, Dana. 

Another tremendous praise is that my mother in law was approved for a tourist visa the same week! So she will also be coming to meet Landon very soon. 

Our hearts are very full of awe and gratitude right now and we are so thankful for such a smooth transition from 3 to 4. Landon is such a good baby and has been very laid back (Or maybe I am just more laid back?) We are also thankful for such a quick recovery for me. 

Praise the Lord, O my soul! All my inmost being praise His holy name!

 

La Bella

I've been wanting to write a post about this little sweetie before Landon joins us. She is at a stage that has been challenging in some aspects (like frequent tantrums and skipping naps!) but overall has stolen our hearts. She's just so bright and engaging and surprises us everyday with her hilarious sense of humor and the things she says! Now that we are about to have a newborn, I just can't believe how fast Ellie is growing up. 

I cherish bedtime stories and prayers with her, going on walks together and shopping, and doing puzzles with her. She is such a quality time girl like her daddy! So I have to be intentional to stop my task-orientedness at times to play with her. I want to savor each and every moment with her knowing that soon my attention will be even more divided! 

Things she loves are:

1- Her little guys (safari animals)

2- Books

3- Moovas (her nickname for movies)

4- Wubba (her lovey)

5- Doing puzzles

6- Being outside 

7- Blowing bubbles

8- Snacks (especially goldfish and fruit snacks!)

9- Wuacala guink (aka coke)

10- looking at pictures

11- dates with Daddy and Mommy

12- Going to Gaggy and Pappy's hosue

13- Her friends from church

14- Being chased by Daddy

15- Babies (she smothers all babies with her hugs and kisses!) 

We love our Ellie Sofia so much and feel so blessed to watch her grow into the person God created her to be! 

A trip to the ER

Poor Miss Ellie swallowed a button battery over the weekend! We didn't see her do it - but we knew that she had taken apart a little flashlight and I thought I had confiscated all the pieces. Turns out she was lying on her back with one of the batteries in her mouth the other morning and when she went to sit up, she hit her head against the coffee table causing her to swallow it. She immediately ran over to Luis and said, "Daddy, daddy where's the flashlight?" Pointing to her mouth. He asked if she had eaten it and she said yes. We took her to the ER and sure enough, the x-ray showed that it was lodged in her esophagus. Unfortunately they don't do endoscopies for children in our town, so we had to be transported an hour away to Akron Children's Hospital. Ellie was quite the trooper! She did not cry while having to be separated from me in the squad. She didn't even fall asleep! She thoroughly enjoyed watching a movie and we think she enjoyed the attention of having her vitals taken every so often. She has been really into playing doctor recently so everything we had pretend played with her was coming to life! 

When we got to Akron we had to wait a couple hours. When the operating room was finally ready we took her up, and she did not cry as the nurse carried her off. About an hour later, the surgeon came out to tell us that they could not find the battery in her esophagus or her stomach. Another x-ray showed that it had moved down into her intestines. He also said the surgical staff was very much impressed with her - she was the first child they had ever had who did not cry as they put her IV in, and even watched it going in! Later she commented to me, "Mommy, that man poked me". I asked he if it had hurt her and she said no. They also said she was a star patient waking up from the anesthesia - she did not cry or act out at all! Her throat was a bit hoarse and her lip a bit swollen. Thankfully the surgeon found no burns or damage from the battery in her esophagus - just a little bit of irritation. They discharged us with instructions to watch for the battery to pass naturally. I'm sure this will be an experience that we never forget!

A Day at the Lake

We're loving our sweet family times together this week! Luis has been wanting to take us to Lake Milton for awhile now, and today we finally made it happen. Ellie absolutely LOVED the sand (she hadn't been to a beach since she was 10 months old in Honduras). At first she just hung out at the edge but slowly got braver to go in the water. After an hour or so she started saying, "Look at me, mommy! I'm a fish! Look at me! I'm swua-mming! I'm a whale!" 

My heart was rejoicing to be in such a peaceful place enjoying God's creation and my soul felt at rest! Sometimes it's just so good to get away and reflect on God's goodness, enjoying one another's company without thinking about anything else. :-)