The Coolest Park

We had heard about Dan Nicholas Park from a friend and decided to go when we had family in town at the beginning of the month. We had a blast. We were able to use paddle boats, feed ducks, drink Icee's to stay cool, ride a carousel, ride a miniature train, go to a petting zoo (where all the animals were fenced in and you couldn't really pet any of them but whatever), see snakes and baby alligators, go to a mini zoo, pan for gemstones, and Elena got to play in the water area. There are also parts of the park that we didn't even make it over to: a huge playground and a putt-putt golf course. We're excited to go back when the weather cools off a little bit.
Below are some pics from our day -- they should be pretty self explanatory without captions. Btw: All these photos are from my father-in-law's camera, so I don't have any pictures of him. :( The people in the pics besides my parents and Dan's mom is my sister Bethany and my brother Adam.

On the mini train:
Elena has recently become quite a little scaredy cat, so it was a big deal that we talked her into riding on this little horse. (Notice in the pic above that she only went on the carousel because Dan had her on his lap.)

Abuelita's keeping an eye on Kevin. He hung out and slept in the stroller the whole long morning. He's so easy going.

Erin's Wedding

My oldest friend got married on July 24th. Since I was going to have a newborn, I opted out of being a bridesmaid and Elena got to be Erin's flower girl. It was a beautiful wedding and a very emotional weekend.

If my scanner wasn't broken, I would insert a childhood picture of us here. Just picture Erin with poofy hair and me with a big gap between my teeth.
Instead, here is a pic from her wedding reception:
Erin is like a little sister to me. I love her so much! We've been friends since I was 5 and she was 4 and we did everything together until I left for college across the country. In elementary school, I used to contemplate failing a grade, so that we could have classes together. We were inseparable, and because we lived across the street from each other (our parents still do), we got to hang out together ALL THE TIME. We know each other so well and have gone through so much together. I have a shockingly low number of memories from my first 18 years that don't include Erin.

I'm just so happy for her and glad that I got to be a part of her day. I could keep going, but then I would cry again. :) Her new husband Bami is a great, great guy. Dan and I really like him.
I was so lucky to be able to see them again this past week when they stopped by our house for lunch. Our town just happened to be on their way back to VA from their honeymoon. I haven't downloaded those pics yet, but I think I'll post anyway since I started this entry on July 29th (2 weeks ago!). Here we go:

Flower girl Elena. She did great. If you look closely, you can see that she dropped one petal at a time every few steps. When she got to the front of the church, she walked up to me in the front row (like she was supposed to) and dropped a couple petals just for me at my feet before she sat down. What a sweetie.
Erin and her daddy:
Her mama looking beatiful:
It's official - man and wife:
The little ring bearer's name was Mitchell. He is also 2 1/2 and was such a sweet little boy.

Mitchell and Elena:

The reception was at the Navy Base and so they were able to take some pictures right on the water - pretty cool.
My little man and I were tearing it up on the dance floor! Dan couldn't come to VA with us due to his rotation schedule, but Kevin helped me out so that I didn't have to dance solo. :)

Elena with Bami's parents. We'd never met them before (since they live in Norway), and they were super nice!

Mis padres. They were so sweet to stay until the very end and help me take care of the kids. Elena was quite a spazz as the evening wore on.

Elena passed out on the way home from the reception even though it wasn't very far from my parent's house. This is very unusual for her. My daughter is not a fan of sleep and never snoozes unless she's in bed. It had been a long day though. By the time we got home it was almost 11:00pm.

One Month Old

Yesterday we were surprised to realize that little man is now a whole month old! He is still a good napper and an easy baby. We're working on developing a good nighttime sleep pattern, but hopefully I'll be sane again in a month or two. He is such a good baby and we are so blessed to have him in our family. Here are some more recent photos of Kevin.

A couple of weeks ago: Snoozing in the bouncer with "Teddy Dog" - it's made by the same company as Elena's "Teddy Pig" (her best friend).

Propped up awkwardly in a chair, but still looking cute. This was Kevin about a week and a half ago.

I love this picture.

Elena and Kevin this past Sunday: My mom made both of their outfits. They looked really great, but I am a horrible photographer and neither one of them was in the mood to sit still for the photo. This was the best pic out of about 8 tries. :)
Last night: I like this picture because it really shows how he's starting to look older and more like a his own little person. When he was first born, he looked like Elena.
Today, we needed to go to the doctor for a vaccine and I asked them to weigh him real quick. His birth weight was 8lbs 5 oz and at his 2 week check-up he was 9lbs 3 oz. With a onesie and a diaper on - as opposed to being naked like usual - he weighed...
10 lbs 14 oz!!!

A Baby Story

Leaving the hospital on Tuesday:

Okay, so I mentioned a while ago that I would write more about the day that Kevin was born, and now I finally am. It's not super interesting and it's probably more info than you want to know, but here it is anyway:

Dan and I were watching a movie Saturday night and he fell asleep. (Confessions of a Shopaholic - no wonder he fell asleep. I thought it was good, but not as funny as the book.) I got up when it was over to start to do my nightly kitchen cleanup and I felt a contraction. I never really had any contractions on my own with Elena (my water broke and then I was induced), so I was pretty excited. I kept walking around cleaning because I was praying that they wouldn't stop. I really wanted him to come! After an hour (they were 5-9 minutes apart), I called Shelby to ask her opinion about how long to wait before going to the hospital and then I woke up Dan. By now it was about 12:45 am on Sunday.

I called my awesome friend Emily and she came over to sleep on the couch and watch Elena (Thank you so much, Emily) and then we left for the hospital. When we got there, we found out that I was 5 cm, but the nurse was worried that he wasn't head down (YIKES!) - so they did an ultrasound. We found out that he was head down (YAY!), and then the waiting began. The contractions didn't hurt too bad (especially compared with the Pitocin contractions I experienced with Elena), so we just hung out at the hospital and I got an epidural at about 4:ooam right before the doctor broke my water.

I was too excited to sleep and so I watched tv and read magazines that Dan borrowed from the nurses' station. They decided to use Pitocin at about 10:30 am or so and I continued to just hang out and wait. Have I ever mentioned before that I love epidurals?! My mom arrived in town at about 2 pm and was able to give Emily a break and take care of Elena at our house. It was so strange to go almost all day without seeing my little girl!

I slept a little in the afternoon and when I woke up at 5:00, the nurse (Shelma - I love her!) was setting up for the delivery. I had to push for about 25 minutes (twice as long as with Elena because Kevin's shoulders got stuck) and then I had my little purple boy in my arms at 5:55pm. Dan did a great job (plus he looked super hot in his scrubs!) and was able to take the lead and do everything until Kevin got stuck and then Dr. Thompson stepped in and helped out in the middle.

Elena and my mom came over the hospital to visit with us at about 7:00 pm. The nurses let us hang out in the Labor and Delivery room so that we could spend some time together before Elena had to go back home to bed. We gave her a bunch of art supplies as her big sister gift and it is all that she has wanted to play with since. It was so great to see her and to finally be able to tell her the name of her hermanito.

All in all, it was another long day (like when Elena was born) and another great experience. We are so lucky to have two healthy and adorable children that bring so much joy to our lives. Kevin is eating well and sleeping like a champ and my recovery has been easier this time around. I'm sure that things will not seem so peachy-keen once all the family helpers are gone, but so far we are doing very well. God has richly blessed us.

Some Pics of the Past Week

Granny (my mom) is pretty happy to have a second grandchild......and a third. My brother Andy and his wife had a baby girl on the 30th: Ariana. I'm not sure when I'll get to meet her (they live pretty far away), but I am super excited to have a new niece! Here is a picture of little Ariana:Proud papa with Kevin:His going home from the hospital outfit. He also wore this yesterday and it was quite a tight fit. I can't believe that he is going to outgrow things so quickly. He is already too big for size "Newborn" diapers. Elena wore those for at least 2 months.This is the same "push nurse" that I had with Elena. Her name is Shelma and she is AWESOME. I was so psyched when she came in to start her shift Sunday morning. To my left is the doctor that delivered Kevin (along with Dan): Dr. Thompson.Adam (my little bro) didn't get to see Elena until she was 5 months old. This is, therefore, his first time ever holding a newborn. He was a natural.

Elena loves reading so much, that sometimes she'll pick up a book and start to read it out loud to herself while she's being read to. And don't even think about stopping the reading of the original book; she wants both at once. :) Granddad (my dad) is being a good sport.

On her way to church yesterday. I love this dress. We found it at Marshalls for 8 bucks.
Elena's been really good with the transition so far.

This is how I found him the other morning. He'd wiggled out of his clothes a bit.

What a sweetie! And he's been such a good sleeper. I hope that continues.

The Best Big Sister Video

New Family Pictures

Happy (late) Independence Day!

Great Experiences

I've never posted before, I am usually just involved by helping Emma decide upon pictures or how to phrase something. I decided that I should finally write something about this weekend and our new son.

I think one of my greatest experiences happened this weekend. I am still trying to take it all in and enjoy it. I was able to deliver my son, I was able to watch my wife dedicate herself to bring him into this world and I was able to see my daughter give him hugs and kisses and yell, "Hermanito!" - those are some great moments.

Oddly, the most personal and profound experience I had this weekend was during a short phone call to my brother-in-law. I was not prepared for his reaction, I hadn't really considered what naming a child after someone encompassed.

I had just called my parents for the second time, this time to tell them the name we decided upon. I asked my father to relay this information to my brother since they were visiting, and that I would call my sisters to let them know as well. As proud grandparents, they dialed my sisters anyway - who can blame them??? Luckily I dialed Barbie first, while my parents were dialing Kathie....that was a close call!

Anyway, I dialed my sister Barbie, and mistakenly got Kevin's cell phone instead - I had not wanted to disturb him at the hospital. Kevin answered and we shared greetings and I spoke my son's name - Kevin Ezequiel Dison.... My brother-in-law, the strong, successful father and amazing physician was speechless, full of gratitude, love, humility and awe. He has been my role-model as long as I can recall. I remember seeing anatomy models in his apartment on a visit to San Diego while he was in medical school. It is no great stretch to see that I am following in his footsteps, working my way through medical school as well. Surprisingly (or not), I am in love with surgery and hope to find a family friendly specialty as he did.

My best friend, Kevin Arbon Collier, passed away in 2001. I had been determined to name my first son after him. As my brother-in-law has had his health in question, I realized that my son's name had to be Kevin. There are two great men my son now has to look up to, to base his life upon and to honor these men of great strength, intelligence, faith and love.

I can honestly say that this short phone call to my brother-in-law has impacted me far more than I imagined. I find myself reflecting upon it constantly - a short phone call where few words were exchanged has strengthened my testimony of eternal families and the importance of leading a worthy life.
-Dan