Nemi - the Higglytown Hero

So Nehemiah is a little hero in his own world. Here is what happened.

It was time to take him to school and like I do every morning, I told him to get in the car and give me the seat belt. While he is doing this, I usually throw the car keys from the back seat on to the driver seat, along with my wallet and his backpack. That way when I finish with him, I just get in the front seat and have all the things I need.

Some how or other, I do not even know how it happened, all the doors locked without me noticing. So I closed Nemi's door and tried to open my door and... "Oh! Oh!". I try his door... "oops!!" I remained calm because the morning was nice and chilly so he was not going to be in a hot car. So I happened to have my cell phone in my pocket to call Kimani to ask someone for a ride to the house to help us out. While I am leaving a message on Kimani's voicemail, Nehemiah begins to play with the door handle and since he cannot open it because of the child lock, I tell him Nemi pull the other piece (or whatever I said). So he did and he actually unlocked the door himself and I quickly opened the door before he locked it again. I was so proud of him. He was the hero in his own rescue - though he did not even know he had to be rescued.

Good job Nemi.

Kimberlee's First Shoes

I love these little shoes. They are so absolutely perfect. I received them from one of the moms I met at Nehemiah's school. She is so kind to me. Her daughter is in Nemi's class and she is so cute.

As soon as I saw these shoes I placed them on Kimani's pillow and when he got home I told him, "I think Kimberly is coming home in these." He is so in love with his daughter. We are so in love with both our children. I do not even know if the shoes will fit her when she is three days old, but for Kimani and I it is perfect for her to come home in. I had Nehemiah's outfit picked out so early on and when Kimani was getting him dressed to come home (with his Mommy-crocheted booties, sweater and hat), I could not hold in my laugh because Nemi was so skinny and everything was so big on him. I still remember that day. It was cute.

Anyway, we are so excited to have another baby join our family. We hope Nemi adjusts well, we shall see...

Until later,

Momma

Time flies when you are having fun.

I had planned to blog all about this pregnancy, and keep up with all the details about having this baby, but that surely did not happen.

So let me see what I need to update you on. We are having a baby girl... we are going to name her Kimberly Ann... I am on week 24 as I write this... thus far I have gained one pound... I look smaller in real life than in pictures. I feel great.

So many stories to tell you... Nehemiah has been so sweet with this pregnancy. We would ask him where the baby is and he would come up to me and kiss my belly. So cute. Now that we all know it is a girl, he would say 'Hi Baby, hi sister', always melts my heart. I know that it is a bit abstract for him still, but I am sure he will do fine when she gets here.

I had thought about applying for The Baby Story (on TLC), but one of the requirements is to get concent from my OBGYN as to how they feel about being recorded and all that stuff. Well, my doctor (Dr. Karen) is not interested at all to be on TV, but his partner does not mind. After thinking about it we decided not to go through with the application because we did not want to deprive Dr. Karen the opportunity to deliver this baby if he happens to be on call that night, and he has been so supportive and he has worked so hard with us to be at this stage, that for us to apply and get in would be bittersweet since it may mean we would have to deliver with the other doctor. It was fun to consider it though.

Right now our biggest concerns are:
1. Setting up Nehemiah's room to welcome the baby. We do not want to wait until last minute.
2. What will happen with Nemi when we go deliver the baby... we have no idea who will stay with him. The current idea is to have my parents 'move' in and help us out. Worst comes to worst we will take him to the hospital with us and he could hang out a the nurse's station. (ha! that will be fun - I could see them going crazy already) I pray we deliver overnight so that he could just sleep the entire time if we have to do that.
3. How I will get Nemi to school once the holidays are over. I am thinking of asking the other moms from the classroom for help, but i sooo do not want to do that. I think I will end up having him home with me instead of inconveniencing anyone in any way.

I guess in the whole spectrum of the issues happening in life and in the world all around us... these concerns are by no means a point of worry, but I rather worry about these things than the economy.

all right, talk to you soon,

Datnee and baby :)

We made it to the end of the first trimester.

This is so exciting. (just so you know, it has taken me an entire week to write this - I kept on falling asleep). Finally, we are at the last week of the first trimester - week 12 - we saw the baby again this past Monday. Since we could not hear the heartbeat on the Doppler they did another sonogram. I really like our OB-GYN. Thank you Leah for recommending them.

This first trimester has been fun. The first month was a piece of cake, of course, since we did not even know what was going on. I say we as if Kimani feels anything at all, but anyway - you know what I mean. The second month was interesting in that my appetite change drastically and my taste buds were doing their own thing. And the third month was absolutely exhausting. I actually lost 5 pounds between the second and the third month. I was sleeping so much that even if I was hungry I just could not make it out of the bed (but mostly couch) to make something to eat.

Now I am beginning to learn the signs my body gives me to differentiate hunger and bionic fatigue, so I eat a little something before I knock out so that I do not sleep on an empty stomach.

Thank you Lord, that I did not throw up once. I am so grateful for that.... I hate puking. Well, it is not like anyone really loves it, but I just hate feeling like I am suffocating.

Well, I will keep you posted on our progress.

Talk to you soon.

There is nothing better than Grandma

So my mother is here to visit me and spend some much needed quality time with Nehemiah.

He is soo cute. As soon as he saw her when she arrived, he called out to her "Grandma" and jumped in her arms for a big hug. Very cute and quite moving being that I was right next to her and completely did not greet me, but I was totally ok with that.

Well, the next day we go to the store and Nemi is in the shopping cart as I push him along and at some point Mom decided to go to the next aisle over to check out something. As she leaves, Nehemiah says, "Bye Grandma!" A minute goes by and he says to me, "Mommy, I want my Grandma", my mother hears him on the next aisle and runs to her grandson, who so lovingly wants her and he looks at her and says, "I want gum". Mom, who is famous for always having chewing gum right at hand, loves the fact that he called out to her and happily hands him over a piece of gum.

Grandma is happy to see Nemi with his gum, and believe me, Nemi is happy Grandma is here to give him gum.

At long last love has come. Grandma and Nemi.

ds

I am not complaining I am just explaining!

Oh! My goodness. This pregnancy is soooooooo different than my “Nemi Belly”. It is unbelievable. I feel sooo sick. I mean not puke sick nor flu sick, but just very icky. My taste buds have completely disguised themselves into grossness and I constantly have this nasty aftertaste in my mouth. I love coffee so much. I cannot have it now. I like to have a ginger ale now and then and after I drink it (or any other sweet/sparkly beverage for that matter) I get this after taste in my mouth. So no I am down to drinking just water. Though I get the after taste in my mouth after I drink water as well it a lot more tolerable than after drinking other things. With Nemi I was fully fine the entire 9 months

What is more, I feel super hungry all the time, but since my taste buds are out of whack I cannot just eat anything. My appetite has been turned off, my olfactory is on full attention, taking in every scent and not liking anything at all, and my taste buds are on strike – rejecting every proposition for a peace treaty with the stomach.

Finally, I am sooo drained all the time. By 2pm everyday I am ready to just fall out and nap anywhere I am. When I was expecting Nemi I was soo energized, maybe the excitement of our first child had me on a constant high, but now I feel drained from within and having Nemi is also an external ‘draining’ factor that I did not have before. The good think is that Nemi is learning to play with me while I lay on the couch or the bed. In the very beginning he wanted me up and on my feet moving around with him and be after him at all times. Now, I guess he resolved to himself, ‘If I cannot beat them – join them’ and he will come on the couch and we play for as long as he wants.

Even though this pregnancy is different than my first one, I am really excited and happy to be expecting a miracle again. I look forward to seeing Nemi play with his sibling. Kimani is already starting to interact with the baby and talk to him/her like he did for Nehemiah. It is fun, and hopefully all of this ends in two weeks when I enter my second trimester.

I will surely keep you posted.
:)

Awwww!!!

Isnt' this the most beautiful picture you have ever seen!! Ja ja ja ja (in english now - ha ha ha ha).

I was so glad the OBGYN (Dr. Karen) took this picture of the little one. The heartbeat was strong and it is just teeny tiny.

Dr. Karen was amazing at helping us thourgh our 6 month treatment of endometriosis and now he put us at ease with this new pregnancy... He was so happy for us. He answered a lot of questions and gave us a lot of hope. More than anything he reassured me that if all goes well with the pregnancy, I could maybe deliver 'naturally' (VBAC). That was such great news.

Ok so we will keep in touch.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Nehemiah is so cute. We ask him where the baby is and he actually comes up to me and points to my belly. Yesterday we are putting him to bed and he says, 'give baby kiss' and kissed my belly. OH! I love that little boy. He is so loving and cute.

-ds

Life, death, and life again

It is so difficult when one has gone through the joys and sorrows of creating life and losing a life.


How does one reawaken hope when death has knocked at ones door.


About two years ago I had a miscarriage and up until recently I did not how much of my hope and faith had died. I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel trying to hold on to some kind of silver lining behind the clouds. In my head the storm had passed and even my words would speak of hope, but it was not until recently that I realized that my heart was fighting its way back from death too.


I no longer knew how to trust God. How do I really embrace his love for me when the one thing I begged him to keep away from me happened. I lost a child. I thought I was so OK with this and over it and that life went on. But I felt a new blow to my stomach when I was told I had a condition that actually rejects any embryo... and with that the sliver of life and hope within me was fully gone. I cannot give life. I have dreams and wishes and desires to have a big family. They say that desires are given to us from the Lord that we may trust Him for them as he aligns our lives to his will. Well there goes all of that.


How feeble minded we are! What tantrums we throw in our minds and hearts! How easily we forget that God is ALWAYS in control. He knows all things, and he does bring his will to pass.


He has not forgotten me. He loves me and even in my pain, I knew that only God himself could do a wonderful miracle. There was nothing 'humanly' possible that I could do to hold on to a child or even to compromise that child in my womb. If a child came to me it would be up to the very hand of God as to how far he would allow it to go. And finally I trust him. I believe that His word is true and that He is the Great Physician, and that he loves me with all my tantrums and doubts and uncertainties and he wants me to have the desires of my heart.

My heart is reawakened, there is hope in the impossible, there is love unconditional, for myself and once again for my God, there is faith unshakable that only God himself could be glorified in my life and bring about a miracle. The miracle of life once again. Life in my heart, in my spirit, in my womb. Yes!!! we should be holding this miracle of God's love in our hands by January 9th, 2009. I am already in love, I am overjoyed, I am blessed by my creator.

OH! what a beautiful morning
OH! what a beautiful day
I've got a wonderful feeling
All is a'going my way


I have to find the real lyrics to that song. It is from the Broadway play Oklahoma! I love Broadway. Kimani went with me to this play and we both thought it would be kind of out of our taste, and we may not enjoy it. But the tickets were free and we went anyway. Anything to have a little one on one. I love him. Well, lo and behold three years later, we still sing the stinking song to each other.

I keep thinking of how lucky I am to have him. I am sure most everyone (though it would be nice if it was everyone) feels the same about their own spouse. But I really am lucky. I was telling him the other day, "we have known each other for almost 10 years and this year we will be married 6. We cannot claim to be newlyweds anymore, though it sure feel like we just married still. We are now old married folks full of 'wisdom' and experience."

He laughed and hugged me - I love it when he fills my hug-a-meter.

In all honest truth I feel like we are still just friends hanging out, and fully enjoying each other's company. We laugh so much, and we don't seem to get as annoyed, or fight about so many little things. I could see how much more we trust each other, and trust our love for each other and how fully comfortable we are being around each other.

I hate hearing the horror stories of those people who have been married for 18 - 20 years. They seem to be so over it and just at the end of their rope, and we look at each other and say, 'boy! I hope that does not happen to us.'

It is true we have to work at it and continually surrender our marriage to the Lord, and always pray for each other, but the fear is still there that we may fall in that category. That after 2 decades of dedication to each other we would be worn out and have nothing else to give.

As joyful as I would be to be glorified with my savior and live eternally with my first true love, my carnal flesh feels a sadness to know that once in heaven Kimani and I will no longer be married. I already miss him. I know for a fact, I will care less about him or where he is because I will be so enveloped in my master that Kimani will be the last thing on my mind. But I am in love with him, and I wish we could like that forever.

Kimani, for all the beautiful and unique ways you love me. For finding a way to love me the way no one else could. I am grateful. I love you so much for all of your support, kind words and attempts to be faithful in every way. You are amazing, and I am lucky to have you.

Mother's Day Reflection

Nehemiah,
Before having you I was not even sure I would ever live up to be a mom, and everything that it entails.

Seeing you now at 4.5 years old, has really been a blessing. You have really shown me how impatient I am and intolerant, but at the same time you have given me a new start and a new hope that I can change my ways and be a good mom to you and any other sibling you may have (God willing).

I love being your Mom, and knowing that I could love someone unconditionally.

I just want you to know how much I love you, how proud I am of your progress, and how thankful I am of the change in me because of you and even your Dad in my life. I want to be the very best Mom you could ever have. That anyone could ever have.

I know in about 10 years or so we will not always see eye to eye, and we may bump heads at times. I do hope, however, that after that period is over you may know that I have wanted only the best for you.

Well, I love you buddy. Thank you for giving me four years of celebrating Mother's Day. It is because of you that the day is filled with so much joy.

Mommy.

Do it yourself... but let an expert do it.

OK so I have to retract, rewrite or down erase my previous entry regarding my plants. I just want to make sure everyone knows that from the beginning I confessed I was no green thumb.

Well, time proves it. At the end of the day... my herbs have died. Everyone join me for a moment of silence................................... OK we are back. Thank you for your sympathy

I could say that it was because:
1- I planted them too early
2- I over watered them
3- I under watered them after I almost drowned them
4- I just neglected them a bit by going away every weekend, I mean when you are a momma of plants/herbs you cannot just go away and not care for them
5- plain old lack of skill.
6- I only put two seeds (I know I'm a nut) in each pod so there was not a lot of 'peer support' for them to survive. I could imagine the seeds feeling like they are dying of... whatever... and turning to their neighbor seeing them dead already and giving up all hope.

Now deep down in my liver, I think I know it was because of #1, but just because I am not ready to fully admit that (maybe after a few more months) I will say it was because of reasons 2-6.

Sadly, I had to throw out the first batch. It was a bit sad and embarrassing. The second time around, I put like half the pack of seeds in one pod and hopefully the power of numbers will help them to survive. I don't know what is going to happen, all I know is that i am not taking responsibility if they all die again.

Now the saddest part of this entire story is that with my excitement I went over to a friend's house and planted, you got it, two seeds per pod at her house. This is spelling disaster. Unfortunately, I keep on forgetting to ask her how they are doing, but I am not holding my breath or any such thing, because I got the feeling they are dead and probably in the garbage where mine ended up, which I really would not be mad, just more embarrassed. I need to just ask her and face the music.

I knew I should have left the planting and herb growing to the experts, but no - I just constantly give in to boredom and convince myself I could just it all.

Alright guys, that is all I have on this story. Now I have to figure out a title for this entry, that may take me a minute.
Green thumb vs brown thumb (eww! that sounds like it has to do with doodoo)
Green thumb vs no thumb
To seed or not to seed
Do it the expert way
Do it, but don't do it
Do it yourself, but get an expert
Do it yourself, but let an expert do it.

Ok got it, talk to you soon.

Rain and Lemons

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade... When it rains it pours.

These two sayings are tossed around so often in our everyday lives, but I cannot remember the last time I felt everything crash down around me so much that I had to tell myself these sayings. Well, that is after reminding myself to cast all my burdens upon the Lord because he cares for me.

Last week was such a tulmoltulous week. Is that even a word. I tend to make words up as I go. Maybe I spelled it wrong. Anyway, the point is that one thing after the other seemed to be going wrong. It has been a slow drip for the last two months. Here and there we would feel the pinch or the discomfort, but when last week hit, boy it was just about all i could handle. The biggest thing is that our car broke down and we have been carless for about a week now.

I knew things were bad, when I almost broke down to cry in front of my boss when he asked me if everything was alright. I mean there is no 1 specific thing I could point out to, it is just a series of little things.

Today, I am sooooo glad it is Sunday. It is a new week, a new start. The clouds have moved away, it is done pouring, I am having my lemonade and we are ready to move forward. Well sort of - we just need to get our car back ;]

Prayer Time

How cute... We have a night routine to put Nehemiah to bed, read the Word to him and pray. Then Kimani and I turn off the lights, and leave him to fall asleep.

Last night, Nehemiah calls out to me and says, "Mommy, let's pray." So Kimani and I turn back and kneel down by Nehemiah's bed and are quiet. We had already prayed with him, so we figured he wanted to say something specific. So after a moment he says, "Jesus thank you for blessings."

I just cried. I mean it may not seem like a big deal, but for him to say and entire sentence without being prompted or fed the words one by one, it was just amazing.

We are so proud of him. He is just too cute.

Wazzz up

Well, I am home today. It is Monday and usually I am at my part time job, but today I am enjoying the nice rainy - cold - windy day. Being cooped up inside does not bother me much, if I have not done it in a while.

Wow! it seems like this year is turning out to be quite challenging. I love seeing how God shows off his glory in our lives, but I am not crazy for the difficulties we have to endure in order for that to happen.

This is a picture of me on the train. I was sooooo bored on my way home I started taking pictures of the people around me. Those were weird so I got rid of them and took pictures of myself. I had such a blast. The conductor would walk by and tell me, 'are you that bored?' that made me laugh even more. I ended up taking like 11 pictures. it was so much fun. Now the level of fun was a direct correlation of the level of boredom. I am sure had I been on my right mind I would not have even done this. I may have considered it, but not gone through with it.

I hope to talk to you all soon.

Datnee

Nemi's new song

Oh! yeah!
Oh! yeah!
Oh! no!
Oh! no!
Oh! yeah!
Oh! no!

it is so cute how he sings it. He also loves this songs which he makes sure to shake his finger as he says no.

'No, no, no Jesus will never fail.'

though he never sings the rest of it.

'what he says he will do and he will never fail
Place your trust in man and he will surely fail
Place your trust in God and he will never fail.'

He just stays stuck in the chorus like a broken record.

'No, no, no Jesus will never fail.' imagine him with his finger high up in the air, saying no no no.

too cute.

A long time coming

It seems I took a little vacation from my blogging... Sorry!!! I do have many stories to share. From sweet things that Kimani says, to funny things Nehemiah does even to conversations with God. There are a lot of things coming down the pike (or the pipe - never know what the real word is).

Though I cannot guarantee they are in chronological order, I will be sure to post my stories.

I will start by saying that I am so proud of my 'light' green thumb. I say that because I am not good with plants and considered myself as not having a green thumb, but last year my friend Leah inspired me to plant a seed of Basil and it grew nicely and I even used it on my cooking and then I went on vacation and the plant died never to be revived again so this spring season I went all out and got several different herbs and they are growing nicely (boy this is a long sentence).

Anyway, thank you Leah! I am on a roll with my herbs... I even planted some at Marisol's house. Now I am not at her house to keep an eye on them, but I hope those too grow nicely.

Well, I look forward to making my cooking better... I planted basil, cilantro, chives, oregano, and cherry tomatoes. We expect Nehemiah to go crazy on the cherry tomatoes and just pop them in his mouth as soon as they bloom, no not bloom, grow... i guess - i need a dictionary...

Anyway, will be back with more stories in the weeks to come.

hasta la pasta,

datnee

Oh! Nemi

Lately you have been doing so many cute things that it is hard to keep up. One story that I think is worth looking back on is this one.

Last night you, me and your dad were on our way back home to Jersey from your grandparents in Brooklyn and like we usually do we stopped at Dunkin Donuts right outside the Holland Tunel. Your father got coffee for me and him and he treated us all to donuts. You ate up your glazed donut like you had never had one in your life. Unfortunately, I did not have any wipes or napkins to clean your hands, so both your hands were covered with the sugary glaze. You must have been sleepy already because the next thing I know you were sleeping with all four fingers of your left hand in your mouth. I began to laugh and it startled you, which made it even funnier because you kept your eyes closed as you changed positions and took out your left hand from you mouth to make room for your right hand. All four fingers straight into the mouth. too cute.

New Chairs :)

Check out our new chairs. We were so tired of our chairs looking dirty and just plain nasty from all the food that have fallen on them and the stains that have remained through the years. I had several pairs of jeans I wanted to so 'something' with and could not think about anything, then one day I was wanting to go to the store to get some material to cover the chairs and it hit me to use the jeans. I ran the idea by Kimani and he loved it, then my mother suggested we keep the pockets and Kimani thought it would be great to have the pockets and leave little notes for each other on them. I loved the idea and put the pockets on too.

they look great. Two chairs with big pockets from Kimani's jeans and two chairs with smaller pockets from my jeans.

too cute.

Outing at the Park

Nehemiah is doing soo cute, he enjoyed himself so much at the park recently. He keeps relying on us to help us through the things that seem difficult for him and I am to the point that I have to get him to be more secure in his own abilities and strength.

So he was at this park and wanted to go down the slide and I refused to help him up and then I caught this picture of him climbing the stairs to get to the slide. I was so proud of him that he actually made his way up there.

I love you very much, Nemi, you can do it honey. We believe in you.

Mom and Dad

Six Flags - Great Adventures!!!

Hey everyone, we waited all summer to go to Six Flags, Great Adventures and we finally had the chance to go with the church's youth group. It had been so long I had been on a roller coaster, I was not sure what it felt like or what to expect. We went on so many rides, I had a great headache from being tossed around and banged back and forth and up and down on these rides.

By far the most fun one was Medusa the ride was smooth and the dips and turns were not all that hard to handle. The most exciting was El Toro you seriously felt like you were riding a bull. it was seriously fast and up and down and left and right (it was my favorite). The scariest was Kingda Ka - very fast departure (so fast that you have to close your eyes because the wind is coming so fast at you) then when you come up it is fine, but coming back down you are looking right at the parking lot (I closed my eyes) then you do one more hill and it is over - very thrilling. I was shaking after that ride, when it was pulling in to the station to let us off, I felt like I was melting into my seat. I would do it again though.

We went on other little rides like twister and batman just for the fun of it. We missed Nemi a lot, especially when we saw the Bugs Bunny Land, and the Wiggles World. We thought it would be a great place for Nemi to have fun. We may take him when he is older so he could have fun on the kiddie rides.

Well, maybe one summer we will get the season pass so that we could go often, we had a great time, and in the midst of all the people we were able to just enjoy and draw closer to each other.

Until next time.