Adding to the Family!

Sitting down to write this blog post has been a long time coming (well at least 20 weeks or so!)

But we are excited to announce that we are expecting our fourth child!

Below, you will see some pictures highlighting parts of this pregnancy so far and also I talk about the name we have chosen for our little guy. Enjoy!

I'm starting with this picture, because this little guy (left) pictured here with our
son Isaac, I like to say is the reason we are having another baby, haha! Isaac
has been smitten with this little one since he first held him as a baby two years
ago and he began praying we would have another baby, specifically a boy! It's
such a neat part of this story to me and I'm so thankful for our son's heart
( and friends who have cute kiddos!)

This was taken right after we told the kids I was pregnant.
We bought them a book titled "New Baby" and it took a while
for them to clue in, because we have several friends that are
currently pregnant right now (two of my best friends back
in the States are just a few weeks ahead of me, so fun!). They
thought the book was just about babies in general, not about
US having a new baby ;)

As soon as we began telling people, our neighbor came over the following day
with chocolates and pickles and said it was only for me! 

One of the most funny stories from the beginning of this
pregnancy was when I went in for my initial bloodwork
and the nurse handed me this vile (you would collect blood
in) and said she needed a urine sample. As you can tell by
my expression, I was a bit perplexed on how I was going to
manage that in such a small little thing, LOL! We found
out later, after telling one of our Polish friend's this story,
that we are supposed to purchase urine sample cups at the
pharmacy and bring them with me to the appointments.
Navigating the Polish medical system in this pregnancy
has been quite interesting, but I'm slowly figuring it out!
Thankful for the help and pointers from my mama friends
here who have been able to answer my never ending questions.

This is the day we found out it was a boy and told our kids
by wrapping up this little card (saying "boy") and let
Isaac open it up. 

Isaac was excited, to say the least!

Our little guy around 18 weeks

I'm a thrift store shopper and when I came
across this cute little onesie just days after
finding out the gender, I had to get it!

Celebrating the Fourth of July and squeezing into my t-shirt
from last year with that growing belly of mine!

We've had a couple friends here have baby boys in recent months and one day we
met up with one of those mama's and her kiddos at the park. Our kids could not
get enough of this precious little baby and have started asking so many questions
about what it will be like to have a little brother around.

I have craved Mexican food since being pregnant, but it's a rarity here...so when
we went on a day trip this Summer to Toruń, we found a Mexican food restaurant
that sufficed and help satisfy some of my craving for chips, salsa and tacos!

Like with previous pregnancies, I had my glucose test not too
long ago and spent a couple hours in the doctor's office for the
blood draw. This one seemed different than in previous pregnancies
and I almost threw up immediately upon drinking the glucose drink.
Thankfully, I kept it down and spent some undistracted time reading
while I waited to have the final blood draw.

It's been fun to see each of our children preparing for the arrival
of a new baby. Karis in particular has become more helpful and
"motherly" to her own little baby doll. She is very excited to
change diapers, feed the baby and do dishes for mommy! We
shall see how her excitement continues once little brother arrives.

I got to help host a baby shower for one of my friends here that
just recently had her baby. It was fun to celebrate with her and
reminisce about all things "little baby". Here I am pictured with
here at around 20 weeks pregnant. 

And the name we have chosen for him is...Milo Marc Valentine

We have always been really big about choosing a name with a strong meaning. We have a hard time just picking a name because we like the sound of it. This entire pregnancy, I was convinced it was a girl and was already set on the name. So when one of my friends from the States told me she was expecting another boy, I got to thinking, maybe this could be a boy too (as she and I both already have three children-girl, boy, girl consecutively)...so I thought, wouldn't it be ironic if we found out ours was a boy too! So at that point, I began thinking, maybe I need to look into some ideas for boy names. Sure enough, a week later, we found out it was a boy! 

We have several "criteria" for what we look for in a name, and now have the added pressure of making sure it's a name that can be pronounced here in Poland! This was no easy feat. And there are also several Polish names we like, but would almost be next to impossible for our American friends and family to pronounce. So the search continued for several weeks after finding out his gender. Finally one day, a friend of mine asked if we had thought about the name Milo. I said, actually, yes, but Steve and I just hadn't talked much about it yet (Steve being pretty busy with work this Summer). But after my conversation with her, I could not get that name out of my head. I looked up the meaning and began talking about it with Steve; after that it was confirmed that Milo was to be his name. 

I wanted to choose a name that embodied kind of how I have felt during this pregnancy, reflecting the journey I have experienced with being pregnant this time around and trying to navigate it all in a foreign culture (one thing I never wanted to do...especially after hearing my own mother's stories about giving birth abroad, not to mention many of my friends who have delivered in foreign countries). I struggled immensely at the beginning of this pregnancy and was adamant on finding a way to get back to America to have this baby. In America, I felt safe and secure in my previous pregnancies and deliveries and so this time around, I was struggling big time emotionally. And also, spiritually I was a bit defiant and angry toward the Lord and could not comprehend what He was actually doing in this time. I needed the Lord to soften my heart and remind me that He was with me, leading me through this pregnancy and already knows the outcome of it all! God has met me in some intimate ways throughout my pregnancy and continues to comfort my heart and mind as I actively choose to trust Him. He has shown me great mercy, even when I deserved it the least. 

This leads me to the meaning of Milo's name...his name means "merciful". 

Like I said before, once I saw the meaning of his name, I knew this was to be the name we chose for our son. God has shown and continues to show great mercy to me, giving me what I don't deserve. I am humbled and grateful to be carrying this child. The middle name we chose, Marc, is Steve's middle name (and was also his late uncle's middle name) and so we wanted our son to carry on that as his middle name too. 

Milo will make his arrival in the end of November Lord Willing. 

Thank you for celebrating with us in this joyous time!