The Diedrich's House

The Diedrich family has such a special place in our hearts. They are not only great friends but they are also supporters of our ministry in the Dominican. They have been so generous and gracious and they really just mean the world to us. When I think of Christmas, I think of the Diedrich's house. It's so cozy. Fireplaces, a barn with horses, homemade cookies...I get excited just thinking about going to their house. (I'll have to post some pics of their family later!)

But this afternoon, we were just relaxing by the fireplace and I had to snap some shots of my little family. What an incredible blessing this time in the states have been. Although we came home under some undesirable circumstances, God has definitely blessed us while we've been here. Enjoy a few pics of our little family!


Content little Emi


There is just SOMETHING so adorable about a little baby's cry...for a short time anyway :)


The "bobo" that she only likes sometimes...not like her brother who had it attached at all times!


I just love, love, love this picture. Landon and his lizards, Dad hanging out and Emi passed out without a clue!


Our little guy plays so well by himself...definitely like his Daddy in that sense.


Such an imagination (he gets THAT from his Mama!)

A Daddy and his Girl

Had to post this picture. So adorable.

2 Weeks!

Our little girl is two weeks old!

One Week Old

What a quick week it has been.

Nohemi is a week old already! She is eating well, sleeping about 23 hours a day and fitting in so perfectly with our little family.

Nohemi Ruth Braisted

Our little Emi is here!!!! And she couldn't be more beautiful. She arrived by C-section at 8:09am. She weighs 8 pounds, 1 ounce and is 19 inches long. Everything today went beautifully and the staff here at Lewis-Gale Hospital in Roanoke, Virginia are taking incredible care of us! Thank you for all of your prayers. This day couldn't have gone more smoothly.

36 weeks

And the countdown begins...the waiting game is here. She could really come any day but I do have the benefit of knowing she won't come any later than November 21st. So we have 20 days left. And believe me, I am ready!!!!! I have loved this pregnancy so much and being pregnant with a little girl made it that much sweeter but I am ready to have a normal body again and hold my baby girl. I am SOOOOO uncomfortable. It feels like she gains a pound a day. Back pain, heartburn, 18 trips to the bathroom, tossing and turning at night, leg numbness, contractions that lead to nothing.....nothing fun about the last month of pregnancy. Some women just exude loveliness through their pregnancy, I just am not one of those people, I guess. Maybe it is partly because of having a toddler as well. Trying to work through all those pregnancy issues while still attending to a very energetic little boy who needs my attention. THANK GOODNESS I have Mike. He has been such a huge help these last few weeks. Letting me take naps when I'm exhausted, taking over the night shift if Landon wakes up crying, playing with Landon and wearing him out so he's not so much to handle....I have thought so many times, I have more and more respect for single mothers who do such an amazing job raising their children without that second person there.

Not much news to report other than at our last visit we had an ultrasound and she was already 6 pounds and very healthy. I had gained another 5 lbs in 2 weeks (ugh!) and am up to 20 lbs gained so far. She was also in the head down position (which I already knew from the constant pressure on my pelvis).

My belly is just all baby. When she moves you can see her little foot or butt change the entire shape of my belly. If I've been sleeping on my side, you can see this huge bump of her body on that side and the other side is flat. It looks a little creepy.

This will probably be the last photo I'll post of the belly until Nohemi is here. How sad and exciting all at once! We can not WAIT until she is here. Thanks for taking this journey with us.

32 weeks!

So technically, I'm 34 weeks today but the picture was taken when I was 32 weeks pregnant! Seriously??? Are we really that close? My little counter at the top of our blog says we have 37 days left. That is just insane. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy has gone. Pretty soon we will be the parents of two. But I don't want to start thinking about that yet....I'll feel too overwhelmed.

I can't emphasize how different this pregnancy has been compared to Landon. I was uncomfortable with Landon for much different reasons (i.e. still throwing up) than with Emi. I've gained a total of 15 pounds so far, which I couldn't be more thrilled about. I've done so much better with this pregnancy about not just eating to eat and choosing better options. Now, I sometimes have had days where all I want are ice cream, candy and caffeinated soda...but for the most part, I have been pretty healthy.

I also attribute my overall well-being to chasing around a two-year old. I always used to think it was such a crock when mother's said they kept skinny from chasing their kids around. I CERTAINLY did not stay skinny taking care of Landon. But now that he's almost 2 1/2, I literally will look at my watch at 2pm and go, "oh man, I didn't even eat lunch yet." For those of you who know me well...those words would have never come out of my mouth before!

I have been having an INSANE amount of Braxton Hicks contractions. I don't remember them at all with Landon. Maybe just because this time around I'm more in tune with my body. But I literally get them everyday, several times a day. And they aren't the most comfortable things in the world. I don't know what those stupid books are talking about, painless tightenings of the uterus...bah!

I am in full on nesting mode and have had to refrain from wanting to buy everything under the sun! A missionary's salary helps to reign me in :) But girls' stuff is SO much cuter than boys' stuff and I have just found myself (yes, the tomboy that I am!) looking at anything and everything pink that I can find!

We have a scheduled C-section planned for November 21st at 7:30am but I am secretly really wanting her to come a bit earlier. As wonderful as this pregnancy has been, I am really feeling quite done with being pregnant. I still have five weeks to go and I just don't feel like I have room in there for her anymore. I think she feels the same way (she lets me know by frequent jabs to the ribs and hips).

But we are just around the corner from holding our little girl. You can be praying for this whole process, obviously for health and safety of Nohemi and I, but because as happy as this occasion is going to be...it is also going to be so bittersweet without Joe here to be part of it all. Just yesterday, Debbie played the song that Joe picked out for Emi's dedication and it had all three of us bauling and hurting and missing him all over again (not that we need a reminder, we are constantly reminded of how much we miss him). It's just so painful still and I imagine it will be for a while. So I covet your prayers that God will reign over this whole season in our lives. Filling us with nothing but joy and love and gratefulness for all the blessings that He pours on us daily.

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took Landon to his first pumpkin patch. What a great place. It had a petting farm, hay ride, corn maze and pumpkin patch. Lando was in heaven! Priceless memories that will have to be repeated every year, I think.

Little Man

I just had to post this picture. He's just such a little man now. Not my little baby. I'm experimenting with a new lens and don't have it down yet so most of my photos are a little blurry but this one I just loved despite a little blurryness.

Life of Joe

Life of Joe from Amanda Braisted on Vimeo.

I put together a video of Joe for the funeral yesterday. It was so therapeutic to look through photographs, old and new, and remember what a special man he was.

No Words

Just ask that you lift Mike's family up as we just found out that his dad, Joe, passed away today. Mike will be flying to the US tomorrow and Landon and I on Sunday.

28 Weeks!

I can't believe we are at 28 weeks!!!! It's so crazy. Although these last four weeks have gone much slower since we haven't had teams here and I haven't been constantly busy. Other than moving, of course! But I seriously feel AWESOME. If I knew I would have pregnancies like this, I could probably do this ten more times! (Don't worry, I'm not going to) My belly has appeared out of nowhere. I definitely grew this month. I'm interested to go to the doctor again on the 10th to get weighed. I think I may have gained 10 pounds since our last visit.

I've started to have some pretty serious achy legs. Lots of numbness and tingling. Last night, I went to roll over and change positions and got a MAJOR calf cramp out of nowhere. I screamed out loud immediately and scared Mike half to death. Oh man, that pain was wretched. He was a great husband and rubbed my calf until my muscle chilled out and then I had to do calf stretches for about 10 minutes after. Awful. I hope that doesn't happen very often, if ever again.

Nohemi is a mover. Man, oh, man. She must be having a good time in there. With Landon he had a very predictable schedule. And surprisingly kept it pretty similar for a couple weeks after birth. If Nohemi keeps this up after birth, she will be the most alert baby ever born I think. Landon slept like 20 hours a day...Nohemi, not so much. I have to be careful when I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because if it is between 3am-5am she wakes up and kicks around and keeps me awake. So I try and keep bathroom visits to a minimum. I'm sure it won't be long before I won't be able to control that.

Our time here is winding down as Landon and I will be flying to Wisconsin September 19th for two weeks. Then off to Virginia until our little girl is born! We are getting so excited...AND...I'm getting so excited to get back to the US and start looking for little girly stuff! Woo hoo!!!!!

New House

I know, I know...you are waiting for some house photos...but in the meantime I wanted just to post this one. Never in this whole process of possibly getting this house did we doubt that we felt God was leading us here. But if there was ever a hint of doubt, this picture describes the blessings you receive when you listen closely to the quiet voice of God. I've never seen this little boy so happy.

Fisherman

I had to post just a quick picture from this morning. My parents sent Landon this shirt and although it just looks like an ordinary shirt it has quite the sentimental meaning.

Fishing is a way of life for the Goodwin gang. All of us girls have grown up loving to fish and the grandkids adopted the same love through the years. Every year (except for one) before Mike and I moved to the mission field I went to Maine with my family to stay at our cabin. Countless and I mean COUNTLESS hours have been spent on that lake fishing for bass, trout and white perch. One year we LITERALLY caught hundreds of fish in a two week trip. Landon had the opportunity to go to Maine when he wasn't quite two months old but unfortunately hasn't been able to go since. He's at the age when my nephew Seth started fishing with my dad (who is by all definitions of the word a professional fisherman). But the funny thing is is that through the years of daughters and grandchildren fishing with my dad (who has spent thousands more hours on that lake than any of us) somehow we always ended up with the bigger fish. So when my parents sent us this T-shirt it just made my heart happy. Continuing the tradition with Landon. I truly hope he has future opportunities to fish in Maine with "Papa."

24 weeks!

Time is ZOOMING!!! Our summer of teams is complete and now we have some time for rest.

Saturday marked 24 weeks of pregnancy. I feel wonderful. Much different than with Landon. I can go a week without getting sick, which is such a God-send. We had a doctor's appointment today which confirmed that our little one is definitely a girl! We are so excited. Bring on the pink, frilly stuff!!! I've gained a total of 2 pounds so far during this pregnancy (only because I dropped some weight that I needed to drop) and the doctor says that both Nohemi and I are healthy. She's measuring a little small on some of her measurements, only by about a week, but her head circumference is right at 24 weeks. My fundal measurement (the measurement from pubic bone to top of the uterus) is measuring 25 weeks...which is weird cause I feel like my belly is barely growing! I should put on at least 1 lb. a week for the next 16 weeks (or if it's like Landon, 7 pounds of water weight the week before she's born!) which would put my weight gain at about 18 pounds. But who knows, going back to the states and eating all my mother-in-law's delicious food and it may be more like 2 lbs. a week!

Thanks for going on this journey with us so far. We couldn't be happier to add a little girl to our family. I'll finally have someone on my side!!!!

Watermelon

Just had to share some cute pics of the boy.

4 Years!!!!

July 15th was Mike and I's 4 year anniversary! We couldn't even believe it. Time has flown by so fast and we've really just fallen more in love with each other every year! We don't generally do gifts (usually because of lack of time given that our anniversary falls in the middle of our busiest time) but I was home not feeling very well and I got a little knock on our door. And who was there but a man holding a ridiculously beautiful bouquet of Lillies. Oh my goodness they were so beautiful and they smelled so wonderful. I was so surprised. What an awesome husband!!!!

I ended up having the worst migraine of my entire life that night and ruined Mike's plans to take me to dinner. He had found a babysitter and covered all of my bases with work! But we did end up getting to go to dinner that Friday and we went to TGIFridays!!!! It is my favorite restaurant in the states and it doesn't disappoint here in the Dominican Republic either! It was so wonderful to have this time together and to celebrate four amazing years of marriage.

We started dating in 2003, we got married in 2005, we had Landon in 2007 and Nohemi will be born in 2009. Six great years of life together!!!!! I love you, Mike! (I'll post a couple pictures from dinner when I have time)

21 weeks

I am officially pregnant! 21 weeks to be exact. If I just looked a little chubby before, I now have a definite baby belly. And man am I uncomfortable. I am carrying so differently with this little one and I can feel the difference in my back. My neck and back are aching quite a bit. But I am just ALL belly. Luckily, I haven't seen much of a difference in my behind or my thighs which actually got pretty large during my pregnancy with Landon. And the funny thing is, I look less pregnant in the mornings. How does that happen?

She's a bit more active and her kicks are stronger but it is nothing like Landon was. She is for sure a lot calmer. I felt like I had a little soccer player in my tummy with Landon.

We have also decided on a name....Nohemi Ruth!!!!! Woo hoo!!!! We love, love, love it. Nohemi is a latina name which we really wanted this time around (and is also the name of one of Mike's Mom's good friends from Peru) and Ruth was my grandma's name who passed away this spring. In case you're not Latino you pronounce it No-em-EE. The accent is on the last syllable. But for all of you Spanish-challenged folks out there, we are going to call her Emi for short.

We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow so I'll probably update more later.