my baby love

well, i've waited for hours to reveal sessie's gender. i've been waiting on michael to be able to upload the pictures from the sonogram. our stupid scanner is broken.

now, i'll just reveal without pictures of the cute, sweet baby.

sessie's name is being changed to sesse because we think the ie is too girlie for our little man.

yup!!!

a BOY!

i can't believe i'm going to have a son. i can't believe michael is going to have a son. it's more real than ever now. that sweet boy was moving all over the place, waving and giving us thumbs up. he also couldn't keep his hands from between his legs! ha!

everything looks great and he's right on target. although, he does weigh about 9 oz. and everything i've read about a baby 18 weeks along says they're about 5 oz. we've filed my due date one day earlier and it's now august 16th. we'll see how that goes. :) we're all so excited!

sesse-
it's so amazing to know that you are growing inside me. you are my sweet, little boy. i can feel you move now and i think you're getting quite a work out in there. daddy won't be able to feel you for at least another month, but i think he's gonna like it when he does. everyone is so excited that you are on your way, that's including your pa and mamo and all of your aunts and uncles. stay safe in there and know that i love you so.
your mommy

to make up for the bad news...

i called and rescheduled my ultrasound for monday, march 16th!

we'll be driving to the doctor for a 2:30pm appointment time. i'll be drinking plenty of water and orange juice (i've heard that's the trick) before then. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that at some point during the ultrasound, sessie moves around and shows us...whatever there is to show! :)

i'll let you know as soon as we know. how stinkin' exciting is this?!?!?!?!?

happy birthday, my boy

mason wilde,

you are such a big ol' boy. i was there the day your mom figured out you were on your way and i've been here ever since. you are the sweetest boy i've met and i love you dearly. i cannot believe you are 6 years old! i miss being in the same town as you and seeing you whenever i wish. i really miss being able to see you on your birthday! i hope you have a great day with lots of fun and love!

happy birthday mason!

i love you,
kylah

bad news

we're not going to new zealand. this was only decided a few days ago so at the last minute...we're stuck here. the problem is with our immigration paperwork. we have gone through hell to get michael's travel paperwork approved in plenty of time for this trip. unfortunately, a year and half later...it's not ready. after multiple calls and internet checks, i finally made a desperate plea to an immigration agent via the phone to get some answers. there is some kind of hold on our paperwork that we know nothing about. the only answer...wait it out. we have another few months of this.

if we were to leave the country...we couldn't get back in. decision made.

we found out on tuesday and i cried like i haven't cried in years. i cried in the middle of my classroom with my kids starring at me. i cried in the closet of my classroom while breaking the news to michael. i cried while telling my family and coworkers and while cancelling my sub for the week after spring break. i talked to my mom again when i got home and sobbed until i couldn't talk or breathe. then...i slept.

for us, this trip wasn't just a vacation, although we were looking forward to that aspect. our goal in traveling across the world was to be in attendance at michael's sister's wedding. last year, claire emailed me and asked for the dates of my sprint break. she planned her wedding around when we could be there. now...we can't even go. claire and i have been emailing back and forth during her planning process and i have been dying to see everything she imagined finally come together. i wanted to be there (geez...now i'm crying again) and i wanted michael to be able to be there. not only for himself, but for claire. with their parents gone, we feel an even bigger sense of family importance. living across the globe from each other doesn't allow us to get together very often but we were certainly planning on being there for the biggest day of claire's life.

claire and bevan-
we love you so much. i am so sorry that we will not be there physically on your wedding day. we will be there in spirit and we'll be praying for you both and thinking about you. we love you.