April 20, 2014 - Love, Actually

There is something to be said for Hugh Grant's bit about the international arrivals terminal at the airport in the movie "Love, Actually."  It is a beautiful place :) It was a VERY big moment for our family when we were reunited on Good Friday at the airport and could probably have been in a movie scene of our own.  Grace asked me a little later, "Why were you crying, Mama?"  She is not yet at the age where she understands that pure bliss can bring you to tears, and she may never know until someday if she becomes a parent just how amazing that moment was for me and Kristoffer.

Their travels started like this:

And ended in my arms, and all was right with the world.

We had a wonderful weekend.  There was an Easter egg hunt at my parent's church yesterday, followed by egg decorating at home.  Their jet-lag has been manageable, although has given us some early mornings.  They really enjoy being at Nene and Pops' house with Belle, their favorite feisty doggy.

This morning they woke up to an indoor hunt for their baskets and lots of Easter eggs.  It was a lot of fun!

(first 4 am jet lag wake up!  Happy Easter!)

We went to a lovely mass at my parents' beautiful new church, which Kristoffer and I enjoyed even though Grace and Noah fell asleep at the beginning. And, despite it being MUCH colder than our African blood is used to, there were even some signs of spring.

The best part of the day was spending it with family.  Meghan, Tim, Michael, Sean, Molly, Nora and Judy, Max and Patsy all came for Easter dinner.  This led to a LOT of laughs, and another Easter egg hunt.  Grace and Noah were so happy all day that Kristoffer said, "I'm just so happy for them! They never get to see their cousins!"  Thanks to my parents for a lovely day and dinner, and for all they have done for us this past 6 weeks (and for the next 6 weeks!).

Just before the end of the day, watching RIO and trying really hard to keep Grace & Noah awake past 6pm!  It worked...they last until 6:40 :)

Now our hospital bags are packed and we're ready to go.  

Appearing for the last time as a family of four...just eager for our #5 to get here tomorrow.  

Happy Easter to all...it was a lovely, emotional holiday weekend for the Welsiens and we look forward to starting the next chapter of our family's story tomorrow morning.

LMW

April 16, 2014 - Counting Hours

Yesterday was an emotional day to be in Boston for the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing.  I was glad I was here, though, to watch or listen to the remembrance events in real time. There were so many beautiful words spoken and beautiful songs song and beautiful prayers prayed. It is a wonder to behold that out of such evil and tragedy, such courage and hope and love and inspiration was born in the past year.

And at the same time, we had the BBG's final doctor's appointment, which went well.  About having more contractions these days (not Braxton-Hicks but real ones!) and being very uncomfortable, my doctor had two things to say:  1) that's supposed to happen, you're in "the zone" and 2) you're supposed to be uncomfortable!  It cracked me up when he promised there would be "no shenanigans" on Monday for my c-section.  Good to know!  

But the main event is my family's arrival on Friday.  Truth be told, we've got 53 hours to go and I am counting down every single one of them!

Wishing safe travels for Kristoffer, Grace, and Noah.  Can't wait to get my arms around them!

LMW

April 14, 2014 - One More Week

It is hard to believe but we are down to a one week countdown until the BBG joins us in the world!  I am 38 weeks + 1 day pregnant today and tomorrow is my final check up with the doctor.  The more imminent countdown is 4 days until Kristoffer, Grace and Noah arrive in Boston.  To call it "Good" Friday will be an understatement, and to be reunited with my family after my Lenten abstention from them will make it feel much more like Christmas than Easter.

The BBG and I are feeling well.  She is pretty low down these days so I often have my hand under my belly...feeling like I need to physically keep her in there!  At the end of the day my feet hurt and I still have significant indigestion, but only one more week until those symptoms are replaced by lots of kisses and cuddles (and my last round of post c-section discomforts).

I know Kristoffer has his hands full getting ready for 6-weeks of paternity leave from the World Bank, traveling alone with the kids, closing up the house, settling up with the staff, etc.  I am sending calming, peaceful, efficient thoughts his way that he gets through everything he has to get through by Thursday afternoon when they head to the airport.  He has been incredible throughout this separation  and helping the kids cope - I know, because my friends keep emailing me to tell me how amazing he is! - but I also know he is tired.  Has anyone ever heard that having a newborn is a great remedy for exhaustion?!  Not quite!  So hopefully our postpartum adjustment will also allow for him to get some rest and I know after a great month in America he and the kids will be excited to go to Denmark for some days at the end of May.

Never a dull moment with the Welsiens :)  I'll try to post an Easter blog before we go to the hospital next Monday morning, and then you'll be hearing from us after the BBG arrives.  So, so, so excited!

Today I would also like to wish a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my most devoted blog reader who is a very special someone to our family.  You know who you are ;)  And we can't wait to see you very soon!

LMW

April 2, 2014 - Stateside Update

Hi everyone.  Here I am back at my parents' house in Massachusetts.  I left Dar almost one month ago and Kristoffer and the kids will join me here in 2 weeks in 2 days.  In some ways it has been so lovely to be here: lots of great time with my incredibly helpful and supportive parents, satisfied American food cravings (root beer? check.  Friendly's sundae for lunch? oh yeah!), nobody else to be responsible for (save for my belly's current resident), visits from and with wonderful friends.  

But it IS incredibly hard to be away from my children and husband for so long with such a big event approaching quickly. Although we do have all of the logistics planned the way we would like them to go down, the BBG keeps giving me hints to remind me that I am not totally in control here.  Her entrance into the world might solely be determined by herself, which would be the first of many "take that, Mom"s I'm sure to get throughout her life.  I have more pre-labor symptoms now than I ever had with Grace and Noah, so there is just really no way to tell.  Will she stay or will she go?!

We have had three doctor's visits since I've been home.  The first one to meet the (new-to-me) doctor scheduled to deliver the BBG on her designated birthday (4-21-14 Boston Strong!).  We got a clean bill of health then.  The second appointment with my cardiologist, who said that from his perspective we are all good to go.  The third appointment was unexpected, yesterday, when I thought that maybe she was trying to enter the world and stopped by the hospital just to check. Note: she was not.  I feel a little bit silly and like a first-time expectant mother these days because the BBG is behaving quite differently than her siblings AND because I have never had a baby in America before.  Only having delivered through scheduled c-sections before, going into labor terrifies me!  And even though she won't know if her father is here or not, I would certainly like him to be.

So I am alternating between doing some activities (the last five days) and doing absolutely nothing (today). I have spent time with friends from MA (and she just moved to NC so good thing I caught her!), NY, NJ and DC so far.  I've had some nice time with one of my sisters so far. I've been a little bit of a Boston tourist, including introducing my old Harvard stomping grounds to a friend who had never been there.  I have not made much progress on the projects I brought with me to take care of.  Bummer there - but maybe we still have a couple weeks to go.  I have done a bit of shopping, but have not gone crazy.  

So that's the status of Life in Massachusetts.  Trying to appreciate this calm before our next big life change...but it is hard not to wish away time when these two little acrobats are so far away . 

Greeting them at the airport when they arrive on Good Friday will be amazing!  Assuming I'm not already in the hospital...
LMW

March 30, 2014 - 36 Weeks

Hello from Boston! Sorry I am a terrible blogger right now, but today the BBG and I are 36 weeks with 3 weeks and 1 day to go. I have much more to say about our lovely stay in Massachusetts so far - more on that soon, I promise - but for now just wanted to give a shout out to Kristoffer, Grace and Noah, who we miss dearly. It is definitely the final countdown for us until they arrive and our BBG is born. In the meantime blogging from an iPhone is NOT ideal so I'll say goodnight and write again soon. LMW

March 7, 2014 - Before/After...Nesting New Bedrooms

A big part of my nesting instincts this pregnancy has been redoing Grace's room to become "Grace & Noah's Room" and Noah's room to become "The Baby's Room".  Mostly I just re-purposed stuff we already had but we did buy a couple of new-to-us pieces of furniture and we had a brand new set of bunk beds made for Grace and Noah.  They have now been in their new room for one week, sleeping in the bunk beds. It's going really well - they LOVE to play in their room and they love their bunk beds.  They have decided to take turns every other night sleeping up top because they both want to do it, and that goes really well when it is Noah's turn up top, but he has a huge tantrum when it is his night to sleep on the bottom.  Hopefully with a little more time he'll get the hang of it and won't be so sad when it's Grace's turn.  

I wanted to have the transition complete before I left so that Noah won't feel like his little sister stole his bedroom (even though in reality she probably won't be sleeping in there on her own for some months after we get back).  Good thing for us he is obsessed with his big sister and any chance to be closer to her is completely welcomed. Also good thing for us Grace is pretty awesome with him and really likes having him in there with her.  So now you can see for yourself what their rooms used to look like (pretty sure I never showed you that?) and what their rooms look like now! 

(Note: apologies for poor quality pictures - we're getting a new camera in America since on our good camera only the portrait and extreme zoom lenses work!)

GRACE'S ROOM - BEFORE

GRACE & NOAH'S ROOM - NOW

(The bunk bed is so big that it is hard to get one good shot of it!)

NOAH's ROOM - BEFORE

THE BBG's ROOM - NOW

(I promise that we will put the other side onto the crib and raise the mattress before letting the baby sleep in there!)

(Photo from my shower...signed by all of the guests!)

So...bedrooms are done.  Stuff has been donated or sold or thrown away.  Pantry and closets are cleaned out and reorganized.  Blog is updated.  I am as packed as I think I'll ever be for this trip (because really in America, I can just BUY what I need when I need it!).  

Looks like it's time for the BBG and me to be on our way.  Too bad doing the rest of that stuff was MUCH easier than saying goodbye to my husband and children is going to be tomorrow night.  

I was always the girl on the last day of school crying as I said goodbye to teachers and friends for the summer.  When it was time for me to go to college I cried for sure...but not nearly as hard as I cried the day I had to leave Syracuse after graduating!  It was physically painful!  Kristoffer and I were in a long distance relationship for four years until we got married...and in that time had some pretty tearful goodbyes.  The day Kristoffer and I packed up my apartment in Brooklyn after our honeymoon to drive down to DC...it was raining horribly and I was sure that Brooklyn was crying as hard as I was to say goodbye.  The first time we left for Nairobi I also had an incredibly weepy goodbye with my family...and even all these years later I still hate saying goodbye to my family or Kristoffer's family in Denmark when its time for us to leave.  When people come visit us over here, I always say goodbye in tears.  Do you get my point?  In general, I'm pretty emotional...even when not pregnant...and goodbyes have always been hard for me. 

But none of that could prepare me for tomorrow.  It will be harder and sadder and deeper than ever before...leaving my little ones for so long, even though I know they will be perfectly fine and are in great hands with the best father a mother could ever dream of for her children.  It is the right thing to do at this time, I know, but that doesn't make it any easier.  

So wish me luck and safe travels.  And if you're in America, I hope to see or talk to you soon!  Hoping our Dar village helps take care of my people while I'm gone.  We'll be back in June as a family of five! 

Kwaheri...baadaye!

LMW