Baby Number 3!!

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote a blog...I wrote the last one just before I became pregnant with our third child...At the beginning of 2012 I was focused on being healthy and eating right.  I lost a little bit of weight.  Then we decided to try to have a third child...I am currently 6 months pregnant with the baby due in November.

The first 3 months of pregnancy (March to May) I experienced a lot of nausea and fatigue in the afternoon and evening.  Lots of things went by the wayside while I sat on the couch trying not to throw up!!  I am thankful that this did not hit in the morning when I was teaching English to preschool and kindergarten.

In June I started feeling a lot better and was able to administrate a great summer day camp program, we had almost 30 volunteers from the US during the month of July.  Our boys loved having all of the English speakers around.  On the left is a picture of me pregnant on my 40th birthday in June!!  Below are the boys on a muddy hike with the volunteers.

The beginning of August we took some of the volunteers on 4 days of sight-seeing, ending up in Quito. 

 Then had a week of vacation, where we shopped at malls buying school supplies, new socks, etc. for our boys and some of the needed supplies for our baby.  Shopping in Quito is quite the experience with two boys age 6 and 8 who are used to shopping in stores in Macas no bigger than a US convenience store!!  Our 8 year old was convinced that we had won a free trip and needed to take advantage of it right away when we were approached in one mall with a travel gimmick.  All in all, we had a great week and got to do many activities we cannot do in Macas like watching Ice Age 3, bowling, going to a small amusement park, and to a children's museum.  

Now the middle of August we are in Macas preparing for another school year!!

Musings on Motherhood...

When we moved to Ecuador I was mid-30s...now as I near 40, I have become more reflective on my practices as a mom.  I find myself enjoying my children more and my priorities shifting more to them from the focus I had before on my "work".  I must admit that they were an overwhelming challenge when we moved here and the oldest was 2 and the youngest was 6 months old...I learned a lot of things in college about living in another culture, but nothing how to be a good mom of two boys...I should have signed up for that class!!  At the same time, my own personal insecurities regarding my value as a person drew me to focus on my task list instead of my relationships.

Since then, I understand much more about the value of just being with people.  I have learned about the tremendous value of family from the culture here and the value of just spending time together.  Here we get together with people and cook instead of going to events or places like in the US.  I can see my core and my focus shifting away from "work" to the importance of my family.  I find myself being drawn to websites about health and nutrition, cooking, family and housekeeping.  Many of these used to be on my list of things to get through quickly so I could move on to more important things.   

At the same time, as my focus goes more to the home, I realize that I am unprepared and need lots of education to be really good at this.  I proceed cautiously in these waters that I avoided in the past.  I begin to take my role as the WOMAN in this family realizing that no one else can be that mom and wife...BOYS...the just want to go outside and play, have burping contests, learn to kick a ball well and learn to make desserts (thanks to the Discover Channel Master Chef!!)  I am amazed by my boys who can take a stack of empty boxes and make a dragon and beat me at Nintendo Wii Just Dance Kids without much effort.  Thanks Ecuador for what you are teaching me and to my boys who are helping me be a better woman!!