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Christmas 2009 at the Ramos’s

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On Christmas Eve, Daddy and Manu came back from California and arrived home past 11pm.  We woke everyone up and opened presents.  Lots of special gifts for Grandma from the boys!  We’re so thankful she has come up to help take care of us for the month.


Micah got a new blanket, Manu got a toy baking set, and they both got bath markers and a board game.


Bentley even got a stocking with gifts this year. 


We made carob/coconut crunchies and baked & decorated Christmas cookies in the afternoon.


Manu Claus delivering a Christmas stocking with a special present inside!


Brothers, Micah & Ty


Each year since we got our Christmas tree, we’ve added one ornament.  We started this tradition when Grandma Karen from church gave Micah the first one commemorating his first Christmas in 2007.  Last year, Manu picked out the moose.  This year, we got another one from Grandma Karen for baby Ty’s first Christmas. 


Was it a silent night?

    
Some of us were up all night!  🙂 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and truly appreciated God’s gift to us through His Son, Jesus. May we learn to love Him more! 

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On the Eve of Christmas

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I’m writing now on the very eve of perhaps the most special Christmas ever.  My third baby boy was just born 12 days ago and my precious nephew is finally where he belongs – at home.  Seeing your loved ones hurting is the perhaps the most difficult experience one can go through.  But the Lord has been faithful to us.  He has used such a severe trial to strengthen our family, our friends, our churches, and ultimately our trust and love for Him.  There is no doubt in my mind that Ian Jukes Namm is a special child with a high calling.  And I’m so proud to be his aunt and I’m so proud to call God my Father. 

God bless each of you this holiday season as we remember the greatest sacrifice ever given!

(And this is where I would put a picture of me holding baby Ian.  One day soon.) 

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Am I Ready?

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The past weeks prior to baby Ty’s surprise arrival were crazy.  I was frantic trying to get all of the last minute preparations made.  Part of the reason was because I was nesting like never before.  The majority part was the fact that Israel was planning on going to California the Monday to Wednesday (Dec. 14-16) before my schedule c-section (Dec. 21).  I wanted everything ready before he left so that when he came back, we would be ready to go.  I wanted the house clean and I had an enormous check-list.  The baby room was temporarily transformed into my mom’s bedroom for the month she would be staying with us, I had scheduled an appointment for our furniture to be professionally steam-cleaned, Micah and I had our doc appointments taken care of, I dropped off a few large bags of miscellaneous items to Good Will, I bought last minute baby necessities, I loaded the freezer with food from our Schwan man (in case we got stranded by a winter storm), extra wood was stocked in the house, our bedroom was transformed into a temporary baby room, and my bag for the hospital stay was packed.  Physically, our house was pretty much ready. 

Last Friday, Dec. 11, I had finished tidying up the kitchen and I crawled into bed.  I sat there debating whether I should read or if I should work on the baby book.  I decided to work on the baby book since I still had to write a letter to the baby.  After all, it was one of the things on my check-list.  I started the letter with “Dearest Baby”.  Immediately the other two letters that I had written to my other boys came to mind.  I had poured out my hearts to unborn Imanuel and unborn Micah expressing how much I loved them and how it is my goal to raise them to love Jesus.  I shared with them how I may fail them, but how I would do my best, by God’s grace to always point them to our Savior who died for them.  And then tears began to well up in my eyes.  I thought of the past few weeks.

While I was physically getting our home ready for the baby’s arrival, spiritually, I was an absolute mess.  From the minute I would wake up to the seconds before going to bed, my mind was consumed with making sure we were cleaning and ready.  Imanuel and Micah were my biggest hindrance to keeping the house clean and getting Israel to do anything helpful was impossible.  My temper was short and my patience was somewhere on vacation far, far away.  I must admit that each night that week, before going to bed, it was very difficult to even pray.  I would keep it pretty generic so conviction wouldn’t fully set in.  I kept rationalizing and thinking that if I could just get everything done or make good progress, I would be happier.  If the kids just helped pick up their toys or if Micah would stop throwing any and all objects down the stairs, I would have time to play with them.  If Israel would help, at least with his chores, then I wouldn’t feel so exhausted all the time and would have time for devotions.  I was angry and bitter and hated it.  With this frame of mind – still quite fresh I assure you – what was I supposed to write to this new baby?  Could I honestly write that my deepest desire is to be a godly mother?  That I would do my best to raise him to love the Lord?  Every sentence I wrote took a lot of faith.  Finally, I couldn’t handle it any longer.   

With tears streaming down my face, I spoke to the Lord.  I cried out to Him in utter despair.  The thought kept going through my mind over and over again, “How can I possibly raise another child when I’ve already failed You so miserably?” 

I experienced a true repentance that I haven’t felt in a long time…and it wasn’t a good feeling.  Then, I felt a deep need for forgiveness.  Primarily from my poor husband.  I went to the bathroom to wash my face and marched into the living room where he was preparing for his sermon.  I could barely get the words out, “Israel, I just wanted to say…” and I got all choked up.  It wasn’t graceful nor pretty.  First of all, he thought something horrible had happened so he was all concerned.  Then I finally blurted out that I wanted to say sorry for treating him so horribly.  He ended up smiling out of relief and giving me a hug.  I told him what had happened as I was sitting in bed trying to write my letter to baby #3.  He gladly forgave me and assured me that I was still the best wife and mother in the whole world.  I don’t even try to argue with him anymore about that. 

I went back to the room so Israel could finish preparing and I spoke some more with Jesus.  I told Him that I honestly felt there was no way I could possibly be ready for this child to come, nor did I even feel worthy.  I had been faithful in getting “ready” for a child from a purely human perspective, but I hadn’t been faithful at preparing myself spiritually for the challenges ahead.  I needed more time.  Good thing I had over a week.  “Lord, I cannot do this on my own.  I proved that this past week.  I’m nowhere NEAR ready.  I need Your ever-present help every moment of every single day!”

And that night, I went into labor.  As I was timing the contractions, I spoke with the Lord.  I couldn’t believe this was happening and I honestly thought they would stop.  But with an overwhelming impression, the Lord spoke to me saying, “Judy, now you are ready.”

At around 5am, with a soft, calm voice, I called Israel’s name. 

Titus Israel Ramos was about to make his entrance into the world and I couldn’t be happier.

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Ty

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At around 5am, I heard a calm and soft voice calling my name. Still drowsy, I responded to Judy and she said, “I’m having contractions.” I quickly woke up and my natural doctor instincts kicked in. I asked if they were regular and how far apart they were. When she told me that they were five minutes apart I knew I had to do the responsible thing and call back-up. I said “Let’s go right now” (to the hospital). She called the hospital to see if we should come in and they said we should. Judy jumped in the shower and I notified Daniel that he should preach. We contacted Grandma Karen and she was willing to babysit Manu and Micah.

Since the baby wasn’t due for another two weeks, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. The scheduled C-Section was set for the 21st — a week before the actual due date. When we got to the hospital, the nurse checked her out and said that for sure she was going to deliver that day. Things started to get exciting. The boys went to Grandma Karen’s house and I stayed back with Judy. The hospital then called the medical staff to come in: Dr. Reyskin, the OB/Gyn was a visiting doc from CT (but originally from Russia) and the pediatrician on call was Dr. Murray, a visiting doc from downstate.

They prepared her for surgery and brought me some scrubs with funky boots. And then I followed the nurse into the OR. The people were really nice! Really, really nice! Judy did a great job and I saw, for the first time, the ACTUAL birth of one of my kids. The pediatrician took him for examination and they let me follow right along in the OR as though I was one of the staff. I went back and forth a few times between baby and mom. We took a few pictures. And we thanked God for a safe delivery for both mom and child. I then followed the nurses as they led me and our baby to the room next door for him to be weighed and measured.

After making a few calls to family Judy was brought out and the three of us met in the hall and came into the room where she’s recovering.

The baby’s name is Titus Israel Ramos or “Ty”. It means “honorable” in latin.

The name was chosen in honor of Auntie Julie. It was also chosen because the message of the book of Titus is relevant to our family at this time:

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared…
Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us…” (Titus 2:11-14).

The surgery went well and Judy and Ty are resting at the hospital. We expect them to be home by Monday (I was supposed to go on a trip this day!).

We are so thankful for God’s goodness toward us and praise Him for His kindness toward our family.

Here is the birth announcement

Announcing Ty

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Happy Birthday, Baby Ian!

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So, we found out this morning, that my brother Jukes and sis-in-law Aileen gave birth to their son, Ian Jukes Namm.  We are so thrilled and can’t wait to meet him!  Imanuel has been praying for his baby cousin (& baby brother) for some time now.  I was happy to share the news this morning to him and he was so excited.  The first thing he said was, “So I can hold him now?!”  🙂  Hopefully there will be more details to come very soon!

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Silly Songs with Micah

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I thought I’d share a couple silly songs that Micah has made up in recent times.  In case you didn’t know, Micah LOVES to sing.  When he is happy, he bursts out in song – usually falsetto.  LOL. 

The first silly song that I can recall – and by silly song, I mean Micah singing his own rendition of the song – was his his take on “The Farmer in the Dell”.  Israel’s mom bought the boys almost every Cedarmont Kids DVD and the boys love watching and singing along.  On the “Pre-School Songs” DVD is where Micah learned this song.  It ends with “The cheese stands alone…the cheese stands alone….hi-ho-the-dario the cheese stands alone.”  Well, I was sitting in the house with Micah and we were petting Chance, our orange cat.  Now, this was a rare occurrence since Chance is still a bit wary of Micah.  Anyway, Micah was so happy to be able to pet Chance that he starting singing,

“Chance stands alone!  Chance stands alone! 
Hi-ho-the-dario…Chance stands alone!” 

I could not contain my laughter.   

Today, he made up a song about his “puppy-jamas”.  Let me explain.  Micah has a favorite outfit and that is his pajamas with brown puppies on them.  From the time he got them, he loved wearing them because he loves puppies.  He affectionately calls them his “puppy-jamas”.  Well, today as I was changing him out of his PJs to his regular clothes, he starting singing this song: (sung to the tune of the first line of “Sabbath is a Happy Day!)

“Puppy-Jama – Happy day!  Happy Day!  Happy Day!
Puppy-Jama – Happy day!  Happy Day!  Happy Day!”

Here’s Micah wearing the bottoms of his “puppy-jamas”. 

Micah sings a variety of songs ranging from “Mercy Said No” to “Happy Birthday”.  However, his all-time favorite song for the last several months has been “Only A Boy Named David”.  He requests this song every worship – morning & evening – and he sings it at least a dozen times in between.  Sometimes he sings it in a silly-hyper way and other times, he goes all out and tries to sing operatically.  I’m still trying to get that version on video.  I think his love for this song is partly what inspires him to always carry a rock or small ball in his hand almost at all times and especially if we are going out somewhere.  If he doesn’t have one, he’ll come up to me and say, “Mama, hold it…rock”  or “Mama, hold it…ball” with his hand outstretched. 

*sigh*  These are things I never want to forget…for they will always bring a smile to my face.

Perhaps God has great plans for Micah to be a composer or singer.  But for now, we all know one thing is for sure…he is a ham!  He never fails to bring joy and laughter to our family. 

I read this yesterday morning from the book “Child Guidance” on page 205.

“Marked diversities of disposition and character frequently exist in the same family, for it is in the order of God that persons of varied temperament should associate together.  When this is the case, each member of the household should sacredly regard the feelings and respect the right of the others.  By this means mutual consideration and forbearance will be cultivated, prejudices will be softened, and rough points of character smoothed.  Harmony may be secured, and the blending of the varied temperaments may be a benefit to each.”  Taken from the chapter titled, Study Age, Disposition, and Temperament.  

We’ve always referred to Imanuel as our sweet boy.  He cares about the feelings of others and will always defend the underdog.  He is affectionate and sensitive.

Micah is our silly boy.  He is our independent one who is often in his own world.  He enjoys making people laugh, but is focused on his wants/goals much more so than those of others.

The other night, Israel and I were talking about our kids and wondering what our third boy will be like.  It’s hard to imagine, but it’s always comforting to know that each child that comes into our lives is predestined by God to be a perfect match for our family.  There is strength in diversity. 

By God’s grace, it is our hope and prayer that we will all help each other become the people God wants us to be.  We are not placed in families or connected to friends by chance.  However different we may be, God allows us to cross paths to bring forbearance, mutual consideration, and to smooth our characters.  This will ultimately bring true unity!  Let’s be thankful for each one who is a part of our lives.  I couldn’t be more thankful for each member of my family. 

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A Morning to Remember

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In the morning, Micah had been whining quietly for some time.  He wasn’t in a good mood.  Usually we are summoned by a cheerful, “MAMA!  MAAAAAAAAAMA!”  This morning, it was a series of whimpers and cries.  Yeah, there were a few “mamas” here and there, but he seemed so grumpy that I was hesitant to let him out thinking he may fall back asleep.  I waited a while and then I decided to go get him.  I knocked and he answered with a weak, “COME IN!” 

As I entered, there was a horrible stench.  He obviously had a messy diaper.  As I neared Micah’s crib, he was in the corner of his crib sitting down.  Usually he is standing and waiting for me to get him.  Then I noticed that there were stains all over his sheets and blanket.  Then I realize that it is brown.  Then I realize that there is brown stuff COVERING both hands, his clothes, and part of his face & hair.  I’m not even exaggerating, it looked like he had just played in a big, gloppy mud pile.  There was poop everywhere.  The sheer quantity of it all was outrageous.  I was beyond myself.  I was in shock.  I’m surprised I didn’t go into labor right then and there. 

I yelled to Israel for back-up.  I was afraid he had ingested some too.  I told Israel to take off his clothes as I ran off to started the bath water.  After stripping our poor child down, I stood him in the tub and began rinsing him off.  It took about 15 minutes to remove all of the brown stuff from his whole body.  Then, I plugged the tub and had him sit down for a bubble bath.  (Their bubble bath is scented like grapefruit so it helped the overall smell of the bathroom while at the same time, lifting his spirits.)  In the meantime, Israel hand-scrubbed the poopie clothes, blankets, sheets, and mattress protector and then threw them in the washer for a pre-wash, wash, and then extra rinse.    

The most pathetic part of the whole ordeal was that while I was washing him off with the warm water, he kept saying in between whimpers, “Thank you, Mama…thank you.”  The poor boy – I wish I would have gotten him sooner.

The moral of this story is to never feed Micah homemade soup – complete with squash, corn, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, and vegetable “mandoo” – for lunch AND dinner with grapefruit for dessert.  I don’t know why we didn’t see it coming.  This was the worst disaster ever.  It beats the Eucerin episode by a landslide. 

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I’m on Health Reform…Officially.

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A couple weeks ago, I drank my glucola that had been sitting in my fridge for a couple of weeks.  Up here, you just pick up your bottle of glucola and you have from that visit to the next one (1 month) to take it and go into the lab to get blood drawn.  So, when we went to go visit a church member at our hospital, I figured I’d just chug it and get it done at the same time. 

Anyway, a week later, I got a call from the hospital with the results.  The good news is that I don’t have gestational diabetes.  The bad news is that the blood work showed that I was anemic!  I was so shocked.  So, my doctor was going to prescribe iron pills for me.  However, I was so traumatized by the iron pills I took after I had Imanuel (at UM) and how it affected my digestion (-primarily the exiting part) that I told them that I’d like to change my diet and incorporate more iron that way.  They agreed that that’d be the best way. 

So, for the past week, I’ve been downing Total Raisin Bran cereal with grapefruit in the morning, incorporating lots of broccoli, kale and spinach into dinner (with orange juice), AND, for the first time, I’m faithfully taking my pre-natal vitamin.  I know, I’ve been so bad with that.  I just detest that pill.

Anyway, if any of you have any other good suggestions for iron-rich foods/meals that are yummy and contain lots of roughage, I’d be forever grateful.  I’m kind of thankful for this diagnosis because I know it’s making me live a healthier lifestyle.  I just hope the baby hasn’t suffered because of this.

8 weeks and 3 days left!
 

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The Mysterious Case of My OB

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So, at church a few Sabbaths ago, I was talking with one of my friends from church, Yunis, who is a nursing student at Finlandia.  She asked me who my OB was.  (She wants to be an OB nurse and she does her clinicals at the same hospital.)  I told her it was Dr. Smith*.  Then she went on to tell me how all of the nurses there hate her and how mean and impatient she is with them.  This was shocking because I always thought Dr. Smith was super-sweet.  She always made me feel so comfortable and seemed like she knew what she was doing.  Plus, she also has 3 little boys so I felt we had some sort of personal connection. 

* * * * *
One evening while my sister was up here for the week, asked her to measure my fundal height.  Anyway, she saw my c-section scar.  It’s not as bad as it was with Imanuel, but I still have a pretty bad keloid.  So, my sister told me to ask my OB if she would close my incision with subcuticular stitches.  It’s not standard, but apparently it is the “nicest” way to sew someone up to leave minimal scarring.  My first c-section at UofM, I was stapled.  For my second, I told Dr. Smith I scared really bad with the staples, so she glued me together.  For my third and final time, I was going to ask for the subcuticular sutures.

* * * * *

At my next OB appointment, I had scheduled to see a different OB, Dr. Doe*, since Dr. Smith was not available that week.  I went in and ended up having to reschedule since there was an emergency and that doctor wasn’t available either.  As I was rescheduling, the receptionist asked if I wanted to reschedule with Dr. Warren.  I told her that my actual OB was Dr. Smith and so I asked if she would be available.  I have had Dr. Smith since I moved up here and she was the doctor who had delivered Micah.  Then I received surprising news as the receptionist told me, “Dr. Smith no longer practices here”.  I was a bit taken aback because she told me so bluntly and without much emotion.  So, I responded, “I guess I’ll just reschedule with Dr. Doe then.” 

* * * * *

The next Sabbath when I saw my friend again, I told her that Dr. Smith no longer practiced there.  I was wondering if maybe all of the nurses had petitioned against her and had gotten her fired.  Yunis didn’t hear anything about it, but said she would try to investigate.

* * * * *

So, that following week, I’m at Walmart checking out and the cashier asks me how far along I am.  I tell her that I’m about 28 weeks and she tells me that she is too!  (I couldn’t even tell she was pregnant!)  Anyway, she asked who my OB is and I told her that it was Dr. Smith, but now I have Dr. Doe.  Her OB also happened to be Dr. Doe.  She then goes on to tell me that she heard from the lady who works at Customer Service that Dr. Smith was fired because she had made a few ladies go sterile.  She told me it may just be a rumor because she doesn’t know the customer service lady very well.  Anyway, that was that.

* * * * *

At my next OB visit, we discussed the date of the c-section and unless it can be done earlier it is scheduled for December 21.  We’re happy with that date because it is also Israel’s parents’ anniversary.  This year, it will also be the winter solstice – how ironic for a yooper baby – it will have been winter for 2 months already!  Anyway, I brought up the issue of her sewing me up with subcuticular stiches and she says that she always does that for her patients.  That made me happy.  Hopefully she’s really good at that.

* * * * *

I googled Dr. Smith to see if I could get any beef on her.  Nothing.

* * * * *

Things I learned from this experience :
1.  In small country hospitals, everyone knows everyone.
2.  In the country, all pregnant people are seen by the same OB or knows yours.
3.  Walmart checkout is where you can hear the latest town gossip.
4.  In the U.P., Dr. Smith will forever be known as the mean OB who was responsible for making people go sterile!  Poor lady!

So, I have a new OB.  She will be delivering our 3rd boy.  That will mean that all 3 of our kids will have been delivered by 3 different doctors AND I will have been closed up 3 different ways.  Hopefully this final time will be the best all around!  It seems the most promising…just a little over 9 weeks left.  I absolutely CANNOT wait.

*Names of OBs have been changed to protect their identity.

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White As Snow

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It was quite a sight.  We woke up on Sabbath morning and we were excited to see that there was a thin layer of frost covering our yard.  An hour later after I fed the boys breakfast, snow began to fall…and fall and fall and fall!  It hasn’t snowed this early since we moved up here over 3 years ago.  I took some pictures and a video of it with my new camera so I could share it with Israel who is down in Tennessee now.  Imanuel was very excited to see the snow.  Micah was more in a state of shock if anything.  I don’t think he remembers snow from last year!

As it snowed, I tried to think of a way to make a connection to spiritual things.  After all, it seemed like quite a magical moment for the boys…almost surreal.  I quoted Psalm 51:7:

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;  Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”

As I explained that Jesus can take our “dirty” hearts and make them clean, Imanuel listened intently.  Then he said, “It’s like our hearts are hard, but Jesus can make them soft again!”  I was so surprised by this comment because I don’t recall the last time we talked about that.  But our short worship made a strong impression on me.  It helped me realize my need for a new beginning.  Going through the day to day grind, I found myself getting a little more impatient, a little more unforgiving, and a little less sensitive.  I re-dedicated myself to Jesus that day.  Just as a new season is beginning here in the U.P. I decided to once again give my heart over to Jesus for a good cleansing and softening.  White like snow!  What incredible forgiveness! 


     
So, there you have it.  Our first snow fall of the season on Saturday, October 10, 2009 at approximately 9:30am!

This pic was taken yesterday afternoon.  Yesterday also marked the first day I let Bentley out to go potty and he took a few steps out, peed on the snow on the deck, and ran back in.    A clear indication that indeed, winter is here!  I’m so thankful we have warm, toasty house to live in.  But more importantly than that, I pray our home will be a place where Jesus always resides.

In Virum Perfectum