Janice's Thoughts

It’s amazing how fast Helena has been growing. This Saturday she is going to be 3 weeks old (04-26-08). I am sooo blessed that I’m able to stay home right now to be with her. I see her smile, giggle (while she is sleeping), frown, pout; these expressions touch the softest spot in my heart. When I hear her cry, amazingly, it doesn’t make me want to pull my hair out like I predicted beforehand. I remember when my mom told me “Enjoy your time before she is born because you will want to stick her back in your belly.” Luckily, I haven’t felt that way. Life has been very different, but I love it. I’ve spent literally most of my time on the bed with Helena feeding her. Breastfeeding consumes a lot of time, but it’s sooo worth it. I remember the first and second week after Helena was born; I was happy and sad at the same time. I stayed home for two weeks and didn’t go anywhere besides her first doctor’s appointment. I don’t think that it is psychologically healthy for people to stay in one place for such a long period. I don’t know how some Chinese women can stay in one place for a month without going anywhere. We have been getting many blessings from people: prayers, cards, gifts…etc. Kelly and I are very thankful. Thank you all very very much.

After Helena's First Bath

Drum Roll Please...

Well, finally she has arrived. We caught her big smiling face yesterday (6 days old). She smiles a lot and is a very good baby. Oh by the way, her name is Helena Mae Seely and she was born on April 5, 2008 at 10:34 a.m. She was 7lbs. 8oz., 20in. long. Her middle name is named after the last chinese character in my mom's name. It has been an amazing feeling after this little life has come into my life...and my life has changed.

Click here for more pictures of Helena Mae Seely

A Long Time...

Kelly is using the ancient Mayan Stairmaster to lose some weight.

In Mexico, Dzibilchaltun Mayan Ruins.

This is on the cruse from New Orleans to Mexico.

This was our little girl at 20 weeks. Janice is about 7 months pregnant now.

We will have another 4d ultrasound this coming Thursday.

My Dad visited us in December, and we had a GREAT time.

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. The baby (a girl) and Janice are both staying healthy. Here are some pictures.

Kelly & Janice

Our First Ultrasound

We went a couple weeks ago for our first ultrasound and found out that the due date is April 6th, which is very close to my dad's b-day (9th). The Baby's heartbeat was 176 beats/minute. It was really neat, and we really enjoyed the visit.

Kelly

I was very touched at the moment I saw that little teeny tiny thing. 1.8 cm...it was amazing. At the same time, I was happy I didn't see two of them in there. Kelly and I pray for this little one very often that he/she will be a healthy little baby. It was very awesome to listen to the heartbeat.

Janice

Waiting for the Doctor

Caption: "These are the ultrasound technicians who incorrectly told you you'd be having a girl. Grace has offered to re-wallpaper your nursery and Brenda will return any gender-specific gifts that you received."

Janice and I are still waiting for a second doctor's appointment with an O.B. doctor. Because of our HMO, we have to be referred from our primary care physician to a specialized doctor. The doctor's office told us that the O.B. doctor will call us for an appointment. When we didn't get a call for a while, we called the Primary Care office again to make sure they had referred us. They told us that they did and not to call the O.B. doctor, saying the office would contact us. It almost sounds like a bad job interview doesn't it? Anyway, here in a moment I'm going to call the O.B. doctor.

Kelly

Sleepy & Grumpy

Well, last week was not a fun week for me or Kelly. I was usually energetic at school until about 12 o’clock, and my body started winding down. When I got home I could do nothing but sleep and usually had about a 2-3 hour nap. I got up for about 2 hours, and went to bed again. My schedule was messed up. I was not very perky most of the time. One day I told Kelly that I wished the kid would just grow in a few weeks and get out of my body. Kelly told me “Janice, well I think that’s unrealistic”. Of course I was being unrealistic; I was just grumpy because of the changes in my body. This child is already helping me to understand some effects of personally being an only child. I was very independent and didn’t compromise much. Now it (the baby) is coming along, and I have to “compromise” to make sure it is growing healthy in my body. Kelly has been a very loving husband, and I’m hoping for a better next week.

The guy in the picture is my "new boyfriend". When walked with my dad when I was in high school/college, many passersby would think and express verbally that my dad was "my boyfriend".

Janice

birthday gift

This was Janice's birthday gift. It looks and glides nicely; however, we're not sure it is comfortable enough. It might be making its way back to the store for a refund. Originally, I looked for a traditional indoor rocker (not the Cracker Barrel kind), but none were to be found. My sister suggested looking at an antique store...that's where she found hers.

Kelly

birthday

Today was Janice's birthday. I threw a surprise party for her at Joe's Crab Shack, and I believe a great time was had. My two co-workers were there, as well as a couple of friends from seminary and some of the group that went with us to Gulf Port on disaster relief. We all wore fake ugly teeth. The teeth actually made some people look better. We had birthday cake with candles that Janice couldn't blow out, too. I bought Janice a glider with a gliding foot rest. She was surprised the entire afternoon, which was nice. We are just praying that she will continually stay healthy. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Kelly