Baby Update. It's a...

We went to our 20-week ultrasound appointment yesterday. The ultrasound took a long time as the technician took all sorts of pictures from every possible angle so they can analyze the info and determine if there are any areas of concern. During our consultation afterwards, the doctor said that everything appeared normal and the baby is growing at exactly the right rate and, based on the summary paperwork he had at the time, he doesn’t have any concerns. He was going to be looking at the detailed pictures and info last night and said he would contact us if he noticed anything of concern. I am just overwhelmed at the goodness of God! That He would give us 2 beautiful children in Abby and Ryan, and then bless us with a healthy pregnancy too! It’s almost too much to grasp.

Oh, and I suppose you’re curious what the gender is. Baby would not open its legs during most of the ultrasound, and had its head stuck way down in my pelvis. It made it very difficult for the technician to get good pictures of the baby’s skull/brain, and to get a good shot of the gender. But finally, at the end, the baby moved and spread its legs apart, and we could see clearly that it is a GIRL!!!! It really didn’t matter to us whether it was a boy or a girl, since we have one of each already, but now that I know it’s a girl, I’m getting excited to meet her! We’re working on finalizing our name choice now. We may not share it until she is born. We’ll see.

Pregnancy Update: 18 weeks

A few people have asked how things are going, so here's the scoop: Overall I would never know I was pregnant. I feel great most of the time, have a normal amount of energy and am able to eat whatever I want without any aversions. Sometimes I notice a "hard spot" in my lower abdomen when I bend over to reach something on the floor, and things feel a little different when I roll over in bed, but otherwise I feel normal. I can wear most of my normal clothes, altho I've had to give up the jeans and slimmer skirts I was wearing on a regular basis and move into some larger ones I had put away. A lot of the time you'll find me in my exercise pants or a skirt or dress, since both of those are more comfortable to wear. It's hard to tell that I have much of a "baby bump" yet, but there is a little one there. I think I may have felt the baby move a few times in this past week, but since this is my first pregnancy, I'm not certain that what I'm feeling is baby or just tummy twitches. According to a weekly pregnancy update I receive, our baby is approx 5-1/2" long from head to rump, and weighs approx 7 oz.

I did have a MAJOR pain experience a couple weeks ago, which gave me a flavor of what CAN happen to my body during pregnancy. It was probably a cyst that burst (normal in pregnancy), or a round ligament stretching. The doctor didn't know for sure. Thankfully the pain subsided after about 24 hours, and went away completely after about 4 days.

We're looking forward to our 20-week ultrasound in a couple weeks. Yes, we will be finding out the gender of our baby, and yes we will tell you. We want to know for a couple reasons: simply to know (we're curious!...and excited!), and also we want to have a direction to focus on for naming purposes. We didn't have that luxury with Abby and Ryan since we found out about both of them the day after they were born, so this time we're going to take advantage of the extra time we have.

He's Rolling Now!

Last Thursday, Jan 7th, Randy went in to get Ryan up from his nap and found him laying on his back. That's NOT the position Randy put him in when he went down for his nap (he sleeps on his tummy)! So, we deduced that Ryan had rolled over for the first time. Then this morning I went in to get him up at 6am and found him on his back again! He'd been making (mostly happy) noises off and on since 3:30am, but we're trying to teach him to sleep thru the night again, so I did my best to ignore him until 6. My guess is that he rolled over at 3:30.

In other news...we went to the doctor last Monday for his 4 month appointment. He weighed in at 17 lbs 5 ozs (90th percentile), and was 26" long (75th percentile). He's a healthy boy and the doctor didn't have any complaints about him. His only suggestion was that he seems to be getting plenty to eat (you think??), and Mommy needs to get her sleep, so we should train him to sleep thru the night and skip the middle-of-the-night feeding he's been wanting/getting the last couple months.




We went down to Portland this past weekend and stayed with Randy's brother Jay and his wife Mandi. Randy was filling in for a pastor in Vancouver WA on Sunday, which is only 40 minutes from Jay and Mandi, so we took the opportunity to get away for the weekend and give Jay and Mandi some niece/nephew time. :) Abby did quite well the whole trip, but we found out that Ryan is NOT a great traveler. He cried/screamed way more than we wanted to hear on the way down on Friday. We assumed all kids sleep well in the car, so we kept him up as long as possible as we got ready on Friday morning and figured he would fall asleep and take a nice long nap as we drove. Nope. Not him! So on the way home Monday, we made sure he got his nap BEFORE we left Jay and Mandi's, which worked much better. He played with his toys in his carseat for a long time before finally dozing off to sleep, and had only a few crying spells.

Randy got to go to the Blazers/Lakers game with Jay on Friday night. It was a packed/sold out game, and Jay was very fortunate to get a seat for Randy (for free nonetheless! Thanks Jay!!). The Blazers beat the Lakers, which made everyone in our home happy. :) They got home somewhere around 1:30 a.m. after Jay did his postgame show and they did some grocery shopping for us.

Saturday night we took Jay and Mandi out to eat at Olive Garden while friends Darryl and Tana and their daughter Julianne watched Abby and Ryan for us. We had a great time, and they did too!

Now we're back home and getting into our normal routine. The kids were SO happy to be home! Abby ran in circles around our coffee table when she got in the house, and Ryan settled in very happily into his bed last night. It's a very satisfying feeling knowing that your kiddos are happy in their home!

Ryan: Almost 4 months old

I've been so busy with normal household duties, caring for Abby and Ryan, Blythe work, plus all the fun that goes with our surprise baby, that notes about Ryan and his milestones are severely lacking. In fact, I haven't written a single thing yet! I'm keeping it all in my head (ha!) and waiting for the day I have time to write it down.

Randy has been a huge helper by taking Abby out with him today as he went visiting, did grocery shopping for me, and went on a walk, and now Abby is down for a nap, so I've been able to get caught up on some of my "quiet time" things. So this will be my first opportunity to write down some Ryan milestones.

He has been cooing since he was 2 months old, and started smiling sometime in there too. He is VERY ticklish and LOVES having his diaper and clothes changed. He giggles like crazy when you pull his shirt up and touch/tickle him anywhere around his upper chest/armpits/shoulders/neck area. This giggling started when he was around 3 months old. He has finally gotten very good neck control and is getting stronger and standing up better. He spends some time in the exersaucer, but likes playing with the mobile on the floor the most. He started to tip himself to the side a bit the other day, but so far he hasn't shown any real signs of trying to roll over. He gets a kick out of Abby and usually brightens up when she comes around.

He has very blue eyes and light brown hair. I don't know his current length and weight. Haven't been to the doctor since 2 months, and we don't go back until January. Yes, I could get on the scale with him, but I haven't done it. My guess is somewhere around 14 lbs, but that's purely a guess.

I took this picture of him a couple days ago after I had fed him and as I was changing his clothes. He's a solid boy, that's for sure! He likes chewing on his hands nowadays, and so that's what he was doing when I took the picture.

And Then There Were More

Remember my post several months ago about Abby's teeth and the dentist's determination that she probably wouldn't get any more teeth because he didn't see the standard bone structure he would expect to see if she had more teeth coming in her mouth? Well, she proved him wrong a couple months after that visit, and she's in the process of proving him wrong 3 more times!

Yep, she's cutting 3 teeth right now, and when these are grown in, she will have ALL of her baby teeth with the exception of the two front bottom teeth that are still missing. She has an eye tooth and a first molar growing in on her left top side, and a molar growing in on her right top side. Some of these teeth are over a year behind, but better late than never!

Her eating capability has improved significantly already! We're so happy for her because her mouth will look basically normal soon, and she won't have to endure significant tooth work anytime soon. Matthew 10:29 and 30 talk about how God cares about the sparrows and the hairs on our head. Obviously He cares about little things like teeth too! Thank you Lord!


Abby rediscovered this clown in her room, and had fun hauling it around one afternoon. It's still way bigger than her!



Sitting on her special "Tot Spot" chair eating a little snack of mac-n-cheese by the Christmas tree.

He's Ryan Matthew Small now!

It was so much fun to be a part of the National Adoption Day celebration for Ryan's finalization! To see all the other families and kiddos that were being adopted, and to experience the collective support of our own family, plus the other families who were there, plus the fantastic people who organized the day, and the local dignitaries who spoke or were represented. It was just a very fun time!

One of the biggest blessings for me was the people who took time to join us on our big day. Each played a part in encouraging us, and also helping us throughout the 3 hours were were there. Most important is my dear, sweet, hardworking husband Randy. He did so much to get the kids ready for the day and to make sure we had all the little details covered. He gave us curbside service at the courthouse so we didn't have to walk from the parking lot (3 blocks away). He watched over Abby so I could focus on Ryan and visiting. He is just a fantastic husband and daddy, and I'm so thankful to be married to him! Next to Randy, my sister Laura was the biggest helper! She rode along with us, and was indispensable as she helped maneuver the kids and our pile of stuff to/from each location (car, courthouse, thru security, into the courtroom, reception room, back to the car, home, etc.). Her help allowed us to enjoy the day more. My inlaws Mom and Dad Small, Doug, Annette, Alyssa, Annika and Annaliese helped by keeping an eye on Abby and taking photos and videos. There is no way I could've done that while holding Ryan. My Aunt Carol also came as a substitute for my parents, and she got some great pictures too! Lastly, my boss Dave Morse took time out of his busy schedule at work to come spend some time at the reception (he missed the courtroom because he went to the wrong one. Oops!). A huge THANK YOU to each of you!!!

Ryan was very tired and fell asleep soon after we finished our time with the judge and got into the reception room. Abby....well, I was so busy talking to people and holding Ryan and listening to the speeches that I didn't keep very good track of her and what she did. Thus my big THANKS to the other people who were there who helped with that area! I do remember her taking a keen liking to a young lady (NAD volunteer) named Lara. Lara spent time with Abby and helped her color at the kids table. Abby got a heart balloon with a balloon bear attached to it from the balloon man, but she didn't become too attached to that toy. In fact, the heart part popped sometime during the day, and it didn't bother her at all. The bear part is still laying around here at home, dying a slow death. She hasn't played with it at all.

It is absolutely amazing to us how fast and smooth this whole process went. A huge THANK YOU goes to Rebecca and Amie from Bethany Christian Services for their hard work in orchestrating all these events. I know they put a lot of prayer into their job and each of us is very aware of God's hand which was so evident in Ryan's whole story.

(Sorry these pictures are in random order. I can't seem to be able to rearrange them today. Grrrr...!)


Receiving our final, signed, notarized adoption decree, plus a special packet of gifts donated by local people. (A neat adoption story book from Sonlight church, a shirt from Feller Heating, a McD's gift certificate)


Randy helping Abby eat some lunch.


Photo shoot with Judge Snyder after our court time was done. They gave the siblings a Nestle bunny, and the adopted kids a soft bear.


Our attorney, Keith Bode, asking us "Are you sure you want to adopt this little boy? Are you sure you can take care of him? Can you pay for him? and other such goofy questions. He's a very interesting character, but has a good heart and does a good job.


Judy and Ryan (sound asleep!) with Tina and Logan (see story below).


Abby and her friend Lara.


Ryan and Logan. Logan was born the day before Ryan at the same hospital, and both were adopted by Bethany parents. He is the first child of his parents Dean and Tina, and they are so thrilled (as they should be! He's a cutie!)


My sister Laura and longtime family friend Barb VanDalen (Barb's new grandson's adoption was finalized today too)


The little man Mr. Ryan Matthew Small!!!


Psalm 103:11 came to mind as I wrote this blog. I looked it up and decided that the whole chapter is a fitting closing to this post:

Psalm 103 (ESV)

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

103:1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame; [1]
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. 19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Ryan's Court Finalization Date Set

On November 20th, we will gather with 15 other families on National Adoption Day to finalize Ryan's adoption. Wow, it is hard to believe that it has happened in 3 months. This can only be the Lord! We are so excited!

Ryan and Abby are growing a lot! Abby is really starting to talk. World, you had better watch out. Ryan is smiling and generally a happy baby. We cannot ask for anything better! Ryan has been sleeping through the night since 7 weeks or so. He loves his mom, too!!!! She loves him a lot. They have bonded wonderfully. I am happy to spend time with Abby, so it works great! Here are some recent pictures:




Abby doing her exercises like her dad.


Ryan ready to go to town!





Abby with her babies.


Abby's new bed. She loves it!