Dear Cheesus

"Dear Cheesus" is a new saying at our house. Alex and I have been working with Klara to get her to say her prayers before we eat. For a while now she knows to put her little hands together, but just recently she has also started to babble and say her own little prayers. It is precious! We know that Jesus knows what she is saying, but we do not have a clue! Well, one of her favorite things to eat is cheese. She says "cheese" almost any time we put her in her high chair. When we sat down for dinner last night, Klara put her hands together to pray and she said "Jesus," however, it sounded more like "Cheesus." So we think she may have combined Jesus and Cheese, and so she now prays to Cheesus! Too cute, but hopefully we can help her learn the difference between the two words and that Jesus is not a yellow square of yumminess waiting for her up in heaven!

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!

Well, I guess you can tell from the picture that Sandoval Baby #2 is a boy!!!!! We are very excited! The ultrasound went great, and the nurse was able to tell us in about 2 minutes that the baby was a boy. It was very clear! We also found out that I have partial placenta previa, which is where the placenta partially covers the cervix. My doctor was not too concerned about it because she said the placenta will usually move as I get larger. Please pray that this is the case and that I do not have any complications. I was stupid and researched it more online, so now I am more worried about it than when I left the doctor's office!!!! We will announce the name of our little boy as soon as we decide on one! We are getting really close to picking one out! Now I just need to start buying blue things!

5 Blessed Years

Five years ago today I was getting ready to become Mrs. Jorge Alejandro Sandoval. I am so blessed to have a wonderful marriage to the most handsome, generous, and loving man in the world. Here is how our story goes.....

I always knew that I wanted to teach or do mission work over seas, but I never actually thought I would get the chance to. In middle school I remember listening to a missionary that grew up in our church speak about his experience in Asia. I then knew that I HAD to go to Asia one day. There was a desire in my heart to go there and it never went away. Years passed and I met Dr. Schimmels at Lee University. He made my dream a reality and told me I needed to go on a summer trip with him and other Lee students to China. I signed up and was ready to go.....never expecting to meet my future husband. Alex had been on that same trip the year before and Dr. Schimmels had asked him to come back and help with the trip I was going on. So one afternoon (probably in May 2001) we were having a meeting for our trip to China and through the doors of the Centenary Room at Lee burst the most handsome man I had ever seen. He was late for our meeting. From what I remember, he was carrying a briefcase and was dressed very professionally (he was coming from work in Marietta, GA). When I learned that he was going on the same trip with us, I knew I had to meet him. We were split up into groups to prepare various things for our trip. Alex was in the "laminating" group. I tried my hardest to get into that group, but I was stuck in the "cutting" group. So I did not get my chance to meet him. The next time I saw this fine specimen of a human being was when we were boarding our plane in Knoxville to head to Chicago. Once again I did not get a chance to meet him. The same goes for our flight from Chicago to San Francisco. I thought I would have a chance to speak to him on our 16 hour flight to Shanghai, but unfortunately I was completely separated from our entire group and sat by a man that only spoke Mandarin Chinese. Hmmm. However, I pretty much threw up for most of the flight, so I am glad I did not sit close to Alex. Once we landed in China we drove for an ETERNITY and eventually pulled over at a Chinese rest area. After deciding that a squatty-potty was way too gross to throw up in, I headed out to the bushes, and this is where I met my future husband. After probably witnessing me throw up, Alex offered to get me something and told me that I looked like hell. What a compliment. What a guy. To make a long story shorter, we started to get to know each other over the next 6 weeks through late night games of Spoons and Uno with our other team members. One evening in Hongzhou (spelling?) we went to the top of our hotel to look out over the city and the famous lake there, and Alex kissed me for the first time. It was very romantic. I was smitten. I knew before we left China that Alex was the man that I was going to marry. God told me. We spent the next three years dating long-distance. I lived in Cleveland, and Alex lived in Marietta, GA and then moved to Missouri to get his masters degree. We finally both got jobs in Dalton, GA. I moved to Dalton with one of my best friends, and Alex moved there also about 10 minutes down the road from my apartment. The day before Thanksgiving 2003 Alex proposed while we were putting up "our" Christmas tree in his apartment. We have a tradition of buying each other a special ornament each year, and he bought me a frog prince ornament that I had seen at Bombay. Except on this frog prince he replaced the fake ring for a real one. That sealed the deal and we were married on June 26, 2004. Now five years later we have a house, 2 dogs, one daughter, and another baby on the way. My life is truly blessed and I could not ask God for more. :)

Our very first picture together in China on July 15, 2001. It was Alex' birthday.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was so much fun! We started out on Saturday by visiting some of our good friends at their lake house at Watts Bar. Klara had a blast walking up and down their dock and watching all the birds fly over the water. She also had her first experience with a life jacket. Let's just say it won't be her favorite memory of all times! She looked adorable though! She was not too fond of the wind as we went around in our friend's boat, but once we figured out how to position her out of the wind she seemed to enjoy it. Alex also got to ride a really awesome wave runner. I would have loved to also, but my little baby-bump prevents that right now! Klara spent some time playing with her little friend Michael who is a few months younger than she is.
Then on Sunday and Monday we went to Big Canoe in Jasper, GA with our friends Cole & Ashley and Hollie & Casey. It was a beautiful place! We had fun just spending time with friends and watching our babies play together. We took the babies swimming, but the pools were freezing. Klara did not mind at all. I was sure she would get a cold, but she has been fine! We also went on a walk with the dads pushing the strollers. The babies were all asleep in about 5 minutes. Oh the leisurely life of a baby! It was a great way to start the beginning of summer!

Klara and the life jacket

Nap time for Jeremiah, Klara, and Sadie
Playing in ice water

Making music with Jeremiah

Blowing bubbles with Alex, Hollie, Klara, Sadie, and Jeremiah

"Morning" Sickness Blues

Why do pregnant women have morning sickness? This may be one of the first questions I ask Jesus when I get to heaven. Just kidding, but it really stinks. Yesterday (Saturday) I felt TERRIBLE all day long. It is probably because I did not sleep well that night. Klara and I stayed at my parents' house because Alex was gone to a conference until Saturday night, and I did not sleep well on their guest bed. After leaving their house and coming back home, I proceded to lose my breakfast in the kitchen sink. Sorry if this is too yucky for you. You may want to stop reading now if you have a weak stomach. My parents came over to play with Klara so I could rest. After they left I noticed that Klara had a poopy diaper. On our way to her bedroom to change the diaper, I started gagging from the smell. So we darted into the bathroom and I proceded to get sick.....really sick. Poor Klara was just standing there having to watch me. I happened to glance up at her to make sure she had not left the bathroom, and what I saw was the most pitiful thing ever. My baby started throwing up everywhere!!!!!!! I guess watching me vomit was too much for her poor little stomach. As much as I wanted to grab her up and comfort her, all I could do was continue throwing up in the toilet. Then my lovely dogs enter the bathroom and start trying to lick up Klara's throw up, which gagged me even more and made me throw up again. I was finally able to contain myself and get to Klara, who had proceded to slip and fall down in her vomit. I finally got us out of the bathroom and closed the door. I called Alex and told him he would have quite a mess to clean up when he got home! I would have become sick again if I would have cleaned it up. After it was all over I just had to laugh along with my sobbing. I felt horrible, my baby threw up watching me throw up, but all of it somehow struck me as sort of funny. I really hope this does not happen again. I guess the moral of the story is to not throw up in front of your children.

Mother's Day 2009

This was my second Mother's Day!!!!! It is my last Mother's Day with only one baby! It is amazing that I will be having another precious baby in just 6 months! Anyways.....My weekend was wonderful! Alex surprised me on Friday by taking me to buy some new maternity clothes. I guess he had been tired of hearing me complain that all of my sister's EXTRA SMALL (you make me sick Karrie) maternity clothes do not fit. I was feeling rather yucky on Friday, so our trip to Chattanooga was cut short. However, I still had a great time and was very grateful for my new clothes. So that was part one of my Mother's Day present. On Saturday, Alex took Klara grocery shopping with him and let me stay at home for some alone time. Plus grocery shopping still makes me gag. I can't stand to look at some foods. Maybe this too shall pass. Then later in the day we were going to go back to Walmart and buy my yearly flowers for my flower boxes. It looked stormy outside, so I suggested to Alex that we go before it rained. We got in the car and the moment we pulled up in the Walmart parking lot it started pouring cats and dogs! We got wet getting into the store and then we could not look at the flowers because of the rain. I finally got out my umbrella and ventured into the flower section. I picked out my usual wave petunias. I buy them every year. I hope they live this year! I was not very succesful with them last year! We ended Saturday by having a fun dinner with our friends Jenn, Scott, and Grace. On Sunday we had a full day with the family. After church my dad wanted to go to Cracker Barrell, but since the thought of that makes me gag for some reason, we ended up going to Applebees. We then spent time at my parents house watching Klara play in the front yard. We also got to enjoy the baby birds that were in a nest in the corner of my parents' porch. Their mother was not too happy we were there and she chirped our heads off most of the time. I guess the baby birds were tired of us also so they all decided to take flight! They almost hit us in the heads and they pooped all over the front porch! I think we all screamed, but none of us were hit by the poop! What a weekend! I am a blessed mommy!

Some of my wave petunias

My mom, Klara, and me

Yummy lunch at Applebees
The baby birds that attacked us!
My precious daughter!

Family Fun

Last weekend we were blessed by a visit from my sister Karrie, her husband Brad, and their two little girls Macy and Mara. It was Mara's first visit to Cleveland to visit her family. We had a great time spending Thursday-Tuesday with them. We mainly just sat around, talked, ate, and watched the girls play together. Klara and Macy discovered the joys of sandboxes. They played for hours on my parents' front porch in the little turtle sandbox that my mom bought (it soon will be coming to my house!!!!).

And if you haven't heard yet....Alex and I are expecting baby #2! I am due around November 17. However, I think that it will be earlier since I will be having a planned c-section....which is completely fine with me! C-sections are the way to go!

Here are some pictures from our visit with Karrie's family!

On Monday all the babies came to play at my house (Macy, Klara, Sadie, and Jeremiah).

They had bunches of fun!
Klara and her new hairbow!


Klara loves to wear my necklaces now! I always end up taking them off of me and putting them on her. What a girly girl!Klara and Macy "cuddling" on the couch.
My niece, Mara Ellen King
Klara and Macy playing in the sandbox