Random Updates

Here are some random updates on what we have been up to lately!

On Saturday we went to Atlanta to celebrate our cousin Delaney's first birthday! We had a great time! Delaney is such a sweet little girl! Here are some pictures from the party.....

Klara loved the balloons!

cousin Delaney

I have also been working with Klara trying to get her to take naps in her big girl bed. We would love for her to be out of her crib by the time that Zachary arrives in November. It has been quite a challenge. Thank goodness I am with her at home and can spend plenty of time with her practicing napping on her big bed. We originally had her twin bed set up, but then we decided to take it apart and just put the mattresses on the floor. We were afraid that if we got rails to put on her bed that she would just climb over them and fall even farther onto the floor. It has worked out nicely. I lay down with her and read her a book, and then we sing some songs (mainly "Jesus Loves Me"). Then I simply leave the room. I lay on the floor outside of her room and peep under her door (this is challenging with my huge belly). I watch her little feet move around her bedroom until I see her feet disappear back into her bed. I then go downstairs and look in the monitor to make sure she stays in her bed. I am probably being paranoid, but I just want to make sure she is safe. She has taken naps in her big bed now for several days in a row! I am so relieved! She seems to love it also.

Klara's best buddy also came over to play with her several days last week. They had so much fun together! Now that Klara and Jeremiah are both walking, it is so funny to watch them play together. They would just babble and laugh at each other. I wish I knew what they were saying!Here are some pictures of their adventures!

playing in the sandbox.....Klara is relaxing and Jeremiah just got the nerve to get in.

Eating lunch! Yummy!

Sitting on Klara's big girl bed!

Klara is also saying more and more prayers these days! Of course we always say our prayers at the beginning of the meal, but now if you put something new on the table during the meal she thinks you need to say a new prayer. She puts her little hands together and prays all over again. It is too funny! She was standing at the window in the playroom a few days ago and started to say a prayer. I guess she was inspired by the beautiful day! I tried to get it on video. (I tried to rotate the video, but could not figure out how. Sorry!)

Jeremiah 29:11

It is back to school time! For many that means new pencils, pretty bulletin boards, and a room full of new students. Sigh. Some days I really miss those things. I went in to my old school yesterday and volunteered for a few hours. It felt so good to have adult conversation and to feel "professional" again. Don't get me wrong....I love staying at home with my precious baby, but I know God has called me to be a teacher, and I miss it. However, I know I am where God wants me right now. I can never get this time back with my daughter. I love being the first person she sees when she wakes up in the morning. I love watching her get oatmeal all in her hair at breakfast and then trying to comb it all out! I love reading books to her and hearing her try to read with me. All of these things are precious, and I know I would miss a great blessing if I was not at home with her. God keeps bringing to my mind the scripture Jeremiah 29:11. I know God has plans for me and a great future. For now those plans include being a stay-at-home mommy, but I know one day I will be back in the classroom with wonderful new pencils and bright shiny bulletin boards. I just have to trust Him, and know that He knows best. For now, I will just keep having "class" with Klara and soon-to-arrive Zachary. They will be the most important "students" that I will ever have!

Memphis

For the past five days, Klara and I went with my parents to visit my sister for a few days in Memphis. We had a great time watching our girls play with each other. Klara and Macy love each other so much! Klara just soaks up everything Macy does and wants to copy her and follow her everywhere. It is a precious thing to watch! Here are a few pictures and videos to show more about our trip!

Looking at the ostrich at the Memphis Zoo
Giraffes
Catching birds at the bird exhibit. The girls loved this!Klara talking to Mara
Playing in the playhouse
Our little dancing queens!

Singing "Yes, Jesus Loves Papaw" with Mimi

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