MASON

"I will do the 12am shift, you do the 3am shift." This is a common phrase heard in our house, since the arrival of our newest, smallest, and cutest family member: Mason Michael Marengo!

Ricky and I have been so blessed. Truthfully it's hard to express just how blessed we've been, without sounding like we are bragging about our many, many, blessings. I gotta get religious when talking about it, because we know we had nothing to do with it. Our recent, life-changing blessings, have been given to us directly from our Heavenly Father. We are so thankful. Ricky and I know that our son was given to us at the perfect time, when our Heavenly Father knew we were ready, when our perfect son was ready for us, and us ready for him. Mason is our son, there are no if's, and's, or but's about it. We could not...literally could not, be happier.

Our adoption story is such a beautiful and fortunate one. We were chosen by a courageous, selfless, incredibly intelligent, and kind couple (truly there are several more adjectives I could have added to that description). I remember the day we received their first email, June 24th, a Sunday afternoon. Ricky and I were "watching" golf (I wasn't really watching), when my iPhone made that fun tone, alerting me to a new email. There it was. Beautifully written, and heaven sent. After I read it aloud, Ricky and I looked at each other and knew. Without a doubt in our minds, we knew that this would be our baby, and we HAD to proceed. We continued contact with these incredible people daily for weeks (it was so much fun; we became such a great friends)! Ricky and I had the honor of meeting them and seeing her baby belly, on July 10th. Ricky and I weren't nervous one bit... again, it was like we were seeing old friends; people we were very close to, and entirely honest with. It was a perfect visit, we talked logistics of how this whole process will work, what to expect, questions for the hospital, discussions about parenting, our family backgrounds, and topped it off with pupusas for lunch! Luckily we even had the opportunity to visit and tour the hospital where Mason would be born. It was a terrific and emotional day; one we will never forget. Ricky and I kept thanking our Heavenly Father for placing these unbelievable people in our lives, a couple that would change our lives forever, and make our dreams come true.

Mason's due date was August 4th. He didn't arrive. Mason was then scheduled to be delivered through an induction on the morning of August 7th. Thankfully Mason had the forethought to get the ball rolling, and started some early morning contractions at 4am, eliminating the need for an induction. Ricky and I got that early morning phone call that I had always anticipated getting, and raced to the hospital. Ricky and I spent the next 4-5 hours enjoying every moment with the couple, our friends. We killed time watching Shark Week, sharing family stories, and watching the contraction monitor go higher and higher. It was honestly, so much fun and filled with laughter and excitement. Mason was born at 1:33pm - 7lbs 5 oz, 20.5 inches long, and a head of hair! You know how everyone says "Oh he's so beautiful" when they see a newborn, and most of the time they don't really mean it? Well this time it was genuine and true...he WAS/is beautiful! The moment when we saw Mason for the first time was a moment we will never forget. There he was, our son. Our life would never be the same; it would only be better, every single day.

Ricky and I will be in debt to this selfless couple who gave us everything we had hoped for, dreamed about, and prayed for, eternally. We wish nothing but the very best for them in all things. We pray for them and hope their lives will be as enriched and blesses as they have made ours. We are so thankful to be parents and are enjoying every single second, cry, burp, poop, pee, bath, load of laundry, diaper purchase, and spit up. We wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Plus seeing Ricky tear up when he looks in Mason's eyes is priceless, absolutely priceless.

Mason is 2 weeks old today! He's eating like a champ, and gaining weight as he should. He's in the 50th percentile for weight and height! He's got an in-y belly button, and the cutest sneezes known to man. I give him so many kisses, and when I finally come up for air, he's got this look on his face like, "Mom, geez! Enough already!" it's really funny. He loves to be swaddled, however at the same time, loves to have his hands on his face - it's the cutest thing. He's got such a fun personality already, and definitely lets us know when he's hungry. We're so thankful he's a great sleeper; we've got a very steady routine going. Our family and friends have been incredible and so supportive! We were lucky to have my parents stay with us for the first 4 days at home; it was so much fun. Mason's middle name is Michael, after my dad, so it was very special to see them cuddling together on the rocking chair. They also cooked for us, cleaned the house, and took over a few of the night shifts; we're so thankful to them. Our days since bringing Mason home have been spent doing this simple routine: feed, burp, feed some more, burp again, change diaper, sleep. Repeat. Babies live a very simple life. We've been pee'd on more times than I can count, seen projectile poop, and some crazy spit-up. We've laughed so much. We sincerely love our little son so very much...there's really no words to describe it.

Here are some (lots) of pictures for your enjoyment (really for you to "oo" and "aww" over how cute he is, cause seriously, he's cute!). Including some pictures taken by Julie Preseley (Pics By Preseley) at the newborn shoot we had at our house last week, when Mason was a week and 2 days old.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spouses with the Same Profession...Nothin' Better.

There are many "perks" I lay claim to as a teacher. I won't bore you with the ones about it being an "incredibly rewarding and fulfilling job"...let's get to the good stuff.

1. Field trips - going fun places for free during your work day (ok ok...don't get me wrong, YES, I know they're stressful, and it's not a "day in the park" so to speak)
2. Treats - treats from students, parents, staff...usually great stuff, though I do get one too many teddy bears during Valentines day each year.
3. Bill Nye - I love putting on a Bill Nye DVD for my students to laugh at (I'll be honest, I love him too...seriously); he rocks!!!
4. Co-workers - these brave people are my friends! Some schools may have old dinosaur teachers who don't know what iPads are, but at my school...we're young and awesome! We NEED each other every day to vent to. And when school isn't in session, I miss them.
5. (Oh and trust me, I could go on and on) OUR SCHEDULE - Ricky and I are SO fortunate to be in the same career. Not only can I vent about the students at my school, and he TOTALLY gets it, but there's a good chance he had the same experience that day (it's seriously amazing how alike ALL 6th, 7th, and 8th graders are). Ricky and I are both in charge of the student council at our schools, and are always bouncing ideas off of each other...But back to my point: Our schedule. We are so lucky to live the life of a student; enjoying winter breaks, spring breaks, holidays, summer vacations, etc. And again, to have a spouse in the same profession, is absolutely amazing.

Ricky and I just finished our spring break together for this school year, and boy did we need it. I was very close to pulling, what is left of my hair, out. We started our week going to Sea World. Teacher's are lucky enough to receive FREE annual passes at Sea World, so we thought "Eh, why not! We love San Diego!" Ricky spent the day watching me cry at the sight of adorable animals, as we made our way through the spring break crowds. We stayed the night in Old Town at the Best Western Hacienda Inn...omg that place is incredible. We highly recommend it.

The rest of the week was spent finishing Paulette's house. Ricky has been re-flooring her entire upstairs: new floors, base boards, re-tiling the bathroom, painting, re-flooring the stairs... (it's a project he's been working on each time he's had a break from school)...Thank goodness it's over! Oh and of course while Ricky was working (we've realized I don't have enough patience to work along side him any more...he's too much of a perfectionist), I spent time with the Andersen's (surprised!?).

Adoption Update: No news yet. Still hoping and praying.

We couldn't resist.

Because we got in for free, we did the Dolphin Encounter. The solo girl next to us was mistaken as our daughter.

In case you can't read it "Shannon Is The Best Aunt Ever!!" Sorry Trena and Thorey :(

        I bought Gina some new jammies, and this was her saying thank you...I couldn't love her more.

On our way to our good friends Mikey and Sharon's wedding!

In-N-Out with awesome friends!

The Waiting Game...

Today has turned out to be one of the most exciting days of my life! It didn't start off so exciting. It's a typical Friday at school, students are anxious for the weekend, I'M anxious for the weekend, I'm giving a quiz in one of my classes, selling Valentine Grams during lunch...you know, a typical Friday for me. Then as I'm leaving the school, taking that much awaited sigh of relief knowing the school day is over, I get the phone call I've been dying to hear since August 1st. "Your profile is up!" Jennifer, our caseworker delivered the news, and I burst into tears. Finally, after months and months of hard work, we can finally sit easy and...well...wait, I guess. (Maybe this will be the actual hard part, right?!) I can't begin to explain how much I've longed for this moment. To finally be "advertised" I guess you could say, for the birth parents out there willing to give us a chance. This is a huge deal. Ricky and I went to celebrate by going to Johnny Reb's for dinner; it was delicious. I told him, "Ricky, I am so ready for this! WE are so ready for this!" All he said was, "This is when it gets real." He's so right, and we are so ready. Today turned out to be such an exciting day! I have never been so excited to wait for something...or continue to wait for something I should say. We're almost there. Can't wait for the blessings to come.

Now a quick little bit about our recent trip to Guatemala, since I never had a chance to blog about it! Ricky took me on an incredible (that's the best adjective I can think of at this moment) adventure through Guatemala and Honduras for 10 days during our winter vacation from school. I could seriously blog about our trip for hours, but because I am so excited about our adoption, I really don't think I could concentrate for that long; so this will be brief.

Antigua: After arriving into Guatemala City on a red-eye from L.A., we rented our car (a Hyundai Tucson, awesome car btw!) and immediately visited the Gonzalez Family - the family Ricky lived with while he was in school in Guatemala, and met while on his mission; they were kind enough to lend us a cell phone while we were there. From there, we went to Antigua where we spent the next 24 hours. This town was beautiful, cobble stone streets, 2 surrounding volcanoes, and a ga-zillion churches! 

 

Wildlife Animal Park & Chiquimulilia: Antigua was so beautiful, it was hard to leave, but I was so excited for what lie ahead! We were headed for Chiquimulilia, where Ricky spent the majority of time on his mission, and made several lifelong friends, whom he talks to at least a few times a year. I was so excited to see this town, that holds such a special place in Ricky's heart. Before we arrived in Chiqui however, Ricky surprised me as we detoured to a Wildlife Animal Park, in the middle of nowhere. This was such a cool place, and was absolutely gorgeous, in the middle of a jungle...a REAL jungle! Once we were done hanging with the monkey's, we made our way to Chiqui. Chiqui was a small town, with such kind people. It was in town that Ricky started his own little movie theater! This is so cool. You'll have to ask Ricky more about it (can't explain it all in this blog...but such a cool story!) I met soooo many awesome people, and will never ever forget my experience here. But I can tell you that I was exhausted once we left because of all the listening I had to do - no speak-a-da-English-here. 

At the Wildlife Animal Park!

Standing in front of the movie theater!

Chiqui & Montericco: After leaving Chiqui, we headed further down the coast to the ocean side town of Montericco. You would not believe how we had to get there...we had to ride on this crazy, wooden ferry for approximately 20 min through the mangroves (which is as close to an experience on the Amazon that I could imagine!), to the little town of Montericco. While there (it was HOT by the way) we relaxed, swam, oh and released baby sea turtles into the ocean...you know, just a typical day on the beach in Guatemala! :) Best thing ever. 

 

 Honduras: Ricky and I made what should have been a 4 hour trek to Honduras (turned out to be 8 hours because we got a little lost in the Guatemala country side), to the small town of Copan. Here we stayed in the cutest little Inn, and got our first taste of excitement for the end of the Mayan calendar, December 21st, 2012. We visited the ruins, and ate some delicious food!!!

Tikal: Upon returning to Guatemala, the next day we took a 45 min prop plane ride to Tikal. This was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had in my life. Tikal took my breath away. I'm not sure I could accurately explain how incredibly cool it was. AND we were there on the day the Mayan calendar ended, which made it even MORE awesome. You could feel a strong spirit there, and the jungle is everything I imagined it to be; lush and beautiful. I will never forget it.

Lake Atitlan: Our last stop on our 10 day journey was to visit the beautiful Lake Atitlan. We stayed in a beautiful lake side hotel, ate delicious food (again), rod a little "Tuk Tuk" taxi as Ricky referred to it, and experienced a lot of wind (it was very windy lakeside while we were there). Oh, and I inevitably got sick (was just waiting for it to happen while we were in Guatemala)...at least it was only the day before we were supposed to fly home.

On our last day in Guatemala, we went to the city center and spent time with Ricky's good friend (and someone who is SO much fun!) Pierina. The following morning we flew back to L.A. It was an incredible trip, and we had so much fun together. I was so impressed by Ricky, the itinerary he put together for us, how he took care of me (he literally had to do everything for me since I don't speak a lick of Spanish!). Ricky, I love you so much; I had so much fun with you in Guatemala, and it is now a very special place to me too. Can't wait to go back again some day!