All of those things were really incredible to see and hear, but we were still waiting to find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. Finally, the technician announced that she knew the gender of the baby. We all took our final guesses. I was sure it was another boy because this pregnancy has been almost identical to my pregnancy with Tobi and completely opposite from Kaiya’s. However, I admitted that I had been wrong guessing the gender in two out of my three pregnancies so I wouldn’t exactly say my intuition is spot on. Kaiya guessed girl even though she has said just until recently that the baby is a boy. I can’t remember if Andrej ever said his guess as I was too anxious to hear the results. Finally she said, “You’re having a BOY!” She showed us the screen shot as proof, and it is definitely a boy.

I am truly excited, just as I would have been had she said girl. I absolutely had no preference one way or the other, but am thrilled that we will be having another son. I know this will be great for Tobi as he loves playing with Kaiya, but since he is a bit rough she prefers to, how can I say this nicely, not play with him. Tobi loves chasing and then tackling Kaiya many times throughout the day. She hates this game of his and screams at the top of her lungs. I sure hope Baby Brother will eventually share Tobi’s love of rough housing so Kaiya can have a break.

So, now the name game begins and I already know it won’t be an easy one. Here are a few pictures of Baby Boy that the technician printed off for us yesterday. The quality isn’t that great because I took a picture of the picture instead of scanning them. If you have a hard time deciphering ultrasound pics, then I’ll give you a little heads up. The first two pictures are profiles of the baby’s face and body, and you can see a little hand up by the baby’s mouth. In the second picture you can also see the baby’s legs. The last picture is a precious little foot. A larger version of the pictures can be found here.

I still can’t believe it, but in a few short months we’ll have another boy. Lastly, a huge thanks to those who played along yesterday in wishing Andrej a happy birthday and guessing Baby Ten-nak-oh-na-na’s gender. It was fun to read your responses. Andrej had a great day, and I also pulled off a super fun surprise birthday party for him. It was such a wonderful day!

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this letter finds you doing well and enjoying this holiday season. We have some exciting news to share. First of all, we are excited to announce that we are expecting our third child in mid-June. We couldn’t be happier, especially big sister Kaiya who already knows what she wants to name the baby. Secondly, after several trips down south and much time spent in prayer, we have decided to step out in faith and relocate our family to Atlanta to join an urban ministry called Sub-Urban. In the paragraphs that follow we want to share more about the neighborhood, ministry and vision God has given us for this community.

Where

The South Atlanta community (originally called Brownsville) is a historic African-American neighborhood originally founded for freed slaves after the Civil War. What was once a mecca for the African-American community in Atlanta is now a neighborhood in distress, struggling with crime, gang-related violence, prostitution and drug houses.

However, to do justice to the community of South Atlanta, we have to mention that the above is not the entire story. There are neighbors that care and look out for each other in redemptive ways that we have not see even in our neighborhood in Michigan.

Why

Many of the children growing up in generational poverty, having been oppressed, end up becoming oppressors – dealing drugs and participating in gangs. We believe that God’s heart is broken over the state of this community and as we’ve genuinely asked God to show us His heart, ours were broken for this community as well.

What

We are planning to relocate our family to this neighborhood to roll up our sleeves and join neighbors in working to strengthen the spiritual, social and economic vitality of the community.

A quote by an aboriginal activists group describes the posture we want to maintain: “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

We need each other – we look forward to investing in this neighborhood as much as to the ways our neighborhood will invest in us.

We will be joining a ministry called Sub-Urban, which is part of a family of ministries under the umbrella of FCS Urban Ministries. We will not be alone in our efforts; we will be joining a team of people that we can learn from and work alongside.

The mission of Sub-Urban is to connect neighbors across race and class lines to transform neighborhoods. Three major areas of its focus are (with more details on Sub-Urban.org):

1. Spiritual Rebirth: Prayer Vigils, connecting neighbors into our local church
2. Social Networks: BBQs, Internships (Atlanta-London Merge), Collaborative Office
3. Economic Development – Foreclosure Redemption Strategy and a future Farmer’s Market

Our roles with Sub-Urban

Andrej’s role is going to be a systems architect, neighbor, and activist. He is going to use his experience with web technologies and technology in general to help equip and empower the various ministries under the FCS Ministries family to live out their mission. In addition, Andrej will build street relationships while refining relational “systems” that help care for people in an effort to see spiritual revival and community transformation. Andrej will also develop and give oversight to communication systems that connect neighbors, churches, volunteers, and leaders into relationship.

Jessica’s role will be building relationships with other young moms in the neighborhood as well as giving oversight and planning to gatherings, trainings, fundraising events, and community gatherings among neighbors.

What you can do

We cannot do this alone. We need a giant prayer network praying for us, our children, our neighbors, and our efforts in the neighborhood.

We will also need financial support, both one-time/start-up costs and on a monthly basis. Andrej will work part-time for his web-development business, but in order to focus on the neighborhood transformation as a family we will need financial support to cover the rest of our needs.

We recognize that this is a lot to ask in this economy, but we didn’t want to stand in God’s way of providing for our family through generous hearts of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We want to ask that you pray about what involvement you may want to take in partnering with us in South Atlanta.

Our goal is to move to Atlanta by the end of January but we will need to have at least 3 months worth of the 2009 support budget ($7,5K) in the support account before we can move. Our needs are:

• Minimum Wage ($10,5K for 2009)
• Insurance  ($15,8K for 2009)
• Other Ministry Expenses ($3.5K for 2009)
• Moving expenses ($2K)

If you’d like to join our prayer team or partner with us financially, please fill out the enclosed response card. All financial gifts will go through FCS Urban Ministries and are tax deductible.

Please contact us if you have any questions or if you know of a church or a small group that would be interested in hearing more about the work in South Atlanta.

Thank you! Love,

Andrej, Jessica, Kaiya, Tobi and Baby Ciho #3

Andrej and I walked into the kitchen and watched the shock come over everyone’s faces as they tried to make sense of us standing there in person. It literally took my parents a few moments of just staring at us in utter disbelief before they welcomed us and asked why we had changed our minds.

We handed each of my parents a small bag and told them to open the gift and then they would understand why we came. My dad opened his gift first, and at first glance he saw a little picture frame and commented on how nice it was, but still confused he inspected it a little closer. As soon as he read the words printed on the frame, “I LOVE GRANDPA,” and what we had written inside the frame, “Picture Due July 2005,” he knew why we had traveled so far. He teared up and couldn’t say anything, but just gave us each a hug.

My mom, very confused at this point quickly remembered her own little gift bag and tore into the package. Finding a similar picture frame she quickly announces through her tears to the rest of the family that she is finally going to be a grandmother. That was a moment never to be forgotten.

On the day before Thanksgiving 2006, I heard Kaiya beginning to stir in her crib after a good night’s sleep. I woke my parents, who had arrived late the night before, and told them Kaiya was up and they could go in to get her if they wanted. They jumped out of bed and made a beeline to Kaiya’s room, but I stopped them and said that I wanted to go in first to open the blinds and start the camera to video the reunion.

Once I was all set they came into Kaiya’s room very excited to see their precious granddaughter. My mom quickly scooped Kaiya out of the crib and planted months’ worth of kisses all over her head. I soon realized that they were so enamored with Kaiya that my plan wouldn’t execute if I didn’t step in a little. I asked Kaiya to show Babka and Papa her new shirt. My mom leaned back and read the words on Kaiya’s shirt, “Big Sis ’07.” Catching on quickly she asked, “Are you trying to tell us something?” The excitement and joy of another baby on his way made that moment yet another one to never be forgotten.

On the day before Thanksgiving 2008, Andrej and I quickly rushed out the door leaving Kaiya and Tobi in the capable hands of my parents who had arrived just two days before. As we were waiting in the lobby, Andrej commented on how strange it was to be at our doctor’s office without the kids in tow. I agreed. After we were called back and the routine steps had been taken and all our questions had been answered there was only one thing left to do. Dr. B quickly reminded us that it was early and we may not be able to hear it yet, but she would try. I explained how I really needed to hear it because I had been sick with the stomach flu just a few days earlier and I was really worried.

Dr. B turned on the doppler and quickly found my heart beat. She slowly moved it across my midsection, and it didn’t take long before the familiar whooshing sound filled the room. The biggest smile spread across my face as she said, “I wasn’t sure we would be able to hear the heartbeat at 10 weeks, but there it is and it sounds healthy and strong.” Relief, joy and thanksgiving filled my heart in that moment knowing that God was knitting together our third baby in my womb and by mid-June our family will be blessed once again. Even though I’ve experienced two other pregnancies and listened to two other heartbeats for the first time, it was still so special to hear our third little one’s heart beating strong and I knew that was a moment I never wanted to forget.

Late Monday afternoon, Andrej and I left the kids in the capable hands of my parents and headed to Atlanta. We weren’t even a few miles down the road when Andrej shared that he had a knot in his stomach. Relieved that I wasn’t the only one sad to leave Kaiya and Tobi behind, I too admitted the knot in my own stomach. We have never left the kids overnight. Even when I was in the hospital for Tobi’s birth, Andrej came home each night to be with Kaiya, so we haven’t had much practice with leaving them for more than a few hours. However, we knew it would be good for us, good for them and good for my parents. 

Our first stop was visiting our dear friends, and former teammates in Slovakia, the Desnoyers. We had a great time seeing their precious kids and catching up with them as it had been almost a year since they came to visit us in Michigan. We crashed in their guest room for the night, and both Andrej and I had a hard time falling asleep because we knew the next day could be potentially life changing for us.

We woke up early Tuesday morning, said goodbye to our friends, and drove across the city to meet up with the Ledbetters. Nate and Melissa are friends from Michigan that moved to Atlanta nine months ago to partner with FCS Urban Ministries to love the poor and oppressed people living in an inner-city neighborhood known as South Atlanta.

This trip was more than just visiting with friends, although that was a highlight. For us it was to spend time in the South Atlanta neighborhood, meet people and mainly listen to God. Andrej has for a long time wanted to get involved in urban ministry on a deeper level than volunteering. That desire only grew stronger as he got to know Nate and Melissa, through helping them develop their website before they moved to Atlanta.

We both feel like God has called us to love and care for the poor, but moving our two young children into the midst of poverty and the dangers that come along with it, left me digging in my heels in our safe suburban neighborhood here in Michigan. However, over the past six months as we have been praying, reading different books and talking with the Ledbetters, we both feel God moving within us to do something. The reason we traveled to South Atlanta was to see if that something we feel God calling us to is there in that neighborhood.

I can’t yet say if we are one hundred percent clear that God is calling us to move our family to South Atlanta as we are still, over a month later, processing all that we experienced during our day in Atlanta. We do know that through the Ledbetters, their sweet neighbor Ms. Mary, Bob Lupton (the President of FCS Urban Ministries), Pastor Leroy Barber (from a church in the neighborhood), our friends the Crains who were living in the neighborhood completing a one month internship and the countless others we met, wisdom was spoken into our lives. We didn’t receive the clarity we were hoping for, but we are so much closer to understanding our calling.

Meanwhile, Kaiya and Tobi were having an absolute blast with their grandparents. As we were eating dinner, Andrej received through his phone some pictures of Kaiya holding a fish. We later learned that Papa had taken her fishing and was pleasantly surprised that she enjoyed it as much as he did. He said that Kaiya wasn’t afraid of the worms they used for bait and happily held them wiggling in her hand.

In addition to fishing, Kaiya and Tobi rode on the tractor, four-wheeler and went swimming at a friend’s pool. Mom said it only took Kaiya a few minutes to figure out how to keep her balance in the water with just arm bands on, and then she was swimming all around the pool. Tobi however, did not enjoy the pool as much as Kaiya and much more preferred to be held.

Andrej and I left Atlanta around 10:00 pm, and drove most of the two hour drive home in silence, each of us quietly processing all that we had learned and experienced. The closer we got to my parents’ house, the more I realized just how much I had missed the kids and could not wait to be back with them. I knew they would be asleep, and as silly as it sounds, I just wanted to be under the same roof as them.

Wednesday, our last full day, was spent playing with the kids, swinging in the hammock and trying to verbalize some of what we had learned in South Atlanta. We ended the day by tackeling the fun task of packing for our early return flight home the next day.

We woke the kids the next morning at 5:00 am, and needless to say they were not very happy about it. Our flights home, while not completely stress free, were on time and we arrived home just before lunch. It was good to be home, but both Andrej and I felt that the trip was quite a whirlwind and we could have used a few more days in South Atlanta and few more days at Papa and Babka’s to just relax and be together. I’m sure we will find ourselves down there again soon, and next time we’re driving!

Earlier this week I found myself for the first time in a long time physically sick. I was in a lot of pain, my body was aching and I was running a pretty high fever. It was all I could do to get the kids down for a nap and then call a good friend who was a nurse prior to having kids to get her take on what could be wrong with me. After describing to her my symptoms she told me to call my doctor right away because she was sure I had mastitis. She was right and thankfully after taking just a few doses of an antibiotic I started feeling so much better.

What does my infection have to do with blog etiquette you ask? Well, on day two of my antibiotic I started feeling better, but wasn’t up for taking care of the kids full time so Andrej took half a day off from work. He took the kids out for an excursion that morning so I could rest. After flipping through several talk shows on TV and not finding anything of interest, I curled up on the couch with our little ol’ family blog here. As I looked through all of the pending posts in my drafts folder I suddenly felt compelled to finish and publish them and add a few new updates as well.

Now this is where bad blog etiquette is probably coming into play because I decided to back date several of the timestamps so that the entries would fall in their correct place within the blog. Andrej thought my decision was strange because no one will know to go back and read a new entry that I added to October of 2007. I agree, so that is why I am breaking all the rules and just giving you a heads up that there are new entries hidden all over the blog for you to find :-) I’m kidding. Sort of!

During my sick day, I finished and published several Tobi updates that had been sitting idly in the drafts folder for months and months. Now that they are gone, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and Tobi’s precious milestones have been recorded. This is his only baby book so I owe it to him to fill in the blanks. I won’t be offended in any way if not a single person follows the links and reads these old posts. I wanted them in their correct place so if I ever have this published into a book for the kids someday, it will be complete.

All that to say, by following the links you can read:

• Tobi’s four month statistics in Tobi at 4 Months
• A detailed post complete with an absolutely adorable giggling Tobi video in Tobi at 6 Months
• Yet another detailed post and nine month statistics in Tobi at 9 Months

I also updated the blog with two new posts (with the correct timestamp) and I have three more in the works so get ready because the our little family blog is alive again.

Those first few days and weeks after bringing our newborn baby Kaiya home from the hospital were some of the most incredible and difficult days I’ve ever seen. Trying to figure out how to care for such a small and needy thing, who had her days and nights mixed up, wasn’t easy. I often found encouragement in the thought that it must get a little easier and people must be able to forget how difficult it is to function with little sleep or no one would ever have more than one child. I remember announcing to Andrej on several occasions, usually involving a lot of uncontrollable crying, both from the newborn and the new mama, that I hoped he was satisfied with having only one child because I didn’t think I would ever willingly go through this again.

Fast forward a year and a few months and our sweet Kaiya is the greatest blessing, aside from each other, we as a couple have ever received. Not only is she well behaved, a good eater and sleeps twelve to thirteen hours a night, but is a TON of fun. We laugh, play, dance, read books and laugh some more. Thus we both have long forgotten those sleepless nights and long bouts of crying. So, this thanksgiving I am thankful for forgetting those hard days and being able to announce with great joy that Baby Ciho #2 is scheduled to arrive sometime around May 30!!!!

We were able to share the incredible news in person with my parents today. As difficult as it was to keep this a secret over the last two months, I’m really glad we did. We kicked around many ideas of how to share the news with my parents, finally deciding that Kaiya would have to be the one to do it. There was no other way to top what we did two years ago exactly when we told them they were going to be grandparents for the first time. We practiced having Kaiya point at my belly and say “baby,” which she would do, but it involved a lot of prompting and even then she wouldn’t always do it, so we scratched that idea and whipped up a T-shirt instead. It read in block letters (like a university shirt), BIG SIS 07. After a morning reunion including lots of hugs and kisses, I told Kaiya to show Poppa and Babka her new shirt. After months of keeping the secret, we were finally able to celebrate. You can watch the video here.

So this Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for, especially for this new life growing inside of me and for knowing that it may not be easy but it’s worth it because the good times far, far outweigh the bad.

This offer also came in a very good time for our family because for the last couple of months, my salary at my current employer has no longer been covering our family expenses. I am very excited for this new opportunity but also sad to leave my coworkers that became good friends over the last three years. I have received many many blessings and hopefully have given some too.

To my coworkers: I plan on staying in touch. I want to thank all of you for the great time I’ve had.