Ecuador Adventures

All the Richert kids!

I first started this blog because Jon and I thought we would be joining the Sr. Richerts, David and Danielle, in Guayaquil, Ecuador the following year. I had been offered a job teaching 2nd grade at InterAmerican Academy, while Jon was planning to explore and be a stay-at-home husband until other opportunities presented themselves. I wanted to blog about our adventures, not only so they would be forever documented on the Internet machine, but so friends and family could keep up on our travels.

Plans changed when we found out I was pregnant, and wouldn't be keeping my job. Life took a much different turn than we had expected, but there's nothing we would change about the last year and a half. God knew what He was doing, as usual. The biggest disappointment was actually the fact that we wouldn't be living in the same city as Dave and Danielle for the following two years, since we've never lived in the same place!

You can imagine our excitement when our chance to travel internationally came at the end of February when we got to visit the other Richerts with the main reason for our original change of plans: Kealani! She ended up being a better traveler than some adults I've known, and added an extra element of excitement to an already amazing trip. On this trip we were able to do so many things we love: travel, hang out with Dave and Danielle, play outside with Kealani in tow, and even relax in a hammock and read (oh, wait, it's just the girls who love that...). Here are some photos of our awesome South American adventure...

On top of the Basilica in Quito

Kealani looking over the city of Quito

The main street in Mindo

Ziplining in Mindo

Checking out butterflies at the butterfly farm

The cable car taking us where we could hike to look for waterfalls

Jon toted K just about everywhere in the backpack

Relaxing in the hammock outside our room
We stopped at the "Middle of the World" on the way from Mindo to Otavalo

Lunch break on the equator!

The view of Otavalo from the roof of our hostel

Otavalo animal market

Some beautiful handcrafted vases in the Otavalo market

Kealani's First Birthday

It's obviously been a while since I added anything to this blog, so instead of trying to "catch up" on the past 9 1/2 months, I think I'll just start right where we are... and attempt to update a little more often!

On February 16th, we celebrated Kealani's first birthday. Jon and I often talk about what a weird sense of time we've had for the last year. Looking back at newborn photos of K makes us feel like we've been parents for decades, as it seems like those events took place a million years ago. At the same time, we can't believe how lightning fast the year flew by!

Whether you're a parent or not, we all have events or seasons in our lives that we look back on and wonder how it's possible for the time to have passed as quickly as it has... For me, having a child has added a new outlook on what it means to enjoy every minute, no matter what stage I'm in... I'll never get those minutes back, or be able to relive them. Watching Kealani grow and learn is like having a new "marker" in time, with the ability to remember events and seasons in relation to how old she was, and what she was doing at the time. I wouldn't trade a minute of the last year for anything. Jon and I look forward to living out this coming year with our precious daughter.

Birth Time photo! 12:37 p.m.

Our family date in Cambria

Enjoying some birthday cupcake

Opening gifts... the wrapping is the best part, of course!

Kealani is 3 Months old!

Here are some recent pics of my happy baby girl. I can't believe how time is flying, how many new things she seems to do every week, and how I already feel like she's getting "too big". I am appreciating every moment, knowing I won't get any of them back... and it's all so easy to do when you have such a cool, chillaxed baby like Kealani. We love her!

Kealani Joy is Here!

Looking up at Uncle Jesse

Sleeping with Daddy

Kisses from Mommy

First modeling job

Angel Baby

She's finally here! Kealani Joy Richert was born on February 16 at 12:37 p.m., weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz., and was 23" long. (Yes, 23".) I can't even describe what a gift she is. I already loved her, even when I hadn't met her yet, but when she was born and the doctor handed her to me, she looked into my eyes and I fell in love with her more deeply than I could have imagined. Jon and I have been loving getting to know her, watching her change every day, and despite lack of sleep, spending days and all hours of the night with her.

We may be in trouble... it seems she already does things her way. I was 10 minutes away from being wheeled into the OR for a C-section, due to getting stuck after a relatively quickly progressing labor, when I realized I was about to start pushing whether I wanted to or not! The doc said, "Let's have this baby!" and from that time, it took one hour and Kealani was here without any cutting! At that point, I didn't care how she got here as long as she was healthy, but now I'm so thankful for the much faster recovery and the ability to do more than I would have been able to do after the major surgery of a C-section.

I thank God every day for my beautiful baby girl, and I am excited, nervous, and so much more to be a mom!

Watching Baby Richert Grow

10 weeks... I know, I don't look pregnant, but I was excited.

15 Weeks

22 Weeks

25 Weeks

30 Weeks

34 Weeks... Right before my baby shower

Valentine's Day... our official due date, and HUGE!

Well, I had time to post the pics. It's been fun watching my belly grow. When I look back at the early weeks, I can't believe how "little" I was! I can't wait to have a baby on the outside, rather than carrying a heavy basketball on the front of my body everywhere I go. Since I'm obviously so great at keeping this up to date, I assume the next time I write will be because Baby Girl is here...

Waiting...

So it's been a while, yet again, since I've added to this, but I have to tell you I made an honest effort about a week ago... and it didn't work!! I don't know if the website was having trouble or if it had been so long that I forgot what I was doing... either way, I apologize to those of you who might actually look at this once in a while.

Today is our baby girl's due date, and here we are at about 5:00 in the evening, just hoping I will go into labor any second. (Of course I know "most" first babies are late, but I tend to listen to the stories about people having theirs early/on time... and ignore the ones who were late.) This little blog is kind of a test to see if it will actually post this time. Then I want to add another one with pics of my pregnancy, which can be found on my Facebook page, but I know not everyone looks at that. If I'm lucky, I'll be in the hospital before I have time to load the pictures!!

Flying Solo

I'm four days into Jon's ten day trip to Rwanda, and wow, I miss him! He went with Eternity Minded Ministries, an awesome organization that goes all over the world to visit schools, orphanages, give eyeglass clinics, put on festivals with music and preaching, and do whatever else God wants them to do while they're gone.

Some of the things the team is planning on doing include helping with an eyeglass clinic (the team brought 4,000 pairs of glasses that they will give to people who have never before been able to read because they couldn't see properly), encouraging Rwandan pastors, visiting a school and an orphanage, and visiting an AIDS clinic to talk to the people getting treatment there. Anyone who's been on a missions trip knows that this could be what they end up doing, but you never know what might come up! He could be doing something completely different, like preaching in a church or sharing his testimony in front of a group of people. I'm proud of him, no matter what he does.

Anyway, I'm hanging out by myself, realizing how much I appreciate Jon's presence. He makes me laugh, helps me around the house without ever being asked, listens to how my days go, and basically just makes me happy. This is the longest time we've been apart since we started dating over four years ago, and I really don't like it!

Baby news: I'm getting rather enormous and can feel baby girl kicking ALL THE TIME. (At least it seems like it.) She's strong and healthy, as far as I can tell from the outside! My pregnancy has been pretty much a breeze, but I'm starting to feel it now that I'm a couple weeks into the 3rd trimester. It's getting hard to sleep, since I can't find a comfy position, and after working all day my whole lower body tends to feel numb and puffy. I have plenty of weeks left, but I really can't wait till this girl is here so I can sleep on my tummy again! Last week Jon and I shone a flashlight on my belly and moved it around because I read that babies at this point can see the light and may respond to it. Baby Richert seemed uninterested at first, but after a couple minutes of Daddy teasing her, she decided to punch him. That-a-girl.