Kodiak Koehler's

Why, oh why, does he have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning? Why can't he sleep until 7 or later like his sister? Why do we have to be so tired that we both have colds and can't seem to get rid of them? Oh well....the joys of parenthood. They're worth it. Gabriel had his intro with the Dr. yesterday and the only thing we need to watch is his weight. He's only 18 lbs 12 oz. He should be closer to 21-23 according to her. Eh, I'm not worried about it though. I think a lot of it is that she's using the American growth scale, not the Central American scale. He's probably just going to be a skinny kid. He's fairly tall though - 31.5". Donavyn rolled over for the first time yesterday! We're so proud of her. It was really funny. A couple days ago we were playing in their room and she kept trying to roll over and just couldn't get quite over. I told Zach that she was going to do it while we weren't looking. We would put her down, look away and l...

I am so thankful that 31 years ago you were born and that God has blessed me with you. You are an amazing husband and father. I hope and pray this birthday is your best ever and that all you dreams for this coming year come true. This year is going to be a LOT different than the past, but filled with even more love, hugs, kisses and laughter. We have shared a lot of laughs and there is no one that can make me feel better when I'm down like you can. You are always there to offer a hug, encouragement or just a silly joke or funny face. Momma K and Pops, thank you so much for raising such a respectful son. You did a wonderful job and I couldn't be happier than I am with your son and the family we have made together. Zach, we love you more than you will ever know and wish you the happiest of birthdays! Your loving wife and darling children

I just wanted to take a moment to say happy birthday to my wonderful, amazing mom. She is a source of great strength, comfort and encouragement to me. She inspires me to be a Godly woman, wife and mother. I will always remember going to the table for breakfast on school days and she would be there reading her bible and praying. Her example has made me realize that I want my children to see that in me. She is the most humble woman I know and I thank God for choosing her to be my mom. I wish we were close enough to celebrate with her, but luckily she will be here soon and we will have plenty of time together. I love you, mom and I pray you have a wonderful birthday! Gabriel and Donavyn wanted to say Happy Birthday to Grandma, too! frvg v gvcffcvzctn5frjhbvcaaaaaaa

I'm starting out with her 3 month picture since I got a little busy and forgot to post that one. See how big she is getting? Man.... Oh, and her 4 month sign says "Can you believe I'm already 4 months? Momma and Daddy can't either!" Our sweet little girl (as she sits here on my shoulder falling asleep) is now 4 months old. The time has flown by already. Before we know it she will be a teenager trying to avoid time with mom and dad b/c they are SOOO uncool. Yeah, right, we're going to be the coolest parents EVAH! Don't all parents say that? Donavyn has been a blessing to our lives. One year ago we thought we may never have children biologically and yet here we are. Who knew that our lives would be this blessed just one year later? We have gone from no children to two in no time flat. Donavyn is a sweet, cuddly baby. She is daddy's little girl through and through. She has been since day one. She loves her momma too though. As I get her up in the morning...

Why didn't anyone tell us we would get NO rest during the day and that by 6 p.m. we would be ready for bed? This is the hardest job I've ever had. I don't know what I'm going to do when Zach goes back to work. He helps SOOO much. I'm so blessed to have him as my husband and the father of my children. I've had countless friends tell me how lucky I am to have him and that if I ever don't want him anymore to let them know, because they would gladly take him for me. Yeah, right. Like I'll ever let him get away! He's MINE, MINE I tell you! *snort* Ok, so can you tell I'm a little tired? I think Zach is rubbing off on me some. When I get tired I usually get cranky...he gets silly. Tonight I'm a silly tired mom. And it's not even 9 yet. Luckily Gabriel is still up - Donavyn is already in bed (WOOHOO!) - and we're trying to hold off on his last bottle until at least 9 so that he may not wake up during the night. He didn't sleep much today...

We made it home (finally) yesterday morning. Sorry we didn't update then, but we were all exhausted and were trying to get Gabriel settled into the house, used to the dogs and playing with his toys. The house he was great with, the toys he LOVED (especially the singing dog and helicopter), the dogs....well...that took a little time, but not too much. He whined a little as the dogs came downstairs and tried to sniff and lick him, but we would inch him closer and closer to them. Now, he was just pulling on Morgan's tail and she just sat there looking between him and me like, "Ugh...kids...what're you gonna do, huh?" Oh, and Snowflake is even more patient with him I think. He grabs the skin around her jaw and eyes (almost poked her eye this morning) and she just sits there and takes it. I think it's funny that Snowflake seems to favor Gabriel (and vice versa) while Morgan favors Donavyn (and vice versa). When I made this observation last night, Zach just said, ...

Gabriel is officially a US Citizen. As of about 10:30 a.m. Central time. Customs was a breeze. We had to go though the Immigration line and then get escorted to another waiting room. There were a LOT of people there, but luckily we got seen very quickly. I am sure it's because we are US citizens, but we were a little concerned for a while. The kids were pretty good the first leg of our trip. Of course they sat Zach and I together in one row and there was someone else already in our row as well. They can't allow two lap babies in one row since only 4 masks drop down, so the man in the aisle seat next to Zach was nice enough to switch places. Of course that left me sitting between two men who think they get BOTH armrests. Oh, and the guy in front of me decides to lean his seat ALL the way back so I'm squished and holding Gabriel - or as we like to call him El Fuego (fire). Man, was I sweaty by the time we got here. He did sleep some though and was good for the most part. Zach...

This is officially the last post from Guatemala!!! We're leaving tomorrow morning at 7 am...which means that we'll be leaving the hotel at 4 am...ugh...but we're going home and that's the important thing. We read all your comments and basically came to the same conclusion that God wanted us to have a few days off so yesterday I did what I promised some of you. We went down to the pool and I had a Mojito in the sun for you guys!!! Then we took them both swimming and it took Gabriel a few minutes to figure out what all that water was about but then we had a hard time getting him out of it. We even sat in the hot tub for a bit. Gabriel loves swimming and the water. Hopefully he'll like flying just as well. Here's praying that he does. And in any case the flight can't last forever so even if he doesn't fly well it'll be over eventually. Ok ok...Gabrial wanted to post so here he goes... xq az v m, ugyungt y89;823, d.;' p,lfzx/. Roughly tras...

In case you didn't see the comments, Delinda (one of my sisters) asked what Gabriel and Donavyn think of each other. You know....it may sound strange, but it's almost like they've always known each other. As soon as they saw each other they just looked at each other and smiled like they were seeing a long lost friend. They like to look at each other and smile and they sometimes get excited and sometimes just look at each other. Gabriel is surprisingly gentle with her. Well, most of the time anyway. He tries to play with her. He likes to clap his hands and then he decided to clap her head. She was fine with it, she just looked at him like he was crazy. Yesterday at one of the nap times, Gabriel was sleeping on the bed (and you saw in the previous post about how fitful he is of a sleeper) and Donavyn was sleeping on my chest right next to him. Zach was asleep on the other side of the bed, so Donavyn and I were left with about 18 inches of space on a king size bed. Tell me how...

FINALLY! We have Gabriel's Visa and passport with us now. Thank you, God! Zach went with Pedro this afternoon to pick up the Visa and got all the paperwork done. He said it went really well and that he was the first one to get called up to the number 7 desk (where they hand out the package and visa). The package consists of a lot of information in a manila envelope that we have to hand over (unopened) to immigration in Houston. If it's opened, Gabriel is stuck and won't go anywhere. Bummer too cause we all know how nosy I am. *snort* I've got a question: How in the WORLD can a 10 month old boy take up an entire king size bed? I'm telling you. I'm going to have to try and video some of it. The boy moves around more than any child I've ever seen. I think that's why he doesn't like his crib. It constrains him too much. I think he would have slept just fine last night if he hadn't bonked his head on the crib. I think I'm going to leave some comme...

I've said it once and I'll say it forever!!! We absolulty love our friends. No scratch that...we absolutly love our family!!! Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers. I was able to go to the Embassy this morning and got everything worked out. When we go to for our appointment they have to send a bunch of things to Washington D.C. for verification. That's why we can't get the Visa the same day. They normally get a reply later that day or early the next and are able to issue Visas the next afternoon. However due to a system glitch they didn't receive our verification in time to have the Visa printed and issued. I found out this morning that everything is in order now and I'll be able to pick up the Visa this afternoon at 3:30. Pedro will be coming to pick me up and I'll go in person just to make sure there's no more problems. I talked with the Marriott front desk before I left and she wasn't sure that they would have space for us but she...

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched? Yeah, you see where I'm going with this? Umm hmm.... there is one of two things going on: 1. Satan is REALLY trying very hard to get us down, or 2. God is testing us. I'm not sure which it is, but it's been hard not to let it get us down. Oh, I suppose I should tell you all what's going on, huh? Well, Pedro (our agency representative) went to the Embassy to pick up our Visa and somehow they couldn't find our name in they're database. So Zach will have to go back to the Embassy tomorrow morning to see what is going on and try to get this taken care of. Yeah, we were supposed to leave at 7 am tomorrow morning, but instead, that's the time Pedro will be picking Zach up. After we got the phone call, Zach went down to the Continental Airlines office at the hotel to try to get on the Friday flight and they said it would cost us $2000! Either that or we wouldn't be able to leave until next Thursday. So Z...

This trip has truely been unbelievable!!! I just wanted to take a minute to tell you how much we appreciate all of you praying for us. This has to be the smoothest trip we've ever taken. It all started in Kodiak when teh weather cooperated with us getting out early. Donavyn was an absolute dream on the planes. The pressure changes didn't bother her one little bit. We were able to rent a car for the day and had a little mini-vacation before leaving Anchorage at 1 am. The flight to Seattle was nearly empty so Beth and I each had our own row. I took Donavyn and laid down and slept all the way to Seattle. Then one the flight to Houston it was just about the same way...we didn't have our own row but we slept the whole way. Checked into the USO in Houston and just chilled until our flight to Guatemala. When we arrived our luggage all made it too and for once wasn't the last bags off the plane. We walked right through customs, right out the door and into the waitin...

....as a family of three. Gabriel will come to us tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m.! We are ecstatic to say the least. We are currently in Houston (at the USO) for a few more minutes and wanted to give you the little bit of info above. We're just about to go get some dinner and then head to the gate. Our flight leaves here at 7:10 and arrives just before 10 p.m., so this will be a quick flight. We have so many emotions running through us right now and we are just so.....I don't know how to describe it. Funny, we calculated it up yesterday and realized it has been over a year since we started this entire journey and almost 8 months since we got our first glimpse of Gabriel. In that instant knew right then that he was the son God had planned for us. So, this has been just like another pregnancy and I'm not sure which has been/was more difficult. I think they were both difficult and easy in their own ways, but both are SO worth every moment of joy, pain and fear. We love Gabriel a...

Just a quick update to let everyone know that the loud screaming you heard coming from the Pacific Northwest was from us - shouting for joy that Gabriel will be coming home! That's right, our boy is coming home to Alaska! WOOHOO!!! We could NOT be happier! We got the email - after waiting 6 weeks and sending 3 urgent emails and getting ready to call our congressmen to call them on our behalf - and our appointment is on January 15. We have to go back to the Embassy on the 16th to pick up all the paperwork and we leave on the 17th for home. Of course, getting back here is always a ....well...let's just call it a special treat, so we won't get home until the 18th. We are going to leave Kodiak on the 12th for warmer weather and my other "sunshine" (I love to sing the Sunshine songs to my little ones). We have our flight and hotel taken care of already, except the flight to Anchorage. It's easier to book two separate tickets for this particular flight. Our flight d...