Nursery

CHANGING TABLE

CLOSET
(relax, she WANTED to do it)

CRIBS


New Ceiling Light
(thanks, Tim Turc, for hardwiring and installing)
New Smoke Alarm

Before & After

With several home upgrades happening, I felt it was necessary to post some before and after shots of the house and of my life. Some of these shots were done a while back, some very recently. Enjoy! And a very happy birthday to my little Sophie who turns two today!

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BEFORE

AFTER

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BEFORE
(note the chandelier)

AFTER

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BEFORE

AFTER
(note the cute handles Katie picked out; thanks to Sid for helping me sand this bad boy down)

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BEFORE
(UGH! I can't believe I forgot a "before" shot. Imagine our laundry room with a huge shelving area behind the door. I removed that so that the door can open more so that Katie will have more room when she comes home with the babies)

AFTER

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BEFORE

AFTER
(with evil look)

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BEFORE

AFTER

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BEFORE
(as in 'before' watching "Food, Inc." Yup...gross!)

AFTER
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BEFORE

AFTER
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BEFORE
(again, I missed the 'before' picture, but by the headboard, you can tell this was a guest room)

AFTER
(my new office with white, wood blinds to come and centered lighting)

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BEFORE
(middle guestroom)

AFTER
(I know, right?!)

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BEFORE
(my old office that Katie, Dave, Kelsey, and Chira helped make for me while I was away)

AFTER
(now the nursery -- with cribs, new closet, new lighting, new blinds, and more to come)

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BEFORE

AFTER
(Baby A's 3-D Ultrasound Picture [with umbilical cord in his face and right arm up])

The Kick!

It finally happened. For the past few weeks, Katie has been able to feel the babies inside of her moving. It is something special for the mother--a bond. Something a father will never get to feel. However, I got to feel something amazing last night kicking at Katie's belly. I felt my babies for the first time! It was a very surreal moment.

Katie has been constantly asking me to put her hand on her belly to try and feel them, but I would never feel them. Last night as I began falling asleep, Katie felt them moving a lot, so she placed my hand on her belly. I was a little skeptical that I would feel anything since I've been 0 for 100 or something like that. But lo and behold! I felt a sudden jolt hit my hand, and then I felt a few more after that.

The feeling made me so happy inside. I probably would've cried if it weren't for my nightshades over my eyes (yes, I sleep with nightshades sometimes because Katie likes to read until 3am). But it was such an amazing moment for me to actually feel the life growing inside of Katie that God has created. Something I will never forget.

Glory Defined

Today I have been cleaning up my new office at home. My previous office was a big room, and although I loved the space, it wasn't cozy. I hardly spent time there. With the two boys 22 weeks along already, we have decided to make my old office the babies' room. My new office was one of the old guestrooms. Now, although smaller, I feel like it's more of an office for me to have my quiet time (which, yes, involves blogging along with devotions, reading, homework, and catching up on news). And Sophie has already enjoyed the new office as she tends to sleep on the couch in the back.


The babies' room is virtually empty, and Katie and I are going to start building up the room. (Note: when I say "Katie and I," I mean that Katie will be doing all the cool, creative stuff as she comes up with her vision for the room. I am solely responsible for funding the project and manual labor). Thankfully the room was painted blue back when it was my office, so since we're having two boys there will be no need to re-paint. Thank goodness, too, because it is a very dark blue which would've taken many coats of paint to cover up.

Anyway, while I was busy cleaning up all the old stuff from my office, I found something that touched my heart. It was Katie's old emergency room bracelet. On one side it says: "Hanchinamani, Katrina L 10/05/10..." Now, for those who remember, 10/5/10 was the date I took Katie to the ER where the doctor concluded that we were miscarrying. I remember feeling crushed and defeated that day. But at the same time, I did not want to forget that day because our pain makes us stronger in the end when we overcome. James 1:12 says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because once he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised for those who love him." So I had taken Katie's hospital bracelet, and wrote on the back "In Memory of our unborn children." And I saved it in a box full of memories with Katie. When I saw that bracelet today, and saw what was written, I was just amazed by how awesome God is.

When we had heard that we were not going to have our twins, I did not doubt God. I did not disown Him or hold a grudge against Him. I did not pout or complain. Instead, I praised Him. And my family and friends joined me in our anthem of praise. Why did we praise Him? Because we are taught to--in ALL circumstances. And the Lord who is full of grace heard our prayer and praise. And in a miraculous turn of events, we are now well on our way to having twin boys. Isn't He amazing?! And I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back. I'm not saying, "Look at me; look at how I handled it all." By no means. I'm a very imperfect Christian. I'm just saying that God hears our prayers when we call on His name whether through thick or thin. Casting Crown says it best in one of their songs:

"And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm."

I leave you with this quick story that I did not include in my original post of that dramatic week (see blog entitled "The Hanchinamani Babies"). On September 28th, after I had heard the news that Katie was pregnant, I started to drive to work. The song on the station that morning was a song by Building 429 called "Glory Defined." The end of the first verse and the beginning of the chorus goes like this: "But I know that you're guiding me, and the best is yet to come. You've given me hope for tomorrow, and I know some day I'll wake up to find Your glory defined..." I wonder, have you woken up to find his glory defined? I certainly caught a glimpse of his glory the day we found out Katie was pregnant and when we found the miscarriages were false, that we were having twins, and that the pregnancy was going according to plan--His plan!

Mom's Reaction

I promised you all a video a few posts ago. It took me awhile because I had to compress the file to under 100MB and then cut some of the extra footage. Anyway, I got it now. See below. It is a video of my mom's reaction on Christmas Day when Katie and I told her that we were having twin BOYS. Since Katie and I already knew what we were having (unlike at Katie's family's place the night before when we had no clue when Katie and I opened the gift boxes), we gave the gift boxes to my parents to open. Notice at first how my mom has no clue what the blue-colored baby's clothes means. Once she finds out what it means, you will see the greatest reaction!

Going Bananas!

When Katie had told me that the babies were the length of bananas this week, I could not believe it. As she held up two bananas to her belly, it's unfathomable how awesome God is to have created these two wonderful, unique beings from just microscopic cells. And what a great reminder in church today: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..."(Jeremiah 1:5).

Sophie's Christmas

Sophie is just too cute! These are some pictures--and a video--of Sophie opening up her Christmas present all by herself.

21 Weeks And Counting

A quick look at Katie at 21 weeks.

We're Having...

That's right, Katie and I found out the wonderful news--the gender of our twins--on Christmas Eve morning as we moseyed into the ultrasound clinic without any of our parents, family, or friends knowing about it. The tech took a little over an hour to find out how the babies were doing. Everything appeared to be great and on track.

When it came time to find out the genders, Katie and I told the tech that we didn't want to know just yet. So she warned us to turn away at the right time, and after it was all done, Katie told the tech what our plan was.

Katie had read somewhere (or heard from a friend) how they surprised their family, and she wanted to do it the same way. What we did was we told the tech to write down what we were having on a post-it note. She did so and placed the post-it in an envelope. Katie and I then headed to the store to pick out a pair of girls clothes (pink) and a pair of boys clothes (blue). We headed to the cash register, and we told the lady that we were having twins and we didn’t know what the genders were. Inside the envelope would be the answer to the mystery. So the lady at the cash register read the note on the post-it while Katie and I had our backs turned. Then she proceeded to wrap up the clothes according to what the post-it said, and then hid the other clothes. The lady enjoyed this secret as did a passerby. Katie said, “You are the first one to know what we’re having!” :) The lady loved it and told us “Congratulations.”

Katie went home and wrapped up the clothes. She did not see anything since they were covered with tissue paper. She placed them in a box, covered it with a ribbon and bow, and we headed to Katie’s relatives to celebrate Christmas Eve.

At the end of the night, we were playing the White Elephant game. Katie cheated and purposely got #1. So she got to pick first. She grabbed the two boxes, and the tag on them said something like, “Katie and Joe to open together.” The faces on the family members were that of confusion. Nobody knew what was happening. And then, Katie and I pulled out the clothes. Katie’s was BLUE…as was mine!! That’s right…we’re having twin BOYS! :)

Do you remember that old Geico commercial where the guy wants to save money on his collect call, so he says his name is “Bob Wehadababyitsaboy”? Anyway, that’s what I’m reminded of. Here’s the commercial for those who don’t recall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs

Anyway, yeah…we’re having twin boys. Katie’s family was super excited. We did the same thing for Katie’s grandma and great aunt the next morning. And we did the same thing for my family on Christmas evening. My mom’s reaction was priceless, and I have the video to prove it [soon to come].

Below are some of the pics from the ultrasound. Baby A’s profile, Baby B’s profile, Baby B giving Baby A the thumbs up, and the post-it note which revealed the genders.

I Know...It's Fruity!

Katie is currently at 15+ weeks. She already feels and appears better than she did in the first trimester, so it's starting to look good. According to some websites and books, a baby that's at 15+ weeks is roughly the size of an orange. Granted we are having two babies, so it might be smaller, we took the liberty of showing you the size of our babies inside of Katie today.

The Hanchinamani Babies

Well, it's been forever since I've posted anything, but I think with the news of having twins, it's about time I posted something. Many of you know the story, but just to have it written on my blog as a sort of diary, I will spell it all out again.

In June 2010, I had a very vivid dream. The only thing in my dream was the date "September 28." It was so strong to me that when I woke up, I still had flashes of that date in my mind. Believing it was from the Lord, I prayed about it and quickly put a reminder on my iPhone calendar.

Many months later, in mid-September, I was looking ahead on my calendar. The date September 28 had a note which said, "Dream Day." Not recalling what this was, I clicked on the reminder note which said, "I had a dream in the first week of June regarding this day. It was a vivid date for some reason." Thinking something significant was going to happen in a few weeks, I told Katie and Sid about it. And sure enough, on September 28 as the Lord would have it, Katie woke up before I went to work, took a pregnancy test, and found out we were having a baby.

A week later we told all our family and close friends. However, on October 5th, we woke up to something we were NOT expecting. Katie was bleeding, and I took her to the emergency room at Swedish/Edmonds Hospital (formerly Stevens Hospital) at 4 in the morning. After 3 hours of waiting and running tests, the doctor told us heartbreaking news--we were miscarrying. We were devastated, not only at the news, but what came a few seconds later. My mom grabbed the paper from the doctor and said, "Twins? It was twins?" The doctor, who didn't have the heart to break the news to us, simply nodded and said, "Yes. I'm so sorry."

Katie and I went home that day feeling defeated. Yet, we stood together to praise God for His faithfulness. That evening, the entire family from both sides came over to shower us with prayer. It was so overwhelming and amazing to see the body of Christ gather together like that. And you know what...God heard our cry!

The following morning as I was out doing errands, Katie told me that she called our doctor's office to see if she could take a certain medication to help her with her cramping. As she spoke to the nurse, Katie was told that they believe that she was NOT miscarrying. What?! So we went to the doctor's office, and Dr. Bourne assisted us. He told us simply that he believes it looks like a normal pregnancy. After doing another ultrasound, we saw what we saw the day before, but this time it was explained to us. There were two gestational sacs in Katie's womb. The babies were too small to see, but he believed they were still in there. In fact, all the signs of a miscarriage that Katie was showing the day before were no longer there. It was a true miracle in the making. I remember leaving the office, and Kris was waiting in the lobby for us, and she saw the spark in my eye, and she knew right then everything would be okay.

Although we weren't out of the woods yet, our hope was restored. We believed! And a few days later when Katie's hormone levels in her blood had doubled, that was a great indication everything was well. A few weeks after that, we saw, for the very first time, our babies!! We also saw and heard their tiny, rapid heartbeats that brought tears to my eyes. Below is a picture of them.


Praise God for the miracle story of our two babies--from the dream, to the joy, to the sorry, back to the joy, and for the amazing miracle of life. More posts of the pregnancy to follow.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

A very happy birthday goes to my wonderful father. Yesterday was his 62nd birthday! Wow. I still remember when he turned 40 and what a big deal that was. Time certainly flies, doesn't it?

My superdad is definitely young for his age. He is constantly outside in the garden, perfecting his grass and plants. While I was away in D.C., he was so great. Not only did he work on his own yard, but he came over and took care of my lawn knowing that I invested a lot of time and money to make my yard what it is. So before all my work would have nothing to show, he lovingly took care of it for me without me even asking.

He even recently went water tubing for the first time ever, and he had a blast!

Even though I'm all grown up, he still made time to come watch all of my basketball games over the summer and, like he did when we were small, he kept track of all my stats. That's my dad!! He's always looking out for his kids and always sacrificing everything to make us happy. With the addition of Rupal and Katie, he treats them just like his own, too. And he is a fun grandpa, too...I'm sure Shifa would agree.

Anyway, happy birthday, pops (a.k.a. "Dya"). We all love you. Thank you for being you!

Home Sweet Home

Part of me actually really likes to leave for a short period of time from my house. The only reason being is because every time I come back home, I'm greeted with some amazing surprise that my beautiful wife has in store for me. For instance, the last time I went on a one week business trip, I came back home to see my entire office transformed into something wonderful and elegant. I LOVE my office now; it's so cozy.

Well, while I was in D.C. for 6 1/2 weeks, I could only guess what she did this time. I got home to see our bedroom look like a hotel room. It seriously looks like a fancy hotel. We got a brand new head board, a bed skirt (sort of), new matching side tables, a new tall lamp, a little tree in the corner, and grandma's chair in the corner as well. I'm sure Katie will take better pictures and post more about it, but below is a sample (from my iPhone) of what the bed now looks like.

Last Work Day!!!

Well, I did it. It was tough, but I did it. God was with me every step of the way. For the past 6 ½ weeks I have been in Washington, D.C. for work. While it was extremely difficult to leave my bride, I had to listen and obey to God’s word in my heart. A long time back I explained what the Lord told me about getting out of my comfort zone and trusting Him. I can honestly say that I have clung onto Jesus this entire trip, I have grown much closer to Him, I have not feared but simply have trusted Him with everything I am, and He never left my side.

Today marked my final day at work out here. I fly home tomorrow night. Thank you for those who took care of Katie and those who took care of my house while I was away. Thank you for those who sent me mail, gifts, cards, and for those who visited me. Thank you for reading my blogs. Most importantly, thank you all for all your prayers. It’s been fun, D.C., but I have a family back home and I’m ready to see them. Peace.

Happy Anniversary, Joyces!

I want to wish Jeffery and Silviana Joyce a very happy anniversary. Yesterday marked their 1 year anniversary. One year?! Really? Already? Time certainly does fly, and with the addition of Victor in their lives, I’m sure time is flying by much faster for them.

Here’s to Jeff and Silviana. Be blessed and enjoy a lifetime together!!