It's a...

Well if you haven't heard...It's a BOY! I'm now 24 weeks and getting bigger by the day.
I had mixed feelings about finding out the gender as part of me liked the suspense, but I'm liking even more knowing and mentally, emotionally, and logistically preparing for our baby boy. It's been a blast to officially be able to daydream in blue! I think there is no way we could NOT have known from such an obvious ultrasound, anyway!

Also, it's been super fun getting tons of boy hand-me-downs from my sister-in-law. Lucas is just 6 months, so someday they are going to be great friends too.

As far as a name goes, we still haven't 100% decided. We have a top runner but aren't closed off to others yet. Good thing we have 16 weeks left! One of the tribes that our mission serves has a cultural norm of never reusing a name...ever! This means the parents have to be VERY creative and each name is completely unique. Some of the people from the tribes have gone into the city and found interesting inspiration for names leading to children named things like "Pepsi" and "Colgate". I'm glad we're allowed to select from known names at least!

IS THIS NORMAL?!?!?

Next weekend we'll be taking a trip to Brasilia to renew Jeyson's US visa at the embassy. The process involves a huge application (which took about 2 hours to complete online!) and then Jeyson will be interviewed. And this is just for a tourist visa! I can't even begin to imagine what it is like to do an immigrant visa! Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that while we were filling out the application, we had to get out all of our documents for needed info....including all of our passports. Which leads me to my question....IS THIS NORMAL!?!? Is it normal for a couple to have 7 passports between the two of them???


Now before you start thinking we have false identities, each one has a logical reason that we need it on hand still. Only 2 are mine - one showing my maiden name and one as a Braun (not necessary to travel with the Ciotta one but good to have here in Brazil to prove when I've been in and out of the US and Brazil). Jeyson is a dual citizen with Brazil and Ecuador and has 3 Brazilian passports (2 expired are but needed to show past trips in and out of the country at visa interviews and such) and 2 Ecuadorian passports...which are actually both needed in travel since one is expired but has his current US Visa in it and the other is needed to show it has been renewed.


CONFUSED??? Us too at times! It's hard to keep track of it all! Just wait till Baby Braun gets here and adds another 2 passports (1 Brazil 1 US) to the mix. We will need a suitcase just for our passports soon.

Please be praying that Jeyson is able to renew is Visa on July 23rd so we don't have any trouble with future travels.

Baby Braun - 20 Weeks!

I can't believe we're already halfway done with this pregnancy and that Baby Braun will be here in just another 20 weeks or so!
Here are some yeas and nays I've had so far....

YEAS -
- Feeling the baby move quite a few times a day now
- A very smooth and uneventful past few weeks with the pregnancy
- Feeling a bit less tired and no more morning sickness
- Really no strange or annoying symptoms (so far)
- Starting to clear out and organize the stuff that's currently in the room that will become our baby's room
- Great hand-me-downs from other missionaries including clothes, a crib, baby bjorn, kids books in English, and much more
- Unexpected gifts on random days. They've been in the form of care packages from the States as well as from friends and family here. It's so fun to get one on a random day...each one gets us more and more excited about our baby
- An AWESOME doctor
- A missionary friend who is a doula who will be training us in the Bradley Method of childbirth and coming with us for the birth


Nays -
- Maternity clothes in Brazil are hard to find! I searched all over the city for some maternity jeans (with the comfy waist that comes way up) with no luck. I am so glad to have a friend who is now coming down from the States and is bringing a pair I blindly ordered online. I hope they fit!
- Migraines! I've had quite a few very bad ones (so bad I can't even sleep) and I can't take the medicine that usually helps me.
- Acne....there are no words!
- Gaining weight - a necessity but not fun. By the end I will likely weigh more than Jeyson. I just can't get over that!
- Pregnancy advice in another culture that has included everything from - Don't wear jeans while pregnant to Don't scratch ANY part of your body while pregnant for fear of stretch marks (even an arm!) .

The other evening I was sorting through some hand-me-down baby clothes we got. Sam wasn't quite sure to make of it all. I'm not sure if he decided to lay in the box because he is afraid of being replaced or if he likes the idea of the little one on the way. At the very least it's a good confirmation that the clothes are soft!