The Email Announcement
sent with love by Daddy on July 4, 2003
Family and Friends,
I am very proud to announce the birth of Kaili Grace, another beautiful addition to the Kwong Dynasty. Personally, as with Kiana, I am stunned aat how beautiful she is.
Here are her stats:
Name: Kaili Grace Kwong
Birth Date: July 3rd, 2003
Time of Birth: ~10:30 am
Weight: 7 lbs 3 oz
Height: 19 inches
Place: Washington Hospital, CA
...On the evening of July 2nd, Ryan and Kiana went to stay at Annie's Aunt's and Mom's for a sleep over. The morning of July 3rd, Annie and I checked into Washington Hospital where the staff got everything prep for Annie's 3rd C-Section. We were greeted by Dr. Kurkjian, who has been immensely helpful over the course of Kiana's and Kaili's deliveries. After a short while, the Doctor raised up our girl to me exclaiming, "Another beautiful baby girl!" The nurses cleaned the baby under the heating lamp and I cut the cord while the staff finished with the procedure. Kaili, then Annie went to the recovery room. No complications, both Annie and baby are doing great...in fact, I would say that Annie is doing much better this time.
First Impression: Annie's prediction came true, Kaili, looks like me but my first thought was look at how tiny she is. Maybe it is due to the fact that Ryan and Kiana were 8 lbs and were much larger at birth. I too thought that she had a couple of features that resemble me, mostly the eyes, but the one definitive trait of all of our kids, is that they all have Annie's nose.
Annie: I love her. Relentlessly, she pays little thought for her own needs in an effort to provide for the betterment of our family. Whether the task is teaching, rewarding, discipline, food provider, baby-putter-to-sleeper, or just daily Mom juggling, it is a 24-hour a day job...much more complicated than mine. I would have never foreseen how great of a mom Annie would be when we first met but I can proudly say that I can't imagine going through life without her as a partner or best friend. Annie is also primarily responsible for the development of all of the kids, and so far I believe has done a terrific job with their development.
Ryan: He is going on 3, on July 24th, so he understands that "Kaili is in Mommy's tummy." Upon coming to the hospital, he wanted to hold the baby and gave her a big hug. Both he and Kiana are best friends and I expect that he will continue to love his sisters as they grow.
Kiana: Will always be my little girl. She is so smart, funny and most of the reason why I am so excited about Kaili, as I can see how much joy Kiana brings to the world. Prior to Kiana, I was very unsure about how I would raise a girl but she has passed my expectations and in more ways than I imagined. I firmly believe that she will grow up to be a great Big Sister to Kaili.
Me: I like the fact that at 31, I get what is important and would not ask for any changes. Kaili has come into this world a beautiful princess….and she will allow me to continue to laugh harder, love more and care more. I am not sure what it is about pre-C-section waiting rooms but I was able to think about how excited I was to see what she looked like, to experience how she would behave….just to be able to match her entire foot up with my thumb. It was almost like a great dream that step-by-step came true with everything falling into place. My hopes and dreams for her are that she will grow up to become a happy, loving and fulfilled person. I love Kaili Grace will all of my heart.
Answering the big question:
The most frequent question I get is "wow, why 3?" or "you guys are brave to take on 3." In many ways, I agree that 3 will be difficult to juggle but I get so much joy from my family simply existing. For instance, I was driving with Kiana and Ryan in the back seat and Ryan started going "Ribbit, Ribb-it". Kiana then broke out into one longest and loudest case of the giggles. This went back and forth for about 5 minutes. I was so happy at that moment that I had to turn down the radio just to hear the connection that they were making. There are times in the day where I have to stop for a moment to enjoy the fact that I have a great wife, that my kids will tackle me upon coming home, I am always included in hide-and-go seek and hundreds of other indescribable instances that bring joy to my life. Therefore, I ask, "who would not want to add that kind of joy in their life?" I AM the luckiest person on the face of the earth as I fully realize how enriching Kaili is to the family (now we have 2 princesses in the Kwong Dynasty.)
Adding 3 does bring some inherent challenges though...Ryan, Kiana and Kaili, will all have different connections between themselves and with us, so we will have to extend our love and affection to growing a family. It really doesn't matter when you were born, the steady thing in life is that we all (Stan, Annie, Ryan, Kiana and Kaili), continue to unconditionally love each other through whatever life brings. There will be times where any of us 5 might think that something is unfair….as 3 or 5 are hard numbers to divide evenly, you are always left with that 0.3333….but the very simple message is that our sense of family is the one consistent thing that has no number and will always part of your life forever.
Last time, I mentioned that we will have to go to a Zone Defense but there are more of them now so someone will undoubtedly be open so we will likely need to go to problem solving on a global resolution or a "first come, first served basis". Both Annie and I are truly going to be pushed to become better, more effective parents. Relying on our Friends, Baby Board Friends, Family and others with advice, additional hands, moral support and all other means are continually appreciated and welcomed.
If you are in the area, Annie will likely be released sometime on Sunday (potentially Saturday evening) so if you are in the area, please feel free to drop by the hospital. We are on the second floor in 2N3 (2nd floor / Room 3 on the North side) and the Visiting hours are 11 am - 8 pm -or- please feel free to drop by the house. Kaili's website is: www.kaili-kwong.net.
Best wishes and Happy 4th of July,
Stan, Annie, Ryan, Kiana and Kaili
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