Investing in our family

Marvin finally was able to pick out his Christmas present, a TENT and a few supplies that we need to go camping. Now anyone who knows me knows I am not a camper, in fact when presented with this option I would decline every. single. time. However we have two little boys, and I have a husband who also adores the great outdoors. When I think about Calvin having the opportunity to tromp around in the mountains, getting excited over sleeping in a tent, it changes my attitude. So I'm actually excited to camp as a family. Here's to lots of family memories!

Marvin was so excited (although if you asked him, he say he did it for Calvin) he had to set it up in our living room, well only half way it's a pretty big tent with a neat set up. Two seperate sleeping rooms and a little space in the middle where you can stand up and put a few things. We hope to make our first family camping trip the end of this month.

Part Kangaroo

My parents bought this little jumper ("hepticopter" as Calvin calls it) for Micah after seeing how active he was and how much he enjoyed jumping on our laps. Oh my goodness does that boy love it.

Thanks mom and dad it's been such a blessing and he loves spinning and jumping, I'd say it was a great purchase.

The windy day

Marvin's mom brought Calvin the coolest kite when they visited us this fall. Unfortunately we hardly ever have any wind, which makes kite flying pretty difficult. We had a break from the rain the other day so I took the boys outside; once we stepped out on the playground I felt wind, so we rushed back upstairs to get the kite. I'm such a horrible kite flyer, but we had fun with it, and Micah had fun watching me run around like crazy person, as I'm sure most of our neighbors did too.

We also brought it with us on a trip we made last week and it was the perfect thing to get some wiggles out. It certainly helped make the 6 hour drive easier. Thanks Kathy.

Love at First Bite

While my parents were here Micah got his first taste of real food and he LOVED it. He was ready for food. By day two he had it figured out.

He continues to love food, but absolutely loves drinking water from a cup. He's splashed himself pretty good a few times due to his eagerness, which makes him laugh and leaves the biggest grin you can imagine on his face.

Easter 2011

It was so fun to have my parents here for Calvin's first Easter where he can really understand much. Rewind a few months and his favorite bible story was the empty tomb. He was glued to it. So this year I really wanted to do resurrection rolls with him. We had friends over for dinner and decided to just do it with them too. He was pretty impressed and loved seeing the empty tomb. I hope that will be a tradition we keep for a while.

Easter morning we had an early gathering with other foreigners in town. It was a great time and glad to celebrate together. I'm glad my parents could meet so many of our ex pat friends too.

The rest of Easter was pretty mellow, after we spent some time resting and my parents packed, Calvin hunted for eggs. Mom and Calvin had fun doing a few Easter crafts on Saturday, and they had a few practice egg hunts so he had some experience under his belt when it came time to the eggs that mattered. Calvin enjoyed all the goodies inside the eggs and oddly hasn't asked about them as much as I thought he would.



I made ham and kept everything very simple. The last think I wanted to do was to slave in the kitchen on their last day here. My parents brought us some jello so we could make my favorite jello ever, Rainbow jello. For some reason a holiday with my family is not complete unless you have some sort of jello involved. It was a good way to end their time with us.

Celebrating

Since spring appeared a few weeks ago, I receive flowers almost every day. Usually they look something like this:

And to be honest I love them and a baby food jar works perfectly for their vase. It's okay to be jealous.

Since we're on the topic of dandelions, this week we were on a walk and all of a sudden Calvin finally spotted a white dandelion, the kind you can blow, and with so much excitement and wide eyes said "I knew it! I knew they'd be here!" They've added so much excitement to our walks.

A while back I asked Marvin if he could put up a few more shelves on our balcony off of our kitchen. Since we weren't sure if our landlord would sell our apartment we held off on a few projects like these. But guess what this girl got for Mother's Day, the best gift ever, shelves. **This weirdness is not new when I was 10, I didn't request any toys for my birthday but a day bed.** 

To further show how weird I am Marvin also put up a new shower holder, now we can take showers like normal people and don't have to hold the sprayer. I am still pretty pumped about these two additions. Thanks for rocking my Mother's Day this year honey.

Apparently shelves and a new shower aren't enough presents; the boys outdid themselves this year and brought home the most beautiful Calla Lilies are, they are such a beautiful unique flowers.

Poop mountain.

We took my parents on a little excursion outside of town to the mountains. We stopped by the Blue Lakes, had some lunch then drove on up to some ruins of an old city.

It was cold so I stayed in the van with Micah while the rest of them hiked up to one of the old defense fortresses. 

There were lots of cows, and sheep. They even woke up the shepherd who was sleeping behind a rock. Marvin had a great chat with a slightly inebriated shepherd then they kept on going. 

Micah had great time playing in the van then it was time to feed him, so while I'm feeding himthere was a knock on the window and Marvin's shepherd friend is standing there. Talk about awkward, but he didn't care. I had a nice chat before he made his way further down the road where he stopped to rest again.

So we were telling our friends how we went to the mountains, and Calvin piped up and said. "Yeah we didn't go to the Snow Mountains; we went to the Poop Mountains." He's requested the next time we go we go to the Snow Mountains instead. Apparently he wasn't a fan of dodging poop the way up and down.

Mom and Dad in Nineveh

We were able to meet my parents in their stop over city and enjoyed some time touring. Both boys were troopers through our long hike all over the city.

 

Calvin was glued to my dad; the candy in his pocket helped to reinforce that connection.

Micah won their hearts instantly.

We enjoyed some yummy western food while we were there too. My parents traveled all the way around the world and the first place we take them to is McDonalds, classic. Thanks for humoring us.


We traveled back to Nineveh together. We're so glad we were able to travel with them. We tried out a new airport since tickets were almost half as much as it is to fly out of our city, and the plane was even a Boeing. It was a wonderful drive and a hassle free experience. Plus people were helpful and nice.


We ate a lot. They had to a taste of the local cuisine.


It was much different than their last trip, to the place where the boys were born. Grey pretty much sums up our city. They also got to experience our "beautiful" spring weather, grey, dreary and wet.


We showed them the places we frequently shop and eat.


Our neighbor's son got married.


They slaughtered a sheep outside our building.

They met some of our friends, saw where Marvin works and got to meet our language teacher.


We invited some friends over. They saw how much work it is to entertain, although thanks to my mom the dishes were done in record timing.


Were invited to a meal where they got to experience the big fat Greek wedding hospitality. Did I mention we ate a lot?


We went to the mountains.

They spent lots of hours playing cars with Calvin and game.


Micah spent a lot of time playing with Grandma and Grandpa too.


Decorated Eggs and made some cookies. Mom got to see Calvin's love for sprinkles.

Celebrated Easter.


Then had to say goodbye.


That never gets easier.


Thanks for coming mom and dad. We loved having you, Calvin's already talking about the next time you come to his house.

(Oh and dad our neighbor slaughtered another lamb this past weekend.)

Being a Mom and having a mom

Marvin left today for a weeklong trip out of the country. So I'm hanging solo with the boys this week. I'm really praying that it will be a good week, filled with wonderful memories. This morning I was praying for patience and asking Father to give me a willingness to set aside the dishes or cleaning and say yes to a few more requests this week. I've found myself recently saying no a whole lot more than I should and would love to work on it. When I look back on these precious years I don't want to remember having a clean house, but instead the hours playing legos, the countless candy land games, the wonder and discoveries found in the great outdoors. So I'm going to work on some balance because the other stuff is important and necessary but I want to be intentional to play with my kids too. This mom stuff is tough to figure out sometimes.



My parents came a few weeks ago and it was great having them here. I am a little jealous of all of you out there who regularly have these visits built into you lives. The little things were the BIGGEST blessings. Like how my mom did almost all my dishes, THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM, I really loved the break in dish department.



There's just something about having your mom close that is comforting. Mom you blessed me tremendously, thank you for loving the boys, playing games with them, holding a fussy baby, moping my floor, you truly gave me a break and one that was very timely.



I'm so grateful that my parents made the long trip to come visit us. It was a blissful 2 weeks. Since we live so far away from our family it makes us treasure our time with them when we are together.



So today I'd like to thank both our moms who decided to support us on this journey and to embrace how they can be a part of their grandchildren's lives rather than be sad and distant. I know it's not easy, and I know it's not a relationship you had envisioned when you became a grandmother. All the skype calls, the cards, the emails, the packages, the long flights to come and see us are so appreciated. We feel blessed to call you our moms.



Happy Mother's Day. We love you!

half

Wow, time has flown, but I love every piece of our 6 month Micah man.


Micah's settled into a good groove as far as naps, FINALLY!!! Unfortunately these must be done at home in a quiet apartment, easier said than done friends. But he occasionally surprises us and naps well in the Ergo or stroller, the trick is to keep him asleep long enough for a good nap.


He's sitting pretty well, and still topples occasionally. Mostly to the front, when he face plants as he is attempting to reach a toy a little bit beyond his reach.


He loves, loves, loves his crinkly books, chewing on the links, and sitting up.


He started chillin' in his high chair while I prepare dinner, or while we eat meals. The first time I set him in there I just couldn't believe he was old enough for it.


He's starting to get his belly off the ground more, and soon will be rocking on his hands and knees.


He's the splashing king, and loves it when he splashes himself in the face with water.


He adores his big brother. Calvin can really get him giggling by just dancing and singing. So sweet.


He however did not enjoy the Metro during rush hour, while we were visiting a big city. So thankful for our quiet little city.


He loves being held and walked around. He's still logging some Ergo hours each day while I get house work done.


He's my bouncing boy, he loves to bounce on my lap, maybe we should buy that Jonny jump up after all.


Almost every meal this past month where he's sitting in his high chair he watches intently while we ate.


Still revolts every time I clean out his nose, a daily task, and when it comes time to getting dressed.


And for the records he's 19#s and 27.25 inches long


Has the sweetest puppy dog eyes and such kissable cheeks, don't you agree?

Forgive me

 

Hello sweet blog of mine. How have you been? I've certainly missed you. I've had so many posts whirling around in my head, but never enough time to pound them out. Here's to some blogging catch up, I hope it won't be so long between posts next time.

Love,

Erica

Splish Splash

I didn't realize how fun it would be to watch these two interact.  It's been a fun to see how much they love each other already.

9 Days

My parents arrive in 9 days, wow 9 days, I am so excited, if I had more time to sit and think about this I would be even more excited, but exhaustion sometimes halts that.

this picture has nothing to do with this post, I just melt when I look at how Calvin wrote his own name.

Sometimes it seems really odd that we haven't seen my parents in nearly a year and a half. I forget how much Calvin has changed, how much our family has changed at the same time, them and us. I am so thankful for skype but it does not replace real hugs, it does not replace real kisses, and it does not replace being close enough to pop in for a visit on a regular basis.


If I'm honest it's easier to not think about these things.


When Marvin's parents came to visit in November it was wonderful, but at the same time made me sad to see what our boys are missing out on. It was such a contrast of emotions. If I am really honest, their visit made me miss my mom. When you have a baby there is just something about having your mom there to share it with, I don't quite know what it is. (Of course dad I miss you too.)


I am really looking forward to their visit for so many reasons.


I'm excited that they finally get to meet Micah. I can't wait until they can physically hold him, kiss those chubby cheeks, tickle his little toes, see that smile that melts my heart in person.


I'm excited for Calvin to play with grandma and grandpa and for them to hear his constant chatter.


I'm excited to show them where we live, how we live, what things excite us.


I'm excited for them to meet a few of our friends.


I'm excited for them to see why we love living here.


Just 9 more days, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one counting.

matching

One morning Calvin was busy coloring shortly after he woke up.  He was so proud of what he did, and came running in and said, "look mom same, same" and stuck out his belly.  He drew a picture of the stripes on his shirt.  I love his "I'm so proud of this, I'm am beaming"  smile.

Also check out his jammies.  I've given up matching his jammies in his drawer because since he chooses his own jammies at night, there is a 99% chance they will not match.  He's able to dress himself and he loves to make his nightly selection, which is a win-win for all of us despite his skill in matching.

Hiding

Love this boy and his off key singing.  So thankful he's enjoyed learning how to hide the word in his heart from an early age.

On the move

Micah loves to escape his play gym.  This day I caught him trying to get to his brother's scooter.  Don't miss the LOVE at the end of the video.  Big brother is sometimes a little too smothering with his affection.  I guess I'd rather have it this way than the other way around.

sooooo sleepy

We're experiencing something new with Calvin.  He's never been one of those kids who would fall asleep in strange places.  I guess technically he did do it once as a baby, but other than that it's new territory for us.  His nap free days are better for all of us most days, but some days, a nap is necessary.  When Mr. Grumpy Gills appears shortly after lunch I know it's a nap day, otherwise we'll never make it through the day without a million meltdowns. 

However sometimes he does this.

Or falls asleep mid puzzle

 Or while watching football, aka soccer, on a Saturday afternoon with daddy

I just love capturing the sweetness of a sleeping child. 

Here's one more I can't resist posting, this one is of him curled up with his favorite teddy bear in the morning.  It's a rare thing for him to sleep much later than me, I do savor those few minutes when they actually happen.  He has this strange radar, he knows when someone is awake and he'd hate to miss out on anything.



Moving on Up

@ Your 4 month birthday

 

• Weighed in at 16 lbs 6.4oz.
• And were 25.5 inches tall
• Are In love with your hands, and even like to share them with your mama.
• You figured out how to roll both ways the day before you turned 4 months.
• You learned a few new sounds, a fun little squeal and how to blow raspberries.
• You also love to pull things over your head, up to this point we were swaddling you with a blanket but that halted when you woke up screaming with the blanket over your face. So sleep was rough as you learned how to sleep soft taco style rather than burrito style. It was rough...but you learned.
• Your fingers are starting to work better and you're able to grab things you want.
• You also have quite the grip
• You still hate getting dressed
• You decided you like to splash in the bathtub and love trying catching your rubber ducky
• I wish you'd stay little forever my sweet little man.

@5 months

• Weighed in at 17 lbs. and 3.2 oz.
• Are 26 inches tall
• You're starting to sit up on your own, but still toppling over
• You're also starting to scoot, you now just need to figure out how to get that big belly off the ground
• You love your big brother, he is your source of entertainment, you LOVE it when he comes in the room.
• You're our little faucet, you drool constantly, we're convinced your teething
• You can roll quite well and escape your play gym almost every time we put you on it
• You love to sit, and have started sitting in your high chair
• You also love to pound on the table or high chair
• You've added baa baa to your babble
• You can even stick your tongue out, a trick your big brother taught you (he's pretty proud of that)
• Your love for your pacifier is dwindling as toys and your hands take precedent
• You're still waking up once at night to eat, sometimes twice, you like to eat
• Some days it's hard to tear myself away from playing with you to do housework or homework, as I know these days are flying by.
• You're loved more than you'll ever know.

Jesus Loves You

I just caught the end of Calvin singing to Micah the other day.  Micah just adores his big brother.  He immediately lights up when Calvin's in the same room.  Calvin does a great job at playing with Micah.  It's the sweetest thing in the world to listen to him play with his brother, I often hear him say "hey little buddy"  or "here you go" or "it's going to be okay, don't cry."  This just melts my heart.  He's a super helper and is great about getting things for his brother if I ask him. 
Calvin kindly shared all of his stuffed animals with Micah one day.  I guess we will need to work on how to share his toys.  Micah didn't seem to mind.

oh the things they say

This kid seriously cracks me up. He comes up with something hilarious daily. He woke up on Sunday and his first request was for "brefest" and his second request was if I could make him a shiny pirate hook. (Not something you usually hear first thing in the morning.) Later that afternoon I spent 30 minutes to not only make him a shiny hook, but he had a pirate hat and an eye patch to go along with it. The hat turned out a bit funny but he's in love with it so that's all that matters, it was well worth using some of my precious felt. He's been the happiest little pirate in the world the past few days.




*****

Marvin usually watches the sport channel here and we have a few different sports that are regulars on our channel than we had in America, like curling and biathlon but according to Calvin we also have:



Skiing down the hill

my personal favorite jumping in the water (diving)

and then there is skiing country



******

He also takes things quite literally. The other day he used the little boy’s room and he came out of the toilet room with his pants around his ankles and he was bouncing up and down shaking his little tush. When asked what he was doing he replied, "I'm shaking the hurt out, but it's not working."



******

Of all random things I've found here I stumbled upon plain marshmallows at a little kiosk behind our apartment, and of course they only had one package. So almost every day since we bought them, I've had this request for breakfast, lunch or dinner "Mom can we have hot chocolate with marshmallows for..... {Name your meal}. He's persistent but I love him.

Holding On

I was reminded of one of my favorite passages last week.  John 15.   It's been a favorite for so many reasons and this week it was an encouragement in a whole new way.

My computer time this week has been almost non existent, but I did sit down and check email one afternoon and Ann's post came through.  Her words were a gift and encouraged this tired mama's heart.
"Even out of comfort zones, every moment’s this gleaming gift, the Vine never letting us go."

The vine's not letting go, he will help me with the tremendous tasks that face me each day.  Recently it's been a struggle to get everything finished each day.  Most days I've gone to bed feeling like a failure, overwhelmed by the multitude of things on my plate and feeling as if I'm not doing any of them well.  I was reminded once again of how sweet our savior truly is.  I needed to be reminded that......

He will help me learn this language.
He will help me engage others about him.
He will help me love and care for my family.
He will help me with all the paperwork staring me down right now.

He's not letting go, and neither am I.

I'm clinging to him and praying that I will bear much fruit!

last week randomness

It snowed several times. I prefer snow over the mess that comes when it melts, so I'm hoping the colder temps stay a bit longer. Spring here is messy, and my least favorite season, thankfully it's a short season.

 

Our nanny cancelled again, this time it was her birthday (I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the "I'll never tell you no, thing." The rest of the week she couldn't work because there was too much sickness going around, I seriously was speechless.

 

We think we found a new nanny!

 

I made homemade pudding for the first time ever this weekend, it was so easy. Not sure why I haven't tried it until now.

 

Micah is doing better at napping this week, but I've made sure we've been home during his naps, being homebound has been tough. He still prefers to be nursed before naps, so we still have some work to do.

 

One family on our team left to go to the states for 6 months. It will be strange without them here. Calvin is already saying that he misses them; it may be a long 6 months for him.

 

I found butternut squash at a local supermarket. Squeal with delight!

 

I was able to hang out with a friend who I haven't seen in 3 ½ years. It was so much fun to reconnect with her.

 

We've had a few exciting things happen in our area recently, it's made us more aware of our surroundings. We're so thankful for our peaceful neighborhood.

 

The other day Marvin said, "Yeah it wasn't a big deal they only used grenade launchers." Oh my, has our world changed or what! We're definitely not in KS anymore.

 

It is just an AWESOME time (heavy sarcasm) to apply for a tourist visa to our city. Praying about how to best apply for my parents' visas which need to be done this week. (They already bought their tickets, so we're trying to figure out the best plan that would enable them to get a visa to come see us in April.)

 

I'm almost done ordering clothes for Calvin for next year. It really stresses me out ordering things I cannot pick up and see the sizing and check the quality. I've been thankful for ebay as I snagged a few great deals.

 

Marvin broke a bowl in half with a knife while cutting his ice cream, it was pretty awesome. (Our ice cream comes in plastic bags, thus the need to cut it.)

 

We've made the switch most days to no naps for Calvin, overall I'm enjoying having both kids in bed and asleep earlier (7:00 for Micah and Calvin generally falls asleep around 8:30). There is never enough time in the evenings to finish homework, and all the other things that must be done without kids around. Both boys rarely napped at the same time anyway so it wasn't that big of deal.

 

One of my best friends got married. I completely lost it after I talked to her on the phone a couple of weeks ago. I really wish I could have been there, but couldn't be happier for her.

 

I promise to post some pictures with my next post.

Mr. Calvin, in the living room, with a shoe horn

Nope it's not a new clue game.
I switched out Calvin's puzzles the other day and also a few toys and started to feel bad because he doesn't have very many to choose from, but that didn't last long. You see his FAVORITE toys aren't even toys. Here are a few of his favorites:


#1 Shoe horn- I brought this one back from IKEA in Turkey this summer because I was tired of hearing our metal one hit the floor. So glad I did as he plays with it every. single. day. So far the beloved shoe horn has been transformed into………
a hockey stick
a sword
a light saber
a ramp for cars
a gun
a hill for his lego men to go "sliding"
a bat
a hook
a "potting cope" ie spotting scope
a fishing pole


It's also great to reach things that go under the couch and chairs, among many other things.


#2 Hangers…..this one is slightly annoying because we really don't have any spare ones and the second I get some out of the closet to hang up clothes here comes a little boy ready to play with them.


You might be asking yourself, what can you do with a hanger? Well you can certainly hook it to anything and everything and drag it. They make great wings, or "Buzz wings" as Calvin likes to call them. They are also great swords and guns. (A little tangent, I never intended my child play guns, but guess what, he's a boy and they do that. Also he sees them a lot more in our part of the world.)


#3 String, rope, my resistance bands, or grrrrrrrr my sewing measuring tape
So many possibilities with this one, there's the obvious tying something up. (I am not sure why but all boys I've ever been around love that game.) A rope can also be used as a leash, a river to jump over, a measuring tape, something to rescue someone, a fishing pole, to practice repelling, etc.


I am very thankful for his creative imagination, and also thankful we don't have a billion toys to clutter our home. I seriously would go crazy.

when a superhero envades your living room

Enjoy!

Finally

We bought some frames for pictures in our living room a year ago at IKEA.  Since we have a small apartment we don't have a lot of place for storage and Calvin kept playing with them so we just hung them up empty.  We had high ambitions to get pictures printed for them, but never got around to it until two weekends ago.  It was super easy, not sure why it took us an entire year to do so.

(Please tell me we aren't the only ones who have this problem.)

Very Blue

Sunday, Calvin melted when I started my work out because he wanted me to skip a part of it, so I sent him to his room.  Then he woke up his brother with his crying, so Marvin was taking care of the littlest one while I worked out.  Since both parents were busy Squeezicks was in his room for a while, 30 minutes, a long while, the next thing I hear was "Mommy I painted my hands."

The rest was history.  I opened the door to find a little boy laying on his bed with his hands proped up on his chin with not only blue hands but blue circles of paint around his eyes, imagine a racoon.  So I told him to go wash his hands and face, but didn't specify the order....wrong move.

He washed his face first......with his blue painted hands.

He comes out of the bathroom with slightly blue hands but a completely blue face.  HILARIOUS.  Sorry no pictures he was a bit embarassed.

How horrible of me but I could not look at the child without bursting out laughing, so Marvin tackled the 20 minutes of face scrubbing.  Most of it came off, but he did look like he was rockin some blue eye makeup.

Never a dull moment when you have kids.

How did this happen?

It's amazing how quickly time flies, especially when you have a baby.  It's crazy how much Micah has changed, he just gets sweeter as time goes by though.  Here are a few videos of him I FINALLY uploaded.  Enjoy!

Getting Dressed for the first time..............minutes after birth


Snuggling in my arms.....................2 hours after birth



First pacifier..................2 weeks


Smiling.......7 weeks old


Baby Gym Love............ 11 weeks old


Talking.......just shy of 4 months



Rolling Over......Saturday one day shy of 4 months

One way to bug a house

My sister sent a Christmas gift for the boys and the post office called and said it arrived. So after lunch we used our legs (Calvin was disappointed we had to walk) to go pick it up. Unfortunately Calvin thought that Aunt Natalie would actually be with the package. After the lady gave us the package he asked where Aunt Natalie was, if she was back behind the door. Poor guy was crushed to learn she wasn't there. (I mean big crocodile tears of disappointment).


So we finally collected ourselves and made our 30 minute walk back home to open our package and see what goodies were inside. My parents filled it with other goodies too, Calvin loved his new shirt from Aunt Nat and we love Micah's K-State board book. We've enjoyed some yummy goodies like twizzlers and Reese pieces. But the smallest thing included caused the most drama, a little tiny little wiggling bug. You turn it on and it takes off. Calvin of course loves it.


That evening I went to the kitchen to start dinner and bake some strawberry bread. Calvin came in with his bug and I thought no biggie, surely it won't go in that little crack by the stove. You know where this is going.


So it went in that crack, Marvin wasn't home so I started prepping dinner and making bread.


5 minutes later Marvin's home and the bug is still going crazy behind the stove. We contemplated letting it run out of battery, but it was annoying, so he pulled out the stove.


Crazy bug takes off behind the cabinets; we hear it hitting the washing machine.


Marvin moves the washing machine out, crazy bug now moves under the sink cabinet.


We take everything out from under the sink and pull out the vacuum.

20 minutes later VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

40 minutes later we now have a clean kitchen, clean oven, and clean floor behind two appliances.


Thanks small bug for helping us get to those places we rarely clean.


Now you know why that small bug is in a safe place for the time being.

pilgrim's progress

Today my language teacher told me I say my "r's" like I have a hot potato in my mouth, which just made me laugh hysterically.....so much for progress.  Oh and our teacher is very encouraging like that ALL the time, I love her blunt comments, it makes it fun.

We had our language examined in January and we got the results back this week and we were where we thought we were, middle of the road, although Marvin did better than I did in two areas.  This was not so shocking to me, but because he underestimates his abilities he was pretty shocked by it.  It was good to see these results and see what we need to work on, and for me, ahem I need to pronounce words correctly so I don't sound like I have a hot potato in my mouth on top of a slew of other things.  But at the same time it puts things in perspective of how far we have to go.

Someday I will be able to open my mouth and sound intelligent and not like a blubbering idoit, until then I'll dream about that seemingly impossible dream.

One Cultural Norm I'll never Embrace

We finally got together with some good friends last week.  Of course they brought a present for Micah, who they knew was a boy.  They brought this...........

Lovely huh?  In fairness it was VERY sweet of them.

It's so strange to me that such a masculine culture would let their little boys wear something like this.  Needless this sweet gift will have to wait to be worn......until we have a little girl, then she will get to wear this little number.

Ninety Nine

So I graduated high school in 1999, and one of the guys in our class made up a rap song for our class which for some strange reason the administration let him sing (I guess that the verb you use to rap) during morning announcements one morning. It was super cheesy yet, none of us forgot it. EVERY time I hear the number 99, my mind goes back to the last week of school sitting in my English classroom and hearing, ninety nine, ninety nine, nine, nine, nine, nine ninety nine. Thanks 99 guy, sorry I have forgotten you name!


There's your random story of the day, now onto numbers 99-135
#99 Road Trips
#100 Coming before the throne with sweet friends
#101 BBQs in the snow
#102 Sledding
#103 A Bouncing boy ready for school each day
#104 WHOOO HOOOs heard as Calvin flies down the hill
#105 Biggest grins after a sledding run
#106 IKEA finds
#107 Pursuing new stores
#108 Spotting of the golden arches, closer to home
#109 Toaster
#110 A Washing machine
#111 A thoughtful husband
#112 Giggles that bring on hiccups
#113 A husband who can drive a large vehicle well
#114 A few meals left in the freezer
#115 Teachers who don't give up on you
#116 Walking distance to everything you need
#117 Encouragment from friends
#118 Corn tortilla chips
#119 Giant fluffy snowflakes, slowly falling from the sky
#120 Eagerness for learning
#121 Toothless grins
#122 Leisurely walks
#123 Clean house…even just for a few hours
#124 A break in dishwashing…thanks honey
#125 A little hand hanging on for dear life to my shirt during bath time
#126 Freshly washed babe
#127 Sunshine
#128 Clear view of the majestic mountains at our doorstep
#129 Laughing as a family
#130 Watching brothers play together
#131 Ex pat friends
#132 Reconnecting with local friends
#133 Giddiness from playing hide and seek
#134 Working Elevator
#135 Bread of Life

The Changes

It's crazy how quickly a place changes. We first stepped foot in Nineveh 5 years ago and oh my have things changed. Marvin and I had a good time reminiscing earlier about some fun memories with some dear people. Since our part of the world doesn't attract many visitors each team member or visitor makes for some sweet memories.

So for those of you who have lived here and have moved on, or those who have come to visit I would like to share a few things that you may or may not be SHOCKED by.


I have fond memories of trying to furnish our apartment when we first arrived, trudging through the slush and ice in the market, going back to the B's apartment to warm up our feet before we went back for another round……then hauling that all back to our apartment by public transportation. Today we have plenty of places to go indoors to find these things. It was such a different experience a year ago, filling a grocery cart, or two full of things we needed, then loading them into a van and driving back home with most of the necessities in a matter of hours. 5 years ago this would have been CRAZY talk.

And speaking of stores we have several large grocery stores, one of which is within walking distance to our apartment. I can't tell you how much of a blessingit is to have a place that sells some of the harder to find items  just right up the road.


We still use the market when we need a lot of random things, but it's tough to manage with two kids. They are revamping the market too. There is now a building for dishes, a building for clothing, a building for fruit and vegetables, and we no longer have a candy room but a candy building. The cheese/candy/ chicken building is also being updated. I'm telling you it's CRAZY.

We now have several buildings with escalators going BOTH ways. The "mall" is now a grocery store with a great toy store on the top floor. (Some things will never change:  the prices of clothing, toys, and everything is still outrageous.)

 

We have a real mall, with an ice skating rink inside, that's ALWAYS busy. This mall also has a sweet movie theatre, new bowling alley, a sushi restaurant, and a real western fast food restaurant (with a great play place for kids).

Marshrutkas are now 12 p instead of 6p and there's talk that's going up soon.  Prices of most things have doubled.

There are twice as many cars around, but they all still drive just as crazy. Since there has been an increase of people driving the city added about a billion speed bumps to slow them down.

With all these changes it makes me wonder what else will change in the next 5 years?????????????
It will be fun to see what crazy talk right now may be a reality in 5 years.

P.S. We miss our old teammates, and you always will be our teammates even though you don't live here anymore. We sure did have a lot of fun together didn't we?

I smile every time I see deodorant, or dolphin shower curtains, L.
Walk past the coke cans during the summer, J.
See a hand towel for sale, or little ladies selling baked goods, D.
And P your phrases are iconic and still make us laugh.

Well that's a long post, I better take P's advice and trail off, trail off, trail off………

3 Month Sugar Lump

Our little sugar lump is certainly getting bigger. At 3 months he was 24 ½ inches tall and 14 ½ lbs. He's a chunky little guy, but oh so sweet.

He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES his hands, he prefers them over toys.


He loves his big brother, tracks him around the room loves to smile at him, to which big Bro loves and has to report to me every time Micah is "piling" at him.


He's still our little cuddle bug, loves being in people's arms and loves the sling (which is how I wash dishes most days). At one point I thought we were getting close to being able to lay him in his crib awake to fall asleep but well that's just not happening right now. So I will savor my days rocking him to sleep while they are still here. I know they are numbered.


He's our little side roller, but hasn't quite made it over on his own yet. Usually he'll get distracted and find his hands and then life's peachy, who needs to roll over when you're munching on delicious hands.


At 3 months he's been waking up once around the middle of the night 3ish and PTL started going to bed earlier!!! No more night owl, which means I've been going to bed before 1:00 a.m., which makes for a much more rested and better mama.


He's the king of "aaaaaaaaaa gooooooooooooo's." Our conversations are so precious these days.


And most days I can't get enough of his sweet little kissable cheeks. I so wish you all could give him a big squeeze and kiss those soft delicious cheeks.


We love you little buddy.

 

The list continued……

So I've been really bad about blogging my 1,000 blessings, however I keep adding to it in my journal. So it's time to play catch up. I'll start out with #54-98, more to come later, promise.

#54 getting to hug our family
#55 first time in grandma's arms
#56 first time in grandpa's arms
#57 laughter of familiar voices around the table
#58 Having a dishwasher for a few weeks
#59 A dryer…sigh……..
#60 Grins that melt my heart
#61 Simultaneously sleeping boys
#62 Sling that makes house work possible
#63 Doxology being belted out while playing cars around the house
#65 Games being passed down from one generation to the next
#66 Eagerness of finding a "fug bug" first
#67 Comfort arms bring to a crying baby
#68 Spending holidays with dear friends
#69 walking the streets of Ephesus
#70 letter of invitation completed
#71 Delivery of a yellow envelope that brings us one day closer to returning home
#72 Confirmed seat on a flight home
#73 Sweet and helpful strangers while traveling
#74 Not exceeding baggage limits
#75 Being able to change Micah's diaper on my lap
#76 Sunsets above the clouds
#77 landing in the Motherland….
#78 landing again in the Motherland, only in the right city
#79 people pushing me to the front of the line
#80 strangers carrying my luggage
#81 being reunited with my family
#82 seeing good friends once again and them meeting Micah
#83 sleeping in my own bed
#84 cooking in my own kitchen
#85 a little clothing diversity
#86 being able to communicate
#87 preparing for Christmas
#88 sparkling lights in a dark room
#89 Pumpkin puree
#90 A happy little artist, paining the day away
#91 First little giggles
#92 Cubby little legs
#93 Decorating for Christmas with the help from 3 year old hands
#94 Excitement of Christmas
#95 Sleeping in Christmas morning
#96 Unexpected visitors Christmas Day
#97 Spreading Christmas cheer to our neighbors
#98 Enthusiasm for our Jesse tree reading each day