So I've had my first real taste of mommy-hood in overseas missions. It's hard work man! The flight wasn't too horrible, Eli did sleep a lot, but it could have gone better. There were moments when Will and I just looked at each other and said - we're those parents right now with the annoying crying kid. Thankfully there were few of those moments. We eventually made it to Thailand - praise the Lord! This is our 4th day here - Eli is finally adjusting to the time - one major nice difference is that he naps for 3 hours plus making up for lost sleep!!! That's nice. Down side - wakes up every night at 2:30 in the morning for about 45 minutes before going back to sleep. He needs a snack then! Kinda funny wierd.
Other than that - things are going well. It's nice having the team with us - Eli loves them and has warmed up to them a lot so there are more hands to watch and hold him. I'm at the point of not being able to hold him for more that 5 minutes without being exhausted, so extra help helps a lot! He is a little trooper though! He is getting friendlier with the locals. Will wants to make a shirt for him that says "I'm a big deal in Thailand." EVERYONE loves him here. They are always waving, touching, kissing (ones we know), and trying to hold him here. They just have this thing for white kids I think. He is pretty darn cute I must say :)
Being pregnant is having it's advantages too. Well, first, you have to throw out any idea of personal space and privacy. Anyone and almost everyone will come up to you and touch your belly. They all want to know how far along I am - if it's boy or girl, etc. When they find out it's another boy - they tell Will he is a strong man for having 2 boys! Funny. Once you get past all that - I have lots of perks. I get the front seat - free chairs at the beach - and best of all, the lady next door where we eat our meals made me a pineapple smoothly tonight! She brought it over for me and Eli - but since Eli is sleeping - she said it was for me and the baby. Delicious!
Anyway - Thailand has been an adventure so far. I would love to come back to this country and visit some other areas. Where we are is very touristy and sad - lost of bars and prostitution - sex tours etc. It's hard to see it up front and in your face at every hour of the day. But it's reality here and they all definitely need Jesus.
Anyway -just a keep post - I should get to bed soon and I need to return the smoothly cup to the neighbor!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
23 Weeks
Eli is having a great nap today! It's been 2 hours already, so I only have about 2 minutes to post! I just wanted to post a prego pic. this is me a 23 weeks. Before this is over, I''m going to be HUGE!
Things are moving right along. The baby is healthy and growing and I am doing great! We can feel him from the outside now, and if he's really acitve you can watch my belly bounce a bit! It's super fun.
Eli is not quite sure yet what is going on. He loves my belly though. He loves to look at it, and his favorite thing is to pull my shirt up a bit and lay his head on my belly. We tell him he is giving his brother hugs. :) Sometimes he will kiss it and say hi, but he doesn't really understand yet! When we get back from Asia I'm going to get him a little boy baby. (Can't say doll, Will protests enough as it is.) But I want him to understand the concept of a baby and get the basics of how to act towards him!
Ok, better go before he wakes up!
Things are moving right along. The baby is healthy and growing and I am doing great! We can feel him from the outside now, and if he's really acitve you can watch my belly bounce a bit! It's super fun.
Eli is not quite sure yet what is going on. He loves my belly though. He loves to look at it, and his favorite thing is to pull my shirt up a bit and lay his head on my belly. We tell him he is giving his brother hugs. :) Sometimes he will kiss it and say hi, but he doesn't really understand yet! When we get back from Asia I'm going to get him a little boy baby. (Can't say doll, Will protests enough as it is.) But I want him to understand the concept of a baby and get the basics of how to act towards him!
Ok, better go before he wakes up!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Verdict is in!
Drumroll please.....
I was right - it's a boy!
We couldn't be happier to welcome another little man into the family. Eli needs a little boy to play with and I think it will be so fun to watch the brothers grow together! It's nice too that we pretty much have everything we need already! Now I can just pick out some things that I really want and be set to go!
So without further ado -
We'd like to introduce our newest family member - Little Liam
I was right - it's a boy!
We couldn't be happier to welcome another little man into the family. Eli needs a little boy to play with and I think it will be so fun to watch the brothers grow together! It's nice too that we pretty much have everything we need already! Now I can just pick out some things that I really want and be set to go!
So without further ado -
We'd like to introduce our newest family member - Little Liam
Friday, March 21, 2008
Boy or Girl?
Before I got pregnant I felt that we would have another boy before we had a girl. I thought, that would be fun, 2 boys to play together and it will be easy since we have all the boy stuff and know how to care for baby boys. Then I got pregnant.
I still had the thought in the back of my mind that it would be a boy, but I really started wanting it to be a girl! I figure I would like at least one boy and one girl, and right now we think we want maybe 4 kids, so if I could just have a girl now, it would relieve all pressure and suspense to have a girl the next time. Anyway, I started getting excited about having a girl, thinking how fun that would be. But every time I thought of the baby, I kept calling it he in my mind, so I think I subconsciously thought it would be a boy. And Will and I can't agree on a girl's name, so that is a sign it's a boy too (not really, but that's what happened with Eli too).
Then my sister called and told me she is having a girl. So I thought, well, there go my chances of having a girl, the girls taken for the family! It's a boy for sure. So I have been telling people I think it's a boy. But now, ever since that has happened, I keep calling the baby she in my mind and thinking it's a little miss kicking me inside!
So I don't think I have any idea what this baby is!!! My mind is very mixed up and confused. I'm still rooting for a girl, but I would love having another boy - Eli is so much fun...
Guess we'll have to wait until Monday to find out!!! Hopefully the baby cooperates and shows off a bit! I'll keep you posted!
I still had the thought in the back of my mind that it would be a boy, but I really started wanting it to be a girl! I figure I would like at least one boy and one girl, and right now we think we want maybe 4 kids, so if I could just have a girl now, it would relieve all pressure and suspense to have a girl the next time. Anyway, I started getting excited about having a girl, thinking how fun that would be. But every time I thought of the baby, I kept calling it he in my mind, so I think I subconsciously thought it would be a boy. And Will and I can't agree on a girl's name, so that is a sign it's a boy too (not really, but that's what happened with Eli too).
Then my sister called and told me she is having a girl. So I thought, well, there go my chances of having a girl, the girls taken for the family! It's a boy for sure. So I have been telling people I think it's a boy. But now, ever since that has happened, I keep calling the baby she in my mind and thinking it's a little miss kicking me inside!
So I don't think I have any idea what this baby is!!! My mind is very mixed up and confused. I'm still rooting for a girl, but I would love having another boy - Eli is so much fun...
Guess we'll have to wait until Monday to find out!!! Hopefully the baby cooperates and shows off a bit! I'll keep you posted!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
4 months pregnant
I love being pregnant. I really do. I love feeling the baby move inside. I love thinking about how it's so weird that I have something growing inside my body that isn't actually part of my body. It's really weird. I love having my belly grow and having people know I'm expecting. And at 4 months, I even love maternity clothes. It's like getting a whole new wardrobe, and who doesn't like that! By 9 months I won't love them, I'll hate them, and I won't love my big belly - I'll be really sick of it. But 4 months is good, everything is good.
And I'm a lucky girl because I haven't had any sickness with both my pregnancies. I felt a bit nauseous in the beginning, but now, nothing. I think I get some pretty bad headaches, but I can take Tylenol, so it's not that bad. I know I am very blessed with such easy pregnancies.
At 4 months though you start feeling pregnant. I can feel the little flutter movements which is so amazing, but I also feel my hip ligaments stretching and my stomach muscles stretching already too. At the end of the day my body is sore already! I can't wait to get into my pj pants (even out of the stretchy maternity ones) so that my belly has room to breath! My lower abdomen muscles feel like they are getting a tough workout carrying around my baby bump all day - and I'm not even that big yet! Just fun signs of what is yet to come. I am so excited though. Even with all the aches my body is telling me about, with more of that also come bigger baby movements (which it's moving right now!) - pretty soon people will be able to feel it from the outside. And even farther along we'll be able to watch as it somersaults in my tummy - that's pretty trippy watching an elbow slide across your stomach. And in 2 long weeks we will hopefully get to find out what the gender is! It seems like forever but I know it will go so fast. I'm so impatient to know who is joining our family!
So, I'm doing good. Excited and physically exhausted, but really good. One of these days I'll have to start taking belly pictures like I did with Eli. Looking back on them I don't feel they are that flattering, but it's fun to have a record of these special times in life.
I need to go put on my pj's now... :)
And I'm a lucky girl because I haven't had any sickness with both my pregnancies. I felt a bit nauseous in the beginning, but now, nothing. I think I get some pretty bad headaches, but I can take Tylenol, so it's not that bad. I know I am very blessed with such easy pregnancies.
At 4 months though you start feeling pregnant. I can feel the little flutter movements which is so amazing, but I also feel my hip ligaments stretching and my stomach muscles stretching already too. At the end of the day my body is sore already! I can't wait to get into my pj pants (even out of the stretchy maternity ones) so that my belly has room to breath! My lower abdomen muscles feel like they are getting a tough workout carrying around my baby bump all day - and I'm not even that big yet! Just fun signs of what is yet to come. I am so excited though. Even with all the aches my body is telling me about, with more of that also come bigger baby movements (which it's moving right now!) - pretty soon people will be able to feel it from the outside. And even farther along we'll be able to watch as it somersaults in my tummy - that's pretty trippy watching an elbow slide across your stomach. And in 2 long weeks we will hopefully get to find out what the gender is! It seems like forever but I know it will go so fast. I'm so impatient to know who is joining our family!
So, I'm doing good. Excited and physically exhausted, but really good. One of these days I'll have to start taking belly pictures like I did with Eli. Looking back on them I don't feel they are that flattering, but it's fun to have a record of these special times in life.
I need to go put on my pj's now... :)
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Motherhood
Is beautiful. It's one of the most fulfilling things in life. It's a joy to watch Eli grow everyday, to learn new things and explore his growing world. It's super fun. It's also the most trying and exhausting things to live. Today I feel worn out. I think the pregnancy is hitting me - I'm tired and I don't have super lots of energy, but my son does! :) He goes and goes and goes. Today he learned how to listen to ear phones with the Ipod. It was super cute. He would hold one up to his ear and then start bopping to the music - He loves music. He loves to dance, he loves to play the drums and strum the guitar. I think music is in his veins. So that was fun. Then we had to walk home - 1 block - to our house for his nap. He is a great walker. He loves to walk home and to the DTS house and he runs and it's fun, but now he's starting to notice dirt. And rocks. So every time we pass rocks (which is a lot because every house on the street has a rock lawn) he wants to pick them up and thrown them and sit down and play in them.
When I can finally get him past the rocks, there is a dirt road we walk on. He likes to play in the dirt too. So every 2 feet he sits down, runs his hands though the dirt, and then takes handfuls and throws it getting half of it in his hair... this is frustrating for a mom trying to walk her child home for a much needed nap with her hands full of bags and journals. He also learned today that if he just starts to sit while we are walking and holding hands - I can't drag him - this happened every 2 feet. Finally I had to wrestle him into my arms - a very heavy guy, and wiggly- to carry him home for his nap. The joys of motherhood! :) I'm kinda dreading the end of this pregnancy when I'm not allowed to pick him up anymore - I have no idea what I will do then! Just remind me to take it one day at a time! It is the best thing in the world to have children, and the fun and joys far outway the small daily trials and tiredness, but it's healthy to vent, so here's me venting a little.
When I can finally get him past the rocks, there is a dirt road we walk on. He likes to play in the dirt too. So every 2 feet he sits down, runs his hands though the dirt, and then takes handfuls and throws it getting half of it in his hair... this is frustrating for a mom trying to walk her child home for a much needed nap with her hands full of bags and journals. He also learned today that if he just starts to sit while we are walking and holding hands - I can't drag him - this happened every 2 feet. Finally I had to wrestle him into my arms - a very heavy guy, and wiggly- to carry him home for his nap. The joys of motherhood! :) I'm kinda dreading the end of this pregnancy when I'm not allowed to pick him up anymore - I have no idea what I will do then! Just remind me to take it one day at a time! It is the best thing in the world to have children, and the fun and joys far outway the small daily trials and tiredness, but it's healthy to vent, so here's me venting a little.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Facing Dragons
Yesterday at church my pastor talked about stepping out of your comfort zone and really pursuing radical life for Christ. Truthfully, I was really convicted.
The majority of the world was 'discovered' in a 30 year time frame. Starting in 1492 when Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue - North America, India, Madagascar, the Philipeans, and more where all discovered. Why is it that nothing happened for hundreds of years and then all of a sudden the world became bigger? P. Tom was saying that he thinks it's because Europe was trapped in a bubble of fear. They were very comfortable in their own world with what they knew and didn't want to know about the great unknown. On maps from way back then, when map makers didn't know what was beyond the boarders of their maps, they would write things like, "Beware, dragons lurk here." Or "Giants Be Here" and "Fire Scorpians Be Here". In the oceans they would draw big sea serpents because they didn't know what was there.
A lady came up and shared her testimony about what the Lord has been doing in her life. She is probably in her mid 30's and she has two kids - 8 and 9. She is a nurse and has really solid boundries that help her in living her life and in her work life too. It's good. A couple months ago the Lord told her that some of her boundries were getting in the way of Him doing what He wanted to in her life. She had these ideals of being a mom and needing to be safe and be there for her kids and not take any risks. God wanted her to take some risks. So he had her go to Mexico - an "unsafe" area. So she obeyed. It was the most amazing experince of her life. She said they saw 30 people come to the Lord in one night and she was on the streets in Mexico witnessing and sharing Jesus with people - not very safe! :)
At this part of her story - I was smiling. I understand people's fear of traveling and ministering in the unknown countries - for me, that's not scary though. That's exciting. So I was really happy for her that she stepped out in this area and experienced God's passion for the nations and the lost.
She then went on to say that she has been walking through this with her kids. They pray that God will bring people into their lives that need to know Him that they can talk to. So it's been happening! They will be out in town and pray and God will bring people in their paths that He wants them to talk to! And the kids are the best - they are the most bold, knowing that God is speaking about this person and that they need to talk to them Now. The mom is like me- you walk by and know God wants you to speak to someone, but you think, well, if they are there when we walk past again, I will talk to them then.
This is where the uncomfortableness set in yesterday. She also said that everytime they pray, she prays that the Lord will give her the time to talk to people. As adults we get wrapped up in time - we have to be here at a certain time or leave at a certain time, kids don't really have that worry or idea yet.
Ok - so I am a full time missionary. I have all the time in the world to tell people about Jesus - it's my 'job'. And yet this mom with her job and 2 kids has talked to 6 people in the last week and I, with my missionary life and my baby, haven't talked to one in probably 3 weeks! Ouch.
This is the area beyond my boarders. For some reason, talking to people here is my fear, it's the dragon I face everyday. P.Tom was talking about how God calls us to live beyond our boarders - to take risks for Him and do His work. To go beyond just walking in our giftings, but to walk by faith. We all have areas beyond the boarders of what we are comfortable doing. I think God is calling us to look at those things and step into those areas in faith. 2008 can be an amazing year with Jesus if we are willing to step into the unknown and take some risks. I pray that in January of 2009 I can look back on this year and be amazed by what I allowed God to do in my life - that I won't look back and think that it was a spiritually boring time.
Sir John Franklin discovered the St. Lawrence River and mapped most of the Northwest Territories in Canada. On the map he was re-creating, there were areas that said "Here be Giants, here be Dragons, here be Scorpians." As Sir John went into these unknown parts - he crossed off everyone of those statement and simply wrote "Here be God".
May that be the truth in my life. May I step out of my comfort zones and apathy and face down the dragons in my life that I may simply say - Here be God.
The majority of the world was 'discovered' in a 30 year time frame. Starting in 1492 when Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue - North America, India, Madagascar, the Philipeans, and more where all discovered. Why is it that nothing happened for hundreds of years and then all of a sudden the world became bigger? P. Tom was saying that he thinks it's because Europe was trapped in a bubble of fear. They were very comfortable in their own world with what they knew and didn't want to know about the great unknown. On maps from way back then, when map makers didn't know what was beyond the boarders of their maps, they would write things like, "Beware, dragons lurk here." Or "Giants Be Here" and "Fire Scorpians Be Here". In the oceans they would draw big sea serpents because they didn't know what was there.
A lady came up and shared her testimony about what the Lord has been doing in her life. She is probably in her mid 30's and she has two kids - 8 and 9. She is a nurse and has really solid boundries that help her in living her life and in her work life too. It's good. A couple months ago the Lord told her that some of her boundries were getting in the way of Him doing what He wanted to in her life. She had these ideals of being a mom and needing to be safe and be there for her kids and not take any risks. God wanted her to take some risks. So he had her go to Mexico - an "unsafe" area. So she obeyed. It was the most amazing experince of her life. She said they saw 30 people come to the Lord in one night and she was on the streets in Mexico witnessing and sharing Jesus with people - not very safe! :)
At this part of her story - I was smiling. I understand people's fear of traveling and ministering in the unknown countries - for me, that's not scary though. That's exciting. So I was really happy for her that she stepped out in this area and experienced God's passion for the nations and the lost.
She then went on to say that she has been walking through this with her kids. They pray that God will bring people into their lives that need to know Him that they can talk to. So it's been happening! They will be out in town and pray and God will bring people in their paths that He wants them to talk to! And the kids are the best - they are the most bold, knowing that God is speaking about this person and that they need to talk to them Now. The mom is like me- you walk by and know God wants you to speak to someone, but you think, well, if they are there when we walk past again, I will talk to them then.
This is where the uncomfortableness set in yesterday. She also said that everytime they pray, she prays that the Lord will give her the time to talk to people. As adults we get wrapped up in time - we have to be here at a certain time or leave at a certain time, kids don't really have that worry or idea yet.
Ok - so I am a full time missionary. I have all the time in the world to tell people about Jesus - it's my 'job'. And yet this mom with her job and 2 kids has talked to 6 people in the last week and I, with my missionary life and my baby, haven't talked to one in probably 3 weeks! Ouch.
This is the area beyond my boarders. For some reason, talking to people here is my fear, it's the dragon I face everyday. P.Tom was talking about how God calls us to live beyond our boarders - to take risks for Him and do His work. To go beyond just walking in our giftings, but to walk by faith. We all have areas beyond the boarders of what we are comfortable doing. I think God is calling us to look at those things and step into those areas in faith. 2008 can be an amazing year with Jesus if we are willing to step into the unknown and take some risks. I pray that in January of 2009 I can look back on this year and be amazed by what I allowed God to do in my life - that I won't look back and think that it was a spiritually boring time.
Sir John Franklin discovered the St. Lawrence River and mapped most of the Northwest Territories in Canada. On the map he was re-creating, there were areas that said "Here be Giants, here be Dragons, here be Scorpians." As Sir John went into these unknown parts - he crossed off everyone of those statement and simply wrote "Here be God".
May that be the truth in my life. May I step out of my comfort zones and apathy and face down the dragons in my life that I may simply say - Here be God.
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