Saturday, June 29, 2013

What a difference a year makes


This is our care group at our year end wrap up last year.

And this is the main group from this year. We've had a few other join us in the last two weeks.
Do you notice the one constant thing?
OUR FAMILY!
It seems as though God has called our family into a different kind of ministry.
We take care of missionaries and those who visit/serve for a year (or two).
If I had the pictures available, I would share a picture from the year before, which would have Dan, Amy and Fareedah in it.
We've been at this church for a few years now, and almost every year the members of our care group change.  This year we hope for some stability. We hope that those pictured would remain. We hope that those who have visited in the last two weeks would join. We hope that others out there would be a welcomed addition. And we hope that those who return (even for just a few weeks) would feel welcomed home.
But ultimately our goal is to never have potluck for two again!
(at least we know that won't happen, since our family has grown to four!)

We love all our groups (past and present). We are excited to see what God has in store for us this year. We will see you for dinner on Mondays in September (at least that's the goal!)
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Thursday, June 27, 2013

6 Months

Six very long months. The last six months with Micah have been a challenge. He is normally a lovely boy during the day, but the nights are another story. We've shared how Micah spent 2 1/2 months waking up every 45 minutes. He slowly got better, stretching his sleeping time to two hours. It felt wonderful compared to the 45 we were getting. But its hard to live off of 2 hours of sleep at a time. That is what newborns do, not one year olds! Remember back to when you have a newborn. You take care of the baby and that's about it. You don't cook meals, grocery shop, clean or have "regular life" if you don't have to. But here we are, with an active one year old, a two and half year old and still only sleeping 2 hours at a time. Its challenging.

But sometime last week, things changed. I especially noticed a change when Dan was drinking tea in the morning instead of his regular coffee. He noticed that I was getting up with him and the boys at seven, instead of burying myself in the covers until eight. What changed? We started to get three or four hour stretches of sleep. (Which, by the way, make you feel like a million bucks!). During the day, naps doubled in length to three hours. When Micah was awake, I caught a glimpse of the child I once knew. He was giggling and smiling and overall happy. He was snuggly, but no longer his clingy self. He was the child I remember having six months ago. I miss that happy child!

These last six months have been tough on that little boy. He's been teething, had numerous ear aches, belly troubles from meds, growing pains, stitches, and many, many colds. For the last six months, he hasn't been well.

I remember one day, Katrina was over and commented that Micah didn't have a runny nose. I barely noticed, since his nose was always runny. What I do remember is that he was happy and sleeping well. When Katrina and I were talking about Micah and his sleep habits, Katrina mentioned that he really is a good sleeper. He just hasn't felt well and has been in pain for months. It shocked me (because at the time we were getting up every 45 minutes). But as time goes on, it is the truth. He does sleep well (when he's not in pain). 

It makes me sad that we've missed out on Micah's giggles, smiles and independence. But I have enjoyed the snuggles. We hope and pray that Micah will continue to feel well and that his happy self with shine through. (Although last night was a bad night and low and behold, he woke up this morning with a fever. Boo.)

Two (semi-related) side notes:
1. The worst thing that people have said to me when I mention the sleep due to pain etc. is that their child just popped two teeth and they didn't even notice. Which sometimes makes me giggle with its their first two teeth...those first two barely registered with Micah. When he got the next six at once, we barely noticed. But try getting a molar and four eye teeth at once. Oh, and the molar came so fast that there is a purple blood blister in his gums.  Every child deals with pain differently.  Micah takes it hard. Okay, he just doesn't sleep. But he barely cries at all. He just doesn't sleep well when he's in pain. Every child has their own way of dealing with pain. Some cry, some don't sleep. Micah just doesn't sleep.

2. I have felt like a bad mother. I've yelled more than I like. I've been impatient. I've failed to teach my children things. I've let discipline go. I've just been too tired. Sometimes I see the kids misbehaving and I just don't have the energy to deal with it. It takes a lot to show kids the right way to behave. I remember a mom at the gym sympathizing with me and saying, "No wonder you're tired." She went on to encourage me. I don't remember what she said. I just remember that she didn't give me any sleep tips. She just sympathized with me. And that was what I needed. I know I'm not a bad mother. I'm just a better mother when I get sleep.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Nothing like moving


to bring out your inner hoarder. Its amazing how much junk you have swirling around in your cupboards. Yet, somehow, we use it all. (okay, except for two containers which were donated to the MCC).

The sad thing, is that this has happened in numerous areas of our house. And when we move into our new house, we will end up with two deep freezers, two BBQs, and two dishwashers.
HOARDERS!
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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Would you still LOVE me


...if I looked like this?
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Friday, June 21, 2013

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Times are a changin'

In a little under two weeks, we move into our new house.
In a little over two weeks, Dan starts a new job as a sprinkler fitter, working alongside our friend Gerhard.
In about two weeks, I may loose my mind.

Its a lot of change, all at once. Moving and starting a new job are both wonderful things. We are super excited that God has blessed us with a new home. We are humbled by a new job for Dan. We have been blessed.

But we are also a little stressed. Moving is hard work, especially with two little ones. Starting a new job can be stressful. We have to find health insurance, new tools, and work clothes for Dan. We've made numerous appointments (eye, dentist, chiro) in the next two weeks to cover us until we have new health coverage. Its a lot, all at once. I'm not complaining, I'm just a little overwhelmed.

If you think of us, pray for us. Pray that it will be a smooth transition for Dan. Pray that he will be able to handle a more physically demanding job and that he will be able to learn all the new skills he needs (especially on little sleep!)

Pray that Joel will adjust to these changes. He is a bit resistant to change. Even a dump truck facing the wrong way on his shelf causes him anxiety, so we can only imagine what moving to a new room/house will be like for him. And then not having Dan around in the mornings as well, will be another adjustment for him.

Pray that I won't get too overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done in the next two weeks. Also, pray for us as we transition to a new neighbourhood. We have made a lot of friends here, and it will be hard to move away from this street and this house (after all, both my boys were born in this apartment!) I'm getting a bit emotional about that.

Pray that Micah will transition to his own room. Pray that he will sleep well and for long periods of time and that we will continue to see his happy self more and more.

Pray for us in these next two-three weeks. And praise the Lord for his bountiful provisions!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

My life at this moment


Snuggly boys!
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Monday, June 17, 2013

When Creativity meets Danger


...we get sausages!
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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Beach Days


Last weekend we went to the beach (twice!)

It was a nice time of relaxation before we hit the last two weeks of craziness before the big move.

Joel got stuck in the muck! Dan and I were watching Joel from a distance to see what he would do. We heard him cry out, "Mommy, I'm stuck. Please help me!" Super sweet little boy!

Joel loves his digger.

Dan decided to dig to hole. Said something about not knowing anyone in China, so he switched directions and headed towards the Philippines.

Micah was helping Dan but said he preferred Korea, since its a bit closer.

But they hit some mud and gave up.
 

Plus, they were a bit crabby and wanted coffee instead.

Or maybe just ice cream.
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Saturday, June 15, 2013

Finally


After six LONG years of sitting on the ugly thrift store/dead Grandma couches, we finally saved enough money to purchase NEW couches!!!!

We have sacrificed date nights, dinners out and fancy vacations to save a few pennies for our purchase. We have saved birthday money for YEARS for this moment.
My mom gave us the incentive to actually purchase them.
(She said, "You ain't moving that ugly brown couch with no support into your new home. If I have to babysit, I want something nice to sit on!"....or something like that, eh mom!?)
Whatever she said, we are glad that she did.
We are super happy with our new couches. Now, if only we weren't so busy packing to actually sit on them....
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