This Is The Birthday That Never Ends

We've been extremely busy this week with our company here, but it's been so much fun. They had a great experience and really enjoyed their time in Brasil I think. But, they feel no peace about this being the place for them. So, back to Louisiana they go, excited that God gave them direction and this experience, but wondering what in the world will come I'm sure (also excited about that part too though, just the process of watching that unfold for them). They are visiting an orphanage with a friend of ours now and then this afternoon we will be taking them to catch their plane. Pictures of our week to come. But for now...

I just loaded up some more pictures on the computer and thought I'd post, yes, more of Asa's birthday pictures. Here you go:


When I was putting the girls down for naps that afternoon, I was taking a couple of shots of Asa in Hadley's room. Hadley decided it'd be a good idea for me to take a picture of her sleeping...so she promptly gave the proper pose.












On our way to a birthday treat. We went out to eat at McDonald's for Asa's birthday...mmm, hot fudge sundaes here we come.








Daddy and the kids in the parking lot...chomping at the bits. Notice the birthday crown. Hadley got that in February for her birthday...it was actually her cake topper.













Nice shot, Joel. :) To his credit, he actually did get better shots where the top of my head was actually included, but the kids looked better in this one. So, Mama sacrifices yet again. ;)













Eating some grub at "Cows" (if you don't remember, that's what our kids call McDonald's for some reason).








Me and my girl.
















The fun 1 yr. old.


















A series of pictures of the kids loving on the birthday girl.


I love this facial expression. "Can we be done now, please?"

Time for more hugs.


Yep, we did it. We crossed the line. She's had enough hugs. :) Happy Birthday...again! :)

New Look

I've had a blog for a little over a year and a half now. I was starting to get a little bored with the way things looked, so...well, as you can see, I changed it. It's not exactly the way I would want it to look. That is partly due to the fact that Blogger doesn't give just the right options that I need them to (why didn't they ask me?) and partly because the options they do have...some of their pages were coming up with errors. So, if Blogger gets fixed, maybe you will see even more changes. But, for now this will do.

Lots going on around here. There was lots to do this week and also an overall lack of motivation to blog if I did have a free second. Of course, that was probably due to the fact that I really did need more than a second to actually post, so I just didn't post at all for the last few days. There's lots in my head to post about. I don't know about you bloggers that read this, but my thoughts tend to be in blog form these days. Not all of them, but some. So, at any given moment I could probably rattle on about something in the form of a post. But, I don't have time to do that at any given moment.

I'm completely rambling in this post, but this next week will have even more activity. As stated before, our friends get here from Louisiana tomorrow. They will be doing the candidacy at Asas Mon.-Thurs. and then leaving again on Fri. Anyhoo, I will post when I can.

And now for a few pictures that we took at a pool party/churrasco (Brazilian cookout/BBQ) that we went to a couple of weeks ago. After church one Sunday morning, we were invited to go to a friend's house. We were there all afternoon and had a great time.


Hadley's new favorite person. She is seriously in love with Neto. She doesn't mention him when he's not around, but when he is around, she likes to hang out with him. Fortunately, he loves kids and he and his wife don't have any of their own yet. I said something about how Hadley is love with him to his wife and she promptly said "and he is with her too." So, I guess the feeling is mutual. :)
Grady enjoying the pool.











Our friend, Kleyton, and his daughter, Analis (16 months). She is so pretty and has such tiny features...she looks like a little China doll.














Joel with his "sombrero."
















A view of the pool and house.











Grady enjoying some dessert.
















After a little swimming and a little food, the babies were done. That is our friend, Kristina, with her daughter Analis (16 months)...seen before with her Dad, Kleyton. And that's our friend, Carol, holding Asa.

Seasons

Since we are in the southern hemisphere, you know everything is opposite for us. We are now in spring. Therefore, we just had a time change last weekend...we sprang forward. We are now 3 hours ahead of central time/2 hours ahead of the east coast. Kind of weird to get adjusted to that way of thinking...that we are going into summer time here.

The weather is hot, but it's nothing compared to Louisiana. Sometimes I think these people would die in Louisiana. They're all worried about the gringa that's not accustomed to the weather and I'm like, please...this weather is great. :) But, it is hot. And, you do have to take into consideration that there are no air conditioners here. But, I could never sit in a house in Louisiana without air conditioning...people seriously die that way every year (the elderly and poor who have no fans or air conditioners). Here, we have no air conditioner, but I can even sit in my house and not even sweat.

Apparently this is the worst time...when the rains haven't yet started. It probably gets hotter than this, but almost every afternoon at that point (after rainy season has started) it rains and really cools things down. This is all hearsay. I'll let you know how it is after I've really experienced it myself.

I took this week off from Portuguese class. I'm doing some studying on my own and using some different sources that I have. One reason that I took off was because we have company coming for a week. They are a couple from Louisiana. I've mentioned them before...Thad and Wendy. Thad is the one who met Joel in Dallas and first got his wheels turning about whether or not MAF was really the right organization for us. Now he's ready to enter the mission field himself (along with his wife and their 4 kids) and they are coming to check out Asas de Socorro. Very exciting. They arrive Saturday morning. They leave Louisiana Friday, so just keep them in your prayers.

Another reason I took this week off is because our girls are a little puny. It's nothing major, but they have runny noses and are fighting fever. They are both a little off kilter, but again, nothing major. One thing they are doing though is sleeping late...that part I love. Even that I would give up though to have them well. :) So, pray for them too.

Alright, enough jabbering for today. Here's a picture, just for fun. This is in church one Sunday. They had just come back from their class, all decked out in their new paper hats and enjoying their sugar.

Amazing Swimming

So, I've always thought of swimming lessons as something that was for "city folk." I'm like, I never took swimming lessons and I can swim great. But, I also lived near a lake and had many family members who taught me how to swim. One of those uncles actually did teach swimming lessons at camps (or something similar...not really sure of the actual details). His daughter, my cousin, could swim like a fish by the age of 2 or something crazy like that.

Well, they actually do offer swimming lessons here. Our friends take their daughter, 16 months. Now, I don't know when we are going to be able to carve out time to go to swimming lessons, but I would love to try to squeeze that in. I would love for my kids to be able to swim, but even moreso be able to not drown if they found themselves in water unexpectedly.

You have probably all already seen this. I've been emailed this several times now, but I wanted to share it. It's pretty impressive.

Time to just sit down and blog is not that plentiful these days, but soon I will sit down and post more than just a video or link. :) Now, go be impressed...

http://www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html

Crazy In Car

Just found this yesterday. It was taken by Priscilla while she was still here...so, in August. The kids get a little nutso when they have to wait on us in the car. It's normal, but it's loud. :) Just another tiny glimpse at the kiddos.

Happy 1st Birthday, Asa!!

A year ago Asa Rose Ebersole was born (a home waterbirth...still so thankful for that), at 9:29am, weighing in at 9 lbs. 14 oz., and 22 1/2 inches long. For more on that incredible birth and the first few days, go here. Also, you can keep scrolling down to the post after this for the video that wouldn't work last night...enjoy.

And now, for a year of Asa in pictures. We love you, Asa!! You are a complete joy!

Asa's very first picture. She had just been born. What a cute little chunk!
Just minutes old.
A few hours old. So very tired from all that birthing.
1 month
2 months











3 months
















4 months











5 months
















6 months
















7 months
















8 months











9 months
















10 months
















11 months
















Today...1 year old!

Looking forward to all the wonderful years to come with you, Asa!

Asa's Party Video

This is the video that was taken at Asa's party the other night...the one that I couldn't get to work on the last post. Hopefully you can see it now. Again, you can really tell our friends got a kick out of Asa's reaction to her gift. And, the guy holding Asa is our friend, Guilherme. We plan to have more videos available here on YouTube soon so you can see things with your own eyes down here, even if it's not face-to-face.

3-2-1

That's what I will have as of tomorrow at 9:29am...a 3 yr. old, a 2 yr. old, and a 1 yr. old. :)

Yep, tomorrow is Asa's birthday. It's what everybody says, but "I can't believe she's already a year old." Actually, in some ways it really does seem like a lifetime ago that we were living in Kilgore (where Asa was born). So much has happened. That's what happens when you live this kind of lifestyle...time goes by just the same as it does for everybody else, but when it's so jam-packed full of moves and big life changes, there are so many things packed in there that it makes it seem like a longer time than the usual "time that flies" mentality. Kind of weird.

But, yeah...our baby is a year old already. And, she is SO MUCH FUN!! The other 2 kiddos are so much fun too, but Asa is definitely the "clown" of the kids so far.

She laughs all the time and just does really goofy things...with the motive of getting a laugh. It's really funny.

She has really started to play with the other kids in the past few weeks. She'll go and join them and they are so good with her...they really seem to be reaching same-level-play sometimes already. It's fun to watch.

She climbs everywhere.

She walks everywhere too of course (and runs).

She loves to play peek-a-boo, hiding behind the couches.

She loves to be chased.

She is very easygoing and laid back.

And, she's also pretty darn sensitive. When we tell her "no" or if something is too loud or abrupt for her liking, she's got an amazing bottom lip pooch and huge crocodile tears that come seemingly on demand.

She's super duper snuggly...I mean REALLY snuggly. Love it.

She's very, very sweet.

She gets very excited when she gets up from her naps to see everybody. We will be walking through the house to the rooms where the kids usually are and she's squealing with joy.

She waves, blows kisses, and says something that resembles "hey." She also says, "Mama" sometimes when she is really, really tired of waiting in her high chair for her food. :)

She's astoundingly cute I have to say, in all ways.

We sure do love our little Asa Rose!! Thank you God, for giving her to us a year ago tomorrow. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET LITTLE ASA ROSE!! WE LOVE YOU!

And now, here are some pictures. Some from just the past couple of months (her climbing shenanigans I told you about) and some from last night. Every Monday night we have a young married's get-together...praise & worship, teaching, food. Well, last night after the praise & worship and teaching they had a little surprise for all of us...a surprise party for Asa. It was so sweet and super special. God has really, really blessed us with some spectacular friends here. They had a great choc. cake, decorations all over (Hello Kitty), brigadeiros, other finger foods...it was so great. Thank you friends!! The video (**update: don't get excited...the video doesn't work; it works when I preview my post, but not when I actually post it...so sorry; we will try again another time) at the end is the first video I've ever put on here...we never take videos with our little camera, but did last night. Hope it works.

Love you, Asa!!


This was in early September. This was one of the first times she climbed up on something...and she hasn't stopped since. :)














This is when I was sick as a dog. I love how they kids are all on the couch with me though...so cute.
Grady's new "favor for me" sometimes...to feed Asa a banana. He's such a great big brother...he really takes care of her. One time she got a little aggressive and bit his finger, so he was a little leary for a while, but he's over it now. :)





Asa loves to play with her big brother and sister, joining them in whatever they are doing. They welcome her in happily too.














She gets mighty, mighty excited about any animal she sees.
And she loves babies...thank goodness, right?
Taking a bath in the laundry room sink.











The bathing beauty.
















Climbing some more. Yesterday while we were doing a little dish duty, she decided she wanted to join us. She had never climbed up on the kitchen chairs before this week and yesterday she really outdid herself. She has terrific balance and moves like she's about 3...she was moving around on the chairs and not even almost falling. I was pretty impressed.









I think she was pretty impressed with herself too. :)
The Hello Kitty decorations. So funny...when I was little I remember going to see Rebecca Domangue in Houma and she was into Hello Kitty. I had never heard of Hello Kitty, but lo and behold, here she is again. I thought it was funny when she came back and she's here in Brasil too...everywhere actually. Really fun.
Asa got a Strawberry Shortcake (another blast from the past, right?) ball, which she loved, as you will see in the below video (hope it works). You can tell that everybody was so happy she like it. :)

More On Adoption - Part 3

What can you do if, after you have laid it all before God, you indeed aren't supposed to adopt?

I told you about Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife, MaryBeth, having an organization that provides assistance financially to those who are willing and waiting to adopt. Go here and read about what an incredible impact someone can have...and an option for something you can do to help. This is not the only organization like this. There are many, thank goodness...much is being done, but there is much more to do.

Please pray about what your part is. Will you be one who brings a family-less child into your loving home? Will you provide donations so that others longing to do that can? In missions, it is not only the missionary who actually goes that is needed...there are many roles necessary to get that missionary where he/she needs to be: people who give financially, people who interceed, people who help in other ways other than financially (giving of their time and resources), etc. It would never happen if only the missionary did his/her part. You have to have every part working together. Same with a family, same with the church, same with the body of Christ. It's all the same.

And...same with adoption. Adoption has many facets and we can all play a part. Again, please pray about what your role is. When I was looking at some of the websites of the different organizations similar to the one that the Chapman's have, I ran across this vision on one organization's page. I loved it and it simply states:

Our simple vision is to promote adoption within the Christian community through inspiration, education, and provision. We want to see adoption become normal and common among God’s people, who have themselves been adopted by a Heavenly Father! The number of orphans world wide is astonishing, and, it is increasing by several thousand daily! CAFA is calling the Church into the “fields of the fatherless” to seriously care for orphans as we are commanded by God.

Amen!!

More On Adoption - Part 2

Fast forward to after college. I was working as a nurse in Longview, TX and went to the local Christian bookstore (New Life) to roam around one day. I picked up a book that was by a former missionary kid who had grown up and become a photographer. He had traveled around the world taking pictures...pictures of kids around the world, mostly street kids. To say that I was moved would be a terrible understatement.

I sat and bawled in that store. I'm not one that wears my heart on my sleeves or cries at the drop of a hat or whatever. But, if you even mention adoption I tear up. This book seemed to just really re-ignite my fire...that passion for adoption that had started in the 6th grade. I now wish I had bought the book...I have no idea why I didn't. But, that wasn't necessary I guess. It served its purpose as I held it right there sitting on the floor of the bookstore.

After me and Joel got married, he knew that I wanted to adopt. Orphans had always been a part of his life too. Joel's dad had actually run an orphanage while living in Brasil. The boys from the orphanage would spend time with them in their home on the weekends sometimes, just to get a glimpse of normal family life.

Since this passion for adoption was in me so strong, I had always wondered if I was, in fact, supposed to have biological children. Would I be one of those people who couldn't have children of their own? Was adoption going to be my "only option" and God had just prepared me over the years? I wondered if I should even try to have biological children...did God want me to only adopt?

I prayed and really got the go-ahead, I felt like, to at least try to have bio. children. After Joel and I started trying to have children of our own, I really wondered. We had tried for a couple of months and nothing had happened. I know that's not very long, but when you want a baby "right now" (actually I'd wanted a baby for a long time), it was enough time to be discouraging. Around that same time, somehow we were able to pick up the Dove awards on our TV (without cable) one night. We watched and then afterwards there were a couple of videos that came on. One was of Steven Curtis Chapman's video for his song, "When Love Takes You In," which I've posted below. It rocked my little world. I was bawling hysterically...Joel had no idea what was going on when he looked over and saw me shaking uncontrollably. :) Poor guy. It was good though...he really understood the depth of that adoption passion in me. And, once again, that passion was renewed and made even stronger in me.

I was then at peace with only adopting if that was what God had for me. I honestly have always hated that whole "adoption is the last resort" mentality. Of course, maybe that is just because I was made to adopt...that's what God has put in me. But, I do know that it is also very biblical for us to take care of the orphans. Somehow I don't think that means just visiting an orphanage once in a while or even only giving money. Not that everyone is supposed to adopt. But, I do feel that it should be on everyone's radar. Everyone should be available to God to be used in that area...even people who are able to have biological children. Yeah, I hate that whole "I might adopt if I can't have children of my own" mentality. Imagine the impact we could have if everyone was just open to God sparking a fire in them to adopt. Would there be a such thing as an orphan? Many also use the excuse of finances. Firstly, there are ways that aren't expensive. I know that in Arizona it is free if you adopt from the state...in fact, you even get monthly "allowances" for each child. Secondly, no matter what, if God calls you to do it, He will provide the finances for it. Financial inability is not a very good excuse. I could go on and on with my little soapbox (ha), but I will quit now and continue my story. :)

The same week I saw that video, I had a vision. This is the only true vision I've ever had that I can be sure of. I was in the shower and had been pondering that whole thing about adoption that week as I said, but I wasn't even thinking about it at that particular moment. Then, out of the blue, I saw in one instant a whole scenario. I won't explain what it was (maybe another time), but basically it let me know that I would indeed have my own biological children. He let me know that He wanted our family to be an example of what adoption can be...that you can still adopt even if you can/do have your own biological children too.

Again, I'm not saying that everyone is supposed to adopt. But, I do believe that everyone should truly be open to adoption...truly seek out God on it and see if He'd have them adopt and open the doors for that to happen. For some people it's truly not even a thought that enters their head unless they can't have biological children. But, the need is so great...

Anyway, a couple of months after the video and vision, I found out I was with child. That pregnancy ended in miscarriage when I was 8 weeks along...that's a whole 'nother story that maybe I'll talk about some other time (it's pretty amazing). We were back to square one. But, about 4 1/2 months after the miscarriage I found out that I was again pregnant. That began the 'kid every year' roll that we are on. :) As I've said before, the timing just hasn't opened up for us to personally adopt...not because we are busy having bio. children, but it just hasn't happened yet. But we are looking forward to it and are feeling that God is bringing that time along soon.

We are really so excited to see what unfolds for us. It will be interesting, that's for sure.

Steven Curtis Chapman's video is below. Check it out. He and his wife, who have 3 biological children, were not at all open to adoption, but God used several different things to open them up. The little Asian girl on the beach in the video is actually their adopted daughter from China. They have since adopted two other little girls from China. Their 3 bio. children are practically grown (one is a senior in college), so they basically started over with these 3 little girls. They even have a foundation that helps people adopt...provides help financially and otherwise. So awesome. It's exciting to see what is happening and the strides that are being made in the area of adoption around the world.

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

If you don't know this trick, to get the video to play without freezing up, just push pause until the red on the bar goes all the way over. Then you will be able to watch it uninterrupted.

More On Adoption - Part 1

I always wanted a big family. I don't just mean that I wanted one when I grew up. I mean that I wanted my parents to have a big family too. :) I wanted lots of brothers and sisters. Thankfully we lived in the same small town as all my aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents...so I did have a big family. We didn't just live in the same town...we did everything together. So, us and our cousins grew up kind of like brothers and sisters. It was great.

But, I still wanted a big family. I would call family meetings to try to convince Mama and Daddy to have more children. When I found out how the whole baby thing worked, my younger brother was still going back to my parents' room in the middle of the night to sleep the rest of the night out. I would get so mad at him, telling him, "if you need to sleep with somebody, you come sleep with me." I mean, he was ruining my chances of having more little brothers and sisters. :) SO funny.

Well, it just wasn't meant to be that there be more brothers and sisters...except for Tucker who was a definite surprise after I had "gotten over it." I was almost 18, a senior in high school; by brother, Jared, 14 and a freshman. When I was in the 6th grade though, we used to watch what was called "Wednesday's Child" every Wednesday night on the news before we went to church. "Wednesday's Child" featured a child (or more than one, usually siblings) that were in the area in need of adoption. Most of them had some kind of slight disability, but some didn't.

One Wednesday night there were 2 little girls on there...2 sisters. One was a year younger than me and her sister was a year younger than her. Their names were Briley and Shelicia. They were so cute and completely full of life. They mentioned that they just wanted a family that would take them to church. I was hooked.

I just knew that we were supposed to have those girls. I set about my duty (ha) to convince my parents that we were the family for them. Again, I would call family meetings. So funny. My parents would listen very respectfully, prayed about it, and even ended up calling about the girls after a while. Unfortunately for me (not for the girls) someone had already called about them and started the whole process. It was a couple who weren't able to have children of their own I believe. So, I was very happy for them all. Adoption was a part of my life after that though. I always knew after that that I wanted to adopt.

And the rest of the story is saved for tomorrow...

Friends and Future

The following is an excerpt from a letter we typed up lately to a man asking about what is going on down here. I realized as I typed it that I hadn't shared any of this with most of you, so thought I'd do so here. We've been here just a little under 4 months now. There is already a lot going on here and there is much more potential. We are so excited to continue to share how that plays out in the years to come.

We are very excited about serving with Asas de Socorro as well as our work here in Brazil that God has for us apart from Asas de Socorro. We just found a church that fits us like a glove. God has really knit us together with this church and we are excited to see what comes of it. We love the vision of the church, their hunger for God and growth, and their heart for the things God has for them to do. We are already really close to the young married people of the church and we feel just as they do when they said earlier this week, "We feel like we've known you our whole lives." (see pictures below)

We also still have a huge heart for adoption. Adoption is a needed thing everywhere, but moreso here it seems than in the states. It is also pretty common among God's people here, as it should be. We are supposed to care for the orphans after all, right? We've only been here for about 4 months, so doors haven't really opened up for us personally yet to adopt. But, it is all around us. For instance, an orphanage is located just about 2 streets over from where we live. Some of the Asas de Socorro people have real ties with this orphanage. Also, the Asas people have ties with some other people who are instrumental in helping indigenous babies be saved and adopted. For instance, the indians believe twins to have bad spirits, so twins are always killed. That is changing thankfully, largely to these people stepping in and bringing out babies in danger, who in turn are adopted. So, needless to say, we are very excited to see what God has for us in that arena.

Yes, so much potential, so much we can see that God might possibly do with us here. It's very exciting. Thanks for your continued prayers for us. We know that God will open doors in just the right timing for everything that He has planned for us.


Saturday night, we put the kids down and got a babysitter (Eliane came over actually) to just hang out here at the house while they slept. There was a youth meeting at the church. The young married couples, our friends, are the leaders. Afterwards we all went and had churrasco...kind of Brasil's version of BBQ, minus the sauce. They grill meat and even provolone cheese (my favorite part about it) on sticks...like shish-ka-bobs.








This is Neto. He is the worship leader at our church. Mariana, his wife, is holding her niece, Ana Laura.

Neto took this one. Pictured are: Mariana, a dentist (Neto is also a dentist), me (holding my cheese on a stick...mmmm!), Joel, Kleyton (a pediatric physical therapist) with his wife Kristina (also a physical therapist), Carol (a speech therapist; also Mariana's sister) with her husband Daniel (an architect; also Neto's brother...yep, the 2 brothers married 2 sisters...they also got married together, a shared wedding), Guilherme and his wife Mariane (who is 7 months pregnant with their first child, a boy)...they are holding Kleyton's and Kristina's little girl, Analis (14 months), and Bima (his nickname...don't remember his real name...he is in the Air Force) and his wife Ester with their 2 boys Lucas (4) and Rafael (2).
Asa also made a new friend. :)
















This is where we have church. Here we're just hanging out afterwards.

Adaptation

I've come to the conclusion that there are 3 stages in moving to another country. These were confirmed yesterday when talking to my portuguese teacher, who has known alot of "foreigners" and people who have done just that...moved to another country. She said the same thing.

The initial stage is the vacation stage. You basically just feel like you are on vacation. That lasted for about a month for me, mid-June when we got here to mid-July.

The second stage is one of reality setting in and in some cases shock and horror. I didn't really experience the shock and horror part I don't think. I had a few bad days, one REALLY bad day, but mostly it was just trying to figure out how...how to be me in this very different (in lots of aspects) place. That also lasted about a month (mid-July to mid-August).

The 3rd stage is one of adaptation. It's where you really kind of start to settle. You haven't figured out all the answers of course...only in time will that happen...the time of your whole life span. :) But, you start to settle into who you are in your new country. You start to see ways that you can adapt your way of life into the way of life in your new place. You learn of ways that you can still do things the way you did them before...well, the end result will be the same, but the process might be very different (recipes for instance...making substitutions for the things that just aren't found here). Thankfully I am very comfortably in the 3rd stage.

My portuguese teacher, Lea (pronounced like Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies), asked me yesterday if the language part or the food part was the hardest for me in making the transition. It was definitely the food part for me. I shared how I thought that was the case just because I think I'm pretty relational. A little thing like a language barrier isn't going to keep me from relating to people in some way. I have never once felt lonely here. But the food part...that's another story. Talk about down in the dumps. My teacher said that it's usually the other way around...it's usually the language part that is the hardest and then the food part for people. I really was beginning to wonder about myself...did I have a total obsession with food? :) It was reassuring to hear that that was completely normal...food is a huge factor in the overall transition. Funny, but makes sense...it is a huge part of our lives.

So, now that I'm in the 3rd and final stage I believe, we just live life. We are, it seems, settled. Of course we'll make another move next summer (oh man, will the moves ever stop). :) But, it won't be as much of a transition as this last one.

Just wanted to update you on "where we are." Things are going great and we are busy and having a great time. We are loving hanging out with our church friends...more on that later. And now I have to go make myself a smoothie. :) Until next time...

Communication Hindrance

If you've emailed me and not gotten a reply, it is because we hardly ever have an internet signal these days. In fact, I'm amazed I even have one now that is good enough to get this posted.

We share wireless internet service with our neighbor, splitting the bill. Well, a few months ago our neighbor was broken into...while they were sleeping someone took their kitchen window off somehow and got in. They didn't bother them, but several things were stolen. The dog was able to wake them, but it was too late...the thieves were gone. Anyway, after that they decided to build a wall around their house. So, a big cinder block wall is now going up over there...good for them, bad for our internet signal. :)

Sometime this week we will make other arrangements for internet service, but until then it is very, very sporadic. So, that's why we haven't called any of you or answered any emails. Thanks for your patience. Hopefully soon we will be back.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend. We are actually about to head to a birthday party. More news and pictures to come next week sometime.

The Power of Pressure

I will eventually get to writing out mine and Joel's story, I promise. Thanks so much for the interest. That's very nice of you all...and very encouraging that you think of it as an encouragement and testimony helpful to others. But...I just don't have the time to do that today, but felt like I needed to post.

So, here you go...this is dedicated to the all-mighty pressure cooker. :)

I never had a pressure cooker before now...never needed one. Mama had one growing up, but I don't even know what she used it for...I think peas maybe...chicken? I don't know...never paid attention.

But, you know that whole soaking thing you do with dried beans there in the states? I used to have to remember to put them out the night before soaking...if I didn't, we didn't have beans the next day. So annoying.

Well, shortly after moving here, I learned a much better way...no soaking required. You put the beans in a pressure cooker and cook them. Novel idea I tell you. Why did nobody ever tell me that when I lived in the states? Yeah, so you put beans in, put plenty of water in too, and cook them...done in 40 minutes (that's for the smaller beans, like black beans for instance...takes longer for the bigger beans, but it's still quick). Hello. Seriously, what's up with all that meaningless, useless soaking?

Although I have a serious aversion to beans these days (started about a week before I found out I was pregnant...before that I was eating beans and rice for lunch everyday), I am so glad I have this information. Maybe the beans that are in the states are different, although I can't imagine that being the case. And maybe this is common knowledge and I just wasn't enlightened. But, just in case you didn't know...if you make beans, a pressure cooker is nice to have.

And now, just for kicks, here are pictures of each kiddo at 9 months old. Funny, in real life I think Asa looks more like Grady. But, if you are just looking at these pictures that I chose, to me it looks like she looks more like Hadley in these. They all look similar I guess, but yet so different. Fun stuff.

A Little Nudge

You know how unpacking is. You start, you do one big whopping job, then you slow down a bit and do a little here and a little there. Either you just get distracted (very, very easy with 3 small children) or you just get sick and tired of doing one thing and jump to another. All of this leads to this...little piles of unfinished things all over the house. Most of it's done, but it's just the last little tidying up to do that seems the most tedious.

Well, today I have my little nudge to get the tedious over with. The young married peeps from our church are coming over to our house tonight for their weekly meeting. So, off I go to finish up the organizing and sorting and putting into place. It'll still be a little bit of a mess...we don't yet have things like toy boxes and a desk, etc. But, it'll still be done, as much as possible for the time-being.

Nothing like a good little nudge every now and then.

Wipes

So, Amber asked about our wipes and so have several others of you over time, so I thought I'd just post about it. These would've been great to have during my speech class in college (demonstrational or intructional speech), but now I'll just do it in blog form.

There are many recipes for homemade wipes, but this one we were given when pregnant with Hadley by my Bible study friend and Bradley method teacher who is also a chiropractor. And, even though I have never done this, you can also use this same concept to make things such as antibacterial/disinfectant wipes.

Alright, here you go...

1. First we cut a paper towel roll in half. It will end up looking something like the first picture below.

2. Mix these things together (for standard size paper towel rolls in the states...here in Brasil they are much smaller and I've had to greatly modify the recipe):

1 1/2 - 2 cups water
6 tsp. olive oil (obviously this is 2 tablespoons, but I prefer to only use one measuring spoon...one less thing to wash)
2 tsp. baby soap/shampoo
tea tree oil (8-10 drops)
lavendar oil (8-10 drops)

Grady is again showing his demonstration of the mixing action in the 2nd picture below.

The tea tree oil and lavendar oil are a little expensive sometimes, depending on where you get them. But, they are both great for your little one's skin, they smell super, and in doing only a few drops at a time, they last forever anyway.

You will also need to get a sufficient container to put them in. We already had these (as seen in the third picture below) from Wal-Mart probably...this is the medium size container that came in a 3 size set. You put one of the paper towel roll halves (minus the cardboard middle) in the container and pour the above mixture over it.

And, very important...you really can't go generic on these. If you want good wipes that aren't going to crumple and fall apart as you pull them out of the container, get Brawny...they are the best for making wipes.

That concludes this demonstration. I hope it served you well and I made an A+...oh, yeah...this isn't speech class.















Grady and his skills.
















Isn't this cute? This is our house in Longview...that is Hadley, about 7 months old I think. You can see our wipes behind her on the floor.

Precise Explanation

I have a friend, Auny. She has a sister, Kay, who just went to Peru in July with her husband as missionaries. They are out in a more remote area than we are even, but her thoughts the other day finally gave voice to my thoughts during this transition. So, I thought I'd give you a glimpse as to what she said. Thank goodness, these feelings seem to be lessening. But, still...just a little more into my world...

First you will read my comment to Kay on her blog. Then you will read her actual post.

Comment: Girlfriend, I finally saw in your very precise blog post here EXACTLY what I've been feeling but haven't been able to even express to myself. Funny how sometimes you don't even know how to explain how you feel. Thanks for putting into words my daily thoughts...although thank God they are getting better. Maybe it's like drugs and I had to go through major detox. The withdrawals and detox symptoms are getting less brutal, thank goodness.

On Sunday, August 26

Kay wrote:

I got a letter from my parents the other day and my mom said to let them know what to be praying about. “Don’t try to be brave,” she wrote, “keep it real.” In an effort to keep it real, here is my confession.

I feel like there is a war going on in my mind right now. I noticed it right away when we got to Peru, even before we moved to the “jungle.” I think of all the things you would expect, like missing my family and friends. But even more than that, I am sometimes consumed with thoughts of my comfort. Things like a carpeted floor, a nice sized bathtub, and a dishwasher are all I can think about. Other times it’s late night runs to Dairy Queen or eating at my favorite restaurants that take over my mind. I miss listening to my favorite radio program on the way to work and stopping in at McDonald’s for breakfast.

I’m sure these are all normal reactions to so many changes, but it is humbling to see how dependent I am on comforts. More than once I have told God, “I don’t want to do this. I want to live in a comfortable house, with the kinds of food I like close by. I want to work and make money to get the things I want to buy. I want to enjoy evenings with friends who are like me and speak English. I want to live close to my family and see them whenever I want to.” It was immediately obvious to me that I want to serve myself. I want what I want to be more important than what God wants. Imagine leaving God’s calling for radio morning shows and fast food. When I think about it, it is ridiculous, but when faced with so many changes, my mind is rebelling.

So that is my confession. I’m not sure how much more REAL I can get than that. Yes, we are excited about God’s calling, but yes, we need your prayers. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Peeks and Parties

We got our first peek at our wee one today. Yep, I had my first OB appointment today.

First I went to the OB's office. This lady is a friend of Kristin's from church and has been working 30 years. Let's just say she's delivered a lot of babies. But, she just recently stopped delivering babies and gone straight to doing only gynecological care. So, basically she was just doing Kristin a favor and seeing me just this once. She did her exam and felt like I was probably about 10 weeks or so. I had suspected that I was about 9 or 10 weeks along...11 maybe, 12 at the most, from what I could figure or imagine given my symptoms and such. So, 10 weeks sounded right to me. Everyone here is so relational, even the doctors. So, they spend tons of time with you and answer all your questions...and just chat. You really only get that from a midwife type in the states. Not that there aren't good, caring doctors in the states, but they are just super busy and just not as relational. So, that was nice. She ordered an ultrasound for me, thanked her, and left.

A fun story: Grady got to go with us to the "baby doctor." It was really special for him to get to go on the big boy outing. Kristin met us there...our first OB visit here and she's had children here...she knew lots of great questions to ask about birthing here. So she came with her 2 kiddos in tow. During the visit when we were just chatting with the Dr., I heard Grady saying to Michael, "I'm just here waiting on Mama to get the baby out of her belly." So cute. We had actually explained to him what we were doing...and how very long it would be until the baby made its appearance. But, apparently it was to no avail. Anyhoo, we explained more and he seems to have remembered and really gotten it now.

We went to one of the ultrasound places and were actually able to get one done today, after a good bit of waiting. Eliane was with the girls so we could do that, thank goodness. Grady was great...of course it helped that they had a movie playing in the waiting room. We are in the middle of fasting movies for a while (with the kids), so of course he was glued since he hasn't seen a moving screen in a few days. :) He's so fun these days though...even when he wasn't watching, he just played with his cars or had a very thorough, intelligent, lengthy conversation with us. He's very grown up now. As he says, he's "big and big." I think that means that he's getting bigger and bigger. Cute.

Anyway, the ultrasound room was really nice. The radiologist studied at Harvard and spoke English to me the whole time, explaining everything...English is always a rare added bonus. The baby looks so super cute already of course, was moving around alot, and is totally healthy from what can be seen in an ultrasound. The main reason we were needing an ultrasound at this point was to be able to determine a due date...see how far along I am. The ultrasound actually showed that I am 13 1/2 weeks along! I asked him if it could be possible that I am actually 10 weeks along with just a baby measuring bigger. Oh...and the OB that I saw just happened to walk over and was able to come in and see the ultrasound too...it was cool how that worked out. They both said no...that the ultrasound was pretty accurate, esp. at this point in the pregnancy. So, my due date is now officially March 22nd. They said that the ultrasound prediction has a margin of error of 5 days or so. So...you know...somewhere around the end of March we will have a baby I guess.

So weird...I was at first thinking about a month after that...I was sure it was April sometime. I told Joel, this is the way to do a pregnancy. Just today, about a month was shaved off my pregnancy in my mind. Nice!!

We came home and ate supper really quick and then went to a friend's house for a birthday party. One of Joel's fellow students, Rodrigo, had invited us over. His wife, Laila, turned 26 today. It was a really fun time. They have 2 boys...Lucas is 3 and Andre is 3 months. There were about 10 people there...all really fun people...lots of joking and laughing. Fun times.

Now, I'm off to bed. I also had 2 1/2 hours of Portuguese class this morning...I'm pooped. Goodnight.