Tuesday, December 14, 2010

What I've been working on - don't look mom.

Ok...I wanted to blog about what all I've been working on around here to use my creative energies.

Mom...(as in Debbie)...do not read this. Your Christmas present is included here.

First of all, my kids are having a joint birthday party at their school on Friday. We are sending princess invites to the girls and star wars invites to the boys. For the girls, I made princess dresses out of paper and I sewed a little bit of tulle to make the skirt. I did some glitter glue and stuff to decorate. The party details are printed and glued to the front.


The boys' invites are C3P-O masks that have the party info glued on the back. They are laminated for durability.

Next I made GirlM this skirt. It is called the Market Skirt and the tutorial to make it is found here at my favorite tutorial sight.


This weekend I finished making the Men's shirt dress for GirlM from the same website above. I still need to exchange the buttons for more feminine ones, but I will go out this week to buy them.

I made the shirt that GirlM is wearing in the following photo into a shirt from a onsie. It was a huge onsie and since she is potty trained, I needed to make it big girl friendly. I also made the pants that she is wearing yesterday morning before the kids got up. It was SUPER easy!

Finally, I made this apron for my mom for Christmas. This was a labor of love and took two days to make. Thanks Mistie for helping me learn to make this a quality item. I love it!

Oh...I'll go ahead and post here two videos of my kiddos singing. BoyD is singing "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" in Spanish and GirlM is singing "Jesus Loves Me". Both these kids are suffering from an infection and are on antibiotics. And it is early. That is why they look so puffy eyed and tired. Even so, they are pretty cute. If you are seeing this on facebook, you won't be able to view the videos and will have to go to my blog to see them. They are worth it!

Thursday, December 09, 2010

Body After Baby Challenge Week 2

Ok...I only have like 5 minutes here to blog because I just put the baby down for a morning nap and I have to finish making a sewing project. I may only get 45 minutes of time w/o him.

I have to report on my progress with Mama Notes Body After Baby Challenge. My goals were to work out (cardio) 3 times, do some strength stuff on the Wii, drink 2L of water every day, go to bed by 9:30, reduce my caffeine, and reduce portion sizes. And lose some weight.

I did work out 3 times...2 times doing some cardio with my Wii fit. I held the baby while doing step and this hula hoop thing for 32 min and then for 26 min. I was trying to make it harder and more of a strength thing. It worked! I was sweating and I was very sore the next day. I also took the dog to the park and instead of just throwing the ball, I would take off running and then try to beat the dog to the ball. I drank maybe 1L of water a couple of the days, and I did reduce portion sizes.

I really want to drink more water! It is hard because I am running all over the place and can't keep track of my cup! haha! And going to bed by 9:30? HA-HA! I was lucky to get to bed by 10:30 this week. And then I get up at 6am and I am just too drained to do any morning work outs. Plus, I have sick BabyK who is waking up to nurse every night. I really just don't have the physical energy to work out while this sleepy. This week I MUST get to bed earlier.

I did drop 2.5 lbs, though! That I am pumped about. It is much easier to keep motivated when the weight comes off.

So, to add to last weeks goals, this week the challenge is to write down everything I eat and to cut out one unhealthy habit. The second part is going to be a challenge. I really don't have very many unhealthy habits that I am not already addressing with the Body After Baby challenge! I mean, I need to drink more...check. I need to sleep more...check. I do drink a cup of coffee every morning but I have limited myself to just one and I am not willing to give it up. I do eat sugar, but I have been limiting myself to like one cookie a day. If I gave that up entirely I think I would rebel! I mean...one cookie (or sweet thing) a day is not an unhealthy habit! (at least not in my book...we are into everything in moderation, not elimination!)

If any body has any ideas of what I might could give up, please let me know. I am going to try to continue with my above stated goals and do better this week.

Keep praying for me if you get a chance. I am no busier than any other mom, but finding time to prioritize exercise as well as having had enough sleep to be able to do it is difficult. (Some of you maybe thinking that sleeping from 10:30-6am waking up once to feed the baby is plenty of sleep and I just need to suck it up. I am one of those people who really need 9hrs of uninterrupted sleep to feel full of energy. I know that is unrealistic with 3 kids 4 and under, but if I could even get 8, I think I would have enough energy to function well.)

Thanks for reading! I hope this wasn't too long, but it is good accountability for me.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Body After Baby Challenge Week 1

So I'm participating in something called the Body After Baby Challenge from one of my favorite blogs Mama Notes. It is an 8 week challenge to get our bodies back. Back in the slimmest pants we own, back into run up and down the stairs w/o problems kind of shape, back to having the energy we had in our second trimester of pregnancy.

Today is the start and I am committing to participate and blog about it. This post is about goals, my plan, etc. I am not sure what all will be involved in the process, but I'm up for it. I think.

I took a before picture this morning, but I am positive that no one here wants to see it. I want to lose 10lbs total (over the next 2 months) but more than the pounds, I want to loose inches. I am not unhappy with my body, but I know that the older I get the more difficult it will be to stay trim, so I don't want to start the difficult years already 10lbs heavier than ideal. Also, I want to try to go down one pants size. The size I wear now is fine, but it is a little too big...just so that if I don't wear a belt, they are falling down by the end of the day. But the next size down is just too small.

My plan: I am going to try to work out 3 days a week. (treadmill or video) I can't afford the gym and going for walks is off limits for safety issues. I want to do the Wii fit 2 days a week (in addition to the cardio) and find someway to get some strength training. The Wii fit has some of that stuff. I am going to try to reduce my portion sizes during meals and I want to drink 2L of water (or refresco) a day. I want to cut my caffeine down to one cup of coffee a day and I want to be in bed by 9:30 every night.

My challenges: I am nursing...I need to be eating enough good stuff to get all my calories for my milk production. I am super busy with 3 kids. Finding time to work out w/o getting up at 5:30 every morning is going to be a challenge. I'll let you know how I work that one out. I live in Guatemala: I can't just go walking around the block with the kiddos in tow to get some cardio. I have to exercise a lot of caution when walking around. Maybe I could walk the mall or something. I love to bake: That is what I do and I do it well. I like to make apple pie and pecan pie and cake balls and homemade yeast rolls and cake cookies, and chocolate chip cookies and homemade chicken pot pie. I have skinny kids that need calorie dense food.

Ok...so feel free to join me in my adventure. Feel free to leave me encouraging comments. Feel free to pray for me that I can balance all of the priorities in my life (hubby, kids, home school, service, personal time with the Lord, exercise, taking care of the house, church responsibilities etc)

Friday, October 22, 2010

Living in Guatemala: priceless


Rent for 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, office, and 2 living areas: $650
Pumpkin: $1.10 per pound
Turkey: $4 per pound
Used BabyGap sweater for GirlM: $0.50
Any new sweater for GirlM: $50
2 movie tickets: $6.00
small box of Leggos (like one vehicle): $15+
pint of Haggin-Das: $6
New Medela pump-in-style advanced breast pump ($299 on Amazon): $20
Peanut butter: $5 per pound
Homemade peanut butter:$2 per pound
Cheddar cheese: $5 per pound
Cars and electronics: %20-30 more expensive than US counterpart

Being able to afford a breast pump and BabyGap but not a pumpkin: Priceless.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A little follow up.

Well, Mike asked about a little follow up. If you want to know the original story, please read the previous blog post. I wanted to write quickly about how Gladys and Carmen are doing following the last week and a half. Gladys started back to work (bringing Carmen with her) on the Thursday following the baby's death. While at work we cry, laugh, chit chat, and reminisce. They are working fewer hours and are spending lots of time with friends.

Interestingly enough, they have not really had any friends, yet right now they are visiting or being visited by all these people! It is like all of a sudden they know that they are not alone...not solitary. Carmen (remember that she is 16) was visited a few days after the death by a group of teenage girls from a Pentecostal church nearby. They came in and told Carmen that they want her to hang out with them. They said that they don't understand the loss that she has experienced, nor do they have the life experience that she does, but they want her to come and spend time with them so that they can share the love of Jesus with her. They want her to know how much Jesus loves and cares about her. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!? A group of 15-17 yr. old girls going to the house of a teenage mother and reaching out to her. Not judging her, but being very clear about their love for her and their love for the Savior!!!

So, Carmen will be going to a slumber party on Sunday night, 2 weeks after the death of her daughter. I am so...I don't know...thrilled. Like...God is still on the throne or something! Like He might use this horrible, horrible, horrible tragedy to bring this suffering family under His wing.

I am doing fine. I have to cry a lot. When I think about the loss I cry. I weep. I try not to put myself in Carmen's shoes, but it is difficult not to. I hug my babies and thank God that He has not allowed me to suffer in this way. I get to nurse my child and wake up in the morning to his fusses and "da-da, ga-ga, ma-mas" I get to get frustrated at my almost 5 year old for not staying in bed at night. I get to startle when I see my 2 1/2 yr old figure out how to climb in and out of her crib by flinging herself over the railing. For now, I get to have them with me.

At times it just doesn't seem like life should keep going as if nothing has happened. I remember feeling this way when my father died. Like all of a sudden the shopping mall is swallowed up in a huge sink hole and everyone just keeps on driving by, walking by as if nothing has changed. As if there isn't a giant hole in the ground. People should notice. It just seems like they should stop and at least say...man...something is missing from this world. Something was here that isn't, and it will never be the same again.

I realize that that is silly and illogical. People that didn't know Carlita won't miss her. Other people a country away won't feel the void that is left now that she is gone from this earth. I understand that. It just doesn't seem....right.

I will try to have a happier post next time. I hate this depressing crap. Let me say a couple of things...

God is good. He is working. He is changing me and transforming me, even if it is a very slow process. He is calling me to be more holy. To be more in love with Him. And I am answering His call. Glory to God!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Death of Carlita

Disclaimer: if you are very sensitive, easily upset, or offended by frank observations, please be advised that the following post may be hard to read. It's long, but I am documenting the following events as a sort of therapy session and also to give a glimpse into this culture. This is very long, but, I believe, worth the read.

It started on Sunday morning at about 10:00 as I was about to brush my teeth to leave for church. We had a couple from the CAM board here with us from the US to see Guatemala, to see our ministry, and to have their board meeting. We were going to take them to church, take them out to eat, and then Brandon was going to drive them back to the city. All this got interrupted with a phone call.

Brandon walked into the bathroom with all color drained from his face. He said “first of all, our family is fine…Carmen’s baby died.”

Carmen is the 16 year old daughter of Gladys, our housekeeper and friend. Gladys is at our house from 8-3 or 4 Mon.-Fri. and 9-12 on Saturday. She cleans our house, helps me cook, helps me with the kids, and has been our practical Spanish tutor. Carmen got pregnant last summer and had a beautiful baby girl (Carlita) in May. She was 4 months younger than our babyK. Carmen had a very hard labor and birthed Carlita alone because Gladys wasn’t allowed in the hospital with her. She had a very difficult time nursing at the beginning and spent some time over here while I helped her learn to nurse.

After Brandon gave me the news, I called Gladys on her cell. She was hysterical, crying “my baby, my baby is gone, my baby is gone.” I asked her where she was and rushed to the public hospital emergency room to meet her. At this hospital, the emergency room waiting area is outside of the doors on the street. Everyone has to sort of move out of the way when an ambulance approaches so they can transport someone inside.

Gladys was sitting outside with friends. She was frantic. Crying uncontrollably. I sat with her for a moment and found out what had happened. That morning, around 8:20, Gladys woke up and went to make some coffee when she heard Carmen scream “THE BABY’S NOT BREATHING!” Gladys ran into the room, picked up the still warm Carlita and realized that she was unconscious…looking like she was sleeping but not breathing and not waking. She wasn’t blue or anything. The baby was already dead.

They (after putting on pants and shoes at lightning speed) ran a significant distance to the street with the baby where Gladys ran in front of a passing car to stop it. The driver took them the 5 minutes to the hospital emergency room. When they arrived, a doctor examined the body and pronounced her dead. No resuscitation efforts were attempted.

After sitting with Gladys for a moment, her questions started flowing: “Why SeƱito (what she calls me)?” “Why did God take my baby?” “She was healthy, why did she leave?” My answers through tears: “I don’t know, my friend.” “I don’t know.” “I am so sorry.”

I then headed inside to see Carmen. They had her in a corner next to a crib in a space that may have been 18inches wide not including the crib. There was a partition on her right, and the dead baby laying in the crib on her left. She was standing, and had been that way for 2 hours since she arrived at 8:30. This emergency room is just a series of cribs and examination tables circling the 20 x 20ft room. Her little area was the only one partitioned and that only on one side. Directly in front of her lay a newborn crying with fever. There were sounds of children and babies crying from fevers, injuries, injections. There was (from what I could see) 1 doctor, 3 nurses, and a couple of lab techs working among the 10+ sick children. Carmen and her baby had been forgotten.

I loved on Carmen a moment and asked the friend that was there if there was a chair for Carmen. “No” I was told. “They’re all occupied.” So I went to the doctor and asked “Excuse me, I know you are busy, but the young girl over there who just lost her baby has been standing up with no rest. Is there a chair for her?” The doctor promptly took the chair from the nurses “station” (a small desk with some file folders on it) to give to Carmen. Carmen was not speaking. “Are you hot? Are you cold? Do you need a drink? Can I get you a chair? Do you want your mom in here?” That last one got a nod so I left to get Gladys.

Outside Gladys was still sobbing. I told her that her daughter needed her and that she needed to pull herself together a little bit to be there for Carmen. Carmen wasn’t grieving yet. She was in shock. She was in shock, standing next to her covered dead baby girl with crying children all around her. Gladys did as I asked her. When Gladys returned, we found out from the administration that in order to avoid an autopsy (everyone wanted to avoid that) they needed a doctor who would sign cause of death on the death certificate. One problem: the night before, Carmen and Gladys had given Carlita some cough medicine that a doctor from the hospital had given them the week before at the well-baby visit, “Just in case - It is coming on flu season, and if the baby starts getting stuffy, give the baby this medicine.” I don’t know what the prescription said. I don’t know if they even had one. I don’t know if they followed the doctor’s instructions or if they dosed her themselves. I don’t know any of that, but they gave a 4 month old 15lb baby girl 4ml of this medicine. To my very untrained eye, that is a lot. We give babyK, an 8 month old 18+lb baby boy, half that amount in cold medicine prescribed by the doctor. Only God knows what happened to that baby. We won’t know this side of eternity. It could have been SIDS, a hidden heart defect, a hidden metabolic disorder, too much medicine, too many blankets at night. The questions bother me, although I don’t know if any answers would make a difference. Maybe they would give me closure, but they wouldn’t bring Carlita back to Carmen’s arms or back to her breast.

No one in the hospital would sign cause of death because she arrived deceased. They had 15 minutes to get a doctor that would sign off, or they would have to call the police and ministerio publico to do an autopsy. I tried calling my kids pediatrician and my friend from church who is a doctor. Gladys ex-boyfriend was driving around trying to locate a particular doctor to come. As I was leaving to go home to nurse BabyK, they located a doctor who agreed to come and sign the death certificate.

An hour later, I took Gladys Q1000 ($125) to pay for the doctor who signed the cause of death and to pay for the casket and funeral director’s services. Although they weren’t going to have a funeral, they needed to pay for the director to help get the paperwork done and to bring the casket and transport the body and the family back to Gladys’s house and they didn’t have the money.

I left there and went to eat lunch with our house guests before Brandon had to leave to take them to Guatemala City. By 2:30 Brandon was gone and the neighbor was getting ready to come to my house to take care of the kids so that I could go to Glady’s house. Right before I left at 3:15, Gladys called to say that they were still at the hospital waiting for a signature from someone from the ministerio publico so that the body could be released. So I headed back up to the hospital.

Let me interject to tell you what I saw while sitting outside the hospital, and what I saw while inside. There were a couple of elderly people driven by loved ones who had to be led inside. There was the girl carried by her father with her foot wrapped in a blood soaked rag with gelatinous blood dripping a trail from the car to inside the hospital. There was the young man with an obvious broken leg being transported on a collapsed gurney rolling along the completely uneven ground screaming at every bump while the paramedic said “Calm down, calm down.” There was the drunken guy with gashes and wounds all over his face and torso that refused to enter the hospital for help and just walked around outside asking for coins to use the payphone. No one would help him. I only had one coin and gave it to him, but he was really too drunk to use the phone. Inside there was the newborn that was having blood drawn by a tech with no gloves on, who was also receiving an injection to lower her fever, which the doctor stated was the most important thing. This newborn was wearing 2-3 layers of clothing and was wrapped in a blanket. No one was suggesting that they remove some of her clothes. There was another little toddler fussing in her daddy’s arms, red cheeked and sweating from fever. She was also wearing her shirt, undershirt, and jacket.

Anyway, when I returned to the hospital later that afternoon, Carmen and Gladys were both sitting outside. Carmen’s grandmother was inside with the baby. You see, someone had to sit with the body because the hospital personnel kept trying to take the baby to the morgue and we were still awaiting the signature from the doctor to release Carlita home in place of an autopsy. The chair that Carmen had been using had been removed. After a while, Lupe (the grandmother) came out for a break, and it was my job to head back in and stand with the body. So I did. I stood…only for 20 minutes (they had been doing it all day) next to the tiny body of 4 month old Carlita. I know that it was just a shell. I knew that at the time. I know that Carlita wasn’t there under the receiving blanket. But every time I looked over at that tiny figure, I couldn’t help but think about how beautiful she was. How happy she was and how she was growing strong and gaining weight and how nursing was going so well (finally) for Carmen. I thought about Carmen waking up and finding her baby girl gone and a limp, lifeless body left. I thought about Carmen never seeing her first tooth. Never seeing her first roll over, crawl, or take her first steps. I thought about the empty arms of Carmen and how never again would they be filled with that wriggly precious gift. All that time, curious Guatemalans, seeing me cry, came over and frankly asked “Where are you from? What happened to your baby?” I had the luxury of answering that it wasn’t my baby. Poor Carmen didn’t.

I went back outside after a while to sit with Carmen and Gladys. Soon after we got word that all paperwork had been signed and that the funeral director was on his way. Everyone was fine until the casket arrived. This little tiny box covered in white gathered satin was carried into the hospital, and was soon carried out by Lupe, Carmen’s grandmother. I had to basically carry Carmen and Gladys to funeral director’s van. They were weeping and getting them to walk was a challenge. They went home and so did I.

This was now 5:30pm and I made it home to nurse the baby and heat up some leftovers for the 2 big kids. I had them in bed by 7:15 and I was looking forward to sitting on the couch, eating a cookie and milk, and watching some T.V. I called Gladys at this point to find out when the service was going to be the next morning. Gladys answered and let me know that the service was going on right then. So…I called the next door neighbor back over and headed out to Gladys house. I arrived at about the time that the service was ending, but I got to sit with Gladys and Carmen for a minute. The casket was sitting closed on a table in the middle of their kitchen/living room. Soon after, a group of young believers (young in age, not in faith) came and very kindly said that they were curious to know if it is the will of God that Carlita be raised from the dead. I would like to mention here that Carmen and Gladys had not been attending any church although they are professing Christians. These were members from a neighborhood church where a neighbor attends. After asking Carmen for permission, they opened the casket, laid hands on the corpse, and began praying for her resurrection. I could see that Carmen was beginning to panic. This was too much for her. She whispered to me that she did not want to be there, so I let her out of the room and into her bedroom where we sat on her bed and cried and prayed. I don’t think I have ever prayed so hard for anything in my life. I wanted so badly for God Who Is Able to bring life back to that tiny body. For Carmen’s sake. For Gladys’s sake. For God’s Glory. He didn’t do it. It wasn’t His will.

After everyone had left I stayed with them for a while crying with them and just listening. I just kept wondering how on earth they were going to live with out their baby girl. They were asking that same question. I had no answers. There are none that I know of.

I went home and slept fitfully. The next morning the neighbor came back over and helped the kids finish breakfast while I took beans, drink mix, water, and pitchers over to their house. I sat there with them for quite a while. At this point the casket was open and little Carlita was just laying there looking asleep except for the cotton pieces stuffed in her nose and ears. They don’t embalm here. People kept coming in and un-wrapping her and stroking her hands, repositioning her legs, and just examining her. For me, it was very unnerving. It was for Carmen also. She couldn’t stand to be in the room with the casket open. No one was really hugging, touching, or holding Carmen or Gladys. So I did. I don’t know if this was culturally relevant, but when I would hug them, they would both just collapse into me and cry. I had to leave again to go feed the baby.

Brandon had gotten home from Guatemala City while I was out. It was so good to have him home. I was so tired. That morning I had to put ice packs on my eyes because they were so swollen from crying and I couldn’t open them enough to see. Just to share the burden a little bit with him was amazing. We ordered a pizza for the family and my friend came over who has a daughter the same age as BoyD. The burial was scheduled for 2pm, so we took BabyK with us (I didn’t want to have to leave again to feed him) and left the big kids with my friend.

In true Guatemalan fashion, we had to wait for a couple of hours for a signature before we could bury the baby. It was after 3:30 when we got word that it was o.k. for us to precede. I have to say, although it is morbid and gross, that it was very hot in the living room. We had to keep moving the casket so the sun didn’t hit it directly from the window. They had to close the casket because the body was beginning to darken. The smell was overwhelming: similar to rotten meat that gets left out, or the smell if a rodent that has died in the wall. It had been about 30 hours since she had died. Poor Carmen. During this entire time, Brandon had BabyK in the sling and walked around the outside of the house with him where it was cooler.

Finally, the pastor arrived and we had a short prayer and Bible reading before heading out. Two of the men in the family carried the casket out to the back of the truck. Carmen wanted to walk (as opposed to ride in the truck) so all the little kids piled in the back of the truck with the body to hold the flowers upright. We began the 2 mile or so walk to the cemetery. The grave was dug earlier that morning by a neighbor. Thankfully Carmen’s dad supported her during the long walk and Gladys’s son did the same for her.

The grave site was almost unbearable. After a short word from the pastor and from Brandon, Brandon had to climb into the grave to receive the body and set her down inside. This was the hardest moment for everyone. She had been “asleep” on the living room table all day and now they were laying her in the ground. Brandon climbed out and two men began covering her with dirt. Shovel after shovel. The dirt was littered with trash and old floral arrangements. It didn’t matter. They just shoveled it all on top of her. Carmen watched in horror as her 4 month old baby was buried forever (we know that it really isn’t forever, but that perspective isn’t dominant at the moment) under 5 feet of earth. Right next to her was the ruined grave of another child. Caving in and rotting with old flowers. Carmen wailed and held on tightly to her father; finally giving herself over to the grief. We sat there crying until the flowers had been arranged by a couple of friends and placed on the grave mound. Then came the walk back to the truck. Carmen’s dad and brother were not available so I held her as we walked back, trying to support her weight. We all climbed in the back of the truck and drove the 2 miles back to the house. Brandon took BabyK and loaded him into our car while I helped carry in one of the other babies. I left Carmen laying on her bed looking as though she had been beat up and left for dead. It was more than sadness. More than grief. It was the grief of a mother who has lost her only child.

Carmen and Gladys and her mom and brother came over last night just to get out of the house. We sat and talked and cried and laughed. They are alive, grieving and carrying on. One day at a time.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Sick family

Many of you know that we have had some sickness in our home. First Brandon got it with some tummy troubles. It lasted one night.

Then I got it. It lasted 5 days. Then Brandon got it again and GirlM got it. They got over it really quickly.

Then BoyD got a serious cold/cough. (103 degree fever under arm!) It went into an ear infection about the time that Brandon, BabyK, and I got it. The next day GirlM came down with it. BabyK and GirlM are still fighting the cough, but are mostly better. Brandon and I are feeling much better.

Here are a couple of photos to document our sicknesses:


Don't these kiddos look charming?

And now our booger-sucker broke. Kind of a problem, but the bulb syringe is working O.K. for now.

We are so glad that we are better! It feels good to be well.

Video of GirlM

Here is a video of GirlM. I wanted to post it on the last blog, but it wouldn't load. days of trying.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

A (late) Mother's Day post.


I thought it would be fitting this Mother's Day to fill in everyone on why my job is the best job in the world. (I'm going to make up for lost time with a few extra photos of BabyK)

I have a 3 month old son BabyK. He is so precious! He is a very smiley,laughy baby. He really only fusses if he gets over tired. He was sleeping 9 hours a night, but didn't gain enough weight last month so I am having to wake him up in the night to feed him. Sometimes he stops nursing just to look up in my eyes and smile and giggle! And once I start to smile back (who could help it?), meal time is over and I have to try again in a couple of minutes.

He is officially a thumb sucker! He only uses his pacifier at night when he is falling asleep because his arms are tucked by his side in his swaddle blanket!

I also have a 2 year old GirlM. She is a drama queen! We are in the battle of the whine right now. She is also VERY attached to me. At meal times, she wants to be touching me while we eat. If I go upstairs, she wants to "go wit-u." In the kitchen, she will just come and stand between my legs. She is still tiny, but eats enough to keep her alive! :)

She loves to play with her princesses. (A little people castle set) And she has them talk to each other..."where daddy is?...I don know...I go to sleep...Don wake me up!," etc. It cracks me up. And she is learning from her brother. She says everything he says.

She is also very sensitive. She accidentally popped BoyD's balloon while he was napping, and when I said "oh, GirlM!" in just a surprised voice, she started with "i sorry, I sorry, I SORRY" and continued that way crying, grieving and apologizing. It took a good 3 minutes to get her to calm down so that I could tell her not to worry, that we have other balloons.
(There is supposed to be a video here of GirlM...I can't get it to load...so I will post it in a separate blog in a little bit.)
I have another boy, BoyD who is 4 years old. He talks non stop. All the time. And he uses very mature phrases like "This is just so frustrating!" and "Actually." He cracks me up. He makes up stories about every toy, and makes up songs. He even makes up songs in Spanish!

And, he is reading! Just short vowel words now, but he really wants to learn. He is taking piano lessons, and I think that the material is too easy for him so he gets bored. Not sure. He is a very funny and a very sweet kid. He told Brandon the other day that he wanted to go to a little devotional (we were visiting a friend on a mission trip here) because he wanted to learn how to love Jesus more. And every time we read the resurrection story, he gets so excited and says, "He conquered death!" "He rose again!" or "He didn't stay dead!" It just makes my heart happy!

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Easter Weekend in photos

Here's a glimpse of Easter weekend at the Scott house:

Our nightly devotional became a retelling of the Easter week stories. Here is Brandon telling the story of the last supper on our magnet book. The kids are eating some bread and drinking some juice for an object lesson.

On Friday there are these processionals from all of the Catholic churches here. They last around 5 hours and they walk over these "carpets" made by hand out of colored sawdust. Here we are getting loaded up to go and look at the carpets and maybe catch a processional. (Not all of one.)

These carpets are even cooler in person. This guy and his friends had been working on this one since about midnight. The photos were taken around 8:30 in the morning and he was putting on the finishing touches.

This is the beginning of one of the processionals.


Random picture, but this is BoyD in his first night in his big boy bunk bed. That is a story for another post.


We dyed Easter eggs and had a lot of fun!

The Easter bunny brought some interesting things. They don't sell ANY kind of Easter candy here, so we only had like 9 plastic eggs left over from last year. The bunny was very sensible this year. This paragraph is underlined and I can't figure out how to change it!


We got all dressed up for some family photos. Are they cuties or what? Ok that's it.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Raves and Rants

Yeah! Time to blog! Just for the record, I have all kinds of time to sit and blog. I just choose to do other things like sleep, bathe, etc. I have 24 hours in everyday just like the rest of you.

One thing about not blogging very much, and not having time to read all of the blogs that I love, is that I feel much more disconnected. I just have some things to talk about. I have some rants, and a couple of raves.

Rant: Doctors in Guatemala don't care at all about child development. They don't ask questions about it. They also prescribe medicine for the slightest ailment with what seems like little regard for what Mom and Dad think. Parents aren't really part of the process, but more like an appendage to the patient that needs to be "treated."

Rave: I live in a country that has very good medical care. If my kid gets sick, I don't have to travel to some filthy, open air clinic with circuit doctors. I don't have to have medicine (except for the occasional children's Claratin) brought in from the states. I don't have to be care-flighted to another country for emergencies. I can get ultrasounds, x-rays, antibiotics, doctor advice, and all kinds of care for my family with relative ease, just maybe some long wait times and long lines.

Rant: Errand running in Guatemala. To go get cash, pay the electric bill, pay rent, and visit a carpenter, I will most likely need 3+ hours. Maybe more if the lines are long.

Rave: I have a wonderful muchacha that works for us and keeps me sane. She cleans my house, irons my clothes, and has started doing most of the cooking. (you may be wondering why I'm ranting about anything if this is one of my raves)

Rant: The bed that I wanted for BoyD's room is the coolest boat-shaped bunk bed, but will cost $950 to make here, and we can't afford that...because that's almost a thousand dollars for a bed.

Rave: We found a very simple wooden bunk bed for half the price, mattresses included.

Rant: Foolish people. Proverbs 12:15: "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice."

Rant: My own judgmental heart. Like for some reason, I am that person who knows what those foolish people need to do.

Rave: Prayers for healing. God our Father heals. How cool that we can petition Him when we are sick, and that He is faithful! Does he always say "yes?" No, but He does say "yes" a lot. A lot more when we ask Him more. He has healed BabyK's upset tummy, Brandon's ear ache, and He's working on GirlM's cold, and that is just this last week.

Rave: Godly people who love you. I have a woman who lives here in Xela (a missionary) and every time I talk to her, she blesses my spirit.

Rant: Not sleeping through the night. I know people who get a lot less sleep than I do, and they are doing great (well...they are managing), but I need a lot of sleep. I really need 9 hours a night to "feel" rested. Maybe I can get that when my kids are out of the house. For now, I am dealing with waking 1 or 2 times every night to feed my beautiful baby.

Rave: (Update: Last night he slept for almost 7 hours...and I did too!!!!)

Rave and Rant: Homeschooling. I love that I get to be the one to most influence my children, that I get to teach them what I feel is important, and that I am not going to miss out on important moments. I really don't like fighting BoyD to finish cutting out the number 3. I don't like that it takes him over an hour to color a tree trunk because he just doesn't want to do it and can't find the "right" color brown.

Rave: Disney World


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