Back in the Saddle Again!

I have really high hopes of eventually having time to regularly blog again. I think at this point that they might be a little...well, unrealistic. But for the moment, I am taking some time to put down some thoughts, events, photos, etc.

Just in case you have any desire to know what is going on in our lives! :)


BabyK is now 5 1/2 weeks old. He is starting to smile. He was (at one point) sleeping 6 hours straight at night, but is now back to waking every 3 hours at night to eat. Sigh. I'm tired, but I know it won't last forever.



Both BoyD and GirlM are adjusting well to the new baby. GirlM is very interested in the baby, but also wants to be in my arms a lot. She is a lot fussier. But, she is eating better and hopefully gaining a little weight.


(The kiddos in a "roller coaster" inside their "house")

The coolest thing I have noticed with the new baby coming and moving back to Guatemala is how well the other two are getting along. They play together all the time. BoyD looks out for his sister and sees her as a friend. They bicker and whine, but overall, they are good buds.

We are trying to unpack. It is really hard to do with 3 kids underfoot making messes as we area cleaning them up. Poco a poco. (Little by little)

BabyK gets way too few baths. He got is first in the tub bath this morning. He was getting a little rank and crusty.



After bath was time for his first cloth diaper! Yeah! Finally! We have been battling a diaper rash b/c the kid poops all the time. Now that the rash is better, I put him in cloth.


The above pictured diaper is one that I made for him. I made it out of Brandon's old t-shirts and it is super soft! I am pretty proud of it, although he is about to grow out of it because it took us 5 weeks to get rid of his diaper rash.

Ok...on to a little more personal note.
I'm very homesick. I miss my mom. I miss clean water and ATM machines and reasonably priced baby equipment. I miss English TV shows. I don't yet feel at home here even though it feels like home because we still aren't unpacked. I feel a little like a stranger again here. The states feel like home but we didn't really feel at home entirely there either because we never had our own space. (Although we were so blessed to have people to stay with that made us feel welcome and gave us as much space as their houses would allow!)

My life feels very out of sorts. I am not used to this as I am a little anal about organization and routine and structure.

• I still can't wear my clothes (and we are going to Disney World in 1 week!). I have 15 more pounds to lose. (with my other kids, I was at pre-preggo weight by 6 weeks...I am getting older, I guess)
• I don't have my closet or my kids' closets organized yet so I don't know wear my socks are or the 3 pair of sweat pants that I can wear.
  
• My kids have not watched TV (thankfully), but have received no education in a long time.
• I don't have any kind of routine as I am getting out of bed at around 9am every morning.
  
• I haven't read my Bible in I don't know how long.

Ok..enough complaining. My life is so blessed by a wonderful husband who gets the older kids up, makes them breakfast so that I can sleep in, and watches the baby so that I can blog. I have 3 wonderful children who make all of the craziness worth it.

Back to work, I guess.

He arrived!

Ok - It is now Monday...I actually wrote this last Thursday (when BabyK was 1 day old) but then things got a little crazy and I didn't have time to post it. Anyway...here you go for anyone who is interested.






Hey everyone! I haven't blogged in a LONG time, but this is too cool not to share.

I am sitting in the hospital holding my new baby boy: BabyK

At around 9am on Wed. morning, my water broke. I had a Dr. appointment already scheduled for 9:50am, so I went to the office instead of straight to the hospital. The doctor gave me the OK to go and walk around or do something until my contractions got super painful, very close, or 4pm. We got to the hospital at 4pm because my contractions were like 8-11 minutes apart and totally bearable. I was still only dilated to a 3 when I got there. So basically, I had not changed since my morning appointment.

By 7pm, I was dilated to a 6 and my contractions were very hard and all around 2.5-3 minutes apart. I was still handling the pain alright, but between contractions I was so tired that I felt as though I was drugged.

By 8:15pm my contractions were feeling like transition contractions (really, really painful), but they weren't getting any closer together. I was not quite dilated to a 7 yet, and was so exhausted that I just couldn't see straight. With my last two babies, by the time the pain got this bad, they were right on top of each other and I knew that I was almost done. I was very frustrated because it didn't seem like I was progressing even though my contractions were so very bad. They even started to spread apart a little bit!

So, out of exhaustion, I received a saddle block at 8:45pm (sort of like an epidural, but just a shot instead of constant medicine and it doesn't last very long). I felt like a weenie because I had already had 2 natural deliveries w/o even wanting pain medicine. But, because my contractions were still so far apart, no one knew how much longer that was going to go on. I was just in tears from being so tired.

Well...40 minutes later it was time to push! Augh! Crazy, right? I mean, had I known that I only had 45 minutes more, I could have handled the contractions!

So...for anyone who might be considering whether or not to take pain medication for childbirth, let me outline my experience and the pros and cons from my perspective.

Positives: 1. I got to rest a little before he came...not sleep, but the contractions were making me so tired. Although he was born so late at night and we were so tired anyway, I am not sure how big of a difference that made.
2. I could still feel to push, but not the "ring of fire" so that was good. His exit wasn't painful, so I was less concerned with my pain and so much more concerned with him coming out. That was cool.
3. The pain stopped. That was huge. Although is was only for 45 minutes, that is at least 15 contractions that I didn't have to endure.
4. Many of the reasons that I didn't want to have any pain medication (Slowing progress of labor, additional complications, medical risks, difficulty pushing, fetal distress, etc) didn't apply/happen because it was so late in the process.
5. It is possible (no one can say for sure) that I progresses so fast after the shot because I was pain free and able to relax. It could still have been hours had I chosen to go au-natural.

Negatives: 1. I couldn't feel my legs. I mean...it was like I was paralized because I felt like I could feel my legs, but there was a disconnect. I had the sensation that my toes were uncomfortable and I wanted to wiggle them and couldn't. I almost panicked then and had to tell myself to get a grip. I can't stress how awful of a feeling that was for me. Seeing my legs move w/o me feeling it was really freaky and actually a distraction from the birth.
2. The feeling to my abdomen returned pretty quickly (w/in an hour) so I felt the contractions that accompanied nursing, etc, but I couldn't feel my legs/feet for several hours. I couldn't stand or transfer from bed to chair or anything. The nurses had to roll me over and carry me out of the bed. That was sucky. I am pretty independent and I really hated that part.
3. Catheters suck.
4. I couldn't get comfy (again b/c I couldn't feel my legs) to nurse or really even sit up very much to hold my baby. I put pillows behind my back, but my rear was numb so if I tried to lean forward, I would fall.


I think if I have anymore children, I don't want the spinal, although I am very thankful that I had it for this birth. I guess I will leave that decision to the moment. It was stressful trying to decide if I wanted it or not, but now I have the memory of each to compare. The birth was better, the after effects were worse. It is a trade off.

Hope that wasn't too much info! :)

BabyK update

Just to keep you informed, we are going to the hospital on Tuesday (not sure when, yet) to try a procedure called external cephalic version. Basically, I get hooked up to an IV, some monitors, and an ultrasound. They will then lube up my belly and try to actually move the baby into a head down position. It works about 50-60% of the time, although there is some small risk of tearing the placenta or distressing the baby. (Hence the IV...just in case an emergency c-section is necessary)

On Monday, I am going to try to see an acupuncturist. I read about a technique where they burn some herb to warm your little toes. That seems to work about the same percentage of the time. Its a little weird, but I'm willing to try just about anything! :)

That is less expensive than the hospital version. I am also spending time with my hips in the air, both on my back and my hands and knees. With light and music near my pelvic bone.

Most importantly, we are praying. Please continue to pray with us! This baby has been fashioned by His hands, and He is in control of where BabyK's head is!

Thanks for praying! I have 2.5 weeks before my due date. We're getting close! :)

Back in the blog world....for the moment.

Well...my routines are totally gone. I am going to bed late and waking up late. I have not read e-mails or blogs. I have not spoken in Spanish.

I have been to the doctor a couple of times, had a kid with a cold, had brithday parties, had a sonogram, watched some recorded "so you think you can dance, and played the Wii that we got for Christmas.

But now it is time to get back to work! Brandon will be teaching through James for my mom's Sunday school class for this month. I will be assisting in that (when he isn't available) so we will be prepping the study together. That will be fun. One of our responsibilities with CAM is that we are "member care" for our team. I have totally neglected that, so I will be getting in touch with our team members this week and caring for them! :) We have to make several appointments with individuals and churches coming up. Plus, I will still be trying to take care of my kiddos. :)

Oh, and I have a HUGE prayer request:
BabyK was measuring a little small, so I went in for a sonogram to check position of the baby and to check measurements. Turns out that the reason that I was measuring small, was because he is breech and his rear end is sunk way down in my pelvis.

I will be calling my doctor here in a minute to talk to her about options. From talking to the specialist (the one who did the sonogram) and from reading on-line, most doctors will not attempt to deliver a breech baby. Although breech babies can be born vaginally, most doctors won't do it. They just don't have the experience doing it nowadays to have the skills necessary. It is a much more complicated birth.

Anyway, there are all kinds of methods to get the baby to turn over. One of those, one of the more successful, is a chiropractic method, but there are no chiros certified in this method in Lubbock. I am also trying to get in all kids of bizarre positions to try to coerce him to roll over. We will be trying light and sound to try to get him to move.

Finally, there is a method that OBs use. I would go to the hospital and they would monitor all kinds of things, and the doctor tries to manually make the baby somersault. Worst case scenario, something tears or the baby gets too distressed, and they have to do an emergency c-section.

Not sure yet what my doctor is willing and able to do.

We are beseeching the Lord to do this for us. Please pray with us. With our time line to get back to Guatemala, me having a c-section is really not the best option.

All that to say, we want to do what is safest for BabyK, and we know that God knows what is best. Please just pray with us. Please ask Him to turn that baby. I will be doing what I can to get him to move.

I'll keep you posted!

A Year in Review: the Kiddos 2009

What a day!

Ok! Another post about life in Guatemala.

Today we had an appointment in Guatemala City at 10am, and it is normally a 3 1/2 hour drive with no traffic. We were all loaded and in the car at 5am. By 5:10, we were driving away from the house. So far so good! We had planned on encountering some traffic entering the city during the morning rush hour. GirlM has the croup, but is hanging in so far.

About 50 minutes into the trip (the kids had not gone back to sleep) GirlM gets car sick and throws up. Luckily, she had not yet eaten breakfast, so it wasn't too nasty.

We have to stop so the pregnant lady can go to the bathroom. This particular potty consisted of a very small toilet with no seat and no way to flush. It cost the equivalent of 12 cents to use it. It was totally dark. The good thing was that the door locked, so at least I felt a measure of safety. And there was a rooster crowing right outside of the door to keep me company. The floor was wet with I don't want to know what, so I rolled my pant legs up over my knees before pulling my pants down so that they didn't drag on the ground.

I guess I paid the money so that someone could come after me and flush. Pretty gross, but is was better than trying to go on the side of the road. I just am very thankful that we had our own TP so that I could cover the seat before sitting down, and very, very thankful that we had hand sanitizer in the car.

On our way again we drive another 1 1/2 hours to find ourselves at a road block. Now, here in this beautiful country, there are VERY few alternate routes. There are basically two ways to get to the City from Xela: The coast road, and the mountain road. They both branch off at Xela, and the only road that connects them is filled with bandits and the US embassy has discouraged its use. The road block was because of a demonstration and had rocks in the road, a little violence, and burning tires. We waited there for over an hour, and then after some prayer and fasting (we didn't really fast) decided to try to find an alternate route through the mountains to a town farther down on the same highway. But not before giving GirlM some medicine for her climbing fever and apparently sore throat.

We had to backtrack for about 20 minutes and then ended up on a really, really curvy mountain road covered in pot holes. Ok...we drive for another 30 minutes before BoyD gets carsick and vomits. He had eaten breakfast. So I am turned around in the car "catching" the vomit in his blankie getting a little splattered in the process. No problem, except that I start feeling very motion sick from having to be turned around until Brandon found a safe place to pull over.

We get the boy cleaned up and give him a chance to empty his bladder on the side of the road. I get peed on as I am trying to help him. Sigh.

Back on the road, but pretty soon I have to start driving because I can't shake the nausea. We drive on road that consists of series after series of hairpin turns, bridges wide enough for one and a half cars, and pot holes, until we come to another road block. These demonstrators know what they are doing, and are effective at keeping honest folks from traveling in their country. We wait there long enough for Brandon to talk to some cops. We find out that the blockade is indefinite. There were no plans to open it up. By this time, it is around 11:30 in the morning, we have missed our appointment and the immigration lawyer is trying to find us another appointment.

So...we turn back around. We go back through the curvy road to get back on the highway. We finally eat lunch at about 12:30, and make it home by 3:30. GirlM slept a little in the car after she threw up, and BoyD had been awake the whole time.

We all took a nap when we got home. So we are going to try this again on Friday. Pray for us! :)

I'm going to bed.

A little note about giftedness:

I really don't have time to blog right now. I am cramming as much in my day as I can and still be a wife and mother. But, I ran across this in my preparations for the Bible study that I am teaching and I really wanted to share it. So, I will take 15 minutes "off" and write this out. Not that anyone is reading this anymore since I only post every once in a while, but here it goes anyway.

This is a quote from Howard Hendricks from his book Living by the Book regarding application of Scripture, and more specifically, the Great Commission. (If you have never read this book, please go out and buy it and read it. It is amazing.

"So when it comes to "making disciples," some people will do that by teaching, because that's what they do best. Some will do it by modeling and mentoring, because that's what they do best. Some have a giftedness for influencing people, so they will focus on proclaiming the gospel in very straightforward, impactful ways, because that's how they are most effective. Some will come alongside unbelievers and build relationships and live out the gospel, so that over time they stimulate curiosity about what makes them different. Some will take the approach that Andrew took with his brother, Simon Peter (John 1:40-42): they will bring their friends to people who have the ability to explain the gospel much more effectively than they can. Some will participate in teams that go into the world and do specific projects aimed at drawing people to Jesus. Some who have a talent for telling a story will write books in which they relate their own journeys of faith in ways that are very compelling to an unsaved reader."

This is my question: What am I doing? How am I applying the Great Commission? How are you applying it? What are you doing? Not being an "evangelist" or a "pastor" or a "missionary" is no excuse. (For me, either)

Be encouraged that no matter what you are gifted in, the Lord Jesus created you to do specific good works, and we are commissioned to "go" and "make disciples." We are not called to be something that we are not, just to do something because of who we are.

The Great Experiment - (can you do it?)

I have unintentionally been conducting an experiment. I mean, my life has been very different over the past couple weeks than it was previously. I want to explain, share, and invite you to try this with me.

Those of you who have been active at our Flower Mound, TX church will be very familiar with this analogy. It is not one that I came up with, but is one that I have found to be INCREDIBLY true to life.

We each have two creatures living in us. (Well...those of us who have the Spirit of God dwelling in us.)

These two creatures are constantly fighting for control of our thoughts, emotions, will, etc. One of these creatures, I will say, wants us to be "of the world." That is, worldly in our thoughts, actions, responses, etc. The other creature wants us to be holy in all that we do. The stronger creature will win in any given battle. The battle over how to react to a screaming toddler. The battle over how to react in really bad traffic. The battle over whether or not we take the time to pray when we see an immediate need. The battle over finding time to be in the Word of God. The battle over whether or not to share that little nugget of interesting "information" about our neighbor with someone. I could go on and on.

Now, what determines which creature is stronger? How come we just can't seem to keep our thoughts away from criticizing that other person at the grocery store?

The creature that is fed the most, will be the strongest.

I have experienced much frustration over wanting to think more holy, act more holy, be more like Christ, but just finding my mind during the day thinking of other things. Not necessarily "bad"things (although that can certainly be an issue as well), but just things that are not beneficial. I will have some wonderful time in the the morning in prayer with every intention and desire to have my thoughts on God all day. To be experiencing His presence. And then, at the end of the day, I look back, and I was as self absorbed and distracted as always. (What I mean by self absorbed is that I am concerned with my life primarily...my to-do list, my issues, my schedule, my kids schedules, etc)

Now, to the experiment. Over the past few weeks I have been insanely busy. I get up at 5am and go to bed around 9:30. I don't have time for TV (we lost they only channels that I watch anyway, so I'm not even tempted), reading fiction, surfing the internet, exercising, or really any extra curricular activities. I have been making gifts, making bread, cooking, keeping the house picked up, but mostly it has been the following.
1. I am preparing, translating, and teaching a class on "how to study the Bible" for women from our church.
2. I have been doing all of the homework that I assign them for the class (which is a lot of time in the Bible).
3. I have been spending a lot of time in prayer for this study and for the women in it.
4. Before going to bed at night, to settle down my mind, I read 1-2 pages in a book called Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

All of my "spare" time is doing numbers 1-3. I am even taking some time off from those things to write this blog because it has been on my mind to do it for quite a while and the desire + opportunity will go away if I put it off any longer.

Ever since all of this began, I have noticed that my mind is more focused on the Lord. I turn to God more rapidly when a question arises, when someone is hurt/sick/suffering. I pray more throughout my day. I am more aware of the presence of God! I realized that I have been feeding one creature (the Spirit) and starving the other (the flesh)! I mean, I have always believed that that was true, and hence the value in a devotional time, but I don't know that I had really experienced before the effects of really starving the flesh creature!

So...I am going to continue along these lines for a while. (I am forced to by all of the things I need to do, including preparing a lesson and a sermon for a church this coming weekend) I am even choosing to read more Bible stories to my children instead of just fiction.

Will you join with me? For a week, maybe two? Will you try my experiment? Will you stop watching TV (just for a week!) and stop listening to secular radio, and stop reading anything other than the scripture (or devotional books, or Christian non-fiction, etc)? Will you use that extra time (most likely you will have some) to read the Bible, pray, listen to Christian music?

I would love for you to do this with me, if you aren't already. Then we could compare notes.

Disclaimer: I am in no way opposed to any of the things that I mentioned that we sacrifice for a week! I am not saying that they are sinful, or inherently bad, or un-holy, or anything!!!! Please don't read it that way. It is just that those things don't feed the creature that we want to be the strongest. (Normally, they don't) We as believers should not be so removed from the world that we are ignorant of what is going on around us. We should not isolate ourselves from everything "worldly" and move out to a monastery (although there is nothing wrong with that!). This is just a short term experiment to watch how this truth plays out in our lives.

Will I stop watching all TV after this busy time is over? Most likely not. Will I stop reading fiction all together? Probably not, but I do believe that I will be making some changes after this time. What those permanent changes will be are still yet to be determined.

Let me know if you will participate with me.

Your Baby Can Read - A Review: 1st installment

Hey everyone. I've never done this before, but there has been some buzz about a certain product, and I wanted to chime in.

I am going to review (1st of a series) the video learning series Your Baby Can Read. This is a video series that claims that after watching (and using the supplemental materials), your baby will be able to read. Now, they don't make any specific claims (that I know of) that say that by a certain age, or after a specific amount of time, that your baby will be able to read.

The product comes with 5 volumes. Each volume comes with a 30 minute video, a flip book, the really cool flashcards with pictures that slide in and out, a slide book with words from each of the videos, and some other flash cards.

One of the claims that has not proven true AT ALL is that they say that the video can keep your kids attention for hours. Um...not in my house. I mean, both of my kids will stop watching attentively after like 10-15 minutes, depending on if they are tired or not. I usually pause the video if they stop watching, and turn it back on later if they are interested.

One of the "tips" that they give is that you should cut out all other TV from your kids lives. No cartoons, no baby einstien, no movies, etc.

Your kids watch each video 2 times a day for about a month or two (depending on the video).

They tell you on the videos that children take a long time to learn the first 20 words, but after they know about 50, they will start to actually be picking up the phonics and the letter patterns which enable them to actually read, and not just recognize words.

Ok, our experience: We have BoyD (3yrs 10 mo.) and GirlM (1yr 9 mo.)
We have been using the materials for like 6 weeks. We have gone through the first video and are watching the second. (they are actually watching it right now so that I can type this!) We don't watch TV during the week anyway, but we still let BoyD watch cartoons on Saturday morning, and we eat dinner on Sat. night in front of a movie. (this Saturday it will be Cinderella)
So, we have not followed that suggestion.

The videos have cute songs and poems that my kids love. My kids (especially GirlM) really participate in the videos. They watch them, follow along, say all the words that are printed and spoken, dance with the music, and do the directed actions. For example: the video will have written the word "nose," it says "nose," and then shows a little kid touching their nose. It will then tell the kids to "touch your nose". That part is great.

Now that we have moved on to the second video, we will occasionally watch the first video as a "review." It gives a little bit of a variety, which helps my sanity!

We also don't watch it twice a day every day. We probably do twice a day for BoyD maybe 4 days a week, and for GirlM like 2-3 days a week. Mostly they watch it while I am preparing lunch and dinner. GirlM watches less of it than BoyD, but when she watches it, she interacts with it more. Maybe that is a girl/boy thing, or maybe it is an age thing.

The other materials (that go along with the video) are FANTASTIC! I mean, I love them. The kids love to look at the flip books. The have the word printed on the page, and then you either flip it up or down (I wish that if flipped sideways) to show the image of the corresponding word. It also gives little things to do with the picture like "touch the dog's nose" or something. The sliding flash cards are fun as well. It gives the word, and then you slide out a tab and it shows the image. The kids think it is fun to play with those.

We probably look at 1-2 of those materials every day. I think that using those things really enhances what the videos show.

Our results (so far):
GirlM does not seem to recognize any of the words.
BoyD recognizes most of the words from the first video, and a couple of the words from the second. I am actually amazed! He really can look at these words, only printed, in any order, and tell me what it says. He recognizes the following words:
elephant, dog, cat, mouth, eyes, nose, gorilla, arms, arms up, hi, wave, and a few others that I can't remember. He also will put his hand over the "se" in "nose" and tell me it says "no." This was with out prompting from me. He does the same with eyes and the word yes. At this point he isn't reading per se, but he is recognizing the words w/o seeing any pictures. I think that is pretty cool!

I don't know how long it will take for him to get to that 50 word mark, but with very little effort, he is picking up words.

My current conclusion (this could change as we continue the process)
-This is a good program that seems to be working well, at least for our 3 yr old.
-Because the AAP recommends that children under the age of 2 should not watch any TV, and because BoyD is picking this up SO MUCH FASTER than GirlM, I don't think that the new baby due in Jan will be watching this until they are at least 2.
-It probably does "work" in that babies younger than my children could eventually do what BoyD is doing, but since it takes so long, and actually reading to your babies is probably better suited to them, I don't see recommending this product for 3 month old babies, like the info-mercial suggests.
-I will be using the cards/books and other materials that came with the program with the new baby, because I don't see how it can hurt!

Ok...I know that is a ton of info, but I hope it helps! GirlM will continue to watch the videos with her brother, and I will post another update in another month or two to note her progress.

Interesting day

GirlM got stung by a bee this morning. It was floating in the dog's water bowl, and she just reached in and grabbed it.

She came running into the house crying forcefully. When I saw her, I saw that she had something on her hand, and I though that she had picked up a piece of dog poop. Nope. It was a bee stuck to her thumb. I flicked it off right away, but the stinger was still in her. Brandon came out of his office with his trusty pocket knife and scraped the stinger off.

After some meat tenderizer, tried and failed crushed papaya extract, and finally a compress of chewed up pipe tobacco (thanks Brandon...you are a great father), she was as good as new! In just a couple of hours, the swelling had gone down and she was using her hand like normal.

Then this evening, a couple of Guatemalan kids who shine our shoes and wash our cars on Sundays came by. They told us that they couldn't find a bus to their town (about 45 min. away) and asked if they could stay here. Um. No. No, they can't stay here.

We called Gladys (the lady who works for us) and asked. Turns out the last bus was not for another hour and a half, so we gave them bus money and sent them on their way. We should have given them some food, but we didn't think about it until it was too late.

I made southern cornbread for lunch. With the bee sting episode, it wasn't ready until 1:45, so we ate it for supper. But in one cast iron skillet, there was 1/2 cup of butter. That is 90 grams of fat, just in the butter. That doesn't include the 1/8 cup of oil that greased the bottom of the skillet. Needless to say, it was really good cornbread.

So we had that for dinner with some black beans and some queso fresco (fresh cheese). Yum! And then, for dessert (for the kids only...so sad), I fried a piece of cornbread in a skillet with a pad of butter until it was crispy, and then we layered it with some cookie ice-cream. We are trying to fatten up GirlM, and BoyD could use the fat as well. I tasted it. It was to die for. A great way to use up left over cornbread.

Ok...that is about it for the day. Oh, and BoyD, after dinner, said his tummy was hurting. Maybe we over did it with the butter.

Last Saturday:

Last Saturday:
This is how the day started: Normally, I am the one to go and get her up, so she was excited to see her daddy! (This video is really for the grandmothers)

(You can see the bumper that I made for the rail of her crib b/c there are bite marks all long the top. I need to add some straps and make another one for the other side, but it seems to be working)

Then, after a good bout of cartoons, we got all dressed and ready and headed out:

Poor GirlM doesn't have any Texas Tech gear, so she commandeered BoyD's hat.
We went to a place called "el vaul" which is a city park located on the top of a large hill (or small mountain). It has a view of the entire Xela valley, and these really large, really cool concrete slides built into the side of the mountain. They did have some smaller ones that the kids can use by themselves.

This picture was not posed. These are the amazing men in my life! Aren't the handsome?

Introducing...

BabyK (check our newsletter for the full name...if you are not receiving our newsletter and want to, put your e-mail address in a comment here, and we'll send you on)

The little baby that is being knitted together in my tummy is a BOY!!!

BoyD and GirlM will have a baby brother on or around January 20th.

(Quick photo of me and the kids...you can't see BabyK very well, he's in there!)

BoyD is thrilled, Brandon is thrilled...we're all thrilled!

Now I must clean out BoyD's closet to make room for another kid, we must buy/build a bunk bed for BoyD's room, I need to make some boy bassinet bedding for our room. That is just to begin the list! And we are only in the states for another 7-8 weeks! Augh!

Praise God with us for this miracle. In the ultrasound, we got to see him open and close his mouth, we got to see him push up on his tippy toes, and we saw his little face so well. We also watched as his stomach and bladder filled and emptied! It was absolutely magical.

I had a hard time being on my back towards the end of it, as I am getting quite large, so I had to keep pausing the sonogram to sit up. We made it though, and it was worth it!

New Women's Study

I've been wanting to post this for quite a while, but I'm a little occupied right now. I am forsaking some study prep time to get this blog out.

Today will be the second meeting of the new study that I am teaching: How to study the Bible. It is based on the book "Living by the Book" by Dr. Howard Hendricks and on the Precepts inductive Bible study method. I am having to adjust the material somewhat to fit the culture.

Last week we had 12 women come! It was fantastic! We had 8 women from our new church, 2 missionary wives, and Gladys (the lady who works for us) and Gladys' daughter. I am really curious to see how many of those women come back this week. They had homework, and everything! It is interesting, because at our last church (it was huge), I had on several occasions invited women from our Sunday school class to the women's Bible study in our home. Not one of them ever came. At our new church, (very small) I put out one invitation, and 8 women came! It was unreal!

I really enjoyed teaching it. I mean, teaching in Spanish is a little difficult...well...it can be very difficult where there is something that I want to say, and I'm just not sure how to say it, but the two American women are a huge help on so many levels.

Please pray for us! Please pray that I can be a good steward of the resources as I translate and adapt the material for Guatemala. Please pray that I would be humble and teachable. Sadly, my unintentional tendancy is to have an attitude of superiority. Not necessarily that I am superior to them, but that my methods, my education, my techniques, are the best, and the poor Guatemalans need to be enlightened. That is so incredibly foolish, and if you would please pray that the Lord would keep me from such arrogance as I teach this study.

Finally, pray that this would multiply. A goal of ours is that after this study, one (or more) of these women would have a desire to then teach this material to other women! It would be wonderful if I could just be a help to the next "set" of women who are teaching this.

Check back later today...we have some news to share with you!

A Day in The Life Of...

I get a lot of questions regarding what we do here. Specifically, what I do, as the wife of a missionary. I wanted to briefly post my schedule for today, just in case you were interested.

5:15am - BoyD wakes b/c his pull up leaked and his shirt and pants are wet.
5:17 alarm goes off
5:45 - I pull myself out of bed, head downstairs with a load of laundry.
- I put in the load of laundry. Thank the Lord for a washing machine.
- I make a cup of decaf coffee and head upstairs for a little alone time.
6:00am - BoyD is waiting at the top of the stairs for me, ready to wake up.
- I end up reading Mark 14 to him and Jeremiah chapter 3. (Not a very toddler friendly passage)
6:30 am - BabyM is "talking" in her crib. We go and get her up. The kids and I play with BoyD's dinosaurs, I get their clothes for the day picked out, and get my bag ready to go swim.
7:25am - Brandon is showered and ready and the fam heads downstairs for breakfast. Brandon makes oatmeal, I eat a quick bowl of cornflakes (sharing bites with the kids while the oatmeal cooks)
7:50 - I head out the door to go to the public sports complex. I swim for around 30 minutes and head back home.
8:50 - I get home, Brandon has dressed the kids, fed them breakfast, and cleaned up the kitchen. I have a super husband!
- I shower and get ready.
9:30 - The kids and I pick up the upstairs. We head downstairs and I hang the laundry on the line. I make the menu for next week and the grocery list.
10:30 - The kids and I go to the grocery store and to a big lots type place that is having a 40% off entire inventory sale. (I find crayola color wonder finger paints!!!! and Rite-aid pull ups!!!!)
12:20pm - we get home and I make lunch: corn tortillas, refried black beans, scrambles eggs.
1:30 - I put the kiddos down for their naps.
1:45 - I head back out to the Market (fresh fruits and veggies...open air market) to barter for our veggies, etc. I find BabyM a pair of knock-off hot pink converse for less $4
3:00 - I arrive at home, clean the kitchen of lunch dishes. (Too bad we don't have a dishwasher!) And begin the arduous process of washing the fruits and veggies. This consists of scrubbing each thing with a soapy brush, rinsing, placing in a large tub of bleach water, letting it sit for 25 minutes, and then rinsing with filtered water before laying it out to dry.
3:40 - The kiddos are up (I had to wake up BoyD, while BabyM had been laughing in her crib since 3:20!)
4:00 - The kiddos and I head downstairs, them to play in the sandbox, me to work more on the veggies.
4:30 - Brandon finishes with work a little early, helps me in the kitchen, and gets the kids ready to head back out. I pull in the clothes from the line.
5:00 - The whole family heads back to the big lots type store so that the kids can look at the toys (we didn't have time earlier, and I wanted Brandon to see what all they had) We purchased a plastic wisk - ours was broken - a bug collecting kit for BoyD, and 2 caramel KitKat bars - for movie night, all for less than $4.
6:00 - we get home and make a quick dinner of left overs. The kids eat great (even BabyM).
- we clean the kitchen while BoyD tries to find bugs in the house and BabyM pours her milk onto her cookie on the table.
6:45 - everybody heads upstairs to start bed time (little you tube video, take baths, pick up toys, read books, sing songs, say prayers, etc)
8:00 - I blog...sit down for the first time today, Brandon picks out a movie, makes popcorn.

Busy day! Good night everyone!

Just because she was being cute!

Just because she was being cute!

Just in case...

Just in case you like looking at my kids:

A little video of us getting ready to go to out. I pulled out the camera because they were just chatting away about what we were going to go do. Then, the camera comes out, and they get quiet! They are so funny.

Oh, and to explain, BoyD is calling me "dad" because he is pretending that I am the dad triceratops and he is Cera from The Land Before Time.



BabyM is wearing a shirt that my grandmother made for me when I was her age.

Yesterday was a pretty afternoon (meaning it wasn't raining which is a little rare) so I took the kiddos to the park that is inside the walls of our neighborhood. So, I took some pictures. 150 pictures actually! The following are a few of my favorites.

BabyM "smelling" the flowers.

BoyD just exploring and being BoyD.

My kids loving on each other. What isn't in the photo, is the hug that they were giving each other that ended on the grass like this. Look at BoyD's content face in that second photo. You also can't hear BabyM fussing while he is just so happy. It was really cute.

BabyM had a great time, and was sad when it was time to leave!

Being a mommy is cool.

Hey everyone! I'll just get started. I went to a baby shower but didn't have the time or the money to buy a gift. So...I made one. I used fabric scraps that I had here at the house, and I made this little receiving blanket quilt. It is not my favorite thing I have ever made, in that all the fabrics don't "go" together all that well, but they were all feminine and babyish. And it took me 2 hours one evening, and then 2 hours the next day to complete it, from cutting, piecing, sewing, pinning, and quilting. It went very fast.

I actually thought the bag (and card) was cuter than the quilt! I "made" the bag, in that I bought the yellow bag on sale for 50 cents and decorated it with twine, the letters of the baby's name, little tiny clothes pins, and a homemade baby card. (The "tissue" paper in the top is more fabric scraps)

The kids were being creative together and being so cute to boot!

I have since cut BabyM's bangs. They are less in her eyes, now.

BabyM wanted to use the paint brush, and BoyD wanted to use his fingers. Go figure.

I wanted to share some really cute BoyD sayings.
He was making play dough letters at the table this morning while I was making snack in the kitchen. Snack was deviled eggs, but he wanted them to be dinosaur eggs so I was coloring them green. And he says "Dinosaurs are extinct" "yes" I say, "they are." And he replies "are they extinct because they smell bad?"

Then he told me that he told his English teacher at school that snakes live in the wild west. We said "well, what did she say?" And he said "She didn't understand what I said. My English teacher doesn't speak English very well."

And then today, with his "cool" sunglasses on, lounging in a lawn chair in the sun, he told me: "look, mom. I'm in the wild west."

This afternoon, while reviewing some letters, we came across the letter "D." He has a hard time remember that letter, so I said "it is the first letter of your name..." well, so we started spelling his name in a little rhythmic tone "d-e-a-c-o-n" and he added in the same meter and rhythm "that spells the name of an Englishman" (like as in in fe-fi-fo-fum)

Oh, my, gosh. I don't know if reading this comes across even half as funny as it did hearing it in real life, but I laugh out loud even typing it. Maybe it is just because it is my kiddo.

BabyM's vocab has exploded. She now says "Look a me" if I am not giving her my full attention. She will also say "I don wan to" if I am asking her to do something undesirable to her. She will say "SKOOS ME!" if I am talking on the phone or something and she wants to talk to me. She'll say "i full" after meals, and the cutest of all, is when I tell her that I love her, she says "love me too"

She'll tell me "kime" before she climbs on something, and then while climbing says "i won fa" (as in, I won't fall)

Oh, I really do love my job.

A little about the baby

Well...I haven't talked much about the baby here. I am 23 1/2 weeks along and feeling pretty good. With both of my other kids, I felt incredible during the second trimester. Tons of energy, tons of mental energy, etc.


I guess that because I have a 3 1/2 year old and a 21 month old I just don't have that same energy level. I mean, I feel good, but I still feel pretty sleepy. Not sleeping well at night can cause that!

Also, I can feel that this is the third pregnancy in less than 5 years, and that I am 31 instead of 26. My hips get locked up if I do anything physical. I mean...I made a little lap quilt for a baby shower that I have today, and just the bending over for cutting, piecing, sewing, ironing, etc, made going to sleep that night very difficult. My hips would just get locked up in one position. Then, for a while the next morning, I had a hard time going down the stairs.

I also am not working out like I wanted. With the other two pregnancies, I exercised regularly. I just can't get the energy to get up early enough to work out. Excuses, excuses!

I am getting pretty large, although if feels good to have the belly growing at a faster rate than the rear end so that I actually look pregnant, and not just fat! :)

I feel the baby move ALL THE TIME like crazy! For a couple of weeks now, you can even see my tummy bulge and rock with the baby's kicks and turns. It is wild. I can't get over the wonder of it all.

We still don't know the sex. I am DYING to know! I have so much to do around the house to get ready, but I need to know if this baby will share a room with BoyD or with BabyM. That means putting together bedding, sorting through the appropriate newborn stash, organizing one of the kid's closets. (They aren't disorganized, there just isn't room in either closet for another kid's clothes.) Stuff like that. Since we leave in December to head back to the states, I need to get it all done soon. I still have to wait another month to find out the sex. That is a bummer.

Over all, life is great. I feel pretty good considering the state of my body, I love my kids and they bring me so much joy, and my husband is amazing.

We are also having to live ON THE CHEAP big time until we go back to the states. We are trying to save up enough money so that we can just pay the doctor bills and hospital bills after the baby comes. We also have to have enough cash up front (before we get paid in Dec) to pay all our bills here for the 3 months that we will be gone. So we are trying to save every penny. Not easy with vaccines and doctor bills, etc. Pray for us that unexpected expenses can be a minimum these next couple of months. (On that note...I only spent $50 on groceries for the next week...yeah!!!)

A morning word from Brother Lawrence

Gonna share a long quote with you. What a way to start the day.

"I am filled with shame and confusion when I reflect, on the one hand, upon the great favors which God has done, and incessantly continues to do me; and on the other, upon the ill use I have made of them, and my small advancement in the way of perfection.

"Since by His mercy He gives us still a little time, let us begin in earnest, let us repair the lost time, let us return with a full assurance to that Father of mercies, who is always ready to receive us affectionately. Let us renounce, let us generously renounce, for the love of Him, all that is not Himself; He deserves infinitely more. Let us think of Him perpetually. Let us put all our trust in Him; I doubt not but we shall soon find the effects of it, in receiving the abundance of His grace, with which we can do all things, and without which we can do nothing but sin.

"We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life without the actual and continual help of God. Let us then pray to Him for it continually. How can we pray to Him without being with Him? How can we be with Him but in thinking of Him often? And how can we often think of Him but by a holy habit which we should form of it? You will tell me that I am always saying the same thing. It is true, for this is the best and easiest method I know; and as I use no other, I advise all the world to it. We must know before we can love. In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure. This is an argument which well deserves your consideration."

-Brother Lawrence from Practicing the Presence of God

Hope you enjoy that as much as I did. Have a great day!

Livin' on the cheap!

Hey guys! Been too long, so I wanted to post a little about living expenses here in Guatemala.

Ok...first of all, if you want to purchase any item related to technology, it will cost you a lot more here. Cars cost around 4K more here than in the states. Imported products (Wishbone italian dressing, or heinz ketchup, for example) are also a lot more expensive. I mean, it costs like $3 to get a small bottle of real white vinegar. McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy's, all cost the same here.

But, we went out to eat after church on Sunday (normally we just do something in the crock pot, but church got out just before 1, and our kiddos normally eat at 12:30, and needless to say, they were both too tired and hungry to drive home, figure out lunch, and then expect them to eat). We went to a local restaurant.

Ok - We started with two enchiladas (chicken salad on tostado shells...it's an appetizer) I got a sandwich with an egg, ham, and cheese omlet, and black beans. Brandon got a bowl of soup, breaded steak, rice, cooked veggies, and 2 tortillas. The kids split a 1/4 lb cheese burger with chips. Plus we got three bottles of water (not free here). All of that, including a 15% tip, cost $10. Oh my gosh! We can afford that! :)

Then, I go to the store and buy groceries for the entire week for our family for around $60. That was $20 under budget! Yeah! Sometimes...well, most of the time...I really love this country.