Happy Five Months!

 

 

 

Moving Forward...

Our family is on the move you could say.   We returned home from a month long visit to Mozambique in August 2011.  We had prayed while we were there that God would show us if we were to return on a full time basis.  We both felt that confirmation in our hearts (even though I had many doubts for a while once we were back home).  It's been a process with me and the Lord working through things.  In the end, I know He's leading us and I feel His peace when I let go and follow.  In the mean time, we've had just a few things going on since our return like the expectancy and arrival of our sweet Luke for one.   For many months following our trip we wrestled with what the next step was for our family on our quest to get back to Africa. The path has seemed so complicated and impossible at times.  Getting our family to Africa on a full time basis has seemed so "far off."  For me personally I can tend to make things so much more complicated than what they really are.  I had us chasing a few unnecessary tangents at one point thinking we needed more training, more schooling, more... By the way, none of those are bad things.  They're actually great things.  We just realized at one point that for us they were burdens we were placing on ourselves out of a heart of doubt and unbelief.  The truth was God had already supplied us with the tools and skills we need to move forward.

We had a turning point last spring when we had the opportunity to go away to the mountains for the weekend sans toddler.  We had some undivided time to really pray and listen for God's still small voice in our lives.  It felt like God cleared away some of the clutter and simply brought things back into focus.   That is when we felt very strongly that the next step for us was to put our home on the market and sell it in the fall after our baby had arrived.  Nothing more, nothing less.  He simply gave us the light we needed to see that step in front of us and give us great confidence about it.  He also gave us Luke's name that weekend.  I promise to share that soon too. :)  Between March and September we were able to enjoy the anticiaption of meeting Luke.  He came along with fireworks on July 4th!  He's our freedom baby!  We settled into being a family of four for a few months, and then at the beginning of September we were ready to take that plunge and put our house on the market.  This was our "Lord, we're serious about following you.  Please confirm if this is your leading"  step.  Kind of like when Gideon put out a fleece in Judges 6.  Tyson walked out to the front yard with our realtor to put the sign in the yard and  felt God's presence as that stake went into the ground.  This was our first big step on this journey.  Our realtor warned us that our asking price may be too high given the number of days most of the homes were on the market in our neighborhood.  Even though the homes were sitting on the market for 100+ days we decided to stick with our price.  Five days, I repeat- Five days! after we listed our house we received an offer.  Um...what???   We agreed on an offer and closed about five weeks later.  To put it mildly, our heads have been spinning.  It's been a whirlwind of negotiating, packing, looking for a place to live, and moving all with a toddler and an infant.   It has been a bitter sweet experienc.  This was our first home.  We put so much TLC into it.  We have wonderful memories of great times there with each other and friends.  Both of our babies were born while living there, and we really bonded with many of the neighbors.   I've had a growing experience as a parent because Samuel has had a particularly hard time leaving.  He cried and asked to go home every day for the first two weeks.  I felt so helpless!  Our decision had caused our little boy to have a hurt in his heart. To realize we can't protect them from sadness at times was new territory.  I'm reminded that he's on his own journey with the Lord and this is all part of it.  All I can say is GRACE - God's GRACE!  As I write this, we are currently living with close friends who opened their home to us during this transition period.  At first we were planning to rent a townhome or something but it never felt quite right.  In the mean time our friends offered, and this has been a huge blessing for our family in many ways.   So there you have it, we're on the move.  We said goodbye to our first home and hello to a journey of faith towards what we feel God is calling us into.  We do not have a date set yet, but we are preparing to go full time to Africa in the coming months.   For so long this reality of really selling our home and taking that plunge to move our family overseas, specifically Africa has seemed so far off.  It's all quite hard to believe at times.   Here we are, moving along as God directs our steps.  In the mean time, I'll leave you with this photo I found yesterday while looking back through our Africa pics.  Whatever works, right?   Can you imagine the looks we'd get if we tried this here in the states?? Don't try this at home people!!

Four sweet months - That Luke

"Birth"day

One Month

 Two Months

Three Months

 Four Months!


We love him so!!!

Gone Fishin'

Hi, this is Samuel.  I had a big day with my dad recently.  He took me on my first fishing trip in a real boat. We had sooo much fun!

Daddy brought a life vest for me from home, but I was determined to wear the one they offered us at the boat house and he let me.  He let me help steer the boat too.  We caught a fish, I promise.  Daddy's hands were just too full to snap a picture of it.  We didn't want him to die, so we let him go back and live in his home, the lake.

It was a little tough holding the rod and reel with that bulky life vest on, but that didn't matter to me.  I managed just fine.  No problem!!

Daddy was impressed that I wanted to fish for so long.   I love doing things with just me and dad.  He teaches me so much!   The bigger I get the more fun adventures we get to have.  I love it!

That was a BIG lake!!  I kept looking all around in the trees for animals like monkeys, bears, alligators, and dinosaurs!

After our fun in the boat we had a picnic.  Daddy packed me a PB&J.

A boy is hungry after all that fishing and boating.

Can you tell how much fun I had hanging out with Daddy and going fishing for the first time??  We had a blast!!  Thanks Dad!!  I love you!

These Two

 I'm not going to tell you how often I bathe Luke.  It's too embarrasing!  Let's just say there's no chance of his skin drying out anytime soon.  This morning the little ray of sunshine did get a bath, and his big brother was right there to help.  

Luke was pretty tickled to have his brother wash him.  Big brother had a small bar of lavendar baby soap he was rubbing on his tummy.  I have to say he was really gentle and sweet about it.  Maybe I'll teach him to change diapers next...

Binocowars

I've taken Samuel to the Museum of Natural Science a few times lately (Pre-Luke), and they have a wonderful room for preschoolers called the "discovery room" with all kinds of things to see and do.  One of his favorite activities the last time we went was using the binoculars to look at things and look out the windows.  Since then he had been asking for a pair of binoculars, so one day I had the bright idea that we could make some with toilet paper rolls.  Obviously I'm not the first genius mom to think of this because you can find a million examples and ideas online (google, pinterest, whatever!).   We had a lot of fun making ours.  I let him paint the rolls, put stickers, and glue them together.  They turned out really cute and he was so excited!  

 We got a total kick out of watching him too.  He's our little explorer.  He loves to pretend he's exploring, so binoculars are a must.  However, he says "binocowars."   He's usually exploring so he can rescue something.  

Who knows what one might find in that room...

Our little explorer in action with his new binocowars.   

 

In the photos below, we spotted a rabbit in our front yard, so I suggested he get his binoculars to see it better.  :)  He was soooo serious about it.
 

Look at those elbows perched on the sofa.  Thank goodness the little rabbit cooperated and stayed put for a little while munching on grass, so this little explorer could get a good view.
 

Brotherly Love and Luke is Six Weeks

These two had some bonding time this morning in Samuel's room.  Luke Isaiah is six weeks old today.  What??
 

This picture is a foreshadow of all the laughter and fun that's ahead for them.  I pray!
 

Half yawn, half smile.
 

Wow, those are my two boys.
 

How does a six week old already know that jumping on the bed is going to be a blast??
 

For the tenth time please don't jump on the bed with your brother right there, Super Man.
 

Hard to resist, I know.   Especially when you're being so adoringly admired for doing so.
 

Welcome Home, Meet Your Brother

Like I said, Luke's parents were so prepared they left his diaper bag at home and had to wrap him in a blanket for his first trip in the car.  Parents of the Year!  

 Proud but tired Daddy is ready to load the precious cargo.  

 Hello sunshine heat wave!   We had temps well over 100 this week.  It's probably a good thing we didn't have clothes to put on Luke.  He didn't need them in those temps!  

What a sweet face!!  He slept all the way home.  I kept having to hold his head up so it wouldn't bob forward.  

Welcome home, Luke!!  Brace yourself.  Your big brother has been staying with friends, but he's on his way and excited to meet you.  We've been calling this the "special day" and the "special day" is finally here.  

Samuel was soooo excited.  He kept saying "Awww...he's sooo little."  "He so cute."   He was giddy.

 Notice Daddy on guard ready to thwart any sudden movements towards the infant by the two year old. Love hurts sometimes, ya know.   

 So proud and excited.  

 First pic of Mommy with her two loves.  

Big Brother Gift!

Leading up to Luke's birth, Samuel discovered Thomas the Train and loves playing with the wooden trains when he get the chance.  We were able to get  a table and lots of the trains (thanks to friends, grandparents, and craigslist).  Those little dudes are expensive!  Anyway, we controlled ourselves and waited until the "special day" to give it all to him.  It was a present from Baby Luke to Samuel for being a big brother.  

 He's in train  heaven!!

I've lost count of the hours of play that have happened around this table so far.  

        
Welcome home, Luke.  We love you so much and can't wait to watch you and your brother Samuel grow to be great friends.

Our Luke Isaiah is Here

The fourth of July will never be the same for us (in a wonderfully great way).  We will be celebrating our little boy's birthday on that day from now on.  Luke Isaiah was born at 5:36pm on July 4th!   We are so happy and thankful he's here and healthy.   Here are a few pics documenting the time around his birth.

This was the about four days before he was born and one of the last "pregnant" photos taken.   Love the expression on Samuel's face.  What a stinker!!  

 Once again we delivered at the birth center where we had Samuel.  This was actually the exact same room Samuel was born in.  You can see by the smile on my face that labor hadn't quite kicked into high gear yet.  We had been so worried we wouldn't be able to get Samuel dropped off with friends and get to the birth center in a timely manner.  My contractions were about five minutes apart when we got there (and in this photo), but I can laugh about our concern now considering we had about 14 hours to spare by the time we got there.  This labor was even longer than our first!  I was really banking on 4 to 5 hours max.  Not so!!  Talk about readjusting your expectations!

We are going to fast forward fourteen hours to the great part of seeing our boy for the first time.  He was actually born at 5:36, but we didn't get a pic of the clock for a few minutes.  

So thankful that Luke was a champ throughout the labor process.  His heart rate did not waiver once from beginning to end.  So thankful!!  He cried right away as soon as they laid him on my chest.  What a sweetheart.  Oh yeah, he weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce.

 He was 20 1/2 inches long.

A special first moment with Daddy.  Luke was just minutes old still "pinking" up a bit in this picture.  So precious.  I love that his first moments were skin to skin with Mommy and then skin to skin with Daddy.  Such a bonding time.  

Notice anything here?   How about me stuffing my face with pizza!  I had to post this one.  Luke's getting a newborn exam as Mommy is downing some food.   Funny story there was we had already decided where we wanted to order out once he was born.  Then after he was born, we realized it was a holiday and most places were closed.  That's when it dawned on us our kid was born on a major holiday.  :)  Thankfully Whole Foods was open, so Tyson went a picked up fresh pizza and salad for us and the midwifes and nurses.  

Our support team was A-mazing!  We were so blessed with the folks surrounding us and supporting us non-stop from start to finish.   Emily was our midwife.  I love the shirt she had on.  "Midwives help people out."  Ha!!  Yes they do.   Tyson said afterwards that Emily was his new midwife crush.  It was Maureen, the woman who delivered Samuel, but now Emily has taken her place. :)  

It's funny how you can laugh about things afterwards.  At one point Emily was encouraging me through a contraction and she said something like "You can do this, there's no one else inside of you." And I quipped back "There better be someone else inside of me!"  She was shocked that I had a little dry sense of humor to spare during the nitty gritty.  That's me!  

We stayed overnight and went home the next day.  We all got a decent amount of sleep which was nice.  These sweet photos were taken the next morning.  

   Thank goodness I packed a muslin blanket in my duffle bag because the diaper bag I had packed with diapers, wipes, and clothes for Luke got left behind.  We actually just wrapped the little bundle in a blanket to bring him home.  So much for the special going home out fit I had planned.

                                  

                                      

Here we go.  We're officially a family of four and so so happy to have our Luke Isaiah here with us.  What a priceless treasure.