Duck, duck, goose!

She learned this game at church and loves playing it! ...her own version, that is. Sorry if we´re boring you with videos... this is just the easiest way to keep my Guatemalans up with my daughters and they want to see them in every possible way! I´ll take time to write soon! Spanish readers: En este juego que Elena aprendió en la iglesia, una persona toca las cabezas de los demás diciendo "Duck" y al azar escoge a quién llamará "Goose", cuando escoge al goose éste "la lleva" y persigue a todos los demás. El primero en volver a sentarse gana y el último en sentarse o al que agarre el goose le toca escoger. Elena ha creado su propia versión, como podrán ver.

Christmas morning

Elena opens her "dream" gift.

Elena talks to "pito"

Elena figured out that my dad requires to be talked to differently as she observed all of us finger spelling to him. She quickly picked up on it and began doing it herself!

It's almost Christmas

Christmas shopping is done... all our gifts are wrapped and sitting under the tree and we are so excitedly looking forward to Christmas morning to open them. It's amazing how 10 days away can throw you off so much! I still don't have everything planned or baked for the rest of the celebration but I will get there. For now we're looking into church regular service this evening, and tomorrow morning, then Christmas Eve service tomorrow night after which we will settle quietly in our little home and watch our Christmas Eve movie "It's a Wonderful Life" in waiting for midnight. This is where we have incorporated the bit of Guatemala, we wait till midnight and in honor of the Guatemalan tradition of opening gifts then, we exchange one gift. Then we go to bed and eagerly wait for morning. First is our stockings and then we do gifts. After that we will go off to Dad and Mom L's for a late brunch.

In being away I really feel as though I have missed so much of the festivity but even if this may be a "lighter" Christmas in the sense of decorations and building up the anticipation for it but we will still try to make it memorable for Elena on the day of and we always have next year to do better!

Oreos and.... coffee?

We landed this morning at 12:38 a.m. I forgot to mention we left Guatemala on Thursday but were, again, splitting our trip by spending another night with our friends the Timers. We spent a wonderful time with them catching up even when it had to be done with a week in between!

Our flight was supposed to arrive in Albany at around noon, but wanting to spend a little more time with our friends we changed it for the night flight. Everything was great until we got to the airport and were delayed. Now, had it only been the two of us, it would have been easier to handle, but with two little ones, delays are really not that welcome. Our 9.45 p.m. departure was changed to 10.20 p.m. which meant we were to sit in the gate area, keep them awake AND happy longer. It was a tough time! But we're home and there's no place like home! Of course with an original arrival at around noon, we made sure our fridge was clean. After all, who wants to come home to spoiled milk and food, right? This explains the title of my post, having arrived home at about 1 a.m., this morning our breakfast consisted of oreo cookies for Elena and coffee for Ben and myself! No milk, no eggs, no anything in our pantry!!! Guess we'll have to fit in some quick shopping in between church services today and tomorrow!!

Flying back

Well, in no time we're heading back already! Life happens and there is no way of stopping it. Another good by faces us and in realizing God's goodness to let us travel and see each other often, we're getting better at it.

This trip to Guatemala has been an interesting one. It wasn't a trip "home", the Guatemala I left is no longer here. People's lives have changed, everybody has moved on with their lives and I haven't been a part of it so you can't just squeeze in and expect everything to be the same it was. It is so interesting to drive down streets that are so loaded with memories and to be so far away from those memories. Life is so different now! I miss what I left, but that has left me as well and is not coming back. What is left now is to embrace each day and the goodness it brings, enjoy each individual and what they represent, enjoy our lives where God has led them to be.

We were part of a beautiful wedding this weekend. My family and friends met my youngest daughter and enjoyed my oldest. I got to see everyone once again and I trust in the Lord that I'll see them all again, sooner than I expected.

Now we look towards home, Christmas shopping and all the fun of the most wonderful time of the year!

Off we go!!!

All our bags are packed and we're ready to go!!! North Carolina tonight, where we'll spend the night with Josh and Paige Timer, and Guatemala tomorrow! Ben will minister the blessing at my cousin's wedding and we'll be back on the 15 to pick up where we left, finish Christmas shopping and enjoying the season.

Take care you all!

Elena & Adriana

Is this precious or what? Elena didn't know I was taping them. I love my girls and the fact that Elena won't ever remember life without her sister and Adriana won't ever know it either. They will always be there for each other!

Three years ago!

Three years ago this past Saturday we celebrated the first of our three wedding ceremonies. I can't believe it has already been three years (and two babies!) from that day. This particular wedding wasn't even really planned. The original idea was that in compliance with the immigration laws that required me to get married here in the US we were only going to have a very intimate family thing, maybe over Thanksgiving and "sign the papers" with Pastor Jim. But considering how many people wouldn't get a chance to go to Guatemala somebody came up with the idea of doing it on Sunday morning during church. So many people stepped in to decorate, spread the word, and have refreshments ready. I have Mom L. to thank for the beautiful roses she surprised me with that morning! But when all was said and done that Sunday afternoon... Were we or weren't we married? We certainly were! Well then what about the Guatemalan wedding? Now, I'm not complaining, it all turned out great and I have three wedding ceremonies to remember. However, those were confusing times and I am so glad to be "on this side of the altar"!

On another quick note, Kris and Becky welcomed today at 5 a.m. a little girl! Her name is "Cailen Grace" and she weighed 8.1 lbs. and is 20" long! Congratulations to our dear friends! Both Mom and baby are doing well and Cailen came just one day before her Mommy's birthday! 

If Mamma ain't happy!

I am sad to report that all three girls in this household are sick! The only one healthy is Ben who gets to deal with us. Last night I didn't sleep for more than 40 mins. in a row, between a coughing little girl, a stuffy baby's nose and my own sore throat, headache and plus symptoms! Yuck! It's a good thing we have enough left overs to not have to cook at all today! So many things to do and just NO energy at all to do them! Oh well, this too shall pass!

Little bits...

• Yesterday morning I came downstairs to get the coffee going and heard a beep. Not thinking twice about it when I came upstairs to finish getting ready I said: "Honey, I think that smoke detector must need a battery change because I heard it beeping". So my sweet husband, instead of having his breakfast before going off to the office he went to check on the detector. Thn he said: "Well honey, that is a problem because the smoke detector runs on the house's power, not on batteries. I don't know why it's beeping." I replied "Something has to be going on, it is beeping every two minutes," (I had already timed it). He went on line, read and read and was getting increasingly frustrated as the time to leave for the office was getting closer and he couldn't figure out the beep. Finally, ready to give up I just hear this: "Oh my goodness!! Honey, it isn't the smoke detector beeping... it is my cell phone!!!" What can I say, we hadn't had one of those in quite a while =0)

• We have begun training Elena to go to sleep on her bed. Don't ask me why, I am not ready for my baby to turn into a little girl, but still. The first night we failed to think ahead of her and the rule was not to get out of bed. In complying with that command, she did absolutely everything she could on the bed, thus making it 4 hours until she finally went to sleep. The next night we said she was to keep her head on her pillow, and her feet were not to touch the groung. Then is where the fun began:
• As every child her age, she began to test her limits: her legs were hanging off the bed, they weren't touching the ground mind you, but they were off the bed. We stated it was unacceptable and she dealt with it.
• A few minutes later: Legs were on the bed but her feet were placed so that her toes would be off the bed. So we dealt with that thinking that would be the end of her "limit testing".
• A few more minutes later: Every single part of her body was on the bed but her bear's legs were off the bed! Welcome the bear into the discipline process!

But that was truly her last attempt and with all those little tricks of her she went to sleep in less than two hours. Each day it has been getting less and less, I don't think it even took half an hour last night. Next thing on the list: have her learn to use the potty, but I will hold that one off a bit longer!

The world we live in...

I tend to forget that we live in such a different world from the walls that surround my home. I forget that people don't always think the way I do and that often times, even family and friends close to my heart do not understand where we come from when dealing with certain issues of life. Yesterday, for instance, I had an eye exam. The doctor was this beautiful young woman, which I found quite perplexing until I realized that it will be 15 years from my highschool graduation next year. So it is ok to have doctors looking my age, or even younger, had I chosen to be a doctor that's exactly what I would look like. At any rate, she asked to make sure I had my eyes checked in a year because I was past due my check up this time. I replied I had intentionally missed my last check up due to the fact that I was pregnant at the time and didn't think it worth it as my eyes behave differently during pregnancy. Being as good a doctor as she could she strongly recommended to have regular eye checkups. Now mind you I have no plans of having another baby yet, but I do want more babies in the future, so I innocently asked: "Should I still have them checked during pregnancy?" She looked at me sort of puzzled and though I can't bring to mind her exact words her tone was enough to realize that she was surprised that I wanted more. I guess in some people's eyes I've filled the "quota" of a familly.

Then as we were paying our bill as Ben and I switched girls back and forth with the respective strollers and "accesories", the lady looked at us and smiled. "I remember those times" she said. "But don't worry, soon enough you will realize having them together was a good decision. I did it myself and now that my children are grown I'm still young and can enjoy life" (emphasis mine). Puzzled by her comment as she didn't look past her early forties we asked her grown children's ages. "Ohh, they're 9 and 11!" she said. Now, there was no point in even hinting that we "aren't done yet", not that I think she is for at such grown up ages of 9 and 11 it is my humble opinion that her children still need her, but hey, what do I know, my oldest is only 22 months old!

And then there is this. I don't know what the laws are and I have flown Delta before with a nursing baby. I don't know if people give me looks or not, I don't care and I don't pay attention to it anyway. Now I am always covered with a blanket and in the rare ocassion that I forget one, I do always wear a nursing camisole under my shirt to make sure I'm completely covered, but that is only a personal preference. Now, I am not an activist of any type so this is not a suggestion for any kind of boycotting anything. I am all for nursing my babies and am glad I wasn't the one escorted out of the plane for I don't know what a godly response to that would have been. I am just bringing it up as another illustration of the huge difference between My Own little world and this world we live in.

Ohh well...

Catching up again

Well, I can´t tell when last week finished and this one started for we continue having a full schedule and something planned for every single day. Even if it is only one activity, our days are busy further than my mind can keep track! Let´s see what I can share, that is, what I can remember!

This whole weekend with Ben gone to the conference and all the bumps I found attempting to accomplish a peaceful bedtime routine with the girls left me with more than mere tiredness. I have been reminded afresh that as I release my husband to be filled of the Lord and stay in the homefront, it´s not just about making sure things get done, but it is also about fighting the good battle to foster a good environment for him to get back to. Instead of lamenting how he got to go and I got to stay I need to strive to keep my fire burning so that when he comes back I´m ready to take all the new things he brings and run with them. We are one, so as he is filled so am I. I fought my battle as the enemy tried to distract me from the things that really matter.

On another note, I got to meet my prospective sister-in-law! It´s another one of those long stories that I just don´t have time to share but, here it goes in a nutshell: Josue went to Colombia with CRM last year and met there a young girl from Connecticut who was serving temporarily as a missionary at an orphanage. God spoke to several people about the matter but it was His leading to let things rest for a year. Now, a year later, as the opportunity to pursue a relationship arose, he was sent back to Guatemala as his visa status was no longer satisfactory to the immigration authorities. At present, he is in Guatemala trying to figure out the next step which involves applying for another type of visa. There were plans for them to meet here in our end of the woods this week, as CRM had a scheduled visit to this area but with Josue unable to come into the US yet she is actually going down to Guatemala. She came on Saturday and spent a couple nights with us. She´ll be traveling down to Gatemala on Friday for more extensive and final "talks" but it is pretty certain that they think of getting married next summer. Can you believe that? My little brothers ARE men now!!! When and how did it happen?

The mystery of life

I love how God has decided to keep to Himself both the time when one life begins and the time it is to end. Nobody else knows, no matter how hard they try to! I know I've said this before but I´m continuosly awed by His sovereignty in this sense. All that to say, she had her baby today! It was a long day, and I don´t have all the details yet, but I can share with the world that it was a girl who came in weighing a good 8+ lbs.! Both mommy and baby are doing well and I´ll hopefully get to meet her tomorrow.

On another note, going without a nap has worked well for Elena. Though she has still fought upon realizing it is time to sleep, last night it only took me one hour and today it took even less!!!

Well my baby cries for me... I´ll write again later!

I love my babies

*Edit* Since I wrote that earlier, we´ve been doing better. I´ll give it a try and keep Elena awake all day long in the hopes that she´ll be ready to go to bed at bedtime. In the process of it all last night it hit me that she may just be as full of energy as her dad and could live through the day without a nap. That may make bedtime easier on an everyday basis.

On another note, how can anybody´s heart stay discoraged when you have a Father who lavishes upon you so much and a husband who is ever thinking of you... I just got a knock on the door and a lady from our church delivered some beautiful roses on behalf of my husband. He had called her and asked her to do that for him. She accompanied the flowers with her description of how precious she can tell I am for my husband as her own eyes welled up with tears... I am crying again, but feeling much better. How sweet is my husband and just how perfectly awesome is my Father?!

******

Trust me, I do. With all my heart!!! So, could anyone help me understand why yesterday (last night especially) was so difficult? I have been able to go through Elena´s will fights so calmly and collected all this time, not last night though. Last night I was getting angry at her! Angry at her fighting so stubbornly to go to sleep! Angry at not being able to do any better in minding them both by myself! Angry at finally managing to put the little one down to go literally takcle the other one just to have her start crying and waking up the little one again. I started the bedtime routine with a bath for Elena, knowing she´d love it and would probably put her in the mood for bed. By 8.15 I was ready to put her down, I nursed the baby, bundled her on the couch right next to me so I could hold Elena and have her go to sleep. Elena played with my hair, my nose, my eyes and as delighted as I could be by her ability to recognize them I kept reminding her to close her eyes and go to sleep. I will spare you the details and just tell you that by 10 p.m. I was upstairs in their bedroom trying to calm a screaming three-month-old and almost laying on top of a toddler to make sure she stayed in bed. More times than I can count both of them were crying very loudly and I finally got in bed with a still awake Adriana at 11. I feel so disappointed at myself. I cried, through it, after it and this morning I´ve still found myself crying. Ben won´t be back until Saturday night and I really want to be the Mom that can put her babies down peacefully and joyfully! I want to bless him that way, I want to bless them that way, and more importantly, I want to honor Him that way... I just don´t know how... Please pray for grace for tonight... I know that it may sound silly as so many of you, wonderful mothers out there handle more little ones than I do, but please pray for this little house, we will need your prayers today.

P.S. Yeah... did I mention that I haven´t showered?

Bumbo seat

Walking through a store we found this seat that holds Adriana up in a seating position. This pic. is to honor my mom's wishes of seeing Adriana actually using it! She doesn't last long on it, but she doesn't last long on anything else anyway! Trust me though, as tiring as it can be and as complicated as it may get at times when I'm trying to get stuff done, I still love the fact that my arms are the only place where she is truly content! 

Little moments...

It only takes a few little moments for the funniest and cutest things to happen with babies. Sometimes I don´t even want to wink in the fear of missing something they´ll do.

Yesterday Adriana was in the swing while I did dishes and Elena was coming in and out in her little world of play. I have learned to constantly turn to check on them because Elena loves to play with her little sister but doesn´t understand yet that her little sister can´t do all the things she wants her to. Sure enough, I turned around and catch Elena holding a water bottle to Adriana´s mouth.

Me: Elena, what are you doing?

E: Mami, Aana agua! ...ok Aana? OK!

So I explained that Adriana can´t drink water from the bottle yet, but thank you for sharing with her. A few more minutes and I turn again...

Me: Elena, what are you doing sweetie?

E: Mami, Aana cookie!!! (as she holds a cookie to Adriana´s mouth) mmmmm Aana cookie!!

And so my day goes...

As for Adriana, she is quite an intense baby. There is no middle ground for her, it is black or white. She´ll be happy and laughing one minute and, literally, screaming off the top of her lungs the next! This morning, Ben sat in the rocker with Elena, reading her a book. I was sitting on the bed with Adriana nursing. She was nursing very restlessly and I couldn´t understand why. I thought she may have gas and I turned her over my arm to help her release it. To my surprise, all she wanted was to look at her daddy and sister and be a part of their time together, for she was content just looking at them and addressing her own little "conversation" to them as well. How amazing that they have such unique personalities that can be appreciated at such a young age!

I love my two girls!

Life finds us today:

• Grateful for a personal and intimate God who speaks to us thourgh even the little things of every day life!
• We are car-less. Our van that didn't pass inspection and needs to be fixed. Ben left early to drop it off and there is no knowing when it will be ready.
• I am holding (and shaking, and bouncing, and nursing, and anything that will work) a little tiny one who seems to be having gas troubles in her tummy. So far my morning has been devoted to trying to ease the pain... my poor baby!
• We are considering a trip to Guatemala early December! Today I am looking for affordable tickets... pray we find them!
• I don't know if we'll be able to do our grocery shopping today because of the car, and that also may affect some other shopping that needed to happen... we'll see how that goes.
• Elena has been receiving lately hand-me-downs from a little girl in our church. We are very grateful for nice and good clothes that have pretty much set us up for this next season. We are only left to buy her a few long sleeved shirts. Ahhh, yeah and also to find someone to share in some of the blessing... we got around 10 pairs of shoes that (as much as I love shoes) we don't need that many!
• Realizing afresh that He is our All in All, our source of everything and a loving Father in whom is our every hope!

She

...is reaching for toys already. She has discovered her hands! Can you believe it? My little Adriana is 3 months old!

 

Home

Finally, it feels like we're stopping at home. We haven't gone too far for too long, but we've gone so much it certainly feels like an awful lot of time. And so, we try and pick up where we left:

*Christmas cards are here! We order them so early so as to make sure we can timely send those that are headed to Guatemala.

*Elena is now sleeping in her very own bedroom!!! And to add to the success, she is sleeping in her very own toddler bed!

*I had the best sleep last night than I had had in a while. I was in bed by 10.30 (unheard of in this house!), Adriana slept well in her basket until about 3 a.m. when she nursed and very satisfied (to my surprise) stayed back in the basket until around 5.30!! And Elena didn't fall off her little bed or woke up until 6.45 a.m.! So, it is 8.30 a.m. and we are all dressed and have already eaten breakfast!

*Yesterday we walked out of church with a new car seat for Adriana, a bag of clothes for Elena and a sleeper couch (well, this one we still have to go pick up but it was offered to us at church)! I am a very happy wife as I look forward to upgrading our furniture a bit. When we got married we kept an old couch Ben had gotten from someone a while back. It is big and comfy, but rather old and dirty and it's not in so great shape anymore. In moving downstairs we inherited Grandma L's couch that had been sitting at Mom and Dad L's who kindly passed it on to us. However, we were still looking forward to get a sleeper as we were looking ahead at having my family come spend Christmas with us (and all the guests we receive throughout the rest of the year!)... now we have it! As for my family coming for the Holidays, well we're not sure anymore, but, that's another story and I'll share it with you later.

Transformations

So, I know it isn't so clear, but this is the BEFORE picture (you know, back a few months ago when this room was our living room).












and this is the AFTER picture (pardon the blue tape still on the trim). As you may recall (or not), this is becoming our girls' bedroom. Sooo exciting!!!!






 

Here I am...

Exhausted from a very busy and long week but looking forward to the rest of this season as we now figure out life with two babes on our own. Now that the eager arms of "Pita" (long story, but that's what Elena calls my mom) we are trying to discover new distractions to keep our little ones entertained while life needs to happen. If you must know, I am only able to sit here for a few minutes now because Adriana finally fell asleep on the carrier where I'm holding her and Elena is enjoying her "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". I could fill this post with all the little details of the days that have past, which are many, but I don't want to bore you so I'll just say that we have been reminded afresh of God's personal and intimate care for each one of us. Not only have we seen Him work miracles as my brother, Josue, was returning from a missions trip to Europe (another long story that I'll share some other time), but in the midst of all this busy-ness. After a very emotional Monday and Tuesday I really, really wanted to get prayer during ministry time. It was one of those times when I couldn't really sit through the message because of two exhausted little girls who needed a break and my only request to the Lord at that point was "I am just hungry to be hungry". But so it happened that my husband had the same urgency for prayer and we both came up together. It turned out that God gave us such an amazing word that came in such a timely fashion. God spoke of so many things that brought refreshment and encouragement to our hearts. He is so intimate and so personal! I can't say it enough. I hate to leave you with nothing but ramblings about these past few days but it just so happens that that's exactly how I feel right now... I feel I'm just rambling through it all, but as I sort things out I'll be back and try to share something more substantial.

Dedication

It was Adriana's dedication, but Elena managed to charm the audience (and cameras)... Adriana didn't mind though!

Our little family as Pastor Jim prepared to pray for us.
Adriana didn't really like the whole thing... there was only one thing she was interested in: eating!
but we still enjoyed it all! 

The gift of interpreting

Those pics. I posted yesterday are not showing on my blog... Go figure! Here I was so happy thinking you'd see them and alas this thing is throwing fits at me again! Oh well, I'll give it a try on another day that finds me more patient =0)

As to my title... these are the days when I feel as though I desperately need the gift of interpreting tongues as my sweet little girl comes up with a new word each day. You know, she enrolls in these ellaborate convesations that make her look so cute but unless you have followed every single one of her little steps you probably will have no clue as to what she's talking about. Then add to that the "bilingual" element and you first have to try and figure out the language and then what she might be trying to say. It is so comical! Especially when she has been gifted with both her parents' ability to talk anyone's ears off! How amazing to see her evolve into this little person who has stories to tell and questions to ask! And I can only pray that I am perceptive enough to know what she means!

where we've been and where we're going

• We dedicated Adriana on Sunday at church and decided to "kill two birds with one stone" and although our "house" is still far from perfect we had an Open House after church. It was amazing!!! It was the first time we hosted SO MANY people in OUR VERY OWN house! I loved it! We are still exhausted, especially because the days of food preping began around Wednesday considering the very little times I get to do these kinds of chores. Between the daily to-do's, baby feeding times and the attention that Elena requires, unless I cook from 10 p.m. till midnight, nothing really would've gotten done. We had fun though, I really like having people over.
• We don't really live close enough to our "shopping" places to run to the store at any time, so we do our shopping every other Monday. Yesterday was our shopping day and we also met with our friends, the Falcos who tagged along with us to a few different stores. We are so grateful for their friendship! It is really so good to just "hang" knowing there are absolutely no expectations but that of being yourselves as tired or sick as you may feel =0) We love them!
• At church, we're getting ready for a weekend of special meetings. This morning we had a prayer meeting which will be followed by more tonight, tomorrow morning and tomorrow night.
• After that, on Thursday, we will take my mom for a foliage drive around the Adirondacks as she has never seen the beauty of the fall in full "bloom". That is pretty much our last real outing so we are kind of doing her "send-off" day. We'll start with breakfast at a nice diner about an hour from here, then a couple hours of driving up into the mountains, maybe a picnic up there and then we'll head back home for a special dinner.
• The weekend will have us busy with morning and evening meetings that will go up until Wednesday, so in the middle of those meetings we'll say good by to my Mom and start praying for their making it up this way for Christmas.
• Here are some pics. of the dedication...

Take my moments

"Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee."

My moments and my days... all that came to mind was the numerous times we've been addressing "obedience" issues with Elena and those little battles that I know I need to win but feel extremely tired and overwhelmed to do it. Oh how we need Him!!!

My mom leaves a week from tomorrow, I am nervous and anxious as I look ahead at not having her help around. I am going to miss her help and how wonderful it has been to walk away from the little messes of everyday life only to have them "magically" disappear! She has helped us so much! But more than anything I'm sad because I will miss her, her company, and her friendship.

Projects ahead and behind

Today the "cable guy" comes to set the downstairs up for our computer, TV and phone. That should free up the girls bedroom-to-be and we'll start working on it. Of course, my mom and Ben worked late last night and early this morning to finish painting the room where we're setting all that up. The only problem is that I like the way that room looks much, much better than our living room and am trying to convince Ben of painting it the same colors soon! He is good to me. Our past few nights have been rather long... we are fighting colds, even little Adriana is all stuffed up! Oh well! The days are looking beautiful outside and next week we'll take my mom for a "leaf-watching" drive as she has never seen the fall before. I have so much more to write, but hardly any time or energy, so pray for us, bear with me and don't forget me!

2 months

Adriana is two months old today. Our day began at 4.30 a.m. when two little girls woke up. The "littlest" was happy to nurse and snuggle to go back to sleep while the other one was "done" sleeping. She had her cup of milk and we kept her in bed with us to no avail. Needless to say, she needed more sleep than she got last night (as it seems we all did!). We spent the morning visiting cousins, then we ran errands and didn't make it home until about 3.30 p.m. We were all spent! Want to guess what we did the rest of the afternoon? NAP!!

Ben couldn't resist the "moment"
(notice Elena's "bee-bee" napping with us)

Let photos do for the moment...

*Edit*

When and how did this happen? They are growing so quickly!!! Just about a week and a half ago Elena's fingertips would barely brush the banister of our staris. She couldn't even dream of turning the shower "on". Yesterday I was coming downstais with her and was speechless to see her hold on to the banister without any difficulty. Later on I was giving her a bath and while I turned to get the soap I heard the water running again! Every day she attempts new words that make us guess and scratch our heads while we figure out what she's trying to say. In the meantime, Adriana is happily smiling back at us and starting to "coo" (sp?). I'm afraid to blink and miss something!

I don't really have time to post, so enjoy this pics. while I get back on track!

We learned how to use the fork and knife...

the challenge now is to transfer this wonderful skill

to the table at meal times!

Grateful!

• Grateful for the freedom of worshipping without fear.
• Grateful for having enjoyed amazingly perfect weather for 28 years of my life.
• Grateful for having grown up wrapped in the colors and beauty of Spring.
• Grateful for all the history that paved the way for the establishment of my family and my life.
• Grateful for a country that though not perfect was the wonderful setting of my childhood and part of my adult life.
• Grateful for 185 years of independence!

Can it get any worse?

• Kept reminding myself of a specific date to remember a birthday... the day came and went and I never realized what date it was! So technically, I forgot the birthday!
• Kept telling myself to send a card to a young mother from church that I hadn't seen since before Adriana was born. I wanted to send a note of encouragement to let her know she was in my heart. Sure enough, I stumbled upon her in town!
• Going over all my "decorative" stuff that was put away while I had room to display it I found a wedding gift I was supposed to have sent a year ago!!!
• I still have sitting in my room some souvenirs I brought from Guatemala in January, I haven't mailed them...
• I can't figure out how to make the sewing machine work and now I have all the unfinished nursing blankets I started. These were intended as gifts and some for myself.

Instead of being on top of things I sometimes think things are on top of me! Is it possible to forget something else?

On another note, I am excited to know that very dear friends of ours are expecting their second baby!

A Milestone?

It is public knowledge that I am no baker. It wasn´t exactly a part of my life growing up. I learned how to cook, but save for a couple of cakes here and there that was it. I also come from a home of very picky eaters and where dessert was very rarely on our table. Of course, I married someone who likes to have dessert and I live in a world where everybody bakes for everything. So soon after getting married I was determined: I shall conquer baking! Out of embarrassment I won´t tell you how many batches of cookies have remained uneaten in our home but today I mastered my first batch of brownies made from scratch! I can´t tell you how thrilled I was when we tried them and they actually tasted good! I know, it is silly... but I am happy!

Pics. from camping trip

Bannon and Elena, she took to trying to imitate what he did.

The Moores

My tired girl

Two little cousins playing together

wearing the matching fleeces their "Maama" gave them

Pheww!!

Long fun days! Last week we had some family vacation time and went here for a couple days. We "camped" on their cabins with Dad and Mom L. who hosted us in their cabin and with her family who were staying in the next cabin. Then on Friday, we joined our youth group on their outing here. Of course, my mom and I just walked around at our own pace and took Elena to the kiddie rides that she could do, while all of the big guys (my husband included b/c he was one of the chaperones) did all the fast and exciting rides. The whole week was a very welcomed break from the non-routine we have been having, especially because it just happened to be my 6th week after having Adriana. Now, I have been very, very spoiled! My mom has been here really watching over me and making me take it easy these 6 weeks. The way I see it, this past week was the best way to close my "forced vacation". Now I look ahead at a very long list of projects I want to get done but the good news is I can do it myself! I am not required to lay low and take it easy anymore. So hopefully by the end of this week the two apartments will be finally "integrated" and we´ll be completely "spread" out through both floors in more of a house fashion. Home will feel like home!

Final good bys

First of all, before I forget: to all those who have spaces on MSN, the new changes they´ve done to the sites don´t let me leave comments, but do know that I´ve read you and once I figure out how to post comments again I´ll be letting you know.
I can´t tell you just how many times I´ve sat and began writing to be cut short by a baby who wants to nurse again or a little girl that demands my attention, so I´d better be quick this time!

Moving here I find myself constantly coming to terms with the fact that there will be many loved ones and acquaintances that I´ve left behind whom I´ll probably never see again. No final good bys, no seeing them pass on from this life. It is hard... it was hard when I´ve heard about two of my primary school teachers who passed away within a week or so from each other though I hadn´t seen them in years. It was even harder these past few weeks as we waited to hear about my 93-year-old grandmother who has been dealing with pneumonia and going in and out of critical moments that we´ve all thought could´ve been the last. She´s much better now I´m told. But today what lingers in my heart is how hard it is to show my love and support to those left behind by their loved ones.

The mother of a dear uncle passed away yesterday... my brother was kind enough to call us once he got to the funeral home and both my mom and I were able to talk to him. But how do you attempt to bring comfort to someone who can´t see you? How and what do you say when usually it is the warmth of the embrace that soothes? I know he knows we love him. I know he knows we´d be by his side if we could yet we are left with the coldness of a crackling telephone connection that won´t let us see into each other´s eyes or hold in a silent embrace that would speak so much more than words... that is one I didn´t see coming and my how tough it is!!

My little girls

Three + weeks...

It has been a bit over three weeks since we got home. Some days I feel full of energy and projects and ready to take on this place and finally make it "home", some other days I would be the happiest just sleeping! I don't think I'm loosing more sleep than I lost with Elena, the big difference is that I can't bring myself to "sleep when my baby sleeps" as I did the first time around because I have a darling little girl who needs me too and I rather be awake for her than missing out on her day because of catching some z's. So, here I am... trying to make the best of what I have before me, living one day at a time.

On my days of energy nothing seems to phase me, on my tired days anything and everything can. One of the things I find myself dealing with this time is the usual question posed, mostly by strangers: "Is she a good baby?" What is one supposed to answer? "oh, no... she's awful, she wakes me up when I'd like to sleep" Are you kidding me? A baby does what a baby is supposed to do... some sleep a little longer, some cry a little less but I do not think you can label them of "good" or "bad" because of that. Now, I know there is probably nothing ill meant by the question, but it really gets to me... some days more than others. At any rate, regardless how little sleep I may get, regardless how long my baby may cry and regardless how little my babies like slings, swings, carriers and any other contraption designed to hold them while mom does something else, I always think they are a wonderful, awesome blessing and I never grow tired of admiring and loving them... I think I'm biased!

Another before & after

Before...


After... (notice we moved the fridge)
Another angle from the kitchen... (this is were the fridge was originally)
Pardon the mess... we´re still working but you can appreciate the major changes!

We're still here...

Life is busy yet I'm still "required" to lie low, so all my "to do's" are being accomplished at an amazingly slow pace. I'm not complaining though... I know it is just a season and it will be over sooner than later and I really want to enjoy my newborn!

The kitchen is almost finished. At least everything has been moved down and our meals are being had there. We still need to work on the organizing of everything in and around it and finishing touches to make it feel "mine" but that will probably take a bit of time. One or two details a day is all I have managed so far but I'm happy. I'll post before and after pics soon.

Elena's bangs were getting into her eyes again... I braced myself and came to terms with the fact that we won't be able to have someone experienced, let alone professional, take care of it. So yesterday before giving her a bath I thought I'd try to trim it myself. After all, how hard could it be if I stuck to just trimming very, very little to get it off her eyes. Got myself a pair of sharp scissors (or so I thought), combed her wet bangs and got to it... except I forgot my sweet girl is no lifeless doll and she moved at the wrong time. Well, now my little toddler's bangs are ridiculously short, I feel so badly!!! Oh well, live and learn... if you see her, please don't comment on her bangs, I feel so awful and am still so emotional that you might see me burst into tears at any comment... he,he,he...

Hole in the wall!!

This is one I never thought I´d be happy to say: "We have a hole in the wall!!! Hooray!!"

If you could visualize this, you are standing in front of the "hole in the wall" that connects now the downstairs apartment to the upstairs we´ve been living in. It leads into the main bedroom of the apartment, which we will obviously be loosing but have a vision to turn into a dining room some time in the future. From this standpoint, our main entrance would be to your left and the stairs to go upstairs would be to your right.

And this:

is our very own back porch!!! Hopefully tomorrow we´ll have a "cleaning day" with some wonderful friends who´ll come and help us and if everything goes well, we may be moving the kitchen down as well. That will free up space up here amazingly and will also keep this apartment so much cooler.

We are a happy bunch!

Pics.

Sunday morning...

We went to church this morning. It seemed to me as the most natural thing to do until I was getting off the car and received this comment from a gentleman: "Are you kidding me? You just had a baby!" then he said, "when we had babies my wife would be completely off her feet for over a week or so!" Since I wasn´t planning on engaging in a physical activity per se, I hadn´t seen the need to stay home. Going to church, in my book, engages you in a spiritual activity more than anything. Of course, there are physical expressions that, more likely than not, will accompany your worship and your participation in service, but those aren´t mandatory and you may do without them if you must. I had the choice between sitting in my living room couch by myself this morning lamenting how little I slept last night and having my own pity party or sitting in the sanctuary surrounding myself with worship and the Word. My options made it easy.

Now, I understand that there are times when you absolutely need to stay home and I don´t intend to bring about any condemnation upon those who feel they must stay home at times when I would chose the opposite. We are all "wired" differently, even in the spiritual. In my own personal experience, church is always the last thing I "drop". It is not because I am the Assoc. Pastor´s wife, it is because I benefit from church. Throughout my life, even when I was "just one more face" in a crowd of thousands I have always been ministered to in the corporate setting. God has always spoken to me personally and directly through the Word preached from the altar. I have always found release, healing, and victory through corporate worship. I have witnessed the power of corporate prayer. I have been nurtured spiritually through the Word. During the most difficult and challenging times in my life, I have found God in church. I can still find Him at home, but there is something powerful about the congregation... about meeting with the faithful and pressing into the presence of God together.

So, on a day like today when I finally managed to go to sleep at 6.00 a.m., nursed all night long, and ended up with two little ones on the bed with us in order to be able to sleep a little after 6 the last thing my body wants to do is get up, get ready and get going. But on a day like today when I am so much more vulnerable than ever to find reasons to feel sorry for myself, church will be the very last thing I´ll drop! In the altar I was refreshed, worship reminded me that I am so very blessed and the Word encouraged me to find the rest of the Lord!

Another quick one...

Let's see... it has been exactly one week and I could write very long about my week but I'll summarize it for you in a few highlights and pics.

• Came home on Monday

• Have enjoyed the most wonderful variety of fabulous meals. What a blessing to have a church family!

• Tuesday, while enjoying a great dinner we were all sitting at the table. Most of us eating and one tiny one nursing =0) Ben was opening the bottle of hot sauce to add to his meal and when he opened the bottle it shot a squirt of hot sauce straight in Elena's face. Now, luckily it was on the side of her head, part of her cheek and her ear, but knowing how hot that sauce was chaos broke loose! I had a nursing baby on my lap and couldn't really move fast enough; my mom was trapped between the table and the wall so her reaction was hindered as well. Ben rushed to get her and tried to start cleaning it off in the kitchen sink. The whole thing got Elena startled and, sure enough, she rubbed her eye! Next thing you know, nursing baby was quickly released into "Pita's" (Elena's name for my mom) arms and Papi and Elena were under the shower as we tried to flush the stuff off her eye. It was quite an ordeal but we calmed her (and ourselves) down and the meal was too good to not go back to it (thanks Maureen!).

• I feel like I've been nursing 23 hours a day and only managed 10 minutes of sleep!

• Elena is so sweet to her little sister! We are so blessed to see such a loving attitude towards her as so many changes have been happening. It is so wonderful to see them together and realize how much Elena has grown and now fills the hat of "big sister".

• Today, our downstairs apartment has been vacated and we are ready to move in! Tomorrow I'll walk the place writing a list of all the cleaning that needs to be done and hopefully recruit the help of some friends who have kindly offered their time for a cleaning day this week. Ben has begun to evaluate the opening of the wall/doorway to connect both apartments and we are looking forward to moving our living areas down there ASAP... it is so much cooler down there and just having the added space will also give us a sense of freshness and feel most definitely cooler!

Off to try to get some rest! Once again, I´m having problems with the posting of pics. I don´t know why, but my time here now is too limited to try to figure it out... sorry, I´ll try again later!

A new family...

We are home! After the longest imaginable "first stage" of labor, the rest of it went pretty quickly. We arrived at the hospital with contractions every 3 to 5 minutes at 4 p.m. By 6 p.m. I didn´t want to leave the tub as contractions were almost a minute apart. Now considering my first experience (8 hours of "transition"), that didn´t necessarily stroke me as good news. However, our nurse came in with the news that my doctor was there and was offering to examine me and, if everything was ok, go ahead and break my water. Everything was good and perfect, water was broken at around 7 p.m. and Adriana saw the light at 7.30 p.m.! I´ll post more later but thought you might enjoy a few more pics.

First pictures as a Family...

I meant to post more pics. but, as it is, it has already taken me a day to manage to upload these two... Sorry... will try later!

She has arrived!

Adriana Hope Levendusky
7/22/2006
7 pounds, 4 ounces
18.5 inches

All is well with mom and baby!

- Ben

Not here yet...

Our baby, that is... as you all know, my due date was on Monday and we're still counting days. I'm at peace, though, at least as much as I can be considering how hard it is to live normal life with such an impending event! But I am learning and eager to "walk the line". I'm not trying to undermine the challenges of being "in-labor-but-not-really". I can't deny the challenges of having contractions on and off and wondering if this "bout" of contractions will finally kick things into high gear and going to bed just to wake up later and realize that "we're still here". However, I don't want to walk through this aimless and hopelessly feeling sorry for myself and the overall discomfort I face. I know that He has a reason for everything and I so much want to grasp everything there is in this process to draw me closer to Him. I have learned so much of His love through the love of those around me from my husband and my mom to everyone at church. Everyone has been so gracious and supportive. We haven't had to cook a meal for the past couple days as people are already bringing us food. As eager as I am to meet this little person I don't want to rush the process God is using to make me grow. I will continue to update you as I am able to do and soon enough you'll hear the news!

News reports

This will most surely be my last posting until after the baby is born. I will be 40 weeks tomorrow and I can definitely tell that things will "kick in" sooner than later though, as you may know, there is no telling exactly when. So our bags are packed and we´re ready to go but we are making the most of the last moments/days of this pregnancy as well.

Friday night, my mom and I were settling for a night of P&P and Ben was leaving for youth group. About five minutes after he had gone, I heard him coming back up the stairs carrying something... Much to our delight, this is what had just been delivered:

We were thrilled! Thank you, you, and you! What a wonderful and precious gift to bless this baby with! I love you!

It turns out that all the time I had been going on and on about not having yet a bassinet, my husband was in on the surprise and this moses basket was being expected! Now we are indeed ready for this baby to come!

To add to our news, our downstairs neighbors have found an apartment to move into and will be moved out by Aug. 01. Now, I was hoping to have this happened before the baby came, but once we knew it was going to take them a bit longer I had resigned myself to the idea of not having the apartament available until after mid August.

Now, as I said earlier, I won´t be posting anymore until our new baby comes. Please keep us in your prayers as it could be anything from a few hours to a few days for the arrival! I will try to post as soon as we have news!

One more week

We've made it one more week. My mom arrives tonight and I'm happy and excited. It will be hard to be all crammed up in this little apartment but we will make it work. Our downstairs neighbors haven't found a place to move yet so in a week or two it will be five of us in this little space. My gracious husband has been so understanding of my culture, our need of proximity and the loss of privacy that comes with the territory! I know for a fact not everyone would understand, let alone appreciate having their mother-in-law move in for such extended periods of time. Guatemalan people don't know about doulas, it is usually customary for one of the mothers to move in with the new family to help with the new baby and all the household tasks. When this doesn't happen, it is usually because they live close enough to each other that mom shows up on a daily basis. Blending in the privacy of my husband's culture with the lack thereof of mine has been interesting. But as many other things we have faced in creating our own "home" culture we work at it one day at a time and understand that God is in the midst of the making of our home.

At any rate, we will continue to keep you posted about our new little Levendusky timely!

Quick Update

For those of you whose only means of information about our family is this space in the web and who are wondering about us, let me update you: we don't have a baby yet, I am still very pregnant and we expect to stay like this for at least one more week. My due date is not until the 17th and the doctor has warned me not to be surprised if we go a couple days later because all along this baby seems to be smaller than their "age". We are happily enjoying these last few days. VBS is obviously over, the Mexico team is half way through their trip and my mom is expected to arrive on Monday night. Some pics. for your enjoyment (hopefully)

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Para aquéllos cuyo único medio de información de nuestra familia es este espacio en la red y que se están preguntando cómo estamos, déjenme actualizarlos: todavía no tenemos bebé, todavía estoy esperando y "esperamos" permanecer asi por lo menos una semana más. Mi fecha estimada para dar a luz es el 17 y el doctor me ha advertido no sorprenderme si nos pasamos un par de días porque este/a bebé parece estar un poco más pequeño que su "edad". Estamos felizmente disfrutando de estos últimos días. Obviamente la Escuela Bíblica de Vacaciones ya termino, el equipo que viajó a México está a medio viaje y mi mamá viene el lunes en la noche. Le pongo unas fotos para que disfruten (ojalá)

Our little girl...

Nuestra niñita...

This is our doctor...

Este es nuestro doctor...

My husband as he was dressed up as a firefighter during VBS...

Mi esposo vestido de bombero para la escuela de vacaciones...

In the process of being dressed up...

En el proceso de disfrazarlo...

38 weeks pregnant...

38 semanas de embarazo...