"Sharing"

The Lord comes thru again! As we're working on Luke being able to sit, I have been wishing for a toy that he could sit in front of and that would distract him. He sits better if he's focused on something. Anyway, I saw one in a charity shop, but it still wasn't cheap and we were in a stroller with a 10-minute walk to the car, so I wouldn't have been able to get it back to the car anyway. So, sadly, we did not get one. Then, THAT day, my neighbor who has already blessed us with so many cute clothes for Luke (she has a boy a year older) brought by the toy below!!!

This is Rebekah "sharing" the toy with Luke. Doesn't she seemed filled with the Spirit as she happily moves aside to let the baby play with the baby toy?

That day both kids were up at 2pm! Yikes. It's a little misleading to say that R was "up." For the past 2 days, she has not napped. Out of nowhere! (She has been fine, which as my mom sagely said, that is good and bad!) Anyway, we were looking for something to do, so I strapped them both in the double stroller and we strolled thru campus...these were the sweet faces I saw:

These are not great, but are some pics from campus. I thought you might enjoy the buildings and the street signs attached to the buildings, which is very common.

If you walk past this building, you are on the street to that beautiful park- Seaton Park- and St. Machar's Church (I posted this in September, I think).

Yesterday, we strapped Buddy on my back- I knew he must look adorable, so here he is!

Look at those plump wrists! You can tell he's not missing out on too many groceries! He LOVES yogurt, fruit, and avocado and is okay with veggies, but HATES sweet potatoes!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post has nothing to do with Thanksgiving since we do not celebrate it here in Aberdeen. However, we are getting together with some American friends on Saturday afternoon to feast and have fun!

Maybe I was a little hard on myself- Luke can sit...now I know he's leaning in these pics, but that was gentleman's choice. Note the blue jingle bells in his left hand- they are a favored toy for both my children.

These are to show you "serious Luke." You may recall that "pensive Rebekah" looked much the same at this age. I marvel at how silly she is now!

This is his turtle face. It is a FAVORITE expression of ours- his pointy upper lip totally envelops his bottom lip...this is a very common stare he is wont to give.

Never one to miss out on an opportunity, Rebes crawled into the bouncy seat (that she despised as an infant) while it was on the couch because I was cleaning. You should see her flail her legs around as she pretends to be Lukey, who is a master of boucning that thing.

Last night Miss Tammy came over to babysit. Rebekah loves her so much that she even came with me in her jammies to pick Miss Tammy up. Not knowing that bedtime was imminent, Miss Tammy mentioned a surprise (thinking she would be playing with her)...water colors!!!!! With promises of water coloring upon awakening (post-6am, mind you), Rebekah dutifully went to bed, but still mournfully called out "water colors" for quite a while. And at 1:45 am and at 5am...sigh...Seriously, tho, we were up and at 'em at 6:30 am...it's serious business when we pull the hair back.

(our free tree is in the background, but is undecorated- we will do it as a family this weekend and I will post pics then!)

Look at those rosey cheeks! How I LOVE when they throw their arms up- one of main motivators of unswaddling him in September- so he could have that freedom. Both kids sleep in "grobags" or sleep sacks, as we call them in the US. Since we don't run the heat all the time, it makes me feel better that they are warm. Luke LOVES his- it's one of tired signs- he'll start to pull at his shirt b/c that's what he does when he's falling asleep in his sleep sack.

Being intentional

Those of you who know me, really know, know that I don't like babies. That is what people say about me anyway. I have even found myself saying that. Truth be told, I love babies...but they come with a great deal of responsibility, no? And a ton of dying to self...ah, therein lies the rub. The whole dying to self thing is not my specialty. So, babies are a challenge for me- I have to set aside my need for crazy amounts of sleep (I often go to sleep before Josh, get up sometimes hours after he has gotten up with the kids and he'll still bless me with a much-needed nap- good man!!!!), alone time, friend time, and just general ability to plan. Aha- that's it right there- I hate being out of control. I am actually totally okay with short naps and weirdly timed feedings if I can know about them in advance. I have often thought that it sure would be nice to get a print-out that said, "Today, Rebekah will chat for 30 minutes and then sing for another 5 before drifting off for a 1 1/2 hr nap and Luke will sleep immediately, but then need his paci put back in after an hour, so it's probably not a good day to try to nap yourself." Tell me that and I'm golden. However, make me try to figure it out, whether R is going to sleep at all and if Luke is done or just needs help and I'm lost. So, that's what's hard for me about babies. I actually LOVE holding them, playing with them, singing to them by myself :), feeding them, reading to them....I just struggle with the clutch decisions and am praying to roll with it better...

Case in point- today was a challenge. Luke is great. Truly. I just love that kid. However, when sick (feels like a lot), he is not as smiley, not as mellow as his normal nature...go figure- I got his cold and I feel ready to punch someone. So, the last week has been hard b/c he is needier and Rebekah is still, well, Rebekah- all over the place and sure that she is the center of attention. So, today, Luke napped mediumish, but I got him up after determining that he was indeed done with sleeping and fed him a little early just to see what would happen (sacrilege for me)...and it all panned out.

Anyway, here's what I'm getting at- because Luke had only slept 1 1/2 hrs this am and 1 1/2 hrs this afternoon, he needed a 3rd nap- he always does actually. :) I was thinking about it all and trying to be more like my sis-in-law whom I deeply respect and love. She rolls with the punches and I am in awe of her love for her child. She doesn't care about schedules, she just wants to hang with Riley Jane. I felt convicted just thinking about it. Then, I started thinking some more. Poor Luke hardly ever gets quality time with me. He normally hangs out in his bouncy seat (yes, that's probably why he still doesn't sit well) and watches Rebekah wreak havoc. So, this evening, Rebekah actually went to bed first (I had to wake him from a 2-hr 3rd nap for crying out loud- why can't you sleep earlier and hang out with us then????) so he could eat again and not be up at 3am. Anyway, I actually got to spend uninterrupted time with Luke. It was marvelous. I think we both needed it. I realized lots of things. First, he's really handsome. Second, he is super-sweet. His smiles melt my heart. But I knew all that really. What was new was the genuine realization to cherish the time I have with him instead of being frustrated he's not doing what I wanted. Sometimes he's fussy b/c he needs to be held and there's nothing wrong with that. So, tonight we grinned at each other for a long while and I just simply enjoyed him. It was his best mood all day and I think we both needed it. The thing I'm walking away with is this: he needs just as much love and attention as his sister. I am praying to be more intentional with him, purposeful. It's easy to just run thru the day and not think about how you're really spending it.

More snow and Christmas this year

Hello all! It snowed and snowed all weekend- i took a friend and her daughter to the airport at 4am Saturday and was a little hesitant to drive. It wasn't that bad, but not ideal- being on the wrong side of the road in the middle of the night on slick pavement! We made it, but the flight was canceled and hopefully she got out yesterday okay.

Supposedly, this much snow this early, sticking, is rare. We'll see. I don't really believe anyone anymore. :) Sadly, I do not much care for snow, except for the delight it brings Rebekah (and one day, Luke). So many think it's so pretty and all that, but I prefer the convenience of other seasons.

I took R out 3 more times to "scoop the snow with Mommy's spatula"...we also brought bunny along. Note Rebekah trying to protect "her baby" against the cold- often you have to be quiet because her baby is sleeping. Very sweet.

This is mainly for family, trying to picture where things are. This is the play area directly behind our building. The building you see is the community center and where Rebekah goes for "creche"- like a Mom's Day Out, but free and not Christian.

Now, I'm standing with my back to the community center and looking at our building- they all have red doors, but our building's red door is the only one you can see in this pic.

These are the buildings next to ours (there are so many!!!!)...

Wanting me to get the snow off her...figures...

Okay- this was so fun! The 2 on the left I met while in line, but Kate is on the far right and Rachel G. is next to her. We were queueing (no idea how to spell that- standing in line is far easier to say and spell) for this huge consignment sale for kids' stuff. We even treated ourselves to Starbuck's. Sadly, Sian (pronounced Sean), our other friend who came, was out of the pic- I had to rush b/c we were getting let in after waiting for 45 minutes!

This pic is for Carrie and her best friend, Angela...I got 30-35 pieces of clothing, 11 pairs of socks, 15 new pairs of undies for little man when he needs them, a pair of slippers for R, and a ton of toys for 50 pounds! That's about $75. I was psyched!! I got many Christmas gifts for R and L. Many of the clothes were name-brand and some were even from Gymboree or Target, which do not exist over here.

(note the green Loch Ness Monster slippers with Argyle hats on them)

Most of the toys are for R: Dora umbrella, tea set, Magnadoodle, camera; for Luke: Bob the Builder backpack (which will get confiscated by his sister), cars trash bin, toy phone.

Rebekah in her Nessie slippers!

This was my best buy- for about $15, I got the kitchen and a whole bag of toy food!!! Can't wait to give it to her!

Snow!!

This was the 2nd time we've had snow. Rebekah loves it and wanted to play. We waited til Luke was sound asleep and ran out for a few minutes. This is behind our building. I wanted you to be able to see her running on her "squares"- the cement under the laundry lines. Note that she is clutching her precious cell phone in the first pic. It's too bad she doesn't have a lot of expressions. (p.s. I asked a neighbor if it snowed often...her answer was 'Only during the snow times." Period.)

Who doesn't love sleeping babies? Bless his heart, with being sick, he is crashing early! This was last evening- he had gone down at 4:30pm and I couldn't let his last feeding be at 3pm, so we had to wake him to give him some grub. Even with light, a camera flash on his face (twice) and his sister YELLING, "Yukey! YUKEY!!!! Wake up, Yukey!" he still did not budge. This also documents that he can sleep in a sleep sack and not swaddled (we stopped 2 months ago) and that he can sleep on his right side and not just his left side.

Just another day with the Malones

Can you say "precious?" I LOVE overalls!!

Did I mention I love this face in overalls? It was shortly after this photo that Luke was beginning to moan (he has been sick and fussy since Tuesday)- Josh and I BOTH heard a sweet, precious, all-by, "Ma ma..." It was like the Lord's gift to me of what is coming...in like 3 years!

I'd like you to notice several things in this pic. First, the reason I took it was to show you the drying rack on the heater. That is for when you need to dry clothes and it's raining outside- which is always. Those Scots sure can think of everything...except efficient dryers, canned broth, standard-sized fridges/freezers....

The next thing I'd like to draw your attention to is the poster. We got it for free as part of a gift bag for Luke from the gov't- aren't they nice? It's meant to encourage music and reading, etc....Anyway, upon hearing the explanation of a poster's purpose, R insisted we hang it in her room. Luke didn't mind.

Last, note the stool. It belongs in the bathroom and contains toilet paper and a lot less feminine items than it used to. R also insisted on having it for room time so she can adjust her light- whatever keeps her happy so I can get my legs shaved....hence my loss of personal property.

I don't think I ever showed the room with her ABC's- the other half is on the other wall, but you get the idea. (Remember- the Scots love them some purple) Her bows are to the left. We will be getting more in TX! The 2 photos are of her grandparents. One thing I wish I had brought more of was frames. The affordable ones here are tacky in my opinion. I plan on getting a bunch in TX.

I got Rebekah a pretend cell phone at Asda today- can you tell she was thrilled?! She awoke from her nap, grabbed the phone and said (I kid you not) "I'm excited you found a phone for me, Mommy!" How can a toddler says thank you better than that?

This has been Rebekah's dream- seriously- she was DYING to sit in the "green car seat like Lukey"

Other funny comments:

"No, it's not Bekah, it's Waaa-bekah!"

The next 2 are ex's of her perception of time and tenses:

"But I kept my pull-up dry now- can I have my popsicle now?"

R: What are you doing?
Me: I'm feeding my kiddos.
R: No, you're not feeding your kiddos. I already ate. You're feeding Lukey.