We are alive

I know I have been a delinquent blogger of late, but I have just been loving time with family and friends and have not chosen to use down time to do much fun computer stuff.

Anyway. we celebrated TG with my parents and Josh's, as well as his sister. They drove up and even gave us their hotel room for a night away while they were in Dallas- bless them! We flew out to Iowa City Friday morning and are still here until early tomorrow morning. The flights went well and sweet Luke stretched out on my lap and took a little snoozer- always fun. We arrived to a very excited Sterner family- Carrie is my mentor/discipler/dear friend with whom I met every week for 2 years. I invited myself over one day when Rebekah was tiny and we just kept at it until we moved. We just love this family and have been so spoiled by them and their 5 children!! I am amazed at how awesome each child is and how much they love on my own 2.

While here, we have relaxed, fellowshipped, played, and met with lots of "old" friends. It has been poignant and very precious to be here. Josh preached yesterday and did so well! I am always proud. Sadly, Rebekah and I threw up throughout the night Saturday night, so nothing went as planned yesterday, but we both felt better mid-morning. I left her and a napping Luke at home with Carrie (bless her for caring for my family as if they were her own) so I could hear Josh preach. I chatted with friends and returned home, napped R and myself (Luke decided he wasn't tired in the afternoon :)) on my bed (so sweet to share these sleepy times with my kids), and then we went back to the church for a reception for us. That sounds more formal than it was. Regardless, we always feel so loved here.
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Last night, Carrie and I left our 7 children in our husbands' capable hands and enjoyed a fabulous girls' night with some of my best pals. We laughed for 3 hrs straight. Seriously.

This morning, Amanda planned a play group, so I got to see all my friends' kids a year and a half older- crazy!! Josh is having a staff lunch with the church staff. Tonight we have a pot luck at the church with our friends and their families.

I will have pics when I'm on my own computer again, but needless to say this has been a wonderful time!! Mad props to Carrie and Andrea for planning the girls' night and pot luck, and to Amanda for the crazy play group!!

Walkin'...

Luke is practically running. Not really. But he is walking almost all the time! He even learned how to push himself up to standing. He really is so proud of himself.

This was at Sam's Club. Do not be worried about the untied shoe. He does not trip, I promise.

The girls

Rebekah and Riley have a great time playing! As long as Rebekah gets to be in charge, they do very well. :) Sadly, Rebes has been a handful recently, but she really does love her cousin.

Texas treats

A boy after my own heart.

Tuesday evening, Josh flew out to New Orleans for a conference (I'm totally jealous b/c he's hanging with 2 of our best friends), and my dad kept Luke while the girls went out to eat at Sweet Tomatoes. My goodness, it was amazing. (p.s. Dad kept Luke b/c this is not Luke's kind of food and he was supposed to go to bed at 7-ish. We got home at 7:30 to see a very chipper and happy little boy very much awake in the living room. It's hard to put a giggly baby to bed. :))

Beks loved the teeny tiny ice cream cone afterwards.

I loved the 45 feet of fresh food- best salad bar, potato bar, soups, and fresh bread with whipped butter- and at the end pumpkin caramel yumminess.

I would say after eating 45 feet of fresh farm food, there's not a whole lot to feel good about.

Yesterday, my dad kept Luke and the girls went shopping- ALL day! We ate at Macaroni Grill, got Sonic treats, of course, and did some much-needed Texas shopping. Luke had a ball with Grandi and ate his weight in honey-roasted peanuts and bread and butter pickles. he walked a lot evidently and destroyed one of their cactuses. Dad thought it was hilarious.

I couldn't get over my amusement at an 18 month-sized birthday boy onesie. I should have gotten it for Callum.

Our trip so far...

So, we're still here, I just now am blogging again. :) Each day/night is getting better. The kids add an hour or so to their sleep each night- R was up at 5am and Luke closer to 6 this morning, so that's good. Luke and I don't really have internal clocks- if we're tired, we sleep! Josh and Rebes, on the other hand, take a little longer to adjust. In fact, Josh hasn't slept past 1 or 2 am yet. :( Luke has resumed his 1-nap routine and has shocked me how well he has done even with jet lag. Granted he is getting 11-ish hrs/night, but he usually gets more.

The kids are getting over their colds, and I just got it and feel run over. Poor things- I always forget how yucky they must feel when sick. This afternoon, for a lot of reasons, Josh and Luke napped in the same room, and Rebekah and I napped in the same room. That is a first all the way around. After waiting it out, I invited Rebekah to bunk with me and after another 30 minutes or so, we fell asleep snuggled up. It was precious and a memory I will cherish. :)

Luke loves my parents! He very clearly said, "Mamama" and reached for my mom yesterday, which earned him a lot of points. He and my dad are buddies, too. He has been walking a lot and is very steady.

I got to see my brother and his family- which meant meeting my nephew! Both kids are just wonderful, and Riley was an equal opportunist with my 2, playing with both. They had a blast!

And, for the pics...

Before we left- watching a movie at Lily's...

The morning of our trip in the airport at 5am.

In the Minneapolis airport, letting them stretch their legs after an 8 1/2 hr flight.

Rebekah telling me, "I sure wish I could take a nap." :( HATE seeing my kids so tired.

Yea for ginormous American items!!

My fist Rt 44 Diet Coke- I think I've had 2/day, trying to stay awake past 6pm and for sheer enjoyment.

Yea for REAL chips and salsa!

Yea for my precious nephew, who is a peanut!

Becky with the girls

Isn't this a great photo of William?

This was hilarious!!! Luke was really sick and quite fussy this night, but found so much joy smacking my brother with his new toothbrush. You can see how amused Billy was.

We're here!

I just wanted to thank everyone for praying- I could tell the Lord was blessing us thru your prayers. :) The day before our trip we found out that we would be adding a 3rd and unnecessary leg to our already crazy day. I will not bore you with endless details, but we (the adults) got up at 2:45 am UK time (8:45pm TX time) and got the kids at 4am. We flew for 1 1/2 hrs to Amsterdam, then 8 1/2 hrs back up and over Aberdeen (grrr) and to Minneapolis, then 2 hrs to Dallas. Honestly, it could not have gone much better unless they had both slept the entire time. :) Rebekah was still quite sick and thus quite mellow, and Luke was 95% wonderful. He dozed off several times in my arms without fussing and had a ball roaming the plane. We did get the bulkhead for the long flight and had a very kind woman who with us who helped me to no end. The last hour of the last flight was when Rebekah simply could not stay awake anymore. She nodded off on Josh's arm as they read a magazine together :), and this is when Luke decided to lose it. However, it was only off and on for an hour, and he fell asleep the last 5 minutes. Priceless. Both kids were not happy to be awakened- Luke was especially angry and I felt so bad for him. We got in at 5pm TX time, which was 11pm UK time- loooong day for 2 little ones. Rebekah went right back to sleep in the car, and Luke did all his animal noises as long as I was holding his hand. :)

Last night was...okay. You may notice I am blogging at 5am. The kid went right down at 6 or 6:30pm, Josh and I went down at 8. Evidently, Luke was up at 9, but we were too tired to notice, and my parents were more than happy to hold him until he went back to bed. I was up at 12, 1, and 2, and heard Luke- so he and I slept together (I use "slept" loosely- he did anyway) until 3:30, and we threw in the towel- it felt like 9:30am to us. I came out to find Josh and my mom with Rebekah anyway. :) She made it until 3 on a pink princess pallet in my parents' room- bless them and since she had started sleeping at 4 yesterday afternoon, that was a full night for her. So, I wish everyone had been able to sleep all night, but since we are in it together, it's not so bad.

We did get to see my parents' beautiful new house- LOVE it! It is just perfect. And, even though I have been up for several hours, it's still not light enough to see the backyard. :) Rebekah has been trying all her hand-me-downs- awesome ones!! Kate, you'll be excited! And Luke has been showing off his mad walkin' skills. So, all in all, already a good day! Plus, I got lots of good sweaty snuggles with my boy. :)

Texas-bound!

We are leaving for Texas tomorrow! As you Texans are starting to go to bed, we will be getting up at 3:30am here and getting to the airport for the 1st of 3 flights to Texas. We will be going from 3:30am til 11pm our time, so keep us in your prayers- never a fun day, but lots to look forward to. Additionally, Rebekah has developed (today) a bad cold and is looking rather rough. Pray she can get a good night's sleep (until 4am when we out her in the car) and make it tomorrow. Also pray that Luke will have a good disposition. :)

Here are some sweet shots of my big boy to tide you over. ;)

See some of y'all soon!

I thought this day would never come...

Luke is sort of walking! If you count 5 steps at a time in order to get marshmallows, then our boy is walking! His actual first steps today were from Josh's hands to me in the kitchen- so we both got to be there!

Okay- so not the greatest video, but it's like when they first start sitting and you are torn b/w running to get the camera and staying put in case they fall. So, we had to try to video while still playing a supporting role.



He has been walking back and forth b/w us a few steps at a time lots of times today- mostly for treats, but we'll take it!

Guy Fawkes

So, if you've seen V for Vendetta, you are a step ahead of the game. 5 November is Guy Fawkes night. The sounds you hear are not gunfire, affirming your fears that you live in the Scottish ghetto (last year's experience). In fact, they are fireworks, and the yelling is the revelers' enjoyment of burning things. This year, the kids were old enough to get to see ad experience their very first real fireworks. We decided to accept a friends' invitation to go out to Banchory for their weekend fireworks when we saw how excited Rebekah was about the "polkadots in the sky" that she saw throughout the week. Once again, we are reminded what crazy things Scots get away with. Fireworks are EVERYWHERE and if their are limits, I've never seen them!

We ate dinner (we actually had a full day- thankfully, r slept til 7;30 and Luke til 8:30 b/c we attended a birthday party this morning, had lunch, Luke and I took great naps, then we hopped in the car for the 45 minute drive (it takes 45 min to travel 19 miles here- crazy) to Banchory, where we celebrated Guy Fawkes) at the Zieglers' place, and the second we got there, their oldest boy (Andrew 11) asked for Luke! Andrew is a doll and was so excited to play with him. Luke was a great sport and I was able to eat dinner with him in another room! Then, we all loaded up and drove out the the bonfire- evidently, it's fun to burn this guy- seemed odd to me.

This is a cruddy pic, but you can see "Guy Fawkes" on top of the bonfire.

I love getting the kids treats and presents, so I was happy to see glow necklaces and got one for each of them- a big hit!

Sadly, I forgot to bring an extra battery and this was where the camera died. However, Luke rode on Josh's shoulders and I held Rebekah for the fireworks. Once again, I find myself surprised and very proud- both my children were in awe and not at all scared!!!! The fireworks were wonderful and since there's not exactly a 4th of July celebration here, this will have to tide us over for a while. We brought 2 very tired children home and both were in bed by 8:30.

A tribute to my son

Nothing extraordinary happened today, I just had a fun time with the kids and my husband. Some days are so challenging, and others are just sweet. Today was the latter.

In particular, I am loving watch Luke morph from a baby to a little boy. Just a week ago yesterday I was worried about his speech, and today I laugh. He is picking up new words every day! They are not terribly articulate but we both know what he's saying a lot of the time. He is also getting so close to walking! He took a step toward me at play group today and didn't even realize it. I think the Lord is opening my eyes so that I can see past the not walking (which makes him seem much younger than he really is) to the things he actually is doing.

He is trying puzzles.
He lifts his legs while standing to help me pull off his trousers (I love it when they are actually helpful).
He loves playing and seems to have a great sense of humor.
He tries to "count" the birds in the pictures on his wall and points to each one as he inflects his nonsense babble just like I inflect my numbers.
He knows what to do with a toothbrush, a hairbrush, and a Q-tip- you should see his little chubby hand twist that Q-tip back and forth in the outer part of his ear as he grins for validation. Priceless.
He can drive cars all over the floor and has very good coordination.
He can still do the splits in any direction, tho it's not a position he chooses.
He eats with a spoon, tho often he uses his hands just to mess with me.
He will wave and say "hiiigh" or "buh-bye" on command.
He knows several animal sounds (puppy, cow, sheep, horse, and sometimes a pirate).
He likes to "sing" and stops what he's doing to listen to music.
He knows how to turn on his sound machine and loves doing it.
He pretends to go to sleep by laying down and saying, "Nuh-nigh" and then pops up so you'll say, "Good morning!"
He will "jump" by throwing himself on the ground.
He just found his part that makes him a boy and is enchanted. Yikes. That's toddler if anything is.
He often cries when Daddy leaves and definitely if he forgets to say goodbye.
He loves to cruise around holding Daddy's hand, tho he only humors me occasionally.
He will sit very still for a haircut until you drop hair in his eyes and then he gets very angry. :(
He will give his right leg for a Pringle, popcorn, or a fruit snack and only takes his vitamin b/c Rebekah and I tell him it is a fruit snack. Is that wrong?
He gives the BEST macks (aka kisses) and while we're on his preciousness, he has the softest, whitest skin I have ever felt. (He is so fair that even the Scots are impressed and that's saying something.)


Anyway, he is just darling and it felt worth documenting that fact. I am giddy to see my family get to know him more.

Cuties

I mentioned the other day that Rebekah is my little helper. Here we are cutting the tips off green beans. Rebekah was very precise and cut off as little as possible, but sometimes made the judgment call on if a green bean was a little too icky and just cut all that part off. Good instincts, I must say. We did have to trade scissors b/c she was sure mine were better.

Before having a little boy of my own, I don't think I really noticed how they all assume this exact position to drive cars around. Here Luke is all boy- driving the octopus, sound effects and all. My, he loves sound effects- maybe one of my favorite things about boys is all the noises they can make and giggle about. :) (Yes, he is losing his pants again- same day as the video- sadly, they are 12-18 m trousers, but the sizes here are huge. Josh kept the kids for me while I got my hair trimmed yesterday and he made the executive decision to change his pants. :))

Such a ham.

This morning at the grocery store.

At lunch- we are so lucky to have Josh come home for lunch every day! I did actually take this picture to show off my hydrangeas. They were so hugely in bloom that the whole plant was listing to one side, begging to be trimmed.

Luke was playing with clothes pins- loves to collect and organize.

Aren't they gorgeous??? I LOVE hydrangeas and could not be happier that we have a plant of our own. They are so ultra low maintenance- what could be better?

In other news, this is day 3 of no morning nap for Luke. Long story short, his morning naps have been good and his pm naps not to so good. This has been true for a while. I noticed in April when my mom was here that napping him later in the day had the reverse effect I wanted- he was getting up later, but was grumpier. I shifted things back and he was much better. Now, I think his body really only needs 1 nap and it's the first one he takes. So, I have been shocked how easily he has dropped it- my first real clues he might be okay were in Germany where he managed just fine and was actually very chipper almost the whole trip. So, he has been rising about 7, maybe 7:30, each morning (sadly not 8) and I make him come snuggle with me in my bed (Josh is up and at 'em at 5:30-6 most mornings). Then, we get Rebekah when we hear her- sometimes I hear her first, so we reverse that. Anyway, I feel so much more relaxed, not feeling like I have to squeeze everything we need to do and a meal in to a 2 or 3-hour window. Knowing we have until 1-ish makes me feel like we can just take it easy. The result has been much better time with the kids and a very happy little boy. He has been delightful, and I am loving it. I know we'll have to adjust in Texas, but it is encouraging to see this development all the same.

side note- he has been napping 1 1/2-2 hours, which is decent for him. I honestly think once he settles into this new routine, we'll either see later sleep-ins or longer naps. I imagine he might be the kind of kid who regularly takes a 2 or 3 hour nap. We'll see. I have come to the conclusion that if I had to choose b/w a mostly happy kid who doesn't sleep terribly long or a fussy kid who sleeps really well, I'll take the happy one!

side note 2- Rebekah doesn't really nap anymore. Of course, we are fine with it if she needs to, but mostly she just plays with toys on her bed. She pushes her mattress away from the wall and has created a little cozy area for herself and her dolls. She calls it "downstairs" and that's where the girls have to sleep at nap time. My biggest issue is keeping her in bed. I need to work or get caught up on stuff and I think it's good for her to rest, so I do like her to have some time by herself. However, she is eager to find reasons to come downstairs, which unfortunately is very loud for a sleeping little boy with no door! So, we are working on getting all the pottying done prior to the nap and not coming down!! Sometimes, if it's nice out, I'll make a phone call out back, and I'll hear a little hand knocking on her bedroom window glass and see my precious one waving at me and blowing kisses. Very sweet.