Light at the end of the tunnel

Well, 3 days in, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, we did not have the experience my friend, Kate, had with her almost 2 year old daughter over Thanksgiving, where Lily was very tired but slept thru the night the first night in the US, as well as back in the UK. As usual, my instincts were wrong- I was worried about Luke and assumed Rebekah would easily sleep thru the night when we arrived. Luke has been a champ! He now realy appreciates his own space and has slept really, really well and is right back on track! He and I are sooo similar- I have no problem adjusting to new time zones b/c i can always sleep! Evidently, he is the same way! Rebekah, on the other hand, was up for GOOD at 3:30 am the first 2 nights. I got up with her every hour post-midnight both nights and was unable to convince her to sleep past 3:30. Sigh...We also drove 5 1/2 hours yesterday to stay with Josh's parents until next weekend. Luke had a 30-minute crying fit as he tried to fall asleep with his sister, right next to him, bothering him! At the halfway point, we met Josh's parents who borrowed a huge car with 3 rows of seats. We were able to put Luke in the very back and he hardly peeped the last 2 1/2 hours! Rebekah even fell asleep at just the right time, so that she and Luke went to bed at 7-ish last night. Luke needed his paci a few times, but was just talking, not even fussing, and R didn't awaken until 4! She stayed awake until 5, petitioning to get up and play, but we held firm, so she ended up sleeping til 6:30. She currently is chatting and singing to herself in bed, rather than napping. Doesn't want to miss a thing! Regardless, they both seem to be in "normal routine" mode today, which is nice!

Josh stayed with Luke as he napped this am and the rest of the girls went shopping, which was super-fun!! I loved going to Target and seeing what they had. It was great fun being with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, as well as my spunky girl! She had her first piece of gum and looked about 8 as she chewed it. I got some great deals at Gap, too!

I have a lot of new pics, but no time right now!!

Merry Christmas!!

I'm that lady

You know, the one with the loud toddler AND the crying baby....sigh...yesterday was maybe one of the longest (and hardest) days of my life! We woke the kids up at 4:15am UK time, headed for the airport, and waited just a few minutes for the plane (Praise of this post is the timing and weather were awesome). Luke doesn't normally eat until after 7 am, so I wasn't sure when to feed him. Benadryl seemed to work wonders on the way over for Luke because he slept almost the whole time (granted it was night time, too). So, I gave him a dose, then fed him. Right before we got up to board the first plane, he puked the entire bottle...probably from meds on an empty tummy. I was soaked and his sweatshirt caught a lot. Fortuneatly, he had a sleeper on and a white onesie underneath. My plan was to strip him of the sleeper, put on jeans, and put the sweatshirt back on. So, no sweatshirt, no biggie. Now I have the same dilemma- is he still hungry? Seemingly no. He sobbed himself to sleep for a 30-minute snoozer, then ate. We got on the next plane. Rebekah slept...wat for it...not a minute and Luke SOBBED himself to sleep FIVE times for no more than 45 minutes at a time (this flight was 9 1/2 hrs)- sometimes the flight attendant dropped bottles, sometimes a child fell into him, sometimes his sister kicked him, sometimes he just woke up himself- but every time he was MAD as a hornet. You would think I had never fed that baby the number of bottles he consumed. He finally forced out a tiny poop, then a MONSTER one that travelled up his back on the white onesie- at least it was on the back, right? Still had the jeans plan. Then, he threw up another entire feeding, including the orange veggies after I accidentally pushed on his tummy too hard. This yak went everywhere- all over me and his sleeper, onesie, and the airplane. We got MORE glares. i tell you, you would think I was pinching the baby the way people looked at me, as if I wouldn't do anything to make him stop crying 50% of this 9 1/2 hr flight. So, we finally landed and the only way Josh could describe Luke and me was white trash. Tacky, I know, but there I was 2 different looks and smells and puke all over me and my kid in a stained onesie, dirty jeans, and nothing else, nopt even socks, in 30 degree weather.

Rebekah was about to fall over and ended up staying up for 20 hours. They both went to bed at 6 or 6:30 and Luke was up chatting off and on all night, while I was up with Rebekah every hour from midnight on. We threw in the towel at 4:30 am TX time. Luke started his first nap at 6:30 am. Long day, but we are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo happy to be here!!!

Aberdeen Christmas, part 2

This is the second part, so scroll down to my precious post for part 1!

So, Rebekah still loving helping her brother with his gifts.

Laughing with Daddy about something.

Taking Daddy's picture with her new "camera." he had to say "Cheese!"

This was where I started naming her toys....

Okay- we leave for TX tomorrow (!!!!) at 4:30am- our first light is at 6:30 am and we arrive in Dallas at 1:30pm, with the time change and if all goes well. Please pray for-

cont'd good weather

happy kids

kids that sleep, even if it is via Benadryl

Thanks!!!

Aberdeen Christma, part 1

Our little family celebrated Christmas this morning at 7:30am! I wanted to have her bigger presents sitting out for when she walked in, such as her kitchen. She was still groggy from waking up and she walked in, started to do her normal thing and then sees it, stops, and goes, "Oh!......a kitchen!" She was speechless as she examined it. I loved it!

Rebekah was more than happy to help Luke open her, I mean his, gifts, too! Luke was a sweet little trooper and just played with ribbon and chewed on wrapping paper!

This was another favorite moment- she went UNDER the tree, in search of a specific package she had had her eye on!

And she finds it!

This was her last gift (after we took a break and all got dressed while Luke napped). She opened a big box of Little People- she opened and said, "It's full of...TOYS!" Also priceless. This facial expression is her asking me EVERY name- I named 3 after my cousins, Karsin, Samantha, and Madison and made up the rest.

Hangin' around Aberdeen

This was Luke's first time sitting in the cart!

Of course, another HUB experience! Thought she looked cute "writing a letter to Mamama" in her raincoat.

Content

That's how I feel. Not loving my circumstances, but feeling content with my life and what I have. We've had a great week- ups and downs to be sure, but I feel like the Lord has opened my eyes to how precious my life is, especially my little family here. I have so enjoyed each moment with the kids this week- and have been intentional about it, to be honest. At the end of each day, I am worn out in every way, but Josh and I keep saying to each other, "I like our little family." :) I just bathed both kids- I have never seen Luke splash so much- I was drenched and loving it. It's fun to see his little plump hands slap at the water. While his bath was all movements and grunts, Rebekah's was all convo. That's par for the course for us! I just tucked them both in and sighed contentedly to myself before I found my piece of cheesecake I have been looking forward to since we bought it last night at the culmination of date night, but were too full to eat.

So, content is the word for the day for me!

8 months

That's right- Lumberjack Luke is 8 months today! I am stunned. 7 months still seems so little, but 8 months always seems sooo much older to me!

As for Luke as a baby, he sits very well now. Luke still looks like he's swimming when he's on his tummy and has only gotten mad enough to scoot backwards a few times. We assume it's our genes to blame since both our kids show (or showed) little interest or ability in crawling at this point. Luke has started to show less interest in his bottle, too, drinking maybe 4-5 ounces 4 times a day, instead of 6 ounces 4 times a day. On the other hand, he is eating solids really well. He loves yogurt and any fruit, as well as flavorful food, such as my soups :). He is okay with some veggies, but gets pretty worked up over others. He shows no interest in feeding himself, but the nurse was encouraging me to keep trying. Luke takes 3 naps a day and is sleeping 11-12 hours a night and has even done the last 5 without any paci replacements!

As for Luke as a person, I cannot tell you what a delight he is! He is so darn cute and very, very lovey. He will sit in my lap for a while, just enjoying the attention and his face lights up when he sees me (and anyone else he loves!). Luke adores his big sister- in fact when she body slammed him today, he just giggled, begging for more. Luke has the best giggles I have ever heard and is very ticklish. He also coos a lot and we are enamored with his sweet, but very "boy" voice. He is finally waking up cooing instead of fussing.

Happy 8 months, precious boy!

Jinger bells & other random things

Rebekah struggles with her "l"s, so that's how it sounds to us- "jinger bells."

You might be surprised how creative Josh is when he plays with the kids. This was his way of giving her earrings- and very fun ones at that! R was delighted!! She did try to sing Jingle Bells. In fact, she is requesting lots of things these days music-wise- I never thought I would hear my 2 1/2 yr old say, "I want to hear Destiny's Child, Mama." Apparently, Sesame Street gets lots of big names- she and Josh have been watching them all on Youtube- REM, Destiny's Child, James Blunt, just to name a few. It's hilarious- as is her very white girl dancin'!

There are more jinger bell pics later, but I don't feel like moving them. :)

This was right before Rebes got to go to her creche Christmas party- ignore her look, she was excited. You'd think she'd be used to the obscene number of pictures I take after 2 1/2 yrs of it!

These are 2 of the ladies who take care of Rebekah. (Luke does not go to creche b/c he naps at that time.) They are soooo sweet and obviously Muslim. I am committed to this group if only to hopefully get to share the gospel with them at some point.

I felt very Scottish the other day- Josh stayed back with the kids napped and I rode the bus into downtown due to horrible holiday parking. Anyway, it was raining, but that doesn't keep anyone at home! It has been said, "there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing." (In fact, I agree. I got one of those plastic covers for the stroller and Luke is happy as a clam, even in the freezing cold rain!) Anyway, I just wanted to try the bus, figure it out, and hit some shops that are hard with strollers. I had great alone time!

This is my fave! It's an awesome CHEAP store!!!

Luke is such a stud! He puts up with so much!!!! (Notice how R's hands end up almost choking him in the following pics.) She genuinely loves loving on her little brudder. In fact, Luke was being a pill the other day in the high chair, which is actually quite rare for him. I was frustrated, so I put him in his exersaucer to give him some alone time. He actually normally recovers quickly in these situations, much to everyone's surprise. Anyway, R has become VERY protective of Luke when she thinks he's being treated unjustly.

R: Where's Lukey?

me: In his exersaucer.

R: Why did you close the door?

me: Because he needed some alone time.

R: Is he in room time?

me: yes.

R: get him, Mommy.

me: Who's the boss, Rebekah?

R: Mommy...(under her breath) and Rebekah and Lukey.

me: sigh. :)

She even cried the other day when he was crying and asked me to get him. (I was on my way to get him, just so you know!)

Don't be fooled- she is still human! She often suggests that Luke is ready for his nap, or would rather be put down. :)

Last story- yesterday was a typical "Being a Stay-at-Home Mom" day. Here is what happened: I love taking the kids to the HUB (food court and coffee shop at the U open to the public) in the am's sometimes. It gets us out of the flat and gives us somewhere warm to go. R likes to run up and down their ramp and L and I sit and watch her. Anyway, I let her hold my cell. We went home. L napped and R and I played. J came home for lunch and stayed with R while I took L to get another shot. I was 9 minutes late (they are never on time so I didn't feel the least bit bad about it- inconsiderate, I know). I checked in on the computer and it says, "You are very late." Whatever. They are nice enough and little stud kept smiling thru it all- so proud!! I brought him home. We played some more. Both kids went down for naps. R couldn't pee beforehand, so I knew she'd be ready when she woke up. I tried to fall asleep and I hear a knock. My neighbor (who is programmed into my phone) says she got a text that my cell was left at the HUB. I realize that it was foolish to let R have it in the first place. I decide we will go back after the kids wake up, even tho it was cold and raining (I mentioned the cool plastic thing for the stroller). L wakes up first, but he hasn't been taking as much of his bottle recently, so I decide not to feed him immediately, to wait until he's ready. Well, he's ready right when I hear R wake up. Being a supermom, I keep feeding him while I help her out of her bed. She says she does not need to pee. I am not convinced. Right as I sit down to finish feeding, R panicked, says, "I need to tee tee!" She RUNS to the bathroom, but can't get her jeans undone and pees all over herself. Embarrassed and hating being in wet clothes, she starts crying. I rush back there and console her, still feeding Luke, who is none too happy with all this commotion. I hold him in my left arm, the bottle with my chin, and pull off R's wet clothes as she's crying. I tell her, "It's okay. You tried, sweet girl. It's okay." I try to get her to go on the potty, but based on the amount of tee tee on her clothes, she seems done. I finish with Luke, put him down, and go to tee tee myself, having waited until she woke up to avoid making noise while she was napping. I am midstream and R says, panicked again, "I need to tee tee!" I stop, ready to have an accident myself, and throw her on the potty. As I'm doing it, the phone (as far away as it can possibly be) rings! I run, half-nude to get it, but miss it. I get the kids bundled up and we go back to the HUB. R narrates the whole time: "The birds aren't here anymore because they went where it's warmer. They don't have any sweatshirts like me....you have to step over the water so you don't get your feet wet. If you get your feet wet, they get cold, so you have to step OVER the water, like this...Why am I cold, Mommy?" We did get the phone and made it back home again. I put L down for his 3rd nap and made dinner. Oh, and I forgot to mention that in my zeal to get ahead in my Bible study due to Christmas and an impending work contract, I did 2 days of the wrong week for my Bible study!

As I recounted to Josh (who was my missed call, trying to tell me about my cell b/c he, too, had gotten a text) later in the day, "And to think, people actually think we get bored staying at home!"

Okay, I have to add this because I just heard the toilet flush and R came in. She just handed me a popcorn kernel and THEN says, "I got this out of my bottom, but it's okay." What?!?! So, we did a serious hand-washing.

Flashback "Friday"

These are 2 books I LOVED growing up. We brought my old copy of Madeline from the States. However, I was delighted to find 'The Little Rabbit" in the flat. I read and read and read this book at my grandmother's house. It brought tears to my eyes when I saw it here. Of course, my little bunny loves it, too.

This was meant to be on the Christmas tree on campus set of pics, but it didn't make it! Look at those gorgeous blues!

I said I'd take pics of the ceiling of our beautiful church and I finally managed to remember. these are for you, Andrea! I took them from the balcony.

Lumberjack Luke and Rebekah

Thought you might enjoy seeing Lumberjack Luke and his sister in action...

This was particularly fun. A sweet friend and her fam of 4 just finished up here and headed back to the US Tuesday. Rebekah loves Miss Tammy and Hannah. We even got some of their cool girly stiff, like this bike and this whole outfit! Rebekah delightedly chose her own clothes and even picked the matching bow :). I was a fan. Anyway, R is super-psyched about the bike and is oh, sooooo proud of herself for being able to "climb on it all by myself." Josh lowered the seat for her to be able to and we take turns pushing her around on her "big girl bike."

Seriously- too cute for words!!!!

In fact, we have gotten lots from Hannah. Because we already have so much wrapped under the tree, I just randomly laid the new things around the flat, curious how long it would take R to find them all. Answer- about 5 minutes! ( Josh told her "Hannah Claus" had come. :) ) So funny and precious- I had forgotten I had put some stuff away in a drawer for a rainy day. I opened the drawer in her presence, and she exclaimed with more excitement than ever, "What is thaaaaat?! Is that for me?!" It was a bunch of doll accessories and she has loved every moment of playing with them!
Rebekah doesn't miss much and never has.
All of us have been battling some mild forms of colds. When Josh's throat gets tickly, he goes "Hmmm" a lot w/o realizing it. If I were not a perfect wife, it might slightly annoy me. Anyway, after sitting with him one morning, Rebekah turned to him and asked, "Why are you going "hmmm"?" Awesome.
Similarly, after entering the bathroom with Josh, Rebekah sniffed (our toilet smells regardless of how clean it is :( ) and suggested he use the "yellow stuff" and pointed to the room spray.

She helped me clean the shower with the spray bottle. She looked on the bottle and pointed to the shower head and said, "It looks just like this!" I love the connections she makes!