Fun With Water

On Sunday we went to one of the churches we have been visiting. After the service they were going to serve lunch and have a giant slip & slide for the kids. They weren't kidding. It was HUGE!


They also had a small little pool out for the kids.


Rachel & Isaac ran right out to play. At one point in the afternoon I look down at Isaac, he has someone's dirty shoe and is filing it with water from the pool and then proceeds to drink it. Just in case you're wondering, no we are not supposed to drink the water here.

Today (Tuesday) we were taking a taxi to a friends house to let the kids play a bit. We are about 5 minutes from home, when Isaac begins to throw up all over the cab. I have to tell the guy to turn around b/c "sorry but my kid is yacking all over the place". The driver was very gracious, but it was disgusting. After helping the guy clean out his car, I go put Isaac in the bath. He's playing fine, and then leans down in the bath and starts lapping up the water... will he ever learn?!

Transactions Without Truth

There are a lot of things that make you tired about moving to Africa. You get tired because you never really know where you are and none of the streets are marked. You get tired because, even though everyone speaks English, you can’t understand a single thing that anyone says. You get tired because your kids are up sick in the night on a pretty regular basis. You get tired because things that used to be easy, like taking a warm shower, may take twenty minutes of planning and a master’s level feat of engineering.

There is, however, one thing that makes me more tired than anything else - dishonesty - consistent, blatant, unrepentant dishonesty. The honest truth about Uganda is that honesty is an extremely rare commodity. Everyone here lies. And the crazy thing is that no one seems to care - or really even notice - when someone is lying to them.

Now, there are small lies, there are big lies, and there are silly lies. Small lies are told by the taxi cab driver who says he “will be there in 10 minutes time,” when he really has no intention to arrive for over an hour. Big lies are told by your internet service provider who charges over one thousand dollars per month for “broadband service of 256 kbps” when the monitor on the router demonstrates that less than 50 kbps is actually flowing through your modem (for comparison purposes dial up in the U.S is 56 kbps). Silly lies are told by the same internet service provider when you show him the printout and he tells you that the problem is not that he has failed to provide you what was promised but rather that you failed to buy the more expensive package.

This seemingly accepted practice of systematic dishonesty makes commercial transactions nearly impossible. For example, Amy and I are desperately searching for a vehicle to purchase on the second-hand bulletin boards (imagine Craig’s list on the wall of a grocery store). Last week, I find what appears to be an ideal 1994 Toyota Land Cruiser. The price is a bit high, but it says it is negotiable, so I give it a shot. I call the number and talk to Sam. Sam tells me that he has the vehicle at his office, and that I should come to see it (lie #1). I arrive at Sam’s office, and he says that the vehicle actually isn’t there, but it is on its way (lie #2). He talks with someone on the phone and then tells me he’ll just bring the vehicle to my office later that afternoon (not quite a lie, but not necessarily true). He hands me a copy of the flyer with a picture of the vehicle and its identifying details, and I go on my way, having wasted an hour and a half of my day.

Later that afternoon, I get a phone call about the vehicle I wanted to see. I am told that the vehicle has arrived and that the caller, who I assumed to be Sam, will be over in a couple of minutes to show it to me (lie #3). An hour and a half later, two men show up in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Neither is Sam. I instead meet Richard. I pull out the flyer, show it to Richard and ask him if the car he brought is the one in the picture. Richard looks me square in the face and says, “yes it is” (lie #4). I point out the fairly obvious fact that the photo is of a vehicle with the word Prado painted prominently on the doors, and the vehicle in front of me bears no such markings. Richard is unphaased. I ask Richard what happened to Sam and the vehicle in the photo. Richard says, “Sam actually sold that particular vehicle this morning and asked me to bring this one instead” (lie #5). Moments later, Sam calls ready to show me the car we discussed this morning. He is somewhat upset by the fact that someone has tried to beat him to the sale. Richard, tells me that the caller must be an imposter (lie #6).

Intrigued by the drama, I go ahead and inspect the vehicle. I pop the hood and immediately notice that the second battery (turbo diesel engines have two batteries -who knew?) is missing. I ask Richard why there is only one battery and he says, “this is a different model - the model with two batteries has a lot of mechanical problems - one battery Land Cruisers are better.” (lie #6). I decide it is not worth pointing out the gaping hole with two now-empty connector cables where the missing battery should have been. I walk around to the side of the vehicle, and look at the insurance sticker, which prominently states that the current policy period commenced in June 2008. While standing directly in front of Richard and looking directly at the sticker, I ask “when was the vehicle imported to Uganda.” Without blinking, Richard says “three months ago.” (lie #7). I point out the sticker’s date, and move on. I look at the old school odometer and notice that the vehicle has significantly less mileage than my old 2002 Volkswagen and that the mileage of this vehicle is amazingly within 100 kilometers of the mileage listed for the vehicle in the flyer (lies #7 an #8). I ask Richard somewhat jokingly about whether his boss rolls back the odometers himself. At this Richard gets very earnest, and says, “it is not possible to tamper with such an odometer, as they are completely tamper proof (lie #9).

I just laugh and join in the fun, telling my new friend Richard that even I know how to roll back a fourteen year old odometer (lie #10).

FINALLY

Here are some pictures of where we are staying. The front entrance.


Our Living Room


Our Dining Room


Our Kitchen


Our Bathroom


Our Bedroom


The Kid’s Bedroom



It'll do for now : )

Bugs, Bugs, and More Bugs

I’m not a bug person. I don’t mind them outside, but inside the house...they really bother me. I’m starting to wonder why I said I would move to Uganda. : ) We have ants everywhere. And really big ones. Rachel was showing Isaac how to step on them the other day, but Isaac realized that sometimes he would miss, so now he just uses his fingers to squash them. yuk! Today he brought me one in bed.

There are also spiders. Thankfully I haven’t seen any big ones yet! But we do have those jumping spiders...which for me are just as bad. I had a traumatic experience with one back in high school (remember that mom?!).

Today I picked up the bath mat in the bathroom to hang it up to dry, and look what i found.



Yes millipedes. I don’t know why these creep me out as much as they do, but they do. and it really grossed me out b/c i could have easily stepped on them. I had seen two by our front door before but Jesse was around to get them out, this time he was not. So I had to muster up some courage and try to get them on a piece of paper so i could throw them out. By the time I had found a big enough piece of paper one had already crawled under Isaac’s car seat (which was just sitting on the floor). I moved the car seat, but as I did I accidentally cut the sucker in half! Both halves were still moving. That’s just wrong! Needless to say, I finally got them both out of my house, and we now make sure we pick up the bath mat as soon as we are done taking a shower.

We’ve had one more bug bother the Rudy household... the stomach bug. Poor Levi had a temp for about 24 hours and started throwing up. I then got it the next day. Thankfully I am feeling better today. Just really weak, but at least it’s not malaria. Hopefully no one else comes down with anything!

There is one good thing....


at least we have him to help us out! (just in case you can't tell it's a lizard, i tried to get a closer picture but that just scared him away)

The Lorenzens'

This is who we are staying with. They have an incredible ministry here. They are not themselves working with a mission group. Jim is working with a company here. But that does not mean they are not doing ministry. They found a great big house (for actually less then everything we are finding) and they basically run a guest house for missionaries, who need a place to stay but can’t afford to stay in hotels. Most people stay in the main house, they are graciously letting us stay in a small apartment that is in the basement part of their house. It’s 2 bedroom, living area/dining area, small kitchen, and bathroom.

They have new people here every night. It's been really fun to meet people and here what they are doing all over Uganda.
We can have dinner with them every night M-F, which is wonderful, since I’m not comfortable yet, with figuring out how to make anything here yet. & let's be honest anytime i can get out of making dinner I will. : )

Esther (the wife) has a wealth of knowledge to give me. She is completely a type A person, and is sometimes a little overwhelming for me, but I know in the long run it will be great. For example, she already has set up for me to interview house help on Thursday!?! I don’t even have a house yet, but she thinks it will be good to have her start now a couple days a week just helping with the apartment, and then I’ll know if I would want to keep her on or not. But there is still an interview! I have no idea what to ask this dear lady? Can you clean? okay great ; ) I know I’m an idiot, but it’s quite overwhelming to me.

I am just really ready to get into our own place. It’s just really hard for me to have to be in someone’s else’s space with 3 young kids. Again they have been wonderful, but it's always nice to have your own space.

I will try to post pictures soon, but I haven’t found my cord that connects my camera to the computer.

We Are Here

I arrived Friday morning. My flight from London was a night flight, and overall went very well. The kids both watched a movie and then slept the rest of the way until about 1 hour before the flight landed! I didn’t sleep but maybe about 30 minutes, there’s something about being the only parent on a flight, I just couldn't’t let myself nod off.

We arrived at about 7:30am. The Ugandan staff was wonderful. They helped me off the plane, took me to the front of the line going through passport control, and then had me sit while they searched for all my bags. Of course that meant I was the last one to leave the baggage area, but there was no way I could’ve done it by myself. Once we finally got out of customs, I saw Jesse! Wow it was great to see him! I wanted to give him a great big smooch right there, but in the back of my mind I’m thinking “you can’t do that, that would be very offensive to the Ugandan culture." I probably would’ve done it anyway, but there were 3 people from Jesse’s work who were also there, so I decided instead to just live with a long hug.

It was pouring outside-first rain they’ve had in weeks I guess. We waited till they tried to pull up the vehicles so we could load them up. And yes we needed all 3 vehicles! I had 7 suitcases/Tupperware bins, 3 car seats, 1 pack ‘n play, 1 stroller, diaper bag, laptop bag, backpack, rachel’s carry on, and of course the 3 kiddos : ) We fit everything in, and then divided up and took off for where we were staying. The kids of course wanted to ride with their dad, so I rode with Ida (the office administrator).

I was so tired so i don’t remember much of the trip, but Ida was very nice pointing everything out, and giving me tips on where I should buy fruits/clothing/furniture. It took us about 1 hour or so to get to where we were staying.

My first impressions of Kampala were very different then i thought they would be. Yes, everything is very green, and it is very hilly. But things seem much more spread out then I was thinking. The city is in one area, and then the rest is much more residential. Very different from Sri Lanka. Although this is nice, it’s also hard for me now, b/c I feel much more trapped where we are staying. I’ll write more later about where we are staying, but wanted to let you know that we are here, and so far so good!

NEGATIVE ON THE SWINE FLU

just in case anyone was worried

Look We Made the News!

Swine flu cases confirmed in UK
Nicola Sturgeon says the pair are recovering in a hospital in Airdrie

Two people admitted to a Scottish hospital after returning from a holiday in Mexico have been confirmed as the UK's first swine flu cases. Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said both individuals were recovering well in a Lanarkshire hospital from mild cases of the virus. It comes after Health Secretary Alan Johnson told the Commons 25 possible cases had been reported in the UK. Nine of those have proved negative, while 14 are still being investigated. Those 14 individuals were well enough to be managed in the community, Mr Johnson told MPs. The pair receiving treatment in Scotland are from Polmont, Falkirk.

***********to read whole article click above*************


Mexico suspected flu toll soars
Q&A: Swine flu
He added: "If a new pandemic does start as a result of this outbreak in Mexico and the United States, we can't make it go away, but what we can do through our plans, particularly our stockpiles of anti-virals, is mitigate its effect." Foreign Secretary David Miliband said it was "right that we put the issue of swine fever on the foreign ministers' agenda" because there needed to be "maximum European co-ordination" on the issue.
Agency procedures
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has a procedure for confirming whether or not a patient has swine flu. If a patient rings their GP or NHS Direct to report symptoms, they will be told to stay at home, not to visit a surgery or hospital. The HPA has prepared an "algorithm" - in essence, a flow chart - for suspected cases. On the phone, or possibly even face to face depending on the circumstances, the patient's GP or NHS Direct will take the patient through the algorithm. If the answers to the algorithm lead the questioner to believe the patient may have swine flu, a sample will be taken that will then be sent to one of the HPA's network of regional labs for testing. WE WERE NOT ASKED ANY QUESTIONS...ONLY ARE YOU FROM THE US?
If the sample is confirmed as influenza type A, it will then be sent to the HPA's Reference Lab at the Centre for Infections in Colindale, where they will carry out genetic typing on it and establish whether it is a confirmed case of swine flu.
There have also been cases of swine flu reported in Canada and a suspected case in France.

But I Just Wanted To See A Doctor!

Poor Levi has been sick for the past 9 days. It started out as a high fever (which he is very prone to get), but just seemed like a cold. He was eating fine, and the temp went down after 2 days. He seemed great, except for a cough. When we arrived here in England, Isaac started getting a runny nose and cough, but no temp. Again, he was overall acting normal, just a cold. Well 2 days ago, my mom and I came down with it as well. We had a really high temps., very sore throats, and bad coughing. Rachel woke up this morning saying her throat hurt as well. I finally decided to see if we could get in to see a doctor, since we leave Thursday for Uganda. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't turning into a nasty infection. My mom called her doctor, and they asked where we were from and that they would send someone out. Wow! I thought, how nice is that the doctor makes house calls! So much better then getting all three kids in the car to take them to the doctors. The doctor called on his way, and said that he would be wearing a mask, so tell the kids so they are not scared when he comes in.

About an hour later he arrived, comes in not only a mask, but a whole protective outfit. Had a plastic apron type thing, a mask, and of course gloves.


It finally clicks that he thinks we might have the swine flu.


He explained that since we were from America and there has been a breakout of the swine flu that he had to call Britain's form of the CDC, and they wanted to him to get samples from us. So he does a quick examination of us, says that he thinks we all just have a bad cold, but other than that we seem good. Then proceeds to pull out long Q-tips to take cultures, which Rachel sees and proceeds to freak out. I mean throws a HUGE fit. She is crying uncontrollably and hides behind a chair. She really doesn't like getting her throat swabbed. : ) I ask him if this is really necessary. He says if it were up to him, he wouldn't do it, b/c he's pretty sure we don't have it, but that since we are leaving we need to get it done. So we line up and get both our throats and noses swabbed. Never had my nosed swabbed before and I really hope I don't ever have to again.

Not quite the doctor visit I was planning on!

Sheep Farm

It's Lambing season right now in Northern England. It is quite amazing to see how many lambs there are. My parents had looked into different things to do with the kids while they were here, and my dad found that you can stay overnight at a sheep farm. So we packed our overnight bags and headed south. The drive was beautiful! Green everywhere. We got to our sheep farm bed and breakfast just before dinner, so we dropped our bags off, and then headed to the nearest pub to get some dinner. When we got back, my parents talked with the woman who owns the farm. They found out that their cow had kicked her husband just last week in the leg. (owwww!) He's okay but can't get out of bed, and she was running everything herself. They asked if we would be able to see any sheep real close up or even be able to pet them, she said we would just have to walk along the fences to see if we could see any close up, but she would have to catch one for us in order to pet it. & since it was just her, she really didn't have the time. So although the sheep farm turned out much different then we were anticipating, it was still neat. We were hoping for more of a tour or at least more info, and normally you might get that, but for obvious reasons it just wasn't going to happen.

This is where we stayed. It was built in the 1600's!

So we started walking around, and found many, many, many sheep. We even found one that was probably on 1-2 days old. Rachel & Isaac were so excited.



From there we drove closer to the coast, but we had to go over the "mountains". The road was crazy, it was only big enough for one car, and it wound and wound itself up this pass. Again beautiful views.


When we got to the town we got to go on a train ride. It was so fun. It was a small train, that you ride 40 minutes each way up into the fells (hills). Again the kids were beside themselves. After that we headed back home. This time on the main highway, so we didn't have to go on the crazy rode again.




My parents have been wonderful. I have come down with what i think (hoping) is just a cold. So I've just been laid up the last 2 days. My parents have been entertaining the 3 kids, which is exhausting. Levi & Isaac both have a little cold too. Please pray that we can all start feeling better soon. I hate missing out on my time here with my parents.

Jesse is still doing good. He has started house & car shopping. It looks like housing is a little more then we thought. But it looks like there are some options. I can't wait to go and see for myself. Other than that he is just getting to know a lot of different people there. Which he has informed me are awesome. Thanks for your prayers! love you all!

We Are Here & There

Jesse is in Uganda. Myself and the kids are in Carlisle, England. It's hard to be apart. Got an email from Jesse, i'll post some of it for you....

"So, I'm staring out the window at Kololo Hill, which overlooks the city. It is lush, it is green, and it is not nearly as dirty or loud as I would have expected it to be. Overall, I have to say that Kampala is a cleaner, quieter and more scenic city than Nairobi or Addis, which has been a pleasant surprise.

I just finished my first day of work at the office. I would have written earlier, but my Internet connection was down at the office (and actually the power was out for a good bit of the afternoon), which was not a pleasant surprise. ... The food was good, but it is pretty bland (we probably should have packed some redhot sauce to keep our tastebuds awake).

...I slept on all of the flights between Heathrow and here, and even in some of the airports, but I don't think I slept for any stretch over 90 minutes throughout. I'm dragging tail."

I also got to talk with him on the phone last night. The connection was pretty good! He is tired, and feeling a little sick, but is really excited about working with the people there. We are having a great time here with my parents, but it is weird thinking that he is there experiencing Uganda without us. He even went to a movie last night, and is going bowling tonight.

We've been taking it pretty easy here. Yesterday we went to Hadrian's Wall.

Today we are leaving to go stay overnight at a sheep farm. The kids are so excited. Isaac keeps shouting "baa, baa". Levi is still battling a pretty bad cold. He's not sleeping well and coughing quite a bit, and yet still smiles all day long, what a trooper! Rachel is loving playing school with her Oma, and has entertained us with singing Christmas songs over and over again.

It still hasn't hit me that we have actually moved from Virginia. It just feels like we are on vacation, and will be back soon. I'm waiting for the day when it really does. (poor jesse, when it does)

And We're Off

Our flight leaves tonight! Can you believe it? I know I can't! Where did the time go?

We've been out of our town home since Monday, staying with my sister & brother-in-law. We are almost completely packed.

We've started saying our goodbyes, which is always really surreal for me. But as we get closer to when we are actually leaving the harder it gets! Our flight leaves at 10 tonight...hopefully the kids will sleep the whole flight (i know wishful thinking). We will arrive in London Monday morning, then Jesse has about a 6 hour lay-over, and then he is on to Uganda. The kids and I are getting to stay with my parents up in Carlisle, England for 10 days before we head on down to Uganda.

I'll update more once we are in England, but just wanted to write once more before leaving. Thank you for all your prayers, we really appreciate them!

Global Prayer Gathering

This weekend is IJM's annual Global Prayer Gathering (GPG). I look forward to this every year. It is truly a time to come together with others who are passionate about justice and call out to our God. This year is a little different for me though. We are going...we are going to be doing this work?! In the past I've been able to go and really pray for others and be amazed at what God is doing all over the world. This year i think it's hit me even harder. I can not tell you how humbled and blessed I felt as i was sitting in the Uganda prayer room, and just listened to people call out to God to do mighty work in Uganda, and know that we are going to be able to have a front row seat to what God is going to do. WOW! amazing. I also felt convicted. Just before I got there I was home, worried & stressed about how was i ever going to get everything done before we have to leave. And then as I was walking out the door, found this...




Yes, Isaac found a permanent black marker and decided to color on our new carpet, our desk, and one of Rachel's shoes. So as you can imagine I was not in a very good mode when I got back to the GPG. But how quickly I was reminded of what others are going through, and how lucky i am to even have a house to even have carpet in. Why is it that I am so easily distracted with my own petty needs?

Bulletin Bloopers

Okay, I got this in an email today...& actually died laughing. It could be b/c I'm completely exhausted, but hope you get a good laugh too.

*********************************************************************************
Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:

------------ --------- ----
The Fasting &Prayer Conference includes meals.
------------ --------- ----
The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.'
The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
------------ --------- ----
Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
------------ --------- -----
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
Smile at someone who is hard to love.
Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
------------ --------- ----
Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
------------ --------- -----
Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
------------ --------- -----
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
------------ --------- -----
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
------------ --------- -----
Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church.. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
------------ --------- -----
A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
------------ --------- -----
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
------------ --------- -----
Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
------------ --------- -----
Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
------------ --------- -----
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
------------ --------- -----
The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
------------ --------- -----
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM- prayer and medication to follow.
------------ --------- -----
The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
------------ --------- -----
This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
------------ --------- -----
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. is done.
------------ --------- -----
The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
------------ --------- -----
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
------------ --------- -----
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare' s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
------------ --------- -----
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
------------ --------- -----
The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.'

BIG NEWS

Nope we aren't expecting again :) We are MOVING here...



As most of you know we did a short term stint in Sri Lanka with International Justice Mission(IJM) about 2 years ago. I think at that point we knew that at some point we would go back more full time, we just weren't sure when. We've been talking with IJM for a while, and actually thought we would be going somewhere else, and then all of a sudden they called and said we want you in Uganda! I love Africa, so this was an answer to prayer. (although I was hoping Ethiopia...but that would've been hard b/c they don't have an office there-maybe someday)

We are scheduled to leave April 20th! Yes 6 weeks away! So needless to say we've been a little busy. We have to get out of our place, try to rent it out, sell our cars, get rid of a whole lot of stuff, and take care of some medical stuff. But unbelievably I have felt very much at peace throughout all of this. So we'll try to update as we go, but just wanted to let you in our new news!

Reason #27 - Why Rachel loves it when grandparents come to visit

A Year

I'm a little late with this post...what's new...but it's been over a year since Isaac has been home with us. Thinking back about this past year brings up so many different emotions. Joy, disappointment, love, hope, fear, confusion, gratefulness, but most of all I've been in awe of God's goodness.

There are times when I can't believe it's already been a year home with Isaac, and yet it feels like he's been with us forever. By God's grace alone I feel like we have completely meshed into a family.

You all know how I got pregnant... for me the worst timing ever. But God has truly shown me that I may have great plans, but that I need to let go. I had such great plans for Isaac & Rachel and I. I figured that this year Rachel would be in kindergarten and that I would have that one on one time with Isaac just like i had with Rachel. I figured we would go to Gymboree classes, have lots of play dates, and just have fun. My pregnancy ruined that expectation. I was sick..really sick for 6 months. I had to leave Isaac in the care of others. I couldn't carry him, and could barely sit up long enough to even give him a bottle. This broke my heart, and I was mad that God "let me" get pregnant! (I hate to even say this out loud, b/c I know there are so many people who would give anything to get pregnant, and i don't at all want to hurt or offend anyone by this-but i want to be honest.) But through this time there are so many things that i learned.

One was that we have a wonderful church family! A good friend sent an email out explaining our situation and within hours we had people signed up to bring us 3 meals a week for 10 weeks, and we had childcare taken care of for 3 weeks (until my mom could get here). People came and loved on Isaac when I couldn't. They fed us, cleaned up after us. And one family lent us a laptop so I could have something to do while I sat in bed for hours. Jesse & I couldn't have gotten through that time without them! It's really great when you can see Christian love in action!

The other big worry was that Isaac wouldn't bond with us. When you adopt you hear things like "don't' let other people hold them for 6 months", "only you should feed them/change them", "Keep visitors at bay". All these things that obviously we could not follow. I worried that Isaac would never bond with us. But it has been amazing to see how well he has. I do see things that I can tell maybe he's not completely secure in this attachment. He has stranger anxiety...& i know this could be just as much temperament, I also realize this could be related to attachment. But he still prefers us over everyone. He loves to give hugs & kisses. He is a goof-loves to make us all laugh, especially his sister. It's been so fun to see his personality emerge. He was so mellow for the longest time when he got home. He is no longer. He runs everywhere. He has actually lost weight (just a pound) in the last 6 months b/c he is running all the time. He is hilarious, and has the best little smile. The changes he has gone through have been amazing. His first doctor visit home with us, he weighed 17 lbs, was 25 1/2 in. At his 18 month visit he weighs 24lbs 15oz., is 31 1/4inches.


Once the birth of Levi got closer, a new worry crept up. I had been pretty indifferent to him. I'm not proud of this fact, but i was still pretty annoyed that this pregnancy messed up my plans. I started worrying that maybe these feelings would continue after Levi was born. But I have to say that as soon as I held Levi into my arms, I fell in love. I new that this was perfect. Our family. Every child that God has blessed us with. I have loved being a mom to three! Yes, my days are filled with diaper changing, spit up, and cleaning up, but they are also filled with kisses, hugs, and best of all laughter.

I am so grateful that I have a loving Father who knows what's best for me, even when I'm sure I've got it all figured out.

Just some photos

Here's Levi & his future girlfriend Lizzie

My grownup daughter (man where do the years go?!)

My adorable little man. (man, i just want to eat him up)

"little mom" Rachel & Levi


***I know these aren't great of Levi, but one of these days I'll download pictures from my camera...he's a cutie, looks just like his dad!***

BOO!!!

Here's some pictures of Halloween fun. :)

Painting Pumpkins

Carving Pumpkins

The finished product





Rachel with her friends

Trick-or-treating at Aunt T & Uncle Brian's


Isaac had so much fun. He got the "point" right away. Rachel was actually the one who got tired and wanted to go home, Isaac could've gone all night.
I know I don't have pictures of Levi, he wasn't feeling good, so didn't take part in Halloween this year...I guess there's always next year.

I don't know how you do it...

For all of you bloggers out there that have more then one child...I have no idea how you do it.

First of all I don't know how you find the time to blog. I feel like I have about 30 minutes of time just for me, and sorry but there is no way I'm using that time to blog. (maybe it gets easier when I'm not feeding a baby every two hours) :)

Secondly, i don't have anything that interesting to write about. Let's see I could write about diapers, snotty noses, diapers, kindergarten drama, diapers, and diapers. Not too entertaining for you readers out there. (if there are any of you left)

But I've gotten some requests to update the blog, so I promise I will try. Most likely I will just post pictures for you all. That's probably what you really want to see anyway. So I'm back, and this time I will really try to stay a little more on top of it.