Departure date is one month from today

Life was busy before, but now that we have a departure date, life has been busier than ever. I have finally acknowledged not everything was going to get done each day that I had on my to do list so I had to really start prioritizing. Even though I would love to have blogged about our thoughts and actions of the last couple months so I could have it to read through later reviewing God's guidance and goodness, blogging ended up near the bottom of the priority list. Today, though, I decided to get on here for a few minutes because the days have flown by so quickly to where we are now just one month from departure!

We have been working on getting our visa application ready to be sent in. We have gone for immunizations twice, and we have one more visit to see the Travel Health nurse. We have been trying to catch up on correspondence. We have researched a range of things from malaria medication to credit/debit card international fees. We have spent time emailing Steve and Beth Gault, our co-workers, with questions as well as spent time on the phone with them each week. We have each gotten physicals so we can get medical clearance from our mission board to leave the country. We have been reading books that our mission board requires us to read before leaving (ironically, we have had this book list for two years but we were always too busy to get it done and now it's crunch time -- fortunately, the books are really good and practical so we're not dreading it and it's definitely not a waste of time). Dan has been preparing to teach the 5th and 6th graders for the second VBS we are working with this summer; it is going on this week and is at our sending church. We have been changing our billing statements to paperless. We have been making list after list like a list of random things we want to make sure we pack, a list of accounts we need to cancel before we leave, etc. The list goes on and on with the mundane things we've been doing, but you get the point -- I won't bore you will more little details.

Oh yeah, and we've been trying to make sure that we spend time with each other and with the girls too but most of all with the Lord. It's amazing to me how things can feel so urgent that are definitely not priority over God and family. Somehow when something has to be squeezed out, it's usually my quiet time with God and time with my family. The girls have been so good at entertaining themselves, and when they haven't, the DVD player will give me another half hour. Because I know this is my tendency, I've really tried to make sure I spend quality time with the girls even if it's not as much quantity time for this "phase" of our lives as we prepare to move. You know how it is -- you're with your family all day long but when you're busy all day with other things whether it's housework or whatever, it feels like you haven't spent any time with them even though you were in the same house all day. Oh, yeah, of course you saw them -- you saw the kids as you told one to be nice to the other or told them to pick up their toys, but they didn't really get any of you. Maybe that's just at our house.

At any rate, Kayla and I had a special "Mommy/Kayla" time last week when I took her to the pool. Dan had a special "Daddy/Kayla" date where he took her to Barnes and Noble and read her all (and there were a lot) of the Dora books. She obviously picks up on all the changes going on around our house more than Krista, and we are trying to work with her through it. She has enjoyed these special times in addition to her favorite activities at home that she loves us to play with her. The girls are growing up so quickly. I need to post pictures and update on things like life without the paci and working with Krista to take a bottle.. maybe soon.

The busyness hasn't been a bad time. In fact, it's been a good time because we can see it moving us closer to "the big day." It's caused us to rely heavily on God which is right where we need to be. The fact that we are leaving in one month still doesn't feel real although I'm starting to feel the urgency of getting caught up on little details stuff so I can really start packing -- hopefully, that will be by the end of this week.

When Dan was in seminary, summer time even if he took summer classes was different than the fall and spring semesters (of course we didn't have kids either then). Since he's been out of school, though, and we've had kids and been on deputation, it all just runs together kinda' like my girls don't know that Saturdays should be different awake times than weekdays -- for them, the days all just run together. Just curious, has anyone's summer brought about a slower pace?

Swimming at Nana's

We saw gas for $3.68 a gallon yesterday!

When we left Williamsburg yesterday, gas was $3.99 a gallon. We drove down to Virginia Beach yesterday and were so excited to see gas for $3.68 a gallon. We were so excited because we were on E -- sometimes it seems like you see the best gas prices when you've just filled up... Of course, so many other people were also excited as could be seen by the long lines waiting to get gas there. We drove to the next gas station, and it was $3.69 a gallon and quite a few people. We drove to the next gas station (they were all within 2 blocks), and it was $3.71 a gallon but no wait so we filled up there! I'm not sure if they were having a gas war in that area or what because everywhere else we pretty much saw $3.91 a gallon in Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach.

So I'm curious. How much is gas where you live?

Happy Father's Day #2

I also wanted to say a short but sweet belated Happy Father's Day to Dad V and Dad S from Dan and I. Both of you are very special to us, and we love you! We have enjoyed being able to spend extra time with you while we've been on deputation.

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband!

We didn't have a meeting on Father's Day, and it was a good weekend not to have a meeting because of the pacifier swap (which I hope to update on soon -- it's going okay because Kayla has fallen asleep eventually each sleep time which she never did even once the other two times we tried to take it away but it's been a long, difficult time for our little girl (and for us) as she has always been a great sleeper). All that to say that Father's Day included some "reality" father times in addition to the sweet times. But you know, that's what parenting is -- it's not just 12 hours of sleeping girls and 12 hours a day of smiling girls and smiley parents like you see in the pictures we've included... or maybe it's just our family...


It's hard to adequately explain why Dan is such a wonderful father, but honestly, I pray both of my girls will marry a man (in 30 years :-) who is like him. He is a wonderful father because of his relationship with God. He shows the "unnatural" fruit of the Spirit as he interacts with our family -- what a difference this makes in a home. He puts our family before his own wants. He loves to have fun with the girls which they absolutely love. I love to see how much they both love him but especially Kayla as she is more interactive and has had the privilege of spending more time with her dad since we've been on deputation than most children get. I love our family Bible time together before Kayla goes to bed, and it makes me "feel so good" that Dan feels it is important even when we're both tired and just ready to get Kayla in bed. Happy Father's Day, hon! You're the best dad in the whole world!

Here is the card (Dora of course) that Kayla and Krista made for Dan. This picture cracks me up because it is so Krista -- she's been in the grabby phase usually so that she can taste test whatever it is that she's grabbing (which could be anything now that she's crawling so well now).

What a great way to end Father's Day! There's something so soothing and quieting in holding a sleeping baby. She's already 7 1/2 months so we are trying to remember to enjoy these moments as they are already happening less and less.

Kayla singing

Kayla is quickly learning words to songs and we love to hear her sing. Sometimes she'll sing with us and other times she'll just spontaneously break out into song. It's so cute to see and hear, as you'll see...

The Big Exchange

We've been talking about doing it for quite a while... How?... When?... Will it work? Well, Friday we decided to just do it, and Kayla officially traded in her pacifier for Dora the Explorer! We knew that as attached as Kayla has been to her "paci" she wasn't just going to trade it in for anything. Well over the last few months, life has revolved around Dora the Explorer - DVDs, coloring books, socks - everything has been Dora, even to the point of Kayla insisting that we call her Dora and call Krista Boots. So Thursday I went with Karis to the thrift store to look for some summer clothes for her and I saw a 2 foot tall Dora the Explorer doll (think stuffed animal). I had to talk Karis into letting me spend a whopping $2.25 to buy it, but we decided that we would only give it to her if she would give up her paci.

So Friday night we decided to give it a go. We were down at Karis' brother John's house and before we left for home I brought out the Dora doll and showed it to Kayla. She flipped!! I kick myself for not having the video camera out because she was screaming and hopping around, so excited about her Dora doll. We explained that Dora was a big girl and didn't use a paci anymore and that if Kayla wanted to be a big girl (another kick of hers) she would have to give up her paci and then she could have the Dora doll. I didn't want her to just give the paci to me because she would think she could get it back later, so I told her that she had to give it to Uncle Johnny. Well, she quickly surrendered it and was more than happy to have Dora...



...until the ride home. When Kayla got tired in the van about half-way home she asked for her paci, which is her normal reaction. When I reminded her that she had given her pacifier to Uncle John for the Dora doll she was a little less excited about Dora than she was initially. It took her quite a while to fall asleep once we got home and she tried every trick in the book from "having" to go potty, to wanting to give hugs and kisses, and everything else imaginable. Fortunately, exhaustion was working on our side and she finally dropped off at 10:45 and slept until about 6:45, which is later than she's been sleeping.

Since then it's been more of the same at nap time and bed time, but it's getting better slowly - I think. We had to make some rules for Kayla, specifically not getting out of bed. She was constantly coming out to tell us something that she "needed," but now that she has to stay in bed that has tailed off a little. She's still calling for us, but we're trying to just ignore her calling as much as possible. One thing that has seemed to work a little has been to turn on "sleepy music" (lullabies) for her as she goes to bed; we just hope we're not creating another sleep prop.

Has anyone else gone through this paci-breaking process before? What worked for you? We'd definitely appreciate any ideas, suggestions, words of encouragement, and - most importantly - your prayers.

4 Days Later...

Krista Seal-y

Well, at 7 1/2 months Krista still isn't crawling, but she's figured out how to move across the floor in a way that is getting closer to actually crawling. Before this, she would roll or scoot herself backwards to get where she wanted to go. Karis and I were laughing at her today because she looked just like a seal flopping her way across the floor. Take a look...

Is it bedtime yet? No, it's 7:40 a.m.

We escaped the winter with just one or two colds and no sicknesses. Then, March arrived. I was just looking over our deputation schedule and was amazed at how many meetings the girls and I haven't been able to go to because one of them couldn't be in the nursery.

March 5 -- Kayla had a colored runny nose.
March 30 -- Kayla had a colored runny nose again.
April 13 -- Krista had chest congestion and Kayla was just started with the chest congestion.
April 19 -- Kayla had a high fever in the 103s with chest congestion. Diagnosed by x-ray to have a mild case of pneumonia (her first antibiotic prescription!)
April 25 -- Krista not herself and still had chest congestion. Took her to the doctor and she had an ear infection (her first antibiotic)
May 21 -- Kayla had a high fever and no other symptoms. Lasted just one day and went away as quickly as it came.
May 28 -- Krista had a colored runny nose.
June 8 -- Krista had (and still has) a high fever but no other symptoms. Kayla has a colored runny nose but no fever.

I don't know if it's a myth that as your body deals with colds and sicknesses, it builds up immunities, but if it's true -- my girls should be pretty healthy down the road and it would be great if this would help them in Cameroon where we won't have their wonderful pediatrician. Then again, maybe they're building up immunities for U.S. "stuff" and then we're going to go to Cameroon where they have to build up different immunities.

Sigh... all I know is that yesterday morning at 7:40 a.m., I was wondering how it could still be so early because I was ready to go to bed for the "night." It was day three of Krista's fever which has been anywhere from the 101s to 103.5 (under the arm and that's without adding a degree since apparently, the jury is still out on whether or not a degree should be added.) I am used to a very happy baby who plays by herself and loves to be entertained by watching Kayla play, but she wanted to be held all the time. I took her to the pediatrician who was on call this weekend who checked her ears (no ear infection) and did a strep test (negative), but that was only after one day of fever so the ped didn't want to do more tests until after three days of fever. I was fine with that because I was just glad to know it wasn't something "simple" like an ear infection.

Anyway, Krista had been up for 2 1/2 hours in the night unable to fall back asleep and it was too soon to give her more Motrin (which by the way has worked so much better for reducing her fever than Tylenol -- this is the first time I've used children's ibuprofen and it's nice that it lasts longer too especially for in the night). I was trying to keep her quiet so not only the people we live with but Dan too wouldn't lose sleep too -- Dan was leaving at 6:00 later that morning for our deputation meeting. Dan ended up getting up and helping me because I was just exhausted. Then, Krista got up again at 5:15. I fed her, and she went back to sleep. Dan left at 6:00, and Kayla rolls out of bed at 6:45. Krista wakes up again not long after this. So, the day has started. Around 7:30, I was washing dishes which I hadn't done the night before, and Kayla was "helping" me. She was standing on a chair next to me, but I wasn't paying close enough attention because I turned and I see her pouring Motrin into the measuring cup. Apparently, in my sleep-deprived state, I hadn't gotten the lid back on to "child proof" status the last time I had used it. Kayla loves to take lids off, and she tries to screw everything on and off so when she tried, it came off (so I'm guessing). The main problem is that she was trying to pour 4 ounces of ibuprofen into a 1 ounce measuring cup. Of course, it wouldn't fit, but that didn't bother her -- I turn to see the cup completely full but she is still pouring the medicine which is spilling off the top of the full cup and all over the counter. Let's just say it was definitely a "quick to anger" moment. I asked her in a not Spirit filled voice, "What are you doing?" She said, "I'm getting "meddy-meds" for Krista." I remembered just in time that she was two because I was about to try to reason with her about why she was spilling it everywhere and that the bottle had cost $3.XX...

Flustered and frustrated, I look at the clock -- 7:40 a.m. I thought, "It's only 7:40 in the morning? It feels like 7:40 in the evening. I'm ready for bedtime. Why in the world am I washing dishes at 7:40 in the morning?"

From that point on, the day got better (thank You, Lord, for your grace) except for the fact that Krista's fever was still up all day. I have a call in to the doctor's office for them to call me back about if I should continue to wait it out or if I should bring her back in. Anyone else struggled with colds or sicknesses lately? I thought this was all supposed to be over once flu season was over....