The Mosey Family

Bring on another year!

2012-01-22T21:45:00.024-05:00

Woah, I lost the last 2 months so let's dive in!

Ted
He is awesome lately, albeit busy. He's gearing up for his second residency at school in a few weeks (they are every 8 weeks) and has been doing a ton of work and reading and studying. We are becoming night owls since he started school, since he stays up late reading and I don't like to go to bed without him! Work is going really good. He still beats me out of bed most mornings, running at the crack of dawn with his buddies or doing men's breakfast, or just getting up and wrangling the kids! He just does it....all. The man does it all! And he'd really like you to get behind Ron Paul:)

Me
I'm really good. I don't know why exactly, but I am. Ted has been super encouraging of me and getting behind my interests, and I owe a lot of good stuff to his pushing and prodding me. Sometimes I'm content to just wonder and wish, and he always pushes me a step further. He makes me introduce myself and ask all kinds of new people out for coffee, and other things I sometimes hang back from doing. I've gotten some new work out of it, including an awesome magazine called Edible Indy I just loved working with, and started getting more involved with an organization that fights poverty and trafficking in Cambodia. I feel like my plate is suddenly full with lots of things I really love and care about, and it feels good.

Jude
There's a shift happening, and its big. He still loves trains but superheroes are making an entrance in a big way these days. I think part of its because we've been hosting our "house church" group and the kids play in the basement, and its like 10 boys all playing superhero games that's become the catalyst. We had some friends over for dinner a few nights ago and their son brought a Batmobile and Batman. Jude begged for one after he left and you know what we did? Mr. and Mrs. "Be-Happy-With-What-You-Have-And-Stop-Asking-For-Toys?" We marched that boy to Target and hooked him up. We are so happy to hear "I'm gonna SHOOT you!! And then save the WORLD! Ready, aim, FIRE!" And devious laughs. Still absolutely peppered with "choo-choo's!" but still, its a process:) He's also growing, like, really fast. We measure the kids on the bathroom doorframe and noticed he'd grown almost an inch in a month. His art skills have gone from zero to sixty this winter, too. He used to ask us to draw trains 500 times a day, and cry when he tried to draw one and would crumple in the floor and scream "I can't!" So we practiced circles and rectangles and triangles and all that good stuff that goes into a train, and he just got busy and took off. He draws GOOD trains now and furiously cuts them out and tapes them all over the house. It's pretty stink in' cute:)

Ada
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love her age. She's 20 months now. This time in a toddler's life is just adorable. Everything is funny or interesting to her. Except her teeth, and she's been working on her eye teeth and they are killing her at times. She's extremely into books and hurls them into our laps, screaming incoherent orders and climbing up for a reading session. She and Jude get into fights sometimes and she's started being the one to provoke in some cases, which has in turn made Jude a pretty massive tattletale. She's generally really happy and laid-back and we're having lots of fun with her. She and Jude are total buddies and I've gotten some good shots of them over the holidays that I'll post.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were both great, and New Years was so fun down in Brown County with the siblings and cousins. Lots and lots of good memories were made. These are good, good years we're in, aren't they?

Happy Half Bday, Ada!

2011-11-20T13:30:00.005-05:00

Ada is 18 months old today. How did this happen?? It feels like yesterday Ted and I were huddled over that spanish pregnancy test, and now we've got a full-blown little lady galloping around the house!

I really like 18 months. Its when I feel like I truly know my kids. Of course I know them before then, but this is the magical time when their little personalities shine through and I can count on how they'll react and what to expect and what their little hearts are like. I don't want to compare Ada to Jude but I have to; they're so much alike! Ada has his gentle spirit. She has his caring heart, and his long fingers, and most of his FACE except her rounder, more flirty and feminine eyes. She has his sensitivity to people and situations. She cries when other kids get hurt and cry. Maybe because it freaks her out, but I choose to believe its because she's sympathetic:)

She's a great sleeper. 8pm to nearly 8am everyday, and a killer nap in the afternoons. She LOVES her bed and seems so genuinely relieved when I put her down in it. My mom gave me a pillowcase that I embroidered with pink flowers (I was like, 12 years old and it shows!). I put it on Ada's pillow last week and almost cried when I laid her sweet head on it...I'm so happy I have a daughter to share a pink flowery pillowcase with, and a lifetime of endless girly stuff to pass along and bits of womanly wisdom I've tried to retain, in case I had a girl of my own someday to listen. There are so many undesirable parts of me that I don't want Ada to see or inherit, but a piece of me is always looking for myself in her, and always looking for the parts that are uniquely hers.

She's a good eater. She loves, um, nearly everything. She stomps into the kitchen when I'm at the stove, clings to my leg and peers up at me until I get her up on my hip to check out what's cooking. She points and babbles about each boiling pot and samples just about anything. My favorite is when I hold a fork out to her--loaded with food--and she runs to me from across the room with her mouth wide open! (this will result in an injury someday) She's getting super good with a fork. And one of her favorite (and only) words in "milk," which kind of sounds like "yuck" but we get it:) She's also a big talker, she just needs to learn English. Ted and I joke that she's a Samurai warrior, because she walks around shouting Japanese-sounding phrases with threatening arm gestures and a furrowed brow sometimes. What's up, Ada? You want some of this?

She really seems to like new places and venues, which is different from Jude. Her curiosity is a bit bolder than his was at this age. There are never tears or clinginess when I drop her off at Mothers Day Out or the church nursery or a friend's house for babysitting. She just beelines to a cool new toy and gets busy. She doesn't need a lot to keep her occupied, and can sit and flip through a book or play alone for quite a while. She loves Veggie Tales movies and probably watches them more than she should, and breaks out in a huge grin and a little swaying dance when you sing her the theme song:) She loves playing outside. No matter how hot or cold, she tries (and sometimes succeeds) in breaking out of the house to tromp around in the backyard, kicking soccer balls and playing house and yanking leaves off plants and just screaming skyward with her arms over her head. OMG she's cute!!!

She adores her big brother. She follows him around the house, trying to join in on a game of trains or building tracks. Someday he'll wise up and let her play with him (just not today). She innocently grabs his toys and when he snatches them back, she knows exactly the look to give me, coupled with a wounded cry, to get me to scoop her up and nuzzle her back to contentment. They have screaming contests that would break glass, but their giggles during the game and approving looks at one another's pitch keeps me from stopping them very often. They've recently started hugging. When Jude initiates, Ada shoves him away. When Ada initiates, Jude squeezes her back and sighs "Oh, Ada..." and then freaks out when she tries again. "ONE hug, Ada!" The best is when she absentmindedly pats his shoulder while they're watching TV, or when he holds his banana out to her and she takes a bite:)

Ada loves to giggle! And she's easy:) Funny faces and noises get her every time. She loves cuddling and the best time of day is bedtime. She straddles me and buries her head on my chest, sticks her 2 fingers in her mouth, and practically purrs while I rock her and stroke her hair. She's a lover and a snuggler and a truster.

Ada Nee-Nee, you have our hearts completely. We thank God for entrusting us with your sweet little self. You add immeasurable joy to every single day. You are THE most beautiful girl I've ever seen and we love you from here to forever.

October Highlights

2011-10-30T13:31:00.019-04:00

Whoa, its been a while since I've updated the blog (or my food blog for that matter) but today, they are both getting updated if its the last thing I do! Let's see, October....

It kicked off with a wedding down in Nashville. My dear friend Lynne married a great guy (that we went to high school with, so the groom is a friend as well!) and had the prettiest day/weekend ever to tie the knot. She had a bridesmaid brunch at this awesome little cafe called Fiddlecakes, a gorgeous rehearsal dinner at Arrington Vineyards (I think it belongs to Brooks of Brooks and Dunn, remember them?) and the most perfect wedding. The ceremony was in the garden behind an old historic home in downtown Franklin and we just danced the night away afterwards!

Speaking of October weddings in Nashville, Ted and I celebrated our 6th anniversary this month too:) Man, time seems to be speeding up. Sometimes I can't believe its been 6 years already...but then sometimes I can! We've lived in 3 houses and 2 apartments and had 3 cats (God rest 2 of their souls) and visited 8 countries and changed jobs and careers and driven 9 (yes I counted) cars and had 2 babies, and that seems like a lot for just six years! I wonder what the next 60+ years have in store for us:) I have learned a few things in these first 6 years, but the biggest thing I've learned is that I'm dang lucky.

What else? Our dear dear DEAR friends Nathan and Kate came to visit us. When we hugged goodbye in Cochabamba we seriously thought that was it, but we were laughing that I guess our friendship is meant to be because this is the third time we've seen them since then! They've stopped in the US 3 times now going back and forth between Australia and Bolivia, and they came through for 4 days last week and stayed with us. They just had their 4th and I think final baby--a boy this time!--and we had the best time. Since they've seen Indy there was no pressure to bustle around showing them stuff, so we just leisurely hung out. Ted took a day off work and we strolled around Mass Ave. and went out for lunch, and cooked a lot at home, and took the kids out for ice cream and duck-feeding, and had some wine around the backyard fire at night, and watched 6 kids run around the house like crazy! They are doing such great things in Bolivia through their Roots Association (want to visit Bolivia? Nathan knows a great place for fresh goat milk) and we just love any time spent with them. You know those friends you have that are just the real deal...the ones that you can share anything with and who just make you better by being around you? Nathan and Kate are those kind:)

We let the kids choose a pumpkin. We just went over to Locally Grown Gardens at 54th and the Monon and got a nice one, and some of their bomb Italian coffee. Ada screeched and ran wildly up and down the rows of pumpkins until she pulled a huge one off the table onto herself and then she was done:) She absolutely loves Fall! She stoops down and picks up a leaf every time we walk outside, and waves it around festively.

We carved them last night. Well, Ted and I did the work while the kids had a dance party in the living room.

We also went to the Halloween festival in Irvington (no pictures, sorry) and had dinner in Fountain Square, and Ted took us to the coolest little coffee shop ever called Calvin Fletcher Coffee Co. near downtown, where Jude inhaled a chocolate chip cookie the size of his head.

Ted went hunting a couple weekends ago and shot a deer with a BOW and ARROW. Ladies, I've got myself a MAN! His buddy Sam came over last night with the meat, so I'm currently in the process of dreaming up some deer recipes.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and I'm excited to trick-or-treat with the kids. We just love our neighborhood and all the people in it, and we especially love raiding the kids candy buckets!

He is jealous for me

2011-09-29T14:08:00.003-04:00

He is jealous for me.
Those are the opening words to a great song, and "He" is God. They are words that are found all over the Bible...God is a jealous God. I've heard it since I was little bitty, but lately I've really been trying to think about it.

Ted and I have, admittedly, a weird relationship with "Christian" music. To be perfectly blunt, we think a lot of it sounds awful. That's coming from people who wholeheartedly love Jesus and want to worship Him through music...but so much of it is lame! And its frustrating, because there are so many talented artists and musicians these days that are making great music that moves our souls...just not toward our Creator. So Ted and I have always been bigger fans of "secular" artists that sing occasional songs pointedly to God...Ben Harper, Johnny Cash, Amos Lee, Mumford and Sons, because the songs are GOOD and do what I think Christian artists are trying--and sometimes failing--to do: set my heart on things above.

So, the David Crowder Band, where this blog started and I got off track and talked about music that has nothing to do with anything, has this song I like to run to, and its starts "He is jealous for me." Huh? He made me.
As I'm running past beautiful Meridian-Kessler homes late at night, sometimes its easier to understand his jealousy. Gorgeous houses, manicured lawns, nice cars, remodeling signs everywhere, fancy restaurants, TV's flickering in almost every single window, To-Do lists scattered everywhere. Our schedules leave us no margins. Our planning consumes us. Our worrying and regretting diminishes Him. Pretty things seduce us. Technology distracts us. Its so crazy to me that our hearts were created to long for God, but its a DISCIPLINE to get ourselves to acknowledge Him on a daily basis, at least in this neck of the world. We've made him our last resort, instead of our first love like he's supposed to be. He is jealous for us...for our time, for our attention, for our affection, for our praise, for our submission and for our hearts. He doesn't NEED us to do His thing--He's God...He just wants us to be filled with Him--complete--so that we can hear his voice and follow it, to be a part of what he's doing in and with the world. And when I can let go of my toddler-grip on my pretty things and my precious, pressed time (Mine??), I just come back to life. The life that, praise God, does not revolve around me or my family. That's what He does. He breaks me out of the jail of always trying to ensure my own welfare and shows me He's doing huge things in His world and I can join Him if I can just look past my own nose for a second. He says our lives are just a breath. That's all. When I die, I don't want to say I just entertained myself for 80 years and hoarded every blessing he gave me...I want to say I served the God of the universe, and the people he intentionally placed around me. There is a Kingdom we cannot see with our eyes, and most days I live as though it isn't there.

I've been reading Romans this week. I love it; it sums up what I love about God: he knows and exposes the truth about me--the selfish way I'm bent--and then pushes me stumbling into His light and reminds me I'm His daughter and infinitely loved.

He is a Good Father. He waits, and his patience and mercy are endless. He watches me get tangled up with sin, and he watches me idolize myself and my children and my money and my stuff and all the things that crowd my mind and push him out hourly, and then sets me right and gives me yet another chance. That's the God I love.

"But sin didn't--and doesn't--stand a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace."
Romans 5:20

Agressive forgiveness. Don't you just crave that?

I do.

Here Comes Fall

2011-09-15T15:21:00.013-04:00

Sweet Ada is toddling all over town. She took her first steps a while back, but really preferred to crawl until about a week ago. Now, she teeters around the house very purposefully, walking laps and holding her baby doll. This is the cutest age ever. I can't stop smiling at her.

Baby gates are kind of a nuisance, so we just decided to trust her. She gets "lost" a lot throughout the day, which means she's gone upstairs to brush her teeth. About 5 times a day, I wonder where she went, and go upstairs to find this.

She grabs her toothbrush (or Jude's, or Ted's, or mine--gross) and pretends to use the water, sucks furiously on the toothbrush and then sticks it into those holes in the sink where--in my mind--spiders live. Or sludge, or something scary. I wince everytime I brush my teeth now, wondering where my brush has been today. She's very diligent to dismount the giraffe stool carefully and back down the stairs safely. It's her favorite routine.

Jude got a big boy bed a while back. He asked for it, then as soon as it was assembled, he immediately recanted and said he wanted his toddler bed back. Too bad. He's adjusted well, and loves it now. I like being able to stretch out for book-reading and prayers (speaking of prayers, a few nights in a row he asked us if he could pray before bed; we thought he was saying "play" and would tell him to stop asking and go to sleep, closing the door while he wailed....until we discovered he meant "pray." We now hold the title of Most Guilt-Ridden Parents, and have apologized to no end to that sweet child! My shoulders still slump in shame when I think about it) Anyway, he's growing up even more and his big huge bed reminds me every time I see it. He's also started a nice collection of boogers smeared strategically on the wall close to his pillow.

What else? I went to Chicago a few weekends ago for Blair's bachelorette party! It was awesome to be with girls, doing girl things like eating sushi, shopping on Michigan Ave, bar and restaurant hopping, and getting dolled up in hotel bathrooms with a glass of champagne and lots of stories to trade. Blair's sister surprised her at the hotel, which was the total highlight. Stacey just had her 2nd son 2 months ago and wasn't planning on coming (understandably) but snuck up--breastpump and all--for Blair's party. We all cried watching them cry, and be such great sisters and friends to each other:) It was fun to be away, but my 45-hour trip was the longest away from the kiddos, and I was ready to see them when I got home! It was great though...not much left to do before we get to see Blair walk down the aisle and I can't wait!

Work (for me) has picked up a little this month. I'm doing some writing unrelated to food for one of my regular magazines and its been nice to add something different in the mix. It's gotten to a really comfortable point, where I have enough steady work to keep me busy everyday, but I can still blow off a day or two and not feel behind. I really want to spend my days with the kids, and I also really want the stimulation and satisfaction that comes with work; I feel so lucky its working out simultaneously right now.

Other fun stuff that's happened recently: Jude started back to his co-op preschool and likes it, although he started out a little shy and is slowly coming out of his shell...he and Ted went camping with our friend Sam and his son Thomas out at Sam's hunting property near Ohio, and they fished and had a total manly blast...Ada got her first baby doll and drags it around being Mommy...we just got home from celebrating my mom's 60th birthday in Nashville (I started this post a few days ago) and it was SO fun-we had a fancy girls' night out while the guys and kids had a bonfire at home...and things are just good. Normal and good:)

Good, Good Stuff

2011-08-18T14:06:00.020-04:00

These warm days are getting numbered, so we've been trying to milk them and play outside as much as we can. We've had some fun the past couple weeks with lots of bike rides, watering/gardening, ice cream runs and even a day of raspberry-picking.

If there is one activity my kids love the most, its swinging. Both of them LOVE it...like, flip out and squeal the whole time they swing. So the past several days, we've been doing a "tour de parks" and have hit a different park every single day. Jude declares--with passion--each one is his favorite when we leave:)

School (whatever that means at this age) is getting started. Jude will be doing Meridian Street Co-op Preschool again this year, and is making the big leap from once/week to twice/week. He goes Tuesdays from 9:30-11:30 and Thursdays from 9:30-1:00--Thursdays are special because they include "Lunch Bunch" where he eats in his class with the other kids. Ada is doing Mothers Day Out at the same church building every Thursday from 9-1pm. Yes, that means I am childless every Thursday for 3.5 hours! Some of those Thursdays I'll be co-oping in Jude's class, but most of them I'll be footloose and fancy free! (actually, I'll probably be working, but it sounds fun for now!) Ada started Mothers Day Out today and Jude still has 2 weeks before he starts, and it hit me that Jude and I hardly ever hang out alone. Ada and I do sometimes when Jude is off doing big-boy stuff (like school last year) but never me and Jude, so I was so excited when I woke up this morning! We dropped Ada off (she never gives a backwards glance) and went the bank (sounds lame but Jude loves it!), Hubbard and Cravens for a coffee, Target for new school shoes, the Monon Center to go swimming, lunch at McAllisters, and our favorite children's bookstore, Kids Ink. I cannot tell you how much fun it was. We talked and talked about funny stuff, silly stuff and very important stuff. I carried him on my hip since he never gets to do that anymore:) I think my "kid-handling tolerance" is a lot higher these days, because just being with one kid felt so leisurely! It helps that Jude is a mellow kid.

He told me he loved me for the first time. Ever. Unpromted. Driving along on Meridian Street, after a conversation about streets, directions and reasons for road construction, it happened. We settled into a comfortable silence. And then his tiny voice announced, "I love you, Mama."
You better believe tears started streaming down behind my sunglasses. I've waited 3 years to hear those words come back to me. Jude is a deliberate person and he very much means what he says when he decides to say it. He chose our special day and a special moment to tell me. He doesn't have to love me, but he does. Jude loves me. This sounds SO corny, but all the labor pains, temper tantrums, sleepless nights and worry/stress of parenting became so dim today. I created a person and we love each other. At least until he's a teenager:)

Ada does not have quite the intense story that Jude has today. Those days are comin'! Right now, she's into tongues. Her own and other people's. She recently sprouted 2 new teeth, and she eats more than two linebackers. Oh, and she's the greatest girl I know:)

She Walks!

2011-07-24T22:38:00.002-04:00

Look who decided to start walking!

Ada Walks

(I made it a private You Tube video...I had serious trouble trying to upload the video directly onto the blog, sorry!)

Jude and Ada...uncut

2011-07-10T16:02:00.009-04:00

The kids have been growing and changing so much lately. I know “pictures are worth a thousand words” and those slideshows were LONG (!), but I’m a word person and I’ll let you in on all the things about Jude and Ada that pictures don’t say…
Jude is three and had a lovely birthday party filled with trains and more trains, which is probably the word that sums up his life the best right now! He chugs around the house screeching and whistling and “psssshhhhhting!” most of the time, but has also adopted an “excavator arm” that he fashions with his right hand to scoop and eat his food with, and a (rather scary) robot voice has been making an appearance lately as well. He issues stern orders to participate in many of his games: I’ll be clearing the lunch dishes and he’ll yell, “Mom, CHUG!” I have to (well, I suppose I don’t have to but why not?) stop what I’m doing and fall in line behind him as we weave our way through the house, making chugging sounds and stopping for stop signs and repairs and collecting coal and tender. Or its, “Mom, DIG!” and I have to stop what I’m doing, squat, and use my excavator hands to dig up “dirt” and release it in another spot. His imagination is getting quite active! He also loves dancing in the living room to all kinds of music, singing songs both real and made-up (I heard him singing Johnny Cash’s “Fulsom Prison Blues” one day, because I sang it to him a few times thinking he’d like the opening lines about a train…we didn’t make it to the part about shooting a man in Reno:) and he’s also starting to get into the “friends phase” where we discuss which friend’s house he wants to visit and using friends to influence him to do things (“Annabel eats her broccoli!”) He’s taken an interest in soccer (sometimes, when he’s not pushing his trains) and loves riding his 4 wheeler around the block, and has been really into practicing writing his letters and sounding out words. He still takes a nap at the same time as Ada, although I think he doesn’t need it anymore because he’s never tired at night now. I may back off the nap in the Fall. His vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds and he puts his thoughts into words really well now, which is giving us a (this is a little dramatic but) a deeper glimpse into his little soul. Jude has such a kind, pure heart. He is only 3 but I trust him with so much, and respect him. I know I’m the parent, but I learn from him constantly. He wants to know the reason behind my decisions and if I take the time to explain why I’m saying no (“We have to go home because Ada needs a nap…we can’t do that because I don’t have any cash…please stop doing that because its driving me crazy,” etc) he seems to generally accept the terms. Obviously, there are exceptions and fits, but overall he teaches me valuable lessons about accepting life as it comes, and the peace that comes from not pushing back all the time. He is a joyful and peaceful kid and overall extremely pleasant to be around; he’s one of my very best friends and I truly feel that we’ll have a close relationship well into his adult years. He just has that loyalty. Ted does such an amazing job with him, teaching him and showing him everything from how to use a screwdriver to how to ask for forgiveness when you’re wrong, and if Jude grows up to be anything like his daddy, some little lady out there is in luck:) We are still waiting for him to say those three magic words—I love you—(men!) but even if he doesn’t say it, I feel it anyway.

Ada is 13 months and is very much a silly goose and busy bee. She’s still not walking, but I think it won’t be long now, probably a matter of a few weeks. But she doesn’t let a little thing like not being able to walk slow her down. She marches around the house behind her pink baby stroller, which contains a fuzzy pink elephant that sings the ABC song. To which Ada dances by squatting up and down furiously with one arm in the air. God love her. She flies up the stairs when I’m not looking and has developed a really funny “I’m caught!” face when I catch her and wag my finger up at her. Her little mouth hangs open in feigned shock that she’s in trouble but those huge eyes dance because she loves the attention:) She squawks very loudly when she’s happy, she hums when she eats, and she giggles when you make funny faces at her (not typical funny faces, but like, exaggerated pretend throwing up or gagging, so you can’t bring your B game and expect a laugh). She loves reading books. Much more than Jude ever did, which makes me feel guilty because I have less time to read to her. There’s just not many minutes in the day (if there are any) that she and I are alone together to sit and read, and I want to make a point to do mom/daughter things more often, even now. She eats a LOT, more than Jude and I’m serious when I say that. I watch it. We eat lunch at the table together and its getting to where I’ll often fix all 3 of us the same plates of food, and Ada eats him under the table. Her favorite things to eat are bananas and bread with hummus, both of which I’ve discovered double as hair gel. She’s taking 2 naps a day, from about 9am-10am and about 1:30-3p. She can say Mama, Dada and Uh-oh, although they don’t normally come out at the appropriate time. She has zero separation anxiety (do you hear those angels singing?) and we can drop her off at the church nursery, Mothers Day Out, and friends and family members homes without any tears or really, acknowledgement! I remember Jude having a hard time around 18 months old, so I guess we’ll see if time changes any of that. Ada is just a sweet, silly girl and her little gap-toothed smile makes my heart sigh:)

We’re having a good summer. Last summer was survival mode when she was a newborn, but now its more fun. The past several weeks I’ve started taking them to restaurants I wouldn’t normally take them to. I’m not sure why, but it kind of works! Sometimes. I was driving past Taste, a little café near our house, the other week and thought wistfully about having lunch there, but of course the kids were in the backseat and I typically shudder at the thought of wrangling them places alone other than McDonalds. But I decided to risk it and we had a lovely lunch outside! When Ted and I take them out, I think the stress comes in when we try to have adult conversation and the kids interrupt. But when its just me, I give them all my attention and we usually have a pretty relaxed meal. We’ve been having our lunch outings about once a week. Occasionally, somebody ends up crying under the table and we have to hurry out, but…our batting average is decent!
I’m lucky I get to spend my days with these guys. Raising kids is no joke and there’s a lot that gets put on hold, especially in the beginning when their needs are the greatest. But I know time will and is flying by, and I’ll miss these years like crazy someday. Ted and I talk about how it seems the days go by slow, but the years go by so fast. I hope we are making some good memories along the way. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this quote before but I just find it so true: “In raising my children, I’ve lost my mind but found my soul.” -Lisa T. Shepherd

...and Jude turns three!

2011-06-14T22:24:00.003-04:00

It's been a birthday bonanza around here! Not only did Ada turn 1, but 2 weeks later Jude turned 3. I have a LOT to say about this boy, but that will have to come later. For now, enjoy his life in pictures:)

This photo slideshow created with Smilebox

Ada Turns One!

2011-05-29T22:22:00.003-04:00

Ada celebrated her first birthday on May 20th. What a huge year! Ada, thanks for coming to us. Having YOU for a daughter has been more than I could ever hope for. We've got so much to look forward to, tiny girl! You have my heart, and we love you more than blogs can say. Happy Birthday!

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Mini Marathon and Mother's Day

2011-05-08T18:54:00.007-04:00

We ran the Indy Mini Marathon on Saturday and we not only survived it, we had FUN! My goal was to run the whole time and finish somewhere between 2:30 and 2:45 (I am no Speedy Gonzalez). I managed to run continuously (even in place while Ted stopped in a bathroom!) and we finished in 2:31, so I was super proud! I was a little worried that we only trained up to 9 miles, and worried that I wouldn't be able to get through the last 4 miles. But with the help of some Sport Beans and an awesome running buddy, it wasn't too bad. I thought I would slow Ted down, but he assured me he just wanted to keep my pace and do it together. We just had the best time...we were in great moods and were able to laugh and goof off together the whole time:) The last mile was definitely hard, but seeing the finish line got us excited and we managed to sprint in! This half is the biggest in the country with 35,000 participants, which had its pluses and minuses. Plus: the entertainment and people cheering along the way. I was telling Ted, it would sure be nice to have that kind of encouragement in everyday life...some day when the kids are screaming and smashing macaroni in their hair at dinnertime, a random person sticks their head in the kitchen ringing a huge cow bell and yelling "You can DO IT! You're doing AWESOME!" That'd be nice. I'd take that:) But the downside was running with so many people. I felt like I was constantly weaving and slowing down and speeding up the first 3 miles especially and to an extent, the whole time. But overall, I had a great experience. Will I do it again? I don't know. But at least now I know I can. And that's a really good feeling. But 13.1 miles? That's what cars are for;)

Today is Mother's Day, and its been lovely. Ted woke up with our early bird, Ada, and let me sleep in. He made delicious pancakes, and we stopped by my fave coffee shop on the way to church and had lunch with the family afterwards. I had a pedicure and read a People magazine while the kids napped (can't beat that) and went on a family bike ride afterwards. Ada drank her first cup of milk today, and Jude learned what "joking" means.
These two kids light up my whole world. I can't believe these precious little people call me "Mom."

Fun in the Sun

2011-04-27T10:02:00.013-04:00

We had such a great time in Florida. Ted and I kept our expectations dangerously low for the 26 (yep, 26) hour car ride roundtrip. Luckily, we were able to break it up by spending the night in Nashville going both ways, so the worst days were right at 8 hours on the road. However, I must say that the kids were awesome! Seriously, there was maybe 2 hours of grumpiness altogether. And most of that was me;) Ada was very compliant about drinking her bottles with cold gas station water...Jude with peeing on the side of the highway...and both with lots of McDonald's drive-thrus. Our little troopers:)
Our place was amazing! It was too much space for us, so we're looking for more people to join us next year if we go again! We were half a block from the beach and there was a pool right behind the house and restaurants within walking distance, and we were set:) Jude fell in love with his water wings, loved making sand castles, running on the "slippery" sand, and chose to sleep on the bathroom floor each night. Ada was mesmerized by the ocean and would lean forward out of my arms, pointing at it and screaming "Yayayayaya!" (Which I translated as, "Mom, this is truly perfect and beyond what I imagined. Thank you for bringing me to this lovely vacation spot." Obviously) She would perch on the beach towel next to me, chewing the house keys, and I could stretch out and relax...not what I expected! She did try to furiously crawl into the ocean a few times when we were close to the water, though. Everybody slept and took their naps really well, and we had fun eating out and also cooking at home (we made crabcakes, fish tacos and bacon-wrapped scallops, mmmmm!) We took the kids on a 2 hour boat ride one day to see dolphins, and drove to Seaside, FL one afternoon. Ted and I took turns going for runs on the beach, and caught up on sleep, and got time to read, and played cards, and made lots of fruity cocktails.
Did I mention we had a great time?

The Sibs

2011-04-14T22:01:00.003-04:00

I've been stalking Jude and Ada lately, peeking from around corners and hovering in doorways looking at my kids. I think they are adorable individually, and together they just make my day! Ada is now old enough to be picked on, and Jude takes every opportunity to "ride" her around the house while she crawls...which makes her squeal and cry. He also likes to stand in front of her and block her from where she's trying to go (especially if she's headed toward his trains or tracks) and yank things out of her hands that belong to him (which is basically everything, since we've barely bought the poor girl a toy of her own). On the flip side, Jude constantly kisses her on the head, sings songs about "sister Ada," and asks me, "Where did my Ada go?" when she's not around. I hear him explaining things to her ("No Ada, that puzzle piece goes THIS way") and when I do something silly that makes him laugh, he tells me to do it for Ada, too. He screams at her to be quiet in the car if she gets too loud (one less thing for ME to do;) and tries to tickle her and loves being the one to go into her room first when she wakes up from a nap. And I can tell she loves him back.

I don't think I've mentioned it on the blog yet, but I've been training for the half-marathon here in Indy for several months now. It's in 3 weeks. I started training with a friend that lives in my neighborhood and also goes to my church as a way to get rid of the extra junk in my trunk that Ada left me with:) But as the time has passed, I've really come to like it. Instead of blaring Beyonce in my headphones and thinking about the cheeseburger I need to run off and worrying how I'll ever be able to run 13 miles, lately its just been...peaceful, and kind of relaxing, now that I'm not struggling to stay alive! Anyway, my running partner hurt her knee on our run last weekend and she's giving away her spot to Ted, so now we're running it together. Stay tuned for how it goes!

Ted organized a work event downtown that was a big success this week, and I just had a series of deadlines for the past few weeks that I just finished up today, and we are going to shut the books and GO ON VACATION! We're driving (yes driving, I'm trying to stay positive about this) to Destin, FL and our plans for next week are as follows: swim, eat, nap, read, repeat.

Amazima

2011-04-04T13:19:00.007-04:00

I am in awe of some people. Katie Davis is totally one of them.
I dont' know her, but somehow keep coming across her name through other friends' blogs and conversations. She is from my hometown in Tennessee. She graduated from high school 6 years after me. That makes her 22. She moved to Uganda after high school, founded Amazima Ministries all by herself, helps feed and educate and care for over a thousand Ugandan kids, and is the adopted mother of FOURTEEN Ugandan daughters.
She keeps this incredibly beautiful and inspirational blog that I added to my blogroll called The Journey.
If you ever feel like God can't do powerful things through you, read this:
http://www.amazima.org/katiesstory.html

Uncomfortably Comfortable

2011-03-28T13:51:00.004-04:00

Things are really good right now. REALLY so, so good. We're not stressed or worried about anything at all and not because we're above feeling stressed or worried, but because there's honestly nothing wrong. Nothing even remotely worrisome. And its really starting to make me squirm.
I need some variable or some discomfort, something up in the air that bubbles up faith and nerves and those conversations with God that leave me feeling exhilirated and ready. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for this period of rest and I'm totally enjoying the way things are going right now. I just feel like something's gotta give. And Ted has freaked me out by mentioning the same feeling. Maybe I'm being an idiot and I need to shut up and accept the good I've been given, and I'm fine with that:) Ted and I have both started developing some new interests and maybe we're supposed to look harder at those, who knows. Human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children has completely seized my heart recently and I don't know what to do with that. Currently, all I'm doing is tossing and turning over it at night, so if anyone has any suggestions for something more contructive I can do, I'm all ears! I keep coming back to this (complete with uncomfortable shifting in my seat)...
"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Prov. 24:12

Ted was wonderful this past weekend, and let me run off to Louisville to spend time with my best friend, Blair. We stayed at the Galt House, a beautiful old hotel right downtown on the river, and really just moved from one place to another ordering coffees and then cocktails and keeping up a nonstop conversation. It snowed like crazy while we were out, which we weren't prepared for! I only have one picture but the snow had us looking like wet dogs so, not gonna post!

It is still not warm:( All the way at the end of March, and we're still holding out for that good weather. Ted took Jude to ride a "train" the other day, which is actually a lightrail that connects hospitals downtown. JUDE. LOVED. IT. He stumbled in the front door afterwards screaming "all aboard!" and giggling drunkenly:)

And our sweet silly Ada has sprouted a front tooth! And loves ham! And loves to smile!

Is that Spring I smell??

2011-03-11T20:27:00.011-05:00

March is always tricky. I always expect it to be getting warmer but no, its technically still winter:( However, we've had a few days of rain rather than snow, and jackets rather than heavy coats, and I am starting to see those little "nubbers" (whatever they're called) on the tree branches so I KNOW Spring is a-comin'!

I celebrated my 28th birthday last weekend. Nothing spectacular about turning 28, but it was a great weekend! Ted and I had a romantic dinner date, and then met some college friends afterwards. It's funny how our conversations have changed over the years. We all have kids now and it seems like that's all we talked about! It's hard not to:) And sorry these pictures are weird...Ted's phone camera is messed up!

Jude's obsession with trains has reached new heights. Most conversations revolve around trains, of course. He carries a train with him everywhere he goes (the past few weeks, the lucky train is James) and sleeps with them. He feeds them snacks and "snuggles" them and punishes them when they're bad. He pushes them around on the floor for probably all but 30 minutes of his waking hours. Sometimes, when Ada is napping, I'll sit down with him and say "Let's talk. What do you want to talk about?" Silly me. "Trains, Mom." When he wakes up and I go into his room, he tells me that while he was sleeping he was thinking (dreaming) about the trains at Gramp's house. He shouts "Choo Choooo!" in my face every 10 minutes. We watch You Tube videos of a random train chugging through Scranton, PA probably 5 times a day. He learned about clouds at school this week. He made a picture of a cloud and I asked him what he knew about clouds. "Uh, they are in the blue sky. And trains come out." "You mean rain?" (laughing at mom for being so ignorant) "No...trains."
Conversations like this happen frequently:
"Mom! Mom! Hey Mom! James-I mean Thomas-I mean James, he goes so FAST! And there's SMOKE, and its like ppppsssshhhhhh everywhere, and real LOUD, and the TRACKS, but its dangerous..Mom?..Mom!...and then Thomas-I mean Gordon-look out for ice! He got stuck in the middle and then CHOO CHOOOOOOO!"
Ted and I chuckle when we say he has a one TRACK mind:)

Baby gates are up for Ada. She crawls super-fast and pulls up and cruises laps around our coffee table and is generally VERY pleased with herself! Her new favorite is chewing on wires and cords, so I've trained Jude to alert me when she starts going for one. ("No Ada, that's not FOOD!")

Work has gotten really busy these past few weeks. I'd been freelancing pretty regularly the past several months but wouldn't call myself busy by any means. Then suddenly, lots of opportunities showed up at once and I've gotten some regular work for 2 different local magazines covering food and restaurants, and some other projects too. Ted even made a website for me! It's going to take some schedule-shuffling to get this all figured out, but I'm excited about it. I used to head to a coffee shop for a few hours when I had a deadline, but now Ted and I are going to have to figure out a way to build in some extra time for me to work every week. These babies are definitely my number one job, but its still really exciting to be making some money and doing it in such a fun way--writing about food! I'm really lucky.

This week has been a little bit reflective too, because its the week we came home last year from Bolivia. There were so many questions in our heads then and I remember wondering what things would look like in a year. Well, this is what they look like, and I couldnt have asked for anything more for my family.

Hello Again, I-65

2011-02-21T14:35:00.013-05:00

We traveled the past 2 weekends, to Chicago and Nashville. I think our family has worn grooves in I-65 with the amount of time we have spent driving up and down. I think I know every gas station, firework stand and Taco Bell between here and TN, although I doubt that information is useful.

We were in Chicago to see our friends, Nathan and Kate and Matt and Elsa. You may remember from previous blogs that we lived in Bolivia with these two awesome families, and Nathan and Kate (and their girls) stopped in Chicago for a bit on their way home to Australia. They are taking several months at "home" to have their fourth (!) baby before going back to Bolivia. It was fun being together again and we stuffed ourselves with deep-dish pizza and Indian food. Jude was way too excited about the pull-out couch in the hotel room to actually sleep on it, so it was an adventurous night! Then after a very yucky complementary breakfast (which we made up for with a second breakfast at Corner Bakery) we headed back to Indy and realized we'd left Vaca behind at the hotel. Vaca is Jude's "lovey" and must MUST be present any time Jude sleeps. We turned around and got him. We were only about 10 miles south on the highway, but we probably would have turned around in our driveway if that's the moment we realized who we were missing!

We snuck down to Nashville this past weekend to surprise my dad for his 60th birthday. And he was actually surprised! We all came in town and we were waiting in a private room at a restaurant, and lured him in under false pretenses, and celebrated his 60 years with delicious steak and wild children and balloons and it was perfect. Perfect:) Then we went home for brownies and ice cream and the guys talked politics and the girls did makeovers and the kids got in trouble and once again, can I just say it was perfect? There was no drama, no stress, just total enjoyment of one another and especially of my dad. We put together a book of "love letters" to give him, and reading through those, its so clear what a giant he is in our family and really, in all our lives. And he even woke up early and cooked us all a huge breakfast!

As luck would have it, my friend Jaclyn had her first baby on Friday and we went by the hospital on our way out of town to meet her adorable son, Jack. She's going to be such a great mama--one of the funniest and most easygoing people ever, and her husband is too! She's been one of my best friends for almost as long as I can remember, all the way back to the schoolbus when we were eleven:) Congrats to their wonderful family and welcome sweet baby Jack!

Jude is doing great. He decided several weeks ago that he was going to poop on the potty and he has ever since--no accidents! Ada is 9 months old, crawling and giggling and picking up food and she's like a little person now and not so much a little baby (I can't decide whether to put a happy face or a sad face after that one...)

Pushing Through Winter

2011-02-06T20:59:00.016-05:00

I'm not sure why its been so long since my last post because we're bored! It seems like there's literally been snow on the ground since December, and we're just trying to make the best of this winter. I was so anxious to have some cold weather after missing it last year, but now...that Spring itch is getting worse every day!

Jude has graduated to a few "big boy" things. We converted his crib into a bed he can get in/out of now, and its working fine. We did this several weeks ago and he has yet to get out of it (he calls for us when he wakes up--I guess our presence sort of unfreezes him so he can climb out of bed). Falling out is a different story. I've gone in at least 4 times in the middle of the night to find him sprawled out on his pallet of pillows on the floor, and help him back into bed to his little "That was scary, Mom!" He's also getting better at the potty. This has been a dreadfully slow process that began in the summer, where he just randomly decides to use the potty but mostly does not. We've never pushed it very hard...Jude is not a kid to be rushed, but this week he's done so well with telling us when he needs to go to the bathroom that he went on a little father/son outing for some big boy underwear. He is SO pleased with his new Thomas the Train underpants, and backed his little booty around the house trying to see them in the mirror. And we haven't changed a dirty diaper in 5 days!

Jude's school had a family night at the Rivi the other weekend and the kids had a great time eating pizza and swimming together. It was a really nice change of pace, and I love that he's making some new friends and enjoys his class so much. He needs a break from Mom and Ada during the week sometimes! We've also spent some time outside when we can, sledding and playing in the snow. We visited the zoo one day too with Aunt Beth, Uncle Ross and Annabel, and saw a very cool dolphin show.

Ada is a happy little thing, although bouts of teething interrupt her mood at certain times. She gnaws furiously on everything. She's eating a lot more, getting into yogurt and beans and some other new stuff. I'm not sure whether to say she's crawling or not. She certainly gets around and crawls backwards with lightning speed, and sort of half crawls/half flops herself forward. She also has the famous crawling "rudder" leg that sticks out, and most of the time I dont know WHAT she's doing but she goes places. I hear a little squeal when she backs herself into corners or gets hung on a piece of furniture. We never used baby gates for Jude, but this house has a lot of stairs and I'm thinking they'll go up soon. She sleeps great, and is really just a pretty easy kid that doesn't give us too much grief! (Yet?? )

So hopefully we'll survive the rest of winter! I'm still enjoying nights by the fire and having more time to read and snuggle up with the kids, and I've got a little work and a few projects for the house to make it over the hump to spring. I think...

New Year, New Stuff!

2011-01-12T21:20:00.010-05:00

Downsides of the week: snow that keeps piling up outside, frigid temps, two colds (both kids), a double ear infection (Jude, hence the rough-looking breakfast picture), some award-winning PMS (guess who), and the Colts playoff loss.

Upsides: Jude transitioned to a "big boy bed," Ada is working super-hard to crawl, Ted is pumped about a new year and goals at work, I ran outside in the freezing cold and actually liked it, I got to co-op in Jude's class and watch him in action with his "girlfriend" Abby (two dinner dates already--more on that later), and a very special Sunday with my husband.

So we were driving home from Nashville a few weekends ago and Ted says he wants to get baptized. He was baptized as a baby and said he really felt the desire to do it again by choice and with the understanding of its significance. He asked me to baptize him. I cried. And this past Sunday had the honor of baptizing the person who means more to me than anyone in the world. Ted is amazing and God does so much good through him. It was a happy day. And there were waders involved, with is always a plus :)

We've been trapped inside a lot lately tripping over each other and wishing we could play outside, so I ordered everyone into the car for an emergency Starbucks trip this morning in the howling snow. Then we headed to Kids Ink for a new train book, only had a few moments of tears when I dropped a book on Ada's head, and was actually turned down by my 2 yr old when I offered to buy him a cupcake. Hmm. Our children are silly geese!
I got a few snippets of life around our house this week.
This video pretty much sums up Jude these days:

And this video pretty much sums up Ada:

Out with the old...in with the new!

2011-01-01T13:54:00.028-05:00

A month in pictures...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Ada

2010-12-07T09:00:00.003-05:00

As promised, a quick blog about our sweet Ada:)
*She is six months old
*She is super-smiley:)
*She is not super-laughy
*She just got her first tooth
*She sleeps 10 hours at night (except when teething...)
*She loves Jude and smiles and practically pants when he comes into the room
*She has only been punked on once by him, when he pulled her off the changing table, but she is a quick forgiver:)
*She loves her mommy's applesauce
*She rolls all over town
*Her eyes are the first thing people notice :)
*She is just starting to sit on her own
*She is easy to read and does "classic" sleepy/hungry signs which makes life easier!
*She weighs somewhere around 15 lbs
*She loves when we sing
*She loves to bounce
*She loves duck sounds
So maybe many of these things are typical for babies, but I guess that's a good sign! She adds a fabulus pouf of pink to our house and we love it! We are really enjoying getting to know her day-by-day and she fits so nicely into our family, the nooks of our arms, and our hearts!

Two Visits and a Bypass

2010-11-22T09:33:00.007-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks here. We had visitors galore, which was lots of fun. First up, our friends Nathan and Kate Spies came to visit all the way from Bolivia, which was amazing! They were in LA for a week with their extended family, and decided to fly to Indy to hang with us for a week afterwards. Good choice:) We had a wonderful time showing them the "real" America in all its glory: football, ribs on the grill, talks around the fire pit, trips to the mall, walks to the coffee shop, and their personal favorite, salt and vinegar chips:) Can't beat that. Jude and Ada played around with their 3 girls, Lily, Daisy and Poppy. The Spies are Australian, and I've always found their girls' little accents particularly endearing ("Caroline, could I just have a bit of wuh-ta to drink?" So cute!) It was also really nice to have dinner at the table after the kids went to bed, talking about Cochabamba and catching up on the latest. Our friends from Chicago came down as well, that also had overlapping time in Bolivia with us. There's such a special bond there, with these awesome people that have shared an experience with us that nobody else can quite identify with perfectly. We were fortunate to have that time together that I know we'll cherish forever.
After that, our friends Nick and Jen came in town from Cincinnati. Nick was Ted's frat brother from college and has always been a riot, and his girlfriend Jen is wonderful! Ted took Nick to the Colts/Bengals game (Sorry, Nick) and we caught up nicely and really enjoyed their visit.

My dad had quadruple bypass surgery on Friday, and so we all went down for it and stayed through the weekend. It was a nerve-wracking 5 hours of surgery, to say the least, but also sort of a miracle: our biological family hasn't been together by ourselves (without hubbies and kiddos) in YEARS. The time passed slowly (its never fun to know your dad's heart is outside his body and his chest is being jacked open) but it sure was nice to trade stories with my sisters and my mom and have their hands to squeeze. We're all so different but this past weekend, seemed so much alike. Sisterly love runs deep and loyal, and I just treasure it.
Dad's surgery was very successful. I practically knocked over the surgeon in a bear hug when he told us. Dad was up and cracking jokes when he woke up, but I think the pain is setting in now and pretty tough. It's hard to see my big strong daddy handling that much pain, but we all understand the necessity for it and the overall good to come. I know there were literally hundreds of people praying for him. Thank you. The ability we've been given to petition the God of the universe for our heart's desires is staggering. More staggering is the fact that he responds.

Entering the week of Thanksgiving, I've given a lot of thought to my blessings, and particularly how I define a blessing. It's the good things, right? I'm learning that's not necessarily true. My definition of a blessing is something in our lives that moves us closer to God. Those things do not always look good, sound good, or feel good. But they ARE good, in the largest and truest sense of the word. Because they've been specially tailored to each of us, to move us to where we need to go: into His Kingdom, the place we're created to long for, the place where we're lacking in nothing. I'm generally a rotten and self-serving person, but praise the God who loves me despite it, who knows my needs before I need them, and relentlessly points me to the full life He offers.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..."
Ephesians 3:19

May you be blessed this Thanksgiving. Whatever that looks like in your life.

"It Scare You!"

2010-11-03T15:34:00.011-04:00

We enjoyed our first "real" Halloween this year. The first year Jude was alive he was a baby during Halloween, and people dont Trick-or-Treat in Bolivia, so this was our first real Halloween experience and boy, was it fun! Jude dressed up as whatever was on sale at the secondhand kid's store, which happened to be a monkey. Ada was a hand-me-down lobster costume from Jude's first Halloween. Jude caught on quickly! He loved saying "Trick-or-Treat" and choosing his own candy, and looking at the other kids' costumes. Our neighborhood is AWESOME during Halloween, by the way! Almost everyone on our street was home (yay), gave out the good candy, and decorated. There were so many kids out that we had to stand in line at some places! There are some really cool old homes a block south of us that were very spooky and Halloween-y, with lots of ivy and black iron fences, and Ted and I kept commenting to each other how perfect everything was:) There were a few scary masks and Jude started getting freaked out toward the end, when it was dark and some of the older kids with scarier costumes came out. Jude would look at me and shout, "Mama, it scare you!" (which really means "Mama, I'm scared"). When we came home, we had to talk about how there were just regular kids under those scary masks. And that they were home now taking off their costumes and masks, taking baths, and going to bed. I heard him convincing himself of this several times throughout the night and every day since...he says to himself while he's playing, "Take OFF a mask, take OFF a shoe, take OFF a bath, go night-night, all done."
We also participated in some non-scary Halloween activities: Jude's preschool had a Fall Festival, and we made festive pumpkin cookies with Gramp.

Jude is talking much more coherently now, and its fun getting to know my son and his thoughts:) He's in a phase where he's very attached to things...currently, he has to take his toothbrush and toothpaste everywhere he goes in his pocket. The bad thing about 2 yr old jeans is that the pockets are really small, so his toothbrush is falling out all over town. Onto the car floorboards (ew), onto the driveway (double ew), onto the floor at the grocery store (barf), and the list goes on. He even dropped it into a pumpkin patch once and I had to go back when we realized it was lost and dig through all the pumpkins. He also insists on taking it to school and church, but seems to understand (after many tears) that unless he wants to share his toothbrush with the other kids, it needs to stay hidden. His preschool teacher seems to understand the weirdness, and leads him to his cubby when we come so that he can assemble his beloved items in a safe spot. He also has some strong opinions about which places he likes best when I drop him off. He's got his preschool class, and Mothers Day Out, and Sunday school, and he and Ada stay in childcare at the Y when I do my Friday Bible study. Each is met with varying levels of enthusiasm, largely dependent on the presence of trains/train tracks to play with. He LOVES preschool and talks about it constantly, and runs ahead of me to class without a backward glance. Mothers Day Out is a little trickier, because its in the same church building but a different classroom, so he always gets confused and yells "No, THIS way!" when I try to steer him to the right place. He likes Mothers Day Out but has to be reminded of it several times before he remembers. Sunday school is hit or miss. It helps if some of his friends are there already. And the YMCA is always a major challenge. I need to start getting there 10 minutes early to account for the laps I'll be running around the building before I can catch him and wrangle him into the room. Seriously. I have to drop Ada and her carseat on the floor (she's dead weight in these races) and chase Jude, who is normally running--screaming and crying--toward the front door. I stumble in the Bible study room panting (which by the way, shares a wall with the childcare room, where bloodcurdling screams can be heard off and on). We're in a series on the fruits of the spirit, and last week was on peace. Oh, the irony. And oh, how I needed to hear it that day! (The Bible talks about having "peace like a river," not like a pond...we can find it even while life is rushing around us and not just in the still moments). Jude is always calm and happy when I pick him up, as though nothing happened. When I try to talk about his tantrum with him on the ride home, he looks at me bewildered like he has no clue what I'm talking about, and waves out the window "Ohhh, fun! Bye train tracks!" I've heard from several parents and teachers that the 1/2 years are hard. Jude is 2 and a half, so here we go I guess!

I'll devote some time to blogging about Ada next time. I am almost finished breastfeeding her. I've started giving her formula one feeding at a time and at this point I'm only nursing her first thing in the a.m. and last thing at night, so by the time she hits 6 months she'll be completely switched over to formula...much easier for mom :)

Our friends from Cochabamba will be here tomorrow! Pictures of their precious family to follow!

Two Weddings and a Baby

2010-10-14T22:11:00.010-04:00

It had been almost 6 months since I'd been home to Nashville, oh man! First order of business: celebration breakfast with my girlfriends (and their hubbies/fiances)! Blair and Lynne are both newly engaged and I have the pleasure and honor of being in both weddings next Fall:) They've really snagged some great guys. And my friend Jaclyn is 5 months pregnant with her first baby, a boy! She and her husband Pat got some good snuggle time with Ada to brush up on their little baby skills...they are going to be such fun and laid-back parents, we can already tell:)

We also spent time with my family, cooked out, played outside, and let the kids play. Emily was very busy showing Jude how to get into trouble...it was too cute not to get a picture of!

Ada just keeps making us smile:) She's settled into a pretty good schedule and takes 3 naps a day, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to leave the house between everyone's sleepy times!

We kicked off Fall with a family ritual...a caramel apple and cider at Lilly Orchard, on the school bleachers. Jude has decided apple cider is the best thing he's ever tasted and runs laps around the kitchen screaming for it.

Speaking of caramel apples, I have a neurotic problem with the fact that everywhere in Indianapolis, restaurants and coffee shops spell caramel "carmel." Carmel is a suburb of Indy and while I can respect the pronounciation of the candy to reflect this town, I cannot accept the incorrect spelling!! Ted says it would be ugly of me to point it out, but I'm keeping a running tally of the offenses in my head. Does this bother anyone else!?

Do they look alike??

2010-09-26T08:18:00.007-04:00

I can tell a few differences, but mostly, I think Ada is the spitting image of Jude!

Cape Cod Wedding

2010-09-23T13:45:00.003-04:00

Last week was wonderful, because we got to see Ted's brother Peter and his longtime girlfriend Tara get married! They had a gorgeous ceremony outside in Cape Cod. We all stayed in this really cool old farmhouse together and literally, everything was perfect! We all just cooked and ate and built fires (it was actually Fall in New England!) and let the kids run around, and got to celebrate even more expansion of the family. Tara has always seemed like part of the family anyway, so it was especially cool to get to see them tie the knot in front of the people they love.

We spent some time in Boston, too. I went once in college but still wasn't too familiar with the city, so it was really fun to stomp around and explore. The history there is evident, which I love. We even had lunch at the oldest restaurant in America (yep!), Union Oyster House. Delicious clam chowder!

Jude and Ada were good little travelers overall. Although, what trip would be complete without a little of this?

And yes, we went old school one night and put Ada to sleep in a dresser drawer. She is still alive:)

The kids are doing well. Ada had her 4 month checkup today and weighs almost 15 pounds. I think I'm going to wait a bit longer before giving her cereal...keep her a baby a bit longer:) But check out her new trick! She stands! Well, that's an exaggeration, I'm actually sort of propping her up on the table. But she stands there for a long time every day on her adorable little sausage legs, peering at big brother with her huge peepers. She's such a silly goose, and makes me smile so many times a day.

Schedules!

2010-09-08T12:59:00.002-04:00

So its Fall and that means activities are starting back up and I've decided we need a new schedule! All summer I've been pretty lax about the kids' schedules. We're big enforcers of bedtime at 8 and Jude's nap is generally around 1pm, but Ada pretty much does whatever she wants. And I've decided I don't like it. Newborns don't really stick to schedules and I've let her eat and sleep as she pleases all summer, but she's not a newbie anymore and I just realized this. With Jude, starting around 2 months old, I used to feed him and put him to sleep by my watch. But with Ada, I just feed her whenever I'm about to leave the house. And if we're home all day, it varies...sometimes I'll feed her every 2 hours, sometimes every 4. And we all start our day at different times. Ted is always up first. He gets up, eats breakfast, runs 4 miles, showers, sits on the front porch drinking coffee and reading his Bible, all before the rest of us even roll over. I've been trying to run a few mornings a week, and Ted asks that I get up by 8am to run and shower before he has to leave right before 9. Some mornings I am able to get up by then, some mornings not. Isn't that awful!? Jude and Ada both wake up somewhere between 8:30 and 9. Ted has pointed out several times that if we both wake up early, we can have a completely quiet morning to ourselves, and take advantage of the fact that we are parenting 2 sleepyheads!
So my goal is to start getting everyone--including myself--up earlier everyday. And get Ada on some semblance of an eating/nap schedule. I don't believe in structuring every bit of time for the kids because c'mon, they're kids, but I am ready to move out of "willy nilly" mode that I've blamed on having a new baby for far too long! Schedules, here we come!
This is probably the most boring blog anyone's ever read, but its all I've got to talk about today. Out of curiosity, what time do you and your kids start the day?

Actually, I do have an exciting bit of news! Some dear friends of ours are coming to visit in November. Nathan and Kate (and their 3 girls Lily, Daisy, and Poppy) were probably our closest friends when we were in Cochabamba. They're Australian, but moved to Bolivia a few years ago and have since started the Roots Association there (http://www.facebook.com/rootsassociation). They are incredible people and we've missed them a lot since we left. We've kept up since then, but I just couldnt imagine how we'd ever see each other in person again given the circumstances, and now they've told us this week they've planned a trip to Indy! We are beside ourselves with excitment. Our time in Bolivia feels like this other life to me, almost like a dream since it was so different from our life here, and I'm really looking forward to having a piece of that back. And showing them America!

Smiley Face:)

2010-09-01T13:51:00.005-04:00

I caught a few more of Ada's smiles this week:)

We are fine....things seem to be on autopilot for now. Jude is talking more every day and stringing together little sentences, which is really cute and adds lots of entertainment to our day. His current favorites are firetrucks and "machines" (bulldozers, forklifts, etc). He seems to think Ted is a construction worker, because every time we drive past a "machine" he screams "Daddy's working!" and points. He also thinks he's more than one person and constantly asks me to "Help us" when he's trying to put on a shirt or get a snack. The concepts of yours and mine get us terribly confused on an hourly basis...
Jude: "That's yours, don't take it!"
Me: "No, that's yours, this is mine."
Jude: Bewildered stare. "Mine? Don't touch yours!"
All I can say most days is....OMG. But he sure is cute:)

I can't believe its September. Today is hot, but I hear its supposed to be in the SEVENTIES over Labor Day weekend, yahooooo!! Here's to hoodies and socks and chili and football and crunchy leaves....come fast come fast come fasssst!

What did I do....

2010-08-19T18:16:00.003-04:00

...to deserve all this?

Family Rundown

2010-08-14T15:13:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted in a few weeks, so here is the quick rundown to catch everyone up:

Jude: Talking lots more, albeit in his own dialect. Still sweet on anything with wheels/levers/motors. Sleeps an incredible amount (but this isnt new)...13 hours/night and still 2 hours/day, and still frequently announces he's tired and wants to go home. Potty training=sporadic. Favorite movie is Elmo's Potty Time. Favorite meal is bean and cheese (and cauliflower puree, shhhh!) burritos. Loves spinning in circles wearing Mom's glasses. Still believes 1,2,3,8,9 and 10 are the only existing numbers. Cleans the house furiously. Starts preschool (Tuesdays) and Mothers Day Out (Wednesdays) in a few weeks. Loves Bandaids. Consumes more milk than a baby cow.

Ada: Almost 3 months old! Goes to bed at 8 (yay! both kids go down at once!) and wakes once a night, normally around 3 or 4. Has an adorable, shy smile that she reserves for quiet and special occasions throughout the day. Retaining most of her hair, against all odds. Refuses any and all bottles (we force her to choke down an ounce almost every day in hopes she'll get the hang of it). Has the biggest peepers anyone's ever seen, making her appear in a permanent state of surprise. So far--and I know its early--her personality seems similar to Jude's.

Ted: Really loving his job at Habitat. Considering running a marathon in November. Very impressive skills on the grill this summer--everything comes out perfect this year!

Me: Actually feel rested most of the time! Despite getting up once a night, I still manage to get 8-9 hours. Enjoying the babies and being home with them. Excited to be working on some assignments for Indy Monthly. Cooking lots of delicious things with all the great summer food that's out! Really missing my family and trying to figure out some trips to get my "fix."

My sister Renee came up to visit a few weeks ago and we had some great sister/cousin time. Then my BFF Blair and her boyfriend Jeff came up for a weekend and we had fun showing them our new 'hood, eating, chatting, and going out for drinks after the kids were asleep! We've also been taking some family bike rides. Our double bike trailer thing for the kids explicitly states that children should be 12 months old before riding in it, but.....Ada hopped in at 2 months:) The straps are up over her little face and we have to rig it with pillows and blankets and glance over our shoulders every few seconds, but she falls asleep and seems to like it! We also took a trip to the State Fair last week...but only made it about an hour b/c it was so hot. At least it was $2 Tuesday.

I'm so ready for Fall. This feels like the everlasting summer. It was warm the entire time we were in South America, plus several months before we left and basically ever since we came back this past Spring. I've been wearing the same pair of flippies (flip-flops) almost every single day for about 16 months. I'm serious. I suppose its better than the everlasting winter, but I'm just sayin...I'm ready to put my boots back on!

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

2010-07-22T22:12:00.015-04:00

I finally caught a picture of Ada's smile:) She's such a sweet little thing. So far she is doing everything just a tad earlier than Jude (holding up her head, sleeping a bit longer, etc). She's pretty consistent in her moods and what she likes and communicating what she needs, so its getting easier to read her. She's sleeping 6 hours now, then wakes up to eat and sleeps another 3 so our nights are much easier! At her 2 month checkup she weighs 11 lb. 7 oz. Without really noticing, we've evolved into a little groove at home that's--dare I say?--pretty manageable and fun! We've moved out of "survival mode" and we're now fairly efficient at eating, napping, playing, and running errands in harmony. Jude and Ada have fun hanging out together and she is beginning to tolerate his squeezes and pats like a good sport.

Jude is in the repeating phase and says everything after me like a little parrot (which is tricky when asking him an "or" question. "Do you want bacon or turkey?" Jude: "Bacon! Or turkey!") My mom came up for a visit last week and Jude loved having his Memaw around. We went to the Childrens Museum and played outside a lot. Here are few pictures from this past week or so.

We're looking forward to lots of visitors in the next few weeks. My sister Renee and her girls are coming up on Monday, Ted's brother Peter will be here soon, our cousins Ethan and Cherrylynn and their 2 girls, and my friend Blair and her boyfriend Jeff are coming too! I have a feeling our grill will be getting lots of use!

Random Parenting Thoughts (from a tired but happy mama!)

2010-07-12T14:06:00.008-04:00

Summer is rolling by so fast! It's actually my least favorite season so I don't mind, but the kids love it (Jude for playing and Ada for her bizarre steamy naps).

It's been a season of change for us and I guess I've just been reflecting on that lately. Life has gone from busy to busier with Ada in the mix! The child-rearing years are so incredibly busy. It's really nice to have 2 older sisters who are in the same phase of life and can share all the joys and, let's face it, many struggles of raising kids. Someone once explained the decision to have babies as "the end of you." Not in a horrible, bitter way, but the reality is that kids demand so much of your attention and efforts that my needs are the last ones to be met some days. My kids are really tiny and need help with everything from getting their sippy cup to getting themselves to fall asleep, and it seems like someone needs me every minute, no exaggeration! I have days when I sit back and just stare at them, wondering how it is I got so lucky to have these beautiful little people in my life...and some days I want to run screaming out the front door. I was laughing with my sister the other day that bored and lonely are completely foreign emotions to me now! At the end of a long day, all I want is some time alone to myself. But when I'm finally alone, I find myself wondering what the kids are up to. Go figure.
Anyway, I was out with my book club at Binkley's last night. (I use the term "book club" lightly...it's really more of a "Snacks/Cocktails/Only-Made-It-Halfway-Through-The-Book Club") We're all moms, and our conversations usually center around kids: little kids, older kids, babies, pregnancy, trying to get pregnant, thinking about trying to get pregnant, you get the point. Kids bring so much joy, so much conflict, so much love, so much worry, so much fun into each of our lives that no wonder its all we talk about! Kids just bring SO MUCH, and no matter how we gripe or brag about our children, they are EVERYTHING to us. Sure, we all have our own interests or talents or jobs, but we're all in this consuming phase together and we can agree its our biggest responsility. And it won't last forever. I'm realizing that more with Ada than I did with Jude...you think you'll be up nursing a baby at 3am for the rest of your life and then poof! They're wearing a backpack and charging into a classroom, WHAT!? Someday soon they'll be grown and gone and after we topple over from exhaustion...we'll scoop ourselves back up and miss them like crazy. Hopefully from a beach in Bora Bora. Just kidding. And pray we did our jobs the best we could. At least that's what I'm told.
So its been on my mind lately that I need to really make these years count. This is my window to give my kids what they'll need to go forward in life, teach them values, and give them what my dad calls "roots and wings." I'm sure I'm going to fail them miserably and often throughout the years because I'm human and entirely flawed. But if I can raise them to know, love and follow Jesus...for me, that's success.
I want Ada to be a better woman than I am, a better wife and mom and friend. I will try my very hardest to be like the woman I want her to become and give her a positive and healthy example, but I'm going to fall short. I already have a million times and she's not even 2 months old! But I can--and will--point her and Jude to the One who will always be the right example and never fail them. I need Jude and Ada to know why they live and how they'll always be fulfilled: by having a relationship with their Creator and allowing the love from that connection to spill over onto others. Ted and I are much better parents (and partners) when we're talking and listening to God, and when we decide we're "too busy" to engage with Him, we slip. Bad. So I'm making it my mission to be more intentional with my kids when it comes to showing them who Jesus is. They are free to do with that what they wish as adults, but its my deepest desire for their lives. To give them a hope and a purpose beyond what the world can give them.
I don't know why I'm blogging about this, other than to maybe just find some common ground with other moms who read this! Being a parent is hard and comes with so much guilt and worry and insanity sometimes, and I guess I feel like other moms have it so much more together than I do. Maybe it just seems that way? I can get so bogged down in mounds of diapers and cutting up hot dogs and rocking fussy babies that I think that's all I'm really doing. I'm just a hot dog cutter-upper. I have to step back and re-calibrate sometimes. These are not years to "get through." Its precious time I've been given to be a part of something extraordinary--the formation of 2 people--with the help of an awesome husband and a faithful God.

"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
C.S. Lewis

Celebrating the 4th

2010-07-06T14:44:00.009-04:00

We had a lovely 4th. We were celebrating for 2 years' worth since we weren't in the country last year, and it was a great day filled with all the things an Independence Day should be filled with! We barbequed with friends while the kids splashed around in the baby pool, ate lots, sweat sufficiently through our clothes, and watched fireworks. Jude stayed up til 10:30 since it was a special occasion and did great (Ada snored through some of the loudest fireworks I've ever heard...second children are awesome!) After we put the kids to sleep, Ted and I had a beer in the yard and watched some of the fireworks die down, and it was really nice. We sure are lucky to live where we do. Ted, Ada and I woke up at almost 10am the next day (with middle-of-the-night interruptions, of course) and Jude woke up at 10:30. I swear I have a teenage boy sometimes.
I mentioned sweat, which reminds me. Our hot water heater went out on Saturday morning and just got fixed today (Tues). Yep, that's 3 days without showering. Nobody could come fix it over the holiday weekend, and with 90 degree temps, we started smelling bad fast. After feeding the ducks in Broad Ripple one day (or "kicking the geese" as its quickly becoming known) we headed over to our friends Sam and Missy's house to bathe our family (thanks guys!) As soon as we walked in the door, Jude ran up to his BFF Thomas, grabbed his arm with his most serious face, and announced "Fireworks." Not an easy word when 1) You're 2 and 2) You can't pronounce your R's. The fireworks must have made a big impression:)
Rewinding a bit...our friends Dan and Bethan that we've known since college had their first baby last week, a beautiful girl they named Emma Rae! So we loaded into the car on Saturday and drove down to meet her for a quick day trip. She is just precious and Ada is excited to have a new fellow Colts fan her own age to cheer with:)

I started back to Pilates last night and it kicked my butt! I gained about 8 more pounds during my pregnancy with Ada than I did with Jude, and I've still got some pounds hanging out that need to go, which is hard when all I want is ice cream. I thought that craving would go away once she was born, but nope. I'm sore today but its a nice sore...it feels good to move again! Now if someone would just come take this ice cream out of my freezer!
And finally, Ada smiles. She's my silly goose. She smiled at me a few days ago when I was talking to her and smiled at Jude over the weekend while he was patting her head. There's not a lot better than watching your kids smile at each other. It almost made me forget about the screaming in the car on the way home from Louisville:)

Yuck

2010-06-30T17:50:00.001-04:00

Cute outfit, Ada.
I think it saved your life today.

Everyone's Growing Up!

2010-06-27T09:19:00.012-04:00

I've tried to ignore potty training up til now, but I think its about to happen with or without my consent! Ted is really the one who is helping it along, and has gotten Jude to pee in the "big person potty" before bathtime at nights, and Jude yells "Potty!" and runs toward it all the time now. I feel like bringing Ada into the family was a big enough change for one summer, and wanted to wait til the fall to start concentrating on potty training. But I broke down and bought a little seat to put on our toilet, and he holds onto his little seat handles and giggles like its Christmas morning...only occasionally doing anything productive!

Ada is beefing up. I took her to her 1 month checkup last week and she's a little over 9 pounds now and grew 2 inches. She's awake a little more during the day now and we're having fun discovering her tiny personality. She's sweet and sensitive like her brother, and likes to be handled gently and spoken to sweetly and seems to tense up if she senses I'm stressed or in a hurry, so I have to remember to handle her calmly so her little world is happy! She loves being warm--bordering on hot--and loves taking naps outside. It seems the more hot and humid, the better!

We took them to the Childrens Museum yesterday because the current exhibit is Jude's dream come true: cars and guitars. Gramp gave us an advance Christmas gift and we're now members, so I'm excited to be able to make more trips in the future! He had a great time being a rock star, checking out the wheels, and digging for dinosaur bones. Plus, the cafeteria serves cut-up hot dogs and goldfish, so he was in heaven!
The siblings are bonding, and its the most amazing and adorable thing to see:)

Hitting Our Stride (Somewhat)

2010-06-21T13:54:00.013-04:00

Well, its the summer solstice and longest day of the year, so I guess I have no excuse not to find some time to update the blog:)
It's been hot here this month. Really hot. Which is tough when you've got a 2-yr old boy who wants to be outside all the time. He's landed some pretty awesome outside toys since we've been back...a wagon, a lawnmower, a grill, a car, shovels, rakes, water toys, and bike seats and trailers that attach to Dad's bike. It's nice having a fenced-in backyard so whenever he gets bored inside (or rather, I'm nursing Ada), he can scoot out the back door and do whatever it is he does out there. He "tinkers" just like Ted, and wanders in and out of the garage, dragging his tools out and kicking at his wagon tires and inspecting his grill, and most recently, faithfully watering the patio with the hose. When he's stuck inside, his favorite activity is cleaning. He didn't inherit this trait from me. He loves to Swiffer the house and loses his little mind when its time to put the Swiffer back in the closet, screaming "NOOOO!" and sobbing on the door. He also loves to vacuum, wipe up spills, and put things in the trash. I think its odd but I'm keeping that to myself, for fear he'll change! He's learning how to do so many more things by himself since Ada was born, since I can't always do it for him anymore. If I'm changing a diaper or something and Jude says "Help" from somewhere in the house, more often than not I'm yelling back "Hang on a minute" over my shoulder. Then I go find him and discover he's completed said obstacle all alone and proudly screams "Self!" (as in, all by myself) when I see him:) He's also really falling into the big brother role nicely. He's always giving her little kisses and rubbing her head like I do, giving her impromptu private guitar concerts, and being my little helper. He loves helping me in the kitchen and seems to really enjoy cooking. I figured this was something I'd do with Ada, but maybe not! Or maybe both:) I said before that it was really tough finding our groove at home, but now we're a team:) If I run upstairs to get dressed or grab something and Ada starts crying, he'll come to the bottom of the stairs and yell up "Mama! Crying!" and go pat Ada's head until I come back down. Sometimes I just stand in the doorway and watch for a second because its so dang cute. I've always trusted Jude with things most people don't trust toddlers with and I trust him with Ada too...he's never tried to kill her up to this point. I know accidents can happen and toddlers need supervision, but with Jude, I really feel like he rises to the occasion and appreciates our trust. He's also getting into counting now, but really only likes 1,2,3,8,9, and 10. He combines these before exciting moments with the phrase "Ready..Set..Go" and it normally comes out something like, "Ready? Eight, Three, Ten, Go!" And the final interesting fact about Jude is that he sleeps til 9am every morning. Bless you, child.
Ada. Ada Ada Ada. She had her days/nights confused for about a week there and I essentially didn't sleep. Things seem to be on the mend and she's waking up about every 3 hours now, knock on wood. And generally sleeping in her crib. She's her most alert and "talkative" in the mornings, and sighs and burps and looks around from her bouncy seat while we have our coffee and watch Regis and Kelly:) She's filling out too, and we'll see how much when we go for her 1 month checkup/shots tomorrow.
Ted celebrated Fathers Day yesterday by running an errand with BOTH kids all by himself ("Self!"). He is such an awesome dad and its so fun to watch Jude mimic every single thing he does. Daddy definitely hung the moon. He's also now the proud owner of a CoPilot, which is a 2-kid trailer that rides behind a bike and then transforms into a stroller when you unhitch it. It will be perfect for family bike rides to Broad Ripple or downtown. Ada just needs to work on being able to hold her head up so she can ride in it! I'll be doing some rigorous neck exercises with her until then:)
I've taken a break from just about everything lately: exercise, writing (see my most recent article here),cleaning, reading, sleeping, sometimes showering...having a newborn is pretty consuming and a lot of things have been put on hold since she was born. But the break is starting to get boring and I'm about ready to engage in life again. I'm gaining confidence little by little in my ability to mother 2 kids and now I'm looking forward to getting back to some of the things I enjoy. (I enjoy being a parent, but you know what I mean!)

My Beautiful Babies :)

2010-06-07T12:08:00.004-04:00

Heading home from the hospital with Jude and Ada. These pictures are so similar you'd almost think nothing really happened in between....almost;)

Learning Curve

2010-06-03T13:04:00.003-04:00

Ada is 2 weeks old today:) She is proving to be a mild baby like her big brother and our fingers are crossed that doesn't change anytime soon! She is definitely keeping us yawning around here and the coffeepot is getting some good use, but I guess that comes with the territory. I'm starting to feel pretty good again physically and we're just trying to get used to life with two small children! Ted is an extremely huge help and is taking fantastic care of all 3 of us. He went back to work this week and its been...challenging. Super challenging! They are both great kids and by most yardsticks would be considered "easy," but its taking some time to find our groove. Jude and Ada both have such different needs, and its tough to meet their needs at the same time while keeping my sanity sometimes! I was telling Ted that I just haven't figured out how to have FUN yet. It takes all my energy and concentration to keep them both alive, fed and clean during the day...and it seems like I haven't found time for having fun! Jude and I's day used to be filled with giggles and silly moments (and of course tantrums) and I am ready to be comfortable enough in my new role to get that back. I know it just takes time and I certainly don't want to wish away these precious weeks with a newborn. Being a mom is the most amazing, most difficult job in the world, and I want to experience ALL of it. So I guess in a nutshell, I'm tired, I'm nervous, but I'm happy:) But aren't all Moms??!
Instead of narrating each picture, I'll just post some photos of our life for the past 2 weeks of these sweet munchkins we call family:)

The Sweetest Surprise

2010-05-21T16:28:00.007-04:00

Introducing Ada Scarlett Mosey, our sweet daughter born May 20th at 6:50am. She weighed 6 pounds 2 ounces and was 19.25 inches, and basically stunned us by being a girl instead of the boy we kind of thought she would turn out to be!

Down to details! My labor story with Ada was very much like Jude's--fast and furious. We went to our 37 week appointment this week and I was 2 cm. dilated and 70% effaced. My Braxton-Hicks contractions were kicking up more each day and I'd been kind of expecting (hoping?) that this baby would come early like Jude. Wednesday I ran errands for Jude's birthday party and was having painless contractions about every 15 minutes or so throughout the afternoon and into the evening, and Ted had to work late that night so Jude and I went to "house church" Wed. night. I told Ted about them when we got home but said not to get his hopes up and that it could still be weeks away. We grilled out and went to bed around 11.

I woke up at 1:30am to a rather ouchy contraction. I tried to go back to sleep but woke up every few minutes when another one came, so I woke up Ted, who mumbled something about telling him if it got worse and went back to snoring. I waited through 2 more (about 5 minutes apart) and then told him, politely, to get up and pack a bag for the hospital NOW! Jude came quickly and there was no way I was going to dilly-dally getting to the hospital this time! So we got dressed, packed some things, and called Ted's dad to come over and stay with Jude. We hit the McDonald's drive-thru for a large coffee for Ted (because why WOULDN'T you drive though McDonald's while in labor!?) and got to the hospital at 3:30am. I put on a gown, got in bed, and they said I was 5 cm. dilated. The contractions started coming much closer together about an hour later and getting pretty awful, when I was around 7-8 centimeters. Ted and I kind of stopped talking at that point and I guess I went into the glazed-over labor "zone" where you can't really respond to questions or notice what's going on around you and you sort of even freak yourself out, and then the doctor came in to break my water since (just like with Jude) it hadn't happened by 9 cm. The weird thing about unmedicated births is that you can feel the baby sliding down the birth canal with each contraction near the end, and um, it hurts! When the urge to push came I told Ted (or made some kind of dramatic arm motion) to get the doctor and we got her out in 5 contractions. I definitely felt more pain during the pushing phase with Ada than with Jude, but luckily that wasn't a long phase! She was posterior just like Jude (facing up when she was born instead of looking down at the floor, which causes some KILLER back labor) and when she came out and I looked at Ted (who was holding my legs with the nurse and reporting to me what it was looking like down there with every push) he completely choked up and said, "It's a GIRL!" and we just blinked at each other and started laughing and crying at the same time...we had ourselves convinced it was going to be another boy, and boy were we wrong! So, labor was right around 5 hours and we delivered a sweet, perfect, dark haired little girl that we are so anxious to love and mix into our family:) Not to mention looks SO much like her big brother! No special meaning behind the name, we just think Ada is a beautiful, simple, clean name and Scarlett is a little nod to Mama's Southern roots! We're home with her now and settling in. Much, much more to follow....

Perking Along on Park

2010-05-15T15:02:00.008-04:00

We closed on our house and moved to Park Ave. last weekend! Things have been busy to say the least, and its been a challenging move--for me mostly--being 9 months pregnant. We had lots of help from friends and family and we're so grateful for the hours you've spent moving heavy furniture, bringing food, watching Jude, and just being generally awesome people to have in our lives! All the major stuff is in, and the smaller cosmetic stuff I'd like to do will be okay if we table them for a few months. It's kind of fun going through boxes...we packed our house stuff over a year ago and one of us will exclaim "Ooooh, I forgot we had this!" when we pull out something seemingly mundane, but suddenly new to us again:) I'll tell you what we did NOT forget we had...our bed! We bought a new, amazingly comfy mattress not long before we left and sink into it each night like we'll never get up again. So like I said, the house still needs some finishing touches but overall we're thrilled with it. It's old and quirky and charming and already feels like home, and we can't wait to have friends over for some backyard BBQing!

Jude is adjusting well. He had trouble sleeping the first 3 or 4 nights here, but seems to have gotten used to his new room/bed now. The poor kid's been sleeping in a Pack-n-Play for a year, and I forgot he does a little dance routine in bed before he falls asleep sometimes to get extra energy out. He stands up in bed and falls straight back onto his pillow like a stiff board, and the wooden crib slats aren't as forgiving as the mesh walls of his Pack-n-Play. I've heard loud bumps in the monitor and then a series of tearful "Mama's!" until I come upstairs and find him rubbing the back of his head. But he's catching on:)

He also had his first haircut this week. I love Jude's crazy little rooster hair when he wakes up and only occasionally gave Ted permission to cut really ridiculous pieces here and there with scissors. But Dad laid down the law and took him to Sports Clips, where he got a "Varsity haircut" and Jude got, you guessed it, the "Junior Varsity haircut." It would have been a very manly affair had Mom not been cooing and snapping pictures:) He sat very still and graciously thanked his "stylist" afterwards.

I'm 3 weeks away from my due date today. I've been feeling extra exhausted this week and I'm guessing its from moving and unpacking, but I'm also feeling some of the "end of pregnancy" pangs and pressure. At my appointment last week the dr. said the baby dropped and I'm 1 cm. dilated and 50% effaced, and I know enough to know that means basically nothing. I still get the feeling this baby will come a little earlier than June 5, but WHEN is anyone's guess!

My piece for DRAFT magazine is out now, so if you're interested in reading it you can view it by clicking here

Run Teddy, Run!

2010-04-26T16:07:00.006-04:00

This was our big weekend to go down to Nashville so Ted could run the Music City Marathon. He's been training for quite a while, watching what he eats, and working hard to garner support for the orphanage we worked with in Cochabamba. Ted approaches everything he does with dedication and heart, and I've loved seeing it shine through in his training. He did GREAT; didn't walk a step and was making great time, too. Unfortunately, there was a huge storm at the very end of the marathon and police started diverting runners to the finish line early, so Ted ended up running about 22 miles instead of 26. He was pretty bummed about it, but what can you do? Running a whole marathon is on his "bucket list" and he's signing up for another one to say he's run a complete 26 mile race. I'm so proud of him and happy to say he raised over $3000 for IOU! Here's a picture of my stud at mile 7.

After the race (and hot showers--that rain was chilly!), we grilled out all day and caught up with family. My sister Lauren came in from Arkansas and I finally got to meet my newest nephew Jace! My grandparents were in from Florida and my uncle came by, and it was a packed house to say the least:) We let the kids destroy the house and ate lots of food, and it was one of those completely chaotic but wonderful weekends that I needed:)

And with a certain amount of hesitation, I'll share the great news that we found a house! The hesitation stems from a house we bought that fell through last year, and the realization that things are never really certain until they've come to pass. With that disclaimer, we are so excited that we found a great house and can't wait to get settled in a place of our own again. We've been bouncing around for the last 14 months and although a lot of it was exciting, I'm ready for a place to "hang my hat" again. Ted and I love the neighborhood and its close to our church, our friends, our favorite coffee spot and some great places to eat! Lord willing, we close May 7 and move in the next day. It's got all the things we were hoping to find in a house and it'll be the perfect place to grow our family for years to come. We looked at so many houses that just didn't feel like "us," and this one just felt like home right away. HOME. Ahhh. It makes me smile just typing that word:) (and almost cry too, but I'm thinking that's pregnancy hormones) Pictures coming soon!

New Belly Picture

2010-04-15T15:21:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of my belly, so here ya go! I'm almost 33 weeks (8 months for people who are annoyed by weeks). I'm still feeling pretty good, considering I have a basketball attached to me. I do have a few late-pregnancy complaints and discomforts, but I'll leave those out because I know my list is much shorter than most and I'm grateful for how easy my pregnancies are. I'm convinced this one is another boy, since its mirrored Jude so much in the way I feel and grow, but...I guess you never know, right? We've got 2 names picked out and they're both normal and lovely:) I'll do better at posting more pictures as the next few weeks progress.
xoxo

Springing into Action?!

2010-04-05T17:04:00.017-04:00

I've gotten behind in my posting, but its (mostly) for good reasons! I'll start with the best news first...Ted accepted a job offer! He's working for Habitat for Humanity as Development Consultant, and will be able to help with their fundraising as well which is exactly what he wants to do. The nonprofit sector may not be the most lucrative, but its more than worth it to see Ted excited to go to work and so clearly fulfilled in what he's doing. The hours are terrific and I really feel this job is a huge answer to (fervent!) prayers. Thanks to all who chimed in:)
We're also busy looking for housing, so if anyone knows of a sweet deal, call us! My new favorite activity is loading Jude into the backseat, picking up a coffee and cruising up and down streets looking for a cute place to live that won't break the bank. It doesn't have to be spectacular, just some place that I can start getting ready for this new baby to live in! I think Jude's nursery was totally set up by this point in my pregnancy last time, and poor #2 just isn't getting that kind of attention. Things on that front are looking good, by the way. I wasn't gaining weight properly in Bolivia but have caught up nicely in this last month here at home:) I passed my gestational diabetes test this time around (which I was a little surprised at, honestly) and so I've been in a better mood being able to eat what I want and dr. visits don't involve the grilling they used to.
Jude started a Mother's Day Out program this week and I'm happy to say the first day went great. In fact, his teacher even used the word "stellar" when describing his behavior (and yes I will brag on that). It's every Monday from 9-2 at a church here in town that coincidentally, Teddy went to when HE was a little tot as well. I like continuity and traditions more than your average person:) We talked all morning about "school" (or "koooool" in Jude's case) and what it involved and even said a little prayer to be brave and make friends in the car before we went in. Jude had a stellar day; Mom blinked back tears as she pulled out of the parking lot. This whole growing-up business is for the birds. I can't WAIT to watch him become the good man I know he's destined to be, but...I hope he takes his sweet time. Anyway, I'm excited he likes it because it sure was NICE to have that break. I was able to get some work done at a Starbucks...its amazing how much you can accomplish when your thought process isn't broken every 5 seconds! I'm still freelancing a little in my spare time, and have managed to sell a few more articles this year to different magazines. I've got one due to print in May and another in June, so I'll post the links on here when they're out so you can oooh and aahhh over my fledgling work!
Now the fun stuff: Ted and I took a little trip to Chicago recently, all by ourselves! Nancy and Tom were nice enough to hang with Jude, and I spent my very first night away from him. Is that sad? Should we have done that sooner? I guess we went to Cochabamba not long after I quit nursing, and it wasn't really practical to take off without him while we were there. We had an awesome time doing stuff Jude would not have stood for: long waits at restaurants, leisurely strolling through stores, and listening to jazz at our favorite spot. I drug Ted to an adorable (Man Translation: "small portions and overpriced") brunch spot called Orange where we feasted on Chai French Toast and then sat silently drinking coffee and reading the paper when we were finished, a favorite pastime long gone after kids hit the scene.

Then we used some free Delta vouchers to go to New York over Easter weekend. We really had no plan there so it was a relaxed trip. We stayed near Times Square and had fun showing Jude the tourist/technological overload that it is, played in Central Park and rode the carousel, checked out Ground Zero construction, wandered around Greenwich Village, and hit FAO Swartz. I think that was Jude's favorite part. He ran around pointing at things for a while, then desperately tried to climb up my body and reach an electric car, then had a fit when we pulled him off the display shelf, poor thing. He was pretty well-behaved though overall, and we had a lot of fun doing NYC the "kid way" instead of the $15 cocktail/high heels/stand in line all night to get into the club way. Although my boys were gracious enough to indulge me in a little 5th Avenue shopping at Chanel:)

Wow this blog is getting long! We came home Easter Sunday and had great weather for an egg hunt with family and friends. I'll close with some adorable pictures from the day. We hope you all were able to celebrate this precious day and all that it brings...new beginnings and the promise of brightness ahead.

Readjusting

2010-03-14T14:01:00.002-04:00

We made it! After much traveling, we are safely back in Indiana! The flights went smoothly and we enjoyed our stopover in Lima. Our hotel was in Miraflores again so we were right next to lots of shopping and restaurants and plazas and parks, which was fun and a great way for Jude to get some of his pent-up energy out between boring stretches in airports. I must say, he was a champion traveler and really made an exhausting few days much more pleasant than they could have been otherwise. He didn't complain when we drug him into hotels, taxis and airports at ungodly hours, and he even issued a solemn "chao" out the plane window as we took off for the last time from Bolivia. We went to Nashville first since we wanted to visit with my family and also pick up our car. I think we brought some nice weather with us because it was actually kind of warm there! I was able to get together for a "Ladies Night" at PF Chang's and catch up with my girlfriends, spend time with my sister Renee and her family and little ones, hang out with my parents and catch up on sleep. We drove up to Indy after that and we've been staying with Ted's aunt Nancy (well, she's actually been out of town but is graciously letting us crash her house until we find somewhere to live). We got to see Gramp and Aunt Beth and even Uncle Ross before he left for New Orleans, and Jude and his cousin Annabel held hands and teetered around after dinner one night like they'd never missed a beat:) Ted is currently job-hunting and our next move will depend on what happens with that--whether a house or an apartment--so I'll keep you posted. I think it'll still take some time to get back into the swing of things, but it sure feels good to be back to so many of the people we love and conveniences we've missed. But, we learned so much in Cochabamba about different ways of living and thinking of things, and its important to me that we carry some of that over into our daily lives here. Jude is adjusting well and seems OK with wearing sweaters and sitting in his carseat again:) He started toddler swim lessons downtown yesterday and LOVED it! He was a little timid at first, but was jumping off the side into my arms by the end of class. I want to do as much as I can with him before the baby comes and takes some of my attention. The boy is completely obsessed with guitars and will strum on anything that remotely feels like one in his hands. Including pool noodles.
Even though we're excited to be home, there are still lots of unknowns and we'd appreciate your prayers and encouragement as we navigate through many of them...and as always, I'll be blogging along the way!

Saying Goodbye

2010-03-01T20:40:00.010-05:00

I've been meaning to update the blog for the past few days, but things have been snowballing here at the end of our stay. Tomorrow we leave Cochabamba, and saying our goodbyes has been anything but easy for us. Nine months doesn't seem that long, but it just feels like everything was amplified and intensified here in our short time. The good days felt amazing, the bad days felt overwhelming, and our relationships with people became involved and authentic much quicker than they seem to at home.
Here are some of the people who made our time here so meaningful...fellow International Teams missionaries, our partners the Timmers, our wonderful intern/roommate Annie, our friend and ever-patient Spanish teacher Tina, our landlords-turned-awesome-friends Ana and Jose, our dear friends Nathan and Kate (who managed to have their third baby girl this morning so we could meet her before we leave!), and of course, the kids at Frutillar, although we forgot to take many pictures when we said goodbye today:(

Serving and living in Cochabamba has been incredible, and I know we'll be processing and putting together all we've learned here for years to come. Ted and I were having coffee the other night and talking about things, and we're just so inspired and amazed by long-term missionaries. They give up so much and go to such great lengths because of their faith in God and for their love for other people. So many of the friends we met here don't just talk about their passions and visions with stars in their eyes saying "what if?"...they are doing it and living it every single day, in places where its not easy to do and with resources that aren't easy to get. Our life at home is so familiar and comfortable, and I've missed it so much while I was away. God said that as Christians, this world isn't our home. Don't get too comfortable. And that's such a struggle for me. It's easy in my "normal life" to trick myself into thinking the world is a great place and we're all doing OK. But the truth is that its filled with immense, intense, widespread suffering. And I'm probably not going to find it in the Starbucks drive-thru or while I browse Crate and Barrel (2 places I've missed like crazy!) I have to look for it and be intentional about finding it or else I'll never be able to play a part in changing it for someone. I fall so miserably short of that goal most of the time.

As you can probably tell, there's a lot tumbling around in our heads right now! We're so excited to be seeing our family and friends in just a few days and catching up! We go to Lima tomorrow and will be back in the US of A on the 4th! Please pray for our family as we embark on LOTS of traveling with a toddler in tow, for us as we say "Chao" to Cochabamba tomorrow, and for the energy to face the changes ahead once we're back. See you sooooooon! xoxo

Carnaval

2010-02-15T15:54:00.015-05:00

I had some pictures to upload, so I'm posting some here from the weekend. We took the kids from Frutillar out for a water balloon fight, in true Carnaval fashion:) They had a blast, and trooped back to the orphanage soaking wet! Jude wasn't quite sure what to do with his balloons, but seemed to enjoy himself from his perch on the dryer.

We hung out on the roof of our apartment building this afternoon, enjoying the sun and letting Jude run around without fear of getting pegged with balloons. Our Spanish teacher gave Jude some "Canaval gifts" that included a little water gun, that he LOVES but generally squirts directly in his own face/eyes, which accounts for the rubbing in some of these pics:) (And please excuse his wild hedgehog hair...the result of waterguns, sweat, and sunscreen!) And just a few more pictures I thought were cute from around the house. Enjoy!

Here is my 6 month belly shot. My back aches some evenings, but otherwise, no complaints. Jude still has no clue what's going on. The last time I asked him where the baby was, he pointed at my nose.

The Spider and the Superbowl

2010-02-08T13:05:00.000-05:00

Well, I managed to pack my camera when we went places this week, and its a good thing because I was able to capture the horror I stumbled across. On Saturday, Jude and I were at "The Hacienda," a term for the guesthouse we reserve for interns and people on short-term trips. It's sort of up higher in the mountains and a bit, well, rustic. Ted and Annie were still down at the orphanage and Jude and I were in the living room playing and waiting for them. I turned to leave the room and was almost out the door when I saw a TARANTULA walking across the table next to the door...I froze and grabbed Jude, trying to remember whether tarantulas were capable of leaping toward people or if it was safe to scoot out the door a foot away from it. Apparently I kept repeating "Oh my gosh" over and over because Ted walked in then and said he heard me talking as he was walking up to the house. He ran and grabbed a bowl from the kitchen and trapped it on the table and we exited safely (but not without a mighty shudder on the way past!) YUCK! Here are some pictures of the ghastly thing.

Bolivia has been crazy this month. Carnaval is coming up, and technically its supposed to only last 3 days but in Cochabamba, its been going on for a month already. And its basically an all-city (all-continent?) water balloon fight. Everywhere you go, anytime of day, teenage kids hurl water balloons at anyone on the street, sometimes from behind corners and sometimes from moving cars. Some of its in good fun, but some of its awful. They'll freeze the balloons and throw them at people's heads. Ted and I have seen business women walking down the street get hit in the head. When we go out to eat, Ted has to hail a taxi from behind the shelter of cars, then hold the door open so Jude and I can run straight out and jump in! They throw them at the sides of cars driving by. I've managed to escape without getting hit (yet). Ted has not been so lucky.

Funny story: we were coming home in a taxi yesterday. Traffic laws are different here, as in, no lanes and you don't have to obey lights or stop signs. I noticed we were dangerously close to an SUV driving along next to us...then closer...then an inch and I braced for a bump or scrape of some type, when our driver rolled down his window and PUNCHED the side of their car as hard as he could, and yelled what translates as "pay attention!" I don't see what was wrong with his horn, but after an incredulous silence, we all died laughing at his outburst, and he eventually cracked a smile:)

And, finally, the Colts. Our beloved Colts lost, and we drowned our sorrows in chicken quesadillas. But we're darned proud of them. Jude was allowed to stay up 2 hours past his bedtime to cheer them on:) Let the countdown begin until next season!

Mosey Movie Week

2010-02-03T17:27:00.005-05:00

I've been really bad about taking pictures for the last month, and I've been avoiding updating the blog since I know pictures are the best part! Things have been good here. Annie, our intern, is staying with us and its been nice having the company and extra lap for Jude to sit in. He says her name pretty well now:) And our family's volume of tea intake has about quadrupled since her arrival! When you have an English houseguest, it just seems like the thing to do.
Ted and Annie went to Chapare yesterday (the jungle) to visit one of IOU's orphanages there that recently received some new kids, and also meet with some church and government officials. They took loads of toys and books and clothes out to the orphanage, so I'm sure the kids were pretty excited!

Jude is about 20 months now and has become our little buddy. He points at the kitchen closet and demands, "Broom!" and then sweeps up the kitchen floor. He begs to see what I'm cooking on the stove, has a healthy respect for "hot" things, and carefully stirs whatever is simmering with such pride that it overrides the danger associated with it, in Mom's mind:) He is FINALLY saying please, hallelujah! He's had "thank you" down for a long time but please was normally grunts until last week, and now he cocks his head and says, sweet as honey, "pweeese" for anything and everything. I love it. I think if he asked if he could pweeese drink beer with his supper I'd melt and give in. On the flip side, he's really weird about it when I leave him lately. Sometimes if I kneel at the door and make a point to kiss him, he'll say "chao!" and slam the door in my face and that's that. But mostly, he runs and puts his face in the corner if he sees me getting the keys or putting on my shoes and refuses to come kiss me, and I can hear him crying when I'm getting on the elevator. He's also been like that at church, to a point where either Ted or I have to stay in nursery school with him while the other one stays for the sermon. He ignores us and plays with other kids while we're in there, but freaks out if I try to back out the door. I hope he gets over this hump soon, because he starts Mothers' Day Out once a week as soon as we get back home.

One thing he LOVES is going to movies. We've gone to the theater twice this week to see Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Princess and the Frog. He's certainly his father's son...he totally zones out and stuffs his face with popcorn the entire time, and doesn't appear phased that its in a different language. He claps and cheers at the appropriate times, I'm sure much to the annoyance of all the people taping bootleg copies around us. Seriously. Here's a few shots from this afternoon's matinee.

Babe Update

2010-01-23T14:06:00.002-05:00

Just an update on Numero Dos. We had our 5 month appointment this week and the ultrasound told us everything we NEEDED to know....as in, normal size, organs functioning, placenta in a good spot, amniotic fluid fine, 10 fingers/10 toes, etc, which is fantastic and what every parents hopes to hear. But did we find out what we WANTED to know....? Those of you who know us, know we didn't find out the sex when I was pregnant with Jude. This never bothered me, and Ted and I both found it kind of fun to play the guessing game all the way til D-Day, and it sure gives you motivation to get that baby OUT when you want to know what it is!
However, yesterday at the appointment, I had some serious wavering going on. Serious. When the dr. looked at us and "So do you want to know what you're having?" I almost grabbed him by his scrub shirt and screamed "YES!" I don't know why the anxiousness this time. Maybe its the fact that here in Cochabamba, my hands are tied when it comes to buying things or preparing for this baby, and I want something certain and concrete to hold me over (?) Maybe its the fact that I know several pregnant mamas who are finding out and its infectious. Anyway, I made the mistake of looking at Ted and remembered how much he loves surprises, and we left the appointment none the wiser.
Today is different. My baby is healthy and growing, and in this lovely and merciful "not too big yet" stage, gives me little kicks and punches to remind me of that, and I'm content again replaying my 2 different daydreams. Whoever it is, I'm already completely in love anyway. Would it be easier to know the sex for planning purposes? Absolutely. But maybe planning is overrated anyway:) And planning pales when Ted gets to meet my (somewhat dazed) gaze in the delivery room and be the one to tell me whether we'll be taking home a son or a daughter. He's the one who told me I was pregnant in the first place (long story there) and he's the only one I want to tell me the rest of the story. Let the waiting begin!

Halfway!

2010-01-16T19:16:00.007-05:00

It was a good week! We have a new intern who just arrived a few days ago and we love her! Her name is Annabel (Annie) and she's from Bath, England and she has a lovely accent:) She'll be working with us in Cochabamba for the next 5 months and we're so excited to have her here. We spent the week introducing her to the city and to the kids, and yesterday we took all of them to a park downtown to play. We piled into 2 taxis (chicos vs. chicas....Ted swung better taxi fares both ways) and had a great time, despite the short afternoon rainstorm. We brought them home pretty muddy, but it was worth it.

Ted has been busy running his rear end off several times a week, getting ready for the Music City Marathon in Nashville. He's enlisting the support of family and friends (ahem...YOU!) because he's running for our kids here in Bolivia, to help raise support for the existing orphanages and the ones to come. He's even set up a website with pictures and details, check it out at http://www.helporphans.myevent.com. The race is April 24 and he needs people to keep him company while he runs (the half or full marathon) and people to donate as well. I'd encourage everyone to consider participating in this in some way. Ted is working really hard to train and I'm proud of him...running rain or shine, at 9,000 ft. in 85 degree heat with scary dogs chasing him! He literally runs with rocks to throw.
Here I am at 20 weeks. I'm halfway there and getting more excited:) I feel like there are so many things happening between now and June that I almost can't even think about it right now! Our official departure date from Bolivia is March 4, and we'll fly into Nashville and spend about a week before heading back up to Indy. It's hard not to "nest" right now...I have to fight the urge to shop for newborn things and decorate a nursery, at least for the next few months. For now, I do a lot of daydreaming:)

On a final note, we just want to reiterate how much we miss our COLTS. This season has not been the same and we're lamenting the fact that we can't be at the game tonight, tailgating with our friends and cheering them on! But I've got chili simmering as we speak and we're about to settle in front of our little computer and thank the dear Lord we can even WATCH the thing from here!

Wow...

2010-01-08T19:48:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I think it smells on our street and I wonder why...and then I see this.

The best part is the sign that says you can't throw trash outside the bin at risk of being fined.

Adios 2009

2009-12-31T12:21:00.002-05:00

Quick Spanish lesson: people rarely say Adios in Bolivia. The word "a Dios" means "to God" and is used for occasions when you'll never see the person again, like a funeral or when someone leaves for good. But, I guess its OK to use when talking about 2009 because tomorrow it's gone for good!
2009 was nuts for us and I have a lot of feelings about seeing it go. Last New Years, I guess I was just hoping, like I always do, for the coming year to be "good." What does that mean, though? Does it mean we hope our year is filled with blessings, health, prosperity and success? Is that what defines a "good year?" I sure thought so! But the past year hasn't always brought our family those things...yet I'm still convinced it was a good year. Here's why.
2009 brought some scary things: insecurity, stress, lost relationships, death, fear and a fair amount of heartache. It also brought some good things: travel, patience, discipline, hope, resolve, trust, new experiences, and even new life.
I'm beginning to decide that the measure of a year well spent is whether you've managed to stumble forward in the areas that matter to you, and how much of it you let God handle for you. I realize that we were in a unique position this year and that most--if not all--other years of our life won't give us the circumstances this year did. That's both a relief and a disappointment. It was hard changing directions this year, it was hard seeing things dissolve that we'd counted on, it was hard losing relationships we valued. My favorite line from "Eat, Pray, Love" is, "When God slams a door in your face, he opens a box of Girl Scout cookies." Maybe that doesn't make sense to some people, but it sure does to us! Ted and I have survived off Girl Scout cookies many times this year. Living in a foreign country is hard. I've had more bad days than this blog reflects. It can be very isolating and lonely and frustrating. But we've also feasted off our cookies too...we've had this incredible opportunity for our lives to intersect with people and places we never imagined and have been so blessed by that. We've learned a bit more about the character of God, and are seeing that He wrote our stories and knows where they're going, and that just because things seem confusing doesn't mean they aren't good and aren't being used for His purpose. The toughest lesson I'm learning now is to quit trying to flip back chapters and analyze things, or flip ahead and find out what's around the corner...just live on my page, look up to God and say, "OK."

It's warm and sunny outside. I'm writing this from a place I couldn't find on a map this time last year. I'm sitting in a room with my incredible husband and my giggling, growing son. I'd be a fool to say that 2009 hasn't been an amazing, unforgettable year, maybe not always full of sunshine, but always full of life and never lacking hope. And I've got a pretty awesome crew to be living it with:) I hope 2010 brings you everything you need and a lot of what you want! Happy New Year!

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." -Emily Dickinson

Titicaca

2009-12-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

So our trip to Lake Titicaca went really well. We spent the first night in La Paz and returned to the Witch's Market area to do some shopping and have dinner. Our hotel was in a great location and we all went to sleep early that night, which was really nice. The only bad part was when I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and realized Jude was asleep in his Pack-n-Play in there and had to stumble around the hotel looking for a bathroom without shoes on. We took a 3.5 hour bus ride the next morning to Copacabana (Bolivia, not Brazil!). Our hotel was right on the water and we managed to snag their one and only cabana, which stands alone and has 2 bedrooms and a den, perfect! It was colder as we hoped, and we immediately felt Christmasier!
Copacabana is a little fishing village filled with European hippy-types, fish shacks, street vendors, and a laid-back feeling. Sorry if I look homeless in a lot of the pictures...I put on PJ pants and a hat (my roots are getting awful) and pretty much didn't change the entire time. We spent a lot of time watching movies, playing cards, ordering room service, and taking walks by the water. On Christmas Eve, we took a boat out to Isla del Sol to explore with a Bolivian guide, a Swedish woman, an Indian couple, and an Italian couple. Luckily, we all spoke some degree of English and had a blast together:) The boat had a ladder up to a roof deck and the ride was beautiful. When we got to Isla del Sol, we did some hiking and stopped every few minutes to turn around and take pictures...the snow-capped mountains in the distance, the blue water, the green hills on the island, it was very picturesque and I was totally regretting not having an SLR camera. One of the major things grown on the island is quinoa (a big thing in Bolivia) and there were tons of fields of it growing, along with some herbs our guide pointed out that I'd never even heard of. Jude found a buddy to play soccer with, and made friends with a few donkeys and llamas. A successful day in his book!
Santa brought him a guitar for Christmas....another guitar. This one is like a real guitar that you tune and everything, only smaller. He plays it while spinning in circles and "singing." He loved looking at the boats from our window, and one night I was in the room after he went to bed, when he suddenly blurted out "Boat!" in his sleep, which tickled me half to death! He also learned how to eat a gingerbread house without his hands, per the instruction of Dad. It was definitely a change of pace for Christmas, but we made some great memories and it was special to savor the last Christmas of our little family of 3 I've come to love so much:)

Just About Christmastime

2009-12-20T07:59:00.005-05:00

We had a Christmas party for the kids at Frutillar on Friday. It included lots of sugar, and Jude got a little wound up! It was fun to have everyone together and we finally got a group picture. Little Maria is the one in the pink pants. She was napping when the party started, and Marcelino woke her up and brought her a brownie and some chocolate milk. She sat there quietly and didn't touch her treat for a long time, and finally said that she didn't want to eat her brownie until someone prayed with her. Precious baby girl:)

Here's me at 16 weeks. My baby bump has arrived! It showed up just this week, and it came bearing gifts: my lower back has started aching when I lift Jude now. It probably doesn't help that I wiped out on some tile stairs the other day, holding Jude while I was leaving a laundromat in the rain! (I know of very few Cochabambinos who don't have an awful falling story somewhere in the city...we call them "gringo traps" and its totally not our fault, right?) Anyway, I'm feeling fine and the baby seems to be growing as it should. I try to get to the gym once or twice a week but when its hot outside and there's no AC at the gym, its hard to get motivated. Plus, the amount of 12 yr. olds working out furiously around me is disturbing, combined with the nearly X-rated Spanish MTV which makes me cringe for said 12 yr. olds.
We're looking forward to a little vacation to Lake Titicaca over Christmas, which we're so excited about because 1) It's colder there and 2) We've heard how incredibly beautiful it is! We fly out tomorrow, and we're taking our computer so we don't miss any Skype time on Christmas Day:) We miss you all terribly, especially right now, and want to say that we love you and hope your holiday celebrations are special and memorable, and that everyone gets a moment to recognize the magnitude of what we celebrate..."God and sinners reconciled."

Beat the Heat

2009-12-12T12:49:00.011-05:00

Well, its warmer this month than any month we've been here, at least to me. It's the rainy season now but it doesn't rain nearly as much as I anticipated, just some passing storms every few days. But mostly its hot and sunny, and although I'm trying to appreciate that for all the people back home that I know would LOVE this, its sure making it hard to get in the Christmas spirit right about now! Ted and I have been streaming live radio stations from Indiana to listen to Christmas music in the house, and shake our heads when we hear the single-digit temps and snow forecasts...then pour ourselves another iced tea and open the windows a little wider! Is this what Florida people feel like?

I know these are late, but here are some pictures from Thanksgiving at the Timmer's house. The kids swam and then we had a huge feast! Jude spent some time with their monkey, and found himself a lady-friend...there's a picture of him reeling after his first kiss! (which was forced upon them by their respective parents from behind their cameras, but was really kind of sweet) True love.

We've been doing a lot of work at home lately and Jude has been very accomodating of us when we're sitting behind a computer and not playing with him, so we had a "Jude Day" and took him to do his favorite things: play at the park and run around Burger King, the only American chain here that tastes VERY close to the real thing! He also discovered a passion for milkshakes, or rather, Mom's milkshake.

Jude's two favorite things in life right now are airplanes and guitars. He screams "Woah!" and races to the window every time he hears a plane, and has been playing his fly swatter like a guitar for so long that we broke down and found him a little toy one at the Saturday market. He sleeps from about 8-8 every day (yes, he sleeps in til almost 8am most mornings!) and I'm happy to say he's been taking one afternoon nap consistently for a few weeks now. Today, he slept with his guitar, which is weird for him since the only thing ever in his crib is his "cow." He loves YouTube videos of people playing the guitar, and episodes of Sid the Science Kid that we downloaded from iTunes for him. I transferred his love of milkshakes to dinnertime and now (this is gross) mix milk, strawberry yogurt, and pureed fruits and vegetables into a horrible-looking toddler V-8 shake that he actually really likes. If he won't eat his vegetables, he will drink them, and he will like it.

Eighteen Months of Jude!

2009-12-04T09:59:00.004-05:00

Jude is 18 months old TODAY! These past 6 months have been chock full of new developments and skills, but he's still my same ole' sweet and lovable boy. Jude Hammy, I'm celebrating YOU today and all that you are and will be. Forgive me when my patience runs short or when I don't know the best ways to nurture you...I am trying and will keep trying for you forever. You are my son, my friend, my prize, and your dad and I smile when we even talk about you, long after you're in bed. We dropped you in a foreign country and you've flourished and grown and learned right alongside us, and I treasure this shared experience with YOU, Sweet One. You can create a fun day out of thin air, make me smile just by being, show me different ways to live and love and teach me lessons even while you sleep. You made a mother out of me and I'm thankful for that title, and enormously proud to call you mine. Your gentle spirit is a powerful presence in our household, and you set our family on a new course by coming into it. We're working on making a sibling for you, which I know you don't understand yet but I can't wait to introduce to you! I'm sure you'll hate them at first, but give it time and they'll be your best friend, a person who shares your stories and secrets and understands the things about your heart nobody else can; a person you'll tattle on, conspire with, and cling to as life unfolds. You're my reason for so much; my motivation to make anything better. You've been in my heart forever...what a pleasure to finally know you, and experience this love so different from any other. Always know that I'm on your side, we're in this together (no matter what you think as a teenager!), and I'll love you long after I'm gone. What a difference 18 months can make in your tiny body and in your mama's heart. We LOVE you, baby, and always will!

12 Weeks

2009-11-24T12:17:00.002-05:00

I know, 2 posts within days, how lucky! This is a 12 week picture Ted took today. Not looking too exciting yet and I'm still in my normal clothes, but I can tell my "pooch" is creeping up. Still feel fine, although tired in the second part of the day. Our next dr. appointment is Friday and I think we'll get another ultrasound, which I'm looking forward to! No major food cravings except for, tragically, things I can't have here. I think about Jimmy Johns an awful lot, Boursin cheese, and of course rosemary chicken lasagna from Mama Carolla's but when DON'T I think about that!? For the most part I've been able to improvise:) I'll give another update on the baby this weekend.

Almost Thanksgiving?!

2009-11-22T14:49:00.008-05:00

Did I say that Jude is being difficult on my last post? Well, I meant it! What a tough age! The beauty of blogs is that they have archives, and I went back and looked at friends'/family's entries when their kids were around this age, and confirmed that 1) He's developing normally and 2) We'll need some extra patience for the next stretch of time. My sister put it like this, "Every 6 months your kid will become emotionally unstable for a while." Great. That makes 2 of us now in this apartment, so hopefully Ted can manage us! Despite Jude's newfound "emotions", he's still sweet as pie most of the time, and growing little blonde curls, so its hard to be upset with him:) He still gives us the giggles.

We've had visitors from the US for the past 3 weeks, off and on. Our last guest leaves this coming week, and we'll be sad to see them all go. We've really enjoyed having Samuel here for 3 weeks...he's a consultant and has been helping Mike and Ted with the business end of the ministry, and he even lives in my hometown, Franklin TN! It was a busy week last week, but fun. I went to Chapare last Friday, which is the jungle/rainforest part of Bolivia about 4 hours away. Ted and I have to switch off doing this trip since its all day, out the door at 6am and home after Jude's bedtime so one of us has to stay home with him. We checked on the construction of a new orphanage and brought supplies. There's a family living there while its under construction to keep an eye on it, and there aren't any doors, windows, or furniture (which makes me think twice about my complaining!) We stopped by a monkey sanctuary on the way home, too. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but the whole thing freaked me out a little...it was just an area outside with monkeys jumping around and the guide told us they yank jewelry off and steal cameras so...no pictures! We did some hiking and exploring and it was neat to be truly in the jungle, with monkeys swinging from the trees overhead and running across our path!
Yesterday we made Christmas ornaments with the kids at Frutillar and they loved it! Well, the girls loved it mostly:) And you can be a proud owner of said ornaments if you are one of the first 50 people to order coffee in December! We'll have more details on the website soon: www.BoliviasBestCoffee.com.

We had our teeth cleaned last week (for a whopping $14) and afterwards we found an awesome cafe that serves....American breakfast! Mostly. Scrambled eggs and bacon aren't easily found here, so this was huge. Multi-grain Cheerios get old after a few months, so we were totally excited to receive the "tip" and go indulge in a huge, delicious breakfast! It was no Grand Slam, but we'll take it:) And one of the best cappuccinos ever (my no-caffeine rule during pregnancy has taken a hit here, as there's no decaf in restaurants). Last night we had dinner with our friends Ana and Jose and the rest of their family, and the feast continued with enormous amounts of meat on an equally enormous grill. Ted explained to me that language barriers don't really exist when there's meat to gesture at.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we'll be celebrating at the Timmer's house, along with lots of other American families. Everyone is bringing a dish to pitch in (I've got green bean casserole). I'm sure Turkey Day will be a little different in a foreign country, but we're looking forward to it. I'm sure I will miss family an awful lot this year, though (and my dad's dressing!) Everyone be safe as they travel and remember that the Mosey's are SO VERY THANKFUL for each of you.

Navidad En Bolivia

2009-11-11T07:28:00.004-05:00

Is it too early to be talking about Christmas? I'm deciding "No." Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year, and despite the soaring temps and sunscreen, I have already started playing Christmas music, drinking spiced tea, and burning my cinnamon candle:) Ted LOVES Christmas too (he was raised in the most Christmas-happy family ever!) and was delighted to meet his match when he got in my car one October and heard festive music already blaring. It was love. Anyway, if you're like me and already have holidays on the brain, we wanted to give you an outlet to help with our ministry here in Cochabamba this year. Some of the past interns for IOU have put together a project called Navidad en Bolivia, which raises support for individual Christmas gifts for each child not only in our orphanage, but in other ministries across Bolivia. If you want more details on how you can help out, the website is www.NavidadenBolivia.info. To help our orphanage specifically, click on "The List" and we can be found under "Zona Frutillar Orphanage." We're hoping to make this Christmas the best one yet!
We celebrated Ted's 29th birthday yesterday! Our friend watched Jude while we went downtown and browsed some antique shops and had lunch, kid-free. There's a couple here from Houston who are considering coming to Cochabamba to work with IOU in the future, and we took them to Frutillar yesterday to introduce them to the kids and houseparents. Then we had a low-key dinner at home and turned in early. Didn't exactly look like the 21st birthday I'm sure, but it was a lovely day nonetheless:)
Jude has been giving us the runaround with his sleeping. I think he's changing his nap schedule, and its left us all confused. He's always been a big sleeper, 12 hours at night and 2 naps a day, each around 1.5 hours. He's been crazy though...waking up super early in the morning sometimes, not wanting his p.m. nap sometimes, then sleeping so long in the afternoon at times that I feel I can't possibly put him to bed at his usual bedtime. It's weird and I hope we figure it out soon! He's also been a very picky eater the last 2 weeks and refuses anything except peanut butter, crackers, milk, and yogurt. I worry when he won't eat healthier things or picks at his dinner and then runs off. I suppose he won't starve to death and assume its a phase, but it's sure irritating when I spend so much time and energy washing his veggies/fruits, steaming, pureeing, adding to things he supposedly likes, and then he sobs when I try and feed him. He always wins the battle, and dinner ends up looking like this:

More Moseys

2009-11-01T18:18:00.004-05:00

In South America, instead of celebrating Halloween they celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) a day later. It's connected to a Catholic holiday, All Saints Day, and everyone cooks tons of food. The idea is to make the favorite dishes of your family members who have passed away, and then take it to their graves. The grocery store and market this weekend was INSANE, like the week before Thanksgiving and a snowstorm forecast all rolled into one! Not to mention the employees dressed up in costumes roaming the aisles. But with all this cooking, we were lucky to score some homemade cookies and pastries from Tina, our neighbor and spanish teacher:) It's an interesting holiday, and although I respect the traditions, I still hold that after I'm gone, I won't need cheesecake or caprese salad on my grave....there's bound to be some seriously good food in Heaven, right?

And speaking of seriously good stuff, the Moseys are working on adding another kid to the mix:) I'm 9 weeks along and the baby is doing great. We found a great doctor here and already had an ultrasound. The due date is June 5...Jude's birthday is June 4 and I'm hoping they don't have the same birthday. I'm not sure why, it just seems like unless you're a twin, you deserve to have your own day! Anyway, I've been a little tired and *maybe* a tad more irritable, but otherwise fairly well. I thought I had morning sickness and flailed around the house complaining about it, but later discovered my "morning sickness" conveniently started when I began 10 days of antibiotics for a UTI (sorry if that's too much info) and as soon as I stopped taking it, the nausea magically disappeared! I would come out of the bathroom after a sick episode and tell Ted to get ready for a daughter, since this pregnancy felt so different from the last. But now that things are kind of normal again, I'm back to the drawing board on what the sex is! And for those of you who have already asked...No, we're not finding out again. We have PLENTY of green, white, and orange onesies to cover the first 3 months:)
Does this affect our time in Cochabamba? Yes, and we're still working out the details. The bad thing about trying to plan a family is that you can never really plan correctly, and once again our picture is changing. We came here with a bit less financial support than we needed to cover the year, and we're taking that into account along with what's best for our family and the future needs of the ministry here in Cochabamba. Our plans for now are to have the baby in the U.S. and that means we'll be leaving in enough time to do that, but we're still working on the exact timing. Stay tuned!
Here's the 8 week ultrasound, and the up and coming big brother.

Thanks for already loving this new little one as much as we do!

Lucky in Love

2009-10-22T10:12:00.007-04:00

Ted and I are celebrating our 4th year of marriage today. Remembering that beautiful fall night in Nashville always makes me smile:) I remember my 22 year old self thinking that night, "This is it! I can't imagine being any happier than I am right now." But you know what? I've had Tuesday mornings where I'm stretched out on the couch watching the news with my family that my heart has been just as full as that day. The wedding was great, but its the marriage that makes me smile now. We've been better and we've been worse. Definitely been richer and poorer. Sickness? Check. Health? Check. Has it really only been four years??;)
So today, I'm celebrating every page of our story--all the good and the bad and the in between--and the wonderful priviledge of being the other half of the best man I know. God says He can do for us "immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine," and I see that most clearly in the gift of my husband. Happy Anniversary, Teddy! I can't wait for more!

La Paz, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu...oh my!

2009-10-17T10:30:00.025-04:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks! Ted's dad and Thom came to visit us. They spent the first part of their trip in Cochabamba, and it was fun showing them around our "hood" and having a little piece of home here for a while. We did lots of walking around the city, visiting the parks, taking them to local restaurants, showing them the markets, and sightseeing.

After Cochabamba, we all left for Peru! First, we had to fly to La Paz (the capital of Bolivia) and stay the night. We got there early enough in the day to check things out and walk around the "Witch Market" area. La Paz is BEAUTIFUL with a capital B. I had no idea! It's the highest capital in the world, at 13,000 ft. The views are breathtaking: snow-capped mountains, huge valleys, gorgeous architecture, cobblestone streets. It reminded me a little of San Franscisco with all the steep alleys, only La Paz has a darker and more mysterious vibe. Ted and I are hoping to go back sometime in the future, since its only a 30 minute flight!

What are those, you ask? Dried baby llama fetuses, of course! Used by Bolivians for ritual/religious purposes...

...used by Ted for a photo op. Yes, he washed his hands before dinner!

We stumbled across a tiny Moroccan restaurant and had a feast!

We only spent one night in La Paz, and its a good thing too because Bryce and Thom were having some trouble with the altitude and couldn't sleep:( We woke up bright and early the next day and flew to Cuzco, Peru. Cuzco is an interesting city and it used to be the Incan capital of the world, with tons of history and very cool Incan architecture everywhere. We were greeted at our hotel with coca tea, grabbed some lunch, and then went on a city tour of cathedrals and Incan ruins. Jude even got some quality time with a couple of sheep.

Jude got tired early that night so we put him to bed, ordered room service for dinner, and discovered the Colts/Titans game was on TV! So in a very unabashed American display, we settled into bed to watch the football game...in Cuzco. The next day we headed to (drumroll) Machu Picchu! The town at the base of the mountain is actually called Aguas Calientes, where most of the hotels are. So, after 2 flights, 2 (long) taxi rides, a train, and finally a bus, we arrived at Machu Picchu! The train was about an hour and a half through some very pretty parts of the country. Here's a shot out the window.

And arriving in Aguas Calientes

OK. Here's the thing about Machu Picchu. I had no clue what it was 5 years ago, but it was recently voted one the Seven Wonders of the World, and very deservedly so. When the Spanish came to conquer this part of the world, they somehow weren't able to find this city since its so high up in the mountains. It was only discovered in 1911, and the architecture is amazingly advanced. All the stones are handcut and fit together perfectly, so tight in parts that you can't slide a piece of paper in between them. They built tiers going down the mountain where they experimented with different crops. It was a city for elite intellectual Incans and a place where knowledge was preserved. There are stones that perfectly align with the stars in certain months of the year, doorways that tell when the solstice is by the position of the sun, all kinds of crazy stuff. It even sits on a fault line, but the design was so perfect (without mortar) that it survived through many earthquakes because their plans allowed for minor shifts of the stones without damage. Ted's dad has wanted to make the trip to Machu Picchu since he was young, and it was really cool to make the trip with him:)
We got up at 5am to be on the mountain when the sun rose. At first it was really cloudy, but them all of the sudden the clouds started to burn off and Ted and I just stood there and stared at the most incredible sight we'd ever seen. Hands down, no contest, the most spectacular scene I've laid eyes on! Not just the city itself, but those towering green mountains and even the mysterious clouds just all came together.

Then we decided to hike Waynapicchu, the second highest mountain. Well, Thom decided, and we all went along with it:) It took over an hour to hike up, and whew!--was it steep! As someone afraid of heights, I tried very hard not to look at the drop-offs every few feet, and instead concentrated my efforts on saying "Caaareful" every few minutes to Ted, who had Jude in the baby backpack. Did I mention there were NO kids at Machu Picchu? None. I saw a teenage girl but that was the youngest kid I saw at any point that day. People were shocked when they saw that we had Jude with us on the hike, and he quickly became a celebrity. People were stopping to take pictures of him.

Needless to say, we were completely exhausted by the time we were finished!

We went back to Cuzco for our last night. American Indulgence #2 was McDonalds. Yes, on the Plaza in Cuzco we spotted those gleaming golden arches. We managed to find a quarter pounder and fries and I was one happy gringa:) We strolled around the plaza, browsed some shops, and had a great dinner. Jude had a wonderful time riding around with his Gramp, too.

Jude was a total angel and slept through each night like a rock, took his naps, and toddled around Peru like a little pro. Much to his parents' relief! His personality is just right for traveling, and I could not be more thankful for that, especially this year! A huge thanks to Bryce and Thom for bringing us along:) It definitely left us with memories to last a lifetime!
"It is good to know our universe. What is new is only new to us."
Pearl Buck

Chair Affair

2009-10-02T15:09:00.009-04:00

We normally visit the orphanage in Frutillar twice a week: sometimes to chat with the houseparents, Marcelino and Sophia, sometimes to watch a movie with the kids or take them somewhere to play, and sometimes just to say hello. Jude always loves our visits, and the kids just love Jude right back. The girls take a special liking to him. He has that effect;) This week, Jude got trumped by his diaper bag, though. I've always found its contents rather run-of-the-mill, but it quickly became more exciting than the soccer game!
Ariel was soon engaged in an important phone conversation (on my old cell I brought from home, that obviously doesn't work here but serves as a "toy" for Jude)

Jhonny started downing Jude's sippy...

And Vivianna found the camera for a few self-portraits...

I had no idea our stuff was so interesting! I did manage to turn the camera on Dahlia though...right before she asked if she could borrow the old cell phone and return it when we go back to the States:)

Back at our casa, Jude has 2 new loves: chocolate milk and his new plasitc chair. I let him finish a carton of chocolate milk I was drinking because he loves straws so much, and he's decided to try and drink all straw-bearing drinks without the use of his hands. It's cute until it ends up all over him:)

I got this chair from the grocery store because he's been trying to sit in our kitchen chairs and can't stay in them too well yet. (We found some similar little chairs at a store a few days ago but were told they were only for RENT...what??) I figured he'd like sitting at the coffee table and eating snacks in it, but he doesn't. He prefers dragging it to windows and peering outside. And also leaving it in bad spots like in front of the toilet for us to trip over. I'm pleased to report he's only fallen off backwards on his head ONCE.

Other than that, we're just gearing up for our first visitors! Ted's dad and Thom will be here Tuesday and we're really looking forward to it. They'll spend the first part of their trip hanging out with us in Cochabamba, and then we're all going to Peru to visit Machu Picchu, which we are so excited about!

Busy Bee in the Bathroom

2009-09-24T09:04:00.007-04:00

So I'm probably the only person who thinks this is super-cute, but whatever. Jude loves playing in the guest bathroom, and I mean LOVES it! It's nice, because I can have coffee and check email in the morning, and he just goes to town in there. It's the same every day...
He carefully climbs in (to Mom's incessant "Caaaaaareful" as there are lots of sharp corners)

He closes the sliding doors until he is "locked" inside...

...gleefully acknowledges his new position...

and happily screeches as though in a soundproof booth:)

At risk of sounding TOO corny, my heart just overflows when I look at him sometimes, and I know it always will. Jude, sweet baby, honey bunny....I love being your mom:)

Time Warp

2009-09-19T21:31:00.008-04:00

Spring has sprung in Cochabamba and its so confusing! September is supposed to be about football and that first nip in the air, not about blooming flowers! Ted and I have each received our spring "gifts" early this year...his allergies, and my first migraine here:( Cochabamba is nicknamed La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera--the City of Eternal Spring--(which was a little scary since that's my migraine season!) but temps stay mostly the same during the day here. The nights have started warming up considerably though. It really is beautiful though, and a treat to experience twice in one year:)

Football season looks a little different this year too. No more tailgating, jerseys, and (oh! clutching our hearts) Colts games in the new stadium. No sir. This year, we gather 'round a laptop and pray the NFL Ticket/NFL Pass we're sharing doesn't malfunction (as it did during the 4th quarter of the first game) and leave us blinking at a blank screen! It's actually nice though, that after 6 days of immersion of Spanish and Bolivian culture, to have that American activity to relax in. We've been watching with our friends Matt and Elsa (Bears fans, yikes) and Jude does a good job of being ignored, toddling around their house taking important phone calls. Personally, I think he's taking bets when he disappears around the corner on the phone, but he's learning to cheer on the correct team at (mostly) the appropriate moment, and its just adorable:)
Even with silly stuff like football, I've noticed God pointing to a lot of my blessings lately, and clearly telling me "Look at that! Enjoy that! Notice that!" Whether its Jude blowing me a kiss, the purple flowers outside my window, or the fact that Ted gets to be home for lunch, or avocados the size of my head, or the miracle that a taxi driver gets me anywhere with my broken spanish...these are not my rights. A lot of the time, I'm too distracted to notice, or think I've earned or deserve them, or focus on what's not mine or what's not right, and meanwhile God is waving his arms and shouting "Look right there, crazy girl!" So I'm trying to notice. It's a process for sure, and an every other day thing for me, at best.
"Earth's crammed with Heaven
And every common bush afire with God.
But only he who sees takes off his shoes.
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries."
-Elizabeth Barrett Browining

I'm sorry but...

2009-09-06T19:48:00.024-04:00

...I have the cutest kid on earth. I know this is probably hard for some of you parents to hear, but its true:) And he's absolutely addicted to a Jack Johnson/Curious George video online that he watches oh...15 times a day!

Things have returned to normal for the most part here in Cochabamba. We went to the orphanage in Frutillar last weekend to take some of the kids to play soccer. We encountered a herd of cows and bulls on the walk to the soccer field (because why WOULDN'T we??) and one of the sheep we brought along got a little too close and was kicked 3 feet into the air by a bull (it recovered quickly). Other than that things went fine and it was a good afternoon. The girls are fascinated with Jude and love playing with him:) At one point, Ted asked me how to say "team" in spanish and I told him I thought it was "tema." He ran around yelling for the kids to switch up and create new teams, and we later discovered when we looked it up that tema means theme...hence the bewildered looks he received. Things stick in our memories better when there's an awkward story surrounding it, which seems to be the way we're learning Spanish: through humiliation. Yesterday, Ted was talking about what he thought was a half-brother, but he was saying "half man" instead. That sort of thing.

Saturday we went back to Frutillar and set up a projector and watched Kung Fu Panda with the kids, and yesterday we were pleasantly surprised to discover a new holiday: Dia del Peaton (Pedestrian Day). No cars are allowed on the streets in the city and everyone could wander in the streets with their strollers and skateboards and big wheels and whatever they wanted. Even though Jude was in his stroller most of the time, it was SO much nicer pushing him in the streets, especially when sidewalks look like this:

We walked to our friend/landlord Ana's house downtown and had lunch with her family on the roof of their building. It was great meeting the rest of her family and Jude hit it off with her younger nephews. Cochabambinos are so warm and welcoming, and this shines through so much in their food and hospitality. Ana is moving to La Paz in January, so we have to soak up as much time as possible with her before she leaves. We'll still see her at least once a month after that, but not for leisurely lunches like today:( The walk home was great! This picture of me strolling Jude doesnt look too exciting, but it is to us! This is one of the busiest intersections we walk through on a daily basis. It's right by our house, and traffic is bad here and we basically risk life and limb to cross the streets when stoplights are just a suggestion and motorcycles do their own thing most of the time. So, it was a big deal to stroll across the street right there:) If you blow up the picture you can see a little row of blue shacks in the median up ahead of us. That's "Las Islas" and its a really popular area every night. Around 6pm they all open up and grill all kinds of food, and that whole area is clogged with people until late at night. We're lucky to live right across the street from it, and normally eat "on the street" there (the infamous cow heart kabobs) about once a week when I dont feel like cooking. It's delicious, but makes the dog problem in our area pretty awful...Ted and I have woken up several times a night this week by howling dogs outside our building (hungry? bored? full moon? no idea). We've been sleeping with a mound of oranges on my nightstand to throw in their general direction when it gets bad (please don't call PETA, I said "general direction!"). I actually woke up on the living room floor on Saturday morning...the howling was so bad that Ted got me up and led me to a makeshift bed he made for us using the guest room matress, a little further from the noise. Jude sleeps right through it. It seems to be calming down though, and Ted must agree because I noticed he made a smaller pot of coffee this morning:)

And here's Jude after the stroll home, asleep and clutching his beloved fly swatter. They're his favorite toys right now, and instead of using old ones, we've been buying new ones for him to play with. This particular one is his "travel swatter" as it came with a larger green version that's more appropriate for home use.

He's 15 months old now and so much fun. He teeters around the house with his swatter, giggling and making us laugh:) I haven't seen him crawl in a while so I think the walking is here to stay. He's gone cold-turkey off the "baba" and drinks his milk from his sippy now, and has taken a much greater interest in his books lately. He loves fish so we bought him two at the Saturday market which now live in our kitchen (please don't die!) and we point at family pictures around the house and say names every day. He especially loves looking at Memaw:) He doesn't really throw tantrums, but when he doesnt get his way, he instead looks genuinely hurt and puts his head in his hands and cries quietly, and a kiss usually solves the conflict, bless his heart! When I put him down for a nap this morning, I caught myself walking away from his bedroom half-smiling and shaking my head...I just love that boy so much. God gave us a good one:)

He keeps getting hurt, though. This newfound walking equals newfound face-battering. Last week he fell at the orphanage and busted his lip, and you can see in the same picture a healing cut over his eye where he got caught between a chair and the wall and fell. On Pedestrian Day, we decided to let him be a pedestrian, and he tripped on the street and landed on his face, as seen in Exhibit B. I suppose he is a toddler, and he is a boy, and I'll just have to get used to the bumps and bruises, right?

Longest Post Ever (go grab a snack!)

2009-08-28T09:55:00.024-04:00

So instead of ignoring a lot of the pictures we took in the beginning of the month before we left for the States, I decided to just make a gigantic August post of everything. I'll start out with just some random pictures from around the apartment and Cochabamba. We were here for Seis de Augusto, which is Bolivia's independence day and a big deal around here. There were tons of parades and festivals and everything shut down to celebrate. We were brave and packed Jude into the stroller (the sidewalks are rough here) and walked downtown to check things out. We had lunch and coffee and Jude had a great time. I think he amused a lot of the Bolivians by waving his flag wildly, snacks and sunglasses in tow. We also took a few pictures on a walk one evening down from the orphanage. It's on a hill and the walk down is just gorgeous. August is known as the windy month here, and man is it windy! There have been a few times we've had to duck into stores to get out of the crazy dust storms...Jude's had to resort to carrying rocks in his pockets ;) Kidding. We took him to buy a remote control car a few weeks ago and one such wind "storm" erupted, then it got really dark and cloudy but never actually rained, and when I looked out the window there was a rainbow! Here are more pictures from the first week of August...

Fast forward to our trip home. Despite going home for Gram's funeral, we had a nice time visiting with family and friends. That barfing episode of Jude's the night before we left wasn't "nothing" like I had originally dismissed it as...it was a nightmare of a virus that spread to me, and subsequently to lots of people we saw:( Let's just say I spent a lot of time in the bathroom for various reasons...it started on the plane. Jude had diarrhea on my lap 4 times on the international flight and prissed into customs in Miami wearing a pooped-on shirt and a towel toga. After the virus passed (or at least, after it moved along to terrorize our friends!) things started looking up. We took Jude to his pediatrician at home and he is free and clear of parasites, so the antibiotics worked:) We spent time going through Grammy's apartment and moving her things into storage, and tying up some loose ends. Both her funeral and memorial service were beautiful, and we sure will miss her. She left a great legacy for her family though, and will always have the utmost admiration and love from so many.
Jude got to have some serious play time with his cousins and his "guy friends" Thomas and Creighton. It was nice to watch them play together now that they toddle around, since I've often wished I could see that since they all started walking:)

I got to have lunch with my friend Emmalee one afternoon while Jude went along to Traders Point Creamery and hang out with the cows! Emmalee got married Aug. 8 and she asked me to be a bridesmaid, which unfortunately I wasn't able to do once we moved to Bolivia. I was so glad she was back from her honeymoon so we could get together and catch up properly. Skype just isn't the same sometimes:(

He also got to play with his cousins, which is really important to Ted and I. They're all so close in age--on both sides of the family--and I really treasure the fact they will grow up alongside each other and hopefully remain close forever. It's too bad he missed meeting his newest cousin, Jace, who was born on Wednesday! Congrats to the Orbison family, we can't wait to see his sweet face (but I guess we'll have to). Below are pictures of Jude with Annabel (*happy 2nd birthday!!*) and Cadalyn, zoned out in front of a movie, playing at the park, and goofing around:)

After Indy, we went back to Nashville for a couple days to see MY fam for a bit. We ran a few errands downtown for our neverending visa issues (we needed extra birth/marriage certificate copies) and then spent the rest of the day grilling out and relaxing by the pool. (Sadly, this was only the second time we'd been to a pool all summer, and the first was the same pool right before we moved!) I guess we'll make it up during Cochabamba summer. Ted had some guy time with my dad and brother-in-law and Memaw watched Jude one night so I could have coffee with Blair.

We flew to Miami first. We learned last time that traveling with a little one requires extra days, because they just can't handle the long travel time without breaking it up a little. It was a good decision. Blair hooked us up in a Marriott and we rented a car for the day, and spent the day at South Beach. It was so hot and humid it felt like we were standing behind a car exhaust all day, so we hit the beach. Jude is not a big bathtub player so I wondered if he would be excited about the ocean, and he went nuts! He LOVED the sand, LOVED the ocean, and LOVED looking at all the people! He kept scuttling like a crab toward the water and we'd have to swoop him up, but he seriously had a ball. I have more cute pictures, but South Beach has some pretty lax rules about swimming attire, and there are some rather inappropriate images in the background of a few of them! We had lunch on Ocean Dr. and took a long walk, then found an Emeril's restaurant and picked up banana cream pie to go, changed and ate in the car, and took an all-night flight to Bolivia. Not fun traveling 14 hours with sand in your undies!

It was a whirlwind trip to say the least, but we're glad we went. I got a few American "fixes" I was missing--some sports, some food, but mostly faces. We wrung (is that the correct word?) every drop of energy and time we had out, and absolutely crashed as soon as we got back to our apartment. Jude makes things interesting...nothing is easy with a tiny person along...there were probably 3 nights Jude got less than 6 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, hours spent chasing him around airports, meals concocted from gas station food, body fluids being cleaned in cars and planes, hosing off sandy toddler feet in Starbucks bathrooms....yeesh! And we want more kids, go figure:) We LOVED seeing you all and for those we missed, we are sorry! It feels good to be back in Cochabamba though, and back to life as usual. Jude slept like an angel last night and happily screeched around the apartment today, discovering new nooks and crannies he can explore with his newfound walking ability:)
Thanks for all the prayers, hugs, and hospitality the past few weeks.

Grammy

2009-08-11T10:27:00.003-04:00

We are very sad to say that Ted's grandmother passed away yesterday in Indianapolis. She hadn't been well for a few months now, so even though we're sad to lose her here, we know she's in a place where everything is made new and whole again. That sounds really cliche, but its true. It's been a tough few weeks around our house, as we've felt pretty helpless from where we are during times of loss for our families. So, we're going home for 2 weeks. We leave this afternoon. Prayers would be appreciated as we travel...it looks like we've got 7 flights coming up at all hours of the day/night, with a boy who demands to practice toddling at all times:) Also with a boy who vomited all over the house last night. (not really sure what that was about, but he seems happy today so we're ignoring it...)
Despite the circumstances, we are looking forward to seeing a lot of your sweet faces. I'm off to pack lots of snacks, toys, and books so Jude can practice reading upside down some more. Lots of love.

Jude's Mosey

2009-08-06T19:51:00.003-04:00

We got Jude Hammy walking on video:) His confidence gets a little stronger every day:) What a big boy! I smile every time I watch those little shaky toddler steps. Enjoy!

Look Out, Cochabamba!

2009-07-30T17:48:00.002-04:00

Our sweet boy took his first steps today! We were walking downtown this afternoon, walking Jude in between us, and he took off by himself!! Straight toward traffic so Ted had to stop him, but he got in a good 5 or 6 steps Frankenstein-style:) He did it once more, then prompty squatted down and cried. Just wanted everyone to know!

Lots of love,

One proud Mama and Dada

Initiation

2009-07-29T21:59:00.006-04:00

I'm sleepy so I'll keep this short and sweet! We had a great weekend, first of all. Friday night we went to a churrascaria, which is like Fogo de Chao for those of you lucky enough to have eaten there in the states! I'm a big fan of the Brazilian steakhouse concept with a big salad bar and meat that floats by your table...although there was definitely some different kinds of meat here. We tried buffalo but it wasn't my fave. Saturday we hung out with our landlords Ana and her husband Jose, plus their two boys. Ana studied English in school and knows a good amount, which has been SO helpful when we're dealing with stuff around the apartment like when our internet broke (there's definitely no "Press 2 for English" around here). They're becoming good friends in addition to landlords, and we all went to the Plaza Principal to feed the birds, then to a huge park downtown and out to dinner. We were joking that when we're together, we all kind of speak Spanglish to each other:) Sunday morning we woke up to the first overcast day I've seen in Cbba, and there were low clouds hanging over the tops of the mountains. When they finally moved away, all the peaks were covered in snow. It was gorgeous. I keep forgetting its winter!

Ted got up at 4:30am on Monday to drive with Mike out to Chapare, which is the jungle about 4 hours away. IOU built a new orphanage out there that's just recently been finished but doesn't have kids living there yet, and some paperwork still needs to be done on it. Most things in Bolivia take longer than expected and involve more effort than you think, so the paperwork STILL didn't get finished and Mike and Ted anticipate more trips out there before its done. Ted got some good pictures though, and said its crazy how the "brown-ness" of Cochabamba just immediately stops and everything becomes green and dense when you enter that region. It's beautiful, and coincidentally where most of the country's coca is grown.

This woman actually was the landowner who gave Mike a portion of the land to build the orphanage on, and she came along on the trip. She brought this tasty "snack" for the ride...Ted choked down most of this huge bean pod thing because he said they looked so happy to give it to him. You split it open, throw out the black seeds, and eat the white stuff that he said tasted like wet cotton. Mmmmmm! Personally, I prefer Taco Bell drive-thrus on road trips, but I guess when in the jungle...

This afternoon was a bit of a fiasco. We met with a lawyer to extend our visas because we only came here with visas good for 30 days. When the lawyer was checking our documents, the stamp was missing from when we entered Bolivia. Apparently the official forgot to stamp us when we were talking. After flipping through every page of our passports with no luck, we went to the consulate's office, where we were told we'd all have to pay 280 B's each to get the stamp so we'd be here legally. So we get to pay for their mistake...grrrrr. We went directly from that ugly episode to a clinic where we discovered that Jude has parasites. He's had diarrhea for almost 6 weeks now (sorry if that's TMI) and we had him tested 3 times and taken to the pediatrician once. Everything kept coming back negative, so I decided he had everything from Celiac to lactose intolerance...poor kid's been drinking soy milk the past few days! We finally had him tested for three different kinds of parasites and he has giardia. Google it if you're interested, but basically he got it through contaminated food or water. Great job, Mom! I do feel guilty, but he's on antibiotics every 8 hours now and seems to be happy and oblivious to the YUCK inside his little body! I'm just glad we figured it out. The hard part of the test is that you have to get the contents of his diaper to the clinic within 30 minutes of when it happened, so when you see him "working on a dirty diaper," you have to immediately yank it off, drop what you're doing, and dash to a taxi. It would be funny if it werent so awful!
OK that was longer than I said it would be. Despite all the complaining (sorry), we are fine and these are just things things that go along with the territory, and we get that. Prayers for our visa issues and our health would be appreciated, but even as I write this I know those are already happening.
"If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

Mountains and Valleys

2009-07-22T13:54:00.014-04:00

Where to begin? The past week or two have been really full of both very great things and very not-so-great things. The weekend before last, we had a chance to visit Incan ruins here in Bolivia, high up in the mountains. (sorry for those of you who already saw the pics on Facebook). We stopped in a little town called Sipe Sipe first to do a "bread run," so to speak. Mike (our team partner here) had considered Sipe Sipe as a potential site for a new orphanage (it didn't pan out) but in the process he became familiar with the people there and began making trips where he brougt along bread and fruit to hand out to the people who needed it. We were driving through to get to the Incan ruins, so we picked up some food to pass out on our way. It was mostly kids who would run out to greet us, and it was a cool pitstop to participate in. It takes a long time to drive all the way to the ruins and Ted was joking I'd be dehydrated at the top...not from altitude but all the fluid I was losing out of my palms! (I'm a little afraid of heights). The terror was worth it though, because as you can see the view was spectacular. I've always loved the mountains because I feel like they put me in my place--God is huge and His creation has a way of dwarfing my "big" problems or concerns. It was so quiet up there except for the wind, away from the noise. He says, "Be still and know that I am God." So I was still. And He was God. And it was really nice. Mike brought bikes along and Ted rode down ahead of the truck:)

A group from New Hampshire came to Cochabamba for a week on a short-term mission trip to help out. It was really great having conversations in English! They were delayed on several of their flights and spent way too much time in La Paz, so they all came in a little green and with some nice fainting/vomiting stories, but recovered fast and were the biggest help ever. I posted a few pictures we stole from Mike's camera, since I seem to have forgotten mine almost every day, plus Ted was able to be with the group more than me because of Jude Hammy's naps. Here's most of us out to eat:

Below is a picture from when the group visited a carpentry place. The guy who runs it, Nate, moved to Cochabamba and started building bunk beds and cribs for orphanages, for free. He's built them for our orphanages, as well as state run ones also. The coolest part is that he employs the "glue sniffers." It's really sad--lots of young boys (like twelve to sixteen year olds) who don't have families all sit at certain corners on the street and wash car windows all day, literally sitting down and sniffing glue in between cars. So for those who want it, they can go learn a trade and make some money, and hopefully pick up some guidance for their lives along the way. His website is FollowingTheMasterCarpenter.com if you're interested. The group from New Hampshire brought tons of nice DeWalt tools to donate to him:)

Here are a few more pictures from the week, including a day where they physically plowed a field behind an orphanage so they could grow corn to sell and eat (you thought YOU had a hard day at work!), a trip to visit a family in the "campo" or country near a future orphanage site that needed encouragement and had lots of handmade items they wanted to sell, and finally the last day where they said goodbye to the kids at the orphanage:( (Note the sheep solemnly looking on as hugs were exchanged)

The last night before they left, everyone came over to our place. Mike and Bonnie have a connection to a band here, a really good band actually that has 7 CD's and tours all over South America for concerts. They set up on the roof of our apartment building and played a concert for us, which was really fun! It was a beautiful night and a great way to end their trip, with good food and friends. I looked over at Jude at one point--hours past his bedtime, on a rooftop overlooking Cochabamba, giddily clapping, Nutella smeared all over his face listening to a Bolivian boy band sensation--and decided that he can blame me for a lot of things when he gets older, but he can't accuse me of not exposing him to different things;) We bought a CD afterwards and were delighted to discover their instrumental rendition of "Hey Jude" complete with some sort of Bolivian flute-type things...you can find little pieces of home just about anywhere:) Here's a picture of us with Mike and Bonnie on the roof.

And finally, the not-so-good news. My wonderful Grandma passed away on Sunday. Her funeral was this afternoon and I couldn't be there. If you follow the blog you know how quickly she got sick and how hard this has been on the Hensley family for the past several months. We were able to visit her in Alabama before we moved here and I feel better knowing I got to sneak in one last kiss then. I'm sure going to miss her. I know Ted and I are where we're supposed to be, but it sure makes it tough to be here at times like this. Homesickness kind of set in this week...although I am VERY lucky to have a great husband to wipe away my tears and a beautiful boy to make me smile with his silly little self:) Thanks to all of you who care about our family so much and who have already encouraged us. My dad spoke at her funeral today and we talked about the eulogy last night. He's using his favorite quote in his speech and I think its so appropriate and true...something like "when I reach the end of my days, I'll consider my life wasted unless I can recall these 3 things: a loving family, an investment in the lives of others, and an honest attempt to serve the God who made me." I agree, and I think my grandma's life was a reflection of those values. I know its only goodbye for now, and I'll always be proud to be her granddaughter.
Thanks for letting me rattle on:) I hope everyone has a good week/weekend.