A Day Late

This time I completely missed it. I intended to take a 6 month picture of Micah, but ...... I finally did get around to taking a few pictures of him on the first day of his 7th month. Hard to believe that he is already that old, but haven't I said that with each of the boys. He has started crawling already and for the last few days has come to find me if I stay away for too long. Very Sweet!

Josiah's 5th Birthday

Birthday's at our house always start
with chocolate chip pancakes! The night
before : "Mommy I want you to stand outside
my door in the morning and when I come out
you can say 'Happy Birthday'!" The day after:
"Daddy can you say 'Happy Birthday'
to me again?"

For some reason I decided to make
cupcakes instead of a cake. I thought that
it was fine until Josiah told me (later) that he
was upset with me because I didn't make him
a cake for his birthday. Apparently it is not the same.

Our Island Adventure

I took this picture of Josiah right
before he got his head stuck in the bars!

This past weekend we had to make a fast exit to another country in order to legally stay here. While the thought of making a quick trip with the four boys brought some reservations we were a little excited. The boys were excited about the boat ride and their parents were excited about getting a few food items that we cannot find here. We were headed for a two day island vacation - sounds great. NOW, as you might well imagine our travels included a few bumps!

We left our apartment bright and early Saturday morning in order to board our 8:55 flight. On our way to the airport I realized that we had forgotten our stroller ( a necessity when travelling with four kids). Soon after checking in we realized that that our flight would be delayed 20 minutes - no biggie. We met up with some friends, ate lunch, played at a park, borrowed a stroller, and headed out to the dock in order to catch our 6pm boat. It had already been a long day with no naps and we were all a little worn. Anyway, we boarded the boat and the boys were excited. That excitment lasted for about 15 minutes because soon the boat was being tossed around by the waves. How bad was it - lets just say that I had opportunity to talk to Caleb about the time the disciples feared for their lives while Jesus was asleep! While I'm sure that it wasn't exactly the same we all felt pretty terrible. We were told before we boarded the boat that if the wind got any worse we would not be able to leave the island the next day as planned. We got off the boat and wandered into the small port town, with no lit streets and no idea where we were headed. Honestly, I felt like something out of a movie as we wandered around with our luggage and four boys trying to find a place to stay. By this time we were exhausted and we just wanted a place to sleep so we decided on a hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed. The shutters in our room clattered all night and each time I woke up I was doubtful that the boat would take us back as scheduled. The next morning we decided to explore the island, starting with the restaurant with the 'french toast' promise we saw the night before. Suffice to say they did not have french toast. We got over it (except for Josiah) and the boys were excited to explore the castle ruins and to play at the park. As we roamed around we saw a grocery store - an opportunity to pick up a few special treats, right? Well we soon learned that most businesses on the island were closed on Sunday - no special treats. After calling the boat company we were told the the boat was still leaving and we roamed some more (another day with no naps) before heading to the dock at 3:45. Soon after we arrived we realized that we had forgotten the borrowed stroller at the hotel and Ted walked all the way back to get it once we were told the departure was delayed until 5:30. Well, you guessed it, at 5:45 we were told to come back in the morning because it was too windy. We decided to stay in a different hotel in order to get a good night sleep. After rebooking our airline flights and eating pizza we headed to bed. Well, so much for the good night sleep - Lucas threw up all through the night but seemed mostly fine by morning. We made it back to the dock, had an uneventful trip back, and were greeted by a friend who would give us a ride to the airport. We stopped for lunch, laughed about all the mishaps and headed to the airport. We were about five minutes from the airport when Lucas' lunch came back all over himself, Ted, and the car. We made a pit stop at a gas station, promised to pay for the car cleaning, checked our luggage (minus the goodies) and headed home. Half way through our trip Ted and I lost it when I accidentally dumped water into my chair. We both had a good laugh about it - I mean, really, how could all of this happened on the same trip?! Oh, but it is not over! About an hour before we landed I noticed that Caleb had a fever (and his voice had sounded funny since we left) and the lymph glands in his throat were swollen. SO, as soon as we arrived home Ted called the doctor and took Caleb in. Caleb had a really bad throat and tonsil infection. I'll stop my story there. I know that it has already been really long. I will say that one good thing that came from this trip was that we all just wanted to go home. More than once Caleb told me that he wanted to go home - not to a home that we had in the states but to our home here. We have come to a place where this apartment, this city is what we think of when we think of home - that is a good thing.

Fidget on the Move

Of all the boys Micah was the most active while I was pregnant. He moved ALL the time. I remember telling my mother about it and she mentioned that I moved a lot as well, but that as soon as I was born I stopped - I'm not totally sure how to take that! Anyway, I thought that maybe Micah would do the same, maybe he would be my calm and quiet son - I've seen other mom's with sons like that. Don't get me wrong, I love having boys but every once in a while I wish they would sit down. Well, it wasn't long after we brought Micah home that I nicknamed him 'fidget' - it seems like he only stops moving when he is asleep. He is a sweet baby but even when I try to hold him close he just tries to jump in my lap. A few weeks ago I began laying a small rug down on our tile floors so that Micah could play. Now he is close to crawling! For some crawling at 6 months may be normal, but not for our boys. They usually crawl between 9 and 10 months. The small rug was enough for him a few weeks but now he rarely stays on it. It is a good thing that the weather is starting to drop (supposed to be in the upper 70's tomorrow) because we are going to need to lay our rugs down to keep him from hurting himself. If this is a preview of things to come I don't think that he is going to be all that calm and quiet. I have reminded myself many times over the last few years that I need to enjoy this season (with all the jumping, and the running, and the noise, and the talking- didn't think boys talked that much) because there will come a day when I will have to make them get up in the morning and when I will wish they talked more.

Quiet (and not so quiet) Strength

This was the first official day of national school for the boys. After I dropped them off at their schools (they are attending different ones this year) I began to think about how strong and brave our boys are. Both of the boys were excited to start school today and I took comfort in that. Even though they cannot speak fluently or understand everything being said, they were still excited. I took Caleb to school first and as we stood there with hundreds of other kids and their parents Caleb was unusually quiet. He just stood there watching and listening. After a while I walked up to him in line and told him that I needed to leave. "Okay Mom" he said and as he turned his head I saw one small tear fall. Ouch!
Josiah was next. I took him to the same school he went to last year so there was at least some familiarity for him. As we walked up to his new teacher/class he began to cry. Wait a second, he was so excited 5 minutes ago. I realized that in his mind he thought that he would have the same teacher and that the another English speaking child would be in his class. I talked to him for a few minutes and he stopped crying, put on his 'inside shoes' and walked into his new class.
Our boys are brave. They did something today that would make most people feel scared and uncomfortable.
As a side note both of the boys came home today and had nothing but good things to say about how the day went.

Evidence of Growth

About a month ago I noticed that Caleb had two teeth popping up behind his baby teeth. One tooth was a little loose and with help it fell out - Caleb and Daddy spent a lot of time on that. We have waited for the other one to get loose but it won't budge. So, as I write this Caleb is at the dentist getting his second tooth pulled. Now I know that Caleb is not going away to college any time soon but times like these help me realize just how fast the time is passing. It's times like these when I realize there is no going back, no do-over's, I only get to experience their childhood years one time. These are good reminders on the days when I am weary of cleaning up spills, disciplining, helping them work through a sibling dispute, and stepping on legos. Ironically sometimes I wish they were older so that I would have time to scrapbook about the things they did when they were small. Somehow losing a tooth reminds me that there will come a day when I will long for the noise and the mess and the busyness that these four little guys bring to our home.

Something Familiar

After living overseas for a little over a year I have become accustomed to life here. I am used to the sound of drums whenever there is a wedding close by, or the honking when there is either a wedding or a big soccer game. I am familiar with the grocery store and it no longer takes me 3 hours to get in and out. I am accustomed to having access to a fresh produce stand within minutes from my apartment. I am used to hearing English rap music when I walk into the store - though I may be the only one there who understands it. For as much as I have become accustomed to life here there are, honestly, things that I miss. I miss having a variety of cereal to choose from and easy lunch options for the boys. I miss the ease of being able to go the grocery store at any hour that was convenient for me - very early or pretty late. Oh how I miss one-stop-shopping and finding a bargain! I miss driving and knowing that the lines in the road mean something. Honestly, in the summer time, I miss the common practice of wearing deodorant! I realize these things are not that important in the grand scheme of things. I can laugh about them most of the time. What I really miss, of course, are friends and family. I miss being apart of their 'day to day' lives and them being a part of mine. A few weeks ago my mother sent me a coffee mug that she said reminded her of me. The funny thing is that when I opened it I thought 'this cup is so me'. Soon after I received the mug I also discovered a new coffee drink that reminds me of my mother because it tastes like coffee ice cream. About every other day I mix this drink into my mug - it reminds me of my mother. Sometimes I need that.