Always Somewhere

What's New With Nadia....

2012-01-30T07:34:00.001-06:00

We got these on Saturday, these cute little girlie braces. Her stance is already narrower as she's been getting used to
them.

And, She's Up!

2012-01-24T21:47:00.001-06:00

Forgive the angle in the video below, but Nadia wouldn't "perform" if I had the phone in my hands to record her newest trick.

YouTube Video

And here's an update on our sweet girl:

If you recall, Nadia had an X-ray of her back that showed the very slightest curvature in the lower section (lumbar region). She was scheduled to have an MRI February 2 to check some things in her head. Since she would already be sedated for that MRI, we asked the doctor if it would be wise to go ahead and check that lumbar region now rather than taking the chance that we might have to repeat the procedure. The doctor agreed this was a good idea, so Nadia's MRI was moved to February 21 and will include her head and lumbar region.

Thank you for your prayers for our precious bundle of energy. We are certainly encouraged by her progress and trust that in time God will "catch her up" so to speak.

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Coming Soon...

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Or not really, but you can use your imagination....

This was Thomas' birthday present to me. Pretty fun, huh?

Another Video

2012-01-19T14:21:00.000-06:00

I just can't help myself. Her expressions are too cute to keep to myself; I don't want to be selfish...

Watch out, world, here she comes

2012-01-18T07:11:00.001-06:00

Nadia might be a slow starter, but the world will never be the same now! Soon I might not need to go the track to get all my running done.

YouTube Video

It's not the 5 steps I mentioned on Facebook, but those really did happen, I promise!

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Post-Supper Fun With Daddy

2012-01-17T14:57:00.001-06:00

What you see isn't the only good part...

YouTube Video

Did you hear that great Isaiah-laugh? Love it.

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Location:McDonald Dr,Clinton,United States

Update on Nadia

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted about Nadia here recently, other than the video to show how active she is even when she goes "night night".

She's due an update, and today is a really good day to give one.

First the big news: Everything is really fine. Before Christmas Nadia started physical therapy because at 18 months, she still wasn't walking. Isaiah's pt was kind enough to do an evaluation, which produced some strange results, so she referred us to a neurologist. The neurologist recognized our last name, and squeezed Nadia into her very full schedule.

Here's the summary of what the doctor told us:

Doctor, is there anything degenerative? "No, no, no, triple no!" Very comforting to our ears, of course. The theory is that due to her premature birth, Nadia has had low tone in the past, which delayed her progress, and which is now improving. We are checking out other causes, just in case. So after seeing the doctor, Nadia got to have blood drawn, a real joy. She also had an X-ray of her spine, just to make sure there were no deformities.

The blood work showed slightly elevated muscle enzymes, which the nurse told me were not high enough to be cause for concern, but they would probably check them again the next time she comes in. The X-ray of her spine showed a slight side curve near the very bottom, but so slight that it could be explained by the fact that Nadia wasn't lying still or straight on the table. It took me and another tech to try to keep our little lady still - though thankfully she didn't cry during X-ray. Again, that's something that can be checked at another visit.

We have an MRI scheduled for February 2, but if Nadia progresses satisfactorily before that time, we will cancel the MRI. They are just stinkin' hard* to schedule, so we'd rather have it on the books in case we need it. The MRI will look at brain development, naturally, looking specifically at myelin growth and her cerebellum. Since Nadia seems to have balance issues, the doctor mentioned the cerebellum.

So what do we do now? We continue physical therapy and pray for her to start walking sooner rather than later!

Now here's some fun pictures of our very active, very funny, very hungry, very active, fun-loving, friendly, energetic, very active, banana-loving little girl. Did I mention that she's very active?

I didn't know a child could love bananas this much.

One of our out-takes from Thanksgiving, taking family pictures has become quite a challenge!

Nadia was very proud of the cherry pie she made. Oh, and one shoe on, one shoe off, is quite a common look for our fashionista.

I love to try to get pictures of my 2 kids together, but again, any picture with Nadia being still is not a guarantee!

Getting read for Christmas!

This girl has a healthy appetite! She loved these apple turnovers, in case you were curious.

And she's fascinated with chairs. She will push a chair to where I am so I can help her sit in it.

This is one of her favorite spots--by the window to watch the trains and play with the "busy block".

I just love this look

First time to make Christmas cookies

Everybody needs a messy pasta picture at some point in their life.

Enjoying the swing at Grandma and Grandaddy's over Christmas

She loves accessories, this little girl of ours

Christmas Day, getting ready for church, she had to have her hat.

Nadia, you will definitely keep me young with all your fun, energetic antics over the coming years. I love you, and I love how much you love your family. You are so much fun! I can't imagine life without you!

*That's for you, Aunt Vanessa :)

Not A Prophecy Expert

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

Through Isaiah God prophesied many things. He prophesied the coming of the Messiah, Whose birth we recently celebrated. He prophesied judgment on sinful nations. He prophesied the sacrifice of Messiah for His people.

Sandwiched almost in the middle of the book is a prophecy about the future of Zion:

The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely and rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, but He will save you." Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, its resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; these will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 35

I'm not here to talk about the direct fulfillment of this prophecy. I'm just thankful that this is the kind of God Who sent His Son for me. And I'm thankful in my feebleness that He shows us His glory and majesty.

And I long for the day when the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap and the mute will shout. Be glorified, Father!

For Nothing, In Everything

2012-01-13T08:05:00.000-06:00

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Philippians 4:6

Despite my difficulty in remembering the reference to this verse this morning, I'm guessing that most people who have been to church or Sunday school or read a "religious card" at Hallmark have heard something about this verse before.

Confession: Sometimes I think to myself, Surely this is backwards somehow. I mean, really, don't you sometimes want to be anxious in everything, and thankful for nothing, or am I the only one?

Some friends of mine whom I have come to greatly respect have written about their own anxiety related to having children with special needs. Our three situations are all very different, but as I read their respective blogs, again and again I say, Wow! That's exactly how I feel or That's IT! EXACTLY! I wish I could express myself so well.

Susan writes at Daily Coping Skills about her life as mom and teacher to seven children. Her post about anxiety first got me thinking about writing one of my own. Read her post, here.

My childhood friend, Christen and her husband write about their lives as parents of children with autism at Theology of Autism. Jeremy wrote a post the other day that had me laughing and crying; and you can read it, here.

So, here's my attempt. I'll warn you, it's long, probably not my best writing, but it's from my heart, and it's a start at an attempt to better express myself in an honest but faithful way about what God is doing in my life.

All parents have plenty of reasons to be anxious and weary, even exhausted. I tell myself this fact quite often. I tell myself so that I will try to feel less different, feel more normal, and even be hard on myself for not meeting the expectations I think are appropriate, i.e., They do it why can't I?

But I'm finally starting to admit to myself--yes, all parents work really hard and have their own special burdens, but I am not normal; my child is not normal; and the things that my husband and I have to do for him are not normal. But that's OK.

It's not OK because "it's our normal". It's not OK because we've learned how to cope with strange things. It's not OK because we have AWESOME therapists and doctors (which we do, by the way). And it's not by any means OK because "it could be so much worse."

So, back to the anxiety thing before I say why it's ok.

Paul wrote to the Philippians as they were enduring difficult times. I don't know exactly what was going on in their lives, but I'm almost willing to guarantee you that they would have said, This is not normal, though perhaps in greek or latin. And when things aren't normal, people (yes, I) tend to get anxious. For example, someone accuses you of lying or of being something you are not because they don't understand you--this isn't usually an every day occurrence, I'd imagine, and you would probably feel at least a little anxious for perhaps different reasons.

In my life my child might have a seizure or we might be told another surgery is needed, and I could begin to feel a little anxious. Sometimes I'm doing something for my son that requires my full attention, and my daughter starts to do something she finds particularly entertaining but is actually dangerous, and I feel my anxiety rising. Or people ask those "yet" questions that sometimes put my stomach in knots.

Not normal = increased anxiety

So what did Paul say? Paul didn't belittle or negate the difficulty the Philippians were enduring. He acknowledged their circumstances for what they really were - difficult circumstances. He expressed gratitude for the Philippians and their dedication to the truth (Phil. 1). He called them to unity, to think of others in the body (Phil 2). He gave them his own testimony and all the reasons he could point to his own successes and personal resources for hope (Phil. 3), all the while acknowledging the foolishness of trusting in himself. He said he didn't mind repeating himself. But above all, he pointed the believers to Christ.

He reminded them (me) of what Christ has done - of what He did to make me His own (Phil 3:12). He reminds us of how "not normal" Christ's life was. He encourages us to be like Christ and to find mentors who have this goal as well (Phil 3:17). He reminds us to remember where our true home has been built, that our current body isn't normal (Phil 3:21).

Then he says, "Rejoice." Twice. And then comes the, "don't be anxious..." passage quoted at the beginning of this post. While we're not being anxious we should talk to God and think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, anything excellent and worthy of praise. Live this way, don't just hear it, do it. God will be with you. The God of PEACE. (rough summary of Phil 4:4-9)

Oh, I love that word, peace.

Is life hard? Yes. Am I tired? Yes, all the time. Do I get grumpy and fuss at my children and sometimes wish things were easier, different, or dare I say, normal? (blushing with a touch of shame) Yes. Am I sometimes anxious? Yes.

So what do I want to do instead?

I want to be like Christ and know the peace of God. How in the world will that ever happen? Though by no means exhaustive and in no particular order, here are a few ideas:

~Know the truth. Obviously the truth of God's Word, but also the truth of the life God has given me. It's hard, there's no getting around that fact. Denying that life is hard attempts to exalt my supposed strength and resources and belittles the amazing strength, grace and peace God gives.

~Be in community, striving for unity, looking for ways to minister. Our time isn't always as free and flexible as I would like, but it's amazing what you can do when sitting by your child who's lying in a hospital bed or waiting for him to finish his "flush" 3 days a week. I can't be as involved in our local body as I would like, but I can always pray. The list of prayer needs is endless. Few things increase my love for others and desire for unity as prayer. Prayer forces me to look to Christ. Learning how God answers prayer increases my faith.

~Find a mentor. This is challenging for me and perhaps for all parents with special needs kids because it requires a lot of time. We have several wonderful examples in Scripture to whom we can look, but having a person with whom I can talk and pray and be completely honest without fear of judgment has been a gift from God I greatly treasure.

~Remember. Remember what Christ did to make me His. Remember His grace at the times of need (which have been many). As Paul wrote, Not that I have already obtained this [way to live for Christ] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Phil. 3:12)

Why is everything OK though not normal? It's OK because this is the life that God has given me, and He has made me His own. He gives the grace that brings peace. When I think that I can do things for myself, I get anxious. When I remember the truth of God's Word and Christ's life and sacrifice, then I find that anxiety less powerful, and I pray that I become more like Christ.

And because every post is better with a picture of my adorable children, here's one of my recent favorites:

In Case You Haven't Heard...

2012-01-12T20:38:00.000-06:00

We've had a few changes in our lives, and I'm pretty sure that most of our friends and family have heard the news, but just in case you're interested and you haven't heard the news, here it is:

We're not pregnant, if that's what you're thinking. Here's what it really is:

After many long talks to God and each other and seeking counsel, Thomas and I have decided that we need to have Isaiah in the States more than in Russia in order for him to have the care that he needs. We will continue ministry in Russia, living there during the summer. That's the short of it, but if you want more details, you can keep reading a little bit...

Isaiah receives amazing physical therapy here in MS. We have searched and searched in St. Petersburg, Russia, a city of 5 million people, and we have not been able to find anything close to the therapy that Isaiah gets here. Every time we would be in Russia for more than 3 months, we would see his physical development stagnate and even regress in some areas. His braces would not fit well, his body would start twisting in new directions, his legs would get tighter, etc. I was simply not equipped to take care of those needs without the help of therapists and orthotists and surgeons.

Isaiah and Nadia are our first mission field. God has given them directly to us, and we want to care for them body and soul as we follow the calling that God has given us. God has given us a really good option to meet the physical and developmental needs of our son and still be involved in the ministry in Russia, and we are very excited!

Our mission agency InterAct Ministries offered Thomas some additional responsibilities involving fundraising, recruitment, and videography. I say "additional" because he will continue to be the director of the work for InterAct in Russia. As a family we will be moving to the Portland, OR area for Thomas to be able to work from the home office in Boring, OR (yes, that's right) for 9 months every year. We will then travel to Russia for 3 months during the summer to continue different ministries there.

The move to OR is scheduled for Fall 2012 after our return from Russia this summer.

We are very thankful that we have not had to say "goodbye" to Russia. We still love the country and her people.

This new aspect of our ministry will still require us to raise our support for salary and travel and all that good jazz. Thankfully our current supporters have been, well, supportive, in our decision. We are always looking for other people to partner with us in prayer and in financial giving. If you would like to learn more about how to do that, please visit Hope To Russia, the site that Thomas has been working on to keep all our ministry developments in one place.

And that's why I've changed the blog name, again.

Classic

2011-12-29T21:03:00.001-06:00

Haven't had time to blog. Here's a little taste of what's keeping me from the computer...

Good News!

2011-12-23T07:25:00.003-06:00

Our friend Rebekah Grace looks really happy here, doesn't she?

That's because a couple days ago, she got to go HOME! Thank you for your prayers, friends! Please continue to pray for her as she recovers at home. Please visit her parents' blog to read some specific prayer requests for Rebekah and her family. I'm sorry I'm late in sharing the news: life got away from me the last week or so, but we are so excited for Rebekah!

The Two Girls

2011-12-08T18:07:00.001-06:00

All right, friends, time for updates, praises and urgent prayer.

Karis Almy is going home, perhaps even already home! Thank you so much for your prayers. Let many give thanks! Check out karisalmy.com/blog to read her parents' own words.

Rebekah was scheduled to have surgery next Wednesday, but the hospital called and moved her surgery up to Monday! Rebekah and her mom are driving to Charleston, SC tonight while the rest of the family scrambles to finish up details they thought could be completed in 4-5 days. Read her mom's post at rebekahgraceellis.blogspot.com to get the full details!

Remember God's faithfulness to Karis, and pray boldly and faithfully for Rebekah!

Thank you, friends!

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So That Many Will Give Thanks

2011-12-06T21:24:00.001-06:00

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

II Corinthians 1:11

Paul wrote in the first chapter of II Corinthians about the comfort that he and other people were able to give as a result of enduring difficult times. Something that helped him endure through those difficult times was the prayers lifted up by his fellow believers.

Friends, I have two little girls for whom I would ask you to pray so that many will give thanks.

As I've already asked, please continue to pray for Karis Almy.

We praise God for healing her from the infection of pneumonia, but we continue to ask Him to clear her lungs! She is heavily congested. This congestion needs to clear up before she can be released to go home. Her family is closing day 8 in the hospital.

Our other little friend is Rebekah Grace Ellis.

Rebekah has a congenital heart defect. She is scheduled for surgery December 14. Please go to her parents' blog for the details of this surgery! I would pass them on here, but the point is basically that this surgery will be all day and is crucial for Rebekah's continued growth and development.

The church where I grew up (and where Rebekah's grandparents are now members!) has a prayer chain to cover the entire day of December 14. Thomas and I have 9:15-9:30am. I would be very grateful if any of our blogging friends would please choose a time to pray on that day and leave a comment for me to pass on to Rebekah's mom and dad. Or, go to their blog and tell them yourself!

We have personally experienced the power of prayer as people prayed for us during difficult times. We have most recently seen God work in the life of precious Karis by healing her from pneumonia. Please, please join us in bringing these precious little girls and their families before the Great Physician in prayer.

Run 4 Rehab - Help Yourself and Sweet Kids!

2011-12-01T22:04:00.001-06:00

This year Thomas and I have enjoyed staying in shape by running. It's cheap, relatively easy to fit in the week, and sometimes the kids can even participate thanks to our friends who gave us their jogging stroller.

For quite a while now, we've wanted to combine our enjoyment of running with a fundraising effort to support the Children's Rehabilitation Clinic at Batson Children's Hospital. Isaiah has therapy at this clinic, and we are thankful for the care he has received.

Out of a heart of gratitude for the facilities and most importantly the people that God has provided for our little man, Thomas came up with the idea that has grown into Run 4 Rehab.

The basic idea is this:

If you are a runner or a walker, keep doing what you're doing. From January 1, 2012 - December 15, 2012 record your distances (please use kilometers) in our Daily Mile Challenge. (If the link doesn't work, I'd be happy send you an invite directly from the challenge page.)

The extra step comes in asking people to sponsor you for every kilometer you run from January 1 - December 15. The good part in that extra step, is that while you will hopefully be covering lots of km, your sponsors can pledge for as little as $.01/km. For example, Thomas and I are running as a couple, counting our km together. Say we average 70 km/week and someone sponsors us for $.01/km. Our sponsor would send a check to Children's Rehab for $35 at the end of the year.

After December 15, 2012, we will send your sponsors emails letting them know the total amount that they should send to Children's Rehab at Batson---no money touches our hands!

We are also excited about several corporate sponsors in the Jackson area such as Stinky Feet, Chick-Fil-A and a local Starbucks, with more to come! These sponsors have offered door prizes throughout the year for our runners to encourage them to keep on lacing up their shoes and hitting the track!

So, are you a runner? Sign up and help Isaiah and other kids like him!

Not a runner? That's ok! Sponsor us for as little as $.01/km and you can still help our wonderful little man and his friends at Children's Rehab.

Why are we doing this?

Here's exactly why:

Thanks for your help!

Please Pray, NOW!

2011-11-29T05:54:00.001-06:00

My dear friends, you might remember that I have posted about a sweet little girl named Karis before. She needs your prayers again.

Yesterday she was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.

While pneumonia is not good for anyone, it's even more difficult for Karis.

Please pray for complete healing from this sickness, and from Krabbe while you're at it! God has healed Karis from pneumonia before, and He has kindly increased some of Karis' abilities of late--something that does not happen with Krabbe! We have an AWESOME God!

Please also pray for Karis' mom, dad, and baby sister for strength, patience and faith.

Thank you!

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Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T20:46:00.001-06:00

I have been greatly blessed. Here are two of my blessings:

My 18-month old bundle of energy:

My amazingly strong little man:

YouTube Video

Thank you, Father.

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To The End Of The World

2011-11-15T15:00:00.001-06:00

At last this very day I have finished reading the book of Matthew with the assistance of J.C. Ryle. I highly recommend to you his Expository Thoughts on Matthew, also available in ebooks if you are conserving your shelf space.

I almost didn't read the end of Matthew today because I was thinking, When I feel the way I do right now, I need something comforting and uplifting, not something that focuses on death and pain.

That just goes to show you my need for spiritual growth! What could be more comforting than the proof that Jesus loves me and will always be with me than what I read in the final chapters of Matthew's gospel:

Jesus died my death on the cross.

Jesus called His unfaithful disciples "my brethren".

Jesus rose from the dead, completing redemption, defeating death and satisfying our Holy Father.

Jesus promised to be with His children in all that He has called them to do.

What could be more comforting that all that?

Big Day

2011-10-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

Well, friends, Lord willing this will be my last post from the hospital! That's right, we are scheduled to go home today; which, naturally means we have no idea when that might happen, but it will happen today!

We were thrilled with Isaiah's quick turn around once he was allowed to turn around! After being off his belly and on his side or back and then sitting up, we noticed our fun-loving little man was back!

Thank you for your prayers. Please do continue to pray for us as he continues his at-home recovery over the next 2 weeks. I'll keep you posted, if the kids don't wear me out. :)

He's Back!

2011-10-02T16:15:00.001-05:00

Sitting up in his wheelchair and making his funny faces, this boy is ready to go home TOMORROW!!!!!!

HOTDOG!

2011-10-02T12:29:00.001-05:00

And your prayers are being answered RIGHT NOW as Isaiah eats the hotdog and French fries he requested!

Thank you, Jesus!

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Sunday Morning

2011-10-02T08:13:00.001-05:00

Lots of good news to report this morning!

Isaiah went all night on room oxygen, so we can get rid of that nose cannula!

About 8pm last night we finally got to move Isaiah to his side. His mood has already improved (see post below).

The rounding neurosurgeon came in this morning and gave the ok for Isaiah's foley catheter to be removed so that I can begin our regular cathing again. Another tube can be removed! Now he will be much easier to move. The doctor also said he would write the order for Isaiah to be able to sit up later today. Having the order written ahead of time will be grand; we had to wait a long time last night to finally get him moved to his side.

Here's how you can pray today:

~Isaiah meets all the criteria to move to the 5th floor. This floor is a step up from PICU, so we would love to be considered ready to move on up to the regular post-op floor.

~Continued improvement in Isaiah's mood, appetite and drinking. We would love to get rid of the IV fluids, but Isaiah has to eat and drink more to be able to do that.

But don't forget all the praises above! Please thank God with us for these improvements!

Thanks, friends!

Such A Happy Sight

2011-10-01T21:27:00.001-05:00

We've been waiting for 3 days for this:

So happy to see this smile again. Keep 'em coming Little Man.

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Saturday Morning

2011-10-01T09:09:00.001-05:00

Thomas stayed with Isaiah last night, so I returned to the hospital this morning to find my boy resting very soundly, which is an answer to prayer! The previous two nights he seemed to struggle to get to sleep without medication, and eventually I had to ask the nurse for morphine to help him doze off.

Last night, however, he had a dose of morphine about 8pm, and he hasn't required any more since then! He has continued his regular tylenol throughout the night. We would love to see him be able to be comfortable with just the tylenol as the morphine seems to "dope him up".

Yesterday the neurosurgeon told us that Isaiah will be able to lay on his side this evening when we hit the 72 hour mark post-op. We are hoping that the change of position will lift our little man's spirits a bit.

So here are some praises!

~Isaiah has started to eat a little bit more. Thomas got him to eat some jell-o. Until yesterday he hasn't been interested in eating or drinking anything.

~Only tylenol through the night.

~Some special visitors gave us a glimpse of "our" Isaiah; thank you friends!

~Getting to turn to his side this evening.

~Much needed sleep for Mama. I feel refreshed and better able to take care of Isaiah today. Thank you, Thomas!

Please continue to pray:

~Pain control. With the move this evening to his side, we don't want his pain to increase or get ahead of us.

~Increased appetite.

~Happy spirits. Anyone who knows Isaiah, knows that he is one of the happiest little people you will ever meet. One of the hardest things about this whole process has been seeing him so different from his normal self.

Thank you all again for your prayers and love for our little man! I'll try to post pictures tonight of him in his new position!

When Did This Happen?

2011-09-29T22:03:00.000-05:00

I currently have a 16 month old. No one is more surprised by this then I. Somehow May became September. Moving between countries probably has something to do with my memory failure, but here's what Nadia's been up to since she turned one year old.

Sometime between 13 and 14 months she learned to drink through a straw. She's really proud of this accomplishment, and she has never looked back.

She likes to do whatever brother is doing (hence the drinking with a straw, I think). They were both great helpers during my packing process. I constantly found random treasures in our suitcases.

Photo shoots have become a bit more challenging with my lively little girl.

Thankfully, brother was there to look out for her.

She regularly proved her attachment to Mama. This is how I spent much of my time while packing.

Once back in the States, she enjoyed many firsts, and she kept on growing learning!

She enjoyed her first baseball games, including a game in Atlanta to watch the Braves! She later mastered the tomahawk chop at a Mississippi Braves game. As soon as I put the tomahawk in her hand she would wave it back and forth in perfect Braves form!

She started pulling up before we left Russia, but she has definitely perfected the skill, especially if brother is involved. She wants to walk, but she's not quite confident enough to do it without holding on to someone or something.

I can hardly believe it, but I have a girly girl. She LOVES to have a bow in her hair.

She's also become a poser. This is her preferred "cheese" face.

While she still definitely really likes to be with Mama, I am thankful that she's feeling comfortable enough to go to and play with other people. We all had a blast on Labor Day with friends!

Brother has started his homeschool preschool, and Sister has to be right in on all the fun, too! She wasn't too sure about shaving cream, but thankfully she didn't eat any of it!

She was a big fan of the sandbox as we studied dirt.

Brother is definitely one of her favorite people!

She picked out this dress herself one Sunday.

She may be a girly girl, but she's not quite a lady, yet.

These tippy-toes always amaze me! If she wants to reach something, she will reach it!

She's really good at climbing the stairs these days!

We enjoyed a day at the park recently (more to come on that later), and she had to do whatever Brother was doing.

This was a musical section of toys. Do we have another musician in the family?

My beautiful 16-month-old...

Nadezhda, you are a hilarious, lively, entertaining, delightful little girl. I love you.

Well Watched

2011-09-29T12:52:00.001-05:00

Isaiah with all his favorite "buddies" to make sure he's all right.

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Location:E Woodrow Wilson Ave,Jackson,United States

You Can See It For A Quarter

2011-09-29T07:31:00.000-05:00

One of the surgeons who worked on Isaiah came by doing rounds about 5:30am. Was he up early, or what?!

He removed Isaiah's bandage, so I was able to see his scar for the first time. It looks pretty good. I bet if you give Isaiah a quarter, he might even let you take a peek. ;)

Seriously though, he did fairly well last night even with the regular vitals checks and the flashlight in his eyes from time to time. He did have pain, of course, but he was able to go longer than the 4 hour minimum this morning before getting more pain medicine. The two things that helped him? Listening to Daddy and watching a Duggar.

His throat is still quite irritated, and he's having trouble coughing, probably a combo of the pain in his back and his throat, so the doctor mentioned ordering a breathing treatment for him to ease this situation. The doctor also said that in the next day or two we should have our boy back, though he will still have to be on his tummy.

I'll be happy when I hear his normal voice again and see him playing in his bed!

Here's some specific things for prayer:

~Isaiah needs to be able to get to as normal a diet as possible, so please pray that he will be able to at least start drinking this morning. I'm going to see if I can get some popsicles or something fun like that to tempt him.

~Keep praying for pain control.

~Please pray that his throat will feel better so that he can cough normally and there won't be any build up of "gunk" (nice technical term, huh?) anywhere.

~I'm always amazed at the way that Isaiah stays so sweet in these situations. He always thanks the nurses and doctors for whatever it is they're doing, no matter how unpleasant it might be for him. Please pray that we'll follow Isaiah's lead and be a good testimony to the people we meet during this experience.

~I'm praying boldly that God will bring feeling to Isaiah that he's never had before. This could take months after the surgery to manifest itself, but I know that God can do it. Please pray with me that Isaiah will have an increase in sensation and function in his legs.

Thanks, friends.

Oh, and I haven't posted pictures yet because Isaiah isn't looking his best. Try lying on your face in a donut pillow for 4 hours and see what happens! His face is still a little puffy, but it's getting much better already. When he's a little more himself, I'll let you see the amazing trooper God has given us!

Update on Isaiah

2011-09-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

Isaiah was in the surgical process for about 4 hours. It took them a while to get everything "precisely right" once they took him to the OR, according to the nurse. The neurosurgeon said that the removal of the scar tissue didn't take very long because the original surgery to close his myelomeningocele had been done so well. The spinal cord fell back into place nicely once the scar tissue was removed. I think the longest part of the actual surgery was closing.

So now Isaiah and I are hanging out in his hospital room. Well, actually he's over there in his bed sacked out, snoring away. Thankfully sleeping on his tummy is nothing new!

I'm about to lay down before the next ~~interruption~~ vitals check.

Here's what to pray about:

~Isaiah is in pain. He said so himself, which is a big deal. Please pray for the pain to subside quickly.

~Isaiah's throat is sore from the intubation, which makes it difficult for him to take his medications by mouth. However, everything is ordered by mouth, and I had to get a little pushy with a nurse to at least get his seizure meds to be given by IV. Please pray that his throat will feel better tomorrow.

~He is currently on a nose cannula for oxygen. The theory is that his pain is causing him to kind of hold his breath, and whenever we have to try to give him meds or check his eyes, he gets agitated and his sats drop a little bit. This is a very common thing after such a surgery as Isaiah has had, but the fewer tubes the better, in my opinion! Please pray for easier breathing during the night and tomorrow morning.

~As he starts to feel better, please pray that he will stay on his tummy patiently. The point of this position is allow fluid to build up between the spinal cord and the rest of his back in order to help prevent the cord from tethering again to scar tissue. If he lays on his back or even sits upright, the cord could quickly attach itself to scar tissue again and this surgery would have been for nothing; and nobody wants that!

Thank you again for your prayers, and please keep them coming!

Tomorrow's A Big Day (So Let's Party!)

2011-09-27T21:11:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Isaiah gets to prove what a tough little guy he is, again. We head to MS's only children's hospital (you can still vote for them, by the way, by clicking on the picture in the sidebar).

Isaiah has a tethered spinal cord, which means that he will have a detethering surgery. This surgery basically involves opening the area that was closed during his myelomeningocele closure done at birth, removing scar tissue that has developed during growth, trying to place the spine back in a "normal" position and closing the back up again, naturally. The surgeon is estimating a surgery time of 4 hours, but every situation can be very different.

The goal is to help relieve some of the tension in Isaiah's legs that is throwing off his balance. His difficulties in balance make it harder for him to sit properly in his wheelchair and to walk in his braces, and basically hinder some abilities that are necessary for continued development.

After surgery Isaiah will have to be on his tummy for about 72 hours. After that time we'll know more about what he'll be cleared to do post-op and when.

Not wanting a cloud of dread to hang over us today, I decided we needed a Pre-Op Party. We had a couple of Isaiah's favorite things: Pizza and Chocolate Cake.

I asked Isaiah what kind of cake he wanted. His choice? "Singing!"

That's actually a "yummy!" face that he's making.

We'd appreciate your prayers for peace and strength for tomorrow and the following days of recovery. Please also pray for Nadia as her schedule will be a little wonky, too. Thankfully we have some wonderful helpers with us right now! I'll do my best to keep you updated. Thanks, friends!

Compassion

2011-09-14T13:28:00.000-05:00

By God's grace I'm still working through Matthew's gospel with the help of J. C. Ryle. His expository comments from Matthew 15:29-39 and the compassion that Christ had for the crowd of over 4000 people who brought sick, crippled and hungry people to Him encouraged me, so I thought that I'd share.

It ought to comfort the saints and servants of the Lord when they feel weary. Let them call to mind that Jesus is "full of compassion". He knows what a world it is in which they live; He knows the body of a man and all its frailties; He knows the devices of their enemy, the devil. And the Lord pities His people: let them not be cast down. They may feel that weakness, failure, and imperfection are stamped on all they do; but let them not forget that word which says, "His compassions fail not." (Lament. 3:22)

Brother's Idea

2011-09-06T22:26:00.000-05:00

This afternoon Isaiah and I were talking about Reformation Day costumes. He decided he liked my idea for his costume. (No, I'm not giving it away, it's rather ambitious, and I don't want to disappoint.) We then finished the conversation:

M: So you like that idea, Isaiah. You want to try to be __________?

I: Yessss. (He really says his "s" very clearly. It's so cute.)

M: So what do you think Nadia should be?

I: A door.

M: You think Nadia should be a door?

I: Yes, a door.

Resourcefulness

2011-08-08T23:49:00.000-05:00

Nadia is sometimes a little needy. Well, to be honest about 90% of the time she thinks she MUST be with Mama. She isn't content to be in the same room with Mama, oh no, she must be somehow touching Mama the majority of the time.

This creates a little bit of a difficulty when Mama is trying to pack our things for an international trip; so out came the Kelty!

And she was happy. She even figured out how to tickle the back of my neck, which made her even happier.

And there's something else you need to know about sweet Nadia: She isn't too crazy about men getting too close to her. In fact she pretty much freaks out. Our friend Denis was staying with us, and as long as he waved and talked to her from across the room, she was all right. As soon as he moved next to her and started chatting, she started screaming and desperately trying to find me.

So to give a "heads up" to all the nice men that we are going to see back in the States...Nadia will play with you, just don't get too close. I'm sure she'll come around.

Packing Helpers

2011-08-08T23:36:00.001-05:00

So we've been packing it up for our trip back to the States. The kids were a big help...

...but don't worry, we won't make them travel with the luggage.

Tomorrow we start our trek, which will include an overnight stay in Warsaw, Poland. We'll land at our final destination on Thursday night, recuperate a few days, then head to MS to start the latest round of doctor appointments for Isaiah.

We appreciate your prayers for safe travel and calm children.

Tents And Manners

2011-08-01T06:31:00.005-05:00

I love catching my kids doing the right thing. It's something I've been working on for five years, and I hope to continue working on it for a long time! But all that to say, you can imagine my pleasure when I heard from the kitchen Isaiah using all kinds of words to try to get his sister to play in his tent with him.

You have to listen carefully at the beginning. (I was trying to sneak up on them, knowing how any kind of recording device immediately stops whatever cute action my children are doing!)

YouTube Video

Perhaps in another post I'll brag on Isaiah's speech development, because it really does deserve some serious bragging, but I'll just leave you with this for now.

And at last he succeeded.

Have a happy day, please.

I Stand Corrected

2011-07-29T06:52:00.003-05:00

Nadia has been saying "Mama" for a while now, much to my pleasure.

We've been trying to get her to say "Papa" or "Dada" as well, but it just hasn't been happening. And then we realized why...

This man isn't Papa or Dada. Let me introduce to you...

Bapa!

I realize that there are certain speech issues that could be present here, but I must admit that I love the fact that Nadia named her daddy. And while Bapa is his name, I'm going to enjoy the sweetness of it.

A High Calling

2011-07-27T06:52:00.001-05:00

Feeling discouraged, Mom? I read this article sent to me by a friend, a mother of 3 young boys no less, and I was reminded of the great responsibility and privilege we have as mothers.

Please enjoy this article for yourself!

Every day we can show Christ to our children. A little daunting to think about that responsibility, but what a high calling God has given us!

Vote Now! (and tomorrow and the next day and the next day....)

2011-07-26T11:38:00.001-05:00

So, I posted this on my Facebook page, but I'm trying to create a link from my blog to make it easy for people to vote daily for a good cause!

An insurance company is going to donate $200,000 to a non-profit charity, if that charity gets the most votes in their contest.

Naturally, we would love for Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital in Jackson, MS to win! This hospital is where Isaiah gets all this treatments and therapies. Please, please, please vote for Friends of Children's Hospital!

And you can vote every day until October 8! I'm working on a sidebar link now to make it easier for you.

Thanks!

(And the link is up on the right sidebar. Click the picture of Isaiah using his spoon, and you can vote for Blair E. Batson Children's Hospital every day, so that they can win $200,000!)

When You Don't Have A Backyard

2011-07-25T06:52:00.000-05:00

You sometimes have to use other means to encourage your children to play while you do something else.

While they look happy here, I regret to say that this did not end well. Time for a new strategy.

Here's The Scoop

2011-07-22T06:52:00.002-05:00

For a while we've been working with Isaiah on perfecting his fine motor skills. We've specifically wanted to encourage him to use utensils when eating. And guess what?! He's finally wanting to do it himself! We're so excited!

I realize that most 5 year olds have mastered this skill, so this might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people. Just take my word for it. It is a big deal!

Just think, Isaiah, soon you'll be able to eat ice cream all by yourself! That will be a great day.

Oh What Joy!

2011-07-22T05:02:00.000-05:00

Imagine what our lives would be like if we had this much joy upon opening God's Word.

Oh, and be prepared to cry a little; I did.

A Striking Example Of Faith

2011-07-20T01:43:00.001-05:00

The wise men who visited Jesus in Bethlehem give us "a striking example of faith."

These wise men believed in Christ when they had never seen Him; but that was not all. They believed in Him when the scribes and Pharisees were unbelieving; --but again that was not all. They believed in Him when they saw Him a little infant on Mary's knees, and worshipped Him as a King. This was the crowning point of their faith. --They saw no miracles to convince them. They heard no teaching to persuade them. They beheld no signs of divinity and greatness to overawe them. They saw nothing but a new-born infant, helpless and weak, and needing a mother's care, like any one of ourselves. And yet when they saw that infant, they believed that they saw the divine Saviour of the world! "They fell down and worshipped Him."

~J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts On Matthew

And She's Up!

2011-07-18T06:52:00.000-05:00

So, the monthly posts for Nadia have not been happening, as I'm sure the grandparents have noticed. I could give you all the reasons for my negligence, but I'll just apologize; and in our last few weeks away, I will endeavor to get you up to speed on the antics of your grandchildren before you all see them again face to face. And for our friends who love our little people, too, and are always so kind to leave encouraging comments, I will do my best to keep you up to date.

To answer a common question:

No. Nadia isn't walking yet. She continues to crawl like her brother, which I think is really sweet, and follows him everywhere, usually to his delight. She occasionally crawls on her knees, but she seems to find it faster to crawl like a tadpole.

She is however beginning to cruise around the furniture in order to reach and pull down anything she can find.

Mama, look what I found!

Wanna play?

Quite honestly I sometimes think that she doesn't have the patience for me to teach her to walk. She'll start out doing really well taking steps with me holding her arms up, but then she either gets too excited about something and starts trying to jump around, or she gets impatient and sits down so she can crawl. She hates to be still, as you might have seen.

Newton Was Right

2011-07-12T22:29:00.001-05:00

An object in motion tends to stay in motion.

Here's my evidence:

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

A Special Day For A Special Daddy

2011-06-26T13:07:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday was Father's Day. In anticipation of celebrating the wonderful father my children, I asked Isaiah what he wanted to do for Daddy for Father's Day.

M: Do you want to make Daddy something for Father's Day?

I: Yes.

M: What would you like to make him?

I: Cake!

And so we did:

Thank you, Thomas for being such a wonderful father to the amazing children God has given us. We all love you!

The Spirit Of Nadezhda

2011-06-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

So, I wanted to get some good pictures of Nadia as close to her birthday as possible, and I wanted them to be special. You know, not just have the regular furniture in the background with toys strewn all around, maybe with some cute props, all her wonderful smiles...

Here's what I ended up achieving (and as for editing, well, that's something I only dream about these days):

We started out pretty well...

...then more distractions were necessary...

...what's down there?

What's over there?

And over there?

Ah, the real phone!

And a metro map!

It was getting difficult to take pictures with one hand and hold her in the chair with the other.

I finally let her get on the floor, and she pretty much only had eyes for brother!

And a month later, I love my very spirited one-year-old even more!

Support Group

2011-06-20T01:13:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all our friends who have been praying for John Mark. The latest news that I have is that surgery has been scheduled for 10:00 am Monday, June 20 CST. We have heard that John Mark's spirits are good and that his family is doing well overall.

I also wanted to let you know that a group has been set up on Facebook for John Mark. Search for "Support John Mark Gilder" if you would like to join the group. You can get information and updated prayer requests at that group.

Thank you again for your prayers!

Help Rebekah

2011-06-18T01:24:00.000-05:00

To all our friends in the Taylors, SC area:

What could be better than a fun family-evening out with good food on a Saturday night?

Well, family, fun, food and helping someone else, naturally!

Our little friend Rebekah continues to be adorably cute as she battles DiGeorge Syndrome. A local business in Taylors, SC has decided to help out Rebekah and her family with a fundraiser at their restaurant this Saturday, June 18 starting at 5:00pm.

Rebekah will be there to charm everyone with her beautiful golden curls and sweet smile.

Here's her mom's post about the event on Rebekah's blog: Cruise-In

Naturally, the commute is a little far for us. I don't think we would make it from Russia in time, so I would love it if some of our friends could stand in for us! Go get some good food, have some fun with family, and love Rebekah and her family for us!

Please Pray!!!!!

2011-06-18T00:27:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the amazing technology available to us these days, I am able to beg you to pray with us for a young friend of ours in Yazoo City, MS.

John Mark was in the youth group when Thomas was the youth director of our church in Yazoo City before we moved to Russia.

We found out this morning (Saturday morning, Russia time) that John Mark was in a very bad car accident. A fellow church member (who has training as a nurse!) found him sometime on Friday. He is in the hospital and has a spinal injury. We don't know the extent of his injuries right now. Often the extent of spinal injuries is hard to determine until swelling diminishes, I believe. We do know that his spinal cord is not severed, though there is damage to the vertebrae. At this time he is scheduled for surgery on Monday afternoon.

Please pray for John Mark, his parents, his brother, sister, grandparents. This is a dear family who faithfully serves the Lord. Please pray that they will know our Father's great comfort during this time. Please pray for healing. Soli Deo gloria.

In Review

2011-06-14T02:11:00.000-05:00

Nadia's first year, month-by-month, with a few extra moments thrown in for good measure. (yes, I'm still posting about her first birthday)

How We Celebrated The Big One

2011-06-13T13:52:00.000-05:00

We had fun celebrating Nadia's first birthday. So much fun in fact that we celebrated three times!

Party Number One: Baton Rouge

Grandma (Thomas' mom) fixed a kid-friendly supper: Mac n Cheese, tater tot casserole, and other yummy things. Isaiah ate very well at his sister's party!

Thankfully I was able to find the time to make a cake...

And this is the little cake that I made for Nadia, but I could never get a very good picture of it.

With the leftover pieces of cake from cutting the "one", I made the smaller cakes decorated with N. Our little niece must have thought that they looked pretty good as she attempted a bit of each...

Some pre-party loving!

Nadia is very easily distracted these days.

But she loves her Grandma and Grandaddy.

She grabbed that little one off her cake faster than I ever could have imagined!

And then she went to town!

Party Number Two: Graham

We enjoyed a birthday breakfast for Nadia. Most of that party was recorded on our Flip, so I don't have very good pictures. Just trust that she greatly enjoyed her birthday waffle.

She's also getting better and better at opening presents.

Party Number Three: St. Petersburg, Russia, the city of her birth

We started the day with her favorite breakfast, waffles! When she sees the waffle iron come off the shelf, she gets really excited.

We had a lovely picnic in a park off the main street of town with two wonderful friends, Vova and Tonya (who will be getting married the end of July!)

After lunch we walked along Nevsky Prospekt, enjoying lots of sights along the river.

It was almost too much fun for Nadia. She had to catch a quick snooze along our walk.

We visited the clinic where she was born, and we even got to see one of the doctors that took such good care of her after her birth. The doctor was quite pleased with Nadia's growth! Even the ladies who work in the different departments remembered us and commented on how wonderful Nadia looks.

She greatly enjoyed her birthday supper, during which she decided that she wanted only "real" food that hadn't been mashed or altered in any way, and that she would feed herself completely! Such a big girl!

She was very pleased with herself on her first birthday!

Our sweet concierzhka gave Nadia a little doll for her birthday, which Nadia loved on right away!

Thomas made a video of our First Birthday Celebration!

So there you have it. Her first birthday was truly celebrated in style, multiple times. Sorry for the long post with so many pictures, but such an auspicious occasion certainly deserves even more. Thank you to all our family and friends who love our little girl. We couldn't love her more!

Good Morning Snuggles

2011-06-12T10:03:00.001-05:00

Nadia almost always wakes up before Isaiah. When we go to see if he's awake, she literally jumps up and down in my arms.

If he's awake, here's what happens:

Morning kisses.

Morning hugs.

"Lay down, sister."

"Sister, lay down."

Even Doodle gets in on the loving.

I am thankful.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

At-Home Therapy

2011-06-07T04:54:00.001-05:00

A little PT...

YouTube Video

A little OT...

YouTube Video

And we did speech, too.

While we are in Russia, I get to be Isaiah's therapists, kind of makes me feel like I have multiple personalities. But I can't replace the amazing therapists he has in the States! We miss y'all!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

The Spoon

2011-06-06T12:30:00.001-05:00

I can almost hear Nadia saying "I do it!" as I try to help her with certain things. One day she decided she didn't care to be fed by someone else on a regular basis.

Now she thinks she's ready for a spoon of her own.

Now all she has to do is figure out how to keep the food on the spoon until she gets it in her mouth. She's getting there.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

I Love My One Year Old

2011-06-01T06:57:00.000-05:00

To say that this year has gone by quickly would be repeating everyone who has ever had a child, but that fact doesn't make the statement any less true.

Nadezhda,

You have filled this past year with so much joy for our family. Yes, there were plenty of sleepless nights and sometimes unwarranted concerns, but right now as I think back over the first year that you have been in our family, I can't remember any of that. Ok, well, I do distinctly remember two particular nights, but we don't have to talk about that right now.

Unfortunately, my note-taking skills were not as good this past month to record all the changes and developments that you had. Could it have been that we were packing up the house to come to Russia for the summer? But I do remember a few things that are new:

For one, you enjoyed your first baseball game, where you got your first baseball, which naturally went straight to your mouth, like everything else.

And speaking of your mouth, you have seven teeth now, little girl, with the eighth one nearly here. If that eighth one had come through you would have matched your brother's count on his first birthday. Y'all are just some teethy kids, which makes for adorable smiles, in my opinion.

Those teeth have come in handy since you decided, on your birthday, you no longer like mushed-up table food. You will now only eat "the real thing"; and you have to feed yourself.

You even manage to pick up banana now without smushing it!

Everyone who meets you quickly discovers that you are constant motion. Our Russian friends keep commenting that you are a very active girl, and they are right!

I love watching you crawl around and follow your brother and come find me. I'm thankful that you're learning to entertain yourself some, too.

There were lots of kisses involved in the above interaction, but I could never quite catch them.

Aah, yes, you've discovered phones!

You traveled amazingly well on our way to Russia. You hardly fussed at all, you just wore me out with all your activity, but I'll take that any day over a crying child on an airplane!

You enjoyed our brief stay in Poland. You checked out every inch of our hotel room!

And then you slept quite sweetly.

You've started giving kisses! You blow kisses, too, though usually only to brother. I love it when you pull my face to yours and give me one of your open-mouth, wet kisses. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

And brother kisses you right back!

You love people. You've already entertained many people on the metro here in St. Petersburg, and as long as you can come back to Mama whenever you want, you'll usually go to someone else, at least for a minute or two.

Even after 2 days of traveling, you enjoyed all the attention at Gran and Grandpa's ABF.

I wish, dear Nadezhda, that I could explain to you the love that I have for you. After 5 years of loving your brother, I should know that such an explanation really isn't possible, but I still wish that I could. I pray every day that you will grow to love the Lord our God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. May you be used by Him even now as a spunky, sweet, smiley, happy, active girl.

Even with props I couldn't get you to be still for very long!

I love you, Nadezhda.

And here's your year in review:

Birthday Eve

2011-05-23T15:04:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow Nadezhda turns one.

I doubt that I will have the time to finish the post that I have started by tomorrow. But I just had to say that I can't imagine my life without my wonderful daughter.

Happy Birthday Eve, Nadezhda. I love you. We all love you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

We Made It

2011-05-23T00:09:00.000-05:00

Well, after an unexpected and brief stop in Warsaw, Poland, our family is safely settled back in St. Petersburg, Russia. We're all still recovering from jet lag, some better than others, but we'll make it.

Thankfully the sun is out, which makes a huge difference.

We arrived at our apartment late Saturday afternoon. Happily, we attended worship with Light of Christ Church. We had a wonderful reunion with the saints there.

But in true Russian style, nothing is quite as easy as it seems. Read Thomas' article here to find out about our adventures upon returning home from church last night.

I am going to go eat my breakfast now that Nadia is back in bed and while Isaiah is still asleep. Today is a big day for my niece, Kayti, who graduates from high school. We love you, Kayti! Here's a crazy hug for you, too! And tomorrow is a big day for our Nadia who will be one year old! I can hardly believe that a year has gone by already.

And my jet lagged brain is going to stop now and come back later.

I Love My Job

2011-05-09T22:25:00.000-05:00

What I Didn't Have

2011-05-07T09:02:00.001-05:00

I never had name brand clothing. I had home made clothing, which was fun because nobody else had clothes like me.

I didn't get a new car when I turned 16, or any car for that matter. I had my own personal chauffeur and the privilege of borrowing a car.

I didn't get to go to parties on the weekends. I invited friends over any time I wanted, and they were always welcome.

I didn't get to eat out much. I was fed three lovingly prepared meals a day.

I never had to wonder who was going on the class field trip. I arrived with the chaperone.

I never had a store-bought cake for my birthday. I had a delicious cake of my choosing made in a small kitchen.

I never had a birthday party at a "party location." I had themed parties with handmade decorations and every girl in the class invited.

I didn't even know that you could buy a pie crust from the store. I enjoyed homemade crusts.

I never had a house key. I always had someone at home.

I hardly ever remember having a baby sitter. I remember going just about everywhere my folks went.

And while I might have asked for Mary Poppins to come and stay with us is anything ever happened to my mama, I wouldn't really have wanted that. Nobody could be better for me than my mama.

I love you, Mama. Thank you for the wonderful childhood that
you gave me, complete with skipping and make believe. And that doesn't even touch everything you've done for me since I've ~~grown up~~ moved away from home and had kids of my own.

And they love you, too.

Eleven Months With Nadezhda

2011-05-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

Another month has flown by, my precious Nadezhda, and I can hardly believe that in such a short time you will be ONE! I'm loving watching you grow and change. Your sweet, fun, determined personality continues to grow and delight us.
You don't like to hear "no-no", but you usually listen, eventually. You don't fuss about it, you just keep right on doing the thing that I've tried to prevent you from doing, even when I move you away or give you something else.
Your communication is growing, too! Thankfully your screech has diminished as you learn to say "Mama" when you want something. You've learned to sign "all done" and "more" when you're eating. Although when you're eating I sometimes have a hard time discerning "all done" because your arms are always moving!

You tried to feed yourself banana, but you don't quite have the right grip yet.
And speaking of moving arms, you've started waving! Unfortunately the "time to wave" part of your brain usually clicks in after the person to whom you want to wave has turned away, but you're getting there.
You enjoyed our latest trip to the children's museum, actually playing with things yourself rather than just watching brother. However, you LOVE to watch your brother, and no one can make you laugh like he does!

We enjoyed your first Easter, which was also your 11-month day. You got in on the coloring of the eggs, sort of. But most of all, you looked mighty cute in your Easter dress!

Previewing the dress in all your cuteness!
Since we were in NC for Easter you got to see Great Grandma again and show off your verging skill of pulling up. You still need a little assistance, but you love to get to that standing position.

And then Easter day itself was lots of fun. We enjoyed worshipping with our family and friends at Beacon Baptist Church where I grew up. I am so thankful that people who watched me grow up can enjoy watching you and your brother, too.
I don't think you understood the Easter basket idea, but you sure loved those crochet eggs that your great aunt made several years ago!

And this round of visa pictures you gave us more cute faces to treasure, even if they weren't exactly what the Russian Consulate would want.
Take One...we couldn't get the lighting right.

Take Two was much more promising for the technical quality.

Here's the one that got sent to the visa service, Nadia; I hope you won't mind.

The big news for you this month: Mobility! At last you are starting to crawl! Not surprisingly you are crawling like you brother. (Please forgive any poor quality. I was recording on my iPod, and I haven't figured out how to upload directly from that device, so I had to email it, which greatly diminishes the quality, but you get the idea.)

And you've already gained speed!

When you turn 1 we will be in Russia, my lovely daughter. It seems fitting that we should celebrate your first birthday in the country where you were born. I can't wait for all of our friends there to see you and come to love you, too. Every day I think that there's no way I could love you more, and then I wake up the next morning and love you more.

Nadezda At 10 Months

2011-04-12T22:52:00.000-05:00

Another month (and 2 weeks) passed quickly in the Slawson home, and Nadia is now 10 months (and 2 weeks).

At 10 months, sweet daughter, your personality is really starting to come through! You are somewhere between 16 and 17 pounds, but without a baby wellness checkup, I don't have the regular measurements and such from the same sources for accuracy. However, with all the eating that you do, you must be bigger!

You are doing great with self-feeding, and so far we have learned that when you are hungry enough you will even eat things that you don't care for as much, though there isn't much that you don't care for.

You get so excited about so many things, and you have the clapping to prove it! You scrunch up your face in the biggest grin and clap your hands and sometimes even knock yourself over with all your appendages moving at the same time in who-knows-what direction.

And speaking of appendages, I really thought you would be crawling by now because you have been getting on all fours and rocking back and forth for several weeks. But alas, the closest you have come to crawling is what has been dubbed "The Nadia Hop". You hop up on your knees, or sometimes your toes, and then you lunge forward with all the length you can possibly stretch out of your adorable arms as you reach for the toy. If you don't succeed on that first hop-lunge maneuver, you start the process all over again, which I must say, is quite entertaining.

The Hop

The Lunge

You have managed to go from a crawling position to a sitting position, which I've been told is another step in the right direction for crawling.

The beginning of March you enjoyed your first family vacation. We stayed a week in Oregon enjoying hiking almost every day. (Eventually I might make time to post about that amazing week, but don't hold your breath!) You were a great traveler, which gave us great hope for our long flights back to Russia in May.

By the end of this 10th month you have popped out 4 teeth, though the distribution was a little unexpected with 3 on the bottom and 1 on the top. You look so much older to me with that top tooth poking out.

One aspect of your new development, my dear, I must admit I could do without. You have an ear-piercing scream, and I am not exaggerating with a worn out phrase when I say Ear. Piercing. Wow. God gave you a great set of pipes. Now, I do love that you are trying to communicate to me, but we'll have to work on something a little less painful.

You like to play games and often initiate them yourself. For instance, I love how you hold your cup above your head for peek-a-boo, waiting for me to ask, "Where's Nadia?" before pulling it down again and flashing me a stop-my-heart grin.

And you are definitely an explorer. Unlike your brother you explore with your mouth. As you become more mobile (the Nadia Hop only gets you so far these days), I am really going to have to watch what comes near your mouth! So far you've decided that mulch is good and used tires are bad from a recent trip to the zoo.

You also enjoyed your first carousel ride at the zoo

You also branched out to pine cones, yummy

What else do you have in store for me?

Well, whatever it is, my dear lovely, I will gladly take it!

10 Months And One Day

2011-04-12T16:36:00.001-05:00

March 25, 2011

One Little Man, Five Wonderful Years, Three Celebrations!

2011-03-01T22:00:00.000-06:00

For only the second time in his life, we enjoyed celebrating Isaiah's birthday in the States. I did a short post earlier to celebrate his actual birthday, but I've waited to share his birthday celebrations because we only finished them yesterday!

A few days before his birthday we had a small family celebration. Thomas unavoidably had to be in Oregon for meetings on Isaiah's birthday, so we ate cake a little early.

For Isaiah's birthday I took the kids to Baton Rouge to celebrate with Thomas' family. We had fun with a Buzz Lightyear-themed party compliments of Grandma with a fun rocket cake.

Isaiah loved playing with his cousins. He really seemed to enjoy all the celebration, even saying "Again!" after we sang to him (and here's the second time).

Little Sister had fun helping him celebrate as well.

I loved seeing him be so excited about having so much fun.

And speaking of fun, last but not least, we were finally able to have a small party with 4 of his little friends. We had been waiting for some healing after his surgery so that he could play with all the gusto worthy of his five years. We met some friends at Pump It Up in Jackson, an indoor play place with huge inflatables. And, boy, did we have fun! I think Isaiah's favorite was the giant slide, and Thomas and I enjoyed taking turns with him.

Then we came back to our place for hotdogs and cake. The cake was inspired by his beloved Kermit (who always gets the equal kisses and hugs at bedtime that Daddy and Mommy get).

Sadly, I never got a picture of all the kids together, but thank you for joining our fun!

Isaiah likes his huge card signed by everyone from all 3 celebrations

Thank you family and friends for helping us celebrate! We'll have to do this again sometime.

I love you, Isaiah. And I love that you love Kermit. And you are really cute, especially with those chocolate crumbs on your handsome face.

Nine Months With Nadezhda

2011-02-28T07:32:00.000-06:00

Nadezhda, I thought you were fun at 8 months, but it just keeps getting better!

First, dear girl, your statistics:
Head circumference 43 cm (25th percentile)
Height 26.5 inches (20th percentile)
Weight 16.02 pounds (10th percentile)

And then the fun things that you are up to these days with some of my favorite photos thrown in for good measure (in no particular order):

One of these days you'll be doing "funny face" like you brother!

You are able to keep yourself content much more easily, especially if Mama is in sight. I love to watch you play with your toys, which usually end up in your mouth at some point. You also clap them together with such gusto and excitement that I smile every time.

And speaking of your toys, you will purposefully move around to get the one that you want. You usually will turn circles on your belly to get a toy that you previously slung somewhere behind you. You are also perfecting your backwards jump, which is lots of fun and has put you under several pieces of furniture. You don't usually like being under the furniture, but thankfully you calm down pretty quickly when I come rescue you.

You are getting closer to real crawling though. I've caught you several times rocking back and forth on all fours, never with the camera, however.

I love to watch your relationship with your brother. The two of you can really start to play together now. Isaiah loves to get toys out for you, though he doesn't always understand that you might not be finished with them when he is. He enjoys entertaining you in the truck on our multiple drives to therapy or church or the store. He finally has an audience!

If I have you with me when I get brother up from his "nap", he always insists that you lay in bed with him. I love watching you love on each other, though I usually have to protect brother from your loving, but he doesn't seem to mind you pulling his hair and ears and trying to eat his face.

And you provide him with great motivation for doing his walking when we're home. I can't wait for the two of you to play hide and seek together!

While your brother is your favorite little person, you love to make friends with everyone we meet. You do a great "bashful" smile as you capture hearts. And as long as you can go back to Mama whenever you want, you're usually ok with being held by someone else.

You started clapping my hands together, and in that process you have begun to learn and appreciate praise. You get so excited when I tell you that you've done a good job for something. It's really quite amazing how your face lights up with joy.

You're expanding your menu. Actually I haven't found anything that you don't like. You want to try everything. I have to hold you back sometimes from stealing my food! You have added pears and carrots the last couple of weeks. And you have started to figure out a cup. I was concerned about that since you previously liked the bottle and then rejected it when brother had his surgery. You are quite the opinionated little girl!

You tried to feed yourself some baby crackers, but your cute little hands weren't quite coordinated enough yet. Almost there!

You still nurse really well, but with one noticeable difference. At first your legs used to be like an indicator light, but now they are like a weapon! I think you are already starting to practice for the Rockettes! Once I really thought you were going to kick me in the head.

And speaking of eating, you always entertain me when you eat. I don't think people will truly understand your range of motion while eating, so I just have to include a video. (Sorry for the length. I tried to edit it, but for some reason the edited version wouldn't load properly.)

Did you notice those sweet baby toes?

I love you, Nadezhda, more and more every day.

A Good Day

2011-02-24T23:18:00.001-06:00

Much to my delight, and even more to Isaiah's, the catheter that has been hanging from his belly since his surgery a month ago was removed this morning! He was a champ as usual. We go back to the doctor in about four weeks to make sure that everything is continuing to heal up properly, but so far no concerns whatsoever. And just in case you want to know, we "flushed" today, and it was the smoothest process yet! I was quite relieved.

Not from today, but isn't he cute?

Nadia turned 9 months today (her own post soon to follow).

The shirt says it all, don't ya think?

And Thomas and I had a date! A good friend brought her 2 boys over to play with Isaiah while Thomas and I escaped to a little Irish restaurant for a meal that didn't involve holding a squirmy baby or forcing anyone to eat and drink. It was really nice. Thank you, thoughtful friends.

It was a good day.

- Posted using BlogPress from the iPad that I sometimes borrow from Isaiah

She's Home!

2011-02-15T22:45:00.001-06:00

Thank you wonderful friends for praying for Karis; she is home! She does still have a touch of pneumonia, but it is not acute.

She continues some treatment with a nebulizer. We are praying for a full recovery from this illness as well as complete healing from Krabbe!

God has special plans for this child and her family, and I am just thankful to know them and see God working.

You can keep up with Karis on her family's blog at www.karisalmy.com/blog or you can click the "629" button on my right sidebar to visit their blog.

Thank you for your prayers!

- Posted using BlogPress

A Treat For Me

2011-02-12T16:47:00.000-06:00

I had the wonderful pleasure of visiting Miss Karis this afternoon! She is doing much better, but still needs your prayers. She blessed me by opening the most beautiful eyes while I was there to see her.

Her oxygen has been lowered from 3 liters to less than half a liter, which is pretty amazing! She needs to have good oxygen sats for 24 hours on room air before she is able to come home, but Katie is willing to wait a little while to make sure that Karis is in the best condition before heading home.

Thank you for your continued prayers! Here is a recent update by Katie on her blog for more details.

Update on Karis

2011-02-11T17:37:00.000-06:00

Thank you for your prayers for our friend, Karis!

She has been doing better today. She does not need as much oxygen as she did yesterday; she went down from a full liter to a half liter, the last I heard.

Please continue to pray for healing, not just from the pneumonia, but also from Krabbe! Please also pray for her parents Katie and Trevor, who as you can imagine are working on very little sleep as they are devoted to doing whatever their little girl needs.

Thank you, friends.

See This Pretty Little Girl?

2011-02-10T14:08:00.001-06:00

She needs your prayers!

Karis has Krabbe Disease. She and her family are currently camped out at the children's hospital where Karis is fighting pneumonia. Because of her Krabbe, this is a much more difficult battle for Karis than for other children her age.

Please pray for healing for Karis. Please pray for rest and peace for her parents, Katie and Trevor. You can learn more about this sweet family at their blog.

Five Grand Years

2011-02-06T22:55:00.001-06:00

Five years ago today my life changed forever. And I couldn't be happier than I am spending my days with my wonderful Isaiah.

I mean who wouldn't want to hang out with this little man of many faces? For instance he is perfecting his confused face:

He motivates around with his McQueen backpack while he's on the search for Buzz.

He loves his ice cream!

Cars are still his first love, when it comes to toys, that is.

Nothing tops the excitement you hear in his voice when he finds his daddy on the iPad.

He also likes to find sermons on the iPad.

A better big brother would be harder to find!

His laugh brightens my day, every day.

I love you, Isaiah. I thank God for you every day. Happy birthday and may God give us many more birthdays together.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Resistance Is Futile

2011-02-02T09:14:00.000-06:00

Last week seems really far away and really near at the same time. Isaiah and I are getting used to him having a catheter hanging out of his belly. I call him my little Borg.

It's really not that bad, and it is temporary. In 6 weeks when his hole is more permanently fixed, the catheter will be a thing of the past, but he'll still have the "implant" in his belly, so I can still pretend that he's trying to take over the world.

But he doesn't assimilate in his take over. He's way too cute for that. He simply charms the pants off of you!

Here's Isaiah and his favorite toy pals (McQueen represented on the shirt) waiting to get things rolling after we checked in.

All of Isaiah's nurses and doctors were quite taken with him while he was in the hospital. Several nurses would make their rounds much more frequently to our room. The cleaning lady would come by to chat.

I had to get my post-op snuggles from my groggy hero who told me that Kermit did very well but his tummy hurt.

The floor doctor called him a rock star because of how tough he was. And boy was he tough! I think I would have cried much more than he did with all that he had to endure before surgery, let alone having surgery.

After surgery he was told he could have "anything his heart desired", so thanks to our friend Anna, he chowed down on some cheetos puffs. Thanks, sweet friend!

When his first nurse said goodbye, she promised that should would always remember him.

See, resistance is futile.

I'll Show You

2011-02-01T12:20:00.000-06:00

Picture this scene:

Quite contentedly Nadia sat in her daddy's lap. I walked by and smiled at her. She sweetly smiled back. I turned to pick up some toys. Nadia started to fuss and cry.

Turning back to her I asked, "Did you think I was going to pick you up, sweet girl?"

But of course instead of verbally answering me, she did the next best thing. She tried to make me jealous by turning her head and rooting on her daddy as if to say, "I'll show you, Mama, I'll just get what I want from Daddy!"

Which got her what she wanted: Mama's arms. (after lots of laughter from Daddy and me)

A Quick Taste Of Christmas

2011-02-01T08:11:00.000-06:00

Yes, I do realize that Christmas was over a month ago, but I just haven't had time to even go through all the pictures. Tonight as I was cleaning up from supper, I heard Isaiah in the living room cackling away at something, and I couldn't resist posting it now.

I hope you enjoy.

YouTube Video

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

8 Months With Nadezhda

2011-01-28T23:19:00.000-06:00

My lovely 8-month-old daughter, you are growing up so fast!

A few days before your 8 month birthday, you finally broke the 15 pound mark! Your head grew another cm, and you hardly cried at all with the second part of your flu shot. The nurse was quite impressed with you, as she should be. Your third tooth is quite slow in popping through, but I guess it will come when it's good and ready.

This month we celebrated your first Christmas and New Year's and spent a lot of time on the road. You've become quite the good little traveler, and we all thank you very much for that improvement!

Much to your dismay I kept trying to feed you baby cereal and pureed foods. You finally convinced me that such things were NOT for you as you dive-bombed for whatever food I was trying to eat. You love your green beans, field peas, bananas, pears and prunes. I'm enjoying your jump to table food and introducing you to new things.

Nadia not eating her cereal

But here she is loving her field peas

Your first Christmas was so much fun, and I hope that I'll actually be able to post some pictures of you and your brother eventually! You seemed to enjoy opening presents and tolerated well all the pictures that we wanted to take. I think you know what the camera is now!

I also think that you have Great Grandpa quite enchanted with you.

You had your first night without Mama when Daddy and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. We learned that while you will gladly drink Mama's milk from a bottle, you HATE formula.

You love to play with your brother. I am excited to see you doing new things that can increase your interaction with him. Now if we can just teach you not to stick your fingers in his mouth, we'll be doing all right.

One morning the 3 of us were up and I loved hearing Isaiah crawl from one room to another shouting your name and you laughing at him as he disappeared around corners or came close and helped you bounce in your jumper, which is your favorite place to be if you're not being held.

You enjoyed your first leaf pile, yes in January, on a weekend visit to Baton Rouge.

You are trying so desperately to crawl--if only you could get your arms and legs coordinated with each other. You are starting to scoot backwards, though, which puts you in some interesting positions halfway under furniture at times.

Actually you've started doing more than scoot backward, you just plain jump! I have been trying so hard to capture it, but you're too smart for me.

We finished off your 8 months with our first trip to the new Mississippi Children's Museum. While you couldn't participate in too many of the exhibits yet, you sure did enjoy watching your big brother! But just wait, little girl, you'll be toddling around in no time!

You are such a happy, friendly, charming little girl. I love you, Nadezhda!

Testing With An Update

2011-01-26T22:04:00.001-06:00

Well I am testing something new for this post. I found a new app that would enable me to post from the iPad, which could potentially make my life more simple.

So here's the scoop:

Isaiah is sleeping soundly in his own bed with Kermit at his side.

This morning his urologist told me that we could go home, if I was comfortable with Isaiah's condition. At that point Isaiah still wasn't eating or drinking really well, and I didn't know how to use the ACE, so I told him I wasn't comfortable, and he laughed at me. That's ok because I really like this doctor!

So I got my tutorial for using the ACE, and Isaiah started chowing down, and we left the hospital in record time.

We used the ACE for the first time this afternoon, and everything seemed to go well. I look forward to perfecting my technique as I was a little messy, but thankfully Isaiah didn't seem to mind.

Nadia was so happy to see her brother! And I think the feeling was mutual. They played together on the couch for a little bit after Nadia woke up. Of course their play consisted of Nadia grabbing Isaiah wherever she could and Isaiah trying to get her to play peek-a-boo with a blanket while he shouted "Sister!" as loud as he could. Yes, he is feeling much better.

(Taken while visiting my great uncle over Christmas)

Thank you again for your prayers. While it's never fun to have your child go through such yucky stuff, the prayers of friends and family encourage beyond description.

In 2 weeks we go for a post-op visit, and 4 weeks after that we return for another visit. Until that 2nd visit, Isaiah will have a catheter in the hole the doctor created. Please pray for him not to be tempted to play with the apparent toy dangling from his stomach and for patience and ingenuity for me as I try to keep him from crawling around and irritating his stomach area.

We praise God for the friends and family who helped us with prayer, but I also have to give a special thank you to the grandparents and a special couple who helped with Nadia. May God pour out blessings on your heads!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

In Progress

2011-01-25T15:18:00.000-06:00

Well after an eventful night, Isaiah was finally ready for surgery. My dear husband stayed with him all night so that I could be at home with Nadia, who also had a slightly eventful night. I love my husband. And my son. And my daughter.

Anyway, all that from my slightly sleep-deprived brain to say that Isaiah is currently in surgery. Please pray that they can find his appendix, which seems to be the kicker in this situation. If his appendix isn't playing a tricky game of hide and seek, then the surgery can definitely be done laparoscopically, which means only a short stay in the hospital. If his appendix does decide to be shy and sneaky, then they will have to make an incision to perform the necessary work, and we'll be in the hospital for about a week post-op.

We are already praising God for the fact that he is having this surgery today. This morning there was a slight chance that we were going to have to postpone, which really wasn't an option during this time in the States. Thank you for your prayers thus far, and please keep on hanging in there with us!

P.S. If you're wondering why the appendix is so important, click here to learn more about the A.C.E. Procedure.

Prayers Appreciated

2011-01-23T22:07:00.000-06:00

Normal is relative. You know another word that's relative? Routine. Yep, that's relative, too.

Tomorrow we check Isaiah into the children's hospital in Jackson for a routine procedure that involves all the prep that would precede a colonoscopy. Then on Tuesday he will have the ACE Procedure. The doctors say this is routine.

Yeah, well, having my child put to sleep for several hours by unnatural methods isn't exactly part of my daily routine; I don't know about yours.

So we would greatly appreciate your prayers for our Little Man. He's quite a trooper, but I think the next couple days are going to tax even his wonderful spirit.

I'll try to post updates from the hospital, but I don't know how well I will be able to access the Internet. I will thank you ahead of time for praying for Isaiah and for Thomas and me as we help him through the next few days.

And you can go ahead and thank God for the help that his grandparents are giving us with Nadia. Always good to have some praises mixed in with requests in my humble opinion.

She Was 7 Months, A Month Ago

2011-01-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Nadia's 7th month was a busy one! Several events deserve a post of their own, Thanksgiving for example, but for my own memory's sake, I wanted to go ahead and record some of the things that were new during this month. And then, hopefully, I'll have time to record her 8th month before she's 9 months old.

Two weeks before turning 7 months her stats were: 42 cm head circumference 14 lbs 1 oz 26"

This 7th month started and ended with celebrations! First Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandaddy's in Baton Rouge. Somehow I don't have tons of pictures of this wonderful event, or at least not many of Nadia, but she enjoyed herself.

kisses for Grandaddy

And did I mention that our car ride to Baton Rouge for Thanksgiving involved hardly any tears?! Which is a really good thing because not only did we celebrate a lot this month, but we also drove a lot! More about that later.

She is completely into the toy scene now. She gets so excited when she sees her favorite toys.

Her sitting is getting better and better. I love to watch her sitting up and trying to do things.

And her personality is really starting to come out, too! She gets incredibly excited about things like her brother, her daddy, getting picked up.

She loves to sit in the laundry basket, especially when I'm carrying it up the stairs. I love her giggle! She also laughs at her brother like nothing else!

And when I go to get her up, even if she's been crying, I'm greeted with the sweetest smile and all-over happiness as she kicks her legs and flails her arms all over the place.

I love this little girl.

And I know that there were other new things, but since I waited too long to write this post, I sadly can't remember anything else. And I can't seem to access the pictures of her first visit to Williamsburg, VA or all the pictures from the few days before Christmas Eve, but when I do, I'll eventually share them, hopefully.

Our Christmas Traditions

2010-12-23T20:00:00.009-06:00

Since we knew ahead of time that we would be in the States for Christmas this year, I've enjoyed being able to decorate and do some fun holiday things that got rushed by last year.

Here's what decks our hall (or living room, as the case may be):

The stockings are hung with care above the door frame. I'll let you guess which one belongs to each person, though one of them should be quite obvious.

just in case you couldn't tell for sure

I love my miniature Nativity, and now I'm wishing I had a better picture to show you, but there it is. And the Wise Men (or Man in our case) is still traveling, since they didn't see Jesus in the manger most likely.

I tried to remember some decorating tips from my friend Michelle when decorating our mantle. The Christmas tree candle in the middle was passed to my mom from my great aunt Flo, who always had such wonderful decorations for every holiday. I like that I have it now. The nutcrackers were a gift to Isaiah from Mimi and JanJan several years ago.

I don't know if you can tell, but please forgive the white candles with red streaks on them. I keep meaning to get new ones, but it just hasn't been a priority at this point. They give the effect that I generally want.

For the past few years I have made an Advent calendar for our family to use, hoping that it will be easy to use the next year. But as you read already, each year I make a new one. However, this year, I think that I've finally come up with an idea that will last for years to come!

I made a felt tree, and each night we add a leaf so that the tree should be full when Advent is done. This way I don't have specific spaces to fill, we just put the leaf up wherever we, meaning Isaiah, want.

In addition to putting the leaf up each night, we sing and read portions of Scripture that Thomas has prepared for us. The first week we read about Christ in the Law. The second week we read about Christ in the Historical books. This week we are reading about Christ in the Wisdom Literature. Next week we will read about Christ in the Prophets, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we will read selections from the gospels.

And of course, we have our tree. Bigger than last year, but just right for our small room.

You know you love someone when you're willing to forgo your strong preference for white lights in favor of their preference for colored lights. It's a very pretty tree, I think!

We are also continuing the tradition of sharing the holidays with our families while we are here. Thanksgiving was celebrated with Thomas' family. We are enjoying our Christmas festivities in North Carolina with my family.

And now, I bid you all good night. May you have a Merry Christmas!

For Now We Say Goodbye

2010-12-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

We say goodbye for many reasons and at many different times in our lives. People move away, get married, go to college. Relationships change, people pass away.

When Thomas, Isaiah and I moved to Russia, we probably said the most goodbyes that we have ever said. At that time we did not know with whom we would be able to stay in contact. We did not know if our older friends and loved ones would be here when we were able to come home to visit. We made extra effort to see those closest to us before crossing to the other side of the world.

God was gracious and allowed more meetings with loved ones like grandparents, aunts and uncles whom we were uncertain of seeing again. And we were thankful. Just a few weeks ago, we were able to travel to St. Louis, MO to see Thomas' grandmother. We were able to introduce her to her latest great grandchild and make one more set of special memories.

October 2010

This weekend my husband's family will gather to say goodbye and to honor his grandmother, Henrietta Blakeney.

Naturally, I did not have the privilege of knowing "Mammaw" long. But let me tell you what I do know of her.

July 2008

Mammaw loved her family. I know this because on the occasions that I was able to be with her in her own home, she was always serving her family. She could cook like nobody's business, and she did it over and over and over again. I remember one time not long after Thomas and I were married, the two of us went to see Mammaw for a short overnight visit. When we arrived at the end of the day, she had a feast prepared for just the two of us. Nothing seemed to give her more pleasure than to provide for her loved ones in that way.

Mammaw was a great story teller. I loved to hear her talk about different things that had happened with her family, whether she was telling a story from her past or a story about something that had recently happened in the small community where she lived, she could craft that story with such interesting details that you had to listen.

But most importantly Mammaw loved Jesus. No one ever doubted this fact because Mammaw left no doubt about it! She read her Bible all the time, and she talked about Jesus to everyone that she met. During the last few months of her life, she might not have remembered all the people around her, but she never forgot Jesus; and she never forgot to tell everyone around her about Him.

I am thankful to be a part of a family that God blessed with such a woman. Thank you, Mammaw for the influence that you have had. Thank you, Lord for blessing us with Your love through Henrietta Blakeney.

Random Happiness

2010-12-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

1. My little boy has started remembering his friends. I love to hear him calling for his friends when I tell him that we're going to see them again.

2. We have a Christmas tree that's big enough to require more than one strand of lights. Last year was a pretty hectic Christmas, but this year we are a bit more prepared since we knew ahead of time we would be in the country.

3. Weebles are for sale again. I spent many hours as a child playing with Weebles. I had a Weebles circus and played with it so much that I wore it out. Now ~~I can enjoy~~ my children can enjoy playing with them, if they can beat me to them.

4. I got a letter in the mail this week. A real letter. Not a Christmas card or advertisement or request for anything but a genuine letter. And I'm excited to write back!

5. My little girl has a really cute giggle. Take a listen:

Want to share your good feelings? Pick a prompt then link up at The Girl Next Door Grows Up to share your fun and enjoy feeling good with other bloggers.

The Rejects

2010-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have successfully designed and will hopefully be sending out our Christmas card, complete with one picture taken by a friend (thank you JS!) and one of my beautiful children taken by yours truly.

That second picture was a bit of a challenge, but lots of fun. The process was so much fun that I had to share with you the pictures that didn't make the cut:

Feeling the love, just not seeing the face

Brother's half-nelson hugging style

Isaiah had reached his limit during this photo session, and I'm not sure what Nadia was up to.

Having some sitting issues

Couldn't quite capture the kiss

Isaiah had us all laughing with this one.

Then Isaiah wanted a turn taking the pictures.

Sister also makes a nice pillow.

And this one, well, I just like it, but it didn't make the card.

Happy Monday everyone. I hope we gave you some smiles.

Feel Good Friday

2010-12-03T11:19:00.000-06:00

God has given me a wonderful husband, and today I want to list just five things (though there are LOTS more!) for which I'm thankful about him.

1. Whether he's playing with our children or trying to stay awake while driving on a long trip, he's never afraid to be silly.

at a little friends birthday party he got creative with the remains of the pinata

2. He is trying to be healthy so that he can be around with us for a long time!

We are always so glad to have him come home after his travels

3. He knows what will bring joy to his family, which lately means he found a store that sells specialty hats and had the perfect hat made for his little boy, but it's for Christmas, so I'm not going to say any more about it.

4. Cleaning is something that helps him deal with stress. When we were first married, I didn't understand this, and whenever he helped me clean, I would get so offended. OK, so not only when we were first married, this went on for a while. Now, I appreciate how he rushes through the house to clean and get exercise and reduce his stress. And I don't feel guilty; I'm just grateful.

5. He's an amazing cook. Tonight he's fixing us omelets, and I've been looking forward to it for days; they're so yummy!

I love you, Thomas!

Pick a prompt from The Girl Next Door Grows Up and join the fun!

And Friday Came

2010-11-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

But I forgot to announce who won our little guessing game. Not many people guessed, but that doesn't make Erin Hurley any less of a winner! :)

So, Erin, I have an idea for your prize. Shoot me an email or message on FB with your address! I'd also love for you to write a guest post for me about I Will Come To You. I think my friends and family would love to know more about how your family is growing.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was so good and busy that I hardly took any pictures, amazingly enough. We enjoyed our time with family in Baton Rouge, and are settled back into our townhouse in MS now and ready to start the next week.

I have several posts in my head, but we'll see if anything makes it to the world wide web this week.

Have a grand day!

Happy Half Birthday, Nadezhda!

2010-11-24T07:08:00.026-06:00

Today, my sweet daughter, you are six months old. I can hardly believe that six months have gone by. You have grown and changed so much, though you are still quite opinionated. I love how you can tell me what you want already!

In many ways I feel like a first-time parent again, and I thank you for giving me so many new pleasures and special memories.

So, what's new for you in the past month?

Well, here are your stats: You weigh 13 lbs 10 oz with a head circumference of 42 cm and height of 25 1/2 inches.

You are rolling to your tummy like a champ! You love tummy time. And speaking of tummy time, you sleep on your tummy. Sometimes you fuss a little bit when you wake up, but usually all I have to do is say your name, and you calm down and lift up your head to give me the sweetest smile. You melt my heart several times a day, since you still take at least two naps and sometimes three; so I get the thank-you-for-coming-to-get-me-Mommy smile a lot.

not from after a nap, obviously, but still really cute

You're starting to be aware of my presence and absence. If I leave your line of sight for more than about 20 seconds, you start to cry; but then I get that smile again when I come back!

You are really starting to love your big brother, and he adores you! You watch him all the time! I love to watch him try to play with you, and I look forward to the day that you can interact with him more. I think he looks forward to it as well!

And you tolerate it very well when he does try to play with you now.

The jumper from Mimi's house is definitely one of your favorite things! Sometimes you get a little crazy in it, and I have so much fun watching you!

Thankfully you do amazingly better in the car these days! You, Isaiah and I took a trip to Baton Rouge without Daddy, and you did great on the way there, not so great on the way back, but it was later in the day. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you have learned how to tolerate this ~~evil~~ necessity. Maybe one day you'll like riding in the car as much as your brother does.

You have discovered the world of toys! Thanks to brother's therapy, you got to play with some really cool toys earlier than I would have thought, and now you entertain yourself for a while with a few of your favorites at home.

You have 2 teeth! You cut your first tooth November 14, your second a week later and 1 more should pop through any day now. You have a fourth in cue as well. Following in your brother's footsteps yet again, I see.

You had your first cereal at Mimi and JanJan's. For about a week I thought you were doing pretty well with it, but suddenly you decided that you couldn't handle the nasty stuff on your tongue! I've never seen a child stick her tongue as far out of her mouth as you can get yours. Unfortunately, I usually have the bowl and spoon in my hand rather than the camera, so this look might not get captured for posterity. I hope I can remember it for years to come!

a little hard to tell, but she has an adorable messy face

You have found your feet! If you are on your back, it doesn't take you long to grab your toes, sometimes all ten, and move your legs around in the air. Naturally, I think you are absolutely adorable. Sometimes you have one hand in your mouth and the other hand holding a foot, which is also pretty cute.

You love your daddy, not that this is new, but you express it more now. When you are upset in the car sometimes, we can say da-da-da-da-da-da, and you calm down, especially if it's Daddy saying it.

"mugga-mugga" with Daddy

Sadly, you also have your first cold. Brother couldn't resist sharing with you despite our best efforts, and now you are struggling through your first bout of cold, but you keep on smiling through it, and I like that.

But my favorite thing that you've started to do is lay your head on my chest and squeeze me with both arms when you are getting tired. You and your brother give the best hugs!

I love you, Nadezhda! I can't wait to see what the next six months hold. I pray that you will continue to grow strong and healthy for months and years to come but most of all that you will grow to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Baton Rouge, Take 2

2010-11-20T08:00:00.001-06:00

Thomas was in Boring, OR for about a week for some meetings, so between therapy appointments, the kids and I hit the road to see Thomas' parents in Baton Rouge. Amazingly enough, I forgot my camera, but thankfully my mil was gracious enough to give me command of her camera for part of the time we were there; just ignore the date because it's wrong, in case you were wondering.

When we arrived the grandparents couldn't have been happier!

Yes, Isaiah is in his pjs in this pic because we left as soon as Nadia woke up, which meant I had to wake Isaiah up. Traveling by myself, I thought Nadia would do better if we left in the morning. And I was right!

You always have to have special treats when visiting Mimi and JanJan.

Nadia got to try out lots of new things, her second time in Baton Rouge. She LOVES her jumper!

Since we enjoyed the Jackson Zoo so much, we decided to try out the Baton Rouge Zoo. It was lots of fun! Especially since we had so many people to enjoy it with.

At the zoo's playground, Isaiah wasn't left out of the fun. Uncle Rich used his legs to run Little Man around the playground, including Isaiah's favorite--the tunnel slide. Thanks, Rich!

I just love this picture of Thomas' sister and her firstborn.

Nadia finally gave in and slept for about 25 minutes.

Isaiah still wasn't too thrilled with petting animals, but at least he didn't push them away this time.

Only missing 6 at this gathering.

Nadia interacted so much more this visit. I just can't get over how fast she's growing up!

First time at Mimi and JanJan's church for Nadia.

And her first cereal! It was a big weekend for our little girl.

All in all a very good visit. And we look forward to all 4 of us going next week for Thanksgiving!

PS--Scroll down one more post and play our little guessing game!

The Thicket And The Pepper

2010-11-19T23:17:00.008-06:00

One of our supporting churches in Yazoo City, MS has a Reformation Day celebration each year, and when we're in the country we like to attend. You don't have to dress up, but if you chose to do so, you can be a Bible character or someone from church history.

So here's what we did:

Remember the story of Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac? At the "last minute" he's told to check out a nearby thicket where a ram was stuck. Well, Isaiah was that thicket, only we couldn't find a ram (we weren't in NC, you see), so we borrowed a lamb from our friends.

We might have been stretching the theme a little with Nadia's costume, but you know what? God made chili peppers, too. Thanks for including that in the hand-me-down box, Aunt Emily!

Our family had a great time at the party!

And even if Thomas and I cheer a little differently, we still get along really well!

(and I'm just about caught up on my posting, I think) make sure you play our game, if you want to that is

Let's Play

2010-11-19T15:51:00.000-06:00

In honor of our little girl's half birthday, I thought we could play a game. I find it interesting the many different opinion on who our children look like. Guess which baby picture belongs to which person in our family, get the most right, and win a little something fun!

Oh, and to be fair, I suppose I should tell you that while facial features have not been altered in the least, I have played with the photos to hide age. Not all of us have digital photos from our past.

Leave a comment with your guesses, and next Friday I'll announce the winner! Oh, so try not to look at other the comments others have made before making your own guesses. :)

Feel Good Friday--The Return?

2010-11-19T13:47:00.000-06:00

So, it's been a while since I've had the pleasure of participating in Feel Good Friday. I've missed recalling some happy things from each week (though there have been happy things!) and reading the happy posts of others, so now that life is ~~not crazy~~ somewhat normal again, I'm going to try to participate in this fun meme, at least this week.

So here it goes...

Today is my mil's birthday, so my son is helping me pick 5 things about Mimi that make us feel good:

1. Mimi gives great hugs.

2. She makes really good food (particularly her spinach artichoke casserole).

3. She gives me ice cream whenever I want it. (the me being Isaiah, naturally; although, she would get me some, too any time I wanted it)

and JanJan gets some, too

4. She reads the Bible to me.

5. She would do anything for her family!

even though we're a little crazy (and this isn't all of us, there are a few more now)

Happy Birthday!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

2010-11-19T07:08:00.001-06:00

We had so much fun at the fair when my parents were here, that we decided to try another little adventure, so we headed to the Jackson Zoo. It's not the most amazing zoo in the country, but it has some great animals. And the most important part--we got to be together!

Isaiah and I checked out the ducks from the gopher hole. Not sure about that combination, but it was fun.

Isaiah and Grandpa checking out the elephants and zebras.

And Nadia was happy as long as she was being held and played with, which someone was always happy to do.

We've been able to enjoy some other trips to the zoo since then. Being able to have a place to walk around so much outside has helped us in our adjustment back to America. Probably sounds strange, so maybe I'll post about that sometime.

Happy Friday!

Meet Me At The Fair

2010-11-16T07:08:00.001-06:00

We didn't go to a fair in St. Loius, but the kids and I did make it to the MS State Fair; a first for all 3 of us. Thomas was in Chicago at a conference, and my parents came to visit. My dad got into town just in time for us to spend an afternoon at the fair!

Right away we went to the petting zoo. Most kids like to touch the animals, but not my son. The only reason he touched one was to push it further away from him!

We enjoyed some really yummy steak sandwiches, even if Isaiah's was "tube steak".

this is probably 1 of only 2 times that Nadia has fallen asleep in her stroller

We escaped the heat to Isaiah's favorite part of the fair...

CARS!

We enjoyed watching some of the goat judging. The best part was the loving on the grandparents!

Have I mentioned how much we love the nurses and doctors that help us take care of Isaiah? Well, we do. One of them was at the fair with her daughters who were showing goats for the first time. She spotted us across all the pens and brought Isaiah over to see their goats!

Apparently while we were checking out the goats, Nadia was entertaining a small crowd of her own, but she stopped long enough to snap a picture with Gran.

And when we got home, Gran had a surprise for Grandpa.

Isaiah has offered to give Grandpa lessons on how to use his new gift.

Thanks for a great day at the fair, Gran and Grandpa!

Meet Me In St. Louis

2010-11-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

Well, we didn't meet anyone at the fair, but we did meet Thomas' aunt, uncle, cousins, and thankfully his grandmother!

Here are some highlights from our weekend a few weeks ago when we drove up to see his grandmother.

We hadn't see Thomas' grandmother since 2007. She finally got to meet her great-granddaughter!

Sunday lunch with Mamaw

We also had the pleasure of staying a couple of nights with Thomas' cousin and her family. We all enjoyed our stay very much, but no one enjoyed it more than Isaiah.

These 2 were a lot of fun!

We also got to stop in and see a family who had stayed with us in St. Petersburg just before our return to the States. Isaiah was happy to see his friend again, though they both look a bit confused in this picture.

And what would a trip to St. Louis be without some time at The Arch?

It was a great weekend all the way around.

My Little Trooper

2010-11-11T23:00:00.001-06:00

The morning after our first weekend in Baton Rouge, we realized that something was wrong with Isaiah's right leg. I called one of his doctors realizing that we would probably be taking him to the emergency room very soon. And I was right, except that the "we" was just Thomas. I stayed home with Nadia.

I can't explain to you how hard it was to be the one left at home during this situation. I wished that I could be two places at once, but I think that Thomas was right to say that it would be better for Nadia if I stayed home with her. But my phone hardly left my hand!

Long story short Isaiah broke his right femur. How did this happen? Horribly I say, "I don't know for sure." We suspect that he crawled over his right leg with his left, and since his bones are not strong as he doesn't bear weight regularly, it just broke. I remember telling my mom, "Well, I just earned the worst parent of the year award."

Thankfully my mom was able to come and help me, since Thomas had to leave town right after we learned about Isaiah's leg. She was a huge help! Here she was holding him so that I could cut his hair.

After working through my guilty feelings and hearing the doctor say that this is not uncommon with kids who are "insensate", I felt a little bit better, as long as I don't think about it too long. The doctor said that the break had probably taken place at least a week before we took him in, which is normal. His leg had already started to heal.

Isaiah LOVES the iPad. Since he had to do a lot of sitting, he got really good at using it. He even took the time to teach Nadia a thing or two.

For about 6 weeks Isaiah basically had to sit or be carried. No crawling or bearing weight of any kind. Needless to say when that 6 week period was over, he and I were both very happy! He has now been approved to bear weight, and you should see him go at therapy! He has lost some upper body strength through this whole ordeal, but he still remembers the basic mechanics of using his walker.

And praise the Lord, this is usually how he was. His normal happy self.

I'm so proud of my boy!

Welcomed Home

2010-11-10T23:00:00.000-06:00

After our ~~torturous~~ long drive to MS from NC, we were glad to be greeted by Thomas' parents who had prepared our townhouse and even stocked the kitchen with some goodies!

Mimi and JanJan were glad to get their hands on the little ones!

The kiddos enjoyed the bedtime tradition of singing "My Baby Bunting" and "Little Cabin in the Woods" with Mimi and JanJan.

We also got to have the special treat of supper brought by the some of our dear friends, Isaiah and Nadia's honorary aunt and uncle.

After a dizzying 3 days of doctor and therapy appointments we headed to Baton Rouge to see the rest of Thomas' family, or as many as possible.

Here with Aunt Sandra Nadia is showing off her Winston Churchill impersonation.

Of course at Mimi's there are always special treats, like ice cream cones!

We also really enjoyed celebrating our youngest niece's first birthday a little bit early since everyone (but 2) could be there. Her mom did a fantastic job on the yummy cake, and Laila really enjoyed it! We had fun watching her tear into all that sweet goodness. But this picture is her enjoying a yummy lunch first.

Still more catching up to do, but there's a little bit to whet your appetite, if you're interested. :)

North Carolina: The Whirlwind Tour

2010-11-09T23:00:00.000-06:00

Well, a little over 2 months ago we landed on Planet America once again. My parents greeted us in Washington, D.C. with very ready arms! We were blessed to spend the night at my aunt's house, though sadly too tired to remember to take any pictures.

A lot of people have asked me how Nadia did traveling from Russia. I think for a 3 month old she did quite well. From St. Petersburg to Moscow she hardly cried at all. From Russia to New York, a 9 hour flight if I remember correctly, she did fine until the last 3 hours. Then she cried off and on, especially at landing when I couldn't do as much to help her. She slept all of the hour flight from New York to DC, which was nice.

The car however is another story all together.

Here are a few shots from our time in NC, though I must confess that jetlag has greatly affected my memory, and I don't remember everything we did!

Grandpa got to meet Nadia and started getting to know her. Naturally, it was love at first sight!

Isaiah and Grandpa have always been good buddies. They seem to understand each other pretty well. For instance, they both enjoyed sitting on the front porch watching the cars go by. As a car went out of sight, Isaiah would very loudly yell, "Thank you!"

My grandmother now has 2 great grandchildren. We enjoyed lunch with her at the nursing facility where she lives.

I would appreciate your prayers for my grandma. Since our time in NC she has dramatically and quickly declined in health. She spent about 2 weeks in the hospital and has returned to her nursing home under hospice care. Please pray for her to know the Lord!

Our time in NC included a little jaunt into SC. Thomas was able to hang out with our friend, Nathan a little bit, and the kids and I got to relax with the prettier people in Nathan's family, well two of them at least, I can't forget about Maria who was working hard with my parents in Atlanta!

And what's a trip to NC without a little shave with Grandpa? Oh, and here's a funny story: In occupational therapy Isaiah's therapist will use shaving cream to get him to draw things and use his hands more. He saw the shaving cream and said, "Grandpa!" right away. He remembers!

Nadia also got to meet my grandpa!

And my cousin Robin was determined to love on her newest cousin despite the pain in her shoulder from a recent surgery. Yep, she's dedicated.

I particularly enjoyed introducing Nadia to my home church. She got to meet all kinds of special people the Sunday that we were there. Being back at Beacon is always a treat, but this Sunday was extra special, since I could "show off" my little girl!

Nadia started rewarding all of us with smiles on a much more regular basis, which made everyone's day!

Five Months Loving Nadezhda

2010-11-02T07:07:00.000-05:00

So before Nadia is 6 months old, I thought I'd post some pictures from her 5th month. She just keeps on getting cuter and more fun!

She was trying to eat her dress, hence the wet spots by her right knee.

By the end of her 5th month, Nadia started rolling from her back to her tummy. She doesn't seem to get the concept of returning to her back, but she sure is cute as she "swims" around. She'll make a complete circle in no time flat!

A big thank you to some friends in NC for the beautiful blanket with Nadia's name! This will be a special keepsake.

Compared to her brother she's a napping queen! We have our days of not sleeping well, especially as she's teething, it seems, but overall she's a great napper right now. Even with our crazy schedule that throws her afternoon naps out of whack at least 3 times a week, she seems to do really well. Something this mama greatly appreciates!

Talk to her, and she will love you forever, rewarding you with her cute toothless (for the moment) grin, and she will usually talk back!

She's doing better in her sitting, though she still needs support. Sometimes she does really well in her bumbo, when she's not trying to eat it, that is.

first the fingers...

...then the seat.

And I wish I had a video of her in the Baby Bjorn because she's our little ninja baby. People stop me all the time when I'm wearing her and comment on how much she moves. She is literally constant motion. Something has to be moving at all times. One National Guardsman stopped me in Wal-Mart and said that she was controlling traffic, and he was waiting for his signal from her.

we enjoyed a family day at the reservoir

I've also been trying to get a video of her latest noise. She does this hilarious growl when she's happy. Naturally every time I get the camera ready she stops growling. Maybe someday. But you've got to hear it!

She giggles when you kiss her cheek! So of course she gets tons of kisses!

Happy five months, Nadezhda!