First Day of School

For those who have fellow toddlers, you may know the song from Imagination Movers called-First Day of School.  That is the song that Daddy and Annabelle listened to-and Annabelle sang along to---on her way to her first day of school today.  He made a video, but it is REALLY hard to watch because he is was driving a stick shift while holding a video camera!  I am glad Daddy and Annabelle will get to have this special time together each morning while I let her little sister keep sleeping, but it was hard to kiss her goodbye this morning and say goodbye.  This week, our wonderful Aunt Jill is going to pick her up from school, but next week, she will start taking the school bus home.  I think it is kinda funny that Daddy takes her to school in a yellow car and she comes home in a yellow school bus :)  She thinks that is pretty cool! 

I heard nothing but good reports from everyone today and Annabelle was her normal silly self when I made it home so that is a good sign.  We dont see any of the quietness that we saw after her visit on Thursday.  I am sure it will get a little harder as the week progresses but so far so good!  She picked a good week to start though because two of her classmates of birthdays this week and there is a party on Friday for Halloween!  So fun :)  Thanks for all the prayers!  We prayed before she left this morning and she was smiling the whole time we were praying for her.  Such a sweet memory for me to send her off with covering from her heavenly father and physical protection from her wonderful Daddy! 

Something Different...

Today I walked down a hallway of little lockers in an Elementary School.  The last time I did this was visiting my nieces and nephews at their schools.  Today was different because at the other end of those lockers was a classroom designed for MY DAUGHTER.  And on Monday, she will have a locker with her name on it, be given assignments, attendance taken, ride a school bus and all together be a BIG girl.  The days of deciding to take a day off of work to spend the day with her, staying in our PJs longer than we should on a work day or just enjoying story time together in the mornings has come to an end and now she will go to school. 

She has been in daycare since she was 3 months old, but this is different.  I know have parent teacher conferences scheduled, attendance rules and an elementary school with my daughter enrolled in it.  How did we get here so fast...I was supposed to have 2 more years before this happened!!!

I know it will be such a great opportunity for her and I know she needs some extra help getting ready for Kindergarten because of her difficulties, but this is not exactly what I was emotionally prepared for when I started this process.  She will be in an inclusion classroom designed for children with disabilities.  What that means is that all but 3 children in her classroom are "non-diagnosed" children and my daughter is diagnosed with a disability that requires "special ed".  So here we go...

Today she got to play in the classroom while Italo and I attended a meeting to discuss her goals.  She was SOOOO excited to go to her new school and almost bounced down the hallway into the classroom.  She walked into the room and when we came back it was a different story.  She left with the weight of the world in her head and was VERY quiet on the way home.  I was emotionally overwhelmed so I am sure she was as well.  Watching her for about 30 mins in the classroom confirmed that we were doing the right thing with this new path, but it was heartbreaking to see her with the other kids.  I can not wait to see how much she changes in this environment because it will be so great for her, but when you almost think she was getting better on her own and then get smacked in the face with the reality that she is not and still has a long way to go, it is hard.  It is hard to see your daughter hurting,  It is hard not to be able to help her.  It is hard not to have the answers. 

I know that God has all of this under control and I know that He will provide comfort to me and Annabelle through this process, but it is really hard right now!  We would sure appreciate your prayers for us over the next few weeks as we transition to our new normal.  And look out for a big girl getting off a school bus on Monday with a backpack as big as her :)

Parenting is like being a Referee

Parenting is a really tough thing to do. I have been thinking a lot about what it can be associated with, and I determined that it reminds me a lot as being a referee in a soccer game.

See, the main objective of the referee in soccer, is not to ensure the flow of the game, or the enforcement of the rules of the game. The main objective of the referee is to ensure the well being of the players on the field – and that takes precedence over anything else.

In the same way, as a parent, the main objective is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my children (and any other that they may be playing with at the time). There is, of course, the enforcement of the rules as well. Rules are established to ensure the order. In our house, we have defined some rules as guidelines to follow. Such as Maggie will be asked to return a toy to Annabelle if she takes one of Annabelle’s special toys. This is kind of like a foul be called on the field. Toy is returned and playtime carries on – no big deal. Other times a yellow or red card may be used. If one of the kids hits or pushes the other intentionally, then a Time Out may be enforced followed with an apology, a hug, and a kiss.

Of course, there is more to parenting than being a referee to them, such as actually playing with them and having all kinds of crazy laughs together. But at the core – there are a few primary goals. Their safety and wellbeing is always at top of my list.

The never ending saga.....

I have always loved cars. Even from a young age, the attaction to these four wheeled machines was just there. The love manifested itself with the purchase of Matchbox cars. Soon, I started to realize that some things are just built better than others. I loved my Matchbox car collection that was built in England; but when the plant was moved to China, the quality of the toy just flat out dropped! I still have a little collection left, and suprisingly, I the cars that I didn't manage to totally distroy are still kept in a car case hidden inside my desk at work. We have a new china cabinet at home, I may just take over a shelf to put them on display again... :-)

Anyways - that was a totaly off the topic paragraph to say I have been working on my real car again. Amy's car is 3 months away from needing an inspection. The check engine light would turn on and off on it's own last year, and I snuck it to the shop while the light was off. It was a lucky moment that delayed the need to really correct the problem for another year. :-)

This year, the light is not going off - it is a pretty solid yellow light that never seems to have an off day. In reading the codes, I get P0141 and P0400. The P0400 code is related to the EGR system. When I took the tube out a while back, this is what I saw:

I cleaned it out pretty good and put it all back together. I think the light went off for a moment once, but that was it. Not nearly long enough to get a new inspection sticker.

Last week I thought I'd see if I could correct it by clearing all the passages into the valve covers. There is one tiny hole on each cover that can be clogged with sludge. I thought I'd see if I could remove the vacuum hoses, and clear them out. I guess I should have known that rubber hoses on a 10 year old car would have become brittle to some extent. Some were impossible to move, and ended up being busted. I ended up going to AutoZone and purchasing some new generic hoses to replace the busted ones. When I put them all back together, I noticed that some of the other hoses I thought were fine were starting to crack. I kind of gave up hope of it correcting the issue, but I did clear out the two tiny little holes on the valve covers.

Yesterday, I went to go get the tires rotated and balanced. Nothing like waking up early Saturday morning to go get tires rotated if you ask me... Yes, I really don't like doing this. If I could, I'd buy the equipment needed to do all the balancing of tires in my own garage. Anyways - I learned that the tires are no good. Steal belt is starting to show through on some of the tires. Looks like I'll need to get some new ones by December if I really want this car to pass inspection. I have a new tire I want in sight by the way - but just need to wait a little before I can get it.

Today, for some reason I felt a little more inspired to correct the other issue. I went ahead and tackled the P0141 issue - which is a bad oxygen sensor. I went to AutoZone and purchased the needed replacements. I jacked up the car, pulled the old ones out and put the new ones in (it really was that simple). I think it will clear the code after a few start/stop cycles - but we will see.

I also went ahead and ordered all new rubber hoses needed to the EGR valve system as well, so hopefully it is just a vacuum leak that is keeping that pretty yellow dash light on, and a few good replacement parts will correct the problem.

Thank you Game...

At small group past week we were talking about things we felt entitled to and Gladice suggested that we play the Thank You Game at the end so we would start to realize how much we had instead of focusing on what we may not have. 

I decided I needed to play the "Thank You Game" specifically for Annabelle so here is what I am thankful for about her:

She is very predictable
She stays in her room at night no matter how long it takes her to fall asleep
She tells me she loves me
She likes to give kisses to her friends and family members
She loves to go anywhere I am going
She loves Jesus and can not go to sleep without saying her prayers (and brushing her teeth)
She asks about and for her friends
She gives the best hugs ever
She has a very grateful heart-she always asks who gave her things and realizes that everything is a gift
She does not let me be in control
She finds absolute delight in going to visit people
 

Thank you Lord for giving me a daughter than makes me rely on you everyday!

Stories

You need to understand that the One who is writing your story, has bigger plans for you than you would ever have for yourself." -Paul Tripp

This was the facebook status for two of my friends this morning.  Powerful huh!

The reason I find it so powerful is because I need to believe it is true with my head, my heart and with the way I live my life.  In my head, I know this to be true.  I have since I was a small child.  I was told by countless people that this was true and I believe it.  However, I do not let this thought transform how I live me life.  IF I did, I would live a surrendered life.  I would not try to control my thoughts, my emotions, my actions and my desires.  I would not get angry with the my life when I see the shape of other people's life.  I would not covet my neighbors lifestyle, my friend's children, my husband patience,  I would embrace where I am in my life each and every day and would live a life surrendered to the process of growth that God has for me. 

I love to watch movies, read books and hear people talking about their life...their stories.  Each time I do, I see a glimpse into the reality of someone else's life and when the person is a Christian, I hear how the gospel of Grace transformed their life.  It cant helped but come out, because when Christ gets a hold of your life you will be forever changed.  I enjoy seeing people in all areas of that reality.  I guess that is why I like reading blogs because I get to read stories each and every day. 

I am happy to share my story with those who want to hear it, but most of the time I have a hard time accepting that story for myself.  Why?  Because there are parts I dont like.  There are labels and "titles" I have that I dont like because of that story.  The biggest title I have that I dont like is SINNER!  I have seriously messed things up.  I live a life that is marked my selfishness, self indulgence, pride and guess what...it does not seem to be getting better. 

Here is the good news...God can work in my life and use me for GOOD even though my story has not been completed to perfection!  Don't believe me?  Take some time to read any story from the Bible about our "heroes".  Adam...Abraham...Jacob...David...Paul...I could go on.  God did amazing things with those men, but he did it IN SPITE of them.  Not because they were special, successful or powerful, but because God was.  I think that most remarkable thing about all of those men is when they laid their head down for the final time and left this world, they probably recognized how powerless they were and how great God was. 

When I was a little girl,  I would sit in my window sill, or in my tree house and dream about the life I would have one day.  I would act out "scenes" from that life.  I would play all the roles of the husband, the kids and myself and no one ever got frustrated, no one got tired, no one disobeyed.  I had a great time :)  However that little girl grew up...I realized that not everyone was going to act out the role of husband, child, friend, parent like I did when I was acting as them.  And I realized that I was not going to act the way I thought I would either.  I never dreamed of yelling at my daughter because she would not get in the car.  I never thought I would get frustrated with my husband for wanting to put his arm around me because I was so hot from running around that I could not take one more heat source on my arm.  I never thought that I would get frustrated with my daughter because she was trying to pull her way up my leg so I would hold her instead of making dinner.  I never thought I would be divorced.  I never thought I would be a working mom.  I never thought I would not understand how to teach my daughter.  I never thought I would....  BUT I DID! 

So, if I could surrender each part of that story to the One who has the power to heal, to restore, to make beauty from ashes...AGAIN.  If I could stop being the potter, the author, the artist and let the true master take the reins...Imagine what could happen. 
     

The Black Dog

Annabelle had her first bad dream last night/this morning....

I was getting ready for work when I heard Annabelle crying in the house.  I called out to her to tell her I was in the closet because I thought she was sad she did not know where I was.  She came in, tears in her eyes, and just wanted to cuddle.  Not knowing what the problem was, I tried to cuddle her and talk to her but she just kept whimpering.  After about 15 mins, the reason came out. 

She said a dog came into her room, was looking and growling at her and was now under her bed.

I dont know what she imagined, but this was the image that came to my mind.  At that moment, I realized that a bit of her innocence was gone.  She will no longer think that all dreams are about ballons and cupcakes and she did before going to bed last night (which is her standard answer when asking about what she dreamed of). 

We talked about dreams and the fact that they are not real but it is okay to be scared of what we see in our mind.  We looked under her bed for the dog and it was not there.  When Maggie got up, she wanted to look under her bed to see if the dog was there.  She then said the dog's name was Daisy and that it was probably a nice dog. 

I wonder if this is really more like the dog she saw:

I will never know, but I think it will be interesting to see what she wants to talk during our bedtime chat tonight before bed....

     

Lessons from our Kids

My friend Sherah blogged about her daughter saying No! the other day and I thought her words were so great explaining what our kids teach us about our heavenly father.  It has got me seeing the things my kids do through that lense.  A few morning ago, Annabelle was enjoying her cereal bar in the playroom while watching one of her recorded shows on the computer.  She came running into the kitchen and said, "Mommy my arm is REALLY hurting,  It hurts so bad.  Can you please help me?"  First off, I was tickled pink that she said all of those words.  A few months ago this scenario would have resulted in about 15 mins of SCREAMING and me trying to figure out what on earth was wrong.  So after I did m happy dance and tried to figure out hos she had hurt herself.  I had to giggle a little bit because the source of her PAIN was crumbs from her cereal bar on her arm.  I brushed them off, gave her a kiss and she said, "That is so much better, thank you so much Mommy!" 

I remember in High School thinking that some people were so silly for getting all worked up about the smallest things and it used to irritate me to no end that these "trivial" things were mentioned as prayer request before each class began.  This has stuck around with me slightly into my adult life, but I understand that the WORST thing is some people's life may not be the worst thing in my life and you can't compare troubles with people-EVER!  It is all relative but the thing that shook me to the core a few mornings ago was:

God cares about the crumbs on our arm and wants to help us get over the pain!

He may not always brush them off for us but he will comfort us until they no longer bother us or until they are gone.

Amazing that God does not tell us to ask our friends if we should be upset about a certain situation or google remedies to our problems and came to him ONLY after we have exhausted all of our own resources, he tells us to come to Him, lay our burdens down and he will give us rest.  He WANTS to hear from us.  He WANTS to help us.  He WANTS us to be dependent on Him for all of the answers and not just the ones we cant find somewhere else.  Nothing is too little or too big for HIM!     

In these tough economic times...

I came across these hilarious pictures of cheap home repairs today.  The made me laugh at loud-except for a few I did not understand what they were trying to fix...  like the urinals and the camera???  Please enlighten me :)

But the funniest part of this post was how true to life some of those photso seemed!  You see my Husband is a very handy guy.  If there is a problem with our cars or our house, my wonderful husband is going to find a solution.  However, our budget is not in a place where we can put extra away to have money for car repairs or home repairs so when something happens, he has to be more creative than others might because he usually can't spend much on the said repair.  I know it puts him in quite the guandry on each of the repairs, but somehow he ALWAYS finds a way to restore the issue and spend very little if any money!

He has repaired his laptop power connection with alumimun foil

He has repaired a $800 broken cable in our car with some basic electric cables 

He has replaced our engine mounts for less than 1/8 the cost of the car repair shop

  

He has pulled the EGR valve out of our car and cleaned it out rather than spending the money buying a new one

He has repaired the damage done by countless animals who decided to make our attic and different parts of our house their home

He has crafted an antenna to get us free of the fees of cable television (i will let him share all about this in his own blog post)

And the list could go on and on!  He is amazing at saving us money and doing things on a shoe string budget.  All I can say that I have done to save our family money is giving up my preference of highlighted hair for boring brown hair and cooking more meals than we eat out.  I really appreciate how handy he is and it allows us to stay out of debt that I am sure we would have if we had to charge these needed car and home repairs!

The craziest part about all this handiness is that it took me a LONG time to come around to letting him do these things!  This whole issue reared its head a few months before we got married.  We got married in September of 2005 and in June of 2005, we purchased our first house together.  So do the math and that means that there were 3 months before our wedding day that we owned a home.  I moved out of my apartment and into my parents house and he moved in to our new home.  It was difficult for me to see him starting to do things on our house and for some reason I jsut did not want him spending time messing arounf with repairs.  I wanted to pay someone to do the work so I could have all to myself.  We actually had the biggest fight in a relationship-still to this day-over him repairing a sprinkler system!  We were both furious that the other person would not give in and fought for several hours in my parents front lawn over this issue.  It is so crazy I was so resistant to his handiness, but I guess I had to learn to trust him.  And stop being so dang stubborn!

I am so happy with all his creative genisus when it comes to his repairs but I really hope we dont find ourselves in the situation that many of those in the link above did and not have some money to buy the materials to make the visible repair attractive!   
   


  

My little Maggie Rose

I can not believe how quickly my Maggie Rose is growing up!  I thought it was time to document a glimpse into our world with her.  She now has 8 teeth.  The top 4 came in all at once and the two additional bottom teeth are making their way through the gums right now!

Besides a runny nose she has not made too big of a fuss about her teeth.

Maggie is full of life and quite the little kidder.  Each morning I go into her room and she plays a silly little game with me where she grabs her paci and her biggest blankie and lays down and waits for me to rub her back.  Then I rub her back and give her a little tickle and she jumps up, giggles and then moves her blankie to another part of the bed and starts over.  Unless I mention breakfast, this could go on for a LONG time! 

Maggie really enjoys eating and will eat more than anyone else in our family!  Only once in a blue moon she will tell me she is done, but mostly she just signs "more" and "Eat" over and over again!

She is not a fan of all of our water outings, but is starting to tolerate them more and more.  She usually finds the shallowest part of the water and enjoys licking up the water like a doggie!

The other night we went to a splash park and she seemed to like that a little better but after a little while she decided to head for greener pastures!

Maggie is very affectionate and loving.  Her favorite thing to search for is a lap that she can sit down in.  I dont think she minds much whose laps she finds as long as there is one around :)  She has started giving kisses when asked for one and it is so much fun to get them from her!  Even if she does give you some tongue with her kisses they are awesome! 

  Maggie has started to get more sleep during the day due to our new nanny that we LOVE so she and Annabelle are able to go to bed at the same time each evening.  That means that all 4 of us pile into Annabelle's bed for prayer time each night and we all exchange LOTS of kisses!  Annabelle and Maggie LOVE getting and giving kisses from each other and I LOVE listening to their precious giggles.  I wish I could see Annabelle and Maggie enjoying more special sister time but mostly Annabelle plays and Maggie just watches.  Annabelle does not really play WITH Maggie but I know she loves her little sister very much.  I pray that Annabelle will develop the skills to tolerate playing with her sister over the next few years but until then, I treasure each moment I see them playing beside each other or interacting in some way. 

My girl is a serious animal lover!  If she sees an animal anywhere is sight, she gets all excited and starts "talking" all about them!  My poor cat is chased around the house all day long but so far she has never been caught but Maggie.  I wish Makey would let Maggie pet her and sit down with her, but alas that is not in the cards.  Somehow she seems to have the same "fleeting" effect on all of the animals she encounters!

Maggie really is a sweet spirit and is at the stage where she really listens and obeys to most of what I saw.  I think it is amazing to see her looking for permission and guidance as she goes through her day.  She will start toward something and always gives me a little look of-"Mommy is this okay" before she continues.  I know the days of this obedience are going to be short lived so I am treasuring them as I see them now.  She is starting to push the limits these days and doing things I have asked her not to.  In the picture below she is barely touching the water and looking at me to see if it is ok.  So sweet....and disobedient at the same time :) 

Maggie does not have any words yet, but we find a way to communicate pretty well most of the time.  I am starting to teach her more and more sign language until her vocabulary catches up with her.  For now, she understands everything we say and is mimicking sounds she hears for words she likes. 

My dear sweet Maggie...you are such a joy to my life and truly make each day sweeter with your magical hugs and kisses.  You are loved beyond measure by your Daddy, your sister and your Mommy!  I pray that I can get to know you more and more over the next several years and unlock the key to your mind and heart so I can find the best way to teach you.

 

Life of a Mom...

I came across this article today and was seriously laughing out loud!  I guess there are people out there that really think this way, but I bet they will never talk to me about it :)

It is the hardest transition ever to try to get things done and be a mom.  It takes me 4-5 times the amount of time to get things picked up around my house then it used to because I start one chore and hear a scream and go running to see what the problem is.  I start another one and someone poops or pees on the floor and I have to stop and tend to that.  It is not uncommon at all to walk around my house on a Saturday afternoon and see about 10 different chores partially finished.  It has gotten progressively worse as the kids have gotten older.  I figured it would get better, but maybe that will happen in a few more years! 

The other issue is that I am SEVERLY outnumbered when it comes to picking things up.  There are 4 people that make a mess and only 1 that picks up. Well, Maggie does like to help me fold clothes but she just shakes them out and throws them on the floor.  And Annabelle has started to gather things up and put them away, but I usually cant figure out where she has put them...  But the thoughts are nice! :)

As different as my household chores are, it does make it worth it that I get lots of hugs and kisses as payment...and those come from 3 people so I guess I am outnumbered in that area as well :)

A Road map

How many times have you heard the Bible referred to as road map in sermons from distinguished pastors?  I have heard this NUMEROUS times.  In fact, I bet I have even said it a time or two in my life.  However my pastor made a comment a few months ago in a sermon about the Bible not being so much a road map but a way to learn about the nature and character of God which can transform our hearts and help us reform our steps. 

That has stuck with me because it really changed my view on the authoritative word of God and what role it should play in my life.  One of the things I figured out was that I was actually a little frustrated that I could not think of the Bible in that way because then I wanted to know-then where the heck is the road map!!

You see-I don't do well without knowing the answers to the questions about where my path is going and why I am on that path and how I can get off of that path if I want to and most importantly what I am supposed to accomplish on the path.  I want ANSWERS.  Well-guess what...We don't always have the answers-and we don't always get a road map for exactly how to perform each activity in our life. 

However, when we DO get a road map-it is such a nice peaceful feeling!  What I have come to realize more and more over the last few weeks is that one of the road maps that we do have is received from those whom God has placed in our lives.  I wrote about what Community does for me in my last blog post and this has been reinforced even more during the last few weeks. 

My particular new challenge is trying to uncover what it looks like to raise a little girl with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  Last week, Annabelle was diagnosed and since I have had the privilege of talking to 2 particular "road maps" about how her little brain works.  Her grandfather and her daddy.  They are able to put adult understanding into a 3 years brain that quite frankly-baffles me!  I know they will not always have the answers that I so desperately trying to figure out from Annabelle but it is so nice to hear their truth about their brains work.  So now instead of looking at something that Annabelle does and saying-WHAT? into blank air, I can saw-WHAT? to my husband and he can say-"maybe this is what is going on."  So refreshing. 

I know that they will not have all the answers-they aren't supposed to...but it is great to have some insight and a map that is being constantly filled in.  And I get to learn the lesson that God is enough to sustain me AND Annabelle as we both navigate through the rest of the years God has planned for us.  God is GOOD!
       

       

So Happy Together

On Sunday, I FINALLY got to see Babies.  It is a great movie that I have been anxious to see since I saw the previews a few months back.  I was hard pressed to find someone who wanted to see it, but finally my friend Katie-the trooper-said she would go with me.  It was different than what I was expecting and really it was like watching a home movie played to music with a few sounds here and there.  I thought it would have been more documentary like with voice overs explaining what we were seeing or explaining traditions etc, but it was just video of 4 babies in 4 parts of the world.  Here is how I would rank my desire to raise a baby in these parts of the world:
1.  Namibia
2.  Japan
3.  San Francisco
4.  Mongolia
I had pretty strong impressions from my first choice and last choice locations and the reason for both is the same.  I CRAVE community.  In fact when I thing of Namibia I decided that this is the absolute best way to raise babies.  Of course it would take some getting used to-walking around topless, letting babies poop on your leg and cleaning it off with dried corn, licking your baby to clean them, but looking beyond the creature comforts what I thought was amazing and quite exciting was the fact that the mommy had another mommy there with her doing everything together.  They walked to the river together, they ground their rocks to make paint together, they made meals together, etc.  Each time they showed a scene, I had tears in my eyes thinking how great that would be. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the baby from Mongolia lived in a remote field with no other family around.  In fact the whole movie I only saw one other person besides the family and that was a doctor that came to weigh the baby on a house call.  The baby from Mongolia was PRECIOUS and would provide a lot of entertainment on his own but I could not take that as a only form of contact.

Thinking about this over the last few days I am starting to see how much my emotional well being is controlled by those around me.  When Annabelle was born, I had one friend who was a mommy.  My sweet friend Kim.  Landen was 7 months old when Annabelle was born and I had serious adjustment issues.  I will never forget being in my chair holding Annabelle shortly after she was born and Kim calling me to check on my and feeling like I was talking to the guru of motherhood.  It felt so nice to talk to someone who knew where I was.  She provided advice and a listening ear to a mommy who was losing it!  Fast forward 2 years and Maggie joined our family and I had LOTS of mommies to help share in the journey.  We had friends come over to eat dinner with us, babies for both girls to play with and mots of people for Mommy to talk to.  In fact, the day we came home from the hospital, 2 good friends  were at our house staying with Annabelle while she took a nap.  As it turned out, Kyle had to take Ryland home to nap because she was keeping Annabelle up and so Sherah and Talitha stayed at our house for several hours waiting for our sleeping beauties to wake up.  God orchestrated those few hours just for me!  I dont know that I would have been able to tell anyone that I needed people around me in those early days but it made such a difference.  During my maternity leave, I had play dates, outings and all kinds of fun with my family.  I was loving life and I can not say that about my early days with Annabelle. 

This past weekend, my very talented husband was working on a home repair project ALL DAY on Saturday.  To be honest I still dont know exactly what he was doing, but on a day I look forward to hanging with ALL my family, we were one man down.  My family was not complete without my fun husband and I started to get really sad.  Now, to be honest, the way that sadness showed up was being quite angry with him for taking so long, but honestly, I just wanted to go to the park or get some ice cream or WHATEVER else he wanted to do together as a family.  After a few days of contemplation, I realized that I need people much more than I every thought I did. 

Of course this can go to an extreme that is unhealthy-co dependence, but I really dont think I have an unhealthy need for this type of togetherness and I think it is quite biblical to share life with people around you.  Recognizing that I NEED anything from other people is honestly a little hard to admit, but after 35 years I finally am able to say it-and finally able to recognize it.

So for those who read this and are part of my "hit" of people time-THANK YOU.  You all make life easier to enjoy and stir my heart for the Lord!                 

Then and Now

One of the reasons I was most excited about going to Santiago was because that is where Italo and I went for our Honeymoon almost 5 years ago.  We spent about 2 weeks there in a wonderful hotel room in downtown Santiago.  It was a magical time for us getting to know each other on a new level and I LOVED learning about the city that Italo lived in for about 5 yrs.  Since I was not able to speak the language he took really good care of me and I LOVED sitting back and letting him make all the decisions about how we were going to get some place and him ordering for me etc. 

This trip was different because we spend all of our time with our family and we had the small matter of 2 small kids to accompany us!  It was nice to spend time in Mom and Dad's house and the girls LOVED sleeping in the same room.  I am thinking we might just move them into a room together soon since they liked it so much---and we will get a guest room/play room out of the deal :)  We did not really do much on this trip that we did on our honeymoon but the final day we were there, we did visit the Santa Lucia castle in downtown.  When I told Annabelle we were going to a castle, she first said-YAY SAND.  Then I told her it was not a sand castle but a REAL castle and then she said-"I want to see the Princess!".  It took a while to get there that day and so we heard about the Princess and the Castle quite a bit that day!!

Once we got everything loaded up in the car for our departure that evening, we dropped the bags off at the church so we would have more room in the car as we drove around the city.  We then started the long journey of going around the castle.  It is quite beautiful and it brought back a lot of good memories of our time there while we were on our honeymoon!

Almost 5 years ago, I stood on these stairs looking at my husband and dreaming of the life we would share together.  I sat in front of this fountain with a wonderful man I was privileged  to call my husband and wondering what life would be like in 5 years

Now 5 years later, I sit on those stairs looking at my husband loving the life we have and sat in front of that same fountain with my girls wondering what the next 5 years will look like for our family.  The one thing that is FOR SURE is that I love my husband more today than I did 5 years ago and love the family that God has created in the 5 years he has allowed us to be together. 

Thank you Jesus for all of your blessings!

Silly Pili

Italo's mom has a friend here in Chile named Pili.  She became a Christian shortly after his parents arrived in Chile and has been a dear friend to Mom and Dad and also to Italo when they moved to Chile.  At the time of their relocation Italo was about 15 or 16 yrs old and really bonded with Pili.  On my first visit to Chile, she was SO sweet to me and said that she had prayed for me for years.  Of course she did not know who she was praying for but she was faithful to pray for a wife for her friend Italo.  I felt so priveledged when she told me that and really felt that quite often during our honeymoon as we meet different people during out stay.  I am sure it is a little wierd to Pili that we came back to Chile with 2 more people in our family than the first time we came here but she is still so sweet and gives great hugs when you see her. 

At the birthday party for Dad on Saturday, Pili came to the party and when Italo introduced Annabelle to Pili he did so by saying her name was Silly Pili (Pilly).  The name stuck and Annabelle has asked about several times since they first met.  On Sunday I got the priveledge of meeting her granddaughter who is about 5 1/2 months old and is a true doll.  She is very cuddly and sooooo cute.  Her name is Emilia (pronced Amelia) and it is has been very fun to talk to her Mommy about raising babies in Chile.  Natalia got married and within a year was pregnant with their first child.  She said all she ever wanted was to be a Mommy and wants 5 kids by the time all is said and done.  She and her family live with her parents, Silly Pili REALLY spoils her little granddaughter. 

 

Her room is truly made for a Princess.  The little crib is decked out in beautiful blankets and a canopy.  She let us borrow the bed for Maggie to sleep in and Nati was very suprised Maggie would go to sleep anywhere we put her.  Maggie is always a very easy baby to put to sleep but because she was not feeling well, she was even easier.  So Nati asked me how I got her to sleep and I told her that I contiioned Maggie from a young age that once the door closed for a nap or for bedtime, it did not open again until it was time to get up.  Natalie was very eager to learn more but Silly Pili wanted nothing to do with such TORTURE!  It was really funny. 

The property that Pili and her family lives on is gorgeous and we were able to get lots of fun pictures of Annabelle.  

    

When we arrived, we were invited to go outside to eat some appetizers and everyone was beyond amazed that I would take my girls out in the fall/winter weather with bare legs.  Everyone was very concerned and finally brought me some tights and a coat for Maggie.  I think they all felt much better once she was decked out right for the weather.  I was glad too because it was a lot colder than I thought it would be and did not know we would be outside.  However, I had a lot of worried moms to take care of the girls!

After Maggie woke up from her nap we tried to get some family photos and I did not put the warm wardrobe back on and Nati and Pili were cringing the whole time.  Finally Nati brought me the coat and put it on Maggie saying she just HAD to wear it!  It made me laugh but I really thought it was super sweet of her to care for my little girl like that.  The family photos did not turn out very well but the new picture at the top is from the attempts.  As Italo said, at least we were all in the Picture ;)

That evening Nati and her family came over with a lot of other folks from the church and "watched" a soccer game and ate some Completos (Hot Dogs).  No one but Italo and I actually watched the game but they all enjoyed their food, friends and good conversation.  Nati actually speaks VERY good english and I really enjoyed chatting with her about kids.  She really liked all the modern ways of doing things with kids including keeping them on a schedule and NOT feeding them Coca Cola in their bottles but those around her thought she was peculiar.  It is quite remarakable how different even the smallest things are in regard to babies and it was very nice for me to take a step back and see what other people thing is normal. 

 Besides the conversation with Nati, I also really enjoyed my first taste of a Chilean Hot Dog-Completo.  It was different and ingredients I would have never thought belonged together but it was quite good.  The Completo is made with a large roll and a hot dog complete with Avocado, Tomatoes and Mayonaise.  YUMMY

Cesitar!

As I have said, we came to Chile primarily to celebrate Dad's 60th Birthday.  However as an added benefit we got the priveledge of celebrating a 5 year old's birthday as well!  Cesar Alfonso Bergen was born on May 4th 2005 in Santiago de Chile.  I have only had the opportunity to see him a few times since that day.  The first time was a few days before my wedding day.  He was a VERY cute little ring bearer.

He was only a few months old at the time and of course I was super busy getting married so I did not get to see him very much.  But he was super cute and I was so glad that I got to meet him!  The next time we saw him he was about 18 months old and we made a trip to MN to visit Bruno and Heather and Mom and Dad fro Mom's birthday in September of 2006.  He was a very compact ball of energy.  Super cute but he was more interested in his cousins than with boring old Aunt Amy.  The next time I saw him was September 2008 when he and his Mama came through Dallas on their way home from Maui.  We only saw him for an afternoon and he did not talk to me very much since he was primarily speaking Spanish.  He and Annabelle seemed to have a great time playing together!

I was very excited to see him and his sister during this trip and since Alessandra has been in the hospital since we arrived we have gotten to spend lots of time with Cesar because his parents have needed help with him.  That was has been quite the joy!  For the most part, Annabelle and Cesar have played very well together.  When he first came into the house, he had a HUGE smile on his face and was very happy to give me a big hug!  Annabelle was very glad to have a cousin to play with and they were SOOOO cute together!  As time as gone on, they have started to get in little fights here and there but nothing too major.  Cesar is a very sweet hearted boy who likes to play with a venegance.  He seems to be comfortable in any situation you put him in and has even proven to be a good translator for me with some of the kids in the area. 

On Tuesday we were excited to celebrate his birthday amidst the emotions of his sister being in the hospital.  However, the night before his mommy went home from the hospital sick while Mom went to be with Alessandra.  The next morning, the birthday boy woke up feeling sick and sleep a good part of the day. 

However that evening, we were able to go over to their house and have a little party with him.  Annabelle was very glad to have another person to sing Happy Birthday to and of course she knew cake was coming!  We went to the mall to buy him a birthday present and even though Annabelle was very excited about this venture she feel asleep as soon as her head hit the stroller!

 

But when we got back into the car she was happy to be going to the party.  When we arrived, the big boys started playing with the Wii and did not give the birthday boy much of a turn. 

However once he opened his birthday presents he had lots to keep him occupied.  Annabelle took over the new soccer game we gave him but he was a trooper to share his brand new toy.  So Sweet!

We had a delicious cake for his birthday but everyone was feeling a little sick and Annabelle, Italo and I were the only ones to indulge in the cake.  O well! Annabelle would have been very confused if she had gone to a party and not gotten cake!  It was a good dinner for us ;)

That evening Maggie had started to have a fever again and was not feeling up to par but she did enjoy getting a walk in at the mall

And a bounce in her cousin's bouncer

All of that activity tuckered her out pretty quickly and she was REALLY ready to go to bed by the time we finally got home.  She was asleep as soon as I laid her down and before I even got a chance to get out of the room ;)