I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, obviously. I realized part of my issue is that life is so normal here that stuff that resonated with me 6 years ago barely blips on my radar, so it’s hard to remember things to write about. I was thinking about all of this as I was driving through St. Marc on Thursday doing some errands and going to pick Olivia up. I tried to be more intentional about remembering the things I was seeing.

Do you want a window into my drive?

First off, it involves me playing my iPod through the car speakers, which results in me singing at the top of my lungs at times. Especially when it’s just me in the car. I miss that about living here. I like driving, and I liked commuting because it gave me time on my own where no one could intrude on my thoughts. I like that I get to drive Olivia to school because it’s “me” time.

On the way to town I was apparently not driving fast enough for the blue van behind me, jam packed with people. He passed me, only to get stuck in a line of traffic later.

As I went over the speed bumps at the gates of St. Marc the guys selling juice and water in little bags were waiting for their next mark. Any bus, or piblik, as they’re called here warrants them running down the road to chase a sale. It always amazes me when the guys just manage to get a hand hold, and jump on the back of the bus. These are old school busses, often painted up brightly, and packed to triple capacity, and that’s just the people. The juice guys will grab on to the ladder going up to the roof of the bus at the same time that they jump, and I always hold my breath hoping they get that first foot up there so I don’t have to worry about running them over as they fall back down. Did I mention they do this with a 5 gallon bucket in hand or jimmy rigged over a shoulder? It’s insane. They’ll ride the bus to the next stop, and sell things to people through the windows, or get off when the bus stops. When they’re done, they’ll look for one going back to where they came and repeat the process all over again.

As I drive into St. Marc I quickly remember that I can take the beach road, and almost miss my turn. Thankfully there weren’t any other cars or motorcycles in my way… As I drive along the road I’m grateful that the road crew has been working on this section. It means not having to fight through bumper to bumper traffic on the main road going through town. I drive along, being happy that this repaired road literally cuts about 10 minutes off the drive getting to the store. And then I hit traffic. It’s the first time since the repairs that it’s been so bottlenecked. I quickly realize that the cause of the bottle neck are cars, trucks, container trucks and other vehicles parked two deep on either side of the road. There’s only room for one lane of traffic, which means me and the guy in front of me have to pull over into an open section amongst the parking while a truck with a shipping container slowly creeps by us. I watch in my side mirror to see if he’ll squeak through without putting another scratch in the car. Not that it matters. It’s looking a bit rough, just like most cars here. He makes it, but with only a few inches to spare. Chris always says that if they don’t whack your mirror there’s still lots of room. I know I’ve been here for a while now because I’m measuring things by the same standard. The cause for the blokis is revealed as I notice that there are even UN vehicles parked by the douane. There is a banner hanging over the road announcing it’s International Customs Day. There must be some sort of ceremony or whatever that has everyone and their car out to block the road.

I head to the grocery store and greet Kamar, one of our former security guards inside. He was transfered about 6 months ago. I quickly start to gather my list of items, which I’ve actually forgotten in the car. Good thing my memory is good. I get the deli guy to cut me some cheese while I get most of the other things on my list. $12 for two pounds of mozzarella. Ouch. This is why we’re trying to cut back on certain things. I’m familiar to the people working in the store and they smile and greet me when I come to the check out. It’s not abnormal for people to ask where the kids are when I go shopping :)

I head outside with my bags. As I load them in the car a guy that is usually panhandling out in front of another store has taken up a new post here. He speaks English. It grinds on me. I get in my car and go to the end of the street to turn around then head out into traffic.

The process of driving here is one that requires full brain power. Not only are you trying to drive your vehicle responsibly, you’re doing it in utter chaos. Granted, it’s probably not as bad as some countries, but when people regularly equate driving in Haiti to playing video games, it’s a bit of work. St. Marc has a very high population of motorcycle taxi’s, and they swarm around like bees. As you drive, you get in the habit of scanning left to right, rear view mirror, left to right, rear view mirror. At any time an oncoming vehicle may pull into your lane for no good reason, a motorcycle may whip around you, you try to divert yourself around pedestrians getting from point A to B, and often with a load. I see a woman with a single shoe on her head, and then notice the other half dozen pairs in her hands. She’s advertising that she has shoes for sale.

As I head towards picking Olivia up, I notice a swarm of scooters in my rear view mirror. Normally it wouldn’t take up space in my brain, but on this occasion they make me think of a motorcycle gang. They’re driving behind me almost in a V formation. Sunglasses on. Little Haitian flags that many donned for the second anniversary of the earthquake flapping in the wind. They hold formation behind me, like a secret service escort, until I turn off, only then breaking formation and going around me.

The rest of the trip home is uneventful. There is nothing that sticks out in my mind. It may have everything to do with the four year old sitting behind me and the chatter as we talk about her day at school. Driving here tires out the brain more than the rest of the body. We always feel a little beaten up when we get home, even from a short outing. And then, when we take time away from Haiti, we marvel at how easy it is to drive in the US or Canada. How easy it is to let our minds wander to take in the scenery and the things we pass by. One can go months here not noticing something just off the road because your concentration is elsewhere.

Time to say good night from here.

~Leslie

O: You’re a mommy and I’m a mommy.

M: You’re a mommy? How are you a mommy? Where are your babies?

O: In my stomach.

M: How many babies are you having?

O: Four.

M: Four! That’s a lot of babies. You don’t have a very big belly if you’re having all those babies. When are your babies coming (We’ve been having this conversation for about a year now. The last time I asked it was four days)?

O: In June.

M: Oh, I guess then it’s okay that they’re still small. What are you going to name all of your babies? Are you having boys or girls?

O: Alexander Michael. Mike. And Cinderella.

M: So two boys and two girls?

O: Yes.

M: And you’re going to name both of the girls Cinderella?

O: Yes.

M: Won’t it be confusing to have two babies named Cinderella? I mean, how will you tell them apart? And how will you call them. What if you want one Cinderella and the other Cinderella comes because you just said, “Cinderella!”

O: (in a teeny, tiny voice) I’ll say “Cinderella” when I call one of them and (in a much louder, Disney bad step mother type voice) I’ll say “Cinderella!!!” when I want to call the other one.

M: Well, there you go. I guess you’ve put a lot of thought into this.

Last night you went to bed a three year old, and this morning you woke up a 4 year old.

Your Dad and I were talking yesterday about how much more significant this birthday is than the ones before. Don’t get me wrong, 1 is a big year. Two you were more excited about and three we actually celebrated twice – once in Canada and once when we got back to Haiti.

Why is this year different? I think the ones before still had you living in baby and toddlerhood. Turning 4 crosses a threshold where we officially say good-bye to those years in your life for good. You are a little girl now. You’ll only continue to grow bigger and get smarter, and this year we see and feel the impact of that. You understand things about life now that you haven’t before and that’s HUGE. One of those things is another reason why this year is different – you totally get the whole birthday thing. You understand that it’s a day that’s special, that there’s something to celebrate. And, you’ve been anticipating it for over a week rather than Daddy and I telling you that there’s something to be excited about, but still not really understanding what.

This morning as I sat on your bed talking to you about the fact that you can come wake me up if your pull up gets too full in the night, you just looked up at me and, in a little whisper said, “Mom, I’m 4!” Yes, sweet girl, you are.

So, who are you at the age of 4?

• You know all your colors
• You know your numbers up to and a bit past 10
• You know your alphabet for the most part. You get stuck on a couple letters, but hey, 26 is a lot to memorize
• You’re starting to understand that those letters make words and words can be read
• You are incredibly talkative, and able to use words in a way most kids your age can’t
• Your favorite color is pink
• You love dresses and pretty things
• You love princesses, and Cinderella is your favorite story
• You love all things girly, like nail polish
• You talk about being a big girl and getting to wear make-up
• Your best friend at school is Esterline
• Your favorite food is French fries
• You love to go to Canada and keep asking when we’re going back
• You love your little brother SO much that it makes my heart melt
• You are very curious and inquisitive
• You are opinionated with many things and I’ve learned sometimes there’s no sense in arguing with you
• You are funny
• You love to laugh
• You are a tease
• You are the apple of your Daddy’s eye
• You are enthusiastic about almost everything
• You like salad and lots of different kinds of fruit
• You love Yonese’s juice
• You don’t like eggs, still
• Did I mention you LOVE pink?
• You have pink rubber boots with white polka dots that Bobi gave you and you clomp around in them all the time
• You love to help clean the house
• You love to draw and color and are getting good at drawing people
• You love to be a “big girl” but also have lots of “little girl” moments that make me happy because I don’t want you to grow up so fast
• You are very social
• You have a great memory
• You get dirty every day and I’ve given up on trying to keep the stains out of your clothes
• You like to play with girly things one minute, and sticks the next
• You learned how to swing from coconut trees and the rope attached to the round house roof
• You are a bit (*cough*) of a drama queen
• You are always singing
• You love to dance
• You love music and are quite opinionated about which songs we should listen to
• You love school and your teacher, Miss Kendra

You are an amazing little girl and we are so thankful that God brought you into our lives. A lot of people talk about your adoption and becoming part of our family as something that makes you “lucky”. We always correct them and tell them that we’re the lucky ones, the blessed ones. We can’t imagine our lives without you in them.

Happy 4th Birthday Olivia!

~Love Mom

So, what are my/our 2012 goals?

1. Have more fun.

The last 3-4 years have been hard in so many ways for our family. When Chris and I first got married life seemed interesting, light, and more adventurous. I’m sure he would agree with me when I say that the last few years have, on many occasions, felt heavy, difficult, trying and serious.

I’m feeling like we’re in a place where we’re leaving some of that behind us. We’ve come to a place of acceptance on some Haiti/mission life things, our adoption is done, our sweet little boy is a part of our family, we don’t have travel restrictions, and the mission feels like it’s moving into a new phase. I’m feeling hopeful and excited about the future rather than like I’m just trying to figure out how to get through the day. I’m excited to see what God has in store for us, what new adventures he has for us. What new life lessons. What new joys. It’s amazing when you move from that place of survival to feeling like you’re living again. I kind of feel like I’m waking up after a long slumber. I want to be doing certain things. I’m more enthusiastic about homemaking and taking care of my family. I’m feeling creative again for the first time in a couple of years. I have more energy than I have in a while. It feels good. I feel blessed.

So, on that note, this year is about having more fun. Saying good bye to the heavies that have weighed on me, and doing things, deliberate things, to enjoy life more. Being crafty, laughing with my family, choosing a better attitude, enjoying my kids and spouse more, finding joy in things that I would normally see as work. I want to laugh more. I want to look forward to getting out of bed in the morning. I want to look back on this year and see that it was a turning-the-corner year.

2. Lose weight.

This is a goal for both Chris and I. I am lousy at losing weight. I keep wanting it to just melt off in my sleep. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work that way. I have used a lot of excuses over the years. What I know to be true is that it’s an all encompassing package. I am choosing to eat a certain way, I am choosing the amount of activity I do or don’t partake in, and I’m choosing my attitude about all of it.

The biggest thing for me is that I want to be healthy. I’ve gained a lot of weight in the last 5 years. I know that a large part of it was probably due to stress. Stress makes me seek comfort, and I seek comfort in food. I give myself excuses as to why it’s okay to indulge in something, even though I might not be hungry or really needing it then. Then I have excuses as to why I don’t need to exercise. Vicious cycle.

The problem now is that I have back and foot problems, and I know a large part of it is related to my weight. My frame wasn’t meant to carry what it is right now. I want to be able to be active with my kids. I don’t want to worry about things like whether my butt is going to get stuck in a chair. Isn’t that crazy? It’s true though. How’s that for gut level honesty? I want to set a good example for my kids too. I don’t want them to struggle with what I struggle with. I want them to make good choices about food and exercise. The way they’ll do that is by us modeling it.

I have no excuses anymore because I do all of our cooking, and I have a means to get exercise. The only thing holding me back is me. It’s time to make some changes for the better.

3. Eat Better for Less.

This piggy backs off of the last goal. If I want to be more healthy then I need to work at putting good things in my body. As the main cook in our home, I want my family to be eating good food.

In the fall I saw a friends copy of a cook book that I knew I wanted.

More With Less was written by the Mennonite Central Committee. Anyone who knows any Mennonites can tell you that they know how to cook! We have some Mennonite friends here and I’m always challenged and inspired when we visit them. The food we share together is simple, yet delicious and satisfying. They also have a priority of living very simply amongst the people they’re here to serve.

Chris and I have been feeling convicted lately that our food budget should be more on target with what we live in. Any missionary in Haiti can tell you that food is one of the most expensive things about living here. I have already been making changes to try and spend less, such as making menu’s for each month and shopping for that. We don’t buy much processed food. We try to buy all of our veggies, eggs, fruit and milk locally, which saves a ton of money.

More With Less is all about cooking good food and taking advantage of the nutrients in the food you prepare. It’s about getting more bang for your buck. Using different sources of protein rather than always eating meat. Being more creative with basic things like beans, eggs, and vegetables. Avoiding processed foods as much as possible, not only because they are less healthy, but because they cost more.

I’m loving the cook book so far. The recipes have been collected from people that have lived all over the world, so they’re great in situations like ours where you don’t have access to certain things easily. You can adapt them and they often offer suggestions of how to do so. I’m making an effort to cook according to the recipe and cook the right number of servings for our family rather than having a ton of left overs. We haven’t loved everything we’ve had so far, but they’re good foundations to build on.

Another thing we’re trying is kefir. Kefir is a by-product of fermenting milk, and it sounds kind of gross, but that’s exactly what yogurt is too. Kefir has a lot more pro-biotics and good nutrients in it though. Sheena has kefir grains and is using them, so it peaked my interest. I bought some while we were home for the holidays.

Not only is it good for you, but in our situation it can save us a lot of money. We can drink a bit every day for health reasons, but we can also use it for making other things. What you ask? Well, things like yogurt replacements, sour cream, soft cheese like cream cheese, buttermilk, sourdough starter, smoothies… you get the idea. There are a bunch of recipes online for what you can do with this stuff. It’s so good for you. And for us, a huge help economically. Things like sour cream, cream cheese etc are really expensive. We were still buying them, but very conscious of the cost. Now we can make our own and I’m really excited about that.

Those are my big goals for this year. What are yours?

~Leslie

I wanted to post more pictures of our time in North America. Sometimes the photo journal thing is an easy way to remember and share what went on. Our last post was Christmas Eve day, so I’ll just pick up from there!

Christmas Eve morning brought us fresh snow, so we bundled up right after breakfast and took the kids for a walk. We knew Olivia would have lots of energy so fresh air would be good for all of us. It was fun to see how much Alex liked it.

We went with my Granny to see Grandad. The picture is of four generations of my family – my grandparents, my parents, Chris and I, and our kids.

The kids in their Christmas outfits. Olivia LOVED her dress. Actually, I believe, to quote her directly, “Isn’t it beautiful, Mom? It’s like a dream!” At that point it took everything in me to not keel over in laughter.

Darren, Andrea and Sulli were with us for Christmas Eve too. It was fun seeing them and getting to snuggle my nephew.

Christmas PJ’s. The posing is something she’s picking up from school. I wish I could do an entire post on Haitians and how they pose for pictures. It’s definitely a cultural thing :) Alex wore his a whole two times before they didn’t fit anymore…

Alex and Sulli were very enthusiastic about hanging out together. Too bad they didn’t know how to make their little bodies work better. They’re only 2 1/2 months apart in age, and both very big boys. It’s going to be fun to see them as they grow up. I can just see it now. Olivia will be the “wrangler” and bossy one, and the boys will get into all sorts of trouble.

We spent New Year’s with friends in Roslyn, WA, where they filmed the series Northern Exposure. Roslyn is a cute, quirky little dot on the map. They’ve left some parts of the set up even after all these years.

The Radio Station. There are other stores around it, but they’ve kept the window front set in place.

Dr. Joel Flechman’s office. Now a gift shop, but you can see his name still painted in the window.

The Brick, where all of the bar scenes were filmed.

We had fun with our friends and are looking forward to seeing them in the summer again. We spent the last couple days in the Seattle area, then flew home to Haiti on the 4/5th.

Since we’ve been back we’ve unpacked, fixed our power, working on fixing water tank issues that have resulted in almost flooding my bathroom, hosted a group of 13 and started a new year of work. And it’s only been a week and a half!

~Leslie

We’re back on the map! We arrived back in Haiti on the 5th. I’m so grateful that God has blessed us with fabulous kids that travel amazingly well. They both got lots of sleep on the planes and Alex, especially, hardly fussed. It helps too, when you have two kids (one of which is a baby), when you get on the plane and your kids just charm everyone as you make your way to your seat. Waaaayyy less dirty looks when they do fuss :)

Today is busy, so I have to keep this short. BUT, you can be praying for us. Our inverter is giving us problems and after three days of trying to fix it Chris is taking it in to Port. Pray it gets fixed today. Evens is currently working on some water issues we’ve had. Pray that gets sorted out. We also have a group of 15 people arriving sometime today for the rest of the week. And we start work again tomorrow. It’s a lot, but we rock at a lot. Oh, and Miss O starts school again today.

I have lots to write about the rest of our vacation, lots of pictures, and lots of thoughts about the new year. I promise those will come as I have time. I just wanted to pop in and say Hi and make sure we didn’t lose you for good.

~Leslie

I hope that today is filled with moments of calm and quiet. Times where you can stop and think about what the manger scene really looked like. I read an article a couple days ago that talked about how the North American church has cleaned up the manger to make it pretty and quiet, but that it was probably anything but. After having a baby this year, I know that birth is not tidy, or quiet, or calm. There is anxiousness, it’s messy, it’s loud, it takes everything in you. Mary is always portrayed as sitting peacefully next to a glowing babe in straw. I don’t know about you, but after Alex was born I was glowing and on a high, but I was messy and tired and anything but calm. I can’t even imagine what Mary must have been thinking. The journey to the stable while being 9 months pregnant. Knowing that an angel had told you that you were giving birth to the Saviour of the world. Being young. Scared. Uncertain. Wondering if you were insane because you saw angles and were supposedly giving birth to the Saviour of the world.

Jesus didn’t come into the world clean and quiet and calm. He came into the world in the mess of birth. The beautiful mess of birth. Mary would have been tired. She would have been elated from the rush of bringing life into the world. Realizing her body had created life. And not just any life. How did she feel as she held her baby in her arms for the first time, looking at his birth swelled face and pointy head and connecting the human and the holy. Knowing this was the child that was to redeem man in a way that only God knew. I remember the feeling, the rush of that last push, knowing I was “done” the hard work of bringing Alex into the world. That from that point on he was there, he was mine, and he was a person. He would grow and become a person with thoughts and ideas and smiles and laughter.

I think the process of carrying and birthing a child has me thinking about the story of Jesus coming to earth so differently this year. It was not quiet or calm. It was not clean.

Today has started out in the best way. The snow is falling down, it’s quiet. I think we might take the kids for a walk in the snow and burn off a bit of energy. Then we’ll make a trip in to see Grandad. He’s in a seniors home now, which is new and different, but part of the new reality. This year is our year to have my brother, sister-in-law and new nephew with us for Christmas Eve so they’ll be coming over later, going to church late this afternoon and then home for the rest of the evening to enjoy each other. I’m excited to have all the cousins together. Alex thinks Sulli is a novelty. He likes to rub his head and try to grab his face.  And they so badly want to play together but their little bodies don’t quite work in the way they want them to. The result is that they lay next to each other (Sulli is couple months younger than Alex) and Alex rolls over to Sulli, then they hold hands and “talk” to each other.

I hope that today is calm and quiet and a time where you can stop and reflect on how Jesus came into this world. Enjoy whatever the day holds.

Merry Christmas!

On the 10th we hosted what is becoming our annual Christmas BBQ with all our missionary friends. It was a good time for everyone. We always have wonderful potlucks and if anyone comes away hungry it’s their own fault. We enjoyed each others company and had a wonderful day together.

Monday and Tuesday had me getting things ready for our trip and doing crazy things like baking over 6 dozen cookies. Some went to Olivia’s class and others were for our staff Christmas party. Chris doesn’t understand what drives me to do these things. Some days I don’t either. I think I just needed to be a “mom” and do something “normal” like sending cookies to school. Her teacher was super excited because she’d been wanting to do something special, but was a bit limited so it was a hit.

How to entertain a baby? Let him play with the Christmas lights. I kind of freaked out until I realized that they were indoor/outdoor lights - waterproof - and he doesn't have enough teeth to do any damage.

Daddy has some pretty big pants to fill.

Wednesday morning we started our day as normal with staff prayer down in the work yard. Before we started Fritzner stopped everyone and said that they wanted to do something a bit different than usual. He then went on to say that several of our staff wanted to share a few things with us. We were amazed and incredibly touched when they began to share how grateful they were that we were there, that they thanked God for our courage and obedience to stay when things had been so hard for us and we could have left. They spoke words of encouragement to us. Words that had me fighting tears. They said they were committing to pray for our family, for us as directors, for the board, and for the mission and it’s needs.

I seriously almost lost it. It was so much more than just their words in that moment. It was bigger than that. It was the first time they had ever done that. Over the years we’ve heard people say things like, “Your workers don’t like you, they don’t think you should be here…etc.” (Not that those people really came from a position of really knowing anything.) Heartbreaking words that we, deep down, knew weren’t true. For our staff to take the initiative to do this for us on Wednesday signified so much more to us than I feel I’m able to well communicate. If I had to sum it up, it was the coming full circle of what we knew it meant to be obedient. God has called us to this place at this time and has not told us to go. He has spoken his calling very quietly into our hearts when everything else around us was screaming that it didn’t make sense. When people were saying we were crazy. Those words on Wednesday morning were like God speaking directly to us and him saying, “See, this is what I’ve been wanting you to see. This is why I needed you to stick it out. It IS important. You ARE supposed to be here. Be so very blessed. Let it wash over you. Let it heal. You are my children with whom I am well pleased.”

It was the perfect start to what ended up being a fabulous day. It still makes me feel all mushy and gushy inside.

Olivia’s school Christmas program was scheduled for the evening of the 15th, the day we would be in the air on our way to Seattle. So, we being good parents, went to the dress rehearsal. It was one of those “my baby is growing up” moments. As I watched my little girl sing “Away In A Manger” while dressed as an angel I just started melting. Then the older kids came out and did a big group presentation and I turned into a blubbering fool. When you live in a place like we live in you sort of have a foot in each world. We are always present in Haiti, but we are mindful of things like education and our kids needing to be ready for college or university when they’re in their late teens. From the time we talked about even having a family we weren’t sure what we were going to do for schooling. Until this past summer we still weren’t decided. We finally decided to try out Olivia’s school and see how it worked for us. It’s working beautifully, and I’m so grateful that Olivia has this opportunity. She gets to go to a great school where she has the opportunity to do really well.

Olivia with her best school friend, Esterline, all dressed up for the pageant.

We returned home after the dress rehearsal to finish getting ready for our staff Christmas party. Whenever we do a “fet” it’s always one of those things that leave me feeling a bit anxious. Because of the cultural differences they can either be a huge fail or a huge success, and you never quite know what’ you’re going to get.

I decided to do something different and do hamburgers and hotdogs with french fries, fried plantains, piklis (spicy coleslaw), and Haitian beet and potato salad. Yonese and Esperanta took care of the Haitian food for me and I did the rest with Sheena and Ryan’s help. When I told Yonese that I wanted her to have fun at the party and not be working the whole time she laughed and said, “But I like to help! I don’t always like to sit.” :) The food was a huge hit! I wanted to do something our staff wouldn’t normally get to eat, and I think it worked.

We played some games – BINGO and the present stealing game. We did Bingo with Christmas pictures instead of numbers because not all of our workers can read or write. It was a bit slow starting, but when they got the hang of it, they were SO into it. When Yonese won the first BINGO you would have thought she had just won a million dollars. It was so funny.We also did the present steal game which was also a big hit. I wish we would have videoed some of it. At one point Thony was laughing so hard he couldn’t stand up to go steal a present. HUGE hit all around. It was so fun to laugh with our staff to the point that our stomachs hurt. We had a time to talk about some work and mission stuff at the end and I was surprised that they kept asking more questions. I was expecting them to want to leave as soon as possible. We wrapped things up with handing out their year end bonuses. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Thursday morning we left the house just after 6 am to start making our trip home for Christmas. It was a LOOOONNNNGGG day. I always stress out about getting through check-in in Port. They don’t have luggage carts outside, and we were taking a bunch of coffee back for fundraising, so we had 4 check-in bags, two carry-on’s, two back packs, a stroller, diaper bag, and two kids. Thankfully Ryan was able to help us schlep things in and our friend Barb was able to take a bag too. The red cap guys are notorious for pushing their people to the front of the line, and as we were waiting to put our stuff on the security scanner one came up and tried to bump the line. Chris told him he needed to wait in line and he said, “He’s first class.” Chris looked at him and said, “There’s first class on the plane, there’s no first class in line.” :) There weren’t any lines inside so we didn’t have to wait long and the staff, aside from the lady at the scanner belt who was no help at all, were great. I loathe the fact that there are 3 security stops, all of which involve stripping down and taking things out of bags, within 400 feet of each other. Why you need three stops in the same 400 foot space when there’s only one entrance is beyond me. But I digress.

Our flight to Fort Lauderdale was painless. Usually you have to take your bags to the next terminal to re-check them, but a guy saw us as we were coming through customs and told us to come with him, and walked us right to an American Airlines desk in the same building and threw our bags on the belt there. Traveling with kids can be daunting, but I’m realizing that if you’re patient people are often really helpful and want to make things easier for you. Showing gratitude goes a long way.

As we were waiting at our gate in Fort Lauderdale we ended up sitting across from the pilot of our plane. It was Olivia that broke the ice, because she’s so social like that. In the course of conversation (What do you do? Oh, you’re missionaries in Haiti!) we found out that he was a Christian, and we ended up having a nice visit until it was time to board. He was so genuinely interested in our family. As a sweet little perk, when we were getting off the plane in Dallas Little Missy got to do this…

We arrived in Seattle close to 11 pm – 2 pm our time. It was a late night by the time we got to our friends house. Olivia was so tired that when we put her in bed she just looked up at me and puckered her lips for a kiss :)

Friday morning we hit the road and made our trip up to Canada. Olivia kept asking if we were at Nanna and Pappa’s yet. At one point we were at about the halfway point she asked if were were there yet. I told her we would let her know when we got there. She thought about that for a second then, with exasperation said, “We’re lost.” :) Chris assured her that we did actually know where we were going.

The last few days have been full of seeing friends and family, and going to church. Olivia got to go on a date with our friend Kelly to see Night In Bethlehem at our church here while Chris and I went on an adult date to see friends sing at a coffee house. That was a sweet moment because I had been missing hearing them sing at Christmas, and one song in particular that they always used to sing on Christmas Eve at church. They dedicated O Holy Night to me and it was sort of the cherry on my Christmas sundae.

Friends Tanya, Renee and Wayne bringing some Christmas cheer.

My winterized babies.

I’ve had a hair cut, got to see my chiro (which I was almost looking forward to more than coming home) and yesterday Alex got some of his vaccinations caught up. While at the health unit both kids got weighed and measured. Olivia is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 70th for height which actually surprised us a bit. Alex is in the 95th percentile for weight and as the nurse said, they don’t have a number for his height percentile. She called it a 97 +++++ :) He’s not just a little off the chart, they need a whole new chart for him.

Alex has this crazy ability to make his way to the tree, and then likes to grab at the presents. There *may* have been some presents harmed in his endeavors.

We’re counting down the days until Pappa comes home and it sounds like he has some plans to take his cheeky little granddaughter on a date on Friday so she can get her Tim Horton’s sprinkle donut fix. It’s their “thing” :) Today I’m hoping to finish up any shopping that needs to be done and then wrap things up and enjoy the next week with family and friends.

Decorating cookies with Nanna. No one has been brave enough to eat any of the cookies, because we all saw the icing application. Let's just say it involved some smooshing, then licking, then some more smooshing.

I’m just going to take the pressure off right now and let you know this will be the last blog post until after Christmas, and possibly until after New Year’s. I want to focus my time on enjoying the moments with my kids and family and will catch up when I feel I have time. I hope you’ll be doing the same.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from our little family to yours.

~The Rollings

Man, I’m a gushing, mushy hearted Mommy when it comes to the two of you. I’m so grateful for who you both are as little people, and each day brings something more for me to feel all squishy about. If you think maybe I’m exaggerating, I assure you I am not. You’re both such wonderful little humans, and I love having you in our lives. We’re so blessed.

Olivia, as the oldest, you still get first kid privileges.

Baby girl, you may be closing in on 4 (gah!) but you will always be my “baby girl”. Except as you get older I imagine it’ll turn into more of a Beyonce type of baby girl. And I digress.

Man, this last month or so has been so big in the growing up department for you. And you’ve attacked all of it with enthusiasm. When I hear about kids that have a hard time transitioning through the phases of life, I wonder how we got so lucky.

You LOVE school, and every day you come home with a backpack full of papers. You’ve been working through the alphabet, and color your new letter every day. And they are always pink. I’m wondering if you are the only child on this planet who can say you have colored an entire pink alphabet? You get SO excited when you get to take compost to school, and I’m pretty sure it’s mostly because Miss Kendra makes such a big deal out of it. You love to please, in a good way, and I love that about you. You’re smart. I’m not saying that as a bragging mom, just stating the facts. You are a smart kid. You can speak clearly and communicate not only what you’re thinking, but also how you’re feeling. Sometimes Daddy and I, when you’re not in the room, talk about how crazy it is that the tiny little bundle we brought home less than 4 years ago can say, “I’m having a hard time about you, Mom.”

At home, I’ve figured out that if I make a chore sound like a fun, big girl thing to do, you are all over it. And you will get mad if I don’t let you do it. I hope it takes you a looooooonnnngggg time to figure out this trick because I want to harness that energy. I love that while I’m making supper you come looking for the plates to set the table, and you’re learning where to put the knives and forks. You’re learning about organizing through things like helping to put your clothes away, and you’re learning that we all contribute to keeping a happy home by putting your clothes in the laundry basket and cleaning up your toys. You help out with things like putting Alex’s bottles in the fridge and running for burp cloths when he’s overflowing. You even like to “help” Yonese clean. A few weeks ago you came into the living room and said, “Mom, I was just helping Yonese clean your room.” When I told you that was nice, you stood there, looked at me and waited. Then finally, with a bit of exasperation in your voice said, “Mooom, you’re supposed to say thank you.” Apparently you are also learning your manners.

You are a wonderful big sister. I’ll be honest, we were worried when I was pregnant because all you ever said when we talked about your baby brother was, “I don’t want to talk about it.” Now that he’s here and fully a part of our lives you absolutely adore him. You can make him laugh just by looking at him, and you love that. You two already have a very special little bond and it literally melts my heart when I can just sit and watch you two together. That is, as long as you aren’t climbing on him or anything like that.

This month you said good-bye to your booster seat. You were starting to get leg cramps from it, so we decided to try you in a normal chair. You were so excited to get to sit in a “big girl chair” and when it came time to pass the booster seat on to your brother you were happy to let him use it so he could be a big boy and eat at the table with us. Along with that came moving to a new place at the table, and again, rather than being jealous and feeling like you were giving something up, you enthusiastically embraced it. I hope you always have this trait. It’ll get you far in life.

You are so excited for Christmas and our trip to Canada. You remember snow and how fun it was to be outside in the cold. You remember the Christmas tree and everything about the fun of the holiday. In school and at home we’ve been talking about the true reason that we celebrate Christmas. Apparently theology is hard to explain to a 3 year old. I feel at a loss when you ask things like, “Who is God?” It’s funny that as adults we think we have all the answers, but when we have to simplify things we struggle. Many lessons being learned these days.

You love to dance. Lately I’ve been putting music on in the evenings as I make dinner, and you get so enthusiastic about dancing where you can see your shadow that you’ve been know to lose your footing and crash on the floor. You recover quickly though and go right back to your shadow dancing.

Your Dad and I love seeing what each day with you is going to bring. Life is never boring and you are constantly teaching us new things through the way you see the world. We love you SO much. I hope you always know that.

Alex, you are my little chunk muffin.

Yes, you are a strapping young man for 5 months old. In the last week your Dad and I have been blown away by the developmental explosion that seems to be happening with you.

A few weeks ago you cut your first tooth. You were just over 4 months old. The next day another followed. You now have a third, with numbers four and five not far behind. You really do want your two front teeth for Christmas. (Sorry, couldn’t resist). You’re really funny about letting us check out the pearly whites though. Bottom ones, no problem. But, when we try to see what’s going on with the top ones you scrunch your lip up like a man with no dentures. Even when you’re asleep. I know, I’ve tired maaannny times. With the new teeth has come the venture into solid foods. Or mush up solid foods. Rice cereal was a hit. Pumpkin has been a hit. Avocados… only after you got past the gag reflex.

We put you in the Jolly Jumper a couple weeks ago and while you thought it was interesting, you weren’t really as enthusiastic as your sister was at first. Today, however, you followed in the Rolling family tradition and got so excited about jumping that it didn’t matter that you threw up on yourself. You just kept jumping, and jumping in the goo on the floor. We like to aim high.

You can now sit up and flap your arms and only fall over some of the time. I’m still not quite ready to let you sit on the floor unsupervised. I’m not really up for head injuries right now. You think you’re pretty amazing when you do get to flailing about though. I can see the pride all over your face.

What is more exciting than sitting, though, is standing. The other day you shocked me by pulling yourself right up without any assistance from me other than balancing by holding my fingers. You’ve realized being up means you can see more. And bounce more. I know in your head you’re ready to run a marathon. I can see the wheels turning. You know you’re supposed to do something with this standing thing, but the other pieces haven’t come together yet. Crawling? I’m pretty sure that’s not far off either. Today you finally figured out that if you hold your belly up you might be able to move your limbs. You also figured out that failing to do so makes you do what I call “the seal” and may result in smacking your face on the floor. That hurts. You shouldn’t do that very often. I’m guessing that by the time we come back from Canada you’ll be crawling, or pretty close to it. The carpets at Nanna and Pappas house will provide a better learning ground than the hard tile floors. They may also provide more rug burn.

We’re having so much fun watching you discover the world. To see you process things is amazing. We can literally watch you observe things and take it in, then figure out what to do with it. Your sister was so much more subtle and subdued in this area, so I feel like it’s just this amazing journey that we get to watch. I often find myself just marveling at how God wired us up.

I love how you adore your sister. When she walks in the room you will forget whatever you were doing, even if it was eating and you were starving, and follow her with your whole body. You want her attention and reach out for contact with her. I love watching the two of you lay together on the floor or bed. You will always be touching her with some part of your body. I wasn’t expecting such a close connection between the two of you so early on, and it breaks my heart open in the best way to see it. Sometimes I have to stop myself from breaking down. I didn’t expect it to be this good, and it rocks me every time.

One of my favorite things about you little man is your happy disposition. I remember when Daddy and I were talking about having a boy vs. a girl. He was adamant about having another girl because, as he said, “I remember what I was like as a kid.” He’s what we call intense. We’re pretty sure you got my genes in that department. You are generally happy all the time, unless you have a good reason not to be, and we can usually figure out what that is pretty fast. I love that you can be sitting on the couch playing, in your own little world, and look up and make eye contact, then burst out in a big, chubby faced grin. You melt us every time you do. You love to laugh. And when you do get laughing it’s normal for it to go on for several minutes. And it’s contagious. You love your bath, and you love your routine. You are turning into a snuggle bug, and I love it when you’re tired and you cuddle into me. You are such a sweet part of our family.

We love you both so much and can’t imagine life without you. God has rounded out our family with you both. He’s given us exactly what we needed, and so much more. You challenge us, you help us to be better people. We are SO excited about doing life with you.

~Love Mom