Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Fire Truck



We've added a new truck to Nathan's list of favorites - the fire truck. They're big and red and shiny and loud! And when we were out at Grandpa and Grandma's the other day, one came to visit. We hear lots of fire trucks (and quite a few ambulances) from our house near downtown. We read about fire trucks in lots of Nathan's books. We watch for them as we drive around town. And just today, Nathan's cousin Josiah passed down a red windbreaker with a fire truck on it. It was immediately donned and worn with pride even on a hot July evening.

A big thank you to all who are serving our country - to our military friends, civil service friends and especially to all you firefighters. :-)

Monday, July 30, 2007

Sea Lions



Hands and face pressed firmly against the glass wall, Nathan's face lights up with glee as the enormous sea otter ascends in the midst of a flip turn. Wa-wa??!! he exclaims.

We joined the "mom group" at church for a trip to the Portland Zoo on Tuesday. Our first stop was the large pool where the sea lions live. Nathan was enthralled. We probably should have just parked there for the rest of our time though he did enjoy the bears and elephants too. But the massive yet graceful swimming mammal was his favorite.

Our hope is to spend a little time in Alaska next summer, so we'll hope to show Nathan sea lions in the wild. Magnificent.




Thursday, July 26, 2007

Kisses



Noelle has started giving kisses. How to put it in words?? It's adorable. It's sweet. It's fascinating. It's heart-melting.

The open mouth and tender smile aimed right at you. And then she kind of giggles. We love our little Missy.

She just had her six month check-up this week too. 17lbs 12 oz. Dr. Crawford says nursing agrees with her. :-) Yeah, that's the 80th percentile for weight (and hardly any solids so far). And about 26 inches long, very average. Nathan was 26 inches at about four months and had already outgrown the carseat Noelle is in by six months. Amazing to see the differences.

Noelle's other new experience lately has been riding in the sling. She can now sit at my side and seems to really enjoy that. I was inspired (thanks Libby!) to pull it out last weekend when the two of us went for an Italian cooking lesson. She even took a little nap on the go.

We love Missy Na-Now.


Monday, July 16, 2007

Two Peas in a Pod




In an incredulous kind of way, you can't imagine what having two is like when you just have one. And then when two comes, you can't imagine having just one (or even only wanting to have one). Ours are "two peas in a pod". No, I'm not talking about their personalities. They're quite different. But they would literally like to be two peas in a pod.

Upon awakening every morning, Nathan will be found in his pack'n'play pointing at Noelle's crib. "Noh??" he says, wondering where she is. She will have long since awakened, had her first feeding, and gone back to sleep in our room - so we don't wake up Nathan.

Then with her first squeak alerting us that she is up, Nathan will run to our room and try to hoist himself onto the bed. He gets down on his hands and knees, placing his face right up next to hers and says, "Hi Noh-Noh, Hi Noh-Noh". Her face lights up in utter glee. They enjoy a few moments smiling and chatting back and forth at each other. (After mid-morning nap, he enjoys climbing up in her crib with her too!)

I have a new found freedom as well. In our fenced-in play area, Nathan is now content to play for long enough for me to shower when accompanied by his beloved sister. They're not yet playing together much, but he loves her company.

And at bedtime, we put Noelle to bed before Nathan. He likes to check on her in her crib and blow her kisses before closing his eyes on the day. We were skeptical about having the two share a room, but they've done well. After all, they're two peas in a pod.

For me and Jason, parenting has been a marvelous, even though oftentimes challenging, incredible journey. Our love has grown for our little ones and each other. And our vision for our family has started to blossom. God's design for life is truly amazing and inspiring. What a joy!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

What Next?

349 days and counting. And the question that everyone is asking us these days is "what next?" We're not entirely certain but here's our latest plan.

June 30, 2008 will be Jason's last day of general surgery residency. A BIG party (probably July 11th or 12th) is already in the works and of course we would love for you to come! Then hopefully we'll be able to get away for a few days - just the two of us. :-) After that we hope to spend some time (perhaps a couple months) as a family playing a lot and working a little. We're looking for somewhere fun - like Alaska! And then we will commence with trying to find a location abroad where we'd like to settle and work at a mission hospital. One of the spots that has caught our eye is Diopsi Suyana in the highlands of Peru. You can find out more about the hospital and ministry at -

http://www.diospi-suyana.de/index.php?id=29&L=1

Our expectation is that we'll be visiting a few different mission hospitals and trying to find one that is a good fit for us. Lord willing, we hope to be headed to wherever that is in summer 2009. (Or as it may be - language school, Bible classes, or something in the direction of establishing ourselves abroad.)

We covet your prayers as we look for a mission hospital and would enjoy any thoughts you'd like to share as well.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Beach

Knowing we could spend all our time off working at the house, we decided to take a few days off and head to the spectacular Oregon coast. We had a great time. It was the first time in a year that we've had a vacation with "just us". Noelle surprised us by rolling over (back to front) as soon as we arrived and Nathan took great delight standing in the surf and digging in the sand. Our sweet friends Aaron and Amanda joined us for a couple nights as well. They got crushed in Acquire, but I think the hotdog cookout ala sand will bring them back again. :-) We enjoyed looking back (a great year in Grants Pass), looking forward (the last year of surgery residency and beyond), and soaking in the moment. A very blessed time.









You'd put the Chinese to Shame!

Small white sticky stuff everywhere!! We have to encourage our guests NOT to take off their shoes. Otherwise they might get stuck to the floor... because Nathan has a RICE fetish! He loves it. He'll eat it with his fork, with his hands, by the fistful, several days in a row. He eats rice with chicken, rice with fish, and now rice with raspberry vinegarette salad dressing! Tonight at dinner, Jason told Nathan "you'd put the Chinese to shame". And wow, that stuff can make an awful mess.