Getting so big!

My little man is getting so big -- I can't believe he is now 15 months old! He is really starting to show us his sense of humor these days. He likes to tease us and make us laugh. Of course whenever we laugh he continues to do whatever it was we thought was so funny.

He is now walking everywhere he wants to go and those arms (that he held up in the air for balance) are slowing coming down. Now he likes to carry toys and books (or my shoes) around the house.

Today we went to story time at the library and he loved it. There were lots of other little ones his age there and he had the best time watching them, listening to stories, and singing songs. I think we will definitely have to go back!

Lastly, I have been tagged by Becca to tell seven weird or random things about myself. And I tag: Hunter, Emilee, Amber, Andrea, Katie, Alleen, & Emily.

1. I started having dreams about adoption in college. I had the same dream over and over about two little boys named Hakeem and Rashid who I adopted in my dreams.

2. I will not eat or drink after anyone -- not even Robby or Cohen. The thought of sharing a fork with someone grosses me out!

3. I have sympathetic pain for others. Just hearing the details about a doctor's visit or injury is enough to make me almost pass out. I come very close to passing out when I have blood taken or get a shot... yes, still getting a shot in the stomach every night though. :) Thank goodness Robby isn't squeamish and does them for me.

4. To Robby's disappointment, I am afraid of heights and do not enjoy rock climbing. The first time I tried, when I got to the top he said, "OK, now let go and lean back." Yeah, right!

5. I've had some interesting experiences working with young children in their homes. In one home, the aunt had a mental illness and started greasing my hair after telling me it looked dry. I did manage to get out of there before she gave me mini-braids, but I did have to wash my hair several times before it was back to normal. On another day, I forgot to lock my car doors and a drug dealer got into my car and tried to sell me drugs. After seeing my freaked out expression he quickly said, "Oh, my bad, my bad!" and got out.

6. I love, love, love ice cream and have been known to eat it for breakfast.

7. Although I am getting better, when Robby and I first got married I had a lot to learn about cooking. We still laugh about one of the first meals I fixed for him -- hot dogs and lima beans.

8. And one more just for fun -- I used to always hint around for Robby to do romantic things for me. He would ask me for examples and I told him, "You know, put rose petals on the bed or something." One day he switched out the pedals on his bike and called me into our room. "Look! I put pedals on the bed!"

Cohen wants to tell you...

"I'm going to have a baby sister!"

Everything went great at our doctor's visit today. I feel so much better and relax a little more as the weeks go on with this pregnancy. And I am so excited that we can say "she" instead of "the baby." My doctor said that everything looks just fine. We scheduled another ultrasound in four weeks just to make sure SHE is still doing OK.

We went straight from the doctor's office to Gymboree -- I had some Gymbucks that were burning a hole in my pocket. You know I had the best time shopping for baby girl clothes. Robby swears we were in the store for over an hour, but honestly it felt like about 20 minutes to me. :)

Thank you for continuing to keep us in your prayers. We're half way there!

Our Mission Project

Yesterday at church our pastor gave us an interesting challenge. At the end of the service we were all given a sealed envelope with different amounts of money inside. This symbolized the gifts, talents, and resources that God has given us. We were asked to pray about what God wanted us to do with the money we were given.

Of course I immediately began thinking about all the needs we saw in Guatemala. My envelope contained $20 and Robby's envelope had $10. We've prayed that we will use this money wisely and also contacted Dick Rutgers in Guatemala to see if he could think of a specific need we could help him with. He gave us several suggestions and they were all worthy causes. The money could pay for a special needs child to have a teacher come to their home since most children with special needs there are not allowed to attend school. The money could provide school supplies to children who want to go to school, but can't afford the supplies, uniform, or black leather shoes required to attend. The money could help build a home for families who are living in the most awful surroundings.

At first we didn't know how to choose the best cause. But then I remembered a clip from one of Dick's videos. He found this little girl living near a banana plantation. Her mother is single and has to work at the plantation each day to provide for her children. Because this little girl has special needs, the safest thing her mom could think of was to keep her tied in a hammock during the day. This girl desperately needs a wheelchair. I cannot imagine having to spend the majority of my day alone and tied in one place.

Please click here to see the video clip of that sweet little girl. The video is a little long, so if you skip to 4:13 you can see this little girl as well as the place where she calls home.

We will be sending the money we received at church along with a little more so that Dick can provide a wheelchair for this little girl. If you would like to contribute as well just leave a comment with your email address and I can give you more information. For $400-$500 Dick and a volunteer team can build a new home for this family. The homes are modest as you can imagine, but provide a safe, dry place for families.

It is our prayer that God will touch the hearts of just a few others so that we can use what we think of as an insignifican amount of money to dramatically improve the life of this one little girl.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cohen is loving the slide that Santa brought him! He hasn't quite mastered getting his feet around to sit down and slide, but that doesn't stop him from going down on his own.

I am dreading February the 6th -- Cohen is going to be having outpatient surgery in Cincinnati. We took him to a pediatric urologist several months ago to discuss a very minor condition his pediatrician and the Embassy doctor discussed with us in Guatemala. The urologist here in town seemed to think it was more serious than we originally thought and suggested two surgeries. We decided to get a second opinion in Cincinnati and felt much more comfortable with the urologist there. So please keep us in your prayers on the 6th!

In other baby news, things with my pregnancy seem to be going well. This baby is a very active little thing and it is so reassuring to feel the baby moving and kicking. This Thursday I will be twenty weeks along and we are going in for another ultrasound -- hopefully finding out if it is a boy or a girl. Our niece Elizabeth has said from the beginning (even before she knew I was pregnant) that I have a baby girl in my belly. How crazy would it be if she was right! Our friend Greg is convinced I am having a boy because I am craving steak like crazy. Check back again soon and see if we have news...

Happy Birthday, Robby!

When I was in my early twenties, my close friends Spears and Amanda and I were out shopping one day. We stopped in this card and party store where we were digging through the clearance bin full of birthday balloons. I remember saying, "See if you can find some for a 27th birhtday," to which Spears replied, "27! Who do we know that is turning 27!" (Robby of course turned 27 that year.) Like that was the most ancient age and we couldn't possibly KNOW a 27-year-old.

Now every year I like to tease Robby. "32! Am I old enough to be married to someone turning 32!"

Edited to add: Click here to see Robby on Rocksport's new webpage.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Day in the Life of Cohen...

My favorite days are the ones when Mommy wears sweatpants and a ponytail. That's when I know we are staying home and playing all day.

I like to start off my day playing with my Handy Manny tools. They are not noisy like some of my toys... maybe that's why Mommy always suggests those first thing in the morning when she is still waking up.


Then I check out what's in my piggy bank. I mostly just like to dance after I put the coins in.


Sometimes Mommy calls me by my first and middle names -- like when I stand up and rock in my rocking chair.


Next it is time to play with Bailey. She never gets tired of chasing the ball and bringing it back to me when I throw it. We are such big buddies!


When it is warm enough, Mommy takes me outside to swing. I love to swing high and I get the biggest smile on my face when the breeze blows my hair.


Thanks for stopping by my crib!

Yesterday we had a great time visiting with friends. For lunch, Cohen and I met Jackie and her daughter Jenna at Panera. Jenna was also born in Guatemala and is just three days older than Cohen. The two of them were so sweet together holding hands and smiling at each other. Cohen would lean over and act like he was giving Jenna a piece of his bread. As she was about to take it, he would quickly change his mind about sharing. Of course everyone in the restaurant loved seeing the two of them together and both Cohen and Jenna loved all of the attention. I think a few people thought they were twins. I hadn't realized before how much they do look alike. Can you believe I took no pictures during lunch?! Jackie and I said we would definitely plan a playdate soon, so pictures of Cohen and his future prom date will be coming soon!

We were so excited to have Laura Beth and Cory over for dinner last night. Laura Beth and Cory are missionaries in the Dominican Republic and we met them in Antigua while they were in language school. We quickly became good friends with them and were so excited to find out that Cory's parents live about 30 minutes from our house. They are in the States for Christmas and we are so happy they were able to come over for a visit. Of course we took no pictures with them either so I am posting a picture of all of us from this past summer. Notice Cohen's expression... think he was definitely ready to leave the restaurant and take a nap!


I think I've shared Dick Rutger's blog before, but if you don't check it you've got to just read his entries from the week of Christmas. Dick is the missionary we met in Guatemala who took us to several orphanages while we were there. He travels all over Guatemala providing wheelchairs for children and adults with special needs. Many missionaries serving in Guatemala live in gated and very private communities. Dick took us by his house in Chimaltenango and I love that he lives on a typical street in that town. The kids on his street play soccer in his front yard, eat supper at his house most nights, and ride into Antigua on Sundays to go to church with him. Just reading about his experiences makes me miss being in Guatemala.

In a recent post, Dick wrote: "Even though most of the people living in Maria’s area appear to have very little as far as material goods are concerned, we were told that nearly every one of them are Christians. Judging by the songs that they were singing and the smiles on their faces I wonder if perhaps these people are a lot richer than we realize."

Happy New Year!

As I look back through our Christmas pictures this year I realize I didn't take nearly as many as I thought I did. But I did enjoy every minute of having Cohen with us this Christmas! He loved opening presents (whether they were for him or not) and dancing to the Christmas music we played around the house. Probably his favorite part of Christmas this year was the food. Our family loved spoiling him and giving him treats that he usually doesn't get to eat.

Last night was a big night for us... Robby and I went out to dinner with friends and left Cohen with a babysitter for the first time! He has stayed with his grandparents for an hour or two here and there, but this was the first time we actually called a babysitter. We couldn't have asked for better sitters -- my twin cousins Katie and Aubrey came over to our house and Cohen had a great time playing with them.

There was only one moment of panic for me... when my cell phone rang toward the end of dinner. Katie and Aubrey were watching two of our friends' kids along with one of our friends' dog. Much to my relief, they were just calling to ask if it was OK to let the dog out since our yard isn't fenced in. We all laughed that it was Amanda's dog that was giving the girls the most trouble.

We hope you all have a happy new year! We are looking forward to another exciting year in 2008!