Photo Tour - Two Months of Silence

Starting in July:

July 25 I believe, we left for India. Yep, the country.
We traveled with my parents, all four of my sisters and my two brothers. My Aunt and her family live in India - to work for Walmart.

We got to see a lot of cool things. I wish I had a picture of the Taj Mahal to post... but my camera battery pooped out on me just as we were getting in the gate.

It was so hot! Malaki was a trooper. (that's water on his head, not sweat)


We learned a lot from the trip. Maybe someday we'll get to go back and get our hands dirty.



Ok, on to August.
We visited STL with Brian's family. we had a great time!

This was outside of the science center. I'd never been before and it was fun.


In the meantime, Malaki is really growing up!
He's crawling (like crazy), cruising, saying a few words, and eating like a man.
I love him more everyday.

Oh yeah, Malaki is going to be a big brother!
Our due date is April 18th. I'm almost 11 weeks along now
This ultrasound picture is from this Monday.

A couple more things... I'm going back to school - online style.
Yes, I know it's a little crazy. I think I may actually be able to finish this time.
(no picture for that)



And, I've started an Etsy business to sell some of my photography. Hopefully... I haven't sold any yet - but I'm still optimistic about that.
If you're curious and you'd like to see more click here. With our family growing it seemed like something I could contribute with.

AND... we're praying about moving next summer - to Minneapolis. Brian is looking into Grad School at University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Pray with us as we try to follow the Lord's lead.

Well, I think that's all for now.

Sad Story

Apparently China used a pretty girl to lip sync a song for the opening ceremony of the Olympics - the singer was not pretty enough to be used. NBC has a link to the story here - unfortunately it is unavailable at this time...

ABC has the story here.

Just a sad example of censorship gone bad. China choses to censor what we see, and hear, to make the country look more perfect - even at the expense of the little girl who wasn't pretty enough to sing at the Olympics.

Mommy Goal #2

This present and future goal has to do with traveling.

It will be my goal to be patient with Malaki and my future kids as they learn how to travel.
My Reasons:

• Malaki did great on the flight over here (to India). But when we tried to sleep last night it wasn't happening - I was probably not being patient during my short - very short - night. It was a challenge.
• It will make us both (or all) miserable if I'm frustrated. (If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.)

Bon Voyage!

I'm leaving for India tomorrow. I won't be posting for at least two weeks.

I'll return with pictures and stories galore.

Seasons

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;

Ecc. 3:1-2a

It has been a very eventful week. Just speaking about Malaki he has made huge strides in his development. I kind of wish he could spread these milestones out a little - It's overwhelming to see him grow up so fast! This week he has:

• Learned to get to a sitting position from laying down all by himself
• Learned to pull up to standing (the logical next step) laying - sitting - standing
  
• Learned to CRAWL! (Nothing is safe anymore) July 17, 2008
• Learned to cruise around his crib! July 20, 2008
  
• Got a tooth! July 21, 2008
• Crawled up a step! (about five inches high) Today- July 23, 2008.
  
  

This week has also brought up many memories of the past year and a half. A good friend of ours, Miss Donna, died last Thursday after being sick for quite a while. Miss Donna was a dear, spunky lady. She was ready to go home; so, when she did pass away I felt sadness for myself and her family... but I was glad in a way. I'm thankful that she is home. I'm thankful that she isn't sick anymore. I'm thankful to have known her.

Brian has also been outside quite a bit - building a fence and being manly. He's working by a tree that is special to us both - the tree is nice, but that isn't why it's special. We planted it last year on August 1st - the due date of the baby we lost.

We found out we were pregnant the week before Thanksgiving 2006. I was so excited as I watched that second pink line appear on the test. Brian was happy also when I woke him up with the news. (I think he was actually awake but he pretended to be asleep for effect.) We made plans to tell our families at the Christmas - it would be a great present! We shopped for a new car, even test drove a couple minivans.
Our first appointment was the week before Christmas, "I'm not picking up a heartbeat, hon. Come back in a couple of days and we'll do another ultrasound and some bloodwork."
I didn't understand why in the world this would happen to us. I beat myself up for drinking too much coffee before I knew I was pregnant, and for walking too fast on the treadmill at the Y, for being too excited, and for letting Brian down. I felt really lonely with in my grief. When we stood in front of our church family to break the news I was numb. I couldn't say a thing. Thankfully Brian was strong for me. He comforted me with this verse:

You are good and you do good; teach me your statutes.
Psalm 119:68

He is good, and He does good. Really, He does. I still think about that baby every day. I know eventually I will probably think less about it... For now I'm still wondering if the baby was a boy or a girl, fussy or happy, dark hair or light... I'm thankful for that small link to the baby I never held. I'm comforted in knowing that God does good for his people even when it feels bad.