I've got the joy, joy, joy...

I can't get that song out of my head since we sang it with the children during worship yesterday. Our theme was related to the fruits of the Spirit: love, peace, and joy- and how they are interconnected. It was a good time of worship sharing some of the best parts of our lives and dreams with others.

Here are a few pictures from last week. I'm hoping this week will be just as wonderful.



Last week started off nicely with some flowers from Josh. He picked them all out himself, so I was very proud of the arrangement he made. :)



We found these shoes for Jakub. You can see that the top won't even velcro all the way. :) He has such sweet, marshmallowy, baby feet. Too bad shoes don't have the same affinity for them as I do!




Our Moms and Kids class went very well again. We have a very good group of people this time and they make for an encouraging and loving environment. We had 11 kids total, and are expecting even more this week. It gets a little chaotic at times, but it's so worth it for all of us. Jakub has really enjoyed all of the interaction with others, and he loves to watch the older kids performing some of the activities. We're even having some Dads visit as well, and that's been wonderful!




"Ahhhhhhh!" Oh the refreshing taste of ice-cold milk. It does a body good! :)

What a week!

We had a very full and blessed week. We had our friends Stana and Mikulas over to play. Jakub and Mikulas play very well together and this week it was a joy to watch them "talking" to each other more than ever. It's a good thing they still speak the same gibberish. We'll have to help them figure each other out more as they get older. I look forward to Jakub picking up Czech from his friends. :) You'll have to excuse Stana in the background as she was teasing me about my "fat" baby photos. Josh and I were both very healthy babies and toddlers. She enjoyed seeing our photos. Jakub doesn't hold a candle to how we were! (When watching the videos you might have to double click on them to get to a full-screen or larger version for viewing.)






We finally found a pair of shoes in our long search for the shoe-that-fits-a-healthy-foot. :) Would you guess that they were Nike's in the end? The Nike store was the only one I found here, at least so far, that carried a wide enough variety of "sporty" baby shoes (the only style of shoe that's working for Kuba's feet right now). After trying many, many shoes on we finally found one to fit Jake's foot- and we bought it immediately. Thankfully, the store was having a great sale and we walked away paying what we had hoped. Above you can see Jakub trying them out with Daddy. We've been taking him on more walks outside now and he's loving it! We even met a friend to play with on our walk yesterday. They were able to swing together on our playground outside. I'm very much looking forward to Spring!






If you're not looking for too much excitement and want to watch a 5 minute video of Jakub playing- see above. It's nothing terribly thrilling, but it's a good chance to see him playing around the living room. My favorite part is when he gets shy about his dancing. He's really starting to get shy and won't perform on command anymore. :( I wish you could see him dance when he thinks no one is looking- it's SO funny! He still loves music- loves to listen to it, play it, and sometimes tries to sing along. It's amazing to see this gift coming out of him.







And here's a pretty short one of him before bedtime one evening. He still LOVES the boppy pillow his Aunt Hopey gave him. He likes to sit himself in it and lean back to relax. Also now, at bedtime especially, thanks to the guidance of his Daddy, he demands back rubs. He situates himself inside this boppy pillow, waits for you to get beside him with a book, then he takes your hands and places them on his shoulders, leans his head back, and says "mmm...wowww...mmm.." while you rub his shoulders. If you don't do it long enough he'll take your hands and put them back there. Sometimes, he grabs a book to read while you're doing it. I still can't stop laughing while I have to rub his back. What a trick to teach such a young child. Josh says it's payback for having to rub mine. :)

Some of the things that made this week full and wonderful- a very well attended Moms and Kids class for the second week, 2 play dates for Jakub, an enjoyable floorball event with other families, success with shoes, and plenty of work to keep us busy throughout it all. We're really getting into the swing of things for our summer camps and that's exciting!

Enjoy the videos. I have more pictures and stories to come later. I'll also post that risotto recipe soon. I hope you have a good weekend. Love to you all!

Happy Valentine's Day (early)!!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend with better weather than most of you have recently experienced. Ours is still very much cold, but oh-so-sunny! We've had sunshine 4 out of the last 8 days and that's as much as we've seen the sun in 2 months. It's been a hard, long winter here, but the sun is finally starting to shine on us and it feels great! I took Jakub for a mid-morning stroll outside today and it was truly heavenly to point our faces into the sunshine and smile and laugh. We walked across the street to the playground and Jakub went down the slide for the first time (he's been on them before in other places, just not at home due to weather). He's doing well at walking outside on sidewalks and such. It's good to just be able to walk together a little, even at a snail's pace, instead of always having to get the carriage out to take him around block or for small walks. This is one more reason I am REALLY looking forward to spring weather.

Another reason today was joyous was that Josh and I were able to celebrate Valentine's Day a little early. Our friend and teammate Christie volunteered to watch Jakub for a few hours in the late afternoon so, Josh and I enjoyed the afternoon, did a little shopping, and had a delicious Chinese dinner before heading back home. It was very sweet and kind of her! Jakub did well and didn't miss us much, at least on the outside. :) She said he played well, didn't cry for us, and that they had a good time together. We were so glad and do not take this opportunity for granted. It's just the nature of life here that we don't really have many babysitting options, so it's not often that we get some much needed "us" time. It was a great day!


Here are some other fun things we've been doing:


Teaching Jakub to thoroughly inspect his toes after his bath to make sure they are clean. :)




Getting pajamas on before reading together in bed.




We do a lot of reading before naps and bedtime. He loves to look at books. He especially loves to point at every object to learn it's name. He's even starting to repeat some of the sounds or names. He loves teddy bears and this book is full of them. He also loves the "I love you through and through" book with the bear inside. In the picture below you can see him "reading" it. :) A couple of months ago he started turning the book upside down when got to the page you see below (with upside down teddy bear). Pretty clever!





On Friday we had our very good friends Stana and Mikuláš over to celebrate her birthday. Despite their disparaging looks here, the boys had an amazing time together. They playfully screamed, laughed, chased, and actually shared many toys and good times together. I was able to make dinner and a cake for them and we enjoyed a nice evening together. I made Risotto for dinner and if you've never made it before and would like a recipe let me know. It's a delicious rice dish that is not difficult to make, and great for kids, too. It's pretty popular here.



I hope you all have a great and blessed weekend. :)

Visitors...

This past week we had some dear friends (Ashley, Jamie, and Luke Sides) come to visit for a few days. They are missionaries working in a city about 4 hours away from us and we've known them for many years now (They've been in CZ since last summer). We had a wonderful time visiting, letting our children meet and play with one another, and encouraging each other. Here are just a few pics from our time together. Above, the Keens hosted us for dinner one evening. It wasn't as hectic as we thought it might be to get 4 children to eat at the same time. It was really a great dinner time together.





Here Jakub's playing with Evan and Thompson. Luke was there, too, but he loved walking everywhere and didn't sit down much. :) Jake loved this tunnel they had in their living room. It's about time for us to invest in a couple of more active, big-kid toys. If any of you have some suggestions from what your toddlers have loved, let me know!



Here Jakub's practicing his soccer moves with Luke. These two were busy boys! Jakub is doing really well with his balance and kicking balls. He loves it! And that belly- can you believe it? That's in the afternoon- long after lunch and just before dinner. Do any of you have kids with big, cute bellies? :) By morning it's pretty flat again. So funny, and hopefully normal. :)






And this one, though it's not clear, is my favorite. :) Jakub, after eating his dinner, hiked his foot up on the table and leaned back on me. It was so funny!!! And his shirt could not have been more appropriate for that look on his face. Thank you, Aunt Hopey, for that. :) It's still too big, but he'll grow into it quickly I'm sure! We tried to find shoes for those big feet today, but the ones that fit the length were too narrow for his big foot to fit inside. :) So, we'll have to keep looking around. It was fun to shop for him, though, and he was great about all of it. He liked looking at himself in the mirror while we were trying different shoes on. :)

Freedom!

I've been looking forward to and praying about this time for several years now and I want to thank all of you who have been praying with me and for me (and will continue to, please). I am currently not taking any medication regarding my autoimmune problem. I've been slowly weaning off of the medications for a few months and as of one month ago I completely stopped everything. To date, I'm not having any major problems or repercussions and I thank God for that! I have noticed that I feel warmer in general, and my face flushes easily, but hopefully that will be the worst of it. It's been almost 4 years with this struggle and I'm thankful for this joyous moment right now. When it all began and was at it's worst it was difficult to believe in and hope for a time like now, but I'm glad God doesn't give up on us and that we can keep asking Him for help and healing and increased faith. This is just one way I'm experiencing a sweet freedom right now.

Another way is with Jakub as he has been completely weaned from breastfeeding since January 1st. I cannot say enough how thankful I am for the child God gave me. I know I am blessed in how sweet and easy-going he has almost always been. In most ways, including breastfeeding, he has always been pretty great. As I began the weaning process last November he didn't seem to mind a bit as I cut out feedings and replaced them with formula or whole milk. He has always loved to eat regular food, as you know, so making sure he had enough calories was not much of a struggle, either. I know many Moms who battle with these issues regarding their children, and as much as I tend to worry in general, I know a child's health/growth/eating habits can weigh heavily on a Mother and that I have not had to actually worry too much. Now, it did take about a month of constant work and encouragement to help Jakub be the good-milk-drinker he is today, but he didn't make it that difficult- and he never seemed to care that I was stopping my feedings. In fact, I was nervous about the first day he wouldn't feed from me at all and I had Josh put him to bed so as to not "tempt" Jakub by being near me. Well, that sweet boy played and read books with his Daddy and went off to bed without a peep and slept well, as usual. The next morning we did breakfast together in our normal routine and he didn't even look at me as if I had abandoned him or anything! :) And he's never seemed to look back. So, I thank God for this new found freedom as well. It's been a blessing to have that relationship with Jakub, and to be able to give him the nutrition he needed for a year, but it's also been a blessing to my life and work here to have more freedom and flexibility in my schedule.

My continued desire for another freedom would be freedom from worry. Many of you know me well so I won't say much- just that I continue to worry about EVERYTHING more than I should, so please keep praying for me. Please pray that I will constantly experience the freedom God can give me from worry. It was my new year's resolution last year, and this year as well, and though I would say I do actually get a little better with this in time, it could be a lot better if I would let God have more control.

Ok, if you've maintained consciousness this long then here are a few recent photos to enjoy. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!




Josh and Jakub enjoying playing a "hot potato" type game with the teens at out activity center.






Jakub LOVES to sit on a couch with people, especially guys, and just lean back and relax. It's so funny to watch him do it- makes him seem like such a big boy! The teens really love him and that's special for us to witness.


Here's our little sportsman! He loves throwing the football with us, he's starting to run now, and he can kick the ball pretty well without falling. He's definitely active and I love that. I can't wait for some warmer weather so we can go to the local parks and playgrounds!

I hear many of you are enjoying (or not!) a lot of snow and ice. I hope you have fun, but stay safe and warm at the same time! Thanks, always, for reading and for the comments or emails you send my way. They keep me encouraged!

14 Months, Sledding, and More!

Ok, so I couldn't come up with a good title for this post, but I wanted to share some videos, some pictures, and some of the new things Jakub is doing and saying right now.

We had the Keens over today for some shared family fun and it was awesome! We took the kids sledding behind our home (Jakub's first time!) and they had a blast. It was frigid outside, so we were out for only a 1/2 hour, but it was an enjoyable time. Jakub has no fear when it comes to things like this and so he loved it from the beginning. There was a lot of screaming and laughing going on amongst these boys. Their smiles were so big and so contagious. I LOVED seeing the Dads and their sons having fun together. I'll remember this day forever. I'll also remember the cold as I think it was about 17 degrees with a freezing fog all around us, but that didn't stop us! We always have a great time with the Keens and their kids. They have definitely been family for us here, as well as wonderful co-workers. I'm thankful for the passion they have for God, for life, and for family. They've been such an encouragement to me through the years.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, videos, and stories!







Here are some of the things Jakub is doing right now:

- Learning to brush his teeth and not loving it too much. We dance and sing a lot to help him out!

- Feeding himself very well with a spoon, though he still equally loves to use his hands and make a mess. :)

- New words: "oh..dude!" thanks to Daddy. :) Also saying: Bible, Hi while waving, Nanana (banana), Grrr for bear, Brrr for cold, and Humm humm for I'm hungry or yummy food. :) He does a lot of pointing and talks all day with gibberish, but still doesn't say a lot of different words.

- He's started trying to sing or hum along with me. It sounds like "woo, woo, wooo." It's sweet though, and definitely some kind of "singing" along.

- He's started trying to jump- on the ground, on the couch, on the bed, and very successfully on the trampoline at the play-center I took him to on Friday afternoon. He did a great job bouncing and balancing without falling! I was so proud. :)

- He's dramatic. He makes big, extravagant faces and noises to get his point across. He also loves to scream and hear his own voice. He likes to watch himself make faces and then he gets shy about it. I think he'll be a big talker when he finally figures it all out.

- He loves to take everything out of a drawer or cabinet and then put it all back or rearrange it into other drawers. He's good at helping me clean-up right now when I ask him to put his toys away. I'm sure that won't last. :)


He loves to bring you his toys so you can play with him. With that sweet face coming at you how could you resist?



Yummy spaghetti!



Dramatic face.



Rearranging- it's tough work!



He still crosses his feet when eating, just like he did from the beginning while breastfeeding. It's still funny to me. He also does it when he kicks back to read a book with me at bedtime.




Another dramatic face. He likes his scream. I hope the neighbors find it as charming as he does.


Now, on to the videos. Enjoy!



This first one is old, but so cute. :) I love watching the two of them play together! I think this one is from early December. My favorite part is when he lays over on the side of the bed to watch Josh, before I distracted him. :)

The following are from our time of sledding today. (Please excuse all of the giddy giggling :)

Happy 13 Months!

I am way behind on the many posts I would like to share with you, which I have already written and re-written in my head several times (usually around 11pm, when I'm too tired to get a pen and paper, or turn on the computer, or get out of bed..).

So, Jakub has passed 13 months now and is changing so quickly these days! He seems a lot taller to me, and he still has his cute, chubby leg rolls, so I'd say he continues to gain weight. He is slimming down in the middle some, as he's more mobile now, too. His pants are best at 18-24mo length. We've been to the doctor a few times in the past month, but not for normal check-ups. So, my guess is he's around 33 inches and 24-25 lbs.

He's growing quickly out of his shoes and the ones that fit now are size 5. I don't think they'll make it much longer! Also, now that he's older, it's culturally appropriate for him to have his own pair of house shoes (look like normal kid shoes, or keds, but a little thinner made and cheaper since they stay inside) to take with him to other people's homes. Just a little cultural tid-bit for you. :)

He's found a pattern of cold-catching about every 14-16 days, usually with a one-to-two day high fever to start us off well. So, we've been doing that a lot, but hopefully it all goes towards the building of a healthy immune system and nothing else. I'm thankful he handles it so well and tends to play and smile right through it. Occasionally, he ends up in our bed around 2am, but that is when you know he's really not feeling well or the fever is high, because otherwise he sleeps 12-13 hours straight a night, even through illness. I know we are blessed and I do not take it for granted. He's always been a good sleeper at night, and it continues now. He's even on a kick of sleeping until 9am right now. I'll take it!

That all started around Christmas time, as did his WALKING! :) Yes, he's a walker- when he feels like it. Crawling is still his transportation of choice, and why wouldn't it be when he can do it so quickly I can't even catch him sometimes. He is getting braver by the day, though, and will walk willingly from one toy to another, or one room to another, even when no one is watching him, coaxing him, or taking pictures of him. :)

Wow.. I think I spewed all of that in one breath. Sorry if it's not coherent. I'm trying to think of everything I want to remember about this time in his life. Christmas was such a blessed time for us. We had snow, a warm home, some time off as a family, and around that time Jakub began walking, tickling feet, pointing at everything demanding to know what it is or to touch it, feeding himself from a bowl with a spoon (with quite accurate aim on most attempts), drinking milk better and better, ceasing breastfeeding, trying new foods like salsa and loving it!, sleeping in until 830 or 9am, saying new words like "boo," "duck" and "baby," dancing with even more rhythm, and gaining 3 new teeth. There are 3 more teeth on the verge of coming now, which will make for 8 total when they all arrive.


Here are some of him eating... he's so proud of being able to feed himself.


Yes, the following pictures represent a hereditary trait. We couldn't believe it when it surfaced for the first time. He comes by it honestly and without any prompting on our part. I am not ashamed of passing this on to him. Papa, you'll be able to ridicule him all you want when we next return home. :) And yes, there is licking going on in there....




:) He's such a good eater.


Here are some pics from Christmas time that I never officially posted.

My Grandpa gave him this precious outfit while we were in the states. I just love it and the train on it.






My sweet boys.


He is really starting to love Daddy time, and that is very special to see. When I go to get him in the mornings sometimes the first thing he says is "da-da." He looks for him when we come out to breakfast and is sometimes still asking for him during breakfast if Josh isn't home. They have a great time together!

He loves to give hugs and kisses and sometimes he looks at you in such a mature way and then snuggles against you like he knows it's just what you needed. He's very physical in this way and others. He wants to touch and taste and explore every toy/object to figure it out, he does this to his food, to furniture and also to other kids. :) He's constantly going up to children around him and touching them, pushing/pulling on them, and wanting to play right beside them (or steal their toys from them). He's just very physical. He seems to think babies younger than him are baby-dolls instead and he can be as rough as he wants with them. We're working on the "be gentle" concept. Here, you say "mala-mala" when you want a kid to be gentle with others and touch them kindly.

He loves to laugh and sometimes will just look up at you, then fall over laughing with a big open mouth. I love it. It's a deep, hearty laugh and it's catching! Here's a blurry pic of that sweet laugh...



Oh, and when he walks he puts his arms straight up in the air to balance and he looks like a monkey. It's hilarious. He's actually already balancing better and not always doing this, but in the beginning I couldn't get enough of it. :)

He still loves music so much and is constantly rocking or jumping or dancing to a beat when he plays with his musical toys and he gets the biggest smile on his face. Sometimes, when the t.v. is on, and music starts to play, he'll stop whatever he's doing, look for us and smile, and then start dancing. It's awesome. I like playing the piano Josh gave us, with him, and seeing the joy on his face as he makes the music. I hope he'll continue in this. We recently had some friends over and we let our kids make music together. Awesome. Thank you God for these memories.







Before bed he likes to go to his bookcase and pick out 1 or 2 "new" books to read before bed. He likes to snuggle against your arm while you read together, and after he gets into position he crosses his feet (also still does this while eating). It's so cute and my Mom said I used to do the same thing (so does my Dad:).




We're brushing teeth now and he likes it a lot! It's neat to watch him watching us and then he imitates it. I'm hoping to take him to a dentist for the first time soon.



That's probably enough for now. I'm sure I'll think of more after I post this. So many new things! Life with him is great!