Andrew: 2 years old!

Andrew's turning two years old this week!  We were blessed to have some friends stay the weekend with us who have two young boys, so we had a fun party while they were here.

I made two collages of photos from the past year, but I can't decide which one I like better.  So here's both of them. 

We love this little guy!!  So happy to have him in our lives!

Expecting!

That’s right– Baby #2 is on the way!  We are so excited and thankful that the Lord is blessing us again.  The baby's due date is around February 1, 2013.  Please pray with us for a healthy, safe, full-term pregnancy and birth.  We've had some scares, and I've had to be on and off of bed rest.  Feedback from doctors continues to be positive.  A recent sonogram with a doctor visiting Cameroon from the USA showed a healthy, growing baby, and we are thankful that despite the scares, God is keeping us healthy and safe.
Due to my medical history, previous complications, and based on medical advice, we've decided to return to the USA for the birth of this baby.  We will go to Oklahoma in November before the cut-off for pregnant flying and will stay through the healing process (required  c-section).  That will mean being in the USA from the end of November and most likely through March.

Moving on...

It's Time! It's a little surreal, but we are moving to Cameroon April 1st.

Keep us in your prayers this week

***VISAS*** are in the mail, but we don’t have them yet.

Good decisions—packing, shipping, tossing, donating

Saying good-byes

Health and safety

Protection while traveling (actually traveling March 30-April 1)

All bags to arrive safely

Initial transitions to a brand new life

We’ll be sending a full update soon… can’t wait to share our new life with you!

Merry Christmas!

Fall (and a little bit of winter)

We are a happy family of three now! Andrew's been "outside" for two and a half months now, and we are enjoying him so much. We tooks some family photos near the beginning of November. This is as close as he got to a smile.

We've been truly blessed to live in such a beautiful place! We sure do enjoy the fall colors of our pretty little French town.

Andrew is always very impressed.

But, we have to tell you, at about a month and a half, he really started "waking" up to the world. And we LOVE it! His facial expressions and and antics keep us laughing with joy.

Andrew and Mommy usually have what we affectionately call "wakies time" (awake time) every morning. Daddy joins in when he's not at school. We read a Bible story, sing, and play with some toys. The singing is usually exceptional... too bad you can't hear it!!

This is Andrew in his first Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. He slept through the whole service.

PRESENTING: the first big smile (caught on camera)!

Andrew and Mommy at Thanksgiving

Daddy and Andrew decorating our little tree. It's small but looks quite pretty, and it just fits our little studio.

A big part of Andrew's day is distracting--- I mean, helping us with our daily work. Here he's helping Daddy tackle French.

Our town had the largest snowfall it's had in 50 years at the end of November- around 2 - 2.5 feet of snow! It was incredible and beautiful. John went out to document it for us.

Two adorable boys!

Tummy time!

On December 9th, we had the great chance to visit Lyon (about an hour away by train) where they were holding their annual Festival of Lights (La Fete des Lumieres). It was quite impressive, although somewhat hard to show off in photos....sorry.

We had a really good time, despite being quite cold!

Andrew kickin' back on the train home.

Now we're gearing up for the celebration of Christmas, and we are anxiously awaiting two groups of visitors! We can't wait to see Karen, Sara, and Mark and Roxanne and Rochelle!

YEP, we're pregnant!!

We are so thankful for this blessing! After waiting so long and going through so much to get here, we're just thrilled.

Here’s the story of our first doctor appointment! (pregnant lady's point of view)

The appointment was for 8:20 am on Friday, March 5th. We walk everywhere, of course, so we left the house about 30 minutes before that. We were afraid that we weren't going to make it, so we opted to catch the bus that would take us to "downtown". Once there, we remembered we needed cash to pay the doctor, so we ran to our bank and got some.
We weren't really sure where the doctor's office was because we'd only looked at in on Google maps. It's on a little side street that Google didn't even really show on the map. Anyway, we found it without any real problems, but we were rushing and rushing and all I could think was, "Great, now I'm going to be all sweaty for this examination."
However, when we arrived at the door and buzzed the bell, no one answered. So we waited a few minutes until someone came in with a pass key. Most offices here are in large buildings that house other offices and sometimes residential apartments too. The front door is usually locked and you have to buzz up to the place where you want to go to be let in.
The office was on the second floor, and we were greeted by a woman who directed us to a little waiting room. We didn't sit there long, maybe 2 minutes. The doctor herself, Dr. Charra, came and got us and we went to her office.
First, she did a general consult time. She asked a lot of questions, (yes, all in French) and we answered them. I had written out my rather extensive medical history for her and she read over it, making notes of when all my surgeries took place. She understood us, which was great. We mostly understood her and were able to clarify what she meant when we didn't. All in all, pretty satisfying as far as a language experience goes. Not perfect, but we'll take it.
The French doctors count the pregnancy differently than US doctors do. According to the internet (my source for US info), I'm 9 weeks pregnant and the due date is October 9th or 10th. According to Dr. Charra, I'm 7 weeks pregnant, and the due date is October 16th.
Next, she had me go around this corner to a sort of nook in her office for the examination. I had to remove all my clothes- no gown! and she checked me out. The funniest moment was when the doctor was feeling the size of my uterus. She said something that I've loosely translated as, "You feel good and pregnant!"
After that we went to the ultrasound room, where John joined us. She put the jelly stuff on my stomach and away we went. What a moment to see a tiny perfect little baby there! WOW! When she let us hear the heartbeat, it was amazing- such a miracle moment! Then I was laughing and the baby moved too! I was starting to get all emotional when I realized the doctor was still talking and I reminded myself I could be emotional later and to pay attention to the French words coming out of her mouth. =)
According to Dr. Charra, everything looks great. She said my uterus is a little big (2nd doctor to tell me that.... hmm) but everything looks fine, just as it should. The baby is just 2cm long but we could clearly see the head, the body, and the little arms and legs that are starting to grow.
We went back to her desk and she wrote out our bill. This is the 2nd time we've seen a doctor here, and both times we've paid the doctor directly in cash. Funny, huh?
After we left the doctor's office, we had to go to the lab just around the corner to have blood work done. They took like 9 little vials of my blood. Whew! Then they gave me a little cup to take home for a urine sample and told me to bring it back Saturday morning. I went back to the lab to pick up all the results a few days later. They also had to get another vial of blood for some test that must be done twice, so I did that too.
We went back to Dr. Charra March 31st. The ultrasound picture is from this second visit. The baby is now 10cm from head to toe!

Doing all this in a different country, in a different language, for the first time is a little challenging. I'm happy to have all the info, all the experience I can get. I will also see a midwife for info, etc., because that's what they do here. I think this will be an interesting experience!

Waiting and Putting it into Perspective

At the beginning of April, we had a final post-op check up and the doctor was so pleased with how I have healed. For having three surgeries in a span of seven months, I am blessed to tell you that I healed nicely and everything is working perfectly.
WELL, ALMOST anyway. There is still one very small area that the doctor is concerned about-- could be a fibroid, could be scar tissue. So she is going to have me do another test in May to take a closer look at it. Either way- fibroid or scar tissue- Dr. Wilson thinks it needs to be taken care of before we start trying again due to increased chances of miscarriage. This most likely means another day surgery for me and at least three more months of waiting to start trying to get pregnant.
At first, I was really frustrated and couldn't BELIEVE that I was going to have to have one more surgery! I kept thinking, "God, what are You doing?" But that was such a human reaction! When I think of all the things I have to be thankful for, I'm overwhelmed. My body has been through a lot in the past year, and the Lord has kept me healthy, whole, and happy. In reality, this isn't bad news (as I orignially perceived it). It's another reason to be thankful that I have access to great healthcare and a great doctor. Now is the best time to address these issues, and John and I feel good about following our doctor's advice.
We do continue to ask for your prayers as we continue this journey of trying to get pregnant.