Red Light

Observations: Africans are beautiful. And oh, so primitive.

Well, we are here. Three days of travel and we are finally here. Two hour flight, fifteen hour flight, overnight stay in South Africa, two hour flight, four hour drive, and we are here. And it is wonderful. On our four hour drive, I was enthralled with the nationals walking along the road: little tots sitting on the shoulder… little; like three years old. People on bikes, people with baskets on their heads, children kicking soccer balls made of plastic bags wrapped with twine. Incredible.

I asked Chandler, “Where are they all walking?” To and from work, the fields, a friend’s house, or to check on the kids, but with no urgency.  I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of accomplishing a purpose on my own time, at my leisure. Chandler calls it “African time”.

I wish we could have more opportunity to interact with the nationals; however, we are “ministering to the saints” and what a necessary calling we have on this trip. We are so blessed to have simply met these missionaries and I am excited about the prospect of getting to know them better.

Oh, about the red light. I almost forgot. Our hearts drop when we look up at our independent air conditioning unit and see that red light and do not hear the humming of the air. It has kept us on our toes. Last night, we experienced the wrath of that little red light when our air went out at 2:00 am and it had to be at least 85 degrees in our room… the rest of the night. We made an attempt to fix the problem ourselves, then trekked the ten minute walk to the reception desk only to find the night clerk sleeping on couch cushions on the floor. We didn’t wake him up. Our hearts heavy, we trekked back to our room, pulled down our mosquito nets, and slept with as little cover as possible. In separate beds. We have two twin beds in our room. I call it a “vacation”; Chandler does not approve.

But the internet is decent; however, free time is not in abundance. I probably won’t be blogging much this week.

D Day.

Um, yes, I'll take a quarter pounder, medium fries, and diet coke for lunch at 11:00 am. Thank you. Of course, it is not my ideal lunch, nor is it my ideal lunch time, but I don't really care now. 

I am focused, so as not to be emotional. I am really okay though. A little wary of the unknown and anxious about a 17 hour flight.

We are almost completely packed and the house is cleaned (eh) for our house sitter. 

Pray for us.

It's Probably About Time.

I totally should not be playing on the computer right now. There is way too much to do. But I figured, what better time to post Waverly's birthday photos than two weeks and a day after her birthday and on the day before we leave for Africa. I have a talent for timing.

Waking the birthday girl!

 One birthday kiss from each of us

 Special birthday breakfast from Daddy

Passing time at the doctor's office eating Cheerios

Full of kisses!

Walking girl

At the Explorium

 LOVE the water table!

Dr. Waverly

We landed on the moon.

Licking her lips for the cupcake; I kid you not.

Mom, this cupcake is amazing.

T-Minus 1 Day

I'm not good with good-byes. I took Fenway to her vacation home. And cried a little when I got home. It's just not the same without our "go-go". No matter how much of a pain she can be, I miss her.

Today is it, though. I still haven't packed; although, I did what I said I would do yesterday... I pulled out the suitcases. But that's it. So Chandler gave me more direction: pack Waverly and make a list for yourself. Got it. I'll get right to that... after lunch. I have decided that Waverly and I are going to Panera for lunch today for a date. Okay, okay, part of it is because I am tired of eating at home. We have been trying to get rid of the perishable foods before we go and I can't take it anymore.

So, after lunch I will buckle down on packing.

I had a little meltdown last night. Okay, okay, I sobbed. We went to check on Waverly in her bed before heading to bed ourselves. It's hard to look at her, then walk away and feel like I haven't memorized her exactly right. I just cried and cried. Finally, after I cried through washing my face and brushing my teeth, I gathered myself and even managed to laugh at Chandler falling out of the bed (that happens more often than it should). We get snuggled in and Chandler says, "Babe, I know this tough," at which point I started crying again and told him I just didn't want to talk about it.

It definitely won't be the last time I lose it. Count on it.

But for now, I am okay. I've put a little perspective on it: Our will is not an omen. It is eleven days, four of which will be traveling to and from. Our parents get two uninterrupted weeks of "Waverly love" and it doesn't get much better than that. I will miss her way more than she will miss me. This is what God has called us to do at this time and I have to be obedient and trust that His will is perfect.

I can do this.

T-Minus 2 Days

I love eating breakfast with my baby. She is eating Cheerios, I am eating Cheerios and we're watching Dora the Explorer. She's not a huge fan of any one television show or character, so we watch what I can tolerate. Mostly we chat and she makes me laugh. Fenway is outside, frantically soaking up the smell of the grass and feel of the wind in her hair before the storm comes. It's supposed to be a doozy, so I hear. She hates storms. I hate storms. Thankfully, Chandler is only working a half day today, so I won't have to weather the storm alone. A good day for a nap... or cleaning and packing. Wah waaaah.

Only 2 days 'til we leave and believe me, I am ready to get this show on the road. I am tired of the anticipation. I am ready to do this. I've been downloading free apps on my new iTouch and buying ibooks with our iTunes gift card in preparation for our travels. Oh, and I finally made a couple of lists. That was Chandler's suggestion yesterday when I told him I was extremely overwhelmed, like to the point of anxiety attack. So, I did and it really helped. I know what the dog needs and what Waverly needs, plus I bought them each a folder for their important papers. Progress was made, but we're getting down to the wire. I guess today I'll pull out the suitcases and backpacks. After I take Fenway to the vet and have lunch with Morgan... :)

T-Minus 3 Days

My stomach turned a little bit when I typed "3 Days"... This trip is coming up pretty quickly. I feel like I have time. I really don't. I have had multiple friends offer to help out, but I can't think of anything I need help with. In hindsight, I will know what they could have done.

On the docket today: cleaning, list making, grocery run.

Tomorrow: take the dog to the vet... She is high maintenance. I want to get her checked out before she stays with friends. She has had tonsillitis before. I didn't know that was possible, but it is. She wasn't eating and we chalked it up to allergies and general laziness, but she lost a lot of weight. Her tonsils were enflamed and it hurt her throat to eat. I could kick myself now for letting her lose so much weight and I am not letting that happen again.

I am hoping to not have to take Waverly to her doctor this week. I think it is twelve-month molars, but sometimes it is hard to distinguish between cutting teeth and an ear infection. She's been slobbering like crazy, more so now than with any of the seven teeth she has now. And her bottom is so raw from.. well, let's just say something has upset her stomach. Last night was rough. She woke up sometime in the early morning, just crying. Completely uncharacteristic and so totally pitiful. I made Chandler go in to her, but eventually got up myself and ended up rocking her for half and hour. Ugh, satan, stay back!

On a more positive note, Chandler and I finally drilled out our daily schedule for the high schoolers. Tonight he is going to develop the daily devotionals for each day. We also have an idea for what we want to do for the Friday night program.. yeah. So, Wednesday night is the talent show and apparently, our team is participating. Then, Friday night the missionary kids are putting on a program, which our team is producing. The little kids are singing a couple songs, the middle schoolers are doing a puppet show, and our kids are "happy hands"-ing to a Casting Crowns song. Hopefully. Chandler and I have to learn the song by next Tuesday before we start teaching the high schoolers. It's fine. We've got 17 hours on a plane from Atlanta to Johannesburg.

But I'm not stressed. Really, I'm not. Pinky. God is totally in control. We are going to do our part and trust the rest to Him.

The guest bathrooms are calling my name. Oy.

T-Minus 4 Days!

I am an emotional melting pot. I am, for sure, 100% excited about this trip. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to visit Africa and now here I am, four days away! I am also 70% anxious and 30% stressed, but I refuse to let myself be sad. I have to stay focused.

Unfortunately, after the sun rises, it has to set and when I'm laying in bed, I tend to do my "best" thinking. I haven't always been that way, it just kind of creeped in over time. I've also become a talker and problem solver. My days are so filled... with the baby, chores, errands, television, doing what I want to do, and night time is the only time I can hear myself think. So I do. About a lot of things. Lately, about Africa. I make mental lists and bounce ideas off Chandler. Then, when I'm really still and Chandler seems to be asleep, I think about leaving: how I want to soak up every single second with Waverly and memorize everything about her (dramatic? yes, but eleven days is a long time to be away from the one I've seen every day for a whole year, the one I do everything for and with, so I'm allowing myself to be a little dramatic), and how it will be saying goodbye at the airport. I have to emotionally prepare myself. I have to go through the motions. Somehow it makes things easier.

Satan's been working though. I've seen it. We've experienced it. He's gotten me where it hurts: my relationship with Christ and my relationship with my husband. No doubt he'll sneak in when it comes to Waverly.

So I'll stay busy. The whole house has to be cleaned, we have to finish preparing our material for the high schoolers next week, Chandler and I have to get packed, we have to pack Waverly, and send Fenway off to a friend's on Thursday. There is too, too much to do to sit around and be sad. I just have to do.

Lots of lists; I'm sure my house will get messier before it gets clean. I am woman. I can do it. :)

I've been blogging a lot lately.

In the spirit of being crazy for my funny little girl...

(This phone takes terrible pictures! - That's for you Trent)

She was having the hardest time trying to climb back out of the infant car seat. She'd grunt and turn all different ways and start whining, so I'd ask if she needed help... the above photo was her response. Eventually, she caved and reached for my hand; until then, though, I had a good chuckle over this twelve-month-old's independence.

It Seems Like a Lot of Lemons

I have a confession: I've been a cynical grump lately. Small things have been getting on my nerves... except my dog.. she's a BIG thing getting on my nerves. She's been following me around everywhere; like, this morning, I was going to fix the thermostat down the hall and she needed to follow me there. Except that I made her sit and stay where she was. I'm positive she believes Waverly is going to eat her and the only way to survive is to walk on my heels. I digress. It's one of those "the next person (or dog!) who crosses me is gonna get drop-kicked" kind of thing. Not healthy. I just have to get out of this funk.

I also have a complaint: today is just not my day. On his way home from class today, Chandler's car died... on New Circle Road. We thought it might be the battery. That would only happen if today was my day, but it's not, so Chandler's alternator went out. It's a $400-$600 repair. It's not that we can't fix it (thank God for our savings), but we have to ask ourselves the question: How much money do we put in this car before we're putting in more than it's even worth? Don't get me wrong, the Audi is a really nice car and we got it for a great deal; however, when any car has over 200,000 miles, it's going to require more maintenance. We understood that when we bought the car, what we didn't take into account is that some parts of an Audi are...special. For example, after replacing the brakes (thanks to my stepdad, brother, and hubs), a couple of springs kept coming off and it became a problem so that we had to take the car to the shop. Remember, those "special" parts of an Audi... well, $70 later, we had those springs fixed. Had they been a bit more generic, they would've cost less than $10.

See my frustration? So, now we're in the process of determining whether or not we want to become a "one car family". Yikes. In a culture where independence is key, Chandler and I would be giving up some of that independence in a way. I like knowing that I have a car in the garage, even if I don't drive it. When we've been down one car for whatever reason, I wake up feeling stir crazy. This decision would definitely require a sacrifice in that way. On the other hand, one car insurance.. one car to repair.. plus whatever money we'd sell the Audi for.. I mean, financially, we'd be a whole lot better off. Maybe this is one of those blessings through hard times, kind of thing.

Oh, then I broke the teapot we painted for Waverly before she was born. It fell off the top shelf when I shut a door.. the windows are open, so the door shut a little harder than normal. Awesome. I glued it back together. It's sad.

If you think about it, pray for us. Not that our issues are huge, but there are a lot of little things going on that make our issues seem huge. Africa's right around the corner and it's getting harder and harder to stay focused on God's picture. Pray for us.

I had to.

My photo collection would not be complete with out the classic, yet cliche, photos of my child eating spaghetti. So, here they are!

Waverly drops, Fenway cleans up, I live the life.

Wash it down with some milk.

 Notice her feet crossed at the ankles. She does this a lot. So precious.

It's all coming together.

T-minus 11 days until we leave for Africa. I think I may vomit. Seriously. My stomach flip-flopped a little bit when I realized how close we are to take off. That being said, I'm also EXTREMELY excited!

The Lord has blessed us so greatly in preparation for this trip. As only He can do, our trip is paid for with a little extra left over. We couldn't use this extra for other expenses as it went to help our team members pay for travel; however, because of our savings, we were able to pay for our immunizations and other medications (a whopping $500!). We've also been able to budget for extra items, such as, travel clothes, snacks, and a watch for Chandler. Let me tell you about this watch... Africans tend to live on their own time and there's no such thing as being "on time". On a previous Africa trip, Chandler waited a few hours for a wedding to begin because, as was custom with this particular people group, the bride's family and friends had "kidnapped" her. So they're all having a great time, while the wedding guests are just waiting around at the site. In America, if the wedding doesn't start at the time specified on the invitation, people are checking their watches and getting restless.

This lack of concern for time and punctuality is very common in the African culture, so Chandler, in his Type A ways, has to have a watch. In fact, he wanted this watch weeks ago, so he could get used to wearing it. I have neglected to get a watch up to this point because, quite honestly, he's not a watch person and he's just going to get a cheap one. Look, I don't want him to look like a goofball. So, we'll get a cheap watch this week and I can deal with him wearing it for one week before we leave. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his desire to stay in control. I'm so thankful that he's done this Africa stuff before because there is only one other person out of this team of 13 with this type of experience. I will not hesitate to throw my vote Chandler's way on anything regarding Africa and traveling there. I'm just keeping it real.

Aside from the financial aspect of our trip, we have been blessed with a forward-thinking, motivated team. As I said above, there are 13 people on our team: Larry & Jane (married), Ruth, BJ, Susan, Kent, Jessica, LD, Gail, Pastor Henard, Todd, Chandler, and myself. Four of us are younger than 30, the other nine are over 50. Quite a group, huh? I'll be honest, I was expecting the younger people to far out weigh the older in numbers. It's good, though. I'm excited about our team. We all bring different gifts to the table. For example, we meed every Sunday afternoon for about an hour and half to talk plans, prayer, and devotion; what I didn't realize is that the older women have been meeting together during the week to do some planning and preparation. Waaaay more than I've put in myself. It's been great because an hour and a half a week would not get us ready to go in the time we've had.

That's not to say our Sunday meetings haven't been productive. They have! It gives us a chance to collaborate our ideas and do some supplies packing. Every week we draw the name of someone on the team to pray for that week. I know Chandler received a very sweet and encouraging letter from his "prayer partner" one week. Our Sunday meetings have also helped us build some "team unity". I knew three other people, besides my hubs of course, before this was set into motion. Now I'm getting to know so many more wonderful people that I've gone to church with for years!

Now for some shocking news... Chandler and I are "responsible" for the high school MKs while in Africa. I'm not much of a high schooler person, despite the fact that I have two siblings in high school. I guess I just figured I'd be with the elementary age students, considering I have an elem. ed. degree. Trust me, I'm not upset about my assignment at all, it was just peculiar to me. But God has a purpose for this. Chandler and I have talked about it. A possible reason could be that the high schoolers have a little more flexibility over the week; they can stay with the kids or go with their parents. This freedom, per say, will allow Chandler and I opportunities to meet the parents of these kids. Knowing other missionaries could help us in our process because they may request us to come to their country. See?

I'm encouraged and excited and overwhelmed. While a lot of work has been done, we still have a lot left to do. Continue to pray for us as we leave our daughter for a country thousands of miles away. Pray for our team: pray for our hearts and preparation. Also, pray for those we will be ministering to. It appears as though the missionaries are very discouraged right now, so pray that we can be an encouragement to them.

Happy Birthday!

My Sweet Girl,

What a great week we have had celebrating your birth just a year ago! Daddy made sure his days off revolved around our celebrations: Wednesday for your birthday and Saturday for your party. Wednesday was very special for us. Daddy made you toast with jelly and eggs for breakfast, then we saw Dr. Bos for your one year check-up. You had to get shots... mean mommy, I know, but you handled it like a champ. You weighed about 23 pounds and were a little over 29 inches tall; quite a bit different than when you were born! Dr. Bos was so impressed with your vocabulary and ability to communicate; you definitely put on a show, loving all of the attention she was giving you.

Fortunately, we snuck in a morning nap before lunch, then after lunch headed to the Explorium! There were not a whole lot of activities suited for a one year old, but you just loved walking around and, well...exploring! It was no surprise to Daddy and I that you were almost immediately drawn to anything with water or bubbles. Although I'm sure you would enjoy the Explorium more if you were older, we just enjoyed all being together, doing whatever we wanted. Having Daddy for a whole day without tons of stuff to do was such a treat.

After the Explorium, we made it home for a late, but long afternoon nap... actually, you were the only one napping. Daddy and I had some decorating to do! After your nap, we had more celebrating with Caramanda's cupcakes... yum. Later that evening, Grandma, Papa, and Auntie Marg came over to visit.

You will be proud of me: I didn't cry all day. In fact, I was so focused on the celebration of your birthday, that I didn't have a chance to think that one whole year of your life had passed. Honestly, I had done all of my reflection and crying the night before. It was an overwhelming thought that my precious newborn was too quickly becoming a little girl. For months I had recorded every single milestone and now we were preparing to celebrate the biggest one yet. That night, Daddy and I laid in bed reflecting on the past year, remembering our favorite moments and the more difficult times. I remember thinking when you were born, that those sleepless nights would be forever a part of my life, but in hindsight, those first few weeks are just a blink of an eye in time. I don't necessarily miss being tired and frazzled all of the time, but I would do it a hundred times over knowing how much of a blessing you have been in our lives.

Lucky girl, you, the party didn't end on Wednesday! For a couple of months, I had been preparing a big, birthday bash just for you! We invited some of your friends from Gymboree, your grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and a few of mine and Daddy's friends to celebrate with us. Let me tell you, you are one loved little girl. Truly. You friends came, Daddy and my friends' came, not to mention, all of your family!

I know the whole party wasn't a big deal for you since you don't yet understand that everyone was there to celebrate you, but all of it was such a blessing to me. I enjoyed every bit of the planning, decorating, and preparation and I was touched that everyone we invited came out to celebrate YOU. I couldn't have asked for anything better or any day more perfect.

It was a lot of work putting your shindig together and it may seem silly to put in so much work for just a couple of hours, but it was all completely worth it. While planning this party, I realized that I'm not going to be able to do this for you every single year. I want every birthday we are able to celebrate in the US to be incredibly special and memorable; not that you remember this party, but I do and I always will. You are my special, beautiful little girl and I want to remember everything about your life.

We've had a great year! You have been such an easygoing baby: always smiling, always charming somebody (you get that from your Daddy), and always a delight to be around. I still can't believe that a whole year has passed when I so clearly remember the days we spent with you in the hospital before bringing you home. I didn't know then what a blessing you would be in our lives. I had no idea I would love you more than life.

Waverly, you think you are a big girl now that you're an entire year old, but you will always be my baby. Always. You keep us on our toes and we love it. You are amazing.

Daddy and I love you.

Year in Review

Waverly Elizabeth

Born March 9, 2010 at 6:59 pm

7lbs 11oz, 20 1/4 inches

(This month got away from me... no "official" photo)

(This "official" photo is on a camera I can't find)

(This day also got away... you can't blame me)

One-year-old on March 9, 2011

23lbs 14oz, 29 1/2 inches

I shed a few tears yesterday evening (and probably will now) thinking of the past year. Earlier, I was reading the blog of another mother who wrote, "i had no idea my little girl could touch my soul the way she does." I get it. I was clueless a year ago, but now, I get it.