300th post - Maybe when I'm 30

In honor of my 300th post and my approaching 30th birthday I decided to make a list.

Maybe when I am 30:
-I will actually, finally feel like a grown up.
-I will pick clothes that look nice over clothes that are comfy.
-I will wear make up more than 2 or 3 days a week.
-I will have another baby.
-I will stop loving crazy adrenaline inducing activities.
-I will keep my house clean and cook dinner more often.
-I will actually put away laundry the same day I fold it.
-I will read a more books a year that are for more than entertainment value (other than the Bible).
-I will learn to correctly fold a fitted sheet.

Maybe I will do some of those things when I am 30. Maybe.

300 posts is a lot. I have definitely slacked off on posting in the last year - part of that is because I have been busy with Addie, part of it is being busy with work and part of it is not really knowing what to write about. I mean, our lives are not super exciting. There have been things that have happened that I haven't written about though so I would really like to try and get better. Here's to 300 more posts (if anyone even still reads this)!

July 28th

I woke up today and thought "it's the 28th". That means that today would have been my friend Nathan's 30th birthday. Nathan passed away in 2003 on the day after Christmas in a car accident. Nathan was the oldest one in our huddle class. This is the year that we would/will all be turning 30 so it's a cool year.

We had all been friends for a long long time, some of us since elementary school - Nathan join our group in middle school. We all talked about what we would be doing when we were grown ups and when we would get together. I don't want to speak for anyone else, but when Nathan died right before we all graduated from college it knocked us down. It was rough, and still is rough. He was a friend to everyone, a goof who could make anyone laugh, a guy who was real, a leader, a Marine, a baby brother and a total mama's boy.

Nathan's favorite song was Create In Me. Today I have been singing that song a lot of the day. I have also been praying for his family and friends - praying for peace, joy and a sweet time of remembering Nathan.

I know that God is bigger, God is sovereign and God is good.

Sunday morning Chaos

Sunday mornings are always a little crazy - which has never made sense to me since we usually leave at the same time or later than regular work days. Sometimes Josh leaves an hour or so before Addie and I do, sometimes we all leave at the same time.

Anyway, it always seems like things go wrong on Sundays, especially when it is just me getting her ready. For example, the Sunday after Josh left for Kadesh Addie put her shoes in the toilet. Yesterday she stepped up her game. She was eating breakfast (luckily in just a diaper) and I was less than 5 feet away getting some coffee and when I come back into the living room her stomach, head, hands and face are covered in yogurt and she is making designs in it on her tray. This is not typical behavior, lately she has been doing really well with yogurt and spoon and last time made hardly any mess at all.

Sunday after church we were able to have lunch with a wonderful woman from church, Marita McKay. She is a sweet lady that I have grown to love and respect. She has actually been at University longer than anyone else in the congregation and has been in Denver for about 80 years. I learned so much about her at lunch. Her mom raised 5 kids alone after their dad passed away when Marita was 6. Marita also has 5 kids and tons of grandkids and great grand kids. She made Addie the yellow dress she is wearing in some of the pictures. It is so special to be able to have people here that can be psudeo family for us and Addison.

I may have mentioned this before but Addie has a few baby dolls. One that she recently got from my mom, her Nana. She is so sweet to these babies and puts them to bed, feeds them etc. She loves to kiss them, give them to Josh and I to kiss and so many other things. I was finally able to get some pictures of her with her baby Sunday afternoon. It is just to precious. She will be a great big sister some day.

I never thought...

-that I would say the phrase "shoes do not belong in the toilet". Addie threw her shoe in the toilet this morning when she was angry and then this afternoon decided to try to put to her shoes in there for fun (the lid was up because it is broken).

-that I would have to be thinking up ways to trick my daughter to eat veggies or any sort of fruit. She used to love them and then all of a sudden stopped eating them all together unless they are in chip or fruit rollup form. So, if anyone has ideas, bring 'em on.

-that I would rather buy kid clothes/toys etc than stuff for me.

-that I would care so little that my house is a disaster 75% of the time.

-that my daughter would kiss my "ouchies" or that before I convinced her to call them "ouchies" she would combine "owie" and "boo-boo" and say "boobie" when she was hurt. 

-that I could love each stage that she goes through so much for its own unique things - like even right now when she is stubborn and rebellious she is also discovering more about her sense of humor and her affectionate side. She is also learning so many new skills and words.
 
I knew there are going to be a lot more things that I never thought would happen - some great and some not so great. This parenthood thing is definitely an adventure. 

Two weeks is a long time

Josh is gone for two weeks - first at Kadesh at ACU and then at Cornerstone at OC. First of all, this is a transportation nightmare. I won't get into all of the details of renting vans, trailers that can't go on the rental vans etc but after Kadesh Josh takes 4 kids to OC with him from Abilene and the rest of the adults take the rest of the kids home, the two other adults drive the MS group to OC on Saturday (passing the HS group) then they leave to go back on Sunday. Josh is at camp for another week then bring everyone home on Friday. Like I said,m transportation nightmare.

Anyway, I am used to him being gone - this has been happening every summer since we started dating. But, it is getting hard as Addie gets older. She is now asking about him when he is gone, she looks for him in the mornings or when we get home in the evenings. I tell her that Daddy is working and that we can talk to him later and she is just fine, but she knows that he is not here.

It's also hard because she is headed full speed towards the stubborn two-year old behaviors. My work schedule also has a tendency to get a little insane, especially since I just picked up several new families as one of my co-workers just resigned to move to OK. Each summer I get a new appreciation for single parents who also work full time (or who don't).

But, no matter how stressful and exhausting it is, I try to remember that Josh is doing what he loves and what God has blessed him with gifts to do. I know he LOVES camp each summer but that he also misses us. I hope that someday we can go with him (especially to Kadesh which I love so much too). So, until these two weeks are over we will keep praying for Dada while he is at camp and having lots of fun Mama and Addie time!

Kisses

One of Addison's new favorite things is to give kisses. She makes the cutest "Mmmuuuaaa" noise as she either gives kisses or blows kisses. She is also an "equal opportunity kisser" - if she kisses me, she has to then kiss Josh, Gigi and whoever else is in the room. She has been known to blow kisses to Elmo while watching Sesame Street and to sit and just kiss her baby doll in the car.

It is adorable.

I love that she is so affectionate and loving. Josh just keeps telling her that she needs to stop this kissing behavior before she becomes a teenager. I can't seem to get a cute picture of her sith her kissing face but I will eventually. There was a super sweet picture taken of her kissing my sister in her wedding dress last weekend and I can't wait to see it!

I love this little girl - she is such a joy!!

After the Mavs won the CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Addison!

I have been so, so bad about keeping up with the blog lately. Really, life has just been a little out of control. So, I have a few minutes right now while Addie is napping so I thought I would upload some pictures and type a few fun things that she is doing.
-She still loves to have books read to her. This is great except that now she is getting whiny when we say no, or not right now.
- She loves to brush her teeth. Hopefully this continues.
-Connie is helping her learn her name. If you spell it she will say that is says Addie. She will also repeat the letters and sometimes say it one her own. Super cute.
-I love her prayers at night. "Thank you (for) Mama, Dada, Nonnie (Connie), Jesus. Amen." and then we get kisses. It is awesome!
-I just cannot believe how much she has grown and how fast she is learning. Really, it is amazing. I have been so busy lately that there have been times I haven't enjoyed her like I should have but I am so blessed by her.

Africa Part 2

So we landed in Namibia after about 24 hours of travel. We flew from Denver to DC and met Casey there. From DC we flew 16 hours to Johannesburg South Africa and had to run to make our flight to Windhoek, Namibia. When we got to Namibia we discovered that half of our bags were missing. Everyone but Casey had at least one bag missing and both of mine were gone. Luckily I had a change of clothes and all my medicine and most toiletry stuff in my carry on.

I was able to introduce the team to John and Martie that night and then we went to a hotel to sleep before driving to Tsumeb the next day. It's a 5 hour drive from Windhoek (capitol) to Tsumeb where John and Martie live. Along the drive we kept seeing signs telling drivers to watch for warthogs on the road. We did see a few baboons in the trees but no warthogs. The country was so green and beautiful - a lot different that the last time I was in Namibia when it was summer there and dry.

When we got to Tsumeb John took us around the town and showed us the new church building/bible school - a definite upgrade from the one they had when I was there last and the orphanage. The building that the orphanage is in is what used to be the church building. We were able to meet the children who live at the orphanage and play with them for a little while before going to John and Martie's house. I will write more about the kids later - they deserve their own post.

The next day was Sunday so we went to services and were able to worship with the congregation in Tsumeb. Everyone was so welcoming! We were luck enough to get our luggage back that morning which was good since we were planning on leaving for Etosha - Namibia's largest game reserve after services that morning.

Etosha will be the next post. I also deserves it's own and will have lots of pictures.

Happy 18 month birthday

My little girl is 18 months old today! I can't believe it has gone by so fast. She is so much fun - running all over the place, talking all the time, giggling etc. She loves kisses, tickling people and reading books. I love that she gets so excited and says "Mama" every time she sees me.

I could go on on but it is actually bath time and if you delay her bath she gets upset. I am so incredibly blessed by this sweet girl!

I have lots more pictures, these are just the only ones on this computer...all the others are on Josh's computer!

Africa Part One

Well, before we get to the actual Africa trip I will talk a little about what lead up to me going on the trip. A little over a year ago I was at an area-wide youth retreat that my friend Casey spoke at. The theme was Unsafe. I had already been thinking for a long time that I wanted to go back to Africa but the timing never seemed to work out. At that retreat God was really speaking to me through some of what Casey Pate was saying and I decided that I was going to make a trip happen. I talked to Josh and we decided that March would be a good time for me to go with his schedule. I started to put some of the pieces into place and eventually asked some friends to go and announced to my church that I was going and whoever wanted to go with me was welcome but that the details/dates etc were set. I was excited when 4 other people decided to go also but I also would have been content to go on my own. I have gone to Africa several times before and love it. It's hard to explain it really. There is something about the people and the land that really get into your heart and changes you. I wasn't sure if and when I would get to go back again so I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. I will always try to encourage the kids Josh works with, as well as adults to get involved in missions - it really is a powerful experience and an incredible way to share Christ.

Anyway....It was a challenge to figure out what Josh and I were going to do with Addison while I was gone. Eventually we decided that she would spend time with 2 of the 3 set of grandparents so that Josh could still work since Connie, who takes care of her during the days was also going on the trip.

At first I wasn't nervous about it leaving Addison, I got worried as the trip got closer just because it was the longest I have been away from her - before that it has just been a weekend. She is a pretty adaptable and flexible little girl so I thought she would do well but I was still nervous about how it would affect her. She ended up doing great and not having any problems at all other than that she was still recovering from being sick the week before.

Josh was great and so supportive of me going. He had been to the same place in Namibia that I was going to - we went together 7 years ago so he had a good idea of where I would be, what I would be doing and who I would be with etc. He helped me do everything I needed him to in order to get me ready to go.

It was a rough few weeks before we left. I was working long days and even some weekends. Addie had been sick for almost 2 weeks and worse more sick than she had ever been before. It seemed like there was so much going on. I ended up getting sick the Sunday before we left and just tried to ignore how bad I felt. I kept telling myself I could sleep on the plane.

We finally were able to leave on March 3rd - ready to go to Tsumeb Namibia and work with John and Martie D'Alton, the Tsumeb Bible School, an orphanage there and help build a church building in a village in Northern Namibia.