Daily Blog

Turkish Reflections Part II

2012-02-03T20:33:00.000+02:00

While on my trip to Germany, I did some writing. A three part series on my life on a military base and in Turkey in general. Here ... is Part 1.

So. Sorry. Yesterday’s post may have sounded a bit like I was spouting off. And I guess I was. I wrote it in the airport on my way to Germany for my speaking engagement. It had been a long day.

I woke up at 4:30am wide awake. JB had taken the night shift in preparation for my trip. And a good thing too. Apparently Abigail woke up at 11pm and 2am wide awake. Yikes. While I didn’t need to get up until 6am, 4:30 was here, and I was awake. I got up. Checked my email real quick . Email from Orbitz. Flight to Istanbul has been … cancelled.

Not delayed. Cancelled. I called Turkish Airlines. Apparently it was snowing in Istanbul. I checked weather.com and sure enough, snow (a.k.a. kar) in Istanbul. That never happens. I think if Orlando got a foot of snow, it would shut things down in that airport as well.

While the person on the phone spoke English, the conversation was difficult to decipher. At one point I had to ask him to spell the word he was trying to say. It was abroad but he kept saying abrude, and I was completely lost as to what he was trying to tell me.

I finally ascertained that getting to Germany through Istanbul today was not going to happen. They could get me out the next morning. Wednesday. I was speaking on Wednesday. And flying back home on Wednesday. That wasn’t going to work.

Plan B. Or C. Or D maybe. Who knows. I started playing all of them. Not going was definitely in the works. It wasn’t looking good.

About this time JB rolled out of bed, incredibly tired from his long night with our little lady. Despite that, he jumped right into brainstorming a solution with me.

I started playing around on my bilgasiyar (computer) hoping to figure out something. I found a way to get to Germany without going through Istanbul, but the flight was a whole lot more expensive. And longer.

No booking that until I talked to my friend Jenny who was in charge of organizing this event in Stuttgart, Germany. The new option would take me from Adana to Ankara and from Ankara to Munich and from Munich to Stuttgart. It would take me all day and cost quite a bit more. If I wanted to do this, I had to take a flight that left from the Adana airport in about two hours. But it was an hour earlier in Germany and Jenny was still asleep. To book or not to book?

Jenny woke up and called me with about twenty minutes to spare. She checked the purchase order and told me I could indeed book the flight. Hatice stayed with Abigail, JB threw the boys in the van, and we took off for the Adana airport.

But it was in the course of my travels that my frustrations for this country grew.

I suppose this is normal. I am living in a completely foreign country. And I am preparing to leave it. I think my brain knows it. I think my heart is listing the reasons why leaving isn’t going to hurt as badly as I think it will.

JB told me not to post this. It is true that it is not looking at the positive much. But while I have loved living here, I want people to understand how difficult it can be to adjust to a new country. Here are the things I have had trouble adjusting to on my travel day:

Driving. To start things off, the driving on the way to the airport. Cars creating a lane in between two lanes that does not exist. People jumping out from behind trees to cross the street everywhere. Anywhere. Stray dogs. Trash. Begging.
Pat downs. I get to the airport. I start beeping going through the security checkpoint. Mind you, this security isn’t nearly as formal as anything you might see in the USA. Liquids are fine. Shoes are fine. But apparently, I was still beeping, and somehow, they determined it was my bra setting it off. I offered to take off my boots first and try again, but they declined the offer and the male security guard directed me to a female who simply started patting my breasts right there in the front of everyone. Once she determined that an underwire was present, she shooed me off. This has happened numerous times to me. I can’t even imagine what some lawsuit-happy-Americans would do in this case. But in my case, there was nothing I can do. Just proceed.
Lines. I get to the ticket office and face a language barrier again as I try to explain that I have booked a new flight via a telephone operator. We finally figure it out. It takes nearly twenty minutes. There are two lines. A woman is waiting in between the two lines. But apparently she was deemed to be in my line because five new people came to the other line and asked questions, and she just waited there for me to be done. I was so frustrated for her. These people just kept walking in front of her. I wanted to tell her, if I knew how to say it in Turkish to just step in front of the other window. But it was as if she had chosen her fate and was resigned to it.
Miscommunication. I asked for an exit row seat. The woman told me, in English, that I had one. I got on the plane, and it was not an exit row. This has happened to me multiple times.
More on lines. When going to our plane, they open a glass sliding glass door and you walk out onto the runway and find your plane among the multiple ones that are there. Firstly, waiting in this “line” is incredibly unnerving. There really isn’t a line. People move past you continually. They push you out of the way. They aren’t rude about it. It’s just the way it is done. If you stop for one second too long, they pass you. Even with my “It’s-Turkey-don’t-worry-if-you-get-cut” attitude, it is wearisome.
Disorder. If you are the only American on a flight with all Turkish people, you are outnumbered. You have to do it their way. And their way is so different than anything I am used to. I'm not sure if it is because they are unfamiliar with flying or what, but so many people come in and just sit in any seat in their correct row. This ends up causing great delays as a shuffle ensues -- the attendant trying to help people get in the right seats when someone doesn't have a seat. When you get off the flight, people do not wait for the row in front of them to go first. It is a free for all. You can be passed easily if you aren’t on your game. If you stand up, people will push you out of the way to get by you. If I am on the aisle and don’t stand up, the person at my window or middle seat might actually step over me to get by. The personal space requirement is quite different. I try to remind myself where I am. But it is so hard. It is so foreign to what I have grown up knowing. If you wait and get off last, you'll be the last person in the customs line which can get an hour long.
Language barriers. We get on the plane. It doesn’t surprise me that after we are all seated, we have one passenger too many. There were three planes to choose from, and it was fairly random how you knew which one to go to. Because one person got on the wrong plane, this meant that that one person got off and could have left something bad (like a bomb I guess) on the plane. So they make all of us get our luggage and hold it on our laps so it can be attributed to someone. This is fine, but they said all this in Turkish. I’m pretty sure I was the only one on the plane who was not Turkish, and I had to ask around until I could find someone who spoke a few words of English to explain to me what it was I had to do.
Dress. This isn't something that bothers me. It's just confusing to me. The gal sitting next to me on the plane was wearing tiny little shorts (not much bigger than a bathing suit bottom) and under the bathing suit were leggings with fake holes in them. This is so strange to me. In Turkey, showing your legs is not acceptable. You never see adults in shorts. Ever. However, wearing underwear with tights is okay. That’s confusing to me. Very short skirts, as long as they are accompanied by panty hose, is a-ok.
Turkish rules. Somehow on my way out of the house in the few harried minutes I had, I left my toiletry bag on the kitchen table. So I didn’t have it for my trip. No real big deal. I figure I can borrow some make-up from Jenny. And my toothbrush ended up in my bag. So that’s good. But deodorant. I kinda wanted my own deodorant. I found a Turkish pharmacy in the airport in Ankara. I looked everywhere on the shelves and saw all matter of toiletries. But no deodorant. It’s all aerosol. No sticks. And tiny little cans too. Nothing like I’ve ever seen. It took me awhile to translate labels and find something that looked like it might work. But I did. I tried to ask the sales clerk if I would have any trouble getting through security with this. But I couldn’t remember the word for security in Turkish. I tried just saying the English word because I was thinking the Turkish word was close. It didn’t work. I tried looking up security in my dictionary. Couldn’t find it. So I gave up and decided to chance it and buy the deodorant and see if I got through. I got through -- in Turkey. Ankara let me into Munich but Munich didn't let me in to Stuttgart. Ugh!
Male closeness. Men walking close together also continues to throw me off. I have realized that when I see men in Turkey, I immediately interpret it as intense conversation where the men must be up to no good. A totally unfair assumption, but one I am honest in admitting. I realized that the reason I feel this way is that seeing men walking close together in America would indicate men up to no good. But here, men just walk close together. They will walk with their arms around each other. Shoulders touching. It’s still so unusual to see. Men and women are never walking as closely as men are walking with each other.
Garbage. I keep getting thrown off by the fact that after you eat at a food court or fast food place (the few that exist) you just leave your garbage on the table. Someone else picks it up. I am always looking for a garbage can.
Garbage cans. And speaking of garbage cans, my Turkish friend Rana explained to me why I never can find one. And why the littering is so bad. A few years back there were a bunch of bombs set in trash cans. The powers that be decided to remove all the garbage cans to help something like that not happen again. But as a result, I never can find somewhere to throw my trash!

I feel so much better just writing those things down. There is such a part of me who wants to only see the positive and only share the positive. But while I have loved our experience, and I would gladly stay in Turkey another two years if we needed to, I must admit that the differences are starting to wear on me a bit. (Or a lot.) I think you can tell that these differences are not necessarily bad. They are just ... different.

Now all those things being said, there are many things about this country that I love. For one, the thought that the deodorant I bought only cost me about $2USD. That made me happy. The lunch I had eaten was equally cheap (about $6USD) and also very tasty. While there are sometimes fast food options, there are always home-cooked options. They actually made lamachan in a tandoori oven while I waited. And when I was confused as to where to go to pick up the lamachan, an incredibly nice man who spoke pretty good English stopped and took the time to help me order and get my food. He even answered a few other questions I had regarding departure time. (Remember, I don’t blend so I think he was pretty positive I didn’t belong.) People can be incredibly helpful in this country.

Do we, in America, go out of our way to help people who look confused? Do we make traveling easy for foreigners? Do we help people who don’t speak the language try to learn?

Another thing. Turkish food is fantastic. Scrumptious. I love it. All of it.

But the language … not English. All that said, I just miss my country. I’m homesick for it. I’d like to think that my month home next week will help satiate my longing for the U-S of A. However, I am worried that it will only cause me to miss America all the more.

More on that in tomorrow’s post.

One momma ...

2012-02-03T15:30:00.002+02:00

One momma
+ two three-year-olds
+ one six month old

+ one flight to Germany

+ one flight from Germany to the U.S.

+ one night stop over in the U.S.A.

+ one more flight to South Florida

= Need for prayer!

If you can add me to your prayer list for the next 48 hours, I would appreciate it so much. And if you are praying, could you leave a comment saying you are doing so. It will be such a great encouragement to me when things get a little bit crazy!

Three ways to know you are in a Muslim country

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000+02:00

While on my four hour layover in Ankara, I thought I would take some pictures of some signs that I have never seen in America.

This sign is basically saying, "Please don't wash your feet in the bathroom. We have another facility where you can do that before you pray."

A prayer room in the airport.

This sign is telling you that behind this door is a Turkish toilet (you stand instead of sit.)

Turkish Reflections Part I

2012-02-02T20:16:00.002+02:00

While on my trip to Germany, I did some writing. A three part series on my life on a military base and in Turkey in general. Here ... is Part 1.

Lately, I’ve been frustrated.

Frustrated that after covering all the couches as I normallydo when leaving the house so that Scrubs doesn’t lay on the furniture, I ranback into the house for something only to find him laying on the one couch that wasn’t covered with akitchen chair.

And the reason it wasn’t covered with a chair? Because itwas covered with clean laundry! Loads and loads of it waiting for Hatice tohelp climb out from under it. And there sat my just –played-outside-muddy andshedding-like-crazy-lately doggie right smack in the middle of it.

Time to rewash all the clothes, right?

Not a chance.

Frustration regarding Scrubs intersects with my frustrationsabout … geez I don’t know how to say it.

It’s a combination of military life and the country ofTurkey all rolled into one.

That being said, I am not sure it is actually Turkey as muchit is not America. Or our military.And our military mixed with Turkish military?

I fear I’m not making sense.

Government-run organizations can frustrate everyone. But inour case, we have an extra layer of frustration because we are on a TurkishBase – not an American one.

Example of something that caused my blood to simmer? Our PCS to the Azores. I promise you, ifgeneral citizens had to do as much as a military family to move, no one wouldmove … ever! We’d all live in the house we were born in for our entireexistence. I’m sure of it!

Keep in mind, that I’m only the “dependent.” Ninety percentof the work to move falls onto JB. His frustration is currently spewing. However,just the parts that I have to be responsible for drive me up a wall.

I had to take the boys to the dentist to make sure theirteeth were good enough to go. Just one of a gazillion things, and truthfully, Iwas actually surprised they didn’t make Abigail go too. There’s so many thingsthat don’t make sense that this would just be one of them.

We had to take Scrubs to the flight line to get him weighedin order to get him listed on our orders. But it was more difficult than that.We had to bring the kennel that he will be flying in with us. Knowing that thekennel is too large for the scale at the check-in desk, we brought him inseparate from the kennel. The Turkish man at the security checkpoint told usthat we’d have to put the dog in the kennel to get him weighed. (This is wheremilitary frustrations intersect with Turkish ones. I’m pretty surecommunication factored into this event.) We tried to explain the too big of akennel thing in half Turkish half English only to be shot down. So we put thekennel together, put Scrubs inside, got a luggage cart to carry it on and wentup to the counter.

Only to be told at the front desk that he would have to beweighed separately. Please take the dogout of the kennel and take the kennel apart. It’s too big to fit on the belt.

Okay.

I won’t even get into the fact that you can’t even fly therotator to the Azores. We’ll have to take commercial anyway. So thisinformation is not needed and will not be used.

But. Okay.

A form of Cirque du Solei came to the Base the other day. Thirty minutes before I wassupposed to meet friends for the show, JB called. Apparently our entire familyhad to have a meeting with someone from the “Exceptional Family Member Program”because of Abigail’s head issues. They waived the meeting due to mercy formother with three tiny children and no Veronica and as a favor to JB I think. ButI still had to get all three kids out and go up to the Clinic to sign somepaperwork before the show started.

So I did. I got everyone ready to go thirty minutes earlierthan expected. (No small feat when we have pants and underwear and jackets andshoes/socks times three and a dog to do furniture prevention with.) We piledinto the van. Drove to the Clinic. Ran up to the front door – boys pushingAbigail in her stroller, trying to do all this and still meet my friends ontime.

Only to be met at the front door of the clinic by an airman.

Did I have my ID?

I should have known better. Go somewhere on Base withoutyour ID, and you can rest assured there will be an “exercise” that day atwhatever building you are going to that requires you to show ID or even stay inor out of the building until the exercise (aka “practice for some fake event“)is over.

I didn’t have my ID. The airman asked me what I was therefor. “I just need to run into my husband’s

office – Dr. K. – and signsome forms.”

There’s only three doctors. It’s a small Base. Surely thiscould slide.

It could not.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll need ID to sign the forms.”

(I didn’t.)

Okay. So I’d run back to the van to get my ID. At least itwas in the van and not at home. But before I did, I’d tell this man that he’dhave to watch my three kids. No way I was going to navigate the parking lot anextra two times with all three kids. So I sat the boys against a side wall; Iparked Abigail’s stroller. I told them to be good, but truthfully, I didn’treally care if they were. “You’ll have to watch them,” I said and turned to jogout to the van before the young airman could say anything in reply.

Oh. And get this. That “Exceptional Family Member” program I wrote about upabove? Well, it was determined that Abigail needed physical therapy for herflat head/neck muscle issues. So we met with the therapists at the end of lastyear. They came to the house. We did all the paperwork. We got everything setup.

And then, the Turkish government reached a stand-off withAmerican military in regards to contractors working on Base. The therapist onBase was a contractor. That means she is not military, and she gets paidthrough a separate employer. The Turkish government has decided that they areno longer going to renew the contracts of these employees. Not unless the employeragrees to pay 30% to the government for Turkish taxes.

That’s not goingto happen.

So anyone whose license expires in January can’t workanymore. At least until this all gets worked out. Next month it will be all theFebruary people. And so on. Abigail’s therapist was one of these lucky people.So now she is here. She knows how to help Abigail. But she can’t. Because ofthese contract disputes. We go weeks without a therapy session.

So they sent Abigail’s therapist to the Azores and brought amilitary therapist from Germany to Incirlik for a week. This man can see Abigail. I’m still not exactlysure why, but I think it’s because he is military. Anyways, he comes to thehouse with another gal. We had a wonderfulhome visit at which point it wasdetermined that Abigail really didn’t need therapy anymore. Because she wasrolling all over the place, her neck was getting stronger and she was nearlydevelopmentally exactly where she should be.

But the U.S. military would require us to still log visits untilwe could get the paperwork changed. The paper I signed was a legal document.And we can’t change the paperwork until Abigail’s therapist returns in a month.

This new therapist has to come to the house again laterin the week to meet requirements for his trip over to Turkey. He has to do atwo hour visit with a little girl who doesn’t need his help. He was incrediblynice. He played with Abigail and the boys. I watched The Australian Open andmade cupcakes for Elijah’s birthday party all the while thinking: What a waste for this guy. What a waste forthe money of taxpayers.

He actually told me later that this ranked as his top one ortwo home visits ever. So, I guess that means that he wasn’t too bored playingwith three little kids and watching their mom make cupcakes and seeing Djokovicadvance to the finals.

(Did I mention that the during the course of this meeting wetook Scrubs out to play Frisbee? The boys ran ahead of me into the house andlocked … me … out. Thank goodness the therapist was holding Abigail or I mighthave really panicked. Our lock bolts three times. You can spin it around forwhat seems like an eternity and not get the door unlocked. So I was concerned.Elijah tried to help. No go. I told him to get his brother. Isaac was a greatlistener, and I talked him through returning us into the home without too muchdrama. About four minutes of “Oh crud. I’m going to have to call JB at work,”but otherwise, nothing much to speak of.)

Note to self: keep sliding glass door unlocked in back.

Double note to self: Scrubby knows how to open sliding glassdoor unless it is locked.

Triple note to self: Try to figure out some other option toprevent lockage outage in the futurage while still preventing Scrubbage fromunwanted outage.

Other quick things. We just got our “permanent car pass” forthe Base. Nineteen months after first setting foot on this Base, we now have apass. Granted it accidentally has a picture of me by the name “John” and“Wendi” looks awfully male-like. But we have it. In order to get it, we weretold that both JB and I had to go to the office and do the paperwork together.So, we got all three kids there and waited in line an hour only to see JB doall the paperwork by himself.

“Do you need my wife?” he asked the man working.

“No. Just you.”

Deep breaths Wendi. At least they let you put cartoons onthe television in the waiting room while you waited.

So Turkey … frustrations. There’s more, but I fear this posthas already run away from me. Tune in tomorrow when I will attempt to soundless unhappy and more positive and come up with a moral of the story thatleaves us all seeing the glass as half full.

Germany talk

2012-02-02T13:10:00.000+02:00

I have come and gone to Germany. All in the space of about 24 hours.

Supposed to fly to Istanbul on Tuesday. Istanbul got snow. That's like Orlando, FL getting snow. No way they can handle that.

Flight was cancelled.

Found another way to get to Germany but it would be through Ankara and would take me the whole entire day.

I did it. Went to Ankara. Then went to Munich. Then went to Stuttgart. Jenny picked me up from the airport in Stuttgart and by 1:30am I was fast asleep in her guest room.

7:00am I was up. By 10:00am I was speaking.

I thought the talk went great. It was a good beginning to the additional speaking events scheduled while I am in Florida in the weeks I am there.

I took a 2:50pm flight back home. This one was direct, praise the Lord, which let me avoid Istanbul yet again.

JB, on the other hand, was due to leave for Utah on Wednesday for a Conference. When I arrived in Adana, I expected to see my friend Patty pick me up from the airport. But here was JB! And the kids! I thought I wasn't going to see John for a month so to get to see him one more day was great. His flight too had been cancelled, and so, he was now set to go out the following day.

This morning John finally headed to Utah. He's on the way there now.

I am heading back to the States this weekend. So exciting.

I have a lot of cultural stories to share you with from my whirlwind trip, but for now, just a note to say I am home, and if you prayed, thank you, because I felt the Lord with me during my journey and speech.

In addition, the Lord is so incredibly awesome to provide me with so many wonderful friends to help make this trip possible. From those that watched the kids to those who listened to my practice speech, to those who fed the dog or let my husband take a nap. Thank you!

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

Thinking for Scrubby

2012-02-01T06:03:00.000+02:00

Our dear Scrubs. He is so amazingly gentle with the kiddos. Okay so sometimes he knocks them over. But especially when they are babies, he lays next to them totally understanding how easy he has to be. Here's a video illustrating that point. And here is another video showing how "in the middle" of the action he likes to be. What a great dog. We do, however, like to talk for him. So here is what we think he is thinking in the pictures I took below:

Mmmmm. Feet smell good.

Mmmmm. Diaper smells good.

Mmmmm. Wait. Is that one of the boys eating peanut butter? I think I am going to go and watch them eating at their table instead.

Okay. Seriously? I thought I left you on the other side of the room? Another one goes "Mobile."

Okay. If you gotta pull the tail, just pull it. Get it over with. Let me know when you are done. It's so embarrassing.

Happy #3 Elijah Boy

2012-01-30T20:46:00.002+02:00

On Friday evening, we had a joint birthday party with Elijah and his friend Scotty. His mom, Sarah, is a professional photographer. I encourage you to visit her website: Little Trees Photography, especially if you live in San Antonio -- their new home as of this spring. All of the pictures below, our courtesy of Sarah. She's amazing. Micah, Sarah and Scotty were also one of the couples who joined us on our weekend in the snow.

(Elijah's personal creation. And yes, it's a dinosaur.)

The night before the party, we found out, at the last minute, that we had to go and get Scrubs and his kennel, weighed at the flight line for our move to the Azores. This meant no time for JB to make the cakes and left me to be the cake-maker the day of the party. I decided to let the kids help me. The cakes on the left have an "E" on it for Elijah and are the dinosaur he created. The cakes on the right have an "S" on it and Scout (which JB drew) -- Scotty's stuffed animal pal. The boys helped me to decorate the cupcakes. We had a great time!

I can't believe how grown up he looks here.

Or how grown up she looks. (And yes, she is wearing a skirt and tights. I can't believe it myself.)

Ms. Logan is the "cool aunt" everyone wishes they had. My kids are all in love with her. Her husband is deployed and so she has been helping me out since Veronica's departure.

Elijah's friend Aksel with his Dad, Jake.

Mr. Micah helping some of the kids bowl. He's such a cool guy!

Stay tuned for an entire post on Isaac's bowling skills soon to come!

What would a party be without Peter?

Unveiling

2012-01-29T22:03:00.001+02:00

My hubby JB and I have been working on something for quite a few weeks, and we felt it was finally ready for me to "unveil" it on the blog.

Check out this link: www.wendikitsteiner.com.

With the public speaking I am getting ready to do, we thought it important to create a formal "identity" for where we see the Lord taking this ... even though we aren't sure if it will go much farther than the few engagements I currently have scheduled.

I am excited to see where the Lord takes our story. I know He has a greater purpose, and I am excited to see what that might be. I think it has something to do with speaking but I'm open to His direction.

You will notice on the main page that I will now have separate "blogs" for infertility articles, adoption articles, and motherhood articles. Everything I write will first go here, on my daily blog. However, following publication, articles will be copied to these other sites. This will allow people struggling with infertility to just read my infertility articles. People wanting motherhood to just go there. Same for adoption. I plan to go backwards and move past articles that I have written on these various topics to the other sites ... in my spare time.

This means that if you only want to keep reading my daily blog, you can, and you won't miss anything.

In addition, I am very excited about a very cool video that will be coming soon -- thanks to my good friend Linda. Check back for that.

I'd love to get your feedback on the new website, design etc. so feel free to leave a comment telling me what you think.

And a huge thank you to my husband. I really dragged my feet on this. He had a "vision" for what I could do and kept pushing me to do it. I, however, not being a former graphic designer and current logical thinker like he is, couldn't really get it altogether in my head. However, he kept prodding. I kept taking baby steps, and all of a sudden, one afternoon, the entire image started to become clearer to me.

Your prayers for this ministry would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings loyal readers! Please share with your friends!

Congratulations to ....

2012-01-29T21:18:00.000+02:00

... Janelle Keller at: janellenicolekeller@yahoo.com. She won a second-time-around-book-give-away. My friend Joy won the book the previous time and she has offered to send it to someone new. So Janelle, send me your address at flakymn.blogspot.com and Joy will send the book your way.

Wait No More

2012-01-29T15:39:00.000+02:00

As an adoptive mother myself, I found the opportunity to review a book on adoption, an incredibly exciting opportunity.

In Wait No More Author Kelly Rosati shares the ups and downs of foster-to-adopt parening. "I kept thinking God was challenging us," Kelly writes, "asking us if we'd just pass by. Or would we be like the Good Samaritan who did something about the person in need right in front of him?"

Through a series of chance opportunities mixed with divine intervention, John and Kelly Rosati found themselves the parents of four children that truly needed a home. And as she tells the story of Danielle, Anna, Joshua, and Hope, she talks about foster-parent adoption in frank and real ways, sharing both the joys and the difficulties involved with navigating the legal system in the course of those adoptions.

There are over 130 million orphans worldwide. John and Kelly couldn't adopt all of them. But they could adopt 4 of them. Adopting through the foster care system requires special parents. Even as an adoptive parent myself, I am not sure it is a system that I will ever feel comfortable navigating.

I was hoping Kelly's book would encourage me to jump into the game. Instead, I felt a bit defeated at the complexity and emotions involved in becoming parents this way. And while the story itself was interesting and the book an easy read, John and Kelly's story was very personal to their family. She didn't include much in the way of advice, encouragement, or suggestions. Instead she stuck to retelling their own piece of the adoption pie.

The Rosatis strongly believe that God's sultion for oprhaned children in the foster care system involves ordinary Christians desiring to live out the Lord's commandments -- not just through words but through actions. I definitely agree. If every three churches in the U.S. combined to adopt and support one child, we would have no more orphans in our country. That's pretty amazing.

Kelly's book will provide you the hard facts about adopting through the system. It is not easy. It is a hard system to wade through. There are chances many times throughout a child's adoption for them to be returned to their birth family or to another family member.

However, you will see in Kelly's words that love prevails. That their four children were destined to be their children from the moment of their conception. And that is a story worth reading.

***Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Answers to prayer

2012-01-29T09:09:00.000+02:00

In the last few weeks of my life, I have seen some incredible answers to prayer. Real, live indications that God is present.

Want proof that God is cool? Read on:

Check this out: Joshua has something to tell ya'll. Here is the part that is so cool. Our friends John and Becky were frustrated when they moved to Arizona. They found out they had to redo their home study for their adoption of their son Joshua. But they did it. And because they had that home study done, when another child suddenly became available, they were the only ones with the paperwork to adopt him. God knew this. He orchestrated this. He knew when they were frustrated with that home study redo that there was a reason. "God, help me to realize that thepurpose of my suffering far exceeds the pain of mysuffering."
How about me flying home with all the kids? I had numerous people tell me they were praying for this trip. That God would provide the help I needed. Since then, (a) Veronica's sister in Germany told me she would help me at the rotator in Germany (b) our friends the Feesers offered to help in Washington D.C. (c) one of JB's patients, thankful for what a good doctor he is, put me in touch with a friend that can help me on the plane! How awesome.
Remember when I wrote this post last week about Abigail's eye? That was January 20th. She has had a clogged tear duct since she was born in her left eye. It was so bad that when she woke up in the morning or naps her eye was "glued" shut. Dr. Linda told us we could give it until she was six months old. At that point, the chances of it correcting itself were slim without surgery. This past week we called and set up an appointment for Abigail in Florida to have the surgery done as she is 6.5 months old and it was still as bad as it was when she was born. There had been zero improvement. In fact we thought it might be worse than it was when she was born. Then I put up this post asking you all for prayer. Dr. Linda even told me, medically speaking, not to get my hopes up. John agreed. It looked like the surgery was a go. And then, I kid you not, the day after I asked for prayer, Abigail woke up and her eye was perfectly clear. It has been clear for the seven days that followed.
And then there was Elijah's sleep. I wrote this post asking for prayer for Elijah's sleep. It was troubled and had been going on for months. The day I finally wrote that post and asked for prayer saw a night of peaceful sleep. And every single night since then has been peaceful as I wrote about here. I'm sorry. That's a bit too much for me to just attribute it to coincidence.

There are seasons of my life where I feel God is quiet. I had felt that for a few months. And then, all of a sudden, I feel him again. In real, tangible ways that have to be attributed to more than coincidence. Thank you Lord for being present. And I pray that through my words, other people can see you too.

Seriously?!

2012-01-28T21:32:00.000+02:00

Men's final. Australian open. Tomorrow 10am. And, guess what? Yet another scheduled power outage on Base from 8am until noon. Big sigh. So frustrating. Maybe I'll catch the last little bit? Have I mentioned recently how tired we are of scheduled power outages?

However, something that has made me very happy? I went to the BX. Spent $120. but I saved $230. How cool is that? Love the sales I can find there. Serves this dutch cheapskate (me) well.

Without Veronica

2012-01-27T16:05:00.000+02:00

I keep getting asked the question, "How is it going without Veronica?"
The truth is, I am really doing great. I miss her. I miss her friendship. I miss her random stories. I miss her interacting with the kids.

But we knew it wouldn't be forever. It was time for her to go home. And it was time for me to tackle this mom thing without having her in the wings. I couldn't have her forever. Even though I wish I could.

I've come up with many strategies to help fill the void left by Veronica, including:

Having Hatice come in every other Thursday (her only current free time) to help.
Using Hatice to help me with the kids when I need it instead of cleaning. (Ex: taking all three to the doctor at once. No could do. Hatice came with and skipped cleaning the upstairs.)
Farming out the boys. Every Wednesday Sarahbee and Stebbs each take a kiddo so Abigail and I can run errands or just lay low.
Loving Logan. The kids love her too. Her hubby is deployed and her job just expired. So she has been coming on Fridays for a few hours. She plays with the boys, Abigail sleeps, and I try to get some things done around the house that I have been putting off all week.
Giving myself permission to put on an extra movie if I need it. I try to keep TV to less than one hour a day. But if things are crazy, and I just can't get my bearings, Go Diego Go or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse can entertain the boys while Abigail needs tending or I need to go to the bathroom or take a shower.

The hardest things about not having Veronica are:

The days that I need the van. This has happened lately because we are in the rainy season. It will rain here for days on end. When it rains, I can't walk to things I need to do on Base so I need the van. JB can't walk because it's raining. So I have to load up all the kids and drop him off, pick him up for lunch, and pick up again after work. Sometimes he can get a ride from a coworker, but not always. We used to just have Veronica or me take him in and the other one stay with the kids. Can't do that anymore.
Showers. I find two days has gone by without me taking a shower sometimes. By the time we put the kids to bed, I often collapse on my bed and read and fall asleep early. When I wake up in the morning I realize I haven't showered but things are already in action.
Leaving one behind. The last thing I really miss is being able to leave one child (primarily Abigail) with Veronica so I could take the boys somewhere. I miss that time with them. I miss not having to take all three kids to everything I did or we as a couple did. I don't have a car during the day (unless I take JB in) so to take all three kids I have to have the boys ride their bikes and put Abigail in the stroller or put the boys in the stroller and Abigail in the Bjorn. I miss having the optionto avoid that, especially when Abigail was just sleeping.
Exercise. I haven't gotten a new exercise routine down yet either. I used to run with stroller and dog. But I can't do that now. I plan to regroup on this when I get to Florida.
Bed time. JB and I both miss "V" at bedtime. She could help with baths or dinner or Scrubs or anything. With just the two of us and the kids usually wanting to go down at the same time, it can be a little busy. We can totally handle it. But another set of hands was very helpful. It also allowed me to do something around bedtime. But now, we have to make sure we are both home at this time of night.

Little inconveniences. But overall? We are doing well. Adjusting. Finding a new normal. And getting ready for a trip back to America! Yee haw!

I loathe good byes

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000+02:00

Abigail is in love with Hatice. She lights up like this every single time she sees her. This photo very accurately captures the happiness I see from both of them when they are with each other. Hatice has been coming an extra half day or so every other week to help me with the kids, allow me to run errands, take a nap, that sort of thing. It's so needed with Veronica's departure.

Yesterday Hatice walked in the house. After giving Scrubby one of the fifty treats she gives him when she is working, she scooped Abigail from my arms and sat down next to me.

They began talking -- Hatice in Turkish and Abigail in her six month old language, seemingly understanding each other perfectly. And as they talked, I found myself crying. Not out of some hormonal spot in me. But out of a genuine sadness in me.

How can I leave Hatice? How do I possibly good bye to a woman knowing I may very well never see her again? It hurts my heart just to think of it. Other good byes hurt. But this one hurts the worst. I can't "talk to her" from afar. I speak English. She speaks Turkish. In person we can combine them into a language that works. But neither of us write that language.

And thinking of Hatice is just the beginning.

I am trying to not get ahead of myself, but the truth is that when I return from Florida in March, we will have three months before we leave this place forever. And it isn't the place I am going to miss. It is the amazing community of people here.

How do I possibly say good bye to Hatice? To Angelica. To Stebbs. To Sarahbee and Linda and Patty. Rana, Angie, Tina, the other Sarah. Even the "newer" friends like Casey and Logan and Anu and Christina and Cathy and Bri are becoming difficult to imagine. It hurts my heart to think about. And I am sure I am not listing someone. I hate to even begin to list in fear of leaving someone out.

I have said good byes before. But these ones are different. This Base is isolated. We are all each other has. There are very few last minute flights to spend Christmas with family. We spend it withe ach other.

Last night Angelica invited us over for an impromptu birthday dinner and we surprised JB when a few other couples showed up to share dessert. Last year I had an appendicits and was scooped up with care. Post partum depression. Shane and Linda and Yamil and Patty are aunts and uncles to my kiddos. Another family just asked us to be the goddaughter of their newest addition. People to watch Scrubs. Meals to share. Holidays to connect on. Favors to give. Babysitting for free. Clothes to borrow and toys to swap. We take care of each other like nothing I have ever seen.

I'm not in love with Turkey. Not in love with Incirlik. But I am in love with the people who have been my only connection to "my world" for two years.

Hatice reminded me how soon I will have to say good bye to all of it.

And I don't want to. I hate that I have to. I know I can't stay forever, but I sure wish it could hurt a lot less.

Misspelled (updated)

2012-01-25T12:09:00.000+02:00

Yes, this dish is called "Goat Stubborness." We see this a lot. When trying to create an "English menu" (which isn't done at very many places) you end up with some things that just make you smile.

I found another great Turkish spin-off. I suppose they mean "Transformers."

I have decided that I just must start taking pictures of the clothing (usually children's) that we see in the market here in Turkey. Not just any old clothing. But the clothing that attempts to use English ... incorrectly.

I am sure this happens in America as well. I am sure bad translations are universal. So please do not see this as a mockery of Turkish culture. It's just something I find funny.

Here are a few examples:

Can you spot the error in the one above?

This one is a little more obvious.

I like this one because, I have no idea what it means. "is turning" Does that mean something? (We saw another shirt that had a picture of some balls that said "activity." Not really something we'd put on a shirt.)

I'm truly not sure what this one is supposed to say. Read? Ready? Really?

Today I learned ...

2012-01-25T09:21:00.003+02:00

... two important lessons.

The first.

When buying cookies for an event that is more than 24 hours in the future, do not buy any variation of the cookies pictured below. If you do, and you love them as much as I do, the package of cookies will not make it to the event and you'll have to go out and buy another pack of cookies to replace the ones you ate:

The second.

Do not leave a pen out near your laptop or the following may result:

Happy Birthday to JB

2012-01-24T20:14:00.003+02:00

Today he is 36. We started dating when he was 17 so we are well past half our life together. I love you John. And thanks for being okay with me not remembering it was your birthday until noon today. Thank you for being my best friend and putting up with me.

With big sister Elizabeth

I've heard many a story about this Volkswagon.

So JB (and that's one of his three younger brothers, Ray, poking his head into the corner)

Love these them boys

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000+02:00

The video above is me "getting" Elijah to tell us about his friend Aksel. He's getting better at it, but you can hear that the word comes out sounding quite different than it is supposed to.

And here are some other recent funnies. Below:
*****
When told they could pick two cars to bring to the tub with them, a crabby Isaac said, "I don't want a couple cars. I want two."
*****
I could not, for the life of me, figuring out why Isaac calls vanilla wafers "put up cookies." Can I have some put up cookies, Mommy?" He keeps asking. Finally we figured it up. I am always saying, "No, I need to put those up." Sigh ... and somehow he translated that into the cookies being called "put up cookies."
*****
When getting ready to go pick up JB from work, I told the boys to quickly pick out something they could "wear on their feet." Isaac picked brown shoes. Elijah picked his boots, but then thinking it would be more fun to go barefoot said, "No. Wait Mommy. Could I wear my toes?"
*****
On our snow trip, we brought little packets of pringles potato chips. These are 100 calorie chip containers with red (plain), yellow (cheddar), and green (sour cream) tops based on the types of chips inside. When Isaac asked for some red chips, Elijah told him, "They are not red chips. They are yellow chips."
*****
A great marker of the differences between my boys came when I asked them if they wanted some cookies on our trip. Elijah immediately says, "Yeah!" And Isaac says, "Hmmm ... what kind are they?"
*****
Going potty at Rana's house, she walked in to find Elijah trying to reach into the toilet. Apparently there was a fly in there that he was interested in touching. Rana squealed to try and get him to stop touching the water, and Elijah jumped and said, "Did the fly bit me?"
*****
Our friend Stebbs is a second grade teacher and knows the "lingo" for kids. She often reminds the boys to "use their words" instead of hitting. On our trip to the mountains, Isaac hit Elijah, and I told him, "Remember what Stebbs says?" And Isaac replied by saying, "Stebbs is not here on this trip with us Mommy."
*****

Lajes Field (Azores)

2012-01-23T06:30:00.000+02:00

Terceira Island in the Azores

Somehow, our time in Turkey is coming to an end. And that means getting ready for somewhere new. Here's what we now as of today:

We will be moving to the Azores sometime in June.
We will most likely live off-Base.
It looks like, for the money we get to live, we can get a fairly good-size home. (4+ bedrooms, 2+ bath, 2000+ square feet.) We can even get a place with a pool.
Scrubs will, of course, go with us.
We will move straight from Turkey to the Azores. No stops back in the U.S.
Pre-school is FREE in the Air Force. We are generally not preschool people, but we are contemplating putting them in a Portuguese preschool so that they can learn the language at a pivotal time in their childhood.
Lajes field is the name of the Base we are moving to. It is located on the island of Terceira, shown below:

Our friends Nick and Kristy and their sons Noah and Jonah as well as Nick's mother, live in the Azores already. They also have two dogs: Sasha and Max. Nick and Kristy are thrilled with their life there. If you remember, Nick was a resident at Eglin one year before JB and was then in Turkey one year before JB. We are following them around the world!

There are only two docs at the Azores. John will be one. Nick will be the other. There is no pediatrician so JB will be seeing children, and Nick will obviously be our children's doctor. I believe there is also a women's health doctor that I can go and see.

Any other questions? Let me know and I'll post an answer. I cannot give exact details of our moving dates, etc. But I can answer general questions or things about our life there.

More snow pics

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000+02:00

Here are a few more pics of our fun time in the snow this past weekend. It is so amazing to me that it can be snowing so much just three hours from me. That doesn't resonate with this South Floridian at all!

The first day I stayed back at the hotel for the first part of the trip with Abigail and Christina's little Grayson (who is three months old.) After a bit, she came and switched with me. These pictures were taken while I was back in the room with the babies. I was so glad Christina captured what I wasn't there to see!

Checking out the sledding hill

Best buds

Who needs sledding?! Elijah, Braden (Tommy and Christina's son) and Isaac playing outside the hotel.

Isaac LOVES to find big chunks and throw them at people. This is so his personality.

Daddy and boys down the sledding hill.

Trying to enlist Elijah's help pulling his brother up the big hill.

There's an automatic conveyer belt under the covered bridge (at left) but it was broken for the first part of the morning. So up the long hill on foot they went! I was lucky. When it was my turn to come out, the belt was fixed! I couldn't imagine anything bigging worth walking up that hill.

On the second day, the weather was not good so there was no opportunity for sledding. We got the boys all warmed up to go outside and play. Braden (front) went for hours! But our boys barely made it 30 minutes before they were too cold to play anymore.

Little Elijah (pretty cold already here) with his friend Braden making a tunnel.

Book Giveaway: Take Two!

2012-01-21T11:32:00.000+02:00

***Update*** The previous winner of this book has finished reading it and wants to go ahead and send it to another lucky winner. How fun! So, if you want to add your name to the comments, I'll pick another random number and Joy, the previous winner, will mail you the book. Comment away!

Well folks, this is one review you do not want to skim over, especially because there is an opportunity to receive a free copy of this book at the end of my post.

I just finished A Billion Reasons Why by Kristin Billerbeck -- I actually just finished it an hour ago, and I couldn't wait to share the review because I just wholeheartedly LOVED the book. I think I read it within a 2-day-period part of which was spent staying up way too late.

I've mentioned before how I feel about Christian fiction. I just can't accept Christians producing subpar work. If you are going to do it, do it well, or don't do it all.

And Billerbeck did just that. A Billion Reasons Why" is FAR from subpar. It is truly one of the best love stories I have read it quite some time -- all sprinkled with the type of quality that would not only encourage me let a girl of any teen age read it, but would encourage me to thrust at it her wholeheartedly and say, "YOU GOT TO READ THIS!"

Kate McKenna has found the man of her dreams? Or has she? Is she marrying the right man for the wrong reasons? Or are there are a billion reasons that he is right after all? She has everything she has ever wanted in life. Or does she?

Now, here's where you have an opportunity to WIN! I am going to send my copy of this book to one lucky reader. All you have to do is put your first name and email address in the comments. At the end of one week's time, I will see how many comments there are and pick a random number. That person will win a copy of the book. I'll mail it to you (media mail of course!) free of charge. (And don't worry, I won't peek at the comments until I choose a number. I promise.)

Please only comment if you would enjoy reading this book or have someone you know who would enjoy reading it. If it will sit on your shelf, save it for someone else. But I guarantee you, you'll thoroughly enjoy every minute of this great read.

So? What are you waiting for? Comment away!

BookSneeze® has provided you with a complimentary copy of this book or advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

AFN ... may I grumble?

2012-01-21T10:28:00.002+02:00

I don't ask for much.
I'm not real demanding.
Just a few little things
Can make me quite happy.

I like chocolate and reading
and sports and the like.
Especially tennis
Not playing ... just watching.

So imagine my frustration
With my TV in Turkey.
The channels. They change.
Random ... all of a sudden.

I'm watching tennis
and then VH1 is the topic.
They switch ... in the middle.
And the match? It ain't done.

I don't watch TV ...
Not much at all.
Outside of cartoons ...
Of course ... silly Mommy.

But tennis I love.
And the 'casters they'll say,
"Coming up next ..."
And then it all goes away.

Please oh please.
My dear country of Turkey ...
My dear Air Force Base ...
AFN you are screwy!

The channels are few
And most are in Turkish.
But can the few that we have
Just run a show to completion?

I'm off now to sulk
And complain to who'll listen
Even though I know
That it'll only frustrate me.

All I ask of you Turkey ...
Okay it's not all.
I have other complaints ...
And they're mounting up tall.

But today it's just tennis
So please put it back on.
Thank you for listening.
I'm done. And that's all.

-- From a sad Australian Open watcher in Turkey who discovered after writing this that while the channel she was watching quit playing tennis, another channel picked it up and she felt much better.

0 degrees

2012-01-20T21:07:00.001+02:00

It's zero degrees (celsius) here. (About 30 degrees Fahrenheit.) And our little sick Abigail didn't love having to get all bundled up to go out for dinner with a visiting physician.

And me? I am wondering HOW IN THE WORLD I lived in Minnesota for four years. This is not even really cold at all compared to Minnesota. And yet, I'm frigid. I don't want to go outside. I pace and fret when the boys yell to me upstairs that they opened the door and let Scrubs out and wonder how I am going to find him when JB took the van and it is so cold outside.

How did I survive a day 60 degrees colder than it is here today? It was actually back in December of 2005 that I wrote this post on how to survive a -29 degree day. Truly. Honestly. How DID I survive?

I vividly remember the first time I experienced "feels like" -40. I went outside without a hat on. I tried to start my car. It cried. Literally cried. And I grabbed the steering wheel and put my forehead to it and said out loud, "I canNOT do this for four years."

But I did. Thank goodness. And I don't plan to EVER do it again.

We Be Rollin'

2012-01-20T07:49:00.002+02:00

Abigail is covering a lot of ground with her rolling technique. Check it out:

Also, if you could be praying for Abigail. For two reasons:

Firstly, she has had a blocked tear duct since birth, and we are going to see a pediatric opthamologist when we go home to South Florida, and there is a chance she will have to an outpatient surgery under anesthesia to clear it up. Please pray that it will clear up on its own or that we can avoid surgery.

In addition, she has a doozie of a cold right now. Only wants to be held and having to sleep in her swing because she can't breathe out of her nose.

Thanks all!

Prayer Works

2012-01-19T07:29:00.004+02:00

The above picture was taken after our little Elijah decided it was time to harvest his pepper plant. (To read the whole story, click here to be taken over to my hubby's blog.)

And this happy face you see above is one we are seeing a lot more of in our house recently. I wrote this post about Elijah and our trouble with his sleep just about one week ago. And since I posted that post and asked for prayer and received all sorts of comments and emails offering encouragement and prayer, our life has been transformed.

Elijah has gone to sleep nearly every night with very little drama. It's been amazing. He still gets upset a bit when we tell him it is bedtime and still needs to go potty. But he stays in control of his emotions. He does not go hysterical. And when he wakes up in the night to go to the bathroom, it may be more frequent then we like, but it is controlled and he is content.

I am so amazed at how God cares about the little things. Even after a trip out of town, we returned to sweet dreams -- all of which has given me great hope about our trip back to the U-S of A in a few short weeks.

Please keep praying for Eli. And add Abigail to your prayer list too. She is fighting a DOOZY of a cold and is having to sleep in her swing so she can breathe better.

And the winner ...

2012-01-18T19:28:00.000+02:00

... is dlh ... aka ... MY MOM! Congrats Mom! A very cool book coming your way. Would love to see what you think of it. (This was generated with a random number -- my Mom was 5 and 5 it was. Really!)

And after my Mom reads it, maybe I'll post it again to let someone else have a chance.

Veronica is "home"

2012-01-18T17:22:00.003+02:00

I've had many people ask me how Veronica is doing. After visiting with her sister English in Germany for two weeks, she is now home in Rochester, MN. We miss her terribly. Life just isn't the same without her here, but we know it was time for her to go back to America and prepare for her mission trip to Nigeria in June.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Veronica with my kiddos. We love you "V" aka "Er-onica".

Last Chance Giveaway

2012-01-17T07:50:00.001+02:00

If you are interested in winning a free book, please leave a comment on this blog soon! I plan to draw for a winner tomorrow.

Kar!

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000+02:00

Kar is snow in Turkish. Snow is only three hours from us in the mountains. Last year we decided to take a trip to the snow. Mt. Erciyes. And this year we went too. We left on Saturday morning, spent the night Saturday and Sunday, and returned home on Monday morning. We were able to do some sledding on Saturday. On Sunday, the weather was pretty awful so we only got out to play for a few minutes. But it was still a fantastic time! We left early Monday morning and took quite a bit longer getting home due to the bad weather.

Here are some photos (and videos) from our adventures:

Man does it take a long time to get the boys in all this get up! Especially on day two when we did all this work for only a few minutes of playing in the snow before they were too cold.

Daddy asked them to give each other a hug for the photo. Isaac body slammed Elijah. Elijah did not like that one little bit as you can probably tell from this picture.

Isaac taking a break from all the sledding to play with his toys in the hotel lobby. We were so blessed to borrow snow gear from a bunch of different, awesome friends. Just another reason I love this Base. People here just take care of each other and help each other out all the time.

We got to go with two other great families. Here are Tommy, Christina, Braden (big brother) and Grayson (three months old but nearly as big as Abigail!) They live right behind us here on Base.

And here are Micah, Sarah, and Scotty. I met Sarah A. before we even moved to Turkey -- online. They are headed to San Antonio in a few short months.

The snow was too loose to make a snowman, so we decided to use our snowman kit (which we've had since life in Minnesota) to come up with a Plan B. Day one we sledded. Day two we played outside, made this snowman, and then hurried inside to warm up.

Isaac LOVED the idea of snow. But he did not like the COLD of the snow.

Wonder where Abigail was? Well this is Turkey. There was always a fellow Turk hanging out in the restaurant or the lobby who wanted to hold a baby for a little bit. This may seem strange, but it is really a normal part of the culture here. So normal, I came to nearly expect it. I'd get her ready to go out, and someone would offer to hold her, and we'd take them up on it. In addition, Christina and I took turns watching the babies so that we could get some fun snow time in.

Here are some videos from our snow adventures:

At six months old, Abigail is ...

2012-01-16T17:06:00.001+02:00

Rolling all over the room.
Sitting up with pillows around her.
Not crawling but rolling to her intended destination.
Chattering like CRAZY. Her favorite "word" is Da-da for sure.
Taking approximately three naps per day.
A great sleeper! Usually down from 7pm to 7am without exception.
Going with the flow. She just seems to accept that she is one of many in our house.
In love with her brothers and doggie, but especially with Isaac. She lights up every time he comes anywhere near her.
Preferring mom to anyone else.
An explosive pooper. We usually have blow-outs a few times a week.
Drinking 4-8 ounces per feeding; usually doing about five feedings a day.
Still swaddling to sleep at night.
Loves to be held.
Not showing any major stranger anxiety. Although she does seem to prefer mom.
Using a pacifier.
Sucking all her fingers, especially her thumb.
Spinning her right hand all the time.
Wearing size 6-9 or 9 month clothes.
Starting to eat rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and various pieces of fruit (apple, orange, and bananas).
Abigail is currently 17.9 pounds (77th percentile); She is 26.9 inches in length (79th percentile) and her head is 45.2 (97th percentile.)
Want to compare her to her brothers? Here you go:
Here was Isaac at six months.
Here was Elijah at six months.

Here's a few pictures of our little gal:

Here's where baby started out. Doggie joined her for some bonding time. Soon, doggie got sick of getting kicked in the face and moved to where you see him in picture #2 below.

In this picture, our little lass has demonstrated her ability to move. She rolled all the way over to Scrubs to play with his tail. (Scrubs is such a good sport. He really just has the look on his face all the time that says, "Okay. If you must.")

I also thought I would put up a picture of Hatice's daughter Tugba with Abigail. The Turks LOVE children, especially babies. Men, women, children. It doesn't matter. It is totally normal (and expected) for someone to take your child from you while you are eating or anywhere you go. I can't even imagine someone in the USA doing this ... especially a man. But I truly can't imagine anyone not doing it when we go out in Turkey.

No address

2012-01-16T17:00:00.000+02:00

Oh Turkey! The ways I love you. The ways you annoy me. The ways you confuse me.

On Saturday, our family and two other families made the three or so hour drive up to the mountains to stay at a resort for the MLK weekend and let the kids play in the snow.

Much more to come on this trip. Stay tuned.

However, when JB attempted to get directions to the hotel, he called the travel company we booked with on Base.

"Could I get the address of the hotel?" JB asked.

In his thick Turkish accent Mehmet told JB that the hotel did not have an address.

"No address at all?" JB asked.

"No. Just go city. It is in that city."

Hmmmm ...

Seriously? Do they get mail? Do they get tourists? It's just another reason why living here is difficult for Americans. Things are just so different. Addresses often do not exist. And if they do, there are no street signs to find the address.

I predict a major culture shock will hit me when I return to the USA in a few weeks. The world has become Turkey for me. The Middle East is my home. It is difficult to remember that it is, in fact, not my home, and that one day I will return to a place that is large and sprawling with choices and addresses and people not wearing head scarves and me not hearing the call to prayer every few hours.

But first, we move to the Azores.

Little steps.

MLK

2012-01-16T05:46:00.000+02:00

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"

I love ...

2012-01-15T17:40:00.000+02:00

... that my boys play together and imagine and say things like, "Let's go to Germany!" or "We are going on a trip." or "Let's take a plane to the Azores." They pack their backpacks and head off on some great adventure.

They see sheep on the side of the road as a completely normal event. Routine traffic stops to check that we have the appropriate paperwork don't cause them to blink an eye. Head scarves are of no concern. People that look different, don't really look different ... to them.

I love that they use Turkish words when around our Turkish friends. And that they use Spanish words around Angelica or Patty. That different languages are just part of life for them.

I love that they are world travellers. At three-years-old, they have been to seven countries: USA, Germany, France, Turkey, Luxembourg, Austria, and Holland.) I love how many states they have visited. (For a complete listing of all the countries and states we have visited, click here.)

All these good things I must remember when I think of taking them away from their friends in May. Leaving Eglin was not as hard for me. The kids were young. They do not remember their life there. But this life, they know. They know the names of their friends. They tell me who they want to invite to their birthday parties. And they will wonder where those people have gone.

There is some bad. But there is much good. And this, I cling to as we discuss packing out our house in just a few short months. In some ways, these two years have seemed to move so slowly. And in other ways, I just don't know how we could be almost done with our time here.

Feeling nostalgic today.

Stebbins

2012-01-15T07:44:00.000+02:00

Love this post from my friend Stebbs which details the Muslim Call to Prayer that we hear five times a day here on Base.

And speaking of my friend Stebbs:

A very funny story to share.

Stebbs has a new friend here on Base that has become our new friend. New friends name is Anu. New friend is a gorgeous first-generation Indian woman.

New friend Anu has a son named Elijah. (And a son named Ezekeial but that doesn't matter to the story.)

So Stebbs tells her boy William that he is going to go and see Elijah. He squeals for joy to go and see his best buddy Elijah K. Stebbs informs him, "No, we aren't going to go and see Wendi's Elijah. We are going to see a new Elijah."

This confuses three year old William, but he meets the new Elijah at the park, and like most three-year-olds, quickly just starts playing and forgets the whole name conundrum.

Shortly after play begins, Stebbs pulls William aside to introduce him to Elijah's mommy. "William, this is Anu," she tells him.

William looks confused. First a new Elijah. And now? He responds with, "A new Wendi?"

Big smiles on that one.

Speaking Opportunities

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000+02:00

My friend from childhood, Jenny, asked me when we first moved to Turkey, if I would consider coming to Germany to speak to her MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. I thought it was a good idea, but really put it out of my mind. She brought it up again. I thought about it again. But let it go again.

But God wouldn't let me go with it. He kept bringing it back to me. I came up with a lot of reasons why going to Germany to speak was less than ideal, but I finally emailed Jenny and told her I'd like to look into coming. No big surprise that the day before I emailed her, the Lord had reminded Jenny of her request and she had decided to email me again to see if I might reconsider.

So I did. And I'm going. Later this month I'm going to fly to Germany for just one night to speak to two MOPs groups combined into one location. The Lord has provided childcare for all three kids despite the fact that after I agreed to go we found out JB has to go to Utah for a conference before I get back.

The last time I shared my testimony was back before we left Eglin at our MOPs group there. I used to teach and talk in front of people everyday with teaching. But it's nerve-wracking to think about "going there" again. However, following God's leading, I put a link on my blog: Bio & Speaking which you can see at the top of the page. Then I reached out to some MOPs groups in South Florida as I will be there in February. Right now I am speaking at at least four events.

The topics are varied but will all incorporate my testimony and military life. I'll be speaking on "Waiting Women: How to Support Those We Love." I'll be speaking on military friendships during difficult times. I'll be speaking on what to do when life doesn't go as planned. I'll keep you posted on these events.

If you could (A) Keep me in your prayers and (B) Pass along my speaking page to other interested groups, I'd greatly appreciate it. We'll see where the Lord takes this. I am open to his leading but do now that infertility, adoption, and hurting women is something that is on my heart permanently.

too tall

2012-01-13T16:55:00.001+02:00

I vividly remember the day that this picture was taken. And I vividly remember the moment that this picture was taken. These were my preschool teachers in Chicago where we lived when I was four. This would have been in 1981. Each of the teachers took turns holding up each of the children in the class for a photo. I remember being excited that they would hold me when it was my turn. And then, when it came to be my turn, they decided that because I was so tall, they would kneel down to take a photo of me.

I was crushed! I remember feeling crushed and disappointed.

I didn't know it, but my mom says she remembers this moment too. As a mom now myself, I can understand why she would. You don't want to see your children hurt. You don't want to see them treated differently.

I think about this a lot with my children. Elijah is not even three. But he is big. I often forget that he is not as old as Isaac. It is vital that I remember how old he is not how old he looks. And that I encourage others to do the same.

Prayers (and smiles)

2012-01-13T15:32:00.001+02:00

To call the fact that we had our second peaceful night in a row after I asked for prayers, seems too amazing to be a coincidence. Second night. Elijah ent to sleep sweetly. Got up in the middle of the night only two times to use the potty and both times he was cool and calm. Praise the Lord!

There are other things causing me to smile right now.

Firstly. I thank the Lord for beautiful clouds which my eldest son reminded me of. I walked outside yesterday to thick Turkish smog. The air quality here is poor since everyone burns their trash and seeing it made me miss home a little bit more. As I was silently remarking to myself about how tired I was of smoggy air, Isaac joined me outside and said, "Mom, look at the beautiful clouds. God makes everything perfect." What a reminder!

Another funny Isaac thing. He found a thick black string yesterday and brought it to me saying, "Look Mommy. I found one of Veronica's hairs." Yep. Only blondes in this house now. (And JB who shaves his head!)

He also told me today, "This apple slice tastes like apple juice." Really?

And Elijah makes us laugh too. When he came out of the bathroom today I asked him, "Did you go poopy?" His reply? "I didn't went poopy." I love how kids mess those things up! It's so what I do with the Turkish language too.

Here's some other videos that maybe only the gramas would love.

Elijah talking about his good night sleep. (Watch him at about 1:33 tell Isaac "Excuse me, Isaac! And then Isaac tells us he found a hot dog in his corn dog.")
Asking Elijah why he cries at night.
Elijah tells us his name is "Elijah Two Kitsteiner Fireman."
Talking to their Cutie Pie
Itsy Bitsy Hillarity (Skip to about 2:05 in this video to see Elijah start singing a song with his eyes closed. So cute!)

Lest I leave Abigail out, here are a few videos of her talking like crazy: Talker 1 and Talker 2. You can also see some of her wrist twirling in the second video. When I went to Spain before she was born we went and saw some Flamenco dancing in Spain, and Abigail went crazy in the womb. Angelica says she is going to be a flamenco dancer!

Abigail is moving around on the floor like a mad woman. She isn't exactly crying, but she will roll all over the place -- from one of the side of the big carpet in our living room to the other.

Here's a few other videos we've taken recently:

Moving Abigail

Boys wrestling1

Boyswrestling2

Daddy and Abigail

One good night

2012-01-12T20:24:00.000+02:00

People wonder if prayer works. I posted this blog. I got tremendous encouragement and comments. And then, the night went unbelievably well. Elijah went to sleep calmly, in his own bed without getting up even one time. He got up three times during the night, but each time was relaxed and calm with no breakdowns. One time doesn't make a trend, but it sure was an answer to prayer.

So many people offered so much good advice, that I wanted to take the time to respond to some of the advice and questions. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVE AND PRAYERS! IT IS SO APPRECIATED.

To Jennifer: Yes, we do think Elijah being so young might be part of the issue. Unfortunately he is currently refusing to go in a pull-up. But your idea that it might work after a few nights is a good one and something we are keeping in mind. I would totally be okay with the pull-up returning if he was.

To the Melatonin fans (there were a lot of you): Unfortunately, JB is not a fan of this based on the fact that there are no long-term studies with children.

To the people in the fear camp: We agree. We do think this might be a fear thing. We just can't get him to articulate what it is. We continue to ask him and continue to keep in mind that this might be psychological, not physical.

To the people talking about the changes in our lives: We also really agree. We have done some major trips. Veronica has left. Joni came and went. We are getting ready to move to the Azores. We are getting ready to make a trip back to the U.S.A. New sister. There's a lot going on here, and we definitely think this could be part of what is going on.

To those who had no advice but just prayer and encouragement: Thank you -- that is just as valuable right now.

To all the leaving him in pull-ups fans: We agree that this work and we would be fine with it, but he is having nothing of it. He doesn't want to go in it AT ALL! We wish he did. But Jennifer (above) suggested trying for a few nights in a row, and this is a possibility.

To Willy's Auntie: I really liked the idea of the potty chair in the room. Not a bad idea at all and something to consider. They don't use the potty chair anymore so I am not sure it would work, but it is a really great idea! We do cut off drinks at 5pm -- more than 2 hours before bedtime. (Although we realized he is drinking a lot of water in the bath even though we are telling him not to.) I also agree that he may just not be tired. We have tried removing the nap, making bedtime later, etc. and it doesn't seem to make a difference at this point. We also ask him during the day and he is currently not able to articulate anything substantial.

To those who suggested a UTI: We have considered it, but JB is convinced that isn't the issue. The kid does drink a lot. However, this is something we are keeping an eye on.

To Mommacomma: Loved the idea about books that encourage good sleep! Great idea! I never though about that. Also, you asked if Isaac had any ideas as to why Elijah isn't sleeping. We have asked him. He usually says, "He just wouldn't stop crying," or something else similar. Nothing substantial there yet. I also liked your idea of straight up asking him, "Do you really need to pee or something else bothering you?"

To the later bedtime proponents: We've tried it. Not noting much improvement in that one.

To the bedtime routine encouragers: We definitely have one. The boys read books with JB in our bed for about 30 minutes. They get picky back rides to bed. We pray and talk to them while they are in bed. We have tried cuddling, etc. with no major improvements.

To the growth spurt thinkers: I think this might actually be the case! The kid has all of a sudden shot up. All of his pants are too short. This is a mighty good thought.

To Bethany: Like the idea of using "sitting in the room" as a reward. That's a good one!

To Monkey Momma: No bubble baths on a regular occasion. We are with you in that school of thought.

To Anonymous regarding night terrors: We agree. This could be it.

To Denise: Love your encouragement. Anyone who has triplet boys is someone I will listen closely to. We have taken away his reasons. We keep a box of kleenex by the bed. We let him do a long "poopy" before bed. We tuck in his blanket perfectly etc. We have a noisemaker. (We travel with those babies!) We have a nighttime routine. Loved the idea about Scrubby sleeping in his room. Scrubby would sleep in his room if we let him. He'd sleep in his bed if we let him. However, that dog shakes too much and wakes up the whole house when he does that!

To anonymous with the Germany question: This all seemed to begin when we were in Germany on our trip with the Kit grandparents. It started then and got worse. He was fine when we were "storknesting" in Germany.

To Faith: Yes, currently ... way worse than any newborn issues we had.

To anonymous suggesting we sleep with him: Unfortunately with 3 kiddos, we really can't do that because someone has to get Abigail to sleep etc. But we have discussed figuring out a way to do this if it comes down to it.

To anonymous (Holly?) suggesting comfort items in bed: I really like this idea. He has a few things, but this is a good idea to see if something else would make him more comfortable.

7:54 PM

Would you ...

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000+02:00

... please just pray for our little Elijah?

Could you pray that he ... and we ... could you just pray that we will all have sweet sleep?

I'll summarize by saying that for about two months (since we got back from our Germany trip with JB's parents), we have been facing very frustrating sleep issues with Elijah. The issue is two-fold.

The first is sleep onset. He freaks out when he goes to bed. He sobs hysterically. He refuses to stay in his bed as he tells us he has to go potty, poopy, needs a tissue, etc. etc. for up to three hours. During this time he is nearly impossible to calm down. He is beside himself.

We have tried everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Reward. Punishment. Crying it out. Trapping him in the room with a gate. Nothing seems to work for more than one night.

The second part of the issue is that once he does fall asleep, he has to get up and go to the bathroom dozens of time throughout the night. He really does have to go (albeit not very much.) Each time he gets up, he is on the edge of a cliff (and sometimes falls off) which travels down a deep path of hysterics. If we leave him in the middle of the night and don't let him pee, he can cry for hours begging to go which is a miserable series of events. He cries. He screams. He gets confused. He begs. He pleads. For something or nothing.

JB and I have recently resorted to putting him in his crib and letting him just cry until he falls asleep. This is working but is miserable for all of us. And, it doesn't stop the middle-of-the-night issues. He wakes up repeatedly begging for us to get him out so he can use the bathroom which he does have to do, just not very much.

When I was a young child, I remember having to use the bathroom frequently. Elijah probably goes five times for every one time Isaac goes, even during the day. During church the other day he had to go six times in one hour. We are working on having him hold it longer and longer during the day.

But in the meantime, neither JB nor myself are sleeping very well. We've moved Abigail back into our room in a pack-n-play so her brother can have the crib. Between her periodic stirrings and dozens of wake-ups for Elijah, we are plum exhausted. Isaac is not sleeping that great either as he sits idly by reading books in his bed while he waits each night for his brother to calm down.

In addition, I can't usually get all three down at the same time in the afternoon anymore and Veronica is gone which means napping during the day for me is a rare event. We can usually get the boys and Abigail in bed by 7:30pm but are up until 10 or 11 waiting for Elijah to stop crying. Then he gets up multiple times in the night. And someone is usually up by six a.m. Even when JB and I take turns with ear plugs, our sleep is just ... bad.

I am open to suggestions, but please offer them in a constructive way as I am so tired that I could easily begin crying. (Just being honest here.) But more than anything, I could really just use prayers for our boy. We are not sure if this is a stage, nightmares, manipulation, or what, but it all started when he stopped wearing diapers to bed. It started a bad chain of events.

This is the first time in my three years of parenting that we have come against an obstacle that we can't seem to get around. In the past, things have come up. And in a day or a week we figure out a strategy. This time all our brainstorming and praying has left us no more improved. I know it is a stage. I know it will pass. But until then, we all need more sleep. And I am taking all the kids to Florida by myself in a few weeks.

I know this is the stage many parents throw the kid in bed with them, but we just don't want to do that as we know it will only be a temporary fix and will not improve our sleep.

Pray please. Thanks everyone!

"A" for effort (and other smiles)

2012-01-10T21:34:00.001+02:00

The boys decided to take all the cushions off the couch and make a playground all over the living room. I let them play but then informed them, before dinner, that they had to put all the cushions back on.

Five minutes later they came into the kitchen to tell me that the mission was accomplished. The cushions were indeed back on the couch, albeit a little bit less than ideally.

"Mommy, we put the cushions back on the couch," Isaac told me. "This was the only way we knew how to do it."

An "A" for effort I suppose.

Here are some other funny things that have been going on in our home recently.

+++++

Me: "Isaac, did you hit your brother?"

Isaac: "I did."

Me: "You are not supposed to hit your brother."

Isaac: "But Mommy. Please. Let me tell you about my situation."

+++++

Isaac: (Bringing me a Christmas box filled with cars.) "Here's your present."

Me: "It's a wonderful present."

Isaac: "It's as wonderful as you."

+++++

Me: "Isaac, are you wiping off your banana hands on the wall?"

Isaac: "Yes."

Me: "Isaac, we don't do that. We wipe our hands on a towel."

Isaac: "I thought the wall was a towel."

+++++

Me: "What book do you want to read?"

Isaac: "My Richard Scarry book."

Me: "Oh." (Richard Scarry is JB's thing. I get a little bored by it and have told Isaac it isn't my favorite in the past. I must have told him I wasn't a fan of Richard because Isaac came back with ...)

Isaac: "Mommy. Oh I forgot. Do you not want to read Richard Scarry. Are you not a fan?"

+++++

Many mornings Elijah comes in to the kitchen and tell JB, "I'm hungry." JB, in return, does that annoying thing parents do and says, "Hi hungry. I'm Daddy."

So this morning when Elijah came in to the kitchen he said, "Hey Daddy. I'm hungry. And please don't say Hi hungry."

+++++

Isaac looking outside told me, "Mom, it's pretty still wet out."

+++++

Isaac came up to JB and said, and I quote him exactly. "Daddy, I was looking for my flashlight. So I went upstairs to find it, but I had no idea where it is. And it was nowhere to be found."

+++++

Isaac while receiving kisses from Scrubby said, "That's enough for now Scrubby."

+++++

We let the boys have books in bed. However, their room is so dark, they can't really see to read them. We've been having a lot of bedtime woes with Elijah (more on that when I have the energy to write a post on it) so sometimes, when Elijah opens the door and is stuck at the gate we put up, Isaac will just sit there and read while he waits for Elijah to be done with his hysterics. We finally decided, after much debate, to let Isaac have a night light in his room. JB brought it in. And the following conversation ensued:

Isaac: "Is that for me Daddy?"

John: "It is. Do you want it?"

Isaac: "No. I don't. But that was really nice of you Daddy."

Have a Little Faith Giveaway

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000+02:00

My sister-in-law Katie sent me the book: Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. I had read Tuesdays with Morrie, loved it, and had equally high expectations of this read.

I was not disappointed.

Let me preface this review by saying that many Christians may not like this book. While my husband has not read this book, I think he would be one of the people who does not like it. This is not a Christian book. It is written by a Jewish man. It follows the life of a Jewish Rabbi and a Christian pastor.

I do not think this is a book that will bring non-Christians to the Lord. However, I do think that if you are a Christian and you know what you believe, this book will help you to be a better Christian and a better person and a better member of society.

That can sometimes be interpreted as universalism. As not having a moral absolute. I am not encouraging either of those schools of thought. I do believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can go to the Father unless through Him. But I also believe that we can come together with people of different thoughts and beliefs and find our common ground so that we can live together in a healthy way.

I won't get into a big synopsis of what this book is about. I will, however, provide a few of my favorite quotes from the book. This book really makes you think about your faith. About kindness. About loving our neighbor.

We as Christians get so caught up on the "big commandments" but Jesus told us that the greatest was to love our neighbor as ourself. Are we doing that?

I plan to give this book away, so leave a comment if you would like to be entered in my drawing for a free copy of Have a Little Faith. I will randomly pick a winner from the commenters so include your email address so I can contact you. (Also, please only enter if you are in the USA or and APO address as it costs too much for me to mail to other countries. Even Canada! Sorry to all my Canadian readers!)

*****
"Lord, I've done x amount of good stuff on earth. I have tried to follow your teachings and to pass them on. I have loved my family, I've been part of a community. And I have been, I think, fairly good to people. So, Heavenly Father, for all this, what is my reward?" And what do you think God will say? ... He'll say, 'Reward? What reward? That's what you were supposed to do!'"
*****
“Faith is about doing. You are how you act, not just how you believe.”
*****
"It is far more comforting to think God listened and said no, than to think that nobody’s out there."
*****
"Nothing haunts like the things we don't say."
*****
"There was a sermon where he brought a squash and a piece of wood, then slammed each with a knife to show that things which grow quickly are often more easily destroyed than those which take a long time."
*****
"He had a way of looking you in the eye and making you feel the world had stopped and you were all that was in it."
*****
"Personally, I always wondered about authors and celebrities who loudly declared there was no god. It was usually when they were healthy and popular and being listened to by crowds. What happens, I wondered, in the quiet moments before death? By then, they have lost the stage, the world has moved on. If suddenly, in their last gasping moments, through fear, a vision, a late enlightenment, they change their minds about God, who would know?"
*****
"You can't work your way into heaven. Anytime you try and justify yourself with works, you disqualify yourself with works. What I do here, every day, for the rest of my life, is only my way of saying, 'Lord, regardless of what eternity holds for me, let me give something back to you. I know it don't even no scorecard. But let me make something of my life before I go...'”
*****
“A little girl came home from school with a drawing she’d made in class. She danced into the kitchen, where her mother was preparing dinner.

   'Mom, guess what?' she squealed, waving the drawing.
   'What?' she said, tending to the pots.
   'Guess what?' The child repeated,waving the drawing.
   'What?' the mother said, tending to the plates.
   'Mom, you’re not listening.'
   'Sweetie, yes I am.'
   'Mom,' the child said, ‘your’re not listening with your eyes.'’’
*****
As Mitch was on his way out of the cold building and saw many homeless people wrapped in blankets on the floor, trying to sleep he wrote: "It’s hard to express what hit me then, except the thought that every one of those bumps was a man, every man was once a child, ever child once held by his mother, and now this: a cold gym floor at the bottom of the world."
*****
"If we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love, and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of ‘I could have, I should have’. We can sleep in a storm. And when its time, our goodbyes will be complete."
*****
"'The second death. To think that you died and no one would remember you. I wondered if this was why we tried so hard to make our mark in America. To be known. Think of how important celebrity has become. We sing to get famous; expose our worst secrets to get famous; lose weight, eat bugs, even commit murder to get famous. Our young people post their deepest thoughts on public web sites. They run cameras from their bedrooms. It’s as if we are screaming Notice Me! Remember Me! Yet the notoriety barely lasts. Names quickly blur and in time are forgotten.' He was near tears, 'Who do I blame?' he kept asking me. 'There is no God. I can only blame myself.'

"The Reb's face tightened, as if in pain. 'That,' he said, softly, 'is a terrible self-indictment.' Worse than an unanswered prayer? 'Oh yes. It is far more comforting to think God listened and said no, than to think that nobody's out there.”

"But I realized something as I drove home that night: that I am neither better nor smarter, only luckier. And I should be ashamed of thinking I knew everything, because you can know the whole world and still feel lost in it. So many people are in pain - no matter how smart or accomplished - they cry, they yearn, they hurt. But instead of looking down on things, they look up, which is where I should have been looking, too. Because when the world quiets to the sound of your own breathing, we all want the same things: comfort, love, and a peaceful heart."

More fusterations

2012-01-09T06:12:00.000+02:00

I should have posted my #4 fusteration on the last post.

So here is my addendum.

4. And that is Base-wide power outages.

I don't get it. Why do you choose to have a Base-wide power outage during the week? Why does it have to be from 8a-2p? Why couldn't it be on a weekend, when our spouses are at home and we could go off-Base together and do something? Why couldn't it be in the middle of the night when we are sleeping anyways? Or couldn't they do it during nap time? Or why not start it at 3pm so that school doesn't have to get cancelled for both days.

[Hard to believe I lived a month in Nigeria with no electricity or running water, isn't it?]

But I think my fusteration with this stems from the fact that things here, in this country, and on this Base, just do not seem logical. They don't make sense. JB and I have a saying living here. If you start a sentence with, "Why do you think they ..." you just shouldn't ask the question. Because there won't be a good answer.

Second part of power outage woes. Why do they have to do two in one week? We are having a power outage this week on Monday and Thursday. Six hours both days. I don't get it. I really don't.

And the extra generators they have? Why do they give one to Starbucks? Really?

I'm confused. I'm sure there is a good explanation but ... okay, I think that's the problem. I'm really not sure there is a good explanation.

I wrote a post last year about the difficulties in living here. And by here I mean in this country and on this Base.

Let me set the record straight. I love living here. I don't regret it for a second. Moving in May will be one of the most difficult things I have ever done. Really! The community on the Base is something that I know will never be equalled. A group of people, forced to live in close proximity with no family anywhere around. It's amazing. And the Turkish culture is one that while not everyone loves, I really do. I love the food. I like the people.

But the military, in general, can be frustrating. Does anyone out there love going to the DMV? That's our life in Groundhog Day fashion. Add to the frustrations of a government-run organization the fact that this Base is not run by OUR government but by the government of Turkey and that we are only guests of this Base as Americans, and the problem is exacerbated hugely.

Some examples:

Our Golf course Cafe is closed for five months for rennovations. FIVE MONTHS! This wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that we only have about five places to eat in total on the Base.
They have closed each section of the major road on Base for a month. In total, I think the entire road will take them a year to finish. JB's boss asked him the other day if he was missing any spoons. JB had no idea what his boss was talking about. Missing spoons? What? But then his boss said, "Well, if you were missing spoons, I'd tell you where they were. They were in that closed off section of road. Those guys must be using spoons to fix it as long as it is taking."
Steps involved. I would not even ask JB to tell you the steps involved in getting a residency permit for Abigail to live in this country. It might cause him to hyperventilate. Nor would I ask him to explain the fact that he went in during the last week of December and was told that because the fees were going up, they were going to make him wait until January to process the final steps and pay. Why he couldn't pay the old rate or at least pay the new rate early, we have no idea.

All right. That's enough for now. I need to post this before the power goes out. Which it should be doing at any minute! No opening my freezer today. Wish all our seafood products good luck!

It is why this is a short assignment (15-24 months). This place is a pressure cooker. The community is wonderful. The travel opportunities incredible. The hours JB works amazing.

But the fusterations have left me feeling a bit ready for my trip home to America in just a few weeks. Good ol' U-S-A here I come!

Fusterated

2012-01-08T13:56:00.000+02:00

Isaac will sometimes ask me if I am fusterated. Sometimes I am. And I am honest with the boys about that. When they are disobeying, I will sometimes say, Mommy is frustrated.

Isaac interprets that as fusterated. Same thing.

So right now, as I type this, am I fusterated. A bit. So excuse a bit of complaining.

When it comes to the mail on Base? Yes, I'm fusterated.

When it comes to the Internet on Base? Yes, I'm fusterated.

When it comes to the groceries on Base? Yes, I'm fusterated.

I love living here, but there are just a few things that are starting to really, really get to me. I have narrowed them down to three things for the sake of not going off the deep end.

1. Mail is a fusteration.

Two times now, people have sent us something, and it has gotten returned to them for apparently no reason at all.
I sent a package to my friend Becky that arrived at her house -- empty.
We sent some pottery home a few weeks ago. Three out of the five pieces did not make it alive. Bummer!
The Post Office is closed all the time for down days, training days, holidays that no one else is celebrating.
I sent a letter back to the States last week for Becasue of Isaac. The first letter I sent took almost three weeks to arrive. The next week, I sent a similar letter, and it arrived in three days? What?

I know we live halfway around the world, and decades ago our correspondence would have been even more pitiful and sparse. I just wish mail was a bit more reliable and consistent in today's day and age.

2. Internet: I am typing this from the Starbucks on Base. It is the weekend, and our Internet is out ... again. We pay an incredible amount for our Internet. It is slow and unreliable. Everyone on Base is annoyed by it, but we are given no option to use another carrier. We must use the one on Base. At least two weekends a month, our Internet goes out at our house. When we call, on Monday, when they open again, they hit one switch and it comes back on. For real? Again, I recognize how lucky I am to have Internet. I can't imagine living overseas without it. But when you are spoiled, not having it really hurts my feelings.

3. Groceries: I like our Commissary for one big reason. It is so small that I can zip through it in a matter of minutes. But the fact that you can pick out a recipe, get twelve things on your list, and then realize they are out of a key ingredient and have to scrap your whole grocery list, is quite fusterating. You may decide, like we did, that we should get a rotisseri chicken at the last minute for dinner since we didn't plan well. So you run out to the grocery store and they are totally gone. It isn't that they don't have things. It's that they don't have things consistently that is so difficult to deal with. I can't tell you how many times I get an email from a friend or see a post on the Incirlik Yardsale page on Facebook asking if anyone has ____. Pumpkin at Thanksgiving was becoming something people begged for!

Okay, so I recognize this is a complaining post. I try to stay positive about living in Turkey, but today, I'm just a wee bit fusterated. Thanks for listening.

Two different boys

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000+02:00

Here is a picture from lunch time in our house. Check this out. The plates looked the same when we started. A sandwich on the outskirts and apples, raisins, and apricots in the middle. What I think is funny is that halfway through the lunch, Isaac's plate on the left was void of everything in the middle and Elijah's plate on the right was void of everything on the outside.

Our boys are so alike in so many ways. But I love seeing how different they are simply because of who God made them to be! I know adoption plays a huge role in those differences. Isaac is who he is because he is the product of two people that are not JB and me.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Pepper Plant

2012-01-06T12:58:00.005+02:00

If you enjoy reading about our family, you definitely need to hop over to my husband's blog, to read a fun story about Elijah and his pepper plant.

It is almost dead. Still barely clinging to life. There is but one leaf that still has some green on it. It never grew more than about ten inches tall, but it did produce one pepper. This pathetic little pepper plant, probably the one plant that has thrived the least, is by far my favorite plant in the garden.

The reason is because my son planted it. One day toward the end of the summer, when the blazing heat of our Mediterranean sun was at last less intense, at the time of year that was a bit too late to plant summer garden vegetables, I had a tray of seedlings that I finally got around to planting in the garden ... Click here to read more.

A great start to 2012

2012-01-05T08:28:00.000+02:00

I have been really struggling, with Veronica leaving, in figuring out how in the world I can exercise. Here is my current list of excuses:

I cannot go in the early a.m. as JB has to work out then.
I cannot go in the early a.m. as the kiddos are up to early for me to go without leaving them with JB as he tries to get ready for work.
I do not want to go after JB gets home because that is the only time we have together as a family.
I also do not want to go after the kiddos go to bed as that is the only time I get with just JB. And I am just plum exhausted.

So where does that leave me? Well, our gym on Base has a room that you can put kiddos in. Here is my current excuses for not using that notion:

If I tried to put all three of mine in there, I feel that my chances of success are very poor. All three not crying, not having to go to the bathroom, and not killing each other on the other side of the glass while I exercise? Not likely. And I worry I'd just leave frustrated.

I used to always go out in my jogger. My new excuse for that is that:

It only seats two and I have three.

But then I saw this video on Facebook, below, and I realized that I was attempting an all-or-nothing attitude. For the first time in my post-basketball life, I just don't feel like exercising. I am just so tired. So busy. So exhausted. And it is very difficult to figure out a time to do it. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't do anything. After watching this video, I have decided that I am going to try and schedule at least 30 minutes of SOMETHING every day. It doesn't have to be an intense work-out. It can be running around in the grass with the kids. Walking the jogger with Abigail in the baby carrier on my chest. Walking Abigail with the boys riding their bikes. Jogging on the weekend. Anything I'd like -- just ... something.

This video seems like it would be boring. But it isn't. It's awesome. Inspiring. Give it nine minutes of your time, and then join me in staying healthy.

Heading "home"

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000+02:00

Home.

We are heading home.

Someone asked me on Facebook where I considered "home" to be.

That's a good question. Our home is obviously in Turkey. Home is with your family. My family is John. Where he is, I am. Where we are, the kids are. Where we all are, is home.

But our heart's home? Our heart's home is back in America. And while we don't like particularly like South Florida (despite being raised there) and don't plan to live there again, because nearly all of our family lives there, that is our "home" right now.

And, I can't believe it. But, we heading home in just a few short weeks.

Originally, we did not think we would go home before next fall (2012). The reason is that JB used up all his leave when I had to go to Germany for longer than expected to have Abigail. He has no leave, and I didn't think I could make the trip with all the kids by myself. So that meant, none of us would go home until Thanksgiving or Christmas of this year.

However, JB has two week-long TDY's (tour of duties -- in other words a job at another place) in February. He would be gone for half the month anyway. I missed our family terribly. I could go home for a month.

The only catch? I'd have to go by myself with all three kids.

And I'm going to do it.

Am I scared? Yes.

Will I succeed. Yes.

I have asked people to pray, and I have prayed that the Lord would order my steps and bring people along my path to help me. Already, we have seen the Lord's providence at work.

Firstly, a friend from Turkey who now lives in Washington D.C. has offered to help me both on my arrival and return. (The military flight ends in DC -- at which point we will have to board a commercial flight to South Florida.)

In addition, a woman here, who is a patient of JB, heard about our trip and said that "he has been such a great doctor, I'd just love to repay the favor." If our trips coincide, she offered to help me with the flight from here to DC. How cool is THAT? I had a few other people tell me that they too, if on our flight, would be more than willing to help us.

More on that trip later. But I'm excited. Very excited. We haven't been back to America in nearly two years. I CANNOT WAIT!!!

It'll also be Abigail's first time in the country of which she is a citizen. How crazy is that?

Have I mentioned that I cannot wait?!

Charleigh ... errr ... Abigail!

2012-01-04T14:30:00.000+02:00

My sister-in-law decided to tell my niece Charleigh a a story -- a story of how much her daddy and mommy loved her. AD told me, "I was telling Charleigh a long drawn out story about two people who love each other and wanted a little girl to love and talked about how perfect and fun the little baby was and when I asked if she knew the baby girl's name (obviously Charleigh), she yelled ABIGAIL!"

P.S. Would you all join me in prayer for our friends Jake and Rana who lost Rana's father last week.

Up-to-date Humor

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000+02:00

Elijah, grabbing at a hang nail on his big toe, whined to me that, "I have a fingernail on my toe."

++++++

Isaac has started associating JB's whiskers with "being home." Whiskers present? Staying home. Whiskers gone? Work time. Yesterday he actually went a step further in his reasoning and said, "Daddy, your whiskers are gone. You'll have to put them back before you go back to work."

+++++

All right, so I admit it. After Abigail was born, I tried running again, and I fell ... three times. Three times in one week.* I blame it on three things. One is the uneven sidewalks in the Falcon neighborhood. The second is some sort of post-pregnancy equilibrium disorder I am making up. And the third is the fact that I have, for most of my life, just been a wee bit clumsy.

I now have two huge boo-boos on my knees. (Isaac calls these "bew-bews" which I think is really cute but that isn't what this story is about.)

Today, he saw my bew-bews again and said to me, "Mommy, did you get a bew-bew?"
Me: "Yes."
Isaac: "What happened?"
Me: "Isaac, I tell you this every day. I fell when running."
Isaac: "You need to be more careful, Mommy."
Me: "I know."
Isaac: "You need to slow down."
Me: "I don't think that is actually the problem."
Isaac: "But Mommy, you do this all the time!"

I am pretty sure that at this, JB had to go hide in the other room to control his laughter.

+++++
John: "What did you do today, Isaac?"
Isaac: "I played at Angelica's house."
John: "Did you meet their new baby sister?"
Isaac: "I did."
John: "What's her name?" (Her name is Reese.)
Isaac: "Greece."
John: "Her name is Greece?"
Isaac: "Yeah. Greece."
Elijah: "No. Her name is Baby Greece."

* Does anyone think it is weird that we have a word for "twice" but not a word for "thrice". We can say "once" and "twice" but then we have to say "three times." Why? Why can't we say thrice? Or what about four? How would you pronounce that?

2011 in pictures

2012-01-03T20:44:00.002+02:00

Well here is my annual end-of-the-year recap. This is my fourth straight year for these posts. You can click here to see 2008, 2009, and 2010 in photos. I love looking back at these posts! They are a way to summarize our last year as a family in quick snapshots.

JANUARY

We start the year off with a not-so-great bang, as I undergo appendicitis surgery when I am just fifteen weeks pregnant. With the help of some great friends, we pull off Elijah's birthday part less than a week later, just as planned.

We decide to give toilet training a try, and somehow, someway, they both pick up on it relatively easily. A great gift as we prepare for a third child. JB is standing guard (and blocking boy parts from the camera.)

FEBRUARY

We attend a marriage retreat with the chapel. Isaac and Elijah's friend Scotty is there as well.

Our friends Shane and Linda and Micah and Sarah (with Scotty) join us for the weekend just about 90 minutes from Adana.

We schedule a tour of the fire station on Base, and Sarah puts together an awesome display for us of her great photography. Isaac loved it but Elijah wasn't so keen on being away from Mommy or the loud horns at all.

A girls trip to Cyprus was one of the highlights of my year. Linda, Angelica, me, and Stebbs spent two nights just us ladies. What a fantastic time we had!

MARCH

I decide to go for it and lead a tour to Tarsus for Stebbins' awesome mom Kris. We get a little lost but do incredibly well!

Scrubs gets wind of something crazy in the air. Yet another person is moving into the Kitsteiner home?

Yes! Veronica joins us in March. A long-time friend from the USA, she is 19 and looking for adventure. We are 34 and 35 and about to bring a third child into our already chaotic home in Turkey. What a perfect match. Her first full day in our country, we take her to Snake Castle to introduce her to Turkey.

Veronica introduces us to all kinds of new things -- like the fact that we can take these crazy pictures on our computer. Who knew?!

Our first time swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! Our friends Dan and Angelica (that's their son Noah with Isaac) and Shane and Linda join us for a not-so-beautiful day at the beach.

APRIL

Easter is a great time getting to know our new nanny.

We head to the park for an Easter Egg Hunt. And at home, Veronica dies Easter eggs for the first ever time.

We take a day trip to Antioch with some other folks from the medical group. We get to see the first church in Turkey, but man is it a long day for all of us: Veronica, Dad, Mom and the kiddos!

Through Facebook, I reconnect with an old friend from college, Leah. Living in Germany now, she decides to take a long weekend and hang out with us in Turkey.

MAY

A fall down the stairs as I let Scrubs out in the middle of the night results in quite a nasty sprain for me. Praise the Lord though that the baby is a-ok even if I'm limping around for quite some time.

We decide to have our first at-the-house birthday party with, yet again, a Mickey theme. Daddy makes a fantastic cake of cupcakes and all of our friends come to celebrate.

Once Veronica has learned the ropes, we decide to leave the boys with her for SIX WHOLE DAYS while we take a vacation in Spain -- our last time "just the two of us" for many months to come. Our great friends Dan and Angelica take the time to give us a tour of their beautiful country.

I end up starting to have contractions at 31 weeks and am sent to Germany six weeks earlier than expected. JB drops us off and then heads to a conference in England where he is able to visit Stonehenge.

JUNE

Veronica is there with me to help make it more bearable. Here we are celebrating her birthday at Macaroni Grill.

JULY

Joan flies to Germany to help me pass the weeks away, just a week or two before Abigail's on-time arrival.

My parents fly in just a few days before the scheduled c-section.

Abigail Grace arrives via scheduled c-section on July 16, 2011 weighing in at 7 pounds 13 ounces. She started causing me problems at 31 weeks but stayed put quite nicely until right at 39 weeks.

AUGUST

Abigail and I spend quite a few days by ourselves in August as we wait for her passport to come in so that we can go back to Turkey. I am met head on by the baby blues and post partum depression but come out on the other side with the Lord's help.

SEPTEMBER

We spent and evening at a local Turkish farm where we see all kinds of new fruits and also experience Elijah dropping his drawers to go potty in front of the entire Turkish audience. Good thing they found that funny!

JB runs in the jogger with the boys and I run/walk in the stroller with Abigail a 5K Breast Cancer Awareness event.

OCTOBER

Play dates look a bit different in Turkey.

Another highlight of our year was getting to spend two weeks in Germany with our Kits. grandparents. We went to Munich, Garmisch, Austria, and Salzburg. What a fantastic adventure!

NOVEMBER

We host a potluck Thanksgiving meal at our house. Tons of people! Our family here in Turkey.

Joni comes for her second visit and really helps the family get over a major pre-holiday bout of missing home!

JB gets to go and see Daughtry in concert!

DECEMBER

Abigail is the only kiddo in our family interested in sitting on Santa's lap this year.

We have a nice Christmas morning at our house with our family (including Veronica). We also go to Christmas service that evening.

2011 ends with new that Veronica is heading back to the USA. Saying good bye to her will be one of the last (and hardest) things we do in 2011.

Looking for 2012 as we head to a new Base in the Azores!

Boots

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time, my best friend Kristi came to visit us when we lived on Eglin AFB. This was for Elijah's first birthday in 2010. And she bought our little Elijah the most adorable rain boots shown in the picture below.

Fast forward to 2011 and move us to Turkey. One of the best memories I have from 2011, was during my friend Becky's visit to Incirlik. Bonded while at Eglin through infertility journeys, Becky spent an afternoon splashing in puddles with Elijah.

Elijah had long since outgrown the red car boots and moved onto bigger, fire fighter boots. But the fun times were just the same.

Becky was just months away from completing an adoption through Korea. And as she and Elijah splashed in the puddles that day, I pictured her as a mom to a young boy -- probably just a few months younger than Elijah was in that picture.

Fast forward some more. September of 2011. John and Becky go to Korea to meet their son and bring him home to live with them forever. As I thought about what I could send John, Becky, and Joshua, I kept thinking of rain boots.

I debated buying new ones. But for some reason, that didn't feel special enough. I hoped they wouldn't see me passing down boots as tacky. I just felt that the car boots needed a new home. A very special home.

So I sent them to Joshua and was blessed to get to see a picture of him in those cutie-patootie boots, below:

I'm so happy for John, Becky, and their family. Here's to 2012 and all of you waiting for the perfect additions to your own family in the upcoming year.

Languages and babies

2012-01-02T06:57:00.000+02:00

I love that when a person speaks to a baby, they naturally return to the language of their heart. Angelica may speak to me in English, but when she talks to Abigail, it is all Spanish. The same is true of Hatice and Sema. Even our tour guide reverted to Greek when playing with Abigail. Check out these videos below:

Talking to Abigail in Greek

Talking to Abigail in Spanish

Talking to Abigail in Turkish

Not as boring as we'd hoped

2012-01-01T11:40:00.000+02:00

JB let me sleep in this morning. As I rolled out of bed at 8am and got out of the shower, I lingeringly strolled downstairs in my comfy clothes. Our goal for this three day weekend? Absolutely nothing. Saturday. Sunday. Monday. Nothing on our schedule. No events on the calendar.

And we wanted to keep it that way. Just hang out around the house with the kiddos. Take down the Christmas stuff. Do some spring cleaning. Take naps. Play with the kids. In two words ... be bored. That was our goal.

Our first day's attempt at boredom wasn't nearly as boring as we would have hoped.

A scream. A dash. Blood. One windmill (pictured above) hurled across the room. One brother's head the recipient of the throw.

We tried to get Elijah to understand the ramifications of his powerful arm by making him watch Daddy clean out Isaac's head wound. But Elijah did not get it at all. He was totally unable to associate that his breaking our "no throwing toys" rule resulted in severe pain for Isaac.

JB informed me that the pain would get worse.

Why? Just clean it and leave it alone.

JB informed me he would have to put a staple in Isaac's head.

A staple? Couldn't you just use a butterfly bandaid or something else?

JB informed that we could. If we shaved Isaac's head in that spot.

Okay. Let's shave it.

JB informed me that he had been joking. Shaving and a bandaid wouldn't be the recommended treatment in this case.

Are you sure? Maybe you should call Yamil. You always say that a doctor shouldn't be a doctor his own family? Let's ask Yamil what he would do.

JB informed me that Yamil would do exactly the same thing. "Now hold his arms down while I shoot this numbing agent into his head."

Oh my.

JB informed me to hold him tighter. "And hold his leg while I put in the staple."

Egads.

Once that was done and Isaac was nestled on the sofa with some ice cream and a movie as his reward for being so brave, I retreated to the sofa to feed a very neglected Abigail.

I scooped her up. She smelled funny. But a check into the left leg of her diaper revealed nothing to be concerned about.

That was because everything was seeping out of the right leg of that diaper.

It was all over Abigail's legs. It was all over both my hands. It was all over my pants. It was on the boppy.

It was ... everywhere.

I still hadn't cleaned up the blood in the upstairs bathroom and now the laundry room was littered with remnants of our little girl's poopy.

And it was only ten o'clock.

No boredom to be found in these parts folks.

Kids say it best

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000+02:00

As eleven o'clock a.m. drew near and Patty's arrival at our house to pick up Veronica and take her to the airport, came closer, both V and I were starting to cry harder and harder. (Veronica made the decision to ride with Patty instead of us because she thought it would be too difficult to say good bye to the kiddos at the airport.) At one point, both boys came up to me in the hallway and gave me hugs.

"Why are you said?" Isaac asked.

"Because Veronica is leaving," I replied.

"But she is going to go and see her Daddy and Mommy," Isaac said.

Good point. Nice of me to only think about myself and not Veronica's parents. Thanks for that insight Isaac.

"Yeah," Elijah agreed. "And she is going to visit us in the Azores."

And if that wasn't enough encouragement, Isaac continued by coming up with, "And we are going to make her room into a playroom!"

We are? I don't remember agreeing to that.

Either way, kids are something amazing. They can look at the side that should be looked at. They skip over the meaningless stuff and look at the truth.

Veronica is going to see her parents. I should be happy for her. And happy for them.

Veronica is going to visit us in the Azores. That will be so much fun. Lots of catching up.

And yes, we can use her room for something cool too.

So there you go.

From the mouth of babes.

P.S. But I've spent the whole day crying, still.

Please pray ...

2011-12-30T08:30:00.000+02:00

... for my heart today. For the heart of my boys. For Veronica's heart. Today is a hard day. Today we say good bye to Veronica. She lived in our home for nearly a year. She travelled with me to Germany to have my daughter. She watched my boys when we vacationed in Spain. She dog sat. She changed diapers. She wiped bottoms. She made lunches. She packed diaper bags. She put kids to bed. She disciplined. She watched movies. She played cars and puzzles. She colored. She threw a Frisbee. She took trips with us. She wore Abigail in a Moby. She rolled play dough. She made cookies.

She sanded a table.

Okay, so that never got done. Just a little inside joke there.

While she did all those things and losing all those things will be hard, what I grieve most is losing my friend. I talk to Veronica every day. She has been there for me during a very difficult year. Living away from family. Going into early labor. Storknesting in Germany. A sprained ankle. Three kids under three.

She is my kid sister. (I won't say daughter. I'm not that old yet.) I love her. She is part of our family. She fits us so perfectly. How can she not be here tomorrow when I wake up?

How do you say good bye? How do I say good bye? How do I teach my boys to say good bye? What do I tell them when they ask why Veronica's room is empty (and subsequently, clean?)

How do you make them understand that their Er-onica will no longer live in our house.

Veronica made the decision to allow Patty to drive her to the airport today. To say good bye to us at the house instead. To not have us see her off at the airport. She didn't think she could handle it.

I don't think I can either.

Today is bittersweet. Veronica had to leave sometime. This wasn't forever. It was a good fit for us. It was a good fit for her. For a time. For a year. We knew it would come to an end. She is moving on to bigger things. She is going home to Minnesota for a few months and then going to Nigeria on a three month mission trip. The Lord has great plans for her life.

I'm happy for her.

But sad for me. Sad for my boys. For my dog. And for my little girl who had so nestled herself into the very deep parts of Veronica's heart.

I love you Veronica. You will always have a place in our home and our hearts.

Christmas morn

2011-12-29T17:25:00.000+02:00

Christmas morning was low-key here at our house. We opened up presents with Veronica, and just hung out around the house. Later that day we had a dinner at our home. But the morning was just spent lounging in our pajamas. Here are some videos of our house during the Christmas season:

Race track from Daddy (he used to have these tracks when he was a boy)

Magnetized cars from Katie (is this not the coolest toy ever)

Veronica the Green Lantern (not sure what to say about this)

Seeing Santa (seeing Santa at a Christmas party)

Writing Santa a letter (Writing a letter to Santa at the Christmas party)

Sweaters (the boys wearing their sweaters from Joni's sister Rita)

Christmas morning (the boys coming down the stairs and realizing it is Christmas)

It's been bitter sweet around these parts lately. Veronica is preparing to go home. So many of the gifts -- both for her from us -- and for the boys from her -- were sentimental. Man are we going to miss her.

Joni's sister Rita sent some clothes for all the kiddos -- including these sweater vests!

Isaac was way fun this year for Christmas. It was the first year both boys obviously "got" that Christmas was something way cool.

Elijah waiting for me to open one of the cars "Santa" left in his stocking.

Veronica made this recordable book for the boys with her reading and singing nursery rhymes to them. I can't listen to it without crying.

So this is not a good picture of any of these three -- but I love it just the same.

Here are some clothes that Aunt Katie and Uncle Eddie sent for California.

Abigail dozed and watched the festivities from her swing.

Here is Isaac celebrating with the poster paint AD and Big Keith sent for the boys.

AD and her family use reusable cloth bags for their Christmas presents. I asked AD to send me some for MY Christmas present this year. I love these! They are such a great idea.

Poor Isaac fell going up the stairs the day before Christmas -- and got a busted lip to show for it.

Here are the boys posing with their shirts from Aunt Katie.

The hats are also from Eddie and Katie. Someone is about to get thrown down here.

Craziness in two forms

2011-12-28T06:35:00.001+02:00

I have two bits of good news.

The first is that we now know that our dog Scrubby has the ability to be a hunting dog. His sense of smell is something to be reckoned with.

Just ask Stebbins.

The proof?

He busted out of the house when Veronica opened the door yesterday and followed the scent of me and the boys four blocks to where we were playing at the Youth Center Park.

Stebbs and I were standing there talking when all of a sudden we looked down and saw ... Scrubs. Scrubs? For a moment, both Stebbs and I found ourselves looking at each other in complete shock. Almost an out-of-body experience. "Is this your dalmatian?" Stebbs asked. "I think so," I said back. "Is there another Dalmatian on Base?" She asked. "There's not," I said. "It's Scrubs."

As he ran off a few feet to mark a tree, four little boys came running with treats in their hand calling his name. Veronica had enlisted their help to lure Scrubs back home. I took the treats, thanked them, and Scrubs followed us all the four blocks back to our house nibbling treats the whole way.

Craziness.

But if that is not the craziest news you've heard today, this definitely will be.

Me. Wendi. And my kids. Three of them. Flying home to America. In just over a month. Seriously.

It's a long story. But it involves the fact that JB has two conferences to attend. Each a week long. Two weeks that I'd be here by myself with the kiddos anyways.

Add to that the fact that I miss my home and my family and my country quite a lot.

And so, I have decided to make the trip home to America.

The only catch?

I must do it alone. JB has no leave left. Therefore I must travel across half our world with all three kids by myself.

Am I scared?

Yes.

However, here is what I know. If I get on the plane, I will eventually get off. I can't just give up part of the way through the flight. It might be exhausting. Okay, so it most definitely will be. But I will succeed. And when we get off the last plane, some 36 hours later, we will be home. For a month.

And that is worth it.

Craziness. But really exciting!

Some humor

2011-12-27T20:02:00.000+02:00

While reading the news online, Isaac peered over my shoulder and saw the picture above. "Is that Joni?" he asked.
*****
As JB left for work the day, Elijah called out, "Stay away from dragons, Daddy!"
*****
Phone rings. Elijah calls out, "The phone is calling you Mommy!"
*****

This morning Elijah told me I had to plug in the Christmas tree.

Me: "Oh," I said. "That's right. And only Mommies do that."

Elijah: "Daddies do it too."

Me: "Yes ... Daddies and Mommies."

Elijah: "And Veronicas and Jonies too."

A look back at Greece

2011-12-26T07:30:00.000+02:00

Veronica, Abigail, and I have just returned from a nearly week longtrip to Greece. I have decided to tell about this trip in one post. I have alsodecided to put all my photos in an album so that those who would like to lookat them, can do so easily. You can find a link to these at the end of this post. There is just too much to try and put in individualposts. And this way, those of you who are interested, can quickly seeeverything. And those of you who aren’t, can just come back tomorrow for a newlook into our lives.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

I woke up at 3am. I didn’t have to get up until 4am, butwhen you wake up at 3am, or at least, when Iwake up at 3am knowing I have to get up at 4am, the list of what I have to domounts. My head spins. Sleep moves far away from the forefront of my mind. Andthe fear of not hearing my alarm or it not going off, mounts. (This despite thefact that I was assured Veronica had set a back-up as well.)

So I got up. I took my time. I got ready to go. JB didn’tstir. The boys didn’t either. Only Scrubs took a moment to rub his face againstmy legs and leave remnants of his fur for me to remember him by.At 4am Veronica woke up. At 4:30am we scooped Abigail out ofher bed. At 4:45am when picked up Stebbs with the van, and at 5am we parked ourvan outside of the gate and meandered through it where our bus was waiting totake us to the airport in Adana, about twenty minutes away. (JB told me thatlater that day he took the boys out in the stroller on a “scavenger hunt” tofind the van. They loved it!)

I think there are around 35 or so people on this trip. Runthrough the chapel, Ch Boulware is leading the group spiritually. Hisassistant, Catherine, is there to take care of the little details. In Greece,we met up with a bus driver and tour guide who would be with us throughout theduration of the trip. We also had a Turkish guide who came with us from Adana.Her name is Nevin, and I thought it was very noteworthy that she is the ownerof her tour group and only likes to travel with chapel groups – because thegroups are always so kind and well-behaved. That really says something! I’mproud of us Christians when people tell us something like that!

The chapel actually paid for the majority of this trip. All we had to pay was $150 plus a tip to the driver/tour guide. All meals were also covered. What an incredible blessing this trip was. It was definitely worth getting in line at 6:30am the day the tickets came available in order to get a spot. The flight via Istanbul to Thessalonica was uneventful.Abigail was an all-star. No issues at all.

In Adana, a man accidentally lefthis cell phone in the security line, and I was able to track him down, and, inTurkish, tell him that I thought he left his phone behind. There was a momentof confusion since, in hindsight, I used the word for “over here” instead “overthere” but he got the idea and thanked me in Turkish and disagreed that myTurkish was not very good, which I always say just to make sure people don’tthink I actually speak the language well. (Since I look so Turkish and wouldblend completely otherwise – ha!) I was pretty proud of myself to be able tocommunicate something outside of my normal conversation topics (children, weather, where I'm from etc.). I have really not met very many people on Base who haveattempted to learn the language. When you are here for such a short period oftime, it seems pointless. But even though – come summer – I may never use thislanguage again, I don’t regret the time I invested. It has made my experienceand the experience of my family and friends a lot better.

We were in Greece by lunchtime. And after a quick pit-stopat our very nice hotel, we were off on a tour of the surrounding areas. We toured Thessaloniki seeing the city walls, Ossios David monastery, the arc of triumph, the castle, Agia Sofia church and the holy Demtrius basilica and crypt. By 7:00p we were back at the hotel. We had awonderful buffet dinner at the hotel, with more American-style food than Greek.(This was fine for all of us since we are living in Turkey after all and don't get much American food at all.) Greekstraditionally eat much later than we are used to. Lunch is often between 1pmand 2:30 and dinner, for Greeks, at 9pm. They pushed it back to 7:30 for weAmericans -- thank goodness.

Veronica, who was still a tad under-the-weather, went backto our room with Abigail while I attended a group Bible Study. It was wonderfulto talk about all the things we had seen and to reflect on our time there. Wealso took time to share our own personal “alpha and omega” (beginning and end)stories. To read about the places we had just walked was incredibly powerful.
I came back to the room to find Abigail and Veronica soundasleep. I was in bed by 10pm – later than I would have liked but worth theadventure.

Monday, December 19,2011

Abigail is an all-star sleeper. 8pm down. 6am up. Glorious.There was no place to bathe her however. The sink was way too small. The tubhad jets on the bottom which would be quite uncomfortable to lay on. SoVeronica and I came up with a plan. I took a shower. Then I called Veronica.She handed me a naked baby. I bathed said naked baby. Then I called Veronicaand handed her wet and clean naked baby. It worked great. I think this will bethe norm on the road for us.

I took Abigail to breakfast while Veronica went to findStarbucks. That girl and her Starbucks. When in Rome … Veronica still needs todo what the Americans do … when it comes to coffee.

One of the great things about only having one baby and 30some teenagers/adults is plenty of people to help hold the baby. In fact, whileI am writing this on the bus in a word document, another gal is holding andplaying with Abigail. It’s wonderful to have a huge village helping me andVeronica. Casey and Stebbs are big helps. There are also two other gals that Ibecame friends with shortly before this trip: Brittney and Laura who havegladly held her whenever I needed someone.

In addition, Abigail is IN LOVE with one seventeen year oldboy. Not sure how I feel about this, but James is currently rocking her world.There are seven teenagers on the trip. All wonderful kids. I especiallyenjoy watching James and his brother Tristan. They are two years apart, and I can’thelp but wonder what kind of relationship Isaac and Elijah will have years fromnow. They have a younger brother and sister well, and imagining my family allgrown up is bitter-sweet.

If Abigail is playing with James and the other teenagers, wehave come to realize that she goes a few minutes beyond the time that sheshould take a nap. All of a sudden she’ll start screaming uncontrollably, andwe have realized that she is having so much fun, she doesn’t realize she istired until the point of no return has set in. At that point, a pacifier andmom can quickly rectify the situation.

My boys were never good sleepers away from their beds. I amrealizing that third child Abigail is going to need to be more flexible. I havebeen working with her to get her to fall asleep in my arms. Or in Veronica’sarms. Or in the Moby. And she is great at it. I hope I can continue this formany months to come as to make our life more flexible.

Another digression is THE MOBY. LOVE THIS! I have used theBjorn in the past, and it is great for short distances, but The Moby is waymore comfortable and keeps the babe much closer to my body which she likes.Abigail and I are both fans.

Anyways, back to Monday. At breakfast, Abigail got a littlecranky. I gave her a pear to suck on and she was in heaven!

We spent the entire day – from 8:30am until 6pm on and offthe bus but on the road. We travelled to Philippi. On our way there we drove by a lion statue of Amphipolis. From ancient Amphipolis we were able to see the ruins of the Agora, a Macedonian tomb, and the water cistern. Once in Philippi, we were able to see the sites where the apostle Paul came and worked, establishing a strong church. This was the church he sent a letter to -- Philippians. Of all the churches Paul founded, probably none was so near and dear to him as the church at Philippi. We saw the spot where Paulwas most likely imprisoned. We saw tons of historic ruins dating back into the4^th century BC. Can you even fathom how long ago that was?

We also got to see the place where Lydia was baptized. I amnot sure what it is. I think it’s the fact that we almost named Abigail … Lydia… in celebration of the first Turkish convert to the faith. I just find myselfdrawn to her and her story. Her devotion to the faith. We toured a beautifulchurch near the river that Paul baptized Lydia. And Ch Boulware gave us each ablessing – water from that river on our foreheads. I don’t find myself moved very often. But I was moved bythis experience.

I do not, for a moment, forget how unbelievably lucky I amto see Biblical history come to life. I know not everyone can do this. I knowmany of you cannot. I hope you take the time to view my photo album. To see theplaces I went. To try to see history for yourself, through my eyes. I amconstantly thinking of how I can best bring the things I have done back to thepeople I love who are so far away from where I am right now.

Greece is, believe it not 97% Christian. It’s actually GreekOrthodox to be more specific. (Greek Orthodox believe in the Trinity but do notbelieve that they are 3 in 1 -- this is the major difference from Catholicism.) This is incredibly encouraging that the placewhere Lydia was converted still adheres to the faith of Christ. It is oftendisheartening when we realize that the Turkish country, where so many of ourearly Christian “saints” first walked is now over 99% Muslim. There isrelatively no Christianity in the country. But to see Greece, a borderingcountry and only a short distance away, still living for Christ, even if in a very religious way, wasencouraging.

We learned so much about Greece from our tour guide while wetravelled around Thessalonica and Philippi. There is so much that the information is starting to float around my head, and leave before it finds a place to land. But a fewinteresting points that have stuck with me:

Greek joined the EU in 81. This is when thingsbecame more expensive.
In 2000, things became three times moreexpensive when they went to the Euro.
The temperature right now is chilly (about 30degrees at night and 50 degrees during the day) but it snows very little in thenon-mountainous areas of Greece.
That being said, 80% of Greece is mountains!
We really enjoyed eating Meze-style lunch. Theyjust brought plate after plate of food to be shared amongst our table. Yum!It’s similar to Turkish but quite different as well.

I also wanted to share some of my Bible Study notes as well.

Sunday nite notes: (Ch Boulware)

Paul’s three main trips were to Philippi,Thessalonica, and then the Corinthians. We started our tour with his secondgroup: The people of Thessalonia.
Paul was here in 49 AD. He wrote 1^stand 2^nd Thessalonians in 51 & 52 AD. He visited again in 56 AD.
Paul planted a church with Simon and Timothy butwas then forced out of Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a major military andcommercial port. There were 200,000 people there at the time – the largest cityin the Macedonia area at that time. Paul often used the analogy of ships andports – because this was a port town and the people could relate to this.
Paul left and sent Timothy back to check on thepeople. Timothy said they were good but needed help with (a) escatology ... endtimes ... and (b) Christian ethics. Pagans viewed death with great horror. Timothyand Paul were trying to teach them to have faith that they would rise again.Would we travel that much by foot for Christ?
Paul had these books written by his scribes. ButPhillipians 3;17 was written by his own hand.

Monday nite notes: (Lawrence Hicks)

Book of Philippians – visit to Philippi
Lydia and her family were the first people onthe European continent baptized into the faith. We got to see the place whereshe was baptized. There was a beautiful church near the spot as well. We weregiven a blessing by Ch Boulware there as well.
Touching these places brings the Word alive.
We saw the prison where Paul may have been held.It was so small. What he was willing to do for the faith was amazing. We neverran into the persecution that these people did. Would we be willing to do whathe did?
This book was written by Paul telling how heloved and missed everyone. Paul went through Philippi twice and had foundmemories of the church there. Philippians 1:1-6 “I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all myprayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of yourpartnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ beingconfident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on tocompletion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
^“12 Now I want you to know, brothersand sisters,^[^b^] that what has happened tome has actually served to advance the gospel. ¹³ As a result, it hasbecome clear throughout the whole palace guard^[^c^] and to everyone else that Iam in chains for Christ. ¹⁴ And because of my chains, most of thebrothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more toproclaim the gospel without fear.” God gives all of us a platform in life toshare our faith. Folks know there is something different about Tim Tebow. Dothey know there is something different about you? It doesn’t matter how “small”what you are put over is. God asks you to do it and to do it well.
Do you wonder if Paul was trying to influencehimself to do more? Sometimes writing something down encourages you to presson.
He was in jail for approx. three years. He wasbeing guarded by the elite soldiers. Paul was great at relational ministries.
We don’t forget we are US citizens. Do we forgetwe are citizens of heaven?
We are often the worst to our fellow brothersand sisters in Christ.

Tuesday, December 20

Today we drove from Thessalonica and stopped for the night at Kalambaka through Berea, at the base of the Meteora monasteries. We enjoyed a spectacular five up to visit Meteora. Collosal symmetrical gray and reddish boulders sustain breatakingly beautiful monasteries perched high above the ground. First built int he 14th century by monks seeking isolation and salvation, they were accessible only by ropes thrown down from above.

The day was primarily spent on the bus with many stops along the way,primarily at two different montestaries. I got out at the first one, but duringthe second one, I opted to stay on the bus and let Abigail sleep. Bible Studywas cancelled for the evening, and I was so blessed that the hotel broughtdinner to my room instead of requiring me to eat with the group so that littleAbigail could go to bed on time. I roomed with Stebbins on this evening in Kalambaka.

Wednesday, December21

We left our hotel in the morning and headed to Delphi. Wetoured an indoor museum where we saw relics as old as 1400-1500BC! Can you believethat? Then we toured the open air section where we got to see the Sanctuary ofAthena. We visited the sanctuary of Apollo, the treasury of the Athenians, and an archaeological museum.

One funny thing. The tour guide has a deep Greek accent. Infact, she sound just like the father in MyBig Fat Greek Wedding. Not the depth of her voice but the way she saysthings. I thought she was saying the century of Athena. So I turned to Ch Boulware and said “What is a century?” He crinkled his nose and said,“100 years.” I didn’t mean that kindof century. I meant the century she was talking about which was actually a sanctuary.

We finally pulled into our hotel in Corinth at about 5pm and hada few hours before dinner. I roomed with Stebbs again, and during this time, Igot a fantastic migraine. Ugh! Thank goodness my doctor hubby had sent me withsome good meds for this. Abigail went to sleep. I went to bed. And I woke up inthe morning feeling great – Praise the Lord.

Thursday, December22, 2011

On our way to Corinth, we drove over the biggest cable bridge in Europe. Our bus driver played the Olympic music at this point as it was where the Athens games were held. We saw the Agora, the Temple of Apollo, the Roman Odeon, the Bema and Galilo's seat. We drove along the spectacular Greek coastline to reach the Corinth Canal. We stayed that night in Athens. We got to see the Parthanon. Wow!

Friday, December 23, 2011
On our way to the airport, we toured Athens some more. We were back home by 4pm. In the airport in Istanbul, I overheard a couple, in Turkish, talking about me and the fact that I must have played basketball. When I responded in Turkish that I understood him, his face turned so red, and we both had a good laugh at my (and his) expense. It was really funny.

Here are a few videos from our trip:

Here are some photo albums from our trip:

Five months old

2011-12-24T20:57:00.000+02:00

This post is a little late due to being in Greece, but better late than never. Our little five month old:

is rolling over both ways but more from back to stomach. She is rolling over both shoulders and occasionally rolling stomach to back.
has no teeth yet.
is starting to sit up a bit (as illustrated in the picture) but far from on her own. She will do the tripod sit a bit.
chatters like crazy.
does not have stranger anxiety yet.
seems to prefer people in this order: mom, Isaac, Veronica, Scrubs, JB, and then *Scrubs*. (Edited per comment.)
loves when mommy (me) sings to her. I usually sing "Somewhere, beyond the sea ..." and she smiles like crazy.
is eating some rice cereal.
has sucked on some apples and bread crusts.
takes a pacifier when she sleeps.
is wearing 6 month and 6-9 month clothing.
still has a blocked tear duct in her left eye.
is very content. Cries when tired or hungry only.
sleeps through the night (7:30-7:00 usually).
takes a lot of naps still. And I especially have no idea how many right now due to the trip screwing everything up.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

2011-12-24T19:40:00.002+02:00

This is a short video of Isaac telling us about the cookies and milk they are leaving out for Santa. But keep an eye on Elijah, who eats one of the cookies like it's not a big deal AT ALL!

Home from Greece

2011-12-23T21:02:00.003+02:00

Veronica, Abigail, and I just returned home today from a girls' week in Greece. What an AMAZING trip. More details and pictures to come ... so stay tuned. For now, I just want to hug all my boys, including the one with black spots, and enjoy some family time.

Glimpses and more glimpses

2011-12-23T17:33:00.000+02:00

Here are some glimpses into our life, via video and JB's blog.

John and his chocolate ice cream (JB blog entry)

JB feeds me duck neck (JB blog entry)

Joni and Isaac looking at his baby book

Isaac conversing

Trying to get Abigail to laugh

Christmas Cookies 1

Christmas Cookies 2 (Isaac talking about God's birthday)

Couch Games

Stalking Abigail (Abigail laughs hard in this one)

My Scrubby

2011-12-22T19:04:00.000+02:00

As it wasn't busy enough to have three young children at the same time ...

Our dear dog Scrubby (re)discovered "counter surfing" while we were out of town in Germany with JB's parents. (He had done this once as a pup but pulled a towel and thus a bunch of pans down on top of himself and scared the begeezers out of his little puppy self and then never did it again.) We knew leaving him home for long days alone wasn't ideal, but Veronica had another babysitting job during every day while we were gone, and despite daily visits by Angelica, and Veronica home with him in the evenings, his curiosity got the best of him.

He figured out how to take dishes out of the sink to eat the food. He discovered how to get into a trash can. Oh and did I mention that he learned how to open the sliding glass door all by himself to go outside? Are you serious? (Not that the last one is all bad. Sure is nice in the middle of the night when he lets himself out instead of waking me up. And, I still have the power to lock the bolt. He isn't that smart!)

JB said we have just lucked out. For four years, he's been crazy ... but he hasn't done the things dogs often do.

Now he has.

And yes, he is still swallowing socks. Pairs of them. Whole. And barfing them up. That happened on Wednesday again. A pair of Veronica's socks on a rug. It's always a rug and never on the tile. Veronica said she doesn't want them back. I don't blame her.

He leaves most of the boys things alone. But those darned bumble bees. JB's mom gave the boys a plush bee hive stuffed with ten little bumblebees to help the boys learn how to count. He just can't resist them.

We have lost eight. Two left. I cannot tell you how many piles of bumblebee wings I have found in the yard or in the kitchen or on the rugs.

Pacifiers is another. Do not leave Abigail's pacifier within his grasp. He will eat it.

Every ... time.

He can also wake up the entire house in a matter of seconds. During naptime one day, he came into my room where Elijah and I were sleeping. Woke us up with a lot of sniffing in our faces. (Which is mighty cute even though slightly annoying.) Then he went into Abigail's room and sniffed her awake too. Which started her crying and woke up Isaac next door.

Four people.

Five seconds.

One dog.

I must remember, when I am stressed out over Scrubs, the good he brings our house. Protection. Companionship. Teaching the boys kindness to animals. Devotion. I must remember how much I love him.

I just finished the book: The Art of Racing in the Rain which is creatively narrated by a dog. It is an AWESOME BOOK! If you are a dog lover and can handle books that are a little sad, READ THIS! It was my first read on my husband's Kindle. And it was fantastic. One of my favoritest books ever. LOVED IT!

This book reminds me how loyal Scrubs is. How much my buddy he is. How soft he is. How comforting.

He is part of our family.

And he is a good boy.

Post Joni funnies

2011-12-21T20:57:00.000+02:00

In church, our worship leader, Mark, reminded us that the Lord wants us to enter his presence. Isaac turned to me and said, "Mr. Mark said we are going to get presents."
*****
I took the boys to go to the bathroom when we were out the other day, and they started going to the bathroom at the same time on the same potty. Elijah said, "My pee pee got your pee pee, Isaac." Isaac agreed as Elijah continued. "It wooks like a rainbow."
*****
Elijah has a friend named Aksel. Only Elijah doesn't pronounce Aksel's name like Aksel. Because I don't use bad language I won't say how it sounds in so many words. He calls him, "A__ 'el." We can't help but laugh at this although we don't let him know.

Military Targets

2011-12-21T09:18:00.000+02:00

Please keep our military, their families, and all they do in your prayers as you read this article. It is a reminder of the evil that is in this world. It is a reminder that we actually do live in the Middle East. It is a reminder that my husband has committed to give his life for his country. And that we, as Americans, can be targets for no other reason than that. It is a wake-up call to me who often lives in a bubble. We need to pray for our military every day.

I found my toes!

2011-12-20T13:45:00.000+02:00

P.S. I know where my fingers are already!

Turkish (Old) McDonalds

2011-12-19T21:17:00.000+02:00

Fast food in Turkey is basically non-existent. I say basically because there is ... McDonalds. It tastes very similar to McDonalds in the USA. Although there are a few more Turkish-like sandwiches. And of course they serve Ayran. But it is a lot "classier" than a fast food restaurant in the States. It costs considerably more than regular Turkish food as well. A McDonalds in the State is considered a "cheap date." A McDonalds in Turkey is considered an "expensive date." You often see people very dressed up and enjoying their night on the town at the Turkish McDonalds. Joni took a few pictures of the Turkish McDonalds. It's funny to me that I don't even see these signs as being written in another language anymore.

Here is a video from our first trip to the Turkish McDondals. Back in November of last year.

Christmas activities on Base

2011-12-18T16:00:00.000+02:00

The Airmen Committed to Excellence group on Base held a little Christmas party for kids on Base last night. You give a donation and then the kids go from table to table doing something Christmasy. The boys wrote a letter to Santa which an airmen kept. Apparently, Santa will even write them back. I got a short video of the boys writing their letters. You'll notice Isaac is having difficulty understanding when Christmas is actually going to get here. Anything we do surrounding Christmas just fakes him out!

We also got to make reindeer food (that you are supposed to spread on your lawn the night before Christmas?); decorated cookies (Isaac does NOT like red hots); and even got to see Santa, as you can see from this video.

There is not much to do at Christmas time in a country that does not celebrate Jesus' birth. However, we are making the most of it and truly appreciate activities like this to help make the holiday more festive!

Oh and speaking of Christmas here are some videos (Christmas cookies 1 and Christmas Cookies 2*) of our cookie decoration party the other day. In the morning, Veronica made cookies with the boys while Abigail and I were taking a nap. Each boy helped cut out cookies with a star cutter while the other watched Rio. Then in the afternoon, the boys each decorated a few of the cookies and then they put them in bags. We then loaded up our wagon (with the cookies Veronica decorated since they were less germy) and went around to our neighbors bringing cookies and a homemade Christmas card (shown below).

I got this idea from Angelica who was trying to teach her kids about giving to others. I thought it was a great idea, and the boys had tons of fun with it. (Except for fighting over who got to pull the wagon. But I digress.)

Also, the card above was our only Christmas Card this year. In an attempt to simplify my life, I did not send out cards for 2011. So don't think you were left out when your mailbox is found lacking! As I was preparing to order them from Snapfish JB said to me, "Do yo really want to address and stamp 100+ cards?" I wanted to but knew my time was better spent elsewhere.

So, enjoy this Merry Christmas wish from our family to your's!

*You'll notice Isaac talking about Sarahbee in this video. I have told the boys that after Christmas, we are going to start having Isaac go to Sarahbee's house once a week and Elijah go to William's on the same day. With Veronica leaving, this will be my chance to just run errands with one child thanks to this offer by my two friends. Isaac LOVES Peter and cannot WAIT for this, as you can tell! You'll also hear him reiterating the fact that while Jesus has a birthday, God, technically, does not. It's amazing to watch kids' minds work.

Lovin' a Turkish Tailor

2011-12-18T10:23:00.000+02:00

Here I am with my new clothes. I have ventured off the front row of the Alley, which caters to Americans and usually has higher prices, and gone to Hatice's family's tailor shop. They ... are ... amazing.

Case in point: one pair of tailored jeans, one pair of made jeans, one sweater, and one pair of yoga pants all completed in about a week for approximately $40USD.

Veronica went as well: two tailored pairs of jeans, one pair of yoga pants, one pair of work-out tights, one tailored shirt and one tailored skirt: all completed in about three days for approximately $21USD.

I have decided that I am going to get a BUNCH of stuff made while I am here in Turkey and the prices are so cheap. But I have also decided that I am going to use tailors in the future for ALL my clothes. I have written previously about how difficult (and expensive!) shopping is for my 6'3" self. I have fallen in love with finding a picture online and paying someone to recreate with longer sleeves and torsos and pant legs.

Oh my!

2011-12-16T22:33:00.000+02:00

Is that some crazy hair!

And Oh my is listening to Isaac talk crazy as well.

Santa talks to the boys

2011-12-15T18:14:00.002+02:00

There's always a debate in the Christian community surrounding how prominent a role Santa should play at Christmas time.

I can't tell you what to do. But I can tell you what we do. It's the same thing our parents grew up doing with both of us. We tell the boys about the true meaning of Christmas -- Jesus' birth. And we discuss how St. Nick, in honor of Christ's birthday, gave toys to young children. In the same way, we should be givers during this Christmas season as well.

But we also include Santa. Santa is a Christian by the way. And he comes to give gifts and help us celebrate the birth of Jesus. He wants us to be good boys because that is what Christ asks us to do.

So in honor of Santa's plan to come to our home at Christmas ... I made the FUNNEST videos. (Thanks to my friend Stebb's reccomendation.) You actually plug information into the computer and Santa talks directly to your child. IT IS SO COOL! Check out the boys' videos below:

Elijah's Santa Video

Isaac's Santa Video

We also recorded the boys watching their videos for the first time. These probably aren't that exciting to most of you, but I thought the grandparents would like them:

Here is Elijah watching his Video from Santa.

Here is Isaac watching the first part of his video (before the computer froze).

This is the first year that my boys truly understand what Christmas is. And it is so stinkin' fun to watch them experience the magic that only children can come to know.

(And if you don't have a child or one that is old enough, don't despair! You can still participate! My husband plans on making one for his boss -- putting him on the naughty list.)

Thanksmas

2011-12-15T12:39:00.000+02:00

Joni's sister Rita and her family refer to Christmas celebrated at Thanksgiving as Thanksmas. I thought that works. We decided to have a "Thanksmas" day with Joni. JB made a wonderful breakfast, and we took the boys out of the room and loaded up the gifts under the tree. Oh, and P.S. this is obviously an old post as Joni has now been gone for a number of days.

Here are some videos of the celebration:
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3

Adoption: In His Own Words

2011-12-15T07:45:00.000+02:00

I showed this video on the Facebook page for Because of Isaac a few weeks ago and received many wonderful comments. One of my favorites was from a reader of my blog. I wanted to share both the video and the comment, below.

"I'm a fan of your blog, and I just watched the video you posted on Because of Isaac's facebook page. SO adorable, and may I just say what a blessing it is to see the fruits of what care you've taken to explain his arrival in your family. My daughter came to us by adoption, and we're all homestudied and ready for adoption #2 whenever God weaves that story into our lives. My daughter is two and a half now and we're little by little introducing pieces of her adoption story to her. She watched your video with me, then requested it again, and again, and AGAIN, and then proceeded to try and share her Rice Chex with your kids through the computer screen.

Anyway, I feel like her seeing adoption explained from a fellow adoptee not too far from her age is an amazing blessing in helping her understand her own story, so thank you very much! Thanks for your dedication to adoption advocacy, and for so openly sharing your journey."

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do!

Turkish Meal

2011-12-14T21:30:00.000+02:00

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE Turkish food. Sometimes it gets a bit old because when you go out, there is nothing BUT Turkish food to eat. But the flavors are amazing. Rana came over and made Turkish food for Joni. She cooked for the adults, and I made something for the kiddos. What a great friend Rana was for wanting to make sure Joni got some authentic Turkish cuisine while she was here.

Manti. Delicious. It is handmade little pasta squares with meat in them and a yogurt based sauce. Delicious!

Hummus made by Rana' cousin. Soooo yummy on Turkish bread.

Gone too soon

2011-12-14T14:00:00.000+02:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, Daughtry came to Incirlik last week. Afterwards, JB sent me the lyrics to a new song by the group. It was written after the birth of Daughtry's twins, as he imagined never having gotten the chance to meet them.

I want to preface this post by telling you that this song may be too difficult to watch/read for those of you who have lost a child. JB and I were both incredibly moved by the lyrics and the meaning behind the song. Check out the lyrics below:

Gone Too Soon lyrics

today could've been the day
that you blow out your candles
make a wish as you close your eyes
today could've been the day
everybody was laughin'
instead i just sit here and cry
who would you be?
what would you look like
when you looked at me for the very first time?
today could've been the next day of the rest of your life

not a day goes by that i don't think of you
i'm always asking why this crazy world had to lose
such a ray of light we never knew
gone too soon, yeah

would you have been president?
or a painter, an author or sing like your mother
one thing is evident
would've given all i had
would've loved ya like no other
who would you be?
what would you look like?
would you have my smile and her eyes?
today could've been the next day of the rest of your life

not a day goes by that i don't think of you
i'm always asking why this crazy world had to lose
such a ray of light we never knew
gone too soon, yeah

not a day goes by, oh
i'm always asking why, oh

not a day goes by that i don't think of you
i'm always asking why this crazy world had to lose
such a beautiful life we never knew
gone too soon
you were gone too soon, yeah

Being as we experienced many minutes after Elijah's birth when we thought we would never get to see him grow up, this song particularly touched us. It also touched us in thinking about the 11 embryos that we lost during our IVF journey.

I think of my many friends who lost children. How do we possibly make sense of this sadness? So many others of you who have faced the loss of children too son.

This post is for all of you.

This moving, grief-wracked ballad about a child never born was sparked by the birth of twins to Chris Daughtry. At one point during the writing session, the frontman had to walk out to collect himself. "The song is about realizing that today could have been the day that someone would be blowing out the candles," he said. "It just hit me pretty hard. I remember playing the demo for my brother and I turned around and he was bawling. I didn't realize that my brother's wife had suffered a miscarriage years before. It was a pretty emotional moment."

Chris Daughtry wrote the song with San Francisco songwriter Michael Busbee.

Sleepy time

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000+02:00

I have so many pictures of our time with Joni. She captured these while Abigail was asleep in her swing. What a sweetie pie (Joni AND Abigail.)

Ho Ho Ho -- Torticiollis

2011-12-13T05:56:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was a big day.

Firstly, the occupational therapist on Base came to the house. She said that Abigail does indeed have some torticollis just like big brother Elijah. JB and I are pretty convinced this is genetic and not environmental as Isaac showed absolutely no signs of this at all.

Either way, she is going to need physical therapy for this. Once a week at least. In addition, the therapist said that I need to do two hours of tummy time with her every day. And this isn't just me putting her on her tummy. As soon as I do that, she rolls onto her back. I need to get on the floor with her and guide her through two hours of tummy time, basically holding her in a position on her stomach.

Do I have any idea how I will be able to do that for two hours a day with two other kiddos and a dog and Veronica leaving? No I do not. But I'll try.

In other news, yesterday we went and saw Santa at the Community Center. Abigail was the perfect age to willingly sit on his lap and just tug on his beard. Isaac actually got close enough to give him a high five. Elijah kept his distance and when Santa asked him for a high five he replied, "No fanks." Elijah instead just wanted to do crafts at the different project stations.

One funny thing. At the cookie decorating station, he got very upset when we started to decorate his cookie. "I just want to eat it!" he kept saying.

Here are some photos of our morning. Since I had all three kids solo (Veronica was under the weather) the pictures are a bit scant. But you get the idea.

I looked back and found this post of Isaac with Santa. I realized that Elijah has never sat on Santa's lap. Because he was born in January, by the time the first December got here, he was too old to not have stranger anxiety. So he's never had a chance. Maybe next year?

Joni Giggles

2011-12-12T15:04:00.001+02:00

Here are some smile stories that we had during Joni's time with us.

When Joni accidentally knocked a vertical blind down, Elijah said to her, "Why did you break that Joni." She replied, "I didn't mean to break it." Elijah then said, "Yes, but you did break it!"
*****
Elijah got up from his nap earlier than Isaac. After I took him downstairs, he wanted to go back upstairs to retrieve his little matchbox cars from outside his room. The boys always leave toys lined up against the closet door upstairs when they nap as they aren't allowed to bring them into the room with them.

Me: "Elijah, I am going to go upstairs by myself to get your cars."
Elijah: "Why?"
Me: "Well, Isaac is still asleep, and I don't want you to wake him up."
Elijah: "Okay. Well ... I need my ... "(and here he starts telling me who he needs by holding up his fingers) "... Lightning McQueen, and my Doc, and my other Doc, and my ..."
Me: "Okay."
Elijah: At this point he looks at me and sighs. Deeply. Obviously concerned that I will not be able to retrieve the cars he needs successfully. And he says, "How 'bout I just go with you?"

*****
Me: "Elijah, you need to sit in time-out for two minutes."
Elijah: "I'm two!"
*****
Me: "How are you doing boys?"
Elijah: "We are doing great."
*****
Me: "Isaac, look at Veronica. She is all dressed up to go to a party. What does she look like?" (See picture at the top of the page.)
Isaac: "She looks like an angel!"
*****
Everywhere that we go, Isaac is scanning the ceiling for fire alarms. I have no idea what started this, but he is obsessed. The cutest part is that he calls them, "Firey 'larms."
****
Isaac sees Joni drinking wine. "Is that called wine?"
*****
Elijah was telling JB, "Don't talk to me!" when JB was trying to put him to bed. JB was telling Elijah he shouldn't talk like to Daddy. This went back and forth. Something like this.
Elijah: "Don't talk to me."
JB: "Don't talk that way to Daddy."
Elijah: "But I don't want you to talk to me."
JB: I" do not want you to talk that way to Daddy."
[Repeat about 50 times before Isaac, sitting quietly in his bed decides to pop in]
Isaac: "You can talk to ME Daddy."
*****
Isaac actually said the other day, "This wheel is not working correctly." He also told Elijah, when Elijah knocked over his tower, "Elijah, that disappointed me."

Train Time

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000+02:00

My boys love their Thomas trains. Here they are playing with them on the kitchen counter. And speaking of Thomas, you must jump over to Stebbs' blog to see the funny thing her Thomas-Obsessed-William had to say the other day.

Bedtime Battles

2011-12-11T21:33:00.001+02:00

Tonight, as I write this, it is 9:32pm.

9:32 and all three of my children went to bed without a single return to their room.

And I have this unnatural desire to stand up and do a celebration dance. A dance I would do if I wasn't so tired. So tired from fighting bedtime battles for days, weeks on end.

It's mostly Elijah. Nearly soley Elijah. We aren't sure what was causing it. New baby? Growing up? Manipulating us? Who knows. But he just would NOT go to bed.

Well, he'd go to bed. But he'd get up over and over and over again. He'd cry. He'd sob. His nose would run. His eyes would run. He'd want a tissue. He wanted us to fix his blanket. He couldn't find his pacifier. His froggie was lost. He had to go to the bathroom. It went on and on. If at any moment, we did not do exactly as he wanted, he'd errupt into an emotional breakdown.

When we realized we were being bamboozled by his emotions and passion, we put a stop to it. No more. If he wanted a tissue, there was a box next to his bed. If his blanket was messed up, he could fix it. Missing pacifier? Look for it. Need to go the bathroom? Go by himself.

He got mad. Mad that we wouldn't do things exactly the way he wanted. Mad that we wouldn't help him over and over again. Mad that every single time he got out bed, a consequence ensued. His frustrations grew so great that he started telling us to "Stop talking to me!" JB informed him that he does not talk to Daddy that way. He repeated it again. JB repeated his own phrase again. They went back and forth until Isaac, cool as a cucumber in the neighboring bed said, "You can talk to me Daddy."

It was hard to keep a straight face that time.

The emotion would continue into the night. If he woke up at any point during the night, he'd wander into our room and start tossing around his demands. He'd weep that he needed to go potty. And if we didn't help him, he'd start to cry. And if we didn't wipe his nose the way he wanted, he'd cry harder.

I have a saying. In parenthood, if something is working for you, keep doing it. If it isn't working for it, fix it. This was not working for us. At all. And it needed to be fixed.

But we refused to be beaten by a two year old. We camped out outside the boys' room. We strategized. We brainstormed. We wept. We nearly cried from fatigue.

And tonight, finally, we had a breakthrough. In bed. One time. Just one time.

We beat a two year old! Go us!

Go us to bed.

Canyon with "Doni"

2011-12-11T07:30:00.000+02:00

Joni was only here one weekend so we were really grateful the weather cooperated, and we could squeeze in a visit to Kapikaya Canyon with her. The Olson family joined us. Tina is the leader of our MOPs group and just an incredible mentor in my life. Her five children (four girls and one boy) range in age from 15 to 3. Before Veronica came, her oldest daughter Hannah babysat for us quite a bit. They lived in Turkey previously, and therefore speak fantastic Turkish!

Honestly, Joni and Hannah took so many wonderful pictures that I truly did not even know how to begin choose. I just got picture happy when loading them -- especially because Blogger now allows me to upload multiple pictures at once instead of one at a time.

Kapikaya remains one of my favorite places in the local area. I hope you can see the beauty through these photos.

We definitely need an adult per kid for this hike as there are some difficult spots. Joni teamed up with both boys equally. Here she is with Isaac.

Taking a break halfway in for some rock skipping.

Yes he would try to skip this one.

I didn't use an infant carrier with either of the boys, but man does it come in handy for number three!

They both have sticks and are not afraid to use them.

God is so awesome.

This picture shows how small we are in comparison to the canyon we are walking through.

The boys did a good job walking on the hike in. But piggy back rides were the solution for the hike out. It was about 45 minutes each way.

I love this picture of Elijah and his Joni.

Such a little cutie pie.

Such a brother pic.

I love seeing Isaac with his hands in his pocket. He loves his lightning hat. Elijah has one too, but his head is too big for it.

We made a campfire and cooked hot dogs and roasted marshmallows.

I wrote Abigail on the hike in. JB took a turn on the hike out.

It was an exhausting day as you can see from a nearly asleep Elijah on the way home. He's wearing pajamas because we had the boys wear them under the clothes to help keep them warm.

Joni brought this outfit for Abigail, and it was PERFECT for a day in the cold. I especially loved the hand flaps. So great.

What is it with kids and juice boxes anyway?

I need to get some mittens for the boys. Gloves with fingers don't work for little kids. We opted for socks which meant doing anything was difficult. But Isaac still found a way to squeeze his juice box.

This picture cracks me up. There is Abby (who is actually Abigail Grace as well), Caleb, and Elijah who is doing, I have no idea what.

Brothers forever.

Isaac's Building

2011-12-11T06:00:00.000+02:00

I love how each of our boys likes different things. Elijah loves puzzles. Isaac loves to build. Check out some of his building below:

Isaac will do something like this at least once a week. Here he has brought a race track and then stacked up nearly every car and truck we own into a tower -- balancing them in and on the race track. It may not look like talent, but truly, you can see that he had a plan the whole time. I love this!

Empty Christmas boxes can provide tons of entertainment.

What a joy to get to watch this little boy grow up, learn, and become who he will be!

Mosque Day (Part II)

2011-12-10T19:50:00.000+02:00

I had previously toured the mosque. So while I took the kiddos to the park, Joni and Veronica toured the mosque. I wanted to show these pictures as they are pretty typical of a mosque. They may differ in appearance on the outside, but the insides of every one I have been to, seem to be very similar.

The Adana mosque is one of the largest in the Middle East.

It is required that you remove your shoes and cover your head (if you are a woman.)

A bad hair day.

Check out this architecture!

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship. The mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for salat (prayer) as well as a center for information, education, and dispute settlement. The Imam leads the prayer. Many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents.Large mosques play sometimes a political role as well. In Islamic countries like Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq (after 2003), political subjects are preached by imams at Friday congregations on a regular basis. In other Islamic countries, imams are usually banned from mentioning political issues.

A minaret is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery. Styles vary regionally and by period. Minarets provide a visual focal point and are used for the call to prayer.

As well as providing a visual cue to a Muslim community, the main function of the minaret is to provide a vantage point from which the call to prayer is made. The call to prayer is issued five times each day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and night. In most modern mosques, the adhan is called from the musallah, or prayer hall, via microphone to a speaker system on the minaret. Minarets also function as air conditioning mechanisms: as the sun heats the dome, air is drawn in through open windows then up and out of the minaret, thereby providing natural ventilation