Reinforcements!

The sickness that I experienced was not-so-joyfully enjoyed by Ray and Gabbi's two kiddos, JB's parents, and his brother Rob. Yuck! So when a speaking engagement coincided with Mom K. not being available to help babysit, reinforcements were called in! Joan brought her friend Cheryl (since watching all three by yourself is more than one person should have to handle) to keep the kiddos so my Mom and I could head down to Florida Bible. You can see from the photos below how much fun was had by all:

Missing Isaac

Our little Isaac is spending a day (and night) over at Joni's. Bri came into town with her new boyrfriend Robert, and they are making a day of it. I am so excited for him to get to spend time with his birth family, but it is hard to have him gone. I feel like a piece of me just isn't here. I found myself tearing up last night just missing him -- even though there is less fighting with only one brother in tow. Gosh I love that kid.

So, in the meantime, it is just Abigail, Elijah and me. Last night I left them with Grampa and Grama Kit. so that I could go see a movie with my two sister-in-laws: Danielle (married to deployed Matt) and Gabbi (married to third sibling Ray). We saw The Vow. I really liked it but would have liked to see some things done differently. I won't say more than that as to not ruin it for anyone.

We spent the night at the Kits. last night. Youngest sibling Rob was in town from Orlando so it was great to spend some time with him. But Mom K. is still really sick so we left mid-morning today. Just me and the two kiddos, I took some time to film them -- mostly to send back to their Daddy who is currently missing them like crazy in England.

The first video is Elijah and I having an in-depth coversation. It's long and you may not be able to understand him in parts, but it definitely captures what we witness everyday with him. And the second video is Abigail eating oranges. Man she loves those things!

Special Baby Pillow

I had someone ask me about the pillow Abigail is sleeping on in this post. I thought I would share a picture and also a link to a site where you can buy it. These are designed for babies with plagiocephaly (flat head usually from the womb.) They are breathable which means SIDS is not a factor with these. Even if your child doesn't need it for medical reasons, I think this pillow is comfortable for kids and creates a sense of closeness that most babies crave. Abigail loves it!

Joni's Mango Bread

I had someone ask for the recipe for Joni's Mango Bread. I have Joni leave the coconut and raisins out when she makes it for me! I can eat a whole loaf of this stuff at one sitting.

1 3/4 C. sugar
2 t. baking soda
3 eggs
2 t. cinnamon
1 C. vegetable oil 1/2 t.salt
2 C. flour
2 C. pureed mango
1 t. vanilla

Mix all ingredients. Can fold in nuts, coconut, raisins

Pour into 2 greased and floured (Pam) loaf pans.

Bake 350 for 1 hour.

Huis cousins

On the Huisman side, we have two cousins -- Charleigh (3) and Baylee (1). Here are some pictures of our time with our cousins:

Kit cousins

We have two cousins on each side of the family -- and we've loved getting to spend time with both sides. Here is  us with the Kitsteiner cousins Grace (9) and Nate (7).

Abundant Life

I've so enjoyed the opportunities I have had thus far to speak to women around the South Florida Community. I have spoken at four different MOPs groups on topics like "Finding Friendship & Community During Difficult Times", "I will praise you in the storm" and also my "regular" presentation on "How to Support Those You Love While They Wait." How blessed I have been to meet so many wonderful women along the way and hear so many stories of pain and healing in the midst of infertility.

On Saturday I will be speaking at the church I grew up in -- Abundant Life Christian Centre. I'm excited about this opportunity as it will be at their women's prayer -- with mothers and non-mothers alike. Please pray for the Lord to use my word to bring healing to those who are hurting and specifically to bring souls to Him through this ministry.

Seven months old

I'm more than a day late. I think I'm close to a week late. But better late than never. Here is our seven month old blue-eyed little lady:

• Two little teeth busting through on the bottom
• Crawling all over the place
• Still sleeping in the swaddle
• Recognizes people and faces and gives great smiles
• Loves her mamma and brothers and now some of her grandparents
• Wearing 6-9, 9 and 12 month clothes
• Chatters all the time
• Sleeps like a champ
• Cries, usually, only when hungry or tired
• Very chill and go-with-the-flow

Spoiled rotten

JB is back in England. Scrubs is back with Shane, Linda, and Bonnie. No wonder the dog doesn't even seem that excited when we come back!

Missing ...

... Daddy.

We got to talk to him on Skye this morning. That has not happened often while we are gone due to the time difference and JB's travelling. He is England now. He'll be there for about a week. Then, he'll return home, and then, we'll return home.

That'll be a wonderul reunion.

We all miss each other so much. I miss my hubby. The kids miss their Daddy. And Daddy majorly misses his kiddos. He is such a fantastic husband and father. He said that while he's had lots of "alone" time, it really stinks being in the house with only Scrubby to keep him company. He misses his little people something fierce.

Abigail saw JB on the computer and immediately reached out for him. He said she doesn't look too different, and I'm glad about that. The boys did their normal talk and run and play and talk and fight and play routine with him.

As for our families, sickness has continued to plague everyone. Mom and Dad Kit. and cousin Grace all go "the-throw-up-and-more" too. I feel so badly to see so many of them going down. The good news is, it's only a 24-hour buggie so hopefully they will be feeling better soon.

Beach Day!

Joni did end up getting "the throw up." And, we believe cousin Grace is now in the thorw of this 24-hour nastiness. But Joni's illness had passed and it was time to reemerge into the world. My parents offered to watch Abigail. (A baby that can crawl at beach is not a fun concept.) So off to the beach Joia and I went with our three little boys. What a wonderful morning! And how awesome to have both Joni and Joia with -- picture-taking at its finest.

The Beach JB and I call "home."

 Elijah took awhile to warm up to go in.

 Joia and Caleb.

 Beach boy Elijah.

 Beach boy Isaac.

 Joia with her baby feet!



 My sweetie pie E-yi-ya.

 What a cutie Caleb is.

 Lovin' this pic of me with Joia.

I insisted we take this picture despite feelings to the contrary.

Can you believe it?!

How cool is this!? Not only did my friend Joia from my wifia days at Eglin drive down to see me for a few days, but there was a Turkish festival ... Turkish ... I kid you not ... in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Everyone was speaking Turkish. Turkish flags. Turkish food. Turkish pottery. Getting to show my parents and Joia some of our life in Turkey wsa very fun. And getting to talk to Joia over a blizzard at Dairy Queen? Amazing. Man did I miss my friend.

We miss ...

... JB so badly.

We know we did the right thing in coming. We knew it would be difficult to be away from him. We knew that he was going to be gone for two weeks this month anyway. (He went to Utah and is now preparing to head to England.) But man, we really miss him.

It really makes me appreciate our servicemen. Those individuals who spend six month, twelve months, or more, away from their families. My sister-in-law Danielle spent Valentine's Day away from her husband. And she's one of many. Thank you to those individuals who are serving our country. Our month away from JB reminds me how amazing what they do really is.

I really missed JB today. This morning I spoke at another MOPs meeting. This time on "Finding Friendship & Community During Difficult Times." It went really great.

Afterwards, Joan and I took the boys to the beach. They ... loved ... it. We thought they would just dig in the sand, but Isaac wanted to take his shorts off right away. He played in his underwear for quite some time before we convinced him to put on his bathing suit.

Elijah took longer to get used to the waves. But as soon as he did, he was right there with brother. They were kicking the waves. They were jumping the waves. They were splashing and making foot prints and hand prints and throwing off all fear. They haven't seen waves since we lived in Eglin -- too long ago for them to remember.

I really missed JB at that moment. I knew he would love watching his boys run around with their bare chests in the ocean we grew up swimming in.

I also think he would have gotten a kick out of Elijah. Eljiah told me he had to go potty. I turned around to Joan to ask her where to take him. I turned back and told him to follow me to the restroom Joan had told me about.

"Why?" he asked.

"I'm going to take you potty," I said.

"But," he said, and glanced at the couple sitting a few feet away. "I just went pee pee."

I turned to see wet sand in front of him. I turned to the couple he glanced at -- laughing hysterically. "A boy after my own heart," the man said as Elijah finished pulling his pants up and went running into the waves.

Isaac was equally funny today. When my mom went to see why the boys were fighting after going to bed, she was informed by Elijah that his brother was "spitting at me."

"Why are you spitting at Elijah?" my mother asked Isaac.

"Because," Isaac replied. "That is my favorite thing to do."

More funnies

Walking into a public bathroom, we were met by a hand dryer going at full force. Elijah put his hands up in front of his face and proclaimed, "I want paper towels!"

*****

The boys went to the park with my Mom but weren't doing a good job listening. She pulled them aside and said, "I want you boys to listen to me, okay?"

Shortly thereafter, Elijah took off running and wasn't listening. My Mom yelled, "Elijah!" When she caught him to him she said, "Elijah, what did I just say to you?"

And he looked at her and said, "E-yi-ya." (His name).
******
Isaac: "Did God put you in charge Mommy?"
Me: "Yes he did."
Isaac: "Why did he do that?"

*****

Elijah: Brings me a stack of big blocks and says: "Here is some ice cream for you."
Me: "Oh it's yummy. It's in my tummy."
Elijah: "But it's just pretend, Mom."
Me: "I know. But I ate them."
Elijah: "But they are blocks. They'll give you a tummy ache."

*****

Elijah's birthday party was on Friday. His real birthday was the following Tuesday. When he woke up that morning we exclaimed, "Happy birthday Elijah!" to which he replied, "Again?"

*****

Elijah: "Giants say Fee, Fi, Foam." 

Disney Pics

Sickness has delayed my attempt to get some Disney pics up. I have decided just to post a link to my album in Facebook. Here it is: Disney Pics.

I do want to say that we got to meet Bri's new boyfriend, Robert. She and Isaac's birth father, Chris, recently parted ways. Bri is now dating another guy. This was the first time we got to meet Robert. What a fantastic young man he is! So fun and easy to talk to. The kids loved him! Just a super individual.

It was awesome to spend some quality time with, not only Bri and Robert and Joni but my brother and his wife and oldest daughter. (We both left the babies at home.)

Even though Charleigh "did the throw up" and Aunt Wendi "did the throw up" on the way home, it was a great trip! Hope you enjoy the pics.

Commercials ...

... are a completely foreign thing to my kiddos. We don't have them in Turkey. Shows run uninterrupted. And if they do take a break during a show, it is only to feature military news. On Monday evening, a special Jake and the Neverland Pirates movie was on. My boys don't have this show at home, but have fallen in love with it here, so they were very excited to watch it before bed.

Only, why was it going off and coming back on? Elijah kept asking, "Can we watch it again?" Here's Isaac expressing his disapproval of these commercial thingies.

Bit of a bug

I was not aware, despite being a mother three times over (four if you count the dog) that three tiny little bodies were capable of so much mess. At one point in the last 36 hours, I am pretty sure that ever single sheet and blanket and towel was either in the wash, in the dryer, or waiting to go in.

This little bug started with me. It moved to Abigail. And while I was at the emergency room with Abigail, my mom put the boys to bed together, only to have Elijah wake up, having thrown up. When I got home, I went to move Isaac away from the place where Elijah had thrown up, nearly on him, and watched helplessly as he threw up.

It has continued in to today. Both diarrhea and throwing up. Abigail has been considerably better thanks to a shot at the ER and some pedialite. But the boys have been nearly exact carbon copies of each other about thirty minutes apart. All night long, one would throw up. Fifteen minutes would go by, and I could nearly pinpoint the minute that the other would throw up.

I'm not sure why, but during my nearly continual round-the-clock clean-up, hugging, holding, soothing fest, I saw the Lord in two concrete ways.

The first was in the miracle of the human body. It was actually slightly fascinating to watch how amazing the Lord made our bodies. Here are two boys with completely different genes, having their bodies completely revolt because there is something inside it that shouldn't be there. And their bodies are doing exactly what God designed them to do to rid themselves of the thing that shouldn't be there. Their bodies are doing the same exact things just minutes apart. That may seem a bit of an "out-there" thought to process in the midst of sickness, but I couldn't help but marvel at God's design of our bodies.

Or maybe I've just been married to my husband for long enough to have some of his way of looking at things rub off on me.

The second was in how much the Lord loves us. Oh how much I love my children. Oh how sad I am when they are sick. Oh how my heart hurts to see them hurting. To see them look at me with a Why is this happening, Mommy? question spread across their little faces. I see how much the Lord loves us. How much he wants to just sit on the couch and hold us when we are having a bad day. How much he wants us to feel better as soon as possible. When we won't drink to rehydrate ourselves, he asks us to. Gently nudges us to. Again. And again. And again. Even after we push him away. Again. And again.

Oh and a quick funny. Since I had just felt the way that they had and knew what it felt like, I tried to encourage them each time they threw up. "You are doing a good job." or "It's okay." At one point Isaac turned to me and said, "Mommy. It's not okay. I hate the throw up."

I agree! Hopefully the morning will bring healing and restoration to all of our weary bodies. Praise the Lord my Dad and Mom have stayed healthy. But I've told everyone else, especially Joni, since her husband Roy has a compromised immune system, to stay away. We're lonely. We've got cabin fever.

And we are all ready to feel better soon.

Look who is ...

... crawling! I hate that JB is missing her first tooth breaking through and now her starting to crawl and sit up. We knew this would be a bad month, milestone-wise to be away. But at least our family is getting to share in this fun with us!

Big brother vs. little brother ...

... toilet paper style!

If you can, please pray for our family. We've all come down with the same throw up/diarrhea virus I had. I had to take Abigail to the ER last night. All three got it about the same time. We seem to be on the mend, but this momma could use some super human stamina!

Post Disney Bug

We had a fantastic two days at first Disney World and then Animal Kingdom. We drove up with Big Keith (my brother), his wife AD, and their daughter Charleigh. We left the babies with the grandparents and took Joan with us. Bri and her new boyfriend Robert met us for one of the days.

I have tons of pictures to share, but right now, I am recovering from what we think is food poisoning. I am the only who got it, but halfway home, my stomach revolted in more than one way.

Praise the Lord for Grama Di and Papa and Joni and Grama K. who stepped in to help with the kids This is only the second time I have ever been so sick that I was physically incapable of taking care of my children. I was in bed nearly the whole day today.

The good news is, i am feeling a bit better this evening, and I actually ate some toast. So hopefully this was just a twenty-four hour thingy and tomorrow will bring even better belly blessings!