Moved In

Well, we’ve been in our new apartment for over a week now. We are spending every day unpacking, organizing, shopping for things we need, and just fixing things. Shopping for anything is always an ordeal as it takes time to get anywhere whether it’s just far away or the traffic is really slow. Even places that are “close” take at least 30 minutes to get there. We are thankfully close to a huge bus stop and about a 10 minute walk from the subway system, which connects us with the rest of this massive city. In the middle of everything we have experienced some mild sickness. First Luke was sick with a fever, loss of appetite and throwing up a little bit. Then Joshua had it for 2 days with a headache to boot. Today they both seem fine, but Micah has been a little slower. It’s harder to tell with him because he doesn’t really tell us what’s wrong; we can just tell that he’s not feeling well. The kids being sick has kept us inside quite a bit, but with one kid in the bed almost every day, things have not been quite as rambunctious as usual. All the kids have the perpetual runny noses and coughs that seem to linger with us whenever we’re here in the polluted cities in the winters. Thankfully Daddy and I have remained healthy.

Today we’ve spent the day just trying to get things in the apartment fixed. We figure that no one has lived here for such a long time that everything has just gotten old. Now that we’re here and using it all, everything seems to be breaking. An American friend of ours has spent the whole day here just helping us repair light fixtures, tiles, leaky faucets, and other things.

We’re still eating lots of sandwiches and take-out every day. My kitchen is functional and actually has dishes that the landlord left here. I just haven’t gotten into the groove of cooking yet. But we’re getting tired of eating the same things all the time, so I’m hoping to try to start cooking a few things in the next week. I’m looking forward to getting our shipment from where we lived before so I can have my full kitchen and all the wonderful appliances that I’ve acquired over the years. :o)

Speaking of appliances, we actually bought a clothes dryer. In my 10 years overseas, we’ve never had one. But we finally did it! It was actually just delivered, and I can’t wait to use it. I know it won’t be as efficient as ones the States, but it’s got to be faster than waiting days for clothes to dry on a cold balcony. And since we have clothes for 6 people, we have a lot of clothes that need to be dried. I’m grateful that we live in a place where it’s a possibility to even have one.

Well, now you know why I haven’t been blogging. Moving into a new place and taking care of sick children has filled our days. There are still so many little things that need to be done around the apartment, but we can only get so many things done each day. It is coming together nicely, though, and we are very pleased with our new home. We’ll keep you posted!

Found a New Home

We finally found an apartment to live in! Woo-Hoo! It has lots of space and more storage area than your average apartment here. It's also completely furnished, meaning we won't have to buy a lot of furniture up front to get started. We do still need to get beds for the boys, but other than that, everything is there. We are SO grateful for this because we really were hoping not to need to invest in lots of furniture all at one time. We did decide to have it painted so that we start out fresh (and the bedrooms were all pink). :-) The painters are working on it today (Monday), and we hope to move in on Friday once it's aired out good. It is not in the original complex that we were hoping for, but it's about a 10 minute walk from there and it's a 5 minute walk from a huge park. Plus there is a little playground for the kids just right outside the building. Once we get moved in and settled a little bit, I'll try to get pictures up here. We are totally excited about it and can't wait to get moved in! I really can't wait to unpack our suitcases and find everything that I know is with us somewhere.

Daddy started classes today. It takes him about an hour to get to his school with riding the bus and subway, and he has class every morning from 8 to 10. He will submit all of our visa paperwork tomorrow, and it should take 3 weeks to get our long term visas. Once we get the visas, we will hopefully have all of our stuff shipped to us. In the meantime we hope to get settled and start home school soon. We're so glad to be here!

Mercy Update

Our sweet little girl is doing great, finally adjusting her schedule to the other side of the world. She’s smiling at anyone who will get close enough for her to see, and she is the star of the show everywhere we take her here. She’s about 2 ½ months old now and easily wearing 3-6 months clothing. At her 2 month appointment before we left the States she weighed in at 11 lbs. and 12 oz. and had grown to 25 inches! Her hair has grown longer so it doesn’t stick up like it used to. They grow up so fast!

Her brothers still totally adore her and want to kiss her and love on her all the time. Recently Joshua and Luke were sitting with her on the bed and saying how they would always protect her and never let anything bad happen to her. Isn’t it funny how that is just instilled in big brothers? We hadn’t really talked about that with them at all. Mercy is absolutely beautiful, and we’re so glad she’s in our family! And now, on to more pictures…

She is drooling constantly these days, so we’ve been putting a bib on her so we don’t have to change her shirt all the time!

She's really holding her head up more and more. It's so adorable!

Luke is really into making her smile. It’s so very cute to watch them!

Adventures Continue

Last week while we were still in America, I never would have guessed all the places we would have dragged the kids to in this huge city. We’ve been here for 1 week now, and we’ve eaten all kinds of different foods and been to all kinds of different places. Today (my Thursday) we’ve been kind of taking it easy and staying at home since we’ve been out for half a day pretty much every day since we arrived. It’s been a relaxing morning, so I’m glad that we stayed home. Daddy is out looking at another prospective home for us. It seems like a very good option, so I’m hopeful that may have a new home soon!

Yesterday was quite the adventure for the whole family as we ventured out to find IKEA. Yes, there is an IKEA here, and it is very cool. It’s kind of a long way away, but we wanted to go and price furniture while we still have some time on our hands before Daddy starts classes and we have to move. We started off taking our first bus for a few stops. Then we rode the subway, changing trains one time. Then we had to take a taxi to actually get all the way there. The whole trip took about an hour, but we made it without any problems, and we were so proud of ourselves. The boys did a pretty good job. On the way back we had to break up several spats between them as all were getting tired and grumpy (including the parents). Once we go to the store, we walked in and just about wanted to walk back out, except that it took so much for us to actually get all the way there. But there were just SO MANY PEOPLE there. Oh My. I don’t think there’s really any way to explain it without seeing the sheer masses of humanity. Really, it was just quite overwhelming. But, as I said, after an hour of travel and 3 different modes of transportation, we were not turning back now! We put the two big boys in the play place (awesome, by the way). It works just like it does in the U.S. You can leave the kids in the play place where they can’t get out and are watched by adults. Everything was surprisingly very well organized, so we felt good about leaving the boys there. And, of course, they loved it. We were able to navigate through the masses to see the things we wanted to see most. And I even convinced Daddy to stand in line for the restaurant to get food for us while I nursed Mercy. He got to eat the Swedish meatballs that he likes so much, so there was incentive.

Of course, we were the show-stealers as everyone wanted to see the cute white babies. People (there and just anywhere on the street) literally stop in their tracks to look at us and comment. A favorite phrase that we hear is literally translated “so much fun” or “very playful”, but they’re basically saying, “Oh how cute!” We hear it all the time.

We have taken the kids to all kinds of restaurants and shopping places. Again, they’re taking it all in stride like this is “normal” for us. It’s funny, though, since “normal” is really us just staying at home in our routine and pattern. But since we currently don’t have a home nothing is really normal for us. And the Lord has given me a peace in that in the way that only He can. Yes, I still long to be settled and unpacked, but it’s been a fun week. We’ve done things that I really don’t think we have done if were in our “normal” routine. It’s been hard at times, but good for us.

One thing Daddy noted was that we’re making up our own little routines, like the getting-in-the-taxi-routine. First Joshua gets in and slides over, then Luke starts making his way while we’re getting Micah out of the stroller. I get Micah in the backseat while Daddy gets the stroller folded up and put in the trunk. Then I squeeze in back (while wearing Mercy in the front carrier) with the 3 boys and Daddy sits in the front. It might not sound like that big of a deal, but we have to do all of this in a hurry since we’re on the side of the road and the taxi driver is waiting for us. Several times I’ve come back from somewhere with 3 of the kids (while one of the big boys stays out with Daddy), and that’s worked out okay. The other day I was doing that and we had made the block when I realized that I didn’t have the house keys! I hurriedly told the driver to turn around and go back to find my husband and I called Daddy on the phone. He was able to run back to meet us and I got the keys and went on. We have often wondered what in the world we would do if we didn’t speak the language! I’m so thankful to be in a place where we do.

Another day I came home and discovered that the kitchen door, that Luke had closed before we left that morning, was locked from the inside. Thankfully I was able to search around for some random keys and found it so that we could get in the kitchen again!

I better close for now. It’s time to feed Mercy. I’m sure I’ve left out fun things that we’ve done, but at least you can get a little taste of what life has been like this past week. It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure! Here are a few pictures for you…

This is us crossing the street on one of the massive foot bridges.

We let the kids play in the "Children's World" at this mall we went to. They had a blast!

Today the boys were playing around the living room and Micah got himself stuck in this huge vase. Somehow he had climbed in it, but couldn’t get out. It took quite the maneuvering for Daddy and me to get him out!

This was just last night. The boys were so wiped out from all the day’s activities that they both passed out on the couch before we could have family devotions. Daddy ended up just carrying them to bed.

Pictures of Mercy to come soon!

Luke's Thumb

For those of you who know my sweet Luke, you know that he tenaciously sucks his thumb and has not been interested whatsoever thus far in stopping for any reason. Since we’ve been here, we’ve really been encouraging him to stop, though, because everything is just so dirty. His hands stay filthy (like black) when he’s outside, but he would still stick that thumb in without thinking about it. Totally freaks Mommy out because of all the germs… Anyway, he met another little American girl who recently quit sucking her thumb in order to get something her parents promised her. So, we tried that with Luke. In essence it’s bribery, but let’s just call it major incentive. And since Luke is only 4, it doesn’t take much of an incentive to be a big deal to him. We told him that if he didn’t suck his thumb for a whole day that he could have any special drink that he wanted and have it all to himself. I don’t really think the drink was that big of a deal as much as him meeting the other little girl who had quit sucking her thumb. He met someone who had done it and he knew he could do it too. Of course, the special drink was major bonus, but whatever it takes, we are willing to try. And I’m proud to say that Luke is working on his 3^rd day without sucking his thumb at all (best we can tell). WAY TO GO LUKE! We are all very proud of him. If he goes 4 whole days he gets any kind of ice cream bar or popsicle that he wants. And we’re working on a big prize if he can go 3 weeks because by then the habit will be broken. For the past 3 days we’ve been putting tape on it to help him remember when he puts it in his mouth without thinking about it. We’ve actually tried the tape before, but he was never this motivated to actually quit, so he would just suck the tape or take it off. But now he’s leaving the tape on so that he can be reminded. This is by far the most progress we’ve ever made, so we’re all thrilled. When you think of us, pray that Luke will be able to break this habit! I know he can do it!

We're Back!

Well, we’ve now been here in our country for 5 days. Jetlag still looms over the family, but is improving each night. The boys were waking up at 2AM and not going back to sleep, but last night they slept till 6AM before they were wide awake. Several nights Joshua has just passed out around 7PM, not to be woken up by anything. Overall, the 3 boys have been real troopers through sleepy times and wide awake times. Mercy is hanging in there and is lasting about 5 ½ hours at night before waking up to nurse again. She was going up to 8 hours before we left the U.S., so we’re hoping for that to keep improving as well. Our first two nights here we were in a hotel, sleeping in 2 rooms. One hotel room would probably have been big enough for our family, but not for all of our suitcases. The rooms are not that big and only have 2 single beds in them. So we got two rooms and I think it helped all of us get more sleep that way since Daddy and the two big boys were in one room and I was in the room with the two little ones. After that 2^nd night we moved into another family’s apartment to stay for the duration until we can find an apartment of our own. The place we’re in now is absolutely huge, so there’s lots of room for all of our stuff and for the boys to run around. There’s another lady who is supposed to be staying here also, but she’s been traveling, and we’re not sure when she’s due back. I’m sure that will be interesting, but I keep reminding myself that at least we’re not in a cramped hotel room anymore. The beds here are soft (as opposed to the rock hard beds at the hotel) and there’s space, plus there are lots of books for the boys to read! Definite bonus. I’m also grateful for a place to be able to wash clothes. A family of 6 goes through a lot of clothes in a very short amount of time! Especially here in a big city—every time we step outside, the boys get filthy.

Daddy has been looking hard for an apartment for us to live in, but we’ve not found the right place yet. There’s a particular complex that we’d really like to live in, but the only place we’ve seen that’s available and the right size needs a lot of fixing up. We’re hoping for another opening this week that we can see. This particular complex is a great place to live that has a playground for the kids and is surrounded by yummy restaurants and lots and lots of our favorite people. Please be asking for us to find the perfect home soon! I’m grateful for a place to stay in the meantime, but I’m eager to get into our own home and unpack our suitcases. I’m definitely feeling the motherly nesting need, but there’s not much I can do about it at this point. I keep going back and forth between feeling really anxious about which apartment we should choose to just resting in His grace and knowing that He has the best place already picked out for us. Please pray that we’ll all lean toward trusting Him in this as we wait and look at different places.

We’ve eaten out a lot, and the boys have done remarkably well with all the new foods. I wish I had a picture of them slurping up some noodles yesterday at a local noodle place. Thankfully everyone’s systems have handled all the new foods well and no one has been sick at all. I think Mercy has been a little less than excited about some of it when she’s nursing, but after she spits up a little (or sometimes a lot), she’s okay.

In between times of Daddy looking for us a place to live, we’re trying to get the whole family outside every day. We cause quite the stir when we’re all out together, let me tell you. Thankfully people don’t surround us like they did when we were in the small town where we used to live in this country, but we are still stared at and attract a lot of attention wherever we go. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the local word for “4” (as in the number of children we have), I’d be a rich lady. In a country where 1 child is the standard, 4 children, particularly 4 small children, is reason enough to stop people in their tracks. So far we’ve only had one group want to take their pictures with the boys. That was in the airport when we were waiting for our friends to meet us. Many people think Joshua and Luke are twins. They also think that Micah can’t walk yet since he’s usually in the stroller. Of course, the fact that he can walk is precisely why he’s in the stroller—so we can keep track of him! Learning to navigate our family through the narrow, crowded sidewalks, while avoiding bikes and occasional cars on the sidewalks has been a challenge, but everyone is learning their way around. We all have to learn to get used to the big city. We’re also getting accustomed to walking a lot more. Again, the boys have done a great job with this, often walking long distances and up and down stairs to cross over major highways without complaining. Today Joshua said to me that he just never knew what kind of adventure he might end up on when he goes out with his family. Isn’t that great?! Yesterday he told me that he loves going on adventures with his family. I’m so thankful for the great way the kids have responded to being here so far.

I’m trying to hit the highlights here as each day has seemed so full. There have been fun moments, but there have also been very hard moments when Daddy and I are very tired and impatient and the kids are running crazy or just screaming. Being in someone else’s home and not in our own place has its own challenges. I know we’re still in major transition stage here, but I so long to be settled and be able to settle my family. I’d love to get started with home school again, but it seems like it’s going to be a long time before that happens. Again, therein lays the struggle to not be anxious. Overall, I think we’re doing great. It’s often so surreal for Daddy and I that we’re even here at all. One minute I get all teary eyed that we’re finally back and the next minute I’m totally grossed out at the garbage on the street or just really annoyed at the 50^th person whose tried to touch Mercy that day. No matter what, and no matter how long we get to stay, I know it is a blessing that we’re here at all. I pray that we can all enjoy our time here and see it as a gift. I feel like once we find a place to live, we’ll be able to get through this transition stage and really plunge into life here. Until then we’ll just keep on exploring our surroundings and getting the family out as much as we can. I’ll try to keep you updated on how it all goes!

New Pics Finally

Okay, okay, I know that everyone has been demanding more pictures of the baby. She is doing fabulously and is growing really fast! She'll already be 2 months old on the 19th. Mercy is really starting to smile more and more, so it's getting fun to take her picture. (Hence the great picture above!) We are preparing to leave the country on Sept 28th, so our lives are very full right now, to say the least. We've had great visits with all of my family lately - thanks to all who traveled to us! I'll include pics of Mercy with my 3 brothers below. Fun times! Enjoy the pics and I'll write more when I can. This will have to tide you over for a while...