So I’ve discovered there are a lot of things you forget about pregnancy once it’s over with.  I am also amazed at how quickly you remember them once you go through it a second time.  The only problem is no one really tells you that those things come earlier with second babies and I am sure to believe that with third and forth babies they come even soon.  (Mom’s wanting more than one….remember this, I am telling you!!!) 

I remember at about 30 weeks with Andrew that’s when things started to get interesting.  Actually I specifically remember at 33-34 weeks starting to get Braxton Hicks.  Now with this one I’ve started those at about 24 weeks but let me tell you they have been getting more and more intense as the weeks come.  This is just a reminder that my body is gearing up for the final finale whenever that might be. 

I also have constant heartburn.  It doesn’t matter at this point what I eat or don’t eat……it’s just always there.  Tums was my friend, but Tums abandoned me and no longer works. I have to go for the big guns…..the Pepcid pill.  It’s part of my routine to take this pill at around 5pm.  If I don’t, I wake in the night feeling that my esophagus is on fire and it actually causes me to choke.  Thankfully I have enough of these pills to last till the baby comes…….once she is here I will be in the clear!

For the sake of men who read my blog, I won’t got into detail of the lovely pressure that I feel “down below”.  Let’s just say baby girl has been kicking my pubic bone for the past two months leaving parts not feeling so well.  I’ll leave that one to your imagination.  There is much more I could say on this subject of down below, but I will refrain.  

Sleep at night is always interesting as well.  I can’t fully roll over in bed without sitting up first and then repositioning.  You would think I should just be able to roll over, but no dice.  I’ve got a system that makes this easier, but it’s pretty annoying.  Then there are numerous trips to the bathroom……I am lucky if I only have to get up once in the night.  Usually this is when braxton hicks makes his appearance too so often with the tightness and whatnot it’s just easier to get up and sit in the rocker for a bit. 

And the new one, that just joined in on the crowd a few days ago is my hips!  Because I can only sleep on my sides and my belly is getting bigger by the week, my hips are killing at night.  I just woke up from a two hour nap (because I didn’t sleep well the night before) and my hips were screaming! 

About the only one who hasn’t come to join in on the fun is swelling.  I am sure he will make his apperance too.  For now I am still able to wear my normal shoes and wedding ring.  We’ll see how long that lasts……

If all this sounds like complaining, I swear I don’t mean it to come off that way.  I am grateful as all get out for this little one inside of me.  I am continously amazed at how my body functions to accomodate her as uncomfortable as it may be at times.  I watch my belly roll and shift all over and know that there is life inside of me.  I also know that it’s all temporary.  That just like Andrew I will forget all those little things once I hold her in my arms and kiss her sweet face. 

Till then….I am praising God that He designed the system the way He did and that we don’t start off with 7lb babies at the first month and carry them that way for 9 months…….I just have to run the race a bit longer……..

Andrew had a great birthday and we just decided to do a small party with cupcakes and icecream.  Once he gets a bit older we’ll do some friend parties with games, but for now I wanted to keep it simple.  It was perfect and just enough sugar and stimulation for a toddler!

Checking out the balloons……

Digging in….

Pretending to blow up a balloon like mommy did!

Creativity is the key when you live in Botswana.  Serena brought the icing and the Cars cupcake wrappers.  I improvised with the stickers and the tin foil and Tad-da, It’s a cupcake cake!  

Andrew wasn’t quite sure about everyone singing to him and sorta freaked out at the last moment.  Don’t mind me….I am just singing away.

Diggin in to the cupcake…..Mmpula thought this was funny!

Still enjoying….

Add the icecream!  I think he was messier with this cake then he was at his 1st birthday.  He really enjoyed his cake and icecream this year!

He’s also understanding presents too!  Bath toys from Auntie Semakelang!

And a fun phone from Grandma Pat

More trucks and cars…….I swear we have a dealership!

Paper and fun everywhere! 

The birthday boy sacked out on his bed to the sound of Little Mermaid (he loves this movie….I think he like Arial!).  It sure was a good day……..

So this is what happens when you can’t sleep…..you post pictures!   Here we go……..

These are a few shots of the playdate that we had the other day with Blessing and Angie!

Angie playing with Elmo…..she LOVED him!!

Blessing pushing Andrew in the wagon…..Andrew is much heavier than Blessing so he was having some trouble.  As you can see Andrew was just chillin….

Meanwhile…..Angie decided to clunk out on my belly. 

Aren’t they too cute?

Laying down after a long morning.

My bugga is now a two year old!!!! 

I woke up at around 6:15am this morning and smiled…….thinking back two years ago I was just about to meet the little man who was wiggling around and poking me in my ribs. 

So now I have a two year old……..I swear he even acts older today.  

Happy Birthday Andrew……mommy and daddy love you so much and you have added so much joy to our lives!!!

So here is just a bit of randomness, in bullets.  

• My friend Mpopi had a baby girl on Monday morning at 3am.  We sat next to each other in church on Sunday and I leaned in and said, “How much longer do you have?”  She said, “Times up, I am DONE, but I think I have another 2-3 weeks left.”  She wasn’t kidding…..she literally had her baby girl in two hours!!!  The hospital was so full that they released her at noon that day…..8 hour hospital stay!!  Baby girl is beautiful and I am holding on to hope that she will be named Sarah.   This is her fifth child…..she has three under three. 
• Because of her three under three situation, I decided to take Angie and Blessing to our house today to play with Andrew.  I figured between Serena and me that we could handle three kiddos and I knew Andrew would enjoy the play company.  We figured that between the three they were about 6 months apart from each other!!!  Everyone was so good and Andrew and Blessing got along great and even pushed each other around in his lego wagon.  Angie clunked out on my belly and snuggled in.  I figured that it was probably a comfort thing as she has been sleeping on her momma’s belly too. 
• I’ve watched Wall-E about 10 times over the past few days.  It’s Andrew’s new favorite and oddly enough he enjoys the parts without talking the best!  He loves to watch Eva and Wall-E interact.  While it’s not my favorite Disney movie, it’s growing on me the more and more I watch it. (or should I say peices of it.) 
• We invaded the Lackey’s house last night to watch President Obama being sworn in and some of the inaguration footage.  Since it was history in the making, I didn’t want to miss it.  I did get chills as I watched the coverage and realized I was watching something that years from now I’ll always remember.  I was however cringing a bit when Obama butchured up some of the swearing in……guess they didn’t do a practice run.   For his sake I wanted to say “Stop, start over!”  None the less I was impressed at how humble and handsome he looked and how precious his family is.  Did anyone else notice that massive bible that Biden swore in on…….Kev and I were cracking up that his poor wife probably had sore arm from holding that thing!   Overall, I was touched by the ceremony andso glad that we went over to watch it!

Okay…..that’s about it for now.  I am not feeling so hot this evening.  I am tired and feeling lots of braxton hicks.  At the moment the baby is turned in a breech position so I think that’s part of why I am always so uncomfortable.  I am praying she turns.  I have an appointment on Friday so we’ll see what position she’s in from there, but I think she’s still comfy in the heads up position.  

After two years we’re finally covered under a Botswana Residence Permit again!!!!

Let me just say that a lot of prayers went up for these papers over the past two years.  Also a lot of time, sweat and maybe even a few tears on my part, trying to get papers and such together for this!!  I swear the people in the immigration office almost saw a pregnant lady to a cartwheel or a back flip in their office today, though I’ll admit I think they were just as excited as I was to hand these over to me!  She was like, “Yeah…..FINALLY!”  Seriously!! 

So we’re covered till the end of 2011!!!  Thanks to everyone who prayed with us……this is a major PRAISE!  

***Now, the next ordeal will be getting the baby added, but hopefully that will be an easy process since we actually have our papers, unlike with Andrew!

So I might touch some nerves on this topic, but wanted share with you about an interesting book that I am reading by Dr. Sears called the Vaccine Book.  When I was about where I am at now pregnancy wise with Andrew, Kev and I started talking about vaccinations.  Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind to not vaccinate…..I was vaccinated, Kev was vaccinated…..Andrew would too.  Kev had done some research on vaccines and we talked a bit about his findings.  I was on the fence the whole time……I mean we live in a third world country where many of these diseases still exist.  I did what I do with any major choice, I went before the Lord in prayer and asked for wisdom concerning what we should do about shots.  Kev and I both did the same thing and then came back together a few days later with what we had heard….it was the same.  We decided to wait with any vaccinations for the first year.  We both knew it was risky, but we trusted what we heard from the Lord. 

Now when I tell people that Andrew’s not been vaccinated because we’re delaying I get all types of reactions.  I’ll admit, most of them have not been very positive.  Most are met with the “Are you insane!?” look and then usually a few comments about how they disagree.  The most recent one was our trip to the Pediatrician in Gaborone in December when he asked, “Is he up to date on all childhood shots?”  Kev and I looked at each other and settled in……we knew we would hear it and boy did we ever!  My favorite is this……”Listen, I’m not gonna go into it, it’s your choice BUT……” and then 20 minutes later we’re still “not going into it”.  I want to just say, “Yes, I know it’s risky but we are fully prepared to take responsibility for the outcome.”  That’s part of being a parent…..you have to make choices for your kids that aren’t so easy and also have to reconginze that some of those choices might come back to bite you.  The thing is….Andrew isn’t mine…..he’s God’s child and I trust that He will give us wisdom and trust that He did give us wisdom to delay vaccines for a bit.  It’s not to say we’re not going to ever, just we’re not going to do them just yet.  Yes the fact that we live in Africa makes this choice a bit more risky, we also know that our journey has been a step of faith the whole way.

After this most recent rambling of the Pedo though I knew I had to do some research as well.  A friend suggested this book and so I had Serena pick me up a copy to bring with her.  I thought it would be a bit boring as it breaks down all the vaccines into details.  Upon reading the first few pages I knew right away that this was not only a book that was going to be helpful, but one that was in terms that I could understand.  What I love even more is that Sears is not Pro or Con (in fact I would say that he is more pro vaccine which if you are familar with the Sears family and book series you will understand)…..he simply shares the information and then add his two cents at the end of each explination.  He simply wanted to write a book that gave parentes unbiased information about Vaccines.  Any on line research will quickly show either pro or con and can scare the living daylights out of you. I wish I had gotten my hands on this book two years ago as it would have answered lots of questions. 

So where am I at on it now?   I don’t know?  I am not totally done with the book, but feel I have much more knowledge than I did on the subject before.  I don’t regret one bit our decision to delay vaccinating Andrew, but I will say that I believe it’s now time to start looking at some of these vaccines and considering them now that he’s almost two.  I do think that we might do things a bit different with the new baby, but will probably do a delayed schedule as well.

I will say this, and many might disagree.  I wasn’t successful at breastfeeding Andrew longer than about 4 weeks.  Most will tell you if you decide not to vaccinate or delay that you should breastfeed as long as you can, as breast milk really builds the immune system.  I gave Andrew what I could from me, but overall he got formula in that first year.  He’s healthy as a horse!  I can count on one hand how many times I have taken him to the doctor  for sickness and he’s been on only two rounds of antibiotics in two years of his life (one I found out was not needed…..mental note, don’t got to Dr. Carey anymore!).  He’s got a super strong immune system like Kev.  In many ways, I also contribute this to the fact that he wasn’t vaccinated.  Sears website does touch on research that has been done on children who aren’t vaccinated or delayed vaccinations and have found that overall they tend to be much healthier than children who are vaccinated.  I find this very interesting not only because of my son, but also friends who have made the same choices and their children are the same……hardly sick.  I’m not sure if there is a correlation or not as it seems everything these days causes something or some reaction. I can also trust the Lord that He’s given Andrew a super immune system……praying that #2 is that way too!!

I’m sure I’ve lost some of you…….it’s about the only thing right now that I can blog about because of my writers block   So where are you on the subject……do you think I am nutzo?  

I’ve had some serious writers block when it comes to my blog.  I just don’t feel like I have much that’s blog worthy to say.  So…in effort to keep everyone in the loop, here are some random things that have happened over the past week….in bullets! 

• Our January intern Camilla Robert’s arrived last Saturday.  She’s from London and a precious as can be!  She’s adjusting well and I think is going to make a fabulous addition to the LBOM team for the next few months.  Kev and I are enjoying having another intern and are excited about the official start of the Missions Immersion Program this year! 
• Serena, our intern from last year, arrived today!  Serena will be with us for the next 6 months to help our family and the Mission.  She’ll be Andrew’s caretaker for the next few months and will be with us in Gabs when the baby comes.  I am so happy she is here, not only for the extra help but she’s like a little breath of fresh air.  I think she’ll be instrumental in the transition for Andrew and the new baby. 
• Also former summer staff of 06, Keturah Allison arrived last Sunday as well.  She’ll be with us for the next year (hopefully longer!) doing various things for Kevin and I but also assisting with the boarding house at the school.  It’s good to have Kat back…..I love how low key and easy going she is!
• This year is already proving to be a busy one.  It’s hard to believe that January is over half over!!!
• Next Saturday my baby will be two years old…..how crazy is that??????
• Friday marked 30 weeks in pregnancy for me.  10 weeks to go!  I have a feeling that time is going to fly by too.  I’ll admit, I am ready to be done and have my body back again.  Baby girl is laying breech so it’s totally different in terms of comfort than it was with Andrew (who was in perfect position).  I am praying that she turns on her own in the next few weeks!!! 
• Andrew is totally sucked in to Wall-E…….early birthday gift from Kev and I.  
• We’ve had lots of nice rain storms in the afternoons over the past few days.  I love the rain!  With it though brings the tall grass and with the tall grass brings the snakes!  I’ve seen more snakes these past few months than I have in the past 5 years of being here.  Just the other day I was walking to one of the houses and one slithered right in front of me!  I stopped dead in my tracks, but then realized it was trying to get away from me just as fast as I was trying to get away from it!  I’m always amazed at how they tend to blend into their environment.  

Here are a few photos…..

30 weeks!!! 


Andrew sacked out on the floor during his naptime!

This is the smile I get now when I go to take a picture……

That’s a little better.  He was chilling with a few of his favorite things…..Pooh, milk, Bubba, and Speed

For Brick……

Well that’s about it.  Not much exciting, but lots of changes around the bend………

I haven’t had much time to blog lately…….my brain has been a bit turned off and 2009 seems to be starting out rather busy already!  I have a feeling that March will be here before I know it and then life as I know it now will all change again.  Even as I type the baby is pushing on my bladder something crazy.  Good thing I have good bladder control!  

So forgive me for the light hearted post, but those of you who know me know that I make some mean homemade pizzas.  I’ve learned from the best…..Anne Eberly and Sally Lott and I enjoy thinking of new pizza creations.  Well often time the one thing that people find is strange is that I use a scissors to cut my pizza!  Sure I use a cutter too, but sometimes you just can’t get it right so you have to actually cut it!  A scissors works great for this!  Well today I saw this and thought…..”I SO need one of these!!” 

How cool is that? I scissors and a spatula in one!!  I love it!

Ah, it’s January 6th today!  For some reason this date is a date that holds so many important things! 

First, my Grandmother’s birthday is today.  She’s been in heaven for many years, but in my heart always.  I miss her dearly and find that I am doing things like she did.  I often wish that I could just have one more day with her……oh the questions I would ask!  I remember when I was pregnant with Andrew I would just pray, “Lord have him be born on this day!!!”  I would have loved that…..but the Lord had his own plans for Andrew’s own special day on the 24th.

Second, Instead of him being born on the 6th of January, he did decide he wanted to walk and walk he did!  He had been “practicing” for a few days before that, but that evening he looked at Kev and I and just took off!!  He’s been taking off ever since and now RUNS from mommy and daddy.  I will never forget how precious that moment was to watch him toddle back and forth.  He would look at us when he got to his destination and smile and say, “Yeah!” and clap his hands!!  Oh, it was precious!!!  I am sure my grams was up in heaven smiling and giggling right along with us! 

Thirdly, we were ordained by our church on this day last year. (Big day….ordained and a walker!!)  It was such a special ceremony and the things our church spoke over us were so prophetic and sweet. Even a year later, I can see how some of those things have come to pass or are coming to pass.  More so, we felt the love of a church family.  Not many people have that in their lives……we are so blessed by our pastors and missions board. The support, prayers, and love they give us is beyond anything we could ever imagine and we couldn’t do what we do with out them.

Which leads me to the fourth reason January 6th is special.  Five years ago today Kev and I boarded a plane and moved our lives to Botswana!  When I look back over the past five years of being a full time Missionary I am in awe of what the Lord has done in our marriage, but also in us individually.  I sometimes still have to pinch myself that I am LIVING in Africa and doing EXACTLY what the Lord has called me to do!  I remember the moment that I stepped foot in Botswana in June 2000 when we came with Teen Mania the first time.  Breathing that African air into my lungs…..I knew I would never be the same.  I remember Jerry telling Kev and I……”Once you get the sands of the Kalahari in your shoes, it’s hard to shake it out!”  How right he was! (In more ways than one….if you’ve ever been here you know that sand gets everywhere!!!)  We never shook those sands out!  I remember standing in Zimbabwe looking out over the gorges right before Vic Falls in August 2003 and knowing full well that we would be back, this time for good.  We had just 4 short months to raise our support and move our lives.  I still have no idea how it all came together as it did, but I know that God’s Hand was in it all…….there is no other way to explain it.  Our church, friends and family rallied behind us and we boarded that plane.  I remember looking at Kev and saying, “Our lives are never going to be the same!” 

Our 5 years of serving with Love Botswana Outreach Mission have been amazing. We’ve help put bricks in the wall of this Ministry and have seen it grow leaps and bounds.  We’ve helped train leaders and have watched many launched out.  We’ve seen missionaries come and go and made friendships that will last our lifetimes. We’ve started our family on this land, and hope and pray that our children will understand the value and culture that they will experience because of that.  We’ve watched Maun grow into a bustling village with cars everywhere and brave the long lines each month end at the grocery store.   But more so…..we’ve been a part of something Eternal!

While we’ve had our ups and downs over the past 5 years, we’ve grown!  Our lives have been changed probably more so than the lives we’ve been told we’ve changed.  I can’t wait to see what the Lord has it store over the next 5 years!  And somehow looking back…….this date all ties in together.  You see my Grandmother (and Grandfather) where huge supporters of Missionaries.  That’s how I learned about what a missionary was, through them.  I remember my grandmother saying, “We always loved missionaries, but we never knew we’d have one in our own family!”  Her and Gramps always supported our short term trips (though they often worried her to know end! ). 

And learning to “walk” or learning to step out into the unknown was a huge step of our coming here full time.  People told us we were (and still do!) crazy for moving our lives to a third world country but the Call on our lives was bigger.  Taking that step of faith was just the first of many steps of faith we’ve taken and will continue to take in this journey.  It all starts with one!  And don’t I know that my Father up in Heaven was standing there clapping and cheering us on as we boarded that plane! 

So January 6th will always hold a special place in my heart for those reasons…..because really it is a day that fufilled so much of my destiny in life.  And I can’t imagine doing it with any other person than my wonderful husband!  Thank you to all of you who have supported us financially, through packages, through prayers, through love, through meals and places to stay while we were in the US.,…..everything…..the list goes on!  YOU have had a part in what God is doing in Botswana through us (minus the sand! ).  May the next 5 years continue to be even better ones!!!!