Last week I dropped off a load of things at the Arlington Pregnancy Center’s Resale store. It was a box containing different unused kitchenwares we received as wedding gifts. They were things I’ve kept “just in case” we ever moved into a bigger home or in case the Lord led us to stay in the States instead of going overseas. I’ve pulled these things out several times to give away, but I just haven’t been able to do it. Last month I pulled them out and put them in a box under our table, and they sat there for a while just in case I had second thoughts. Friday I finally got around to donating them.

I never thought I’d get sentimental about moving to another country and not having what we picture as the “normal” American home, but there’s a little something somewhere inside me that did. Goodbye crystal bowls and fancy dishes . . . you wouldn’t feel at home with us and we wouldn’t feel at home with you. The Lord is calling us to go to Cambodia and with delight and excitement we prepare to go.

Friday night we had some friends over for dinner – Ankur, Neetu, & Rohan Jain. We met this family last fall while walking around campus. Ankur is on the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering faculty at UTA. Neetu and I usually get together a few times a month for the kids to play.

Becca and Isaiah have had some fun moments of interaction this week. Becca loves climbing in Isaiah’s pack-n-play (her old bed). She fills it up with her animals. The other day she didn’t want me watching them. I saw later that while closing her eyes and counting Becca would push her doll into Isaiah’s reach then scold him for taking her. She said something like, “You shouldn’t have Sadie . . .number 1….number 2….” Poor little guy!

Sunday night Becca decided Isaiah needed some toys to play with. I think she took out all our board books and opened them up for him to see. He got bored and moved to an open space in our living room. Sweet Becca quickly moved all the books over to his new spot.

A special thanks to our Valentine’s Day meal photographer, Rebecca Jensen. She did a great job with our photo session, and we especially loved the little noises she made to get us to smile.

By 5:30PM on Valentine’s Day I decided that the day was officially a disaster! Nothing had gone as planned. Isaiah was screaming and refused to go down at his normal bedtime. Becca was whining about supper. I had just been outside picking up after the dogs (yuck!). (We were dogsitting — more about that at the end.) Josh was going to be working late at school. PLUS it seemed like everybody on fb was having cute Valentine’s Day parties with their families . . . we hadn’t even made a single Valentine. Mommy Failure Alert!! My solution was to hide in the pantry and eat some of the cookies the O’Neils left us for house sitting. I know . . . it seems so silly to even think that way.

The main “disaster” of the day was my attitude. I wasn’t  happy about house sitting the dogs. My pride was hurt that I couldn’t “compete” with all the other fun moms on fb. I didn’t want to deal with cranky children. What I had to do was stop, confess my sin, and pray for help and patience. (Something I need to do more often!) So we started over. . . I gave Becca her probiotics in a red cup with cranberry juice and told her it was Valentine’s day punch. We made heart pizzas and she got to open her present, a map-of-the-world-placemat (Becca has been really interested in maps lately).

After dinner Becca and I played and Josh texted that he had a surprise. He came home early with roses and a steak dinner for me (I couldn’t eat the pizza since it had cheese on it – milk products bother Isaiah). My sweet husband. He decided to cheer me up and come home a little early. Valentine’s day ended much better than it started. I’m thankful for the help God gave me to change my attitude about the day.

Friday night Josh made us a delicious Valentine’s meal of fried catfish, green beans, and sweet potatoes [Amy helped with the veggies so we could eat before 9pm! -Josh]. Add to that the sparkling blueberry grape juice and mint melts and you have a wonderful dinner. Even though I’d already fed Becca dinner, she decided that she was hungry again and got to join in.

Isaiah had his 9 month (a little early) well check on Valentine’s Day (hence the evening crankiness). He weighs 19lbs and 10oz and is 27.27in long. According to the growth charts he is the “perfect” baby averaging around the 50%.

We house-/dog-sat for our pastor for a week. Amber and Piper are inside dogs with schedules. At first it was almost like having extra kids for the week. Both kids enjoyed the dogs. We got to practice being grandparents . . . I’m sure we gave those dogs way more dogs treats than their parents usually do!

Thursday evening we got together with the Kahlers. Leon and Nick were kind to drive all the way to our place and bring the food. We enjoyed the time visiting with our friends.

Isaiah finally figured out that he can roll over while in bed. For some reason, whenever he was in the bassinet part of the pack-n-play he didn’t roll over — until this week when he did, and was quite pleased with himself. I decided it was time to take the bassinet part down. (Becca and I were making beans when this happened, hence the apron and bean mustache.)

Tuesday we went to the Science Museum – it’s nice to have a membership. Becca missed her nap, and I was once again reminded that she still needs an afternoon nap. Our evening was filled with several meltdowns – the price of having a fun afternoon.

A few Becca quotes from the past months:

“I like this one. I’ve been wanting to use it all my life. But now I found it.” Becca’s response when given her washcloth with a frog on it.

“Who are you? Are you the Son of God? Are you the Holy Spirit?” Random question to Josh.

“I’m not a sinner right now. I’m not disobeying.”

“Sounds perfect for my life.”

“I said ‘God can do all His holy will,’ so I got candy.” Referring to answering catechism questions in Sunday School.

When talking with Becca about a disobedience issue, I asked if she wanted to pray and ask God’s forgiveness. I was surprised when she answered yes instead of her usual no. She went on to mumble a very fast prayer. When I asked her if she asked God to forgive her for disobeying she smiled and said: “Didn’t you hear what I said? Dear God I pray you would give Bella (her cousin) a ugly heart instead of a new heart.” So she still has some spiritual progress to make.

Our biggest news is that we purchased tickets to visit Cambodia in June. It all started last Wednesday when I was perusing ticket prices and found some really good deals. Saturday morning we finalized our purchase. Purchasing the tickets means that our time in Texas will soon be coming to an end – we have less than 4 months left.

Saturday night Josh took Becca to Chick-fil-A’s Valentine’s Daddy Daughter Date (reservations required). Not only is my man a wonderful husband . . . he’s also a fantastic daddy!

Monday morning I decided to take the kiddos to the Fort Worth Science Museum (thank you Ishams for the membership). I didn’t know the Fort Worth Stock Show was happening. We took advantage of our free admission (a benefit of being museum members) and walked around the buildings to look at the animals. Becca got tired of walking so I let her ride in the stroller – both kids thought that was great. (Know anyone who is selling a used double stroller?) [Update: we found one on Craigslist! Hopefully we’ll get it tomorrow morning!]

Hard to believe that our little man will be one year old in 4 months! At 8 months, Isaiah continues to be one of the happiest baby boys in the world.  He typically goes to bed around 6 until I wake him up for his pre-bed feeding, and then he sleeps until about 6:30 in the morning. He naps between every feeding. He loves eating sweet potatoes and would eat them every day lunch and supper if I let him.

Isaiah’s two bottom teeth came in around Christmas time. The teething process didn’t seem to have any negative effects on him.

Our little man was sick the third week in January. He had a fever for three days and wasn’t his happy self the rest of the week. But even then he enjoyed playing with his new toy from Christmas.

Isaiah continues to do well with going to the potty about twice each day. A few times this past week during meal times I’ve wondered what’s wrong with him. . . food just doesn’t seem to be satisfying. Then I put him on the potty and think “Oh, he wanted to go potty. . . how was I supposed to know!”

Two weeks ago Isaiah started saying “dadadadada.” This week he started saying “mamamamama.” He also makes repetitive kissing sounds. (He loves his frog from Uncle Dan & Aunt Isabelle – picture to the right. The other night I had trouble making out Isaiah’s head since he had pulled the frog over himself.)

People are always asking about crawling. . .no crawling or scooting yet, [Or algebra! I’m so disappointed! -Josh] which makes things easier for me and calmer for Becca.

At Christmas we looked at Josh’s baby pictures to see if Isaiah looks like him . . . no. Later I was showing Becca my baby book and was shocked to open it up and see Isaiah!

I was teaching Becca how to wrestle the other day. We thought we’d let Isaiah in on the action . . . .