Brian had a good month this month. He is on the move, and has started pulling up every chance he gets. He also: --Eats like a grown man. I can hardly keep up with him! He practically eats full meals with us, and then I can still nurse him. --Got two more teeth this month, for a total of 8. --Sleeps like a champ. He still wakes up during the night a lot of the time, but he takes amazing naps. I don't think he'll be ready to only take one nap a day next month. --Is able to crawl over and up things. It's crazy how quickly he went from crawling just a little bit at the beginning of the month to being able to climb over our legs to get something, or get up on the bricks in front of the fireplace. --Is unlike Kayleigh and likes to get into everything. We have to keep a constant eye on him to make sure he doesn't knock over one of the dog's water bowls. That's a favorite pasttime of his.
I have been bad about blogging this past couple of weeks. I need to get myself back into it, I guess. Two weekends ago, Valerie and I took Kayleigh and Brian to visit Nick and his family. If you would like to read about the weekend, you can check out Valerie's blog or Nick's blog. It was a great weekend, and the girls got along so well. Taylor said she didn't want Kayleigh to leave. It's fun now that all of the nieces are old enough to remember each other.
After that weekend, I watched my friends' son for them while they had pre-planning at their schools. He didn't start day care until this week. We had a blast with him here, and Kayleigh said on Friday that she would miss having him at our house. While I love this little boy, it was a reminder that preschool/day care is not the age I'm suited to be around all the time. The craziest thing was when Kayleigh sat on her little car, and her friend got up behind it and started pushing her around the house!! He just turned one and Kayleigh is 3!!! Of course, Kayleigh loved it, and it's what she wanted him to do every day. The kids had a blast together, and I learned what a good helper Kayleigh is. I took her out for a special treat on Friday to thank her for all of her help that week.
Last Saturday we went down to St. Pete for Valerie's first baby shower and our niece's birthday. Valerie made out like a bandit, and I truly don't think they're going to have to spend any money on this baby!! She'll have another shower next month, and we'll head over to Jacksonville for that one as well. While we were in St. Pete, Mom and Dad had everyone over to celebrate Mia's birthday. Jonathan and Chat brought a princess cake over, and had a princess balloon for Kayleigh to bring home. I didn't bring my camera down, so I don't have any pictures to post.
Brian is moving around like crazy! We went to Story Time at the library this morning, and he was all over the place. First, he tried to steal a lady's drink that was on the floor. Then, he saw a girl eating Cheerios, and it was amazing how he just locked in on her bowl and started crawling for it! Then, he saw another kid's sippy cup in his diaper bag and tried to snag it. He also tried to climb up onto the stage (it's only a few inches off of the floor) and I think he would have succeeded if I hadn't grabbed him. This was his first Story Time he went to where he could crawl, and he was taking full advantage of his mobility.
Here is a link that the church made of the Haiti trip. http://www.vimeo.com/13979557 It was played at the beginning of the service yesterday. I know that one of the pictures shows a pile of 2 x 4s. The group said that it was what they walked up on when they got to the work sites in order to build the shelters. Luckily, the guides that were there to help knew what to do. One story that I was told (this is Lisa writing, by the way) was that there were 2 or 3 Haitians that were there to help each group. Haitian helper #1 might go about building the shelter a little differently than helper #2, and the teams had to adapt to whoever the leader was at that chosen time. Leadership might switch hands part way through the build, and the team would have to readjust their thinking according to how that leader wanted the shelter built. I know the teams were just thankful that someone knew what they were doing, and were glad to adapt their strategies.
Some of you know that I recently went on a mission trip to Haiti with a group from our church. I have been back a week now, and it's been a busy week which has been hard since my thoughts keep going back to Haiti. So I want to finally share a little bit about my trip.
Let's start from the beginning, the flight to Port Au Prince had a different feel. Almost everyone on the flight were going to help. There were at least 5 different large groups with matching colorful shirts like ours from various organizations. There were people coming to work at clinics, teach English classes, people coming to help supply clean water, and there were several soldiers coming to keep security or to work on engineering projects.
Flying in I didn't have a window seat so all I could see out the window was the beautiful landscape of the mountains and ocean. The airport has clues of the earthquake, cracks in walls and an impromptu military base on the air fields. But the amount of destruction doesn't hit you until you step outside of the airport.
I had an idea in my head of what it might be like from the pictures and news reports I had seen, but seeing it in person was a totally different experience. The destruction and living conditions for the people there are indescribable, but I will try anyways. Here are just a few pictures that our group took.
There were buildings toppled including the presidential palace, but the saddest part is all the tent cities and shelters put up wherever they can, including right next to roads or even in medians. It isn't just a few isolated areas, but the whole area. And I believe it would be a catastrophe if a hurricane were to hit there this season.
We stayed in Gressier, Haiti at the Joy House (haitijoyhouse.org). So we had an hour and a half ride in a retired Tampa school bus, even though it was only about 25 miles away. The road conditions and driving are scary.
There were 15 in our group so we divided into 3 teams and worked with pastors in their neighborhoods building Samaratan's purse shelters. They were 12'x12' wood framed shelters with tin roofs and wrapped with a tarp. No creature comforts but there is a waiting list to get them, based on need. The hillsides are dotted with the signature blue shelters. Our teams were able to build 24 in the week.
It was great working with the Haitian teams to build them and we formed some great relationships with them. The families and the neighbors in the areas often chipped in too. It was great having some opportunities to interact with the kids, because they were curious about us outsiders.
Along with building the shelters my team also cleared debris from a home site, so they could start to rebuild. The site could have probably been cleared in half a day with heavy machinery, but we did it the old fashioned way with sledge hammers, shovels, and wheelbarrows. It took us 2 and a half days with lots of help. It was definitely the hardest work we did down there.
This is long enough, so I think I will sum up the experience by saying the biggest thing I took away from the trip is how blessed we are to have homes, plenty of food, and A/C. We take so much for granted, and even complain about any little inconvenience. I was truly affected by what the people of Haiti have been through and the living conditions of so many there now. They need our prayers and our help. If you have the opportunity to contribute in any way, please do so because we have so much and they have so little.
After months of begging, pleading, and bribing, Brian has finally decided to crawl! We were upstairs playing, and while Kayleigh wasn't paying attention, I watched Brian move. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it until I knew for sure that he was crawling. After watching him do it a few times, I told Kayleigh to watch so I had another witness. Then we called Erik to tell him the good news. I took a bunch of videos, and unfortunately the one I think is the best is the one with Kayleigh talking ugly. If you don't want to hear it, mute the volume and watch Brian go!
Unfortunately, Brian wasn't really in the mood to take pictures today. Oh, and the pictures are a couple of days late since we were in St. Pete on the 30th, and then I forgot about them when we got home. Brian still isn't crawling yet, but he gets himself around! While at my parents' house, he managed to squeeze himself between the couch and the end table so he could get the lamp cord behind the table. He likes to play peek-a-boo. That's a fun game! Brian has been able to stand himself up a couple of times, and will stay standing if you put him in that position. He got really good at going from laying down to sitting while we were gone.
After the first picture I took of Kayleigh, she decided that she liked having her picture taken while she slept. I got another good one of the dogs sleeping with her. They NEVER sleep with her, so it was cute to see the three of them together. You will see one picture where Kayleigh is sleeping across MY pillow. (It has the pink flowers on the pillow case.) There was enough room for me to have one of the corners, so I didn't worry about it. When Brian woke up in the middle of the night, though, Kayleigh shifted and then was taking up the whole pillow. I took her picture to document it, and then moved her. I think I said something like, "Oh Kayleigh!", more to myself than to her. She was still asleep, but said, "What Mommy?" I just let her be. In the morning, I showed her the pictures and told her the story about how she took my pillow. She said, "I'm sorry I took your pillow Mommy." So sweet!
