Avery and the big fat belly!

Avery learning her first Cubbies verse. We just had to take a candid photo of her sincere excitement!

35 1/2 weeks! 4 1/2 to go!

Church

We went to the Iglesia Bautista (Baptist Church) that is about 10 minutes from our home today! I have never, in all my life, felt so welcomed and invited in a church. The people are wonderful. The sermon was about the importance of the family teaching the children God's word. He preached (from Timothy) about how so many people are concerned about their children's education, what activities the kids are involved in and how they are doing socially, but they aren't concerned about instilling God's Holy Word into their hearts. He said that most people in Peru say they can't afford a Bible, but yet they have a big screen television in their homes and only a "free" Gideon's Bible of the New Testament. OUCH! He said that it should NOT be that a child can name ALL of the characters from a television show (or many shows for that matter), but if you ask them "Who is Daniel?" "What did Moses do?" "Who was Joshua?" That the kids have no clue about these great "REAL PEOPLE" of faith. WOW! Obviously, he said A LOT more, but that stood out to me. His heart for children and the family was extremely evident. And NO ONE there thought it was odd that I choose to homeschool my children. That is definitely a first here in Peru.

His sermon encouraged me as a parent, as a Christian and was right on for our family. It is a very family oriented (at least so it seems) church. I had several people today tell me how blessed I am to have so many children and that children are a blessing from the Lord. WOW! That is rare to hear these days.

The kids left bouncing off the walls in excitement. They learned a lot and felt very comfortable there as well.

The church has 2 services and probably about 100-150 people in total with about 100 kids. It is the perfect size for us and we were the only gringos there (except one Australian who is married to a Peruvian). The pastor's wife even offered to give us a ride home if we would stay for the 2nd service for their special kid's activities. We couldn't stay today, but they made us feel just so special to even offer that.

There is a women's Bible Study that I am going to attend on Wednesday as well. I pray this is the church for us to get plugged into so that we can be fed so that we can continue to feed others!

House

I uploaded a bunch of pictures of the new house to Facebook tonight. Sorry, but it takes an eternity on blogger. If you don't have a Facebook account, send me your e-mail address and I can still send you a link to see them without you having a Facebook account. Enjoy! God has blessed us!

Homebirth Update

The midwife will DEFINITELY treat me with antiobitic shots here at home for Group Beta Strep. She said given my history, she does feel it is the best thing to do. Praise God that she is willing to step outside of what is "normal" for her. I was concerned she was going to deny me antibiotics based on her "principle" of not liking or believing antibiotics. She will not compromise the baby's health or mine and this makes me VERY happy. So for now we will continue with the homebirth unless some kind of crazy emergency arrives. If so, I live 1/2 mile from the hospital and I have a wonderful OBGYN ready and willing to take over as well as a capable midwife who is also an OBGYN. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Only God knows how it is going to play out and I trust Him. I do know that if there is ANY other red-flag in the slightest I will pull out in a heartbeat. But for now, since she is willing to treat me, John and I see no reason to not continue as planned.

CONFUSED!!!

Remember that I am seeing 2 doctors (the homebirth doctor (i'll call her the midwife) and the OBGYN? I saw one yesterday and one today. I'm really too tired to tell you all the details (maybe tomorrow), but there is a chance I won't be having a homebirth after all. The OBGYN is practically begging me to not and is VERY concerned about me having a fifth baby without being treated for group Beta Strep which I have had at least in 3 other pregnancies. The midwife does not check or treat for this potentially life threatening (to me and the baby) bacteria. It can be REALLY serious and even deadly if left untreated during labor and delivery. He is very concerned about the care I have received with her. I left feeling VERY cared about by him and VERY confused. I want to do what is best for the baby. I already paid the midwife the money for the homebirth. I put in a call into her today to see if she will treat me for the Group Beta Strep (in the past she has said no) and also to ask about the money situation. She didn't call me back. There are a few other issues that I have had with her and don't want to get into online, but they do leave me concerned.

I am confused and seriously need "God's wisdom." Is God using the doctor to tell me something or is it just a "paranoid doctor." Or am I too connected to a homebirth?

The dr. did say I could have the baby very naturally at the hospital and go home within 6 hours of the birth. The hospital is less than half a mile away and my neighbor (who is so wonderful) has offered to keep the kids for me while we have the baby. And then we could come home quickly! :)

I dunno what to do! Please pray for me. I have another appt. next Wednesday as the OBGYN says he wants to see me weekly from here on out. I will have my Group Beta Strep results back by then!!!!

P.S. Tonight we cooked steaks on the grill for the first time in 2 years. It was so cool! It's small things like that that we really took for granted back in the states.

Another checking in post about nothing much

Tomorrow marks a week here! WOW! It has gone by so fast. We are completely moved in and unpacked and have even gotten a few projects done. John has to hang some pictures and that is about it. You can always think of something you "want" to do, but after this there is nothing that "needs" to be done. However, we would like to build a sandbox for the kids before the baby is born, but we need to wait until payday.

The workers are still remodeling and dusting up the house. So worth it, though! The only bummer is that all the kids have been coughing and hacking with slight fevers from the dust getting in their lungs. It has passed through Jaxson and Parker and now Ally has it. I've been wondering how the people in the South Cone live in the dirt without being sick all of the time.

We are starting homeschooling on Monday.

John is going to get back into ministry stuff. Oasis isn't going so well. Not due to a lack of effort on his part.

His other Bible study in Santa Rosa is thriving with about 15-20 people each week.

We are going to the new church (for ourselves) on Sunday. I can't wait, really!

Had an obgyn check up today with the midwife. First one in 5 weeks, while the other doctor has been seeing me ever 2 weeks. How strange! She comes to my home again in 2 weeks so she will know where we live and we will go over the "birthing" plan. I wish I was more excited about her. But I am excited about the homebirth. The baby's room is ready and the kids are waiting for him. I still have to wash all of his clothes, but with all the dust going around right now it would be futile.

The fellow missionaries here are having a baby shower for little Miles next Friday. I am really looking forward to the fellowship!

AWANA'S starts up again tomorrow for us. YEAH! We always enjoy it!

Nothing much more to report. Hope you are doing well and are blessed! Love you ALL!!

Checking in!

We are in our new house and getting settled in as quickly as possible. Have I mentioned how HUGE it is? OH MY!! It's definitely the biggest house I have ever, or will ever, live in!

The painters are finishing up with the paint and I am really pleased with the colors. 3 of the bathrooms are being remodeled. They are probably 1/2 way done (maybe a little less) with the bathrooms. I don't mind the workers here, but the house stays constantly dusty and the floors a mess with the people in and out of the house. Oh well, so worth it! Did I mention that the renovations and paint are picked up by the mission since it is a mission owned home? Another huge blessing!

John is going on Tuesday to purchase the homeschooling room furniture and the baby's furniture. We can get really nice, light pine furniture for extremely cheap! All I need to do is set up the homeschool room, the baby's room, unpack John's side of the closet and organize our office/workoutroom and then the packing is completely done! YEAH!!

So far we have done our room, the bathroom, 2 kids rooms, kitchen, living room and patio. Can you believe it? Things are completely functional now! Pictures to come once the workers are out of the house and the floors are clean.

There is a chance that the outside of the house will be painted sometime this year too.

We are so blessed (and broke ) LOL! The kids have made a bunch of new friends in the neighborhood so far and we have some really nice neighbors.

It is nice to hear the birds chirp and the trees rustle! And today the sun even came out and it was a perfect afternoon.

Still moving on Friday! :) WOOHOO! Packing, planning, etc... John has been spending 12 hour days at the house with the working crews.

The whole family went out to Oasis on Sunday again for church. I think we are going to have to stop taking the kids out there because the fleas just eat Avery and Jaxson up EVERYTIME we go. They suffer so much. It is a hard choice to make, but this particular location is just riddled with fleas and bites become an infestation. UGH! So sad! The exterminators already went to our new home to exterminate!

Our new house will be close to some type of Baptist Church and we have decided that we HAVE to get plugged into a church (especially me and the kids) despite ministry demands. John spent a week doing ministry with the pastor's wife (a doctor) and her daughter and just adored them. So we will try there church in a week or so. We are all needing the encouragement and fellowship that comes from a solid church. I am looking forward to it. We (the kids and I) are not going to be able to have as an active role in ministry once the baby comes anyway and we need to get plugged in soon!

Hundreds of people accepted Christ this summer thanks to the Lord working through the teams coming here. John is trying to follow-up, disciple and start small groups from this. We really need more help. John just can't do it all alone. There are so many people who need discipleship and not enough people to do it.

Prayer:
for me to be joyful amidst all the stress and chaos of moving, pregnancy, etc...
all the house details to continue to go smoothly (it's been amazing that after my last post how smooth things have gone).
for the kid's behavior. Things have not been going so well for sometime now - especially with 1 child imparticular. This saps my joy as you can imagine.
for help in ministry.
for a church home for our family.

Happy Anniversary

Today we celebrate our arrival to Lima, Peru one year ago today! :)

We have now been overseas for 2 years and 1 month now. We have experienced and seen incredible things. The journey hasn't always been easy as no one said that it would be and it hasn't always been difficult either. God has shown his faithfulness through ALL the seasons.

Thank you for your partnership with us!

Lots of happenings

Today was a big day! We went to the new house with the painter and measured and picked out ALL of the new colors and purchased the paint. I CANNOT wait to show you all of the rich colors I picked out for the house. I was able to go with some darker colors (not for the kids room though) since the house is on the bigger side and has a lot of windows to bring in natural light. So here are the things that start on Monday:
Painting
Remodeling of 2 bathrooms
Curtains cleaned (downstairs)
Cable, telephone and internet hooked up (supposedly)
New patio furniture delivered
John buying all of the plumbing for the bathrooms
Guy comes to measure for curtains (upstairs)

Even though we have workers, we still have to buy EVERY last thing for them. It is probably better this way because then it guarantees we don't overpay AND we get what we would like.

I am so excited I can't see straight. The house is just so big and we won't be stepping on each other. I can't express enough how much this is a blessing from God. We are taking before and after pictures so you can see the completed job.

Today I had my 33 week appointment OBGYN appt..I went two weeks ago and he asked me to come back today. This is not the "homebirth" doctor. He wants to see me again in two weeks and then he goes on vacation until October 1st. Good thing he won't be the one delivering, right? He asked if I was still having the baby at home and I said yes, but that I was also planning on seeing him until the baby is born. He is just a first-class doctor and I know that if there is ANY red flag whatsoever he will catch it and ensure the baby is safe. He doesn't approve of the homebirth, but he does agree that he will treat me before and after the birth. He hooked me up with some much better vitamins and iron supplements to help my ever decreasing iron. I have full blown anemia at this point, which explains why I am so tired and sleepy. I am hoping these work better than the generic stuff I am taking from the states. He doesn't think the baby is "super" big although the ultrasound says it is. I told him he will be surprised when it is born. No one thought Jaxson was going to be almost 10 lbs. (except me) and he was. The baby measure 32 weeks today and I am 33 tomorrow. I am going to continue to see the midwife simply because it is a means to an end. Someone has to catch the baby and John and I feel like she is qualified. I really wish the other doctor could do it, but it just can't be. We feel good about having 2 doctors here in Peru, one homeopathic and one more agressive from the states. The Dr. from the states told me today that maybe he needs to become more indigenous in his thinking and that he has been greatly effected by the American mind-set of hospital births. Isn't that funny? I am from America and I have more of an indigenous mind-set and he is orginallly from here (but lived in the U.S. for 25 years) and has more of an American mentality than I do. Funny how that works.
I didn't try to convince him while I prefer homebirth because he can't convince me that his way is better for me anymore than I can convince him that my way is better for me. :)

Can't wait until next FRIDAY - MOVE IN DAY!!

Belly Bump Update

Almost 33 weeks. I just have John snap a picture whenever he says he thinks I look nice! LOL!

A HUGE BLESSING!

God PROVIDES! My good-friend, Jenn, from St. Cloud will be coming here to Peru on October 1st. The baby is due the 3rd. She will be staying until the 5th. If the baby arrives before she does, then she will hang out and help us with kids, laundry, life, etc.... If the baby arrives while she is here, then she will get to be a part of the birth and help us. If she arrives before he comes and he comes late, well then...God sent a good-friend to keep me company instead of counting down the hours of an overdue baby. It is a win-win either way! Please pray he DOES NOT COME EARLY and makes his debut between the 1st-4th. Jaxson came 5 minutes into his due date, and Avery came 5 minutes into the day before her due date, so based on my past 2 experiences, she is coming at the PERFECT time! :)

A different type of customer service

One of the most frustrating things about living in Peru is that you can't do business on the telephone. You have to go stand in line for hours with a 100 other people just to have a question answered or to do something simple (ie....transferring a telephone). And even though we are transferring the telephone 10 days before we move, we will still be without cable, internet and telephone for 10 days (minimum) b/c that is "just" how it works here. HUH? We tried another company, but 10 days later they have yet to confirm that we tried to set up an account and their systems have been down for almost a week now. They are sorry, but they just can't help us. BIG SIGH!

And then, we ordered 2 dining room chairs and 10 days later, and many lies later on behalf of the vendor, we had to demand our deposit back b/c it was obvious that the lies weren't going to stop and we weren't going to get our chairs anytime soon. And John warned other people at the store not to by from this lady and they just said, "Well, it's okay. This is just how Peru is." I'm sorry, but I won't get use to lies and excuses.

And then there is the medicine that another team tried to bring in from the U.S. and MANY months later it was set to be released from customs, but someone in the health department wrote the wrong code on the paperwork. No biggie! Just fix the code and release the package. Nope, not here. Now the package has to start ALL over again in the process and 2 weeks later, and the team has come and gone, the package still has not been released.

I'm not trying to be Debbie-Downer, but this is our life. And sometimes it is so incredibly frustrating that I just want to put my head in a pillow and scream "WHY?" There is a much more effective way to do business and make money and have better customer service. But alas, it is not that way here and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon.

Almost EVERY single thing we have tried to change or do in terms of our move has turned into something VERY complicated and difficult when it doesn't really have to be that way.

So this blog sums up how you can pray for us.....PATIENCE AND UNDERSTANDING in a culture that makes no sense to us sometimes.

Saturday

56 days of pregnancy left! WOW! That is incredible. I'll have gained 56 lbs. by the time it's over! :) Oh well!

We having a moving date of August 21st! Double wow and praise God!

A great team left today and John does orientation with another one this morning and they start working on Sunday. Many lives being effected (or is it affected?) and changed.

The next 8 weeks will be a whirlwind! God is so good!

BTW- I made my Facebook "female" only (except family). If I deleted you or your hubby it was nothing personal. I heard of this idea from a friend and thought it was a "super" wise thing to do as a Godly woman (trying to be, anyway) who continually wants to have a guarded heart. I am pleased with the decision.

Hormones and Mission Team

All I can say is PLEASE pray for my hormones. I know they are a necessary evil in growing a baby, but come on now! They are all over the place! One day I am super happy, the next I am crying, the next I am anxious, the next I can hardly drag myself out of bed. This is as bad as the first trimester - without the vomitting, of course! :) Although I did get sick out of the blue one day this week. I am fine, just a hormonal mess. Yes, I know it's normal, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! Other than that, the contractions have stopped. YEAH! My iron is still really low and I think that is why my energy and motivation level are WAY down. And that probably makes me feel disappointed in myself because I'm usually so active, organized and a go-getter; not these days! I keep hoping every day I will wake up with this new found energy. It's just not happening. Oh well! I AM enjoying eating and being with my kids instead of running around crazy with mission teams.

Avery and I played tea-party today in Spanish and it was so much fun. She kept serving me Coffee with milk and fish! YUK! I would throw the fake can of fish across the room (playing, of course) and she thought that was the funniest thing ever. I would exclaim, "No me gusta pescado con cafe!" It was really cute.

Well, our 2nd to last mission team leaves tomorrow night. They are such a wonderful group (don't I say that about ALL of them?). NO really, these are my favorite. I have loved the time I have been able to spend with them (a few meals and half a day with a sick team member). Sunday starts the VERY last team. Praise God! John will work with them and after that we will MOVE. YEAH!! Still waiting on a move in date.

The team has seen a lot of people come to the Lord this past week. It has been a very successful trip as far as helping people with medical and spiritual needs. I'm wondering which of my kids will cry this week as they leave. My kids connect and bond really fast. I think that is part of living this kind of life. :)

WOW!

WOW! Praise God! Look at how many people came to the Bible Study (a 20 week discipleship program) today out in Santa Rosa de Villa. It is growing every week in term of numbers and also in how much the people are participating and understanding the word of God. Most of these are new believers that John is discipling from a team that came about a month ago. I'm sure John is a great teacher, but this is definitely the work of the Lord.

Back Dance by Jaxson Dean Pham

Jaxson doing his "back dance." He means "break dance." Hope this makes you smile!

Ultrasound

OOPS! I almost forgot the cool baby update from yesterday's ultrasound. :)



He weighs EXACTLY 4 lbs. and is measuring 9 days bigger than my due date - although my due date is FIRM! The doctor said I am feeding him "very, very well." He should be around 9ish lbs. at this rate. All of his organs looked perfect (hearts, spine, kidneys, brain, etc...). The doctor kept saying that everything looked good.



His umbilical cord is around his neck one time, but at this point, not causing any problems with breathing or his heart. I need to do some research about a homebirth with this kind of problem. His safety is most important to me.



He has CHUNKY, cute cheeks and doesn't look like any of the other kids so far. It was a pleasure to see him. Enjoy the pictures! BTW- he is still definitely a BOY!

Not my favorite picture, b/c his face looks distorted. His hand is up by his head!

His legs are up high and yes, that is what you think it is. He is a he!

This is my favorite picture! Look at those cute chunky, monkey cheeks. I can't wait to kiss them all over!

Hey there! Feeling great over here. I think the infection is cleared up and I am pretty much contraction free for the most part. YEAH! I will return to exercising and life as normal tomorrow.

John is super busy with the team, a great bunch from Texas. We adore them. I have had the pleasure of dining with them 2x in the evenings while John rests.

I am pretty much just waiting to get my hubby back and pack and move. Can't wait!

MMM - Monday Morning Memo

The meds have kicked in and I feel MUCH better physically. YEAH! No contractions yesterday (maybe 1, but wasn't quite sure) or today. I even slept well and only got up 2 times to use the bathroom - much better than 10-15 times a night. I should be back to 100% in another day or so.

This morning I have my 4D ultrasound. Can't wait to share pictures with you.

Also, we are getting packed. John is doing 1/2 an hour each night and he works fast and is extremely productive. He is also super organized (the engineer in him). He is much more organized than I am so that is plus. I have been doing about 2 hours a day while sitting in a chair. TOday I am up and about since I am not having contractions.

We found out that the missionaries will be out of the house on August 8th. Then we need to wait a few more days so they can get some "big" furniture items out that they have not yet sold. Then, the painter can start working for a few days and then it is MOVE IN DAY!!! YEAH! LOTS and LOTS of work to be done in the house once we get there, but the key is that we will BE THERE! We will have about 3,000 square feet to run and romp and live. What a blessing. We won't be underfoot all the time and I'm sure we will be much more joyful with the space. To say that we are all thrilled, is an understatement.

Gotta pack a bag and then go to the ultrasound. 2 very sweet journeyman (girls) are coming to watch the kids for me while John is working. This means I actually get a few hours to myself. Can't wait.

Blessings!

Hubby left the house last night at 11 p.m. and returned at 2 a.m. after meeting the mission team at the airport. We were all up at 6:45 a.m. to go to the hotel and meet them by 8 a.m. This team is from Winsboro, Texas and they have been VERY good to us this past year. I Facebook some of the wives and even talk on the phone with one of them. Needless to say, I was super excited to meet them. And boy, did they live up to my expectations. They are so kind, friendly, joyful and full of passion for the people here. It was like seeing old friends this morning (although I have never met them). :) John will be working with them and I will be having super with them in the evenings. I get the best part!

After they headed off at 9 a.m., I took the 4 kids to a local lab to have my blood glucose test. It went very quickly (1 hour and 5 minutes). The girls watched a Dora on the Laptop (great thinking, huh?) and the boys finished some written work they needed to do. And I sat there thinking about how much I just wanted to eat so I could feel normal and not be so grumpy. The process was quick and smooth and the drink was VERY yummy. I don't know what it was, but it tasted like pineapple, orange juice. I felt MUCH better after having the drink. It really helped get my blood sugar in order. Not sure if that is a good sign or not.

We then came home and I made the kids some rice for lunch. I was trying to think about what is easy and what they like. Right now, I am going to not worry so much about perfect nutrition for them and will focus on easy things with minimal mess. They were so happy to have Maggi (soy sauce) and rice.

I spent about 2 hours in the boy's room (in a chair of course) with the kids playing all around me. We went through and packed up and organized all of the boy's toys. Their room is pretty much now packed except for the clothes that I need to go through (and they don't have many of them). I can do that sitting down as well. I have only had 4 contractions ALL day so that is a good sign.

I took a nice nap with Jaxson while Avery slept in the other room. Parker and Ally read chapter and history books and sat in the living room quietly while the rest of us rested. I am so glad they love to read and can obey (most days) while we are napping).

I actually have the car for the next 2 weeks so I feel so free. I am debating on taking the kids to the local park, but it is really cold outside. And then I'm wondering if I should continue to sit around on my rear. It is very hard for me to know what is overdoing it.

John is doing a medical mission this week. There are 4 doctors that are treating patients at a church on outskirts of Lima. The medicines that the team shipped over are still stuck in customs/the health department (no surprise there). They sent the medicines well over 2 months ago. There is a chance they might be released on Monday, but they said that last week, like everyday, so I am NOT holding my breath. Everyday there is a different reason why they can't be released. If God wants them to use the meds, then they will be released. If not, then the team still has a GREAT purpose here.