Christmas Stockings -- Christmas Eve and Jonathan's is done!

Well, it is public now -- we are expecting Our Little Miracle #3!  We are so happy and excited!  We were hoping this would happen, but I really doubted it could since Jonathan is still a very frequent nurser, even at night.  So we feel God has given us a miracle -- Thank you Lord!

Other than some (a lot!) exhaustion, I am feeling well.  No nausea.  I am more sensitive to smells, so Jonathan's dirty diapers are now being stored in the back of the house instead of our bedroom.  I've had a little light-headedness from time to time.  I almost wish I felt more symptomatic for reassurance that the baby is getting the right hormones ....but I just have to trust God to do what is best for us.   The exhaustion reminds me that I am indeed pregnant and so I have prescribed myself to rest when I feel winded and to nap when Jonathan naps since such amazing things are happening inside and apparently the new baby needs that energy.

So, since I am Soooooooooooo tired, all of the time, my expectations of what will be accomplished for Christmas have fallen drastically........but I did finally finish Jonathan's stocking today.

In the year after Bethany died, I cross-stitched her stocking.  Somehow, filling in this simple picture, pixel-by-pixel, was so calming and so healing to me.  I needed to have her presence recognized in our home each Christmas, to proclaim to all who enter that she is an important member of our family.  As for it's function, it will not be filled with gifts for her.  Instead it will have a small gift FROM her and a few words for each member of the family.  This year, just little notes actually. 

Bethany's stocking

So now the goal is for each member of our family to have their own stitched stocking.  I don't work on this every day, but it does take me about a year to complete one project.  I already have the designs and materials for Dave and I's stockings, but haven't started on those yet.  (I have some felt to quickly throw together something for Dave and I for tomorrow, but if it doesn't happen, I guess we'll use athletic socks!)  Some of you will remember seeing me stitching away from time to time .....here is the finished product!

Jonathan's stocking -- finished in the nick of time!

Merry Christmas everybody!  We miss you and love you so much!

Update on Volcano: Merapi Stars and Human Trafficking

I wanted to do a special post about this ornament on our tree -- the Merapi star.

Actually we have 5 of them!

This star = hope and employment for victims of the Merapi volcano

Many of the refugees from Mount Merapi returned to their villages a few weeks ago and are slowly rebuilding their lives, but this is not the case for all. Some villages are completely destroyed and the land will be uninhabitable for at least 3-5 years. Those villagers are still living in uncomfortable refugee camps. Others have returned to their villages to find their fields covered with ash and volcanic rock, their homes severely compromised, and water systems destroyed.

It's impossible to build houses or grow food on this land.

The people in the camps are vulnerable, without employment and becoming more desperate. Human traffickers are targeting them already, offering employment either locally or abroad. People will sign up, eager for a chance to raise money for themselves or their family, and be transported. Most will end up in forced labor or sexual exploitation. It is also not unusual here for families in desperation to "sell" a child into sexual trafficking. It breaks my heart as a mother to write those words, but it is true. They do not choose because of selfish reasons but for their families to survive. We can not judge because we will never be in this situation to understand the heart of such decision making.

These Merapi stars are one way that God's people here are providing employment and hope for Merapi refugees, enabling funding to rebuild their villages and combat human trafficking. The refugees hand-crafted these intricate star ornaments, made from recycled paper, wire and beads. They were personally paid 2500 rupiah for every star they completed. The stars were then sold for 10,000 rupiah each (about $1.10), with the additional 7500 rupiah returned to the crafter's village for rebuilding projects and continuing the new bead making business.

The first 2000 stars made sold out locally in 3 days -- raising over $2000 for the villages and for the business. Now the crafters have moved on and are learning how to make different kinds of beads from pop cans, banana leaves and other materials. They are exploring designs for jewelry and bags and other things. Hopefully this will just be the beginning of sustainable employment and safety for these people.

If this work of God moves you to want to give to it financially, a special fund is already set up for donations with 100% going toward helping the Merapi victims. Give to OC International, PO Box 36900, Colorado Springs, CO 80936. Merapi Star Account # 440030.

Baby Problem Solving: Evidence of a developing Mind!

Every day it seems like Jonathan is learning and experiencing new things.  More and more we see that his mind is at work, thinking about things, figuring it out, how life and people work.  Although he can't yet talk, he's starting to do some sign language ("eat, more, enough") and often will imitate our vocals sounds -- whispering, coughing, blowing out a candle, smacking his lips. 

Dave says "What are we going to do when he becomes smarter than we are?"  I wish I knew!  I just answer "We have to pray hard that he loves the Lord and wants to obey!"  We pray for God's wisdom how to raise up this little developing mind.

Here he is at Pizza Hut last week.  I had gone with a friend to the big city for a doctor appointment, which means we also get to eat the good food there!  Jonathan was on my lap and I guess he was thirsty.  He reached for my glass and accidently dumped the water all over the table and onto my plate.  No problem for Jonathan, all the better!  He just slurped the water out of the plate and quenched his thirst!

The Pizza Hut slurp -- you should try it!

Here's another example that showed us that he is starting to think -- he's starting to modify his toys.  The green sticks are just about his favorite toy -- they are from a plastic shelving unit that we are not using.  They make excellent drumsticks, trumpets and stirring sticks.  Anyhow, the other night in the bathtub, he made THIS (drumroll please............) !!!

I call this "Molecule by Jonathan"

Pretty cool, huh?  Well, we were impressed. 

Walking like a Pro!.....almost

We never realized there are so many stages of learning to walk, and it's exciting to watch Jonathan hone and develop his skills. We're exploring the outdoors now, which means learning to keep balance on uneven ground and also enjoying the distractions of grass, sticks, leaves and rocks! Hope you enjoy the video!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I just thought it would be nice to share a bit of the Christmas season -- what we've been doing at our house so far!

We started the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is the first Sunday of Advent. We got out our Advent wreath and our Christmas tree. We are so thankful that artificial trees are available here!

We have a lot of stars in our Christmas decor, to remind us of our sweet Bethany, because she had this very special star in her footprint.....

Bethany's special star footprint inspires our Christmas decor

So this is our Advent Wreath, shaped like...... a star! Every evening (okay almost) after dinner, we light the appropriate candles, and recite John 8:12 "Jesus said 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'" Then we sing a Christmas carol together, read Scripture and a little devotional. Jonathan enjoys watching the candles, although we sometimes have to cut the hymns and readings short to be kid friendly.

Jesus said "I am the light of the world." John 8:12

When we were putting up the tree, Jonathan of course wanted to be involved. We decided to go for the tabletop tree as we didn't think it would last very long on the floor!

Jonathan is an excellent helper, but has to be instructed not to eat the lights!

And not to try and wobble the table so much that the tree falls off! He's got some muscles!

We added some decorations. We brought some special ornaments from home ......

Remembering our firstborn

And our second blessing from the Lord!

And the greatest blessing of all -- Baby Jesus! (Yes, my friend, I still have this, and it came around the world with us!)

Our last vacation deserves to be on our Christmas tree forever!

Then we added a few batik ornaments that we bought here locally....

And last, we needed a tree topper. Fortunately my neighbor had a good idea for this!

Aluminum foil + cardboard + toilet paper tube = WOWSA tree topper!

You won't see it in Martha Stewart magazine, but our Christmas tree helps us to celebrate the Christmas Spirit!

Things that are different: Asian problem solving -- what would you do?

I wish I had a picture for this post ....but I just don't.  But perhaps it's for the better!

So today we had a deluge rainfall, right at lunchtime when Jonathan and I go to school to socialize with the students and eat with Dave.  I put Jonathan in the baby backpack and we carefully headed to school under a big umbrella.

What would YOU do if you were driving along on your motorcycle and it started raining REALLY hard?  No poncho available.

Why, you simply stop by the side of the road, take off your outer clothes and stash them under the bike seat.  Then you continue driving in your underwear until you reach your destination, towel off, and put your dry clothes back on!

I saw this today at least twice!  It doesn't work for women, though.

Things that are different: Neighborhood baby clinic

One thing that is special here is that each neighborhood has special ways of taking care of it's own.  It's a government system, but it works very well.  There is a neighborhood man (elected but unpaid) who heads over 15-30 families.  Everyone who moves into the neighborhood or even visits for more than 24 hours is supposed to report to him, just so he knows what is going on.  We also have a neighborhood guard duty, made up of men from the neighborhood, who patrol every night to make sure all is well and safe.  The women and the men in the neighborhood each meet monthly to take care of business.  Each group has it's own bank account, from which members can take out small loans if needed, or get some money for medical care if someone is sick. 

All neighborhoods also have "Posyandu" or neighborhood  baby clinic, every month.   I used to help with the Posyandus when I was single working as a nurse in Kalimantan.   The Posyandu here is quite abbreviated compared to the ones I used to work with.  It goes like this:  On the 15th of every month, at 4:30 pm, all of the mommies in the neighborhood pack up their babies and toddlers (up to age 5) and head over to the house where Posyandu is.   A lady with a bar scale and a sling weighs all of the babies and the weight is recorded.  Baby and mommy are given a snack (a banana or candy or cake or soybean porridge), and then they head home.  Babies that are not gaining weight properly are referred to the nearest government health clinic.  A couple of times a year, mega dose vitamin A is administered to prevent vision problems. 

So Jonathan and I have been attending for several months now.  It's nice to be able to keep track of Jonathan's weight, and to get to know the other mommies in the neighborhood.  At his last weighing he was 9.9 kg (21.8 lbs).  His birth weight was 7.3 lbs (7 lbs 5 oz) so yep, he's tripled his birth weight in a year.

Here's a couple of pictures of Jonathan at Posyandu

A bar scale (like what they use in the market to weigh goods) and a sling are used to weigh every child in the village under the age of 5.  Here Jonathan is taking his turn.

Close up view:  This is fun mom!  (Note: this kid has got a lot of teeth!)

A Visit from Opa and Oma!

How Fun!  Last night we had a visit from Opa and Oma! 

When I was single and working as a nurse at Bethesda Mission Hospital (http://www.borneohospital.com/), I had the priviledge of working with Wendell and Margie Geary, aka Opa and Oma.   I learned so much from them, and even from our visit last night, continued to gain pearls of wisdom from Oma.  For instance, she encouraged me to find time to be in the Word of God daily, even though this is a challenge with a small child. 

I hadn't seen them since 2006, but when I met them again last night, it felt like just yesterday.  I guess traveling around the world twice a year keep them young ...and being committed to serving God without reservation well into their official retirement years. 

Jonathan was in full charm mode -- he had fun playing with Oma....



And with Opa!



    Thank you for visiting us!  We had fun and were enriched too!

A Movie! It's Jonathan's One-Year Old Birthday Party!

The best thing about Jonathan's birthday for.....

Jennifer: Being able to pull out the birthday outfit that I've been saving for him since his baby shower at Grove Elementary! It's so wonderful to USE things for him that I've been saving!

Dave: Watching Jonathan watch his friends open his presents for him!


Jonathan: Carrot cake with chocolate frosting, strawberry and chocolate flavored ice cream! Wrapping paper!

Wow! A Whole Year of Fun with Jonathan!

Today is Jonathan's First Birthday! What fun! We had a little party today, and I hope to post some pictures and a video in the next day or so.

We also had a "virtual" birthday party with Dave's family over Skype. They were in Spokane Washington (and via speakerphone from Idaho) and they had a nice chocolate cake, a candle, and even a present for Jonathan (which will be mailed later!). They very much enjoyed eating Jonathan's chocolate birthday cake in front of us on the video, although we didn't get to taste any.

Indulge a mommy, I must share an obscene amount of pictures from Jonathan's life over the last year. It's been so much fun!



34 weeks and counting! (He was born at 38 1/2 weeks!)


 

Just born! Our little Pumpkin born just 10 days before Thanksgiving....and we were soooooo thankful!



His first bath! Daddy got to do the honors, with the nurse's help!

Footprint time!

First meeting with Grandma Coral! (Still on November 17, 2009!)

On our first or second day at home, a photo session with Dave's parents! Yep, we are pretty happy to get to bring him home.

Grandma Coral stayed for 3 weeks to help out and play with Jonathan too!



A little jaundiced and a little sleepy!

3 week old macho man!




January -- 2 1/2 months old and a real chunk! His really FAT stage!



February -- an official family photo with Jonathan at 3 months old. Thanks again so much for this picture, Mark VanDonge! http://markseye.com/



Ash Wednesday -- Jonathan actually really liked the service, but stayed up too late and this is the result.



Hmmm....at 4 months this bathtub is starting to feel small!

A squishy, juicy healthy 5 month old Jonathan!

5 months old here. A special visit from Grandpa Ron from Tennessee!

5 months : Found his feet!

This trick is always good for a laugh!

Baptism day! April 11, 2010 at Walla Walla First Presbyterian!



All together with his cousins on Baptism Day!



Here he's telling you all about his first swim at Aunt Ruthie's pool in Spokane! I think this was in June -- so 6 months old.

7 months old in July, just a few days before we left the country. He's playing with his friend, Sammy Franklin!

Okay, we're at 7 months now and some of you probably think this has gone TOO far with too many pictures! So I will stop now, but come back in a few days for a video from Jonathan's birthday party. Much fun was had by all!

Just want to say again, how THANKFUL we are that God has given us this little boy to live with us.









Update on Volcano -- Is Merapi going back to sleep now?

If you haven't noticed much in the news about our volcano here, it's because it seems to be settling down. Thank you Lord, this is what we've been asking for!

The experts have not lifted the evacuation zones yet, but many of the refugee camps are emptying out as people are heading back home to their villages. Over 200,000 people were moved into a safe zone, but I'm not sure how many actually sustained damage to their homes and land? For these people, who suffered loss of loved ones, homes, possessions, cattle, and crops -- the recovery will be long.

There is optimism, however. The farmers, who have lost their crops for THIS season, are expressing excitement over how fertile the land will be in the next season. Volcanic ash is very good for the soil.

The Christian university in the city south of here will be working with Merapi victims in the long term. I know of one worker who is looking for specialists who can help the farmers and villages figure out how to get their irrigation and water systems functional again. This university is also doing trauma counseling, I know. Can you imagine fleeing from a burning cloud of steam, or being burned by one?

And dozens, DOZENS, of burn victims are still suffering in the hospitals. Some of them will die, and many will live on with severely debilitating scars and permanent tissue injuries.

I do hope this is my last volcano update of interest. We hope Merapi goes back to sleep ...but for how long? The last eruption was in 2006 -- a mere 5 years ago.

Thank you for your prayers, and please may they continue!

Update on Volcano -- Refugees and helping them

Merapi remains a concern. As many of you may have read, a large eruption on Friday blasted a village 10 km from the summit with a hot ash cloud, killing dozens. The evacuation zone is now extended to 20 km (9 miles).

Although there have been no major eruptions since Friday, as you can see from the photo below, the output from this mountain continues to amaze. President Obama is having a short visit to this country today. I just read he may have to leave early because of concerns the ash clouds might interfere with the airplane.

The volcanologist says he doesn't think the mountain has had it's climax yet. A large city is 25 km (15 miles) from the mountain. Most of the refugees have been seeking shelter there, but it is getting more and more ash and may be in danger if there is a larger eruption.

At church on Sunday, we prayed for God's mercy and help. Indeed, natural events like this remind us how frail we are even with our technology and "great" knowledge. Only God can control this mountain, and we hope that He will. It was heartening to also hear how many of our friends and local churches are helping the victims of the mountain:

• One church friend is involved with a ministry at a refugee camp distributing food and encouragement.
• Another church family has been donating large amount of grass for feeding cattle left on the mountain's slopes. Yes, these people care deeply about their cattle, and this is an especially meaningful service to them.
  
• Another organization is helping with refugee camps
• A friend is collecting towels for refugees
• The local Christian university and seminary have been sending in teams to help with the refugees.
• The Christian university and seminary in the large city south of the mountain have stopped operations and are serving refugees full time, housing almost a thousand on their campus.
  

As the situation continues to evolve, we are prayerfully considering how God would lead us to help also. School is still in session for us, so our first obligation is there. We are pitching in where we can with donations and offerings.

We are also making some careful and appropriate preparations in case disaster could come our direction, which is unlikely: extra food, extra water, extra batteries, a packed bag, stuff like that. Although we are 14 miles from the mountain, we cannot see it, hear it or feel it from our housse. We did have a little ash fall on Saturday, but none since.

Some of you may be wondering why so many people would choose to live on an active volcano? They know it has erupted less than 10 years in the past, and they will likely have to run when it happens again. This island has a population density of 900 people per square kilometer. It's natural that people will spread out when it's so crowded, especially on mountain land that is so fertile for growing food and cattle.

Please keep praying!

Making Progress! Jonathan walking

So Jonathan's walking skills improve every day! It's so amazing to behold! A week ago he could only take 2-3 steps and then fall. He has since gone to talking 5-8 steps, learned how to walk from point a to point b without falling, and even to decelerate and stop at a stand. Today he is practicing how to stand up from the floor and walk (instead of having to pull up on something). Here is a video of his progress over the last few days!

Update on Volcano Eruption -- This mountain is only getting scarier!

Yes, this is an actual picture from Mount Merapi from Tuesday morning. I felt a little worried when I saw this picture.


On Wednesday afternoon, the mountain had it's biggest blast yet. Fortunately, I have not heard of any human casualties from yesterday eruption. The evacuation zone was widened from a 6 km radius to a 9 km radius, which means that almost 70,000 people are now out of their homes for safety's sake. (When we realize that our home town of Walla Walla had a population of less than 50,000 this number becomes real for us.) The main volcanologist is now saying that Merapi will likely continue to erupt for weeks.

A few days ago, we looked on the map to learn that Mount Merapi is located less than 20 miles from us, as the crow flies (although it takes MUCH longer to drive there in a car.) It's so strange that we can't see it, feel it, or hear it. We are getting a small amount of ash from time to time, but that is it. It's hard to comprehend that this amazing power source is wreaking havoc in our local area. I wonder if we should make some contingency plans for our own family? We are keeping a close eye on the news and so far no one has suggested that our area need to be concerned.

But we ARE concerned for those people who are suffering in the refugee camps. God's people around us are responding: the local Christian university in our town sent at least one aid team to the volcano area yesterday, our school is collecting items and money to make baby packets for the little ones, clothes are also being collected.



Please continue in prayer for the almost 80,000 people who had fled from their homes. God will lead you how to pray. He is the only power who can control this powerful mountain. I am glad He is in control.

Walking isn't easy!

There is more happening in our lives than just an erupting volcano! Jonathan is just learning to walk!

Update on Volcano Eruption -- It Ain't Over Yet!

The lava on Mount Merapi is not flowing the way it should be, and so the pressure inside the mountain continues to build and be released in explosive bursts of hot air and gas. Sunday afternoon brought at least 5 eruptions over 2 hours. The main volcanologist monitoring the mountain says "We don't know what Merapi wants. Anything could happen."

For the first time, these clouds went high into the air (about 3 km) and blew to the east -- which means that we got a little at our house. No big deal -- Jonathan's diapers, which were drying outside on the line, got dirty with ash and had to be rewashed. Not a big deal, but Merapi refugees are very concerned about their homes and farms. Also the news reported yesterday that some are experiencing a shortage of fresh water. Please continue to pray for these needy people. The evacuation area is being enlarged every day, so more people are moving into the camps.