All About Canaan and Max

New Blog

2010-07-14T06:06:00.000-07:00

I am announcing that I am starting a new blog. While I hate to leave behind my blogspot blog, I have made the decision to join my husband in switching to Posterous. It is sad, but good at the same time, and I have listed the reasons below, in case you are interested. The important information, is that if you want to subscribe to my new blog, you may do that very easily. Just go to the right side of my new blog page and click "Subscribe to this blog." You will receive e-mails every time I post.

The new blog can be found at: http://livingforeign.posterous.com/

The reasons I love my blogspot (this) blog:

It can be personalized easily with Max and Canaan's picture up top.
Blogspot has pretty themes- this green one on the sides, with green print is fun and they have many different themes to choose from.
It was here I got my first taste of blogging.

The reason I am changing to Posterous:

It is SOOOO Easy to post. All I have to do is send an e-mail to my new blog with the pictures I want posted as well as the text. The blog automatically formats all my pictures and posts my text for me. Since half of the work on doing my blog on this blog (blogspot) is that it takes so long to resize and upload pictures and arrange them so they don't look weird with the text, switching blogs is going to make it so much easier. I am hoping that motivates me to post more.

Basically, I am trying to simplify my life in every way I can. While I don't want to completely do away with blogging, since it is such a great way to share our lives with family and friends, and keeps a great record for me of our lives, changing blog sites is helping in this area. Life recently has been too busy for me, with two precious, but stinker boys to keep me busier than I've been. Raising them is my main job and such a joy, but it takes lots of time and energy, especially at the ages and stages they are in now. I love it, and want to continue to love it. And it is my priority, and I want it to continue to be that way. So, I am getting rid of a few things in my life that I don't need and simplifying other things. I know you all out there have been there at some point in your lives and understand. So, I hope you enjoy the new, simplified me and my blog. Come on over and check us out. Just click on the link below!!

CLICK HERE---->http://livingforeign.posterous.com/

Ukrainian Snow and a Question

2010-06-05T05:09:00.001-07:00

I know I've posted about this before, but in the spring, there are times it looks like it has snowed because of all the cottonwood trees that are here! The other day, the boys and I happened out to the playground and there was "poox" everywhere. Katya recently asked me what I call "poox" in English and I had no answer for her. Then she said, well what do you tell Canaan it is when you talk to you in English? I told her I used the Russian word! The Russian word is actually the word for down or fluff. So, my question to you is: does anyone know what we call all that white stuff that flies around in the air when there are cottonwoods or poplars around? If you do, let me know.
Anyway, I had Dougle bring the camera over to take pictures. At one point, the wind swirled all of it around the play ground and in the air and Canaan exclaimed, "It is SNOWING!" Well, not quite, but close.
Hope you enjoy the pictures of the boys and the "poox."

The first pic is not a good one, but the best I could get showing the snow swirling in the air. You can kind of see it on the trees. There is another pic below of Canaan showing of one of his excercises he is learning at gymnastics. (It is the one of him holding onto the bars and pulling his feet up- not very straight, but what he can do!) Also one of Canaan checking out the ground, because he is getting more interested in bugs these days. THe one of the boys in front of a story picture is at the playground too. They often draw little story pictures on walls near where kids play. And if you see Max's big bruises on his forehead and his cheek, he is getting them all the time these days. He is a bit of a daredevil and a bit of a clutz too. Just a growing baby boy!

Max Video

2010-06-01T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of Max signing and talking. He does about as much signing (close to the real signs) as he does talking. He is just not my talkative one. Here is what we managed to get him to say.

NOTE!!! PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to how he says "UP." It is right in the first 10 or 20 seconds, right after he comes out from walking behind Mom (my mom). Look at his little mouth! It is sooooo adorable. "Max, you are awesome," as his Uncle David would say (who is about his favorite person right now). I love watching him say it so much!! Don't miss it!

Max- 15.5 Months Old

2010-05-04T10:21:00.001-07:00

Wow! It has been SOO LONG since I've posted much about the boys and how they've been growing. Just stuff like what Max is doing (he is FINALLY walking!) and how tall Canaan is now, etc.

So, for you who LOVE my kids so much to read it all, here it is. For the rest of you, maybe you should check back later for more "interesting" stuff!

PS. I wrote this about 2 weeks ago and wanted to write about Canaan before posting, but it hasn't happened. So before this gets too out of date, I'll post this. Hopefully one on Canaan will come soon!

MAXIMUS
Max is definitely the second child. As much as I hate that it has happened, I haven't blogged about as much about him and haven't kept up with his calendar as much as I did with Canaan. ANd, before I begin, (and I know I've said this over and over), but my two boys are so DIFFERENT!! I wasn't expecting twins or anything, but I did expect more similarities than what I see. They are the same in a few things....ummm.....like....the lack of hair they have, or....that is it! They are just different it about everything. Which I am learning to love and appreciate more each day. One day it won't surprise me, I guess, at how differently they do and handle everything!

AGE: 15.5 months

HEIGHT: 29 inches (about 2 inches shorter than average)
WEIGHT: about 21 pounds (also below average-but he is also shorter, so it makes sense)
TEETH: 6 fully in and 5 more cutting through right now! (Canaan had 16 at this time in his life.) Four new ones cutting through are molars and one next to his right bottom tooth.

Max has taken off recently. He is finally walking. He started taking his first steps almost 2 months and a half ago, around 14 months of age. I was VERY ready for him to walk quite a while ago, but I especially wanted him to be able to walk well for the summer so he could better play outside. Of course, I have my selfish reasons too: it is much easier when he can walk and I don't have to carry him everywhere- or at least not on short trips outside. Of course, he really isn't to that point yet, b/c he is pretty slow and wobbly still, but he does well inside and I know it won't be long before he is running outside.
Max did climb before he walked. He even pushed a stool over to the couch and climbed onto the stool and then the couch before he walked! Right now he can almost get himself up on the couch without any help. More daring in that respect than Canaan. I think his main motivation for anything he does is keeping up with big brother Canaan, though. This gets him into a lot of situations where he falls. Between climbing and new walking, he is constantly bruising himself up all over! He is our more adventurous one. He loves to climb onto the kiddy chairs and sit in them. He has even got into the habit of carrying over the toy laptop (that doesn't do anything-it used to play some music stuff), bringing it to the kid's table, climbing ontop of the kiddy chair and sitting there banging away on the keyboard, just like he is a big person! So funny! And he loves to be sitting on the couch when Canaan is, or playing with the SAME toys that Canaan does. If Canaan is reading books, he'll grab a book or two and read too. He even knows which are Canaan's favorite cars (out of his ginormous stash) and goes for those cars specifically, not to Canaan's liking, of course. Still, he likes to do baby things too, like crash Canaan's neat line of cars he's made (yes, he still lines his cars up, though they talk to each other now-a-days) or steal a domino from him, etc.
Max also likes to imitate things, from a monster's (or dinosaur) growl that the big kids do, to the hand montions of the man leading singing at church in Prague (we're not quite so formal in Kharkov to have hand motions for songs in a house church setting!).
Favorite Things: He loves his rubber ducky in the bath. He also likes stacking cups. Just recently is he getting the hang of actually putting a smaller size cup inside a larger size cup. Max loves to open and close things. Open, close, open-close, open-close. And take things in and out. Such is a familiar sequence with him: open door-put in car-close door-open door-take out car-close door. He also loves taking clothes in and out of things, though why he seems to end on the "out" mode?! Messy boys! Oh, this includes pulling out cards and markers from boxes and trying to put them back in where they came from! He just gets frustrated when he can't put it away himself! Lids, doors, anything he can open and close and put things in he loves. He even can un-screw something if it is just loosly on there. Really, he has come from just fiddling with something to small screwing motions! But he hasn't perfected the "screw on motion and when he gets something off (like a bottlecap) he wants me to put it back on so that he can take it off again. He has also a new-found love of slides. I have to put him at the top, and he loves to slide down (holding my hand, of course). I can't wait 'til he can climb up himself. The slides we are normally around aren't little kid friendly. Another new favorite of Max's is Dogs. He just LOVES dogs of any kind and size. He points them out and wants to go up to them. He will even lay on Kona, Rob and Denyce's dog, and kiss her! He enjoys other animals too, but seems to have a preference for dogs.
Likes: Max likes to read books, but on his own terms, and mostly by himself. He is definitely different from Canaan in this aspect. Canaan would sit and listen to books for extended periods of time (30+minutes) when he was young and Max's age. Max likes to crawl over to the book cabinet, empty 10-20 off the shelf, and then flip through them. He has just started to bring the occasional book to us and will sometimes sit for the whole thing to be read. This is a very new development! If I read a book to Canaan on the couch, Max will get a book and take it over to the love-seat and read it. Max also likes music. This might classify as a "Favorite," actually. He loves singing and will sometimes sway or dance to music. You should see him do the motions for This Little Light of Mine! He sticks his little index finger up in the air and waves it all around, shining his light. This morning, watching Canaan in church, he even put it up to his mouth to blow on it, as well as put his fingers together to cover it on those verses to the song. So cute! He even seems to "sing" a lot during the day. He jabbers in a sing-song type of way.

WORDS: Max has 8 words! Max can say "ba-ba" (bye-bye), "Ha," (hi) "Ma-Ma," and "Da-Da," "Uhh" (up), "Ahyy" (eye), and "Ba-ha" (banana). He is such a boy! Some are more "attempts" at saying something and we like to think he'll say it correctly one day. (Of course he will!) We are starting to try to get him to "try" to say words instead of just pointing and grunting or squealing. It is sort-of working, depending on how patient or persistent we are in getting him to try! Canaan was my a-typical little wordster, having 23 words at 12 months, in comparison to Max's 4 at 15 months!

Signs and Other Signals: Max only has 3 consistent signs: all done, drink and more. Notice, they are all words centered around the table! Max also waves bye and hi. He has two separate waves. One is an open-palmed, back and forth wave for Hi. The bye wave is the typical open and closing of the palm by moving the fingers up and down. And, Max shakes he head for yes and no, quite correctly. However, he is quite adept and pointing and grunting or indicating in other ways (such a flailing arms or squeals of delight or frustration) whatever it is he wants, or doesn't want.

Food

Max always wants to eat and enjoys it. He has started to eat only as long as Canaan does, which is starting to make his mealtimes a little shorter. Keeping up with Canaan is definitely thinning him out. Between all the walking and crawling and climbing, and now shortened meals, he is thinning out. Still got a bit of some rolls on his legs, but not near as chubby as he was. Still has those cute chubby cheeks!

He typically will eat almost anything, but the past month he has started getting picky about what he eats. He prefers bread over anything. We have to hide it from him or put it on the table last; otherwise he almost refuses to eat anything else. We are working on this! :)

I stopped nursing about 6 weeks ago. He was down to 2 times- one late at night and one early in the morning, but I needed to wean him, and he basically stopped without any fuss or even noticing (by the way he showed no change).

There is more and more to report, but if I keep going, I'd never post this. Hope you enjoyed!

Gymnastics

2010-04-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

I want to post a few more pics of our Prague vacation and write some more, but that will have to be a bit later. I have just a few minutes right now, and I can quickly post these. (I also put a bunch on my facebook account, so if you are interested in viewing them all, you can look them up there.)

Anyway, I've been searching for ways to get Canaan more involved with other kids and speaking Russian more. Recently, my friend Katya enrolled her son Senya (who is in the colorful striped shirt in the first picture) in gymnastic classes and suggested Canaan might enjoy it too. I really liked the idea, but Canaan gets very shy around new people, especially when they are speaking Russian. He can understand some Russian, and speak a little, but not much. So, I was very hesitant, wondering how Canaan would do.

He loved it! In his group were about 10 little boys and girls, all around 3 years old. They did various exercises with tumbling, and worked a little on the rings, bars, parallel bars, and trampoline. Canaan didn't understand everything, but was really good at watching the other kids and copying what they did. He was so excited to be there and do "tricks" that he cried when it was time to leave, saying he was only there a short time! I was so elated that he enjoyed the class! He'll be going 2 times a week, which I am sure he thinks is not enough! I'm so thankful for Katya suggesting it to me and for Canaan loving it!

Prague Vacation

2010-04-15T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yes! We are on vacation in Prague!

It is wonderful! We are on our second of 7 days in Prague- and LOVING it! Prague is a beautiful city, and God knew we needed a vacation! Here are a few pictures from our time here.

Monday morning we took the train to Kiev. We over-nighted in Kiev, since we needed to stop by the embassy and get pages added to our passport. It is currently free to do this, but we heard they will be charging soon, and we were both almost out of pages! Tuesday morning Dougle and Canaan went to the embassy while Max and I went to the clinic. A day before we left, Max had a slight fever for a few hours and then started coughing. Since it was getting worse, and I didn't want a repeat of last month's sickness (bronchitis that I let go b/c I thought it was a virus that would go away on it's own, but instead dragged on for over a week until we finally found out what it was and got anti-biotics), I took the opportunity to visit the EuroLab clinic in Kiev that I heard was really good. And it was great. Very similar to an American clinic. We went in, only to find out Max just had sinus congestion that was draining into his throat and making him cough; but I guess that is better than a real sickness. After our trips out, we headed out to the airport to catch our flight to Prague!

The flight was just under 2 hours. There we met Liv and Dave, who'd arrived a bit over an hour ahead of us, and went to our apartment we'd rented. It is a cute little place, about 15 minutes by tram from the center of town. Since arriving, we've enjoyed a lot of things: time out downtown, roaming the streets, looking at the beautiful architecture, seeing a few sites, doing a bit of souvenir shopping, and eating wonderful food! One pic is from a Mexican restaurant. We've also eaten Chinese, Thai, Starbucks and KFC! In addition to restaurants, I am now munching on a delicious avocado and we had a bedtime snack of strawberries last night. All these are scrumptious treats we can't get in Kharkov (the restaurants- the fruit we just can't get until it comes in season in the summer). And, we have also averted a minor disaster: after loosing Max's blanket he sleeps with, we were able to back-track our steps an hour later and find it propped up on the edge of a trash can! What a blessing to see that! Well, that's all for now, folks, but I'll try to post a few more pics through our trip and write a bit more later! Love you all!

Afternoon in the Park

2010-04-08T04:03:00.001-07:00

It is warming up! Yeah! Well, it has been getting in the 50's and maybe up to 60 this past week! And the sun is shining! It is wonderful. About all the snow and ice is gone, except for patches here and there in shady parts. Everyone is out turning over the packed soil in their little dirt patches in front of stores, etc., preparing to plant spring flowers! More and more people are out hanging out, gathered around park benches, strolling through the parks, and general taking more time than normal to get from here to there. And I see more smiles and laughs. Spring is wonderful in so many ways.

Another convenience of spring is not having to dress up so much before going outside. Just a hat and jacket. No special boots, extra socks or tights, gloves, scarves, etc, etc. It is great. And since we aren't wearing such bulky shoes and coats, Canaan has about mastered the art of putting on his own shoes and jacket. That is so nice for me! Max will even bring me his shoes and socks! Of course, he brings them whether it is time to go or not. But I think he finally likes getting outside now! I don't know if it is a change in the weather, or his newfound ability to waddle around. Maybe both. But he loves going "ba-ba" these days.

So, on our free day, our family invited the Hindmans and Nelsons to the park for some fun play. We brought balls and a bat and frisbees and a trike for Max, since he isn't too good on his own walking yet. We all had so much fun. And we just soaked up all the sun we could get. It was wonderful! Here are a few pictures. We even met a few people who stopped in to play a bit with their kids. I LOVE Spring!

More Canaan Funnies

2010-03-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

I have been keeping a list of Canaan funnies. Thought I'd share. Hope these bring as many smiles to your day as they he does to ours!

Figuring out How the World Works:

Canaan: Why does it not rain at our new apartment?? - He said this because he has only seen it snow here, because we moved to our new place at the beginning of the winter.

David (talking to Canaan on the phone): I heard you played games today.
Canaan: You HEARD me playing???!!!

Canaan: When Max gets bigger, he'll be me!
Mom: Nooo.
Canaan: When he gets bigger, he'll still be Max??
Mom: Yep.

Canaan: I just said 'excuse me' to my bottom. No- to my toots!- needless to say, I had to tell him WHY we say excuse me when we toot!

Canaan: Which animal do Cheerios come from??

Mom: Canaan, do you need a tissue?
Canaan: No, I just need a new shirt!

Canaan: Max's snot looks like icicles!!

Canaan: Help! I'm trapped! Mommy, trap me un-up!

One Step Ahead of the Game:

Canaan: It still hurts, but I'm not going to cry. Mom, why don't you like whiny boys?
Mom: Do you like whiny people?
Canaan: Yes....Are you going to cry for me?

Canaan: Mom, there is 2 options. Do you want to paint or play cars with me?

Canaan: If you don't share with me, I'll be sad.
Senya (his friend): How sad??

Mom: Do you think Auntie will share with you?
Canaan: Yes, that is the polite thing to do!

Mom: Canaan, when are you going to learn how to poop BEFORE you go to bed??
Canaan: But, I'm just a little kid and I don't know how!

Educating Mom about life-

Mom: We can play fish.
Canaan: Go Fish. Not 'fish.' Fish swim in the water, but these don't go in the water. They are cards.

Mom: Soup will make you feel better.
Canaan: Sandwiches will make me feel really, REALLY better!!

Applying It to My Life- these are two of my favorites!

--We were studying about Abraham and Lot. The story was how their herdsmen were arguing and Abraham told Lot he didn't want them fighting. So, Abraham told Lot to choose which half of the land he wanted. He let Lot 'choose first.' (And, Lot chose the best land.) I was trying to teach the boys that they should let others 'choose first.' Like with toys or food. Something hard for 3 year olds. I held out two pieces of bread, one smaller and not as good and one bigger. I asked the boys, "What would Abraham do?" Canaan quickly replied, "He would let ME choose first!!"

--Dougle was being sweet and stopping somewhere to get me a hot drink. He went in and got it, but while we was inside (it was taking several minutes), Canaan kept asking over and over when Daddy was coming back. I had told him (several times) he would come out as soon as he got my drink. Finally, I was a bit snappy and told him, "Stop asking me that. I already told you." Afterward, I felt bad and so I looked back at him in his car-seat and said, "Canaan, you know I love you. " Canaan replied, "If you love me, you'll share your drink with me."

Brothers

2010-03-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I had more pictures than just these two to post. But, I guess not. The images are just in my mind and heart, not in my camera. However, I'll still write just a snip-it of info on this subject. I've mentioned it before, but each week, as Max's personality and ability to play and do new things grows, the boys start doing more and more with each other.

Max engages Canaan by going over and grabbing a car to play with next to him. Or if Canaan is writing on the white board, then Max will grab a marker and begin to 'write' too. Sometimes he'll crawl up to Canaan (still not walking on his own yet...) and swipe from him whatever he is playing with. Canaan engage's Max by talking really loudly to him (he doesn't have a hearing problem...he's just found this as the best way to get his attention). He will say, "Let's race!" or "Let's chase each other!" and start running away from Max around the couch or table. Other times, he mimics what we do with Max or what we do with him. Recently he's been tearing up bits of his bread or food into small pieces and giving them to Max while we eat. Or he blocks the path Max is crawling in and says, "Just say please and I'll let you through." Sometimes this irritates Max and I have to step in. Other times, he'll just say, "Good job saying please Max!", pretending that Max answered him.

I keep writing about this, probably because it makes me smile so much. Max is in love with his brother- mimicking EVERYTHING he does. Or just even being near Canaan makes him happy. And Canaan is starting to warm up more and more to Max, as he gets more interesting to play with- I think! And when they talk 'with' each other, it is so precious to a Mommy's ears. I can't wait to see how they grow up together, and pray they will be best friends like my sis and I. What I heard the other day from Canaan gives me hope: "Hey Max, 'ole buddy!"

And here I thought Spring was coming...!

2010-03-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about updating my blog so much recently, but haven't had a chance to carve out some time yet to do it! I have pictures and news to share and information I like to have written down here, since it is my 'journal' of sorts. But for now, just a few pictures.

For the past week, the sun has shone almost every day! And, it has been getting warmer- ABOVE freezing every day! The snow has been melting, the roads and sidewalks have been semi-clear and dry, and the enormous patches of deep ice and old snow that was shoveled into piles to the side of the road, were diminishing in size.

Then, we woke up this morning to snow and clouds!! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Canaan's Chart

2010-02-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

So, sorry the news has been slow on the blog. Canaan came down with something last week and so graciously passed it on to Max. I've been busy with sick boys and trying to keep from getting it myself, and just too tired to do much recently. However, though we are still trying to get rid of snot and buggers and sickly things, it looks like it is all coming to an end soon. Oh, in the middle of sick week, Max got another tooth!

This news is actually old news, by about 2 weeks. But I still wanted to share it with you! Since we moved to a luxurious apartment- it has a dishwasher!!!- we have recently given the chore of unloading the silverware to Canaan. At first, it was a fun novelty, but that quickly wore off. He started complaining about it, telling us how much he didn't like to do it, and constantly tried to get out of it. If you know me, I am a fairly strict mom and we do spank. However, in this instance, and since he is getting older and can understand more and be reasoned with more, I decided to try a new strategy: incentive chart! Something every good teacher knows about!

I had bought some charts last time we were in the States, so that was nice to have. I colored in some of the squares, to leave only 12 blank ones. I explained to Canaan that if he unloaded the dishwasher when I asked and without complaining, then he could get a sticker on his chart. Once he got 12 stickers, filling in all the blank squares, then we would take him to the store and buy him a little car. He was very excited! Daddy was a little disappointed at having to wait almost 2 weeks-minimum- to buy him something (he is the gift spoiler in this household!), but he agreed! Of course, I told Canaan if he didn't obey and unload the dishwasher as soon as I asked, or if he complained, he wouldn't get a sticker BUT, he still had to unload the dishwasher- it is part of the way he helps our family.

The next day, I asked Canaan to unload the silverware. He practically sang through it! He talked to me about how he didn't like to do it before, but now he loved it now. It was soo wonderful! And for the next few days, he would ask if it was time to unload the dishwasher and if he could help. Amazing! Well, we didn't run the dishwasher everyday, but after 12 times, Canaan had 12 stickers, and we planned a family trip to the toy store. Daddy and Canaan went in and went through a big box of all sorts of matchbox cars. At the end, Canaan wanted Daddy to pick- he just couldn't decide. So Dougle narrowed it down for him and he picked. And then Daddy picked one for himself too! Stinker! So, Canaan walked away the proud owner of one (two) new cars!

I must say that the no complaining part hasn't stuck the way I was hoping. We learned some good lessons with the chart, but Canaan is back to asking if he can 'do it later' when it is time to unload. Complaining is just a hard thing we are working on with him now, in a lot of areas. I think the chart was great, but the results weren't as long lasting as I'd hoped. I don't think I'll give up on the idea of incentive charts. Actually, I have a new one up for nap taking (since he has been trying to keep himself awake during nap time), but he really has no interest in putting stickers on it, even when he does nap! But, with this complaining business, I am going to have to be a bit harder and stricter in my discipline/punishments of it. I think complaining is a bad habit that is hard to break. I want to do my best to not let it become an issue in my child's life, by not letting him develop a worse habit of it while he is still a toddler, or under my roof. It is best to break the habit early and young, right? Even as I write that, it sounds like a tall order, especially since I, myself, am prone to complaining. However, maybe it can be a family effort, to help clean up our attitudes and improve our outlook on life, from the inside out. After all, what is that verse my Mom made me memorize..."Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you may shine as lights in the universe!"

Hair Cut Number 2!

2010-02-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

So, Canaan was really ready for a haircut...his second ever. I know he got his first haircut just a few months ago, and it took a bit of convincing that he needed another, since his hair is still so thin. However, the ends were split and very fly-away all over and this haircut helped even all his hair out so maybe it will continue to grow in and thicken evenly!

I must say, the haircut took 6 months off his looks, which is quite a lot when you are just 3! I almost cried! In fact, it took me several days to get used to it and like it. I was just devastated. And then Canaan told me he wanted long hair like a girls' which made it harder for me! Long hair might be cute on him, but his hair just doesn't want to cooperate! I am afraid that I've given him a complex about it, because when he was talking about his friend's sister today (who is just 5 months old), he said, "She just has a little bit of hair." Perhaps it is me who is paranoid! :) Leave it to the mom to worry!

But, his cut looks very nice and I am pretty used to it now, 6 days later!

In other news, I posted a facebook status that I thought I'd share with you all. I am told that this is just the result of raising BOYS, and honestly, it makes me chuckle, thinking back on it, so here goes. Yesterday Dougle caught Max trying to chew up some already chewed gum. Who knows where he got it, but he was in the hall and I hope it didn't come off the bottom of one of our shoes! Today I also was trying to explain to Canaan why he couldn't draw with the Sharpie. Afterward, I looked over at him because I thought he was being melodramatic and pretending to cry and sniff loudly. No crying. He was just deeply inhaling the marker over and over! Ah, sniffling at such a young age! And then a day or two ago, Canaan and I were playing trains in the hall and Max was chewing on a crayon. Well, I thought it was a crayon, but it was a used

cigarette!!! GROSS!! Yuk! WE must check our shoe bottoms I guess, because that has to be how he gets these things. Everyone here smokes (it is super cheap) and so there are cigarettes lying around everywhere; we must just track them in. Of course a few days before that, I came out of the bathroom to find Max had the trash pulled over and was eating handfuls of old oatmeal and coffee grounds out of it! I guess I can't watch them every second of the day, though Max seems to need it these days! But, my children are surviving, despite everything they are trying to do to harm themselves! I am just very thankful to God that we haven't had any trips to the emergency room, since that might be a bit of a bigger ordeal here in Ukraine! God has blessed us with health and safety and we are grateful!

THE PICTURES: Before and AFTER pics of the hair cut. Notice the TAIL I cut off in the back!

The Puppet Theater

2010-02-13T04:23:00.000-08:00

Today, Saturday, we once again accompanied my friend Katya and her son, Cenya (Senya) to the Puppet Theater. We went once about a month ago, for the first time, but the story was over the kids' heads. So, this time, we chose to go again when they were doing 3 traditional Russian Fairy-tales. I was familiar with them before we went and reminded Canaan of the stories, which was helpful too!

It was great! We had so much fun. The boys and I were able to walk to the theater, since it is just 2-3 blocks from our apartment. We met Katya and Cenya outside the theater and presented our tickets (that Katya had procured for us!) at the door on the way in. After going inside, we proceeded to the place where they keep coats; we all undressed from all our winter gear (this can be a bit of a process with hats, scarves, gloves and coats, two excited 3 year olds and a one year old) and proceeded up to the second floor to the Theater. Shortly after arriving, the show started. It was great. There were five live people who sang Nursery Rhymes at the beginning of every story, as well as who interacted and took turns doing puppets during the show. It was definitely a show for little beginner-puppet-theater-goers! Perfect for the kids. I took a short video (10 seconds), but it is a bit shaky b/c I was holding Max with one hand and Canaan was bumping my other arm! Sorry!
Anyway, it was also perfect for us because we knew the story-lines and could keep up with the Russian, even though at times I didn't understand it all. Katya would also help explain some things to me, which was helpful, especially when they used some older words that aren't used in regular conversation, but are still used in fairy-tales and stories that are passed down from long ago.

Canaan and Max both loved it. Canaan stood half the time, partly to see better and partly because he really was enjoying it and wanted to get as close as he could. Max sat/stood on my lap and enjoyed all the music and signing, while eating Cheerios!

They showed 2 stories before intermission, one about a hen who lays a golden egg that no one can break, and another about a little round bun who runs away and escapes from the grandparents and animals who want to eat her, but in the end is eaten by a sly fox. At intermission, we were able to visit the animals they have: some birds (they keep some in a remodeled part of an old elevator shaft), rabbits, a turtle, some hamsters, etc. Then we were also able to visit an area where they keep a lot of the puppets, old and new, that they've used, as well as puppets from other countries. Really interesting. Then we went back in for the final story, the Enormous Turnip that grew so big it couldn't be pulled out without the help of grandma, grandchildren and a few pets. Very fun.

After the theater, we went downstairs and in the coat room we were getting dressed for outside and the two boys started dancing in front of a big mirror, just like they danced in the theater. Too cute! That is the second little video.

This and That

2010-02-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone.

Well, I just went through a few pictures looking at some stuff that we've taken pictures of recently, but that I haven't been able to post. So, here are 4 pictures of some random stuff from life in the past month that I thought I'd share with you. Sorry that the descriptions don't go with the picture. I give up trying to figure out how to do that!! If anyone knows how and wants to share, please do!!

--The first is a pic of the Fruit and Vegetable stand that is about half a block from our apartment. Very nice to have close, especially if we need to make Bortsch, a traditional Ukrainian soup, and need some ingredients. They also have some milk products and and a few other random stuff, and of course, alcoholic beverages of choice! :) Oh, notice the big slab of ice around it. That is our life, except when the patches of ice are covered by snow/slush and you can't see them until you are sliding!

-- The next (so sweet) picture is of Canaan and Daddy reading a Bible story before bed time.

-- The third pic is of an outing we had soon after we bought our sled. It is a lot of fun, but sometimes hard to navigate with both kids on it, b/c Canaan has to hold Max up, which he can't do well. Max is just too little to sit up by himself, especially decked in his big snowsuit. So, we have to pull it carefully so Max doesn't take a spill, face-first, into the snow. The night this was taken, I was excited about our sled and the new snow we had and wanted to take the kids out to enjoy the sled and snow. We went to a playground near the center. We drove there, thankfully, and then 'sledded' out to the playground. It was SO COLD! We were frozen really fast and couldn't stay long. Just long enough for Canaan to go down the slide twice - flying out and landing on his bottom about a yard away from where the slide ended. I think it was super-slick inside the slide and he flew!! Crazy! Of course, we got a few pictures too and then ran back to the car to get home and get warm. We found out later that night that a cold front had come in!!

-- The last picture is of Canaan writing his name (phonetically) in Russian. We are working on writing his letters in English and his name in Russian. He knows all his alphabet in English really well and can even tell me what letter most words begin with (that are straight-forward and typical). He can write some letters too. He even tried to write a few I hadn't taught him all by himself. The L was upside-down, but I was impressed he could think of what it looked like and attempt to write it on his own. I also want him to be able to know and write his Russian alphabet. WE are working on this, but it gets tricky when some letters look the same, but are different letter. Such as in his name, the Russian "N" is exactly the same as the English "H." Just a tad confusing. I just have to clarify that he needs the Russian letter, which looks like a different English letter.

Pictures of the Boys

2010-02-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

A Walk to the Post Office

2010-02-10T04:56:00.000-08:00

Today the boys and I went out for a walk to the post office. I really don't know how far away it is other than to say it is about 3 or 4 blocks. Not too far. It would take me about 8 minutes to get there at a brisk pace, but much longer with a stroller and a walking 3 year old. And on ice.

I took the camera and we took some snapshots so you could see what we see everyday. We don't go to the post office to get our mail everyday, but we often drive by these areas and walk around. Hope you enjoy some of the scenes of our lives taken on this cloudy February day.

--The busy road street is where two streets merge near our house. If you keep looking down the road around the slight curve, our apartment is there on the left.

--This is outside the Hindman's house. Their courtyard is one huge slab of ice!

--The sidewalk with the snow steeped up on one side is how most sidewalks look. To get into the road means you have to climb over or through a huge mound of snow! The sidewalks are also slippery. When it snows, it gives more traction on the ice, but also hides patches of ice, giving you a surprise sometimes! (For those of you who missed my facebook update- I fell while carrying Max the other day. I figured the day would come one day, and it did. Thankfully, I was able to land on my leg and bottom and I only broke 5 of the 10 eggs I was carrying home from the corner store. Max landed just fine on my lap, a bit startled but didn't cry.)

--Here is our friendly neighbor hood, corner cop. There is a cop here always. They carry a little black and white stick, if you can see it, and wave it at cars to pull them over. So, you have to keep an eye out for them while you drive. If you miss their wave, they jump in their car and chase you down.

--This is outside a quaint, traditional looking restaurant that might be fun to eat at some day. Canaan looks for these little people statues whenever we drive by and asks me if they are out talking today. They haven't been recently, b/c of the freezing ice and snow. But today were back!

--The building with the yellow sign that says ПОШТА (Poshta- which is Ukrainian for Post Office), is just that. It isn't our new neighborhood po

st office, but is the one that we have our PO box at.

-- For this bank, I think they figure it is a waste of time to clear the snow off more than just the middle of this big staircase!

--My sweet Max, all bundled up. He was awake the whole way there, but fell asleep on the way home.

--This is one of my favorite pizza places here in Kharkov. It has oven baked pizzas and the cutest little atmosphere inside. It is called Feliche's.

One year Old

2010-02-07T05:51:00.001-08:00

My baby is ONE! This is a post on my reminiscing of what Max is doing and his routines now. It is long, and I don't expect most of you will read it all, which is fine! I do have some pictures at the end, which are of his party! Enjoy!

That is right. I weighed Max this morning and he is a healthy 21lbs., according to our bathroom scales. I actually think he has been thinning out a bit recently. Probably has to do with him crawling around and pulling up on everything these days. But, he still has the cutest round bottom and a few rolls to take the edge off his life! :)

Max has more hair at this age than Canaan did when he was one. However, I think between his rolls and his small amount of hair and his sweetest chubby cheeks, he looks younger than he actually

is. Still like a baby. Maybe that is why I haven't been like several of my friends, shedding tears upon the first birthday of their children. Due to his young looks, I have had to recently remind myself that he is one year old now, and change a few of my expectations for him. Some things I have decided he does understand, even when he pretends not to understand. Such as "come here" or "give it to me." He doesn't seem to appreciate the fact that I am on to his smarts that he has kept hidden away behind those long eyelashes and perfect little blue eyes!

Max crawls around everywhere these days. The bathroom seems to be his favorite place to hang out. So funny! But most of the time, I can count on him being within a 3 foot radius of either Canaan or I. He adores his big brother, imitating what he does and playing with the toys he plays with. Back several months ago, Max started "playing" with a car by driving it on the floor, as he sees his big brother do. He loves to sit on the floor near Canaan and flip through books, just like Canaan does too. I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but Max's favorite book for a while was Bolt, which just happened to be Canaan's favorite at the time! Just recently, I have caught him standing up, propped up against Canaan's little white board in his bedroom, waving the dry erase marker across the board! He has seen Big Brother do this, so he thinks it must be something he should be doing too! Precious!

Max can navigate our few stairs we have in our apartment pretty well. He goes up and down them, most of the time, without incident. He pulls up on the couch and chairs and can walk along them well. He is not interested, however, in walking on his own. We keep trying to prompt and tempt him to try it, but he just is not interested. Mom and Dad and Dave and Liv went in on a gift for Max's birthday: a little airplane he can ride on AND walk behind. Canaan had a Tonka Truck like this when he was Max's age, beginning his love of all things with wheels, and helping him start walking. I always thought my second child would start to walk earlier, trying to keep up with the older one, but alas, no. Sometimes I think life will be easier when he starts walking. I'll let you know when I find out! For now, Max is sticking true to his laid back personality. He's not in a hurry to start walking, and, well, I guess that will be just fine with me! :)

Max still loves music. In fact, several of his birthday gifts were musical. Often, he will start rocking back and forth and start grinning from ear to ear when music is played. In church, he sits on my lap and rocks back and forth when we sing. Just too cute!

Max also likes to jabber, but hasn't added much to his vocabulary. He will jabber a lot with us these days, but nothing intelligible! There was a time (about 3 months ago), that I was sure Max had 4 words. Now, Max only says "ni-ni" (for night-night), consistently. He will sign "more" and "all done." Sometimes it sounds like he is saying "ah-duh" for all-done, but it isn't consistent. About a month ago, I started to work on some signs with Max. I decided that he wasn't going to be another verbal chatter box like his older brother, so sign language might be helpful for us! Of course, we've been working on waving bye bye forever and he still won't do that. But I think he could if he wanted to. He just doesn't want to! I tried to teach Canaan some sign language, but half of the signs he could say before he actually became consistent with the sign. He was just my chatty boy. Max, not so much. But that is fine. We have enough talking going on with Canaan around everyday. Well, actually, I am looking forward to the day when Canaan can start chatting with Max sometimes, which might give my ear a break every once in a while! Ha! Ha! What Mom ever wants their BOY to not talk so much??!!

These days, Max doesn't like going out in the cold too much. I think it is because he can't get around much and just sits in the stroller or sled, or sits in my hands as we follow Canaan around. That is boring, so I don't blame him. Last time I took Canaan to the little park across the street, I put Max in some shoes and let him stand in the snow with his hands on a bench. He seemed to enjoy that a bit, and walked down the bench. But, it is just hard for him to do much like that, because his snow suit is pretty bulky, restricting his movements. And I let him go down the slide several times. But I can't tell if he likes that or not. He smiles at the top of the slide, but not at the bottom. But I think he likes sitting on my lap and swinging. Maybe he is just mournful because he misses the sunshine these days. It has been cloudy for a while, and the couple days there was sun (finally!) last week, we weren't able to be out in it.

Max still loves to eat, something I feel like he would do all day if I allowed! He takes the chance to snack whenever any of us eats. We have to hide the fact we are eating, otherwise he will come over to us, and longingly stare at whatever food we have in our hands. Right now, he nurses about 3-4 times a day: 4pm, a snack at bedtime, then at 11pm and 6am. Otherwise, he is happy to be up and doing everything with us. He still LOVES his highchair. He sits up with the rest of us at the table and eats w

hatever we are eating. And he can tell if he is getting something different than what the rest of us have. So he will point at what we have, and grunt! Usually he has oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast, vegetables or whatever we have for lunch (carrots are the easiest for me to do because they are available always, when most other things aren't. At supper, he usually has what we eat. He will eat soups and meats and chicken, vegetables, some fruits (though not as much as he did before), and all type of breads and crackers. And he loves desserts too! Recently he has been really thirsty, but I think that is because it is so dry inside because of the heaters. He will drink water, but loves orange juice (which I normally dilute).

Max has found Canaan's sticker chart recently, and enjoys pulling himself up to it and taking off the stickers and eating them. He only has 3 teeth (STILL!), but is constantly chewing on things or putting things in his mouth. I am always having to take away coins or other small things that he has found and stuffed inside. Today I pulled three little red balls from a Hungry Hippos game at the Hindman's house. And he had one in each hand for dessert, I guess!

Bathtimes are still loads of fun for him. He and Canaan both have fun, and now that we have a huge bathtub, Max crawls all around it, chasing toys and splashing everything. Max wears size 12-18 month clothes these days. He is in size 4 diapers, though I am trying to use up some size 3's that I found the other day. I put them on during the day, but they are a bit small, so he is always sporting a plumbers crack! Don't worry, Mom, we are almost done with them! :)

Max still takes 2-3 naps a day. An hour nap in the morning, though he occasionally skips that. Then a two hour nap in the afternoon, and often times will still take a 45 minute nap about 6pm in the evening. He goes to bed at 9pm, nurses once before I go to bed, and wakes up to nurse again at 6am. Then he sleeps until about 8am, when either he or Canaan wake each other up. He is a good sleeper, but still eats more at night than I'd like. But I don't mind, so I haven't tried to wean him of it! However, he is a VERY LIGHT sleeper. He wakes up easily and tosses a lot when sleeping. But, during the day, he has gotten used to sleeping near the window of a busy road, which can be noisy at times. It is nice that constant noise doesn't seem to bother him during the day.

Max is definitely my love-able boy. We sing Jesus Loves Me to him before we lay him in bed for nap or night. It is precious to be able to cradle him in my arms and look down on him as he cuddles his blanket close and closes his eyes for rest. He often is trying to climb on me or comes over to be held. He is totally content just sitting in my arms, watching what I do, as I carry him around. And when I'm on the floor or couch, he'll come up and just smother me with open mouth slobber- I mean- KISSES! It is precious! He loves us to kiss him all over too, and chew his chin, and just give him big bear hugs and cuddles. He'll even lay his head on our shoulder when we are holding him and he is tired. Canaan never was a cuddler or hugger or kisser. We always initiated everything love-y and physical with him. Max is a different boy altogether in this area, which I am just eating up!

I feel like Max should be doing and learning a lot more around this time in his life, but he hasn't started that growing up by leaps and bounds yet. That is just fine with me. Everyday I realize more how different he is from Canaan and I see more of his own special personality, which is really neat. I look forward to each day, seeing more of his own personality bloom and grow. Before long, Lord willing, I know he'll be my little toddler, and then little preschooler and then my little young man. Until then, I remain content in each day I have that remains of him being my little baby boy!

Max's Birthday Video

2010-02-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a short video of singing Happy Birthday to Max. Pictures to come!

Happy Brother Anniversary!

2010-02-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Canaan had an anniversary the day Max turned a year old. He's been a brother for a year now. Thought I'd share a few pics of them throughout the past year!

When we told Canaan that Max was going to have a birthday and be one year old, Canaan got really excited and said, "When it's gonna be Max's birthday, he's going to be big and talk!" We had to explain that he wasn't going to talk all of a sudden, but he would...little by little!

The first picture has a special place in my heart, probably because it brings back memories of a similar picture that I have of me and Olivia, right after mom brought home my new baby sister. I'll have to look for it to show you all! I also like the one near the bottom, of both of them in their PJ's, holding their blankets. They are adorable with them. Max has a monkey and Canaan has a little lamb. (Yes, Canaan still sleeps with a blanket!) Sometimes if Max throws his paci or blanket out of his crib, Canaan will get it for him and give it back. Such a big boy helper!

The Many Faces of Max

2010-02-02T11:51:00.001-08:00

This is my SECOND blog post today. The first one (below), goes month by month of Max.

This is THE MANY FACES OF MAX. Not all- I couldn't find a good crying one, or some others, but many!

ENJOY!

Happy Birthday Max!

2010-02-02T05:23:00.001-08:00

My Dad and What we Believe

2010-02-01T00:46:00.000-08:00

Talking about my parents being here wouldn’t be complete without telling you about the seminar that my Dad did for us. For those of you who don’t know, my Dad is a Scientist. And if you are at all familiar with science, you know that it is hard to study it at all without running into phrases such as “...two million years ago....” My Dad got his PhD from Texas Tech, where many wonderful people work and earn degrees. However, many who are in the science department reconcile science and the Bible by saying that God started evolution. For the one who believes that God made the world- just like it says in Genesis, in 6 days-this is a bit of an obstacle to overcome. After earning his degree, my Dad started studying and looking into all the “facts” of evolution. The deeper he dug, the more problems he found with the 'science' behind evolution, and the more holes and discrepancies he found between what existed, in regard to the proof for evolution, versus what they actually have.

Since he was going to be here in Kharkov, my Dad did a mini seminar for us on the topic of Creation. We invited a good friend and wonderful translator, Alyona, from Donetsk, to translate for us. We rented a room and put out many advertisements. Though the seminar wasn’t a huge success in regards to reaching many unbelievers, (one reason maybe being the big snowstorm we had that weekend!), we did have a small group of Christians who attended and were able to benefit from the seminar.

Currently, my Dad teaches a class onEvolution versus Creation at LCU, as well as give seminars around Texas and New Mexico. He also has taught adult and teen classes over this subject periodically at his home church. (The seminars are usually at churches and can be a one day event or a weekend/half a week seminar/gospel meeting event.) The information he teaches includes such topics that deal with the flaws in carbon dating, how the eruption of Mt. St. Helen’s changed Science’s understand of how strata is laid and dated, how considering catastrophic events in looking at the history of the Earth can explain things such as the flood and the Grand Canyon, etc. In some lessons he shows how a lot of charts and sketches in scientific literature is altered or only portrays half the picture (including charts, graphs and information you read in National Geographic to textbooks) to an extent that portrays something completely different than what has actually been found. In addition, he includes a part on the incredible designs of God, talking about various animals and how they made in such a way, that absolutely points to a Creator. There is just no way evolution would have done it (like make the woodpeckers tongue go around it’s skull to the back of it’s head!). It is all amazing and eye opening information that my Dad puts into scientific language that everyone can understand.

Me, I am his daughter, and I love it! I love how my Dad is not afraid to deny, even in the scientific community, what he believes. I love how he talks about the designs of God and the evidences for Creation in all his classes at LCU, as well as whenever the subject comes up in any situation. And I love my Dad's material because it bolster my belief in God.

I have a faith in God. Faith means I don’t understand and can’t explain everything about God-and never will be able to. However, when I can see that so much of what I have seen taught about evolution isn’t true, or when I can look more deeply at the things God has created, it gives some concreteness to my faith. It is like studying the historical material that proves Jesus existed as a person in history and that there were unexplainable events around the time of his crucifixion (like earthquakes and the sun being blotted out), etc. The historical data doesn’tprove Jesus was the Son of God, but putting that knowledge together with the faith I have in God’s words as recorded in the Bible, I feel like I can be more sure of what I believe. I am not grasping blindly in the dark. This is what my Dad’s lessons do for me. He gives me something concrete to hold onto and know, to add knowledge to my faith.

Thanks Dad, for all you do to foster a stronger belief and knowledge of God and His creation in those who claim to follow Christ. Thank you for your willingness to never deny God, in any arena, or deny His power and His ability to do more than we can imagine. Thank you for not just accepting what the world throws at us, but challenging us, as Christians, to think and search for the Truth as God says it is. Thank you for the way that you shine brightly and assertively in the darkness that surrounds today's scientific community.

I encourage anyone of you who are interested in knowing more about his information to attend one of my dad’s classes or seminars. Or invite him to speak at your congregation!

Travels and Traveling in Urkaine

2010-01-31T00:45:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays, we traveled to Kiev to take my parents to the airport. We stayed a few days in Kiev with them, as well, to show them the city. My boys are AWESOME travelers. We’ve traveled by train a lot around Ukraine, so they are used to the routine. There are two, daily express trains to Kiev from Kharkov (and vice versa): the morning express goes from 6:30am-12:30pm, and the evening express is from 4:30pm-10:30pm.

I love traveling by train! When the boys and I traveled to see Dougle while he was in Kiev, we discovered First Class. In First Class, you have the option to travel in a semi-private compartment with 3 seats or with 6 seats. The door is a glass door, that leads to a long hall that travels the length of the train. Bathrooms are on one end, though I hate using the train bathrooms. Most of the time, they are VERY gross! But, you can often see the train tracks from the drain in the bathroom floor. In Second Class, it is like air travel. There are just rows of about 30 seats per car. With children, it is wonderful to have a compartment to yourselves, so they can be a little louder and won’t bother everyone and where there is a little extra leg room (for Canaan to walk around) and a small table. If we travel overnight or on a long journey (usually over 12 hours in length), you can travel in several classes. One is in a community car with many bunk beds. Another way is in a compartment with two bunk beds (4 beds). We have always traveled in the compartment. I am including a picture of it, as well, for you to see the various train cars we travel.

Snow Days

2010-01-31T00:29:00.000-08:00

It was VERY cold when my parents first arrived in Kharkov. In fact, the first week they were here, it was the coldest it had been up until that time! The temperatures got down to -4 degrees F! It snowed a few times, and we all enjoyed (or did our best to enjoy) all the cold weather. We had a few fun times out and walking around. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the great, snowy, cold, outdoors!

Father Frost and Snow Maiden

2010-01-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

Catching up! There are several blog posts I am doing with lots of photos from around the holidays that I am just now getting around to posting! So, in the next 3 days, I will be uploading MANY pictures and doing a few posts!

We were in Kiev on the Russian Christmas Eve: February 6th. We were near the center where they had a big Christmas tree and a Ded Marroz (Father Frost), and his granddaughter, Snegurochka (Sn0w Maiden). We got a picture of them with Max, since Canaan was too scared too have his picture taken with them. Can you imagine this being your job? Standing out in the snow and cold all day? Don't worry, we paid well for this picture! :)

Father Frost, here in Ukraine, is the Santa figure. He is dressed in red or blue and is accompanied by his granddaughter, Snegurochka. She is from a Russian fairy tale of an old couple who had no children. One day, they built a snow-woman (here in Ukraine they are snow-women, not snowmen). Their snow-woman transformed into a little girl. She lived with the couple, as their daughter, throughout the winter months. There are several variations of the story, including one, where she falls in love with a human boy, but melts when she steps out into the sun’s rays to see him.

Kiev

2010-01-29T12:52:00.001-08:00

Kiev is beautiful. It has been the capitol of Ukraine since 1934 (before then, Kharkov was Ukraine’s capitol). Kiev is a lot like Moscow in many ways: it is a very internationally diverse city, modern, it is well kept and beautified, etc. Anyway, we went to Kiev with my parents. I had wanted to take them around Kiev to show them a little bit of it, since there are more interesting things around Kiev, than around Kharkov. However, I failed to take into account 2 things.

It is winter and COLD. And there was actually a very big snowstorm while we were there, which grounded all flights. For this reason my parents’ flight was delayed a full 24 hours.
We were all tired after a big holidays.

So, instead, we just spent 2 days enjoying each other’s company inside the church apartment in Kiev. We played games, read, played with the kids, etc. We did get out to see the center and eat at TGI Friday’s (which is a MUST DO when we are in Kiev, since the only other American restaurant we have in Ukraine is McDonalds!). In addition, Liv, my parents and I went down to the souvenir road in Kiev and browsed the selection. We don’t get quite the variety of touristy, yet very traditional, items in Kharkov. However, I think we about froze my poor mother to death. In addition, my parents also babysat for us one morning and Liv, Dave, Dougle and I went out for a brunch and one last time without kids, while they had one last time with just the kids. I LOVE GRANDPARENTS! :)

Our time was great together and it was really nice having those few days where it was just our family. Here are some pictures of us in Kiev. Mom is eating a traditional Ukrainian soup out of a bread bowl in one of the pictures. Not only was it cool looking, but it was great tasting! Another is of some really LONG icicles hanging from a building in Kiev; the men up there were trying to take them off-they had the area underneath them roped off so no one would get hurt from a falling icicle)! There is also a picture of some of the snow we got the night before my parents were supposed to leave. Another is of Dad carrying Canaan, which he did frequently, and in the snow. That is quite a feat, trudging through the slush and snow!

Canaan Singing in Russian

2010-01-27T10:59:00.001-08:00

So, here is another video! It is of Canaan singing in Russian. He is singing the chorus to Here I Am to Worship, in Russian. At the beginning, he asks me to turn the camera on, and in the middle, he asks if I have turned off the video yet or not. Otherwise, he is singing, very excitedly, because I told him he could watch the video if he sang for me. And he LOVES to watch himself of video!

Canaan often sings songs during the day, and more often than not, he is singing in Russian. He picks up on the songs from our Sundays with the church; we have two worship times: one in English and another in Russian. This is where he learns the church songs. His favorite children's song at the moment is This Little Light of Mine, his favorite church song in English is still King of Kings (that is what he calls the song We Will Glorify), and his favorite song to sing in Russian is Blogaslavityea Gospoda, which has no English equivalent that I know of.

During our times with the church, Canaan is so good about sitting and singing when we sing, and praying when we pray. We let him read his children's Bible or other books during the sermon, but he must sit still and be quiet. He usually does a great job of this and is a great example for his little brother Max, who is just now having to learn how to be quiet and sit still. Not only is it a great time for them to learn how to sing and pray, but they are also learning how to control themselves and keep quiet, a skill that they will need all their life!

Of course, Canaan's favorite part of Sunday time is Bible Class. He and Malachi and Silas all jump up after the final prayer and exclaim, "It is time for Bible Class!!!" They love singing kids songs, listening to the story, and doing their craft.

Thank You Note

2010-01-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

Canaan has been writing some thank you notes recently for all the Christmas gifts he received. (So, if you sent him a gift, your thank you note is probably in the mail!) Anyway, the other day, he received two bleated gifts. While he was painting a picture (paints was one gift), I asked him if he wanted to paint a thank you note. He declined, and I decided not to push it at that moment. But later that day, he was drawing on a white board we'd had set up for an English lesson and he told me it was an 'e-mail' he was writing to thank Aunt Carol. So I got out the video camera to record what he had to say about it. Here it is. Hope you enjoy!

A Sweet Thank You

2010-01-23T07:05:00.000-08:00

Right before Christmas, we received this package in the mail. Each person on our team received a hand-made note from the Bible class. They even wrote a bit in Russian and signed their names in English and Russian! Thank you so much for your encouragement!

These are the notes for Dougle, Lucy, Canaan and Max.

Out of the Mouth

2010-01-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

So, most of this is going to be funny stuff. However, it happened. Just yesterday, Canaan told Dougle he didn't like him. He was in trouble with Dad and didn't appreciate his punishment. This morning, he was in trouble with me. After several spankings, he told me he didn't like me, but he wanted to be with Daddy. :( I guess being a good mom sometimes means that I won't be liked by my child all the time. I just want to be okay with this, knowing that he will one day thank me for it, as I do with my mom!

Ok, here is the funny stuff.

Canaan: I won't help you again! (after I made him throw away one of Max's diapers)

Mom: Is that a nice way to talk to Mommy?

Canaan (completely serious): Nope. May I not help you again, please?

Canaan: What time is it?

Mom: Nine O Two.

Canaan: That's not an O (letter), that's a Zero!

Gran-Nan: Do I need to comb my hair?

Canaan: Yes, because it is short. You need to get it little like ours!

After Canaan saw a man run to get on the subway, but missed the train.

Gran-Dad: Don't worry, he'll catch another train.

Canaan: Gran-Dad, we call this the metro!

We are having Canaan ask to get up from the table after he is finished eating.

Canaan: May I get up now?

Dad: Are you finished eating?

Canaan: Yeah. Possibly.

Canaan: I am combing my hair, because it looks dangerous!

Dad: Canaan, hurry up! (picking up his toys)

Canaan: I can't. I'm slow.

Eating with Silas, Canaan meant to tell him they were 'bread buddies' because they were eating bread together. Instead he said to Silas: "We're buddy breads!"

Canaan was playing trains with Malachi. His train was speaking to Chi's train. I really don't know where he got this!!

Canaan: Promise me, (dramatic pause), when I come out of the garage (his train), I will get to see you!

After Dougle told him to clean up all his boo

ks:

Dougle: Canaan, obey me.

Canaan: I am just thinking of how to put them away.

After laying the boys down for bed, Dougle had to go back in to settle them down.

Dad: Canaan, don't talk to Max in bed.

Canaan: But sometimes he talks to me!!

After Mommy and Auntie both told Canaan 'no' about something he wanted, he thought for a while and then said, "Mommy, 'no' is not very nice!"

Made With Love

2010-01-19T03:48:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, my mom gave me the sweetest, most wonderful present! She hand sewed a quilt for me, using old material scraps she had from sewing me clothes while I was growing up! Beautiful and precious, filled with lots of memories! Some of the material came from a little shorts/shirt outfit she made me when I was 4 yrs old (I think); some came from a Thomas the Tank Engine pillowcase she made for Canaan when we visited for furlough last May. Other scraps of material I recognize are from aprons we made together, choir dresses she made for Liv and I, an Easter dress when I was in grade-school, pillows she sewed for my bed when I was a little girl, a Chinese-looking shirt she made me after I graduated, a vest she stitched, and a jacket she made for me.

The older I get, the more sentimental I become too. I know this gift took a lot of time and effort, and that she worked hard to be able to get it to me this Christmas, since we didn't have a bed spread that fit our bed properly. And seeing the memories she put in there, of other things she's sewed me, in addition to some needlework, makes it even more special. In a time where everyone is so busy, where home-cooked meals are less common and where home-made gifts are rarer, it makes this gift even more dear to me. I know this quilt will be something I'll treasure for years and years, and one I will pass down to one of my boys (or their wives), to pass down from there.

However, the best gift my mom ever gave, and continues to give, is the gift of a loving home and family. Raising me, she didn't follow the cultural norms all the time-or most of the time! She didn't search for other's approval and support of her methods of child rearing and discipline. She didn't do things so that I'd like her and think of her as my best friend (growing up). And because of that, she is my best friend now.

My mom didn't encourage me to do things that would make me more popular, but to always put God first in everything, especially when it was a hard decision and cost me in the world's opinion. She didn't push me to make something wonderful and successful of myself in the world's eyes, but to be a person who could make a difference- even a small one- in other's lives. My mom sought to do what was best for my spirit and my eternal soul. She taught me about God's love, and how to love others, as He loved us. And for that I am deeply grateful. When I wanted to go to AIM and do mission work, she didn't try to scare me or gently suggest other 'good' things; she supported me, emotionally and financially, to get me where I wanted to go, doing what I wanted to do. And when things got tough, she didn't encourage me to come home and try something different (because she really would have prefered I do something closer to home); instead, she challenged me to persevere through the hard times. Then when I took her only grandchild to the other side of the world, she loved me still! She works so that she can save money to fly half way across the world and visit, even though the climate isn't the nicest and the food is not the best! (Maybe one day we'll meet somewhere 'cool!')

In a way, I guess I compare my Mom's gift of this quilt, to the gift of a good home and Godly upbringing. It isn't a gift of something that is popular or a la mode. It doesn't make my life more convenient or easy, and won't help me get rich. But when the nights are cold, I have something warm to snuggle under, and when the days are dreary and filled with things so unfamiliar to home, this quilt is something familiar and close to my heart. It is a gift of time and love, not a gift of money or a quick purchase. It was thought out in advance and filled with memories. I want to be more like my mom in many ways. And now, each day, I am reminded of how blessed I am to have her as my mom. Thank you, Mom . . . for everything!

PS. I know my mom would want me to say, and I want to say it to: Thank you to my Uncle Tim and Aunt Susie who put it together for us. They were able to get it done quickly and expertly, putting echo stitching on it and everything! Thank you, too!

So Much!

2010-01-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

PICTURES AT THE BOTTOM!!

The past few days, I have really wanted to blog everyday! I feel like I have a lot of stuff I want to write about, some over what we did the past few weeks, and some over what we've done yesterday and today. We aren't doing a lot of new and exciting things, but I've felt in the mood to share a bit more of our lives with you lately.

So, here goes just a bit. I am going to try to make it brief, because I turn things into mini-novels if I'm not careful. Which doesn't bother me, and those who don't want can just skim, but it does make it where I can write about less of what has been going on in the McDougle family!

Where to Start??

So for the past few days we have been listening online (on and off as our day permits), to people at Sunset reading the Bible orally. They are doing a 72 hours challenge of the congregation reading through the Bible straight through: Genesis to Revelation. They started Thursday, around 8am, and should finish around church time Sunday morning. There are time slots that families can sign up for, to read. Fifteen minutes at a time. My parents chose time slots at 3am, because they knew we'd be awake to listen. (Yes, they are the most devoted-thinking of us even in this!) It has been cool to see various familiar faces reading parts of the Bible.

My boys, since they really hold the title and reason I started the blog, are growing up so fast! Everyday I am becoming more aware of their unique and amazing personalities. Max, our very laid back and easy going baby, is starting to develop some opinions of his own. Instead of just going along with the flow and calmly backing off things when we tell him "no," he is starting to test us to see if "no" really means "no." And he is starting to throw mini tantrums when we take things away from him that he can't have. We've started to discipline for this behavior, since it isn't a good habit to start forming at such a young age, and it will be much easier to break him of it now than later. Though there aren't always natural consequences to this, there was the other day. I told him not to stand up in the bathtub (he is now pulling himself up on everything), and he got mad, threw himself down- and into the water. He came up sputtering and spitting. No need for any further discipline there. I just reminded him in a stern voice not to do that again!

In other Max news, he has finally started cutting his 3rd tooth! A top, front tooth poked through about a week and a half ago, just 4 months after he got his first two teeth. And speaking of teeth, they are great to have to eat with, which is what Max would do all day if we'd let him. He LOVES to eat! He eats most things, although he prefers to have his veggies pureed, instead of just chopped up in small pieces. He also likes breads, oatmeal and cream of wheat, and some fruits.

Max is the King of jibber-jabber these days. He rambles in baby talk all day long. Sometimes loudly and directly at someone, but most of the time just a general jabbing of the jaw! He doesn't say any of his words that he was so direct in saying just 3 months ago. Just blabs. In addition, Max is pulling up on everything and is walking along the furniture. He has no interest in walking or standing alone. We even try to grab his hands and walk with him. He'll go a few feet, and then crumple down and start crawling. Also, Max has learned how to navigate all the stairs in our house (there is a step down into the bathroom, two steps up in the entry way, and a step down into the laundry room). He can successfully go up and down them without crashing, though sometimes he forgets he is near stairs and sits back down and stair. But he is pretty tough and doesn't cry too much.

Go Fish: that is what seems to describe our play time recently with Canaan. We are all the time playing games of Go Fish with him. It isn't the traditional game where you collect 3 of the same, but Alphabet go fish, matching animals and alphabet letters (mother animal on the big letter, the baby animal on the small letter). He LOVES it! Malachi came over to play the other day, and he and Canaan both played a game. Except when you are 3 and 4 years old, your little hands can't hold the cards; so you lay them out on the table. This is fine when there is one child and one adult; the adult just holds his hards strategically so that he can't see the child's cards that are all laid out. However, two children, each with cards laid out for the other to see: quite a different story! Overall, Canaan is very into games these days, even having Daddy break out his game of Risk that he got for Christmas to play a shortened version (of about 10 or 15 minutes) with him! He likes to play Sorry (a bit revised to his level) at David and Olivia's, which they have, and dominoes if the mood strikes him. Oh, we also play Memory, which he is pretty good at, and Daddy plays War with him with cards. I am planning to make a game for him soon, since he seems to love playing them so much.

Canaan continues to keep us laughing all the time. He says funny stuff all the time, which I am trying to keep record of when I remember. I plan to make a blog post of it soon. However he is also starting to drive us crazy with his constant, "WHY?" He chatters non-stop about everything, with questions littered throughout his ramblings, I think to make sure we are still paying attention. :) To end up this section, I'll leave you with one funny thing he said the other day. Dougle told him to clean up all his books. A minute later he looked over and Canaan was just sitting on the floor. "Canaan, obey me. Clean up like I told you. " To this, Canaan replied, "I was just thinking how I was going to clean up the books, Daddy." Always the stinker.

Canaan has also recently started to color in the lines, a skill that was being honed over the holidays with all the extra attention of grandparents and Auntie, Uncle and Daddy. This is a leap, since he really had no interest in actually coloring anything but scribbles and circles and lines until recently. Oh, Canaan has another interest these days, as well. He has started to pretend. His cars are now starting to talk to each other, and he even goes around play-acting, in part. The funny thing is that he always wants to be a 'bad guy.' I am not really sure how this came about, but he knows there are 'bad people' and he sometimes will tell me he is going to be the bad guy and fight me, or hit Max. Of course, I tell him that isn't nice, and if he really hit someone, he'd be in trouble. Then I try to talk about how he needs to be the 'good guy' and fight away the bad guys, or save the people. I guess this is a Boy thing. My friend Katya told me her son does the same thing now (he is almost the same age as Canaan). So perhaps it is all normal. When I start to get worried about his love of being 'bad,' I remind myself about how fun it was to play the 'robbers' in a game of Cops and Robbers with neighborhood friends. Or how daring it felt to play the rebellious child when we girls were playing house as kids. So, as he gets older and starts play-acting more and more, I try to engage him and play with him sometimes, even to the point of playing 'swords' and fighting him with our left over wrapping paper rolls (the brown core left when you finish the roll).

I guess that is our biggest news lately. If you haven't read Dougle's blog, then you don't know that he, too, has been having fun being a "walrus." He has gone two Saturdays in a row to jump in freezing cold water outside. Yes, crazy. Today he said it was the coldest he'd ever felt before (it was 20 degrees F, and snowing). Took him hours for his feet and fingers to finally feel warm again! But he's enjoyed some nice cups of tea afterward with our new friend, Kevin (Yang Ping Jiang) from China.

Hope you all have enjoyed reading. I want to post more often, but I know I shouldn't promise that to you or myself. However, I'll write again when I next get inspiration and a moment of time to do it - both at the same time!

Christmas Pictures

2010-01-02T02:44:00.001-08:00

We've had a great Holiday season! Here the holiday season lasts a little longer, when we combine our American Christmas (Dec 25th), with the New Year, and then the Ukrainian Christmas (Jan 7th). That means a long season with a tree up, which we love, and lots of fun festivities!

We put up our tree just a few days after Thanksgiving, as has been our tradition. My parents arrived on December 13th, to spend a couple weeks here with us and the boys. We've enjoyed several Christmas parties, snow (and rain, and then snow and rain...), and making lots of memories!

Christmas just keeps getting more exciting as Canaan gets older. He was 3 this year, which meant he knew it was coming and was sooooo excited. I made a calendar to count down the days to Grand-Dad and Gran-Nan's visit, as well as Christmas. He was super excited. Of course, as soon as Gran-Nan and Grand-Dad arrived, gifts started coming out. Well, not as soon as they arrived, because it took 3 days before all their luggage arrived! But, then the flow of gifts started. Maximus Prime pez container, some warm clothes for the cold weather, a couple books, Christmas cookie cutters and sprinkles, etc. They even had gifts left to give on Christmas, which was so much fun too! The boys got lots, including gifts that MiMa and Grandpa Fred, Beth Cunningham, Hollis and Ernestine, and Vinus and Jean Nelson sent with my parents for the boys. And Aunt Carol and the Stover family even sent us packages! We are so blessed with so many who take such good care of us and love us so much! Thank you all!

Canaan did a great job opening his own gifts. When we sat down to open gifts, our family tradition is to start, one gift at a time, and go from youngest to oldest. Gran-Nan was concerned Canaan couldn't wait for everyone to get through their gifts before it was his turn again, but he did fabulous, and even helped everyone else open their gifts! He even helped Max. Max just wanted to eat the presents and didn't have much interest in trying to open them. So, Canaan got to open his presents and give them to Max; Max just loves watching his brother so much, I think he enjoyed this as much as if he'd opened them himself. (One picture below is of this.) Later I found out that for future gifts for babies (not ours- since we won't be having more), we should wrap them in tissue paper or napkins, because I ran out of paper and wrapped one gift in napkins, which Max expertly unwrapped before I could give it to the intended person!

It was a lot of fun. While we don't have many pics of them actually unwrapping, Canaan was SUPER excited at each turn, and so happy with everything, even if he didn't know what it was!

We hope your Christmas and New Year was fun! We pray God blesses you and yours this next year!

Here is just a small peek at our Holidays thus far. Hope you enjoy. I'll post some more pictures soon! We have lots of fun ones to share!

Quick Peek

2009-12-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick peek at what we've been doing lately! Having lots of fun with Grand-Dad and Gran-Nan!!

Hope your holidays are going well!

Canaan Funnies

2009-12-12T12:02:00.001-08:00

So, are these just funny because I am his mom? I hope not. So, I am sharing them! Hope you enjoy seeing a tiny bit of our ever-interesting lives!

Canaan: What is that?

Shelby: An algebra book. Scary, isn't it?

Canaan: Yep.

Then he came to stand next to me: Mom, I'm scared!! (and he was serious!)

Canaan: Max, do you want to play with Ramone? (a car)

Pause

Canaan: No? If you don't say you want it, then you don't get it!

I had to step in. He is such a stinker; he knows his brother can't talk!

Mom: Don't drink the bath water!

Canaan: I'm just licking it and then spitting it back out.

After all our company left after Thanksgiving:

Canaan: Max is sad they left.

When jumping off two stairs in our new apartment: Mom, watch me fly! Wait. I haven't flewed. I flew!

Canaan: Sometimes I see my fingernails...and I want to eat them!

Canaan: Mom, is the house going to stay up all by itself? Because I want it to.

Me: What do you mean?

Canaan: I don't know.

Dad: What are your eyes for?

Canaan: To see.

Dad: What do you do with your nose?

Canaan: You get buggers out!

Dad: No, for smelling!

Dad: What is your bottom for?

Canaan: For pooping!

Dad: No, for sitting on!

Canaan: Why is the snow brown?

At nap time, I was in the room next door to the boys. They weren't sleeping, they were gabbing. First, it started with Max, making coo-ing sounds. Then I could faintly hear Canaan talking. This went on for a while until I went in there and laid Max back down (who now stands in his bed), and told Canaan he needed to be quite.

Canaan: I was just tellin' him about how we lived in Moscow.

I was carrying both Max and Canaan. We have this tradition that when either Dad or I carry them both, we find a mirror and look in it, and say: "Who is that? It is my two favorite boys in the whole wide world." The funny, is that last time I was carrying them, Canaan told me: Mommy, you're heavy for Max and I!

Growing Up

2009-12-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

Canaan is growing up so much. I don't remember when I felt like he moved from the baby to toddler stage, but I feel like he is growing out of the toddler stage and into the little boys stage already! That isn't supposed to happen right after they turn 3 years old! But, he just seems so much older these days!

Canaan is getting taller, his hair is getting thicker, little by little, and he is becoming more responsible and mature. Plus, he is just smart, but I feel he has always been smart for his age! :)

Canaan comes in and wakes us up each morning, telling us it is time to get up! If it is earlier than normal, we have him crawl in bed with us, or, like this morning, he can sit on our window sill and look out the window at the cars driving by. Canaan helps me unload our dishwasher each day. Now that we have one, it is his job to put away all the forks, spoons, and utensils. He still throws away Max's diapers for me, even stopping from playing to do it. We have a calendar and a chart that shows his 'jobs'. Plus he gets some stickers for being an extra big helper when I need it. He is learning to make his bed, can almost completely dress himself (this is one area I have felt he has been a bit behind in- but I don't push it), and when we come in from outside, he can take off his shoes, coat and hat. He hangs up his coat, all by himself, and puts his hat up. He is very observant and listens to everything Daddy and I talk about, even when we don't realize it. He is quick to see Max pick up something he shouldn't have and take small things from him that he tries to eat. Canaan is learning how to make his bed, and we have recently started 'reading time' where we read a book together, and then he sits quietly with me for 15-20 minutes reading, while I have time to read too. This has been great and he is so good about it!

In addition, Canaan helps me set the table, can take his dishes to the sink, cleans up ALL of his and Max's toys at night (or during the day before company), and uses the restroom and washes his hands all by himself (except for wiping). He just carries his little stool around and turns on lights and uses to reach the sink himself! He is SUCH a big boy! Plus, I can talk to him more now and reason things out with him. He even answers more and more with yes ma'm or yes sir, please and thank you- on his own. Or he will ask, "May I please ______."Lately we have been trying to work on patience, even though this is so hard. We just feel that it is best learned young. Makes life as an adult much calmer and peaceful!

Another thing, Canaan is a participant with us in church and small group. He also loves Bible class and looks forward to it all. He sits still with us, or in his own chair (as pictured below) and will hold his own song book when we sing, or Bible when we are reading. He sings songs with us and has a few favorites that are memorized. While we were in the States for 2 weeks when my grandmother passed away, he learned the choruses for Leaning on the Everlasting Arm and one other song, which name has slipped my mind! He still requests the King of Kings song (We Will Glorify) when given a chance, and even knows parts of several songs in Russian, now that we are doing church in Russian! It is just amazing to see him sing and try to participate with us during church, as well as him pray with us at home. His prayers are even more relevant, as he has started including things that we have done recently in his prayers. For example, "Thank you for Eileen coming here"- which is what he prayed last night at dinner after Eileen arrived in from Rostov, Russia (who is staying with us a few days).

Canaan still likes to line up his alphabet cards on his own (though some letters are set backward), and still writes his name- he has progressed to getting all the letters in one line recently! And, as you can see in the pictures, he still loves to line up his cars!

As a little boy, Canaan loves to run! He runs through our house and runs (or crawls with Max) in circles around the table. He loves running and climbing outside. He likes to draw at short intervals, and loves to work puzzles (around 12-25 pieces he can do on his own). He loves to still read. With us and on his own look at the pictures. He has several books memorized, which he loves to read to Malachi or Silas when they come over (picture below). Skipping is fun for him too. Sometimes we skip together down the sidewalk, much to people's amusement, since we live more in a buisness district, than a residential one!

Canaan still takes about a 90 min nap each day, and sleeps about 11 hours at night.

We are just so proud of him and what a sweet little man he is becoming! Of course, he is still a little boy and far from perfect, but we love him so much and are so proud! He still has a stubborn streak, but every month is learning to curb it better. He likes to chew his fingernails, which we are working on, as well as a bit of a whining problem, especially when tired. But overall, he is just growing up perfect, in our minds! :)

Crawling and more

2009-12-11T04:11:00.000-08:00

Max is crawling everywhere these days. He is quite good at it, too! And he absolutely loves being on the floor and going where he wants! Some things, you can just tell, even from a baby.

Max is now a bit over 10 months. He is even starting to pull up on things. He has tried pulling up on things for over a week now, but he made it into a standing position all by himself for the first time just 2 days ago! Wow. He will be taking off walking before I know it.

Max continues to grow and smile and be just a wonderful baby. He's had some fussy periods (fussy for him, but normal for most babies), but mainly it is due to sickness. He has had a bit of a cough and sniffles recently, but is finally getting better. But most of the time, he just hangs out content and happy. Well, I guess he doesn't like it when we tell him 'no.' But who does? He is not as stubborn as Canaan was (and is), but stops doing what he ask. However, he looks at us with this incredible poochy-lip frown and fusses at us to let us know he didn't like us ruining his fun. He also does this when I have to dig small, unknown objects from his mouth. Oh, the way our lives change when the babies begin to get around!

Max still has just 2 teeth. Funny, but no others have decided to pop up yet. In time.... He loves to kiss our chins, though he likes to test those teeth out sometimes too. I have been having to smack his mouth recently because he keeps biting everything and everyone. Maybe new teeth are trying to come through!

Max says 4 words, no new ones recently. Ma-ma, Da-da, ba-ba (bye-bye- but rarely says this), and Na-na (night-night- he tells us this one a lot when he is tired).

Max has found a new love: balls. Canaan was never very 'into' balls, but Max loves chasing them around the livingroom and bathtub. He will even slip in the tub, trying to chase a ball, and dunk his head under the water, but not cry. He seems to like music; if he is a bit fussy, this calms him. He likes stuffed animals too. Canaan wasn't a big fan of these either, but Max loves to cuddle and hug stuffed animals! Like Canaan, Max loves pulling our animal magnets off the fridge. I keep them low enough for him, and he likes to play with them. They are wonderful for when I am in the kitchen cooking and he joins me. They keep him occupied for a while. Of course, then he just moves on to measuring cups, or something else fun and noisy! Also, a favorite of Canaan, he still loves playing with cars. I think this is more because of Canaan! Too cute.

Max is actually nursing less during the day now. He really eats every meal with us and loves to eat! Sometimes he can tell we are feeding him something different and objects. We finally have a high chair for him, thanks to our team! We were waiting til we got moved to get one, and he is really happy. Funny how babies that young can have such preferences, but he does. I can tell a difference in how he likes to sit up, at our level, at the table, versus lower, in a walker, which is what we used before we had the high chair. But, he really has cut back on day-time nursing, though in the evenings and early mornings he has some 'good' feeding times (meaning he eats all of 10-12 minutes instead of 5)!

Well, that is all I can think of for now. Here are some pics of my precious boy!

Becoming Brothers

2009-12-10T03:59:00.000-08:00

Well, though they've been brothers for 10 months now, Canaan and Max are starting to interact more with each other now. This is mainly due to Max getting old enough to do things on his own with Canaan. So, I have snapped a few pictures recently of them doing thing together. Max adores his big brother, and Canaan has started enjoying some actually playing 'with' Max. They crawl, chasing each other around the kitchen table. They play with cars together, with Canaan continuing to do better about sharing and giving Max toys to play with. Canaan reads, and sometimes Max sits near and listens. The love splashing in the bath together. Max sleeps better with Canaan is napping in the same room with him, except for those rare times with Canaan doesn't feel like sleeping and wakes him up talking out-loud! And Max loves to crawl on top of Canaan, which he is still getting used to! But, it all warms my heart! I love watching them become brothers at heart more each day!

My Little Man

2009-11-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

So, I did an update on Max a couple weeks ago, and had every intention of following it up with one on Canaan that week. But, alas, it didn't happen. So, here we are, a few weeks after Canaan's 3rd birthday, with an update on my little man. PICTURES AT THE END!!

Canaan Stats
3 Years Old
3 ft, 1.5 inches tall
30 lbs

Brother
Canaan is doing great at this big brother thing. I wonder if he remembers 10 months ago when he was an only child. Perhaps it is a vague memory. I was thinking tonight about how Canaan had the first two years of his life alone, with no competition for attention. Even now, he enjoys a lot of my one-on-one attention, since Max is little and sleeps a lot and doesn't talk yet. Max won't have this one-on-one privilege until he is older and Canaan has left home.... Anyway, Canaan does well as a brother.

Now that Max is scooting across the floor and grabbing his favorite toys and books, Canaan'screative abilities have kicked into high gear. He tries to get Max's baby toys and put them all around Max, before he gets out his own beloved play things. Unfortunately, Max has eyes only for Canaan's things. He already knows what certain favorites Canaan has and prefers those toys.

Canaan also has started to try to guess what is wrong with Max when he cries. I am sure this comes from my guesses as to what the problem is! Sometimes, he thinks Max is tired and needs to go to bed. At other times, he declares that Max doesn't want to go there or do that. Then there are the sweet times where Canaan will try to run get something for Max to try to make him happy.

Canaan is also having to get used to the fact that Max is growing up. We used to say that Max couldn't do anything. So when we were trying to coax him to say his first words, Canaan would look at us with a silly grin and exclaim, "Nooo, Max is a baby! He can't talk." Now that Max has started to move around, Canaan has become a bit curious with how excited we get when he started taking his first 'official' crawls. (Yes, it has happened. Mommy and Canaan's world is about to be turned upside down!) So, Canaan gets down every once in a while and tries to crawl to us too, expecting a big round of applause, I guess! He has even learned now that he must now put toys UP, high out of reach, instead of just a few feet away from Max's exploring hands and mouth. And, Canaan remains very vigilant about which toys of his that I have declared "off limits" for Max, because of tiny pieces. He quickly will yank that toy- I mean, rescue that toy- from Max's clutches when he gets a hold of it! Oh, he is preforming well the duties of an older sibling!

All By Myself
The older he gets, the more I hear this phrase! Here are a few things Canaan does, all by himself!
--Canaan still throws away all Max's diapers, sometime without me asking him to.
--He can put on his underwear and pants on. Sometimes he can get his shirts on by himself, but this is a new thing.
--He can climb up into his carseat (if we don't mind a shoe mark on the seat).
--He can sing the 12 Apostles and the Books of the New Testament, as well as numerous other songs.
--He can spell and write his first name by himself. Though it isn't always in a line, all the letters are there when he is done!
--He can say a short prayer.
--He can lead a favorite song during small group.
--He can count easily up to 20, and counts to 50 with a bit of prompting.
--He can also count to 10 in Russian.
--He can say and recognize his ABC's. He for sure knows all the capitol letters and most of the lower case letters.
--He can line up a deck of alphabet cards in line from A-Z on his own, though at times it comes out backward. He loves doing this, because I give him a jelly bean or starburst for it! :)
--He knows his birthdate and how old he is, as well as how old he will be next year!

--He can clean up his own toys.
--He can put away his own clothes, though they aren't neat and folded-but in the drawer!
--He sometimes helps me put forks and spoons away in their drawer.
--He likes to pour in the ingredients to things I am making and stir them up. He can almost crack an egg by himself. He cracks it, and then drops the shell in with it at the end. Oops!
--He can quote several of his books to me, word for word.
--He can wash his hands in the bathroom sink.
--He can take his plate and cup into the kitchen and put it in the sink.

Why?
We went through this very trying phase a few months ago. When everything was "why?" Now, it seems to have subsided, but it seems like kids go in and out of this phase all through their growing up years. So, I assume it will come upon us again, where we will be explaining things in circles until we run out of answers and patience and demand some quiet time!

Loves
Canaan loves to play. He remains a true boy, loving his cars and trucks. His favorites are the models from the movie Cars, though he has other 'favorites' as well. Canaan also loves to read. About as long as we'll read to him, he will let us. He has certain books he can quote to us, which he enjoys reading to his English speaking friends. It seems that he sees new things each time he reads, he asks new questions, some of which are unanswerable! He also is in a kick with puzzles again. He goes in an out of these phases. Right now, he enjoys doing jigsaw puzzles; about 24 piece is his limit to do it alone. He also likes to play with his train set, but he also likes to destroy it when he gets bored playing. The same with his large lego blocks and a small construction set he received for his birthday. Build and Destroy. It must be a boy thing!

Talking
As you know, Canaan is an avid talker. His vocabulary increases every day. He is constantly listening to us and picking up on new words or phrases. And he is always saying something that makes us laugh!
--Because we are talking about moving, Canaan asked if we were going to take the walls and the kitchen sink with us to our new apartment.

--You aren't Mommy anymore. You are a jungle gym!- said when he was climbing all over me!

--But which Daddy am I going to have?- cried Canaan when Daddy has to go to work.

--Does somebody need me?- said when he was feeling left out.

--Oh, sure. I guess I can. - when I asked him to clean up his toys.

--Ok, this hand is free now. That means I can. - said when I asked him to throw away Max's diaper for me.

--Is Daddy going to be gone forever??- when he saw Daddy ride off our on friend's scooter.

--Mommy, look at my nose. It is gross!- in the context of buggers and snot!

--Oh crackers, where are you?- said when he was hungry.

--My food goes in my mouth, to my throat, to my esophagus...to my legs!- when being silly!

--But the other boys don't hold their hands. --exclaimed when I told him to hold my hand when we crossed the street. We'd just passed some older boys who didn't hold each other's hands in the street!

--He is going to his homeland.-He is picking up that 'Biblical' vocab!

--Mom, Thomas was being mean to Henry. That is why he is all by himself.

--My toes said 'Yes!'-when I asked him a question, he replied by moving the end of his foot up and down.

--After I told a story to Dougle about how Max burned himself, Canaan followed up with this series of questions: Why was the oven on? And why was he (Max) next to the oven? And why did it burn him?

--Which way did we come from?!-Canaan loves talking about directions: left and right, as well as knowing which way we will go and if we came from the same direction. (This is where one-way streets are confusing to him, because we have to go back a different direction than we came!)

First Hair Cut!

2009-11-09T09:06:00.000-08:00

I know you can't believe it, but we did it! We finally cut Canaan's hair! It is really more of a trim than a cut! However, he's had a lot of long strings of flyaway hairs that are getting worse in the dryness of winter. So, we decided to put on the longest guard on the trimmers and Daddy buzzed away! In the end, it looked close to the same as when we started, but we can tell a difference.
Canaan was a little nervous at first, but all we had to do was promise him a piece of chocolate and he was ready for anything! He sat really still and did great. The video is a little long- around 3 minutes, but we didn't take the time to try to do a nice trimmed and cut version for you all. Instead, we decided to just post it for those of you (special grandparents and aunts and uncles) who we knew would be interested!
Enjoy!

9 Months (and 2 days)

2009-11-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

Warning: CUTE PICTURES AT BOTTOM!

In case any of you were wondering, Max is 9 months old and almost crawling! He really can scoot/army crawl across the floor to get just about whatever he wants. He had been diving forward from a sitting position and then rrreeeaaaccchhhiiinnngg really far to try to get things for a while. Now he has started the scoot. I think he'll be full on crawling soon! Watch out, Mommy! I am loving to put things in my mouth now!

Other Max stats
2 Teeth (bottom middle)
One Cute Smile
Pinchable Cheeks
Rolly legs

Sounds:
-Max can wave bye-bye, and we've heard him say "ba-ba" a couple times when waving bye!! So, I think bye-bye is his first word!! (Canaan said uh-oh first, at 7.5 months.)

-I have also heard him say "na-na"when I put him to bed a few times. I always tell him, "Night, night." When I put him down, I lay him in my arms and sing Jesus Loves Me to him. When he is really tired, he leans over and tries to roll from my arms and into his crib. He, like Canaan, likes his bed when he is tired! We've also given him a little blanket, like Canaan has. The blanket for Canaan was a mistake, but really worked out well. With all the traveling we've done since Canaan has been born (both in the States and internationally), Canaan is often out of his "normal" bed and routine. But, his blanket travels with him and is a sign that it is bed time (good for on planes and switching time zones). We've bought several to have them on hand when we loose one or need to wash one. It has worked great for us and I recommend blankets for kids, especially if you will travel a bit! Of course, Canaan just turned 3 years old and still sleeps with his sheep; we haven't figured out how to break him of that, but are thinking he is getting old en

ough to let it go. If you have any suggestions, let us know!

-Max has been saying Da-Da a lot too, but not always purposefully. Today, Dougle walked into the house and Canaan yelled "Daddy!" Max stopped eating (I was nursing), leaned over to look and said "Da-Da!" Pretty purposeful!

-Max has been saying MaMa-MaMa for over a month. However, he doesn't seem to say it purposely, for me, yet.

-Max also likes to gab. He baby-talks a lot.

Imitation
Max has been watching Canaan since the day he was born. Now Max is mimicking him! Instead of only chewing on cars (he chews on EVERYTHING), he has started to "drive" them in front of him, back and forth on the ground! I am amazed! He will be copying Canaan the rest of his life, I think! (Though I am hoping he will learn from Canaan's mistakes and not make them!!) Max even prefers to play with Canaan's toys, r

ather than his own.

Night Time and Sleeping
Max sleeps from about 9pm-6am (9 hours- for the non-math whizes!). He then wakes up to eat, and goes right back to sleep until 9 or 10am. Yes, I am blessed! God knew I couldn't survive without good sleepers! Canaan was the same. He slept 11-12 hours a night from the age of 3 months on. The only time we have problems with getting off schedule and mid-night feedings is when we are traveling.
Max takes about 2 naps a day that are about 1-1.5 hours. He sometimes takes a 45 minute nap right before bed time.

Food and Eating

Max LOVES to eat! I am still nursing Max several times a day. However, around 5.5 months, he started eating oatmeal and other pureed foods. Now, he can even pick up little bits of food I put on a tray and put them into his mouth, though this does take quite a bit of concentration and effort, as well as make a mess! He eats chicken and meat pieces that I cook, bananas, peas, corn, broccoli, carrots, bread, potatoes, etc. Pretty much

, he eats a little bit of whatever I am eating. When he sees us sit at the table, he knows what is going on and wants a part of it! We can't get away with not feeding him! So, whatever we eat, he eats some too!

Pooping

So, I don't know if many of you remember, but Max has never been a daily pooper. In fact, for the first 8 months of his life, he only pooped once every 5-7 days on average. Well, I say only 8 months because for the past few weeks, he has been getting off schedule. We ask ourselves, "Who is this baby and what is wrong with him?" I guess we should be wondering what is RIGHT!? He started pooping every 3 days and then every day. The every day thing has come with some restless sleeping and extra fussing and drooling, which I am attributing to new teeth coming in (thought I haven't seen them yet). But, now that I think about it, I think it has been 2 days since the last dirty diaper. Did I mention that they smell?! They smell like buttered movie pop-corn! Weird, isn't it?!

Random Stuff

--Many people here tell me Max looks like a baby doll!

--Max is still pretty laid back, but has definitely started fussing when he doesn't get his way (I tell him not to touch things and follow through), or when Canaan takes something from him that he wants. So, not totally perfect, but pretty clo

se!! :)

--Max can walk in his walker a bit now- mainly backward and to the side. He really doesn't ever go forward. Otherwise, he is not interested in standing at all (total opposite of Canaan).

--Sometimes we will all be in the living room and then one at a time will leave. Then we will all be in the kitchen and one of us will look around and say, "Where is Max?" We just forgot about him and left him in the living room by himself. So, Canaan has heard us say this a few times, and if he thinks I am leaving Max out of something I shouldn't, he will say, "Oh, you forgot about Max!" or "Don't forget Max, Mommy!"

--Max loves to look at himself in mirrors. Do all babies?

Finger Painting!

2009-11-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here is us fingerpainting on the kitchen floor. It was lots of fun. The first picture Canaan painted, he just wanted to put all the colors on his paper. After that, we painted his hand for a hand-print. Then we did a hand print with each color. Then we painted Max's hand. He wasn't as cooperative, preferring to clench his hands, instead of lay them out flat for a nice print! We got one good one, though.
The finger paints are great, washing off with warm water and a bit of soap. We loved it, and even used the finger paints later to paint pumpkins at Canaan's birthday!

Fall Fun Outside

2009-11-02T08:46:00.000-08:00

Fall is here. Actually, now, it is headed into winter pretty fast. Our high today is in the 30's. Nippy. Thankfully, our heaters were turned on about a week ago, so we are keeping warm inside. Sometimes warm enough to open the window (remember: our heaters just come on and off and have no dial to adjust the heat).
Well, when these pictures were taken, it was very fall-ish! I think that fall is the most beautiful time of the year, here in Kharkov, anyway. Some places aren't as pretty. But here the leaves change through many colors and the parks are gorgeous. I love it!
In these pictures, I'd drawn a chalk road map for Canaan. We brought his big jeep and trucks out to go on the roads. Max watched from his walker, which he is getting better at navigating. The chalk drawings took almost a whole piece of jumbo chalk, but lasted several days, even with cars driving on it, going in and out of the courtyard. This was definitely one of my better ideas of late: Canaan LOVED it!
The pictures of the boys weren't as successful. Neither was very cooperative. But they are cute enough to post!

Making Pumpkin

2009-11-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

Here in Ukraine, as in many places outside the States, you can't buy canned pumpkin. Well, since food and holidays go hand in hand for me, I set about finding out how to make my own pumpkin. Last year, our American friends, the Woffords, gave us some, since we had just moved here not long before. This year, I made my own! And guess what? It is super easy.
There are several recipes you can follow. I got mine off this website:How to Cook your Pumpkin.

1) Clean the outside of the pumpkin.
2) Cut pumpkin into pieces (I did 4).
3) Carve and scrape out the seeds and strings.
4) Put in covered dish and bake in the oven for about an hour.

After one hour, the peel came right off and it was pretty mushed/pureed already. I plopped it into a plastic container and stored it in my fridge for making. It yielded about 4 cups, enough for 2 recipes of pumpkin chocolate chip cake! Delicious!

If you are wondering about pumpkin chocolate chip muffins/cake, here is the recipe!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cup-Cakes

1 yellow cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 c. water

1/3 c. oil

1 can pumpkin (15 oz)

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1 c. chocolate chips.

Mix dry ingredients and then add wet ingredients. Cook 350 degrees in greased (or paper cups) muffin pans.

Halloween

2009-10-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, here is our Halloween post. There are two pictures. One of them is the only one we got of Canaan as a Robot, since he really didn't want to dress up in the first place. The other is of Max, looking super cute as a reindeer. It was tough getting him to smile because he is teething and not sleeping well. (No worries, I gave him some oral-gel I brought from the States and some infant Tylenol to help get him through the night!)

I decided to make a robot costume for Canaan for Halloween. He was never impressed with the idea of dressing up, but I thought I could pump him up to it and it would be okay. Nope. Not even with the help of my sis could we get him excited about it. He really got into the goggles I bought him, but that was the day before. When it came time to dress up, he wanted nothing to do with anything. Oh, except his "long socks." I bought gray tights for him to wear to match his outfit. I was smart and bought them with airplanes on them, hoping that would sweeten the deal. It did. At first, he didn't want them on. But, once on, we couldn't get him to take them off. Even though he didn't wear his costume during the party, he wore the tights all night long and cried whenever I tried to put pants on over top of them (to make the pictures better). Well, he wore them all night at his Birthday party, to sleep in that night, all day the next day (only with much crying did we get the sweats over top of them to go out in the evening- it is cold!), and he continues to wear them as he sleeps now. I did tell him he had to take them off in the morning. We will see how that goes over!

As a side note: he looks very Russian in his little tights. A lot of Russian/Ukrainian boys and girls wear tights under their snow suits in the winter (up through ages 5-6). When they arrive inside, they take off their snow pants and run around in their tights- no other pants. So, I guess he is just fitting in with where we live!

Oh, Canaan did help us make the costume! He watched Daddy spray paint it, put stickers on it, though they kept falling off, laid coins all over it to tape on (he LOVES coins), and helped glue on the gage and calculator (he also loves numbers). So, that was fun!

Hope you enjoy their costumes. Canaan kept his on long enough to knock on David and Auntie's door and yell "Trick or Treat." Max enjoyed his, thanks to Gran-Nan, who bought it to help keep him warm in Ohio when we were there!

Happy 3 Years to Canaan!

2009-10-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

Canaan turned 3 years old!! Wow! We have enjoyed every minute being his parents. We thank God for giving Canaan to us and hope we have many more years with him!!

Here is just a quick view of our party. It was a Halloween themed party since they don't really

celebrate Halloween here. The adults carved pumpkins, the kids finger-painted pumpkins and played with gifts, we all enjoyed Halloween snacks, and even played the Wii (thanks to Rob and Denyce for bringing it!). It was a blast.

Happy Birthday my big boy!!
(The picture of Canaan with the wide eyes is when we turned off the lights to look at the lit pumpkins!)

Catching Up!

2009-10-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

So, life has been hectic the past few months. I would love to write in detail about all our adventures and catch you up on everything in detail. But, alas, I have not the time. And, I doubt most of you would actually want to read that much! :)

So, here is my attempt to briefly summarize what has been going on. I'll do some subsequent blog posts highlighting specific things later on, but here is the basics of what has been going on with us. And, of course, some pictures to go with it!

Before we knew it, summer was turning into fall. At the end of July, Dougle went to Kiev for 3 weeks to do an intensive Russian study course. The boys and I visited Daddy for one long weekend, but stayed in Kharkov to give him the best study time we would the rest of the time.

Not two weeks after he returned, we were heading off again...to Donetsk. It may seem we go there often. Well, we do. Our visas to stay in Ukraine are registered through the school of preaching there. So, we have to go there to pick up paper work and register every six months. This time in Donetsk, David and Dougle were each teaching a 2 week class to the students. Dougle taught the first year students a course on Hermeneutics. While we were there, Olivia and I cooked a Tex-Mex meal for everyone, staff and students. It was a lot of fun and kept us busy planning and preparing for it while the boys were teaching.

After one week in Donetsk, Liv, the little boys and I came back to Kharkov. Rob's parents were in town a few days and we wanted to see them before they left for their vacation together in Italy. At the end of the second week of teaching, David and Dougle returned home.

Soon after, we found out that my Grandma Janie was diagnosed with cancer and was given 2-4 months to live. Olivia and I decided to take Canaan and Max to Ohio and see her one last time. Unfortunately, Grandma Janie died before we arrived in Ohio. She passed quickly, at home. Though we didn't get to see her one last time, we hold very dear memories of her life that we will continue to cherish. In addition to loosing our grandmother, while in Ohio, my sister, Olivia, lost her baby. She was 11 weeks pregnant when she had her miscarriage. It was very difficult for her during this time, especially since she was so far away from David. Needless to say, our time in Ohio was difficult in many ways, though blessed in others, being surrounded by family during those times.

While the boys and I were in Ohio, we applied for new Ukrainian visas (not credit cards!). We have to leave the country once a year to do this. Dougle and David went to Budapest, Hungary, to get their new visas (which is one of the closer places we can go to do this).

All of us arrived into Kiev on the same day, Wednesday. We stayed overnight and took the morning train home to Kharkov. It took a week to get back on our feet after arriving home, just from jet lag and all the travel. Not long after we arrived back, Mary, David's mom, came into town to visit. She was here for two weeks, checking out our city and visiting her kids!

Since being home, we've been up to a lot of things. I've felt really busy, though at the end of some days I fall into bed and wonder what exactly it was that I accomplished. I think being a mom and wife is a full time job! However, in everything we've tried to have fun and glorify God. I think that is what being a Christian is all about, right. It isn't about who has read or memorized more Scripture or who prays the longest each day, though those are great things that I don't mean to minimize. But at the end of the day, it isn't about putting God first in our lives by all the things we do, but about letting Him be the center of our lives. For me, this is a new way of thinking about things. When I think of putting God first, family second, Russian language third, etc., I feel like God is just at the top of a list that needs crossing off. Instead, in being a Christian, I want God to be at the center of who I am, directing how I behave in all aspects, toward my husband, my children, out shopping, while I study Russian, etc. Anyway, those are just some brief thoughts recently.

I hope that all of you have been doing well and enjoying the past few months. Thanks for keeping up with us, even when we have long absences of communication. And, thanks to everyone who takes time to leave comments and let us know you are reading and care about us! We love you all!

Canaan Writes His Name

2009-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am hoping to catch up with lots of pictures soon, but until then, you can look at this. Isn't my boy just so smart?!

Canaan wrote his name all by himself without any direction. All we did was ask him what letter came next. You might think the paper is upside down in the picture. No, it is just how he wrote it. The second picture is the same page turned upside-down. I think he is either very confused or very talented. Not only can he write his name at such a young age (I think 2 years old- almost 3 is young!), but he can do it upside-down! :) Notice half of it is upside-down and half is right side up. He never turned the paper over.

One Year in Ukraine!

2009-10-14T05:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Anniversary- to us and our supporters!!
Hooray! One year ago, we arrived in Ukraine! We arrived a day later than planned, because we had problems (which ended up being a BIG mess) getting our stuff from Russia into Ukraine. However, we arrived! My Dad, Kirt, had come to Russia to help us pack and move, since I was 5 1/2 months pregnant at the time. It was one year ago that we started our adventure in this new city and country, with the dream of spreading God's kingdom more in this part of the world. And, one year later, we are loving it here! We love our life and our work here!

The Turning Point
Over the next few weeks, our team will begin what we were sent here to do. After listening to much advice from former missionaries and after much prayer, our team decided to dedicate it's first year to learning the Russian language before we began our ministry. While learning the language, we have made many friends, learned much about the culture, and have tried to be light in all circumstances. Now, we are at the turning point. We will continue in our language and cultural studies, since the language is so challenging that it requires MUCH study! (Remember, Russian is the language of Heaven......because it takes FOREVER to learn!) However, we will begin focusing a large part of our time now on ministry.

The Future
We have committed to a total of 6 years in Ukraine, Lord willing. Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean we will be leaving Ukraine after that, but 6 years was our minimum committment. With one down, that leaves five more years. As a mom, I think of that in terms of how old my kiddos will be. In five years, Canaan will be about to turn 8 years old and Max will be 5 1/2! I can't even imagine. I hope that doesn't make you cry, Grandparents, but I hope it just inspires you to visit us more!!

I can't imagine what the Lord will have done in 5 years from now. We pray that He will have used us to advance His kingdom and help bring many more to a knowledge of Him, His love for them, and salvation through Jesus. We hope to be a part of a small, house church that meets in one part of the city here, with many others meeting around the city and around this region as well. We hope to be involved in many lives of Ukrainians, helping those we can, encouraging those we can, and always spreading the Good News with our every action and word.

Prayers
Please pray for us. We know we cannot be a part of this wonderful work without YOU! If it weren't for our team, those working with us here, as well as those who support us financially and emotionally from the States, we could not be here. Your support and prayers have got us this far. Thank you. We only ask for your continual prayers, since we know that the more we spread the news of God's love and salvation through Jesus, the more Satan will be displeased and try to oppose us. We only want to be more courageous and bold every day!

The Cutest Two

2009-09-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, Dougle already put this on his blog, but I had to post it on mine too because it was just TOO CUTE! Do I have the cutest boys or what?
Sometimes Dougle and I wonder where Canaan came from! He is such the crack-up and ham that neither of us are! Now, the 100% Sweet One on the left, he is 100% Mommy! :) Daddy thinks different....!
Really, WE BOTH ADORE EACH OF OUR BOYS! They are so special! We thank God for them every night, in addition to praying for wisdom in how to raise them before Him. That is the most important thing!
And we enjoy showing them off to you all!!

Long Time, No Blog

2009-09-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my sweet boys. I can't get them in any order now, so you will have to just bear with the random-ness of them.
Canaan was able to play his first game of baseball. He wasn't as into it as Malachi, who is 14 months older, but he enjoyed swinging the bat around and running around to the different 'bases,' which were trees. It was so cute watching the little boys play. Rebecca Brinley brought a nerf bat and ball to play with the kids while they were here. (She and her husband Tim came to lead our team retreat; they were former missionaries to Russia and now live in Greece.) When Canaan got bored playing, he just went and climbed a nearby tree and watched the game! Anyway, she left the nerf set with us, which was super nice. Thank you, Rebecca!
Malachi, on the retreat, turned 4. We had a birthday party for him too. Some of the pictures are from that. He was very gracious, letting Canaan touch and play with his new toys from the start!
There are also a few pictures of when we were in Kiev, while visiting Dougle during his 3 week Russian classes there. Oh, and a few from Maya's birthday party.
Hope you enjoy! I'll try to do better, one of these days!

Party in the Park

2009-08-29T12:53:00.001-07:00

Well, this is a short post! I am so behind. But, I've been taking notes of cute things Canaan says, and wanting to write about that and how much Max has grown recently. Unfortunately, I am really tired and need to go to bed. But, here is a picture. We went to a birthday party in the park for a friend of ours who turned two. It was a great day and we had lots of fun. Look how big Max is, sitting on his own now!

Hope you enjoy the snapshot!

Daddy Is Home

2009-08-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

NOTE: Most of the pictures are from our train ride, since I always managed to forget the camera when we were out and about in Kiev. Two pictures are at the train station in Kiev; the rest are from on the train or views out the train window.

Daddy arrived home from Kiev last night on the express train. For those of you interested, there are two express trains a day that run between Kiev and Kharkov. One leaves around 6:30am and arrives 6 hours later; the other leaves around 5:30pm and arrives 6 hours later. The express train is nice because it only stops twice. Once in a small town by which I don't remember the name, and only for about 5 or 10 minutes. The other stop is two hours outside of Kharkov, at a town called Poltava. The trains stops for 20-25 minutes there, which is enough time to get off the train and walk around the platform if so desired. And, since I am on the topic of trains, several of the pictures are from on the train (I forgot to bring our camera when we had the opportunity to go sight seeing). Rob so graciously bought me the train tickets for the boys and I to visit Kiev. Unwittingly, he bought nicer tickets that we all imagined. We traveled first class, which meant we were in a little cabin area with just 3 seats, a fold out table in front of us, and a glass door that could be closed for extra privacy. This is different to the airplane like seating that is on normal second class trains. We really enjoyed it, and on the way home, we had the 3 seated cabin to ourselves, which was nice!

Anyway, back to my story, Daddy arrived home last night around 11:45pm. Yeah! When Canaan woke up this morning, he went into his bedroom and Canaan exclaimed, "You are home, Daddy!" (Master of the Obvious is sometimes what he call him!)

Daddy was gone for 11 days before we left to go see him. The boys and I took the morning express to Kiev on Thursday, arriving after his class that day. We then spent a long weekend with him (he still had class, and Daddy and Mommy did homework together when the boys slept), and we came home on the Tuesday morning express. It was wonderful getting to see Dougle during his 3 week course! The boys were sick and it was rainy most of the time, but we still had a great time being together as a family.

We were able to stay with Dougle where he was staying in the Obolong Church of Christ's apartment they have. We worshiped with this small congregation on Sunday morning. Monday after Dougle's class, we went to Mat Rodina. It is a huge statue (supposedly bigger than the Statue of Liberty). Around it are various sculptures and tributes to those who fought in WW2, as well as a small display of various war vehicles and machinery. It was very interesting to look at all that, and for about 60 cents we were able to go into an airplane they had and sit in the pilot's seats. Canaan and I did that, since Max was somehow too young to be able to go onto the plane. I have no idea why that is. There was even a MIG you could sit in, but we skipped that as well, since even Canaan was too young to sit in that seat. Again...??? But, overall we had a lovely time just walking around the area as a family.

We came home on Tuesday, and Dougle followed to arrive late Thursday night.

We are THANKFUL for Daddy being able to have the opportunity to do some hard core studying, as well as THANKFUL for the fact that he is back with us!

Vlada

2009-08-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

Vlada is my neighbor I go walking with two or three times a week. Her little boy, Platon, is 3 months old. We walk to the park; Platon usually sleeps, Max watches everything, and Canaan plays a bit on the playground. Somedays Canaan walks and pushes his own stroller, other days he rides with Max.
We've struck up a good friendship. It is nice to have someone in the building I can trust like her. She speaks slowly and can re-say things if I don't at first understand. We have decided we need a a dictionary to take with us! So, not only is it a good time we have, but it is great Russian practice for me. Dougle has helped/or been helped by her husband, Misha, too. We hope to get to know this family better over time.

Sooo Hard

2009-08-05T04:57:00.000-07:00

So, I tried to take a snapshot of the two boys. It is SOOO HARD to get them to be still (so as not to be blurry) and both smile at the same time.
So, these are just a few snapshots. They were in their PJ's getting ready to go to bed. Yes, Canaan still sleeps with his blanket (we have 3 that are the same that I rotate out)! Thought I'd share, even though they aren't perfect!

First Food and Applesauce making Adventures

2009-08-04T04:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is a late post. Max ate his first food on Tuesday, July 14th! We made rice cereal for him. I looked at the baby cereal in the store, but all of it had sugar added and was very expensive. So, I talked to Denyce, our team queen of health and do-it-yourself in terms of cooking. And I looked online. It is super easy to make cereal yourself! I started with rice cereal (just make rice and blend in the blender). After a few days, I moved onto oatmeal. Max definitely prefers oatmeal over anything! Usually I make enough for a couple days, keep it in the fridge and just add a bit of water and heat it up when I feed it to him. That makes my life just a tad easier, especially lately while Dougle is gone.
We have also tried carrots, which he didn't like at all, mashed potatoes, which he ate, but didn't just "like" them like he does his oatmeal, and applesauce. I was over at Rob and Denyce's last night. While she fixed us dinner, I peeled and cut apples. We had two different types: small redish, gold apples that were a bit mushy and sweet, and small light green apples that were more tart and crisp. I always prefer tart and crisp. We cooked the redish ones and blended raw the green ones. The green apples made a delicious, yet tangy applesauce that was great, and the redish ones made a very light flavored, but sweet, mixture. I fed Max the tangy stuff, because it was ready first. He ate about 10 or 15 bites and then was making awful faces that seemed to say "Ok, this is getting too tart for my liking!" Maybe I'll try the sweeter stuff today. Canaan didn't like it either, but he doesn't really eat fruit at all (except bananas), and he was in a bit of a mood, so maybe we'll try the sweeter stuff today. So, though it took forever to peel and cut the apples (maybe I'll get faster with practice), it was great having applesauce, since they don't sell it in the stores here. And the best part is that it was with fresh fruit I bought at the market, grown by families at there small homes in the country (dacha). And we didn't add sugar to either, and both were fabulous by themselves. I think we'll put cinnamon in when we eat it next, though, because we are all fans of cinnamon!

6 Months Old

2009-08-02T14:06:00.001-07:00

Max is 6 months old today! Canaan and I sang a round of "Happy Birthday" to him and everything! I just wanted to post a quick picture. Right now Dougle is in Kiev and I am here with the boys in Kharkov. So, I am extra busy holding down the fort by myself!
So, I think Max weighs about 16 pounds, but I will have to try to weigh him on my scale soon again because I don't remember correctly. He has no teeth yet, but I am sure they are coming soon! He is the super smile-iest boy ever. He just grins when we look at him. He loves his big brother so much. He watches him all the time. He can't ever concentrate on eating when there is anything interesting going on around him (half the time I have to hide in the bedroom to get him to eat properly)! We started oatmeal a couple weeks ago (otherwise, I am still nursing). He has tried rice cereal too, as well as potatoes and carrots, but the oatmeal is his favorite. (I'll post pics of that when I can.) He has started sitting on his own for 20 seconds at a time and can sometimes 'catch' himself when he is about to fall over. He reaches for everything these days, rolls around a lot on the floor, prefers sleeping on his side or tummy, and is constantly chewing on everything: including his toes! Everyone tells us he looks just like Canaan, though the older he gets the less the resemblance seems to me. He looks more like my (Lucy's) side of the family, while Canaan definitely favors Daddy! Well, that is my opinion. About a month ago we finally got him sleeping through the night. He sleeps 10-12 hours a night on average and takes about 3 short naps during the day. He is such a joy to have. We love having Maximus Craig as part of our family!
We did go out to play today on a pile of gravel outside in our courtyard. We were going to go to the park, but Canaan found this pile of gravel/rocks much more interesting and we played here for about 45 minutes! Boys and getting dirty and climbing, etc. Max was content to sit in the stroller and watch it all. At one point, all 3 of us ran down it! Fun! Fun!
So, those are the pics. All taken today.
Love you all!

A Half Trip to the Zoo

2009-07-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

So, I had no idea what to expect going to the zoo here. But we went with Liv and Dave and our friends, Galina and Vitali. It was fun. We even ate ice-cream (a very Ukrainian/Russian thing to do). But we didn't get to see the typical zoo animals. Apparently we missed the half of the zoo with the elephant, tiger, hippo, aquarium, etc.

But we saw several animals that I don't remember seeing in our zoos. Maybe they are there, we just skip them. But probably they aren't because they are native to the United States. But we saw lots of deer and elk, some raccoons, sheep, goats, ducks, swans, the Ukrainian national bird (a stork), boar, bison, Canadian geese, etc. Seeing Canadian geese was especially funny because they migrate to Lubbock every fall and we see them in the wild! We saw some of the "normal" zoo animals too: camels, various birds, bears, monkeys, and a few more. Canaan really liked the swan and ducks!We took our time walking around. We bought food (carrots and cabbage) to feed the animals. Some of them liked it, some didn't.

A few things that were different. There weren't nice habitats for a lot of the animals. Some had some nice space, but many didn't. Also, people fed the animals, and many were hungry enough to eat the cabbage and carrots we fed them. Some people threw candy in at the monkeys; they knew to unwrap and eat. By the number opaper wrappers on the ground, it looked common. There were also several bananas on the cage bottom too. They had rides in the park and a playground (which Canaan insisted on playing on), as well as a few vendors who set up shop on a bench or two in the park. In addition, construction was going on in the back of the park. There were large concrete slabs laying around, and trenches dug that we had to step over to get to see some of the animals (Canaan thoroughly enjoyed jumping over these holes-see pictures). Lastly, some of the animals looked like they were in sad condition. For example, the humps on one or two of the camels' was sagging. It didn't look normal. We hear that the price of the zoo has sky-rocketed (from the 50 cents it used to be to around $4 now). Maybe they are going to use the money to try to improve some of the living conditions of the animals.

Anyway, here are a few pictures. Canaan enjoyed making a goofy face with the monkey statues, I got a snap-shot of Galina writing down English words (studying while with us!), and some cute ones from Max too. The overgrown, grassy hill is where a raccoon lived. Hope you enjoy. Maybe next time we go to the zoo, we will see the other animals!

This is the way we go to town...

2009-07-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have a car. And yes, it is super nice to have a car. But, if things are close by, or we feel like it, we walk. Especially since it is summer.

We have a super wonderful stroller that I take out almost everyday. The boys and I love going to the park or other locations in the stroller (Canaan doesn't like to walk long distances- he prefers to ride).

A few times I have taken the boys out on the metro with me. I do this without the stroller, because I can't get it up and down the stairs of the metro myself. When we travel out without the stroller, I put Max in the sling. It is super nice to have. Even at the playground, I take Max out of the stroller and put him in the sling. Together we follow Canaan around and make sure he stays safe and out of trouble!

Our Courtyard

2009-07-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

So, they are doing some work in our courtyard. I think it has to do with the pipes that carry hot water to the radiators in the winter. Anyway, they knocked on our door one morning and told us that they needed us to park our car on the road for 2 days, and then they'd be done. Two weeks later, it looks like it might get finished before winter! Hopefully just this week or next week and they will be done.

We have had several big trucks in our courtyard that do various tasks. Canaan thinks the trucks are just too cool and enjoys watching them dig the holes or move the pipes in place. So, if ever we are bored, we just walk downstairs to the courtyard and watch them work for a bit.

Fun stuff.

At times, it makes it difficult getting in and out of the building, because there is a big piece of equipment blocking our now small path in and out. Or, at times I wish they were a bit less noisy so Max could sleep better. But, overall, not too bad. And, God has taken care of our car. It has been safe on the streets and no harm has come to it. That is a blessing!

PS. A BIG thank you to Olivia who has provided many of my pictures lately! She is a sweety for letting me borrow them! Thanks LIVIA!

More Canaan Sayings

2009-07-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

These are too cute, and I want to remember them. So I have been trying to write them down when I can! I just don’t always have a pencil and paper handy at every moment, or you’d be reading a novel of funny things!

Say What?

Daddy and Max in the kitchen. Daddy was talking to Max and blowing on his belly.

Enter Canaan (running): Daddy!! I want some spits too!!!

Girls Vs. Boys

We’ve been talking about the difference between boys and girls. Mainly in just recognizing who are girls and who are boys. But, when I use the restroom, Canaan sees me sitting and asks if I am pooping. I tell him no, that I am a girl, and I sit when I potty. A few days after this discussion, Canaan is sitting on the potty pooping, looked up at me and said, “I am go potty like a girl!”

Sweet Questions

I picked up my two boys at the same time and carried them into the bedroom. Canaan looked at me and said: Mommy, I have my 2 favorite boys?

Me (smiling): Yes!

Canaan: In the wold world?!

Me (grinning more): Yes!!

(Daddy always says this when he picks them both up. I guess he was just making sure I had the same feelings!)

The Art of Hide and Seek

Mommy (pretending to look for Canaan): Is Canaan behind the curtains?!

Canaan (hiding under the covers on his bed): No! I am here!! Under the covers!

Hmm..he is still working on the concept of hide and seek!

Brother Musings

Canaan (talking to Max and holding up a car): You want this one?

Canaan (handing the car to Max): Okay, sure. Here you go.

The Negotiator

Canaan: I take some cars with us?

Me: Ok.

Canaan: How about these 6?

Me: No, you can bring 2 cars.

Canaan: How about....3?!

___

Canaan: Aunty, come play with me.

David: Auntie is talking to Mommy, and then she has to make a phone call. Then she can play with you.

Canaan: How 'bout Auntie talk to Mommy, then play with me 5 minutes, then make a call? Yeah, I think that will work!

What Goes Around...

Well, I'll admit it: I wasn't the perfect child. I know many of you are shocked. But, regain your composure. Canaan is like me in several ways. First of all, I used to be called "Last Minute Lucy" because I never would go to the bathroom until the VERY last minute. Canaan is like this now. He will be jumping around and at the last minute will race to the potty and hurriedly pull down his shorts, just in time to go. However, if he can't get to the potty immediately, or can't get those pants down quick enough, accidents occur. When I told my mom this, she just laughed! Can you believe that? Another similarity is listed below.

Already Convinced He Knows Better

At the age of two, Canaan is already convinced that the 3 guys who were thrown in the firey furnace were Shadrack, Me-Shadrack, and Obendigo! We have argued over it on a few occasions. I only laugh so much because as a child, I constantly argued with my mom over how things were pronounced. And I was always wrong! I guess what goes around, truly does come around!

Winds of Change

2009-07-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

This is one of two blog posts that I have done today. So, be sure and check out the one below about Daddy and the boys too!

It is time! It is past time. It is time to have a baby who sleeps though the night! Enter week one of sleep training. If you are interested, I have additional commentaries below about how we did it with Canaan, why we even opt to do sleep training, etc. If you are interested in reading my opinionated mini-novel, it is at the end!

Day One

I fed Max when he woke up this morning. We played with brother a while, and when Max got tired I took him to our room (where his crib is), sang Jesus Loves Me to him and laid him in bed. Do you know- he looked up at me, then rolled over and fell right to sleep without making a peep?! I was a bit frustrated because I had prepared myself for much crying and it didn’t happen! I mean, Canaan cried for 90 minutes the first day he put himself to sleep and he was only 2 months old! However, not only did Max put himself to sleep, but my baby who has only slept for basically 45 minutes when we lay him down on his own, slept an hour and a half. And he did that 3 other times today! Only tonight when we laid him down did he cry, and that for just 7 minutes. Dougle said he had prayed it would be easy, and it was! Yeah! My husband musts be a righteous man. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good!

Day Two

So, Max didn’t sleep all night; instead, he woke up every 4 hours. Hmmm. Canaan did the first night, but he also cried a lot that first day too. And then today, life was a little more rough. He didn’t eat at the right times and didn’t sleep long in bed. In fact, he kept Canaan up because he fussed a lot during his nap and so neither boy was well rested. Maybe tomorrow will be better!

Day Three

So, here we are at day 3 and I am not exactly sure how this is going to turn out. But, onward we press. Last night was promising. Max skipped his 2am feeding and slept until 5am. I can deal with that for now. Today he has cried himself to sleep once, but it only took him about 5 minutes. And I am thinking that I am going to have to let him cry it out through a night feeding too. It’s not like he is starving or anything...just look at his pictures!...and he is plenty old enough to go 6-8 hours at night.

Day Four

We moved his bed into the livingroom last night. He only woke up once to eat. Again, we were out and about today, so he ended up sleeping in the stroller, car and my arms. Hard to do this when life is busy, but we continue on!

Day Five

Success is coming!! Last night, we put him to bed at 10pm and he cried about 45 minutes. Ugg. Then Max woke up after just 4 hours in the middle of the night and I decided he needed to skip that feeding. He cried for about 10 minutes until I felt sorry for all our neighbors (the walls aren't that soundproof) and I went in and rubbed his head for about one minute and he fell back asleep. Yeah!! Then he slept all the way until 8am without making another peep!! He slept a bit in my arms during our time with the church and then I put him down for a nap after lunch. He was fussy and tired and got to the point where I could do nothing to console him. He cried about 10 minutes, I went in a rubbed his head and tried to sing a bit, and he fussed louder. Then I left him alone and he cried about 15 more minutes before he dozed off on his own for a nice, long, 2 hour nap. He was then awake a bit over an hour when he fell asleep on his own for a cat nap (about 45 minutes). He is now cooing happily in bed, so I better go get him!

Day Six

Triumphant feelings today! Max slept all night without waking up once! That is 10 hours of continuous sleep for our 5 months old. I feel great myself, having enjoyed a good night's rest. And Max has been pretty happy and content all day. I have laid him down twice so far for naps and he has fussed for a minute or two and fallen right to sleep. I am ecstatic!

Additional Commentaries, by Mommy Lucy

With Canaan, we started using a loose version of the Babywise method to help him sleep though the night. We started this sleep training when he was 2 months old. I really liked the first chapter of the book where it talked about how a child feels most secure when their parents have a solid relationship. It gives examples of how you can be child centered (and how marriages and your life can suffer when kids are placed as priority in the family) or you can raise them to love and respect their place in the home and family. This is what we try to do with Canaan, though we do make many mistakes. Obviously in our home, we try to make God the center of everything (not just first- but the center of everything). Dougle and I’s relationship comes first, and then our relationship with Canaan and now Max.

Ok, I am straying off topic. But the first chapter hooked me and I decided to try what they suggested for getting my baby to sleep through the night. Anyway... for infants, Babywise suggests a routine of feeding, playtime, nap-time and then feeding. With Canaan, we started this at two months of age. He wasn’t sleeping through the night and we had to rock him to sleep and hold him a lot to keep him asleep. As soon as we started letting him put himself to sleep for naps (which involved much crying at first), he started immediately sleeping 6 hours through the night. Two weeks later (he was almost 3 months old), he was sleeping 10 hours a night. Except for having to listen to him cry so much at first, it was relatively easy.

My "Why did you wait so long?" excuses! With Max, we have waited to being this. Several factors played into our wait, including the fact that I wanted to hold him and baby him a bit longer (since he is my second, and last baby). And, he slept fine at night, up to 6 hours at times, and would drop right back to sleep after eating. So we weren’t too sleep deprived. Finally, we also had our month long furlough when we was 4 months old, and I knew that doing anything too close to that date would just get messed up when we were traveling. Then, after we got back, we were sick and then traveling again.

Why Even Do Sleep Training?: Some parent know exactly why I want to do train Max to sleep through the night. Some don't, and that is okay. We are all different. For us, there are several reasons. First, Dougle and I need more sleep than the average individual. I especially need 8 hours a night to be a happy, healthy mom and wife. Secondly, I think if I need long periods of sleep to stay healthy, so does my baby. It just makes sense. And, Max is normally a very happy and content baby, but has been very grumpy and temperamental recently, I think because he doesn't sleep long during the day and then he wakes up twice a night. Lastly, it just seems that if I can teach him a few things at a younger age, then it will make it easier for when he is older. Though he is young, it is amazing how much he understands already and how much he can respond to that understanding. it just needs to be directed understand, instead of letting him slip under the radar because he seems "to little" to understand.

We Love You, Daddy!

2009-07-05T07:04:00.000-07:00

So, to confess, I forgot about Father’s Day. Actually, my husband reminded me of it about 3pm the afternoon of. Poor Daddy! To redeem myself a little, I had bought him a Dad Rules t-shirt while we were in the States. And I even brought a card back to give him on Father’s Day (they don’t have Father’s Day here, just Men’s Day which was back in March). However, it didn’t happen. We went out of town that weekend and it totally slipped my mind! And now I can't find it. Poor Dougle!

But, I have promised to make it up to him soon. I still haven’t yet, but soon.

Here are a few pictures of my hubby being a Daddy. One was actually taken on Father’s Day, which is cool. Canaan and Maximus are INCREDIBLY BLESSED to have such a wonderful Father, a man whom they can look up to and be just like, and I would be so proud! He loves God, he loves them, and he loves and respects me. And the love he shows to them isn’t the “indulgent parent” type of love. In my book, that isn’t even close to true love. He loves them in a way that God loves us. He is committed to them, during the good and rough times of parenting. He cares for them, watches over them, and gives them things (he buys toys for them more than I do!), yet he also disciplines them and expects them to obey and respect him too. He is consistent and firm, yet gentle and kind. What more could any boy want or need?!

So, Happy Late Father’s Day, Dad! We love you!

The True Story about Caterpillars...by Canaan

2009-07-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

Recently,

Canaan, Max and I were hanging out in our courtyard, enjoying some fresh (though hot) air and watching some of the work that is being done. Canaan really likes to watch the digger as it digs dirt, moves pipes, etc. (The city is tearing up our courtyard to do some underground "remodeling" on the pipes.)

Upon seeing this plant (picture), Canaan looked at me and said, “Hey Mommy, what is growing on that plant?”

I thought he would think they were tassels, since my Dad taught him about those when we were in the States and they were working in the garden together. So, becasue he often asks questions he knows the answers to, and to check his memory, I said, “What is growing on that plant, Canaan?”

“Caterpillars!” he responded, excitedly!

And I tagged on two extra photos that aren't caterpillar related. One is Canaan in front on the tractor/digger that is digging up our courtyard. The next is my attempt at self photography while we were all outside together! Max looks like the only one not having fun!

Canaan Sayings

2009-06-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

Canaan comes up with new, funny things to say everyday. We just have a blast laughing with him. Here is just a tiny glimpse of our fun!

Imagination

Canaan: leaning over in front of Max's face, Oh, Ok Max. To Mommy: Max want to play with me.

Mommy: Yes?

Canaan: He was callin' me!

Master of the Gross and Obvious

Canaan: That was my fingernail.

Mommy: Is it in your mouth?

Canaan: Yep.

Mommy: Yuk. Give it to me.

Canaan: after digging around in his mouth: I think it went all gone.

Drama King Seeks Confirmation

Canaan: What happened to my hands???

Mommy: They are dirty.

Canaan: After we get home, I will wash them?

Mommy: Ok.

Canaan: That is a great idea?!?!

Sweet Whisperings

Canaan Praying: Thank you for this, and this, and this, and everything!

Say That Again?

In the car on the way home:

Daddy: Canaan, are you awake?

Canaan: No.

Daddy: Do you want to sing?

Canaan: No, I want to sleep.

They Must Be Like Me!

Canaan reading a book to us: "...and Thomas took all the animals to their new apartment!" It was supposed to be, 'new home!'

Right Back At You

Mommy: very distracted, Canaan, it is time to get dressed. Take off your pants.

Mommy: again, and still distracted, Canaan, take off your pants.

Mommy: finally paying attention, Canaan, take off your pants!

Canaan: Mommy, don't ask me that again!

What Kind of Parents Are We?

Canaan: playing by himself, Nobody cares for me!

Canaan: another time, talking to me, Go Away! Leave me alone!

When Canaan spit out these sayings, we were baffled as to where they came from. Even Uncle David was concerned he might have said, "Go away, leave me alone" to Canaan and was feeling bad. Hearing these statements out of our two year old's mouth, we were feeling baffled and like bad parents! But then we discovered where they came from. The first one came from the book, The Little Read Caboose, that his MeeMaw gave him, we realized that is what the caboose says in the book! Now he quotes whole sections of that book when he is trying to go to sleep at night! "Go away! Leave me alone!" comes from the movie The Jungle Book. We have since corrected that by talking to him about how we don't say that to other people. It is not nice.

Pictures, Finally!

2009-06-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

Hi there! I am finally posting some pictures. In the States, we bought a new computer because our old was has been acting like it wants to die on us for a while. My husband is a HUGE fan of Mac, sothat is what we bought. However, I am having to re-learn how to do a few things. One is resizing pictures. But, now that I figured it out, it is SUPER EASY and I can do it way faster than on the PC. So, I am a big fan now too! :)

Canaan loved playing on his "playground" my dad had built. Max enjoyed his very own swing in it too. Canaan also loved hanging out with his grand-dad. Whenever he was home from work, he would go outside with Grand-Dad, move the water hoses to water various parts of the lawn, pull weeds in the garden with him, check the mail at the end of the driveway, etc. Sometimes he would randomly look at Grand-Dad and say, "Oops, there's a weed! Get out of there weed!" It was like their little inside joke. Too cute! And when Grand-Dad wasn't around, he would pull and tug on the water hoses by himself, thus one of the pictures below. In one pic, Canaan is walking in front of my parent's wildflower garden. It was in full bloom part of the time we were there and was just beautiful!