New Pictures

Not Such an Infant, Not Quite a Toddler

Jeremiah is advancing rapidly but not growing as fast as he should. We went to the doctor this week for his 8-month checkup & he only weighs 16 lbs. Right now he's in the 5-10 percentile for his age. We feed him all the time, but he just doesn't gain that fast. The doctor isn't too worried though since he has a big appetite. In fact, he's ready for the next phase of foods: chicken, tortillas, cheese, beans, and red meat. Pretty much the only things he still can't eat are the high-allergy foods like nuts, fish, and wheat nor the choking hazards like popcorn or other small foods. Apart from eating he's doing good. The doctor wants him to start crawling, but Jeremiah acts like he wants to skip that. He likes to stand up holding on to the coffee table but doesn't like crawling.

As for me, I now work in the toddler house. At first I was in the older teenage girls' house, but the toddler house called for reinforcements. A few weeks ago the orphanage received 70 new children, with about 30 of them being infants and toddlers. The youngest baby was just a few days old. So now there are about 50 infants/toddlers in the house. Needless to say, it stays busy over there. With all the new kids the orphanage now houses about 480 children. The school year here is almost over, so the staff will have their hands full keeping everyone occupied.

Independence Day

As you can see by the last photo, Jeremiah’s two front bottom teeth have come it. Since then he’s been eating nonstop…bananas, rice, anything he can get close to. He can scoot a little bit now, but it's always backwards. It seems to me that he prefers standing (with support) more than crawling. The other day he was standing just holding on to the table. He didn't pull himself up to that position, but once he get's the hang of pulling himself up, it'll only be a matter of time before we're chasing after him.

The other photos are from Honduras’s Independence Day parade we had last week. (In the second photo you can see Selvin, the boy we brought with us to the US in the very front.) It took a lot of planning, but it all paid off that day to see the kids so excited. I was in charge of the band and dancers, so I had my hands full. The director's aren't here, so Terrez has been in charge of the entire middle school & high school & has really had a full plate. Now we are preparing to for next week’s adventure where we have to take the band and the upcoming graduates into town for a special presentation. After that things will be a bit more calm ☺

New Responsibilities

We've both been super busy & haven't had the time to update the blog. I am officially working in a house with the big girls & special needs. So far nothing major has happened. It's been good getting to know some of the girls outside of the school & see how they act when they're not around boys. Some are better & some are worse. Terrez & I both have more responsibility in the school. Neither the principal nor the superintendent are here right now, so we've had to step up. Once we get more adjusted the blog will be updated more often.

Baby Update

Jeremiah now weighs 14 pounds 12 ounces. The doctor said he's not growing as fast as he would like, so he recommended adding more foods to his plate. We just finished trying bananas and we're moving on to plums. The doc said Jeremiah can eat rice or cut-up spaghetti, but it seems so early for that. But then again, Jeremiah does seem to enjoy the new foods. The only thing he hasn't liked so far is the corn. H has has rice cereal, so I guess just plain rice won't be that much of a stretch.

Happy 6 Months!!

These past few weeks have been a whirlwind of things to do. Here’s a recap (and not in order): Terrez took a small group of teenage boys and members of a visiting US group into the town to give away clothes. He said people were everywhere trying to get stuff. I’ve been substitute teaching high school physics, which is something I never took in high school or college. Luckily for me it was the same topics we covered in chemistry. I now help direct the marching band and color guard. I had a crash course in twirling flags only the day before I had to teach it to the girls. Since we are the school government advisors, we were super busy last week for our first fundraiser. We sold baleadas (bean-filled tortillas), cinnamon rolls, drinks and icees. The girls and I had to start making all the tortillas at 5:30am. Despite all the work I enjoyed it. I now know how to make an inexpensive, authentic Honduran meal. Terrez has been craving it for days now. We’ve also been running around town trying to gather all the necessary paperwork for residency. Since we have the baby it’s much harder to travel around, so we don’t want to have to worry about hauling him & luggage on long bus rides just to leave for a few days to renew our passports, especially since it’s been more dangerous to travel lately.

Jeremiah’s been growing so much. Today is his six month birthday :) He has his checkup tomorrow, so we'll see how much he weighs. As far as milestones & development, he can sit up pretty well by himself. He still topples over sometimes when he reaches for things, but he can handle his own. We started corn a few days ago, but he doesn’t like it. Once he gets used to it, we’ll move on to carrots. On another note, he’s just getting over a cold that he has had for a few days. Since he gets congested at night, he’s been waking up a few times. After regaining my restful nights, it’s so hard to go back to getting up in the middle of the night. I can’t wait for the cold to have fully passed.

Food!!

Jeremiah had his first taste of real food today... green beans. I guess he loved it because he ate a lot & didn't spit much of it out. He even tried to help me feed him, which made it messier, but hey, it's early practice for him eating on his own. I made the food myself & it was actually pretty easy. We'll see how the green beans go this week & maybe we'll try carrots or peas next week.

As for me & Terrez, everything is good. We started a new term at the school, so our daily schedules are a bit different. Twice a week the students have elective classes, and Terrez and I are involved with that. He helps with the boys' phys. ed. class & I help with the band (which is really a drumline). We have to start preparing for their independence day parade on Sept 15th, I have my work cut out for me. We've also just become the overseers for the school government. We'll see how that goes :)

First Tooth

So, Jeremiah just got his first tooth today :) I'm trying to get a picture of it, but it's hard to because the tooth is on the left side. Everytime we try to get a good look he gets super fussy. One on the right side is close to breaking the gums. The two front bottom teeth are making their way in but are taking a bit longer than the side ones. After the next doctor appointment he'll be eating different types of food.

Mr. Independent

Even though Jeremiah is only 3 & 1/2 months, he likes to do things by himself already. Many times he doesn't like when I hold him to give him his bottle, so I have to put him in his stroller. He still can't hold it by himself, so I have to prop it up with his little blanket. I'm not complaining though because I can get more things done while he's eating. This week we also starting putting him in a play bouncer/walker. He can barely touch the floor but he likes it a lot. It's one of the walkers that doesn't actually move, so it's still easy to keep an eye on him. I guess I better get used to him doing things by himself soon.

In other news, everything else is fine. We didn't have internet for a while, but it's up & running again. Math classes are going great for Terrez & he stays busy at the house. He's also started a small bible study group of boys who are helpers in the different houses. They meet once a week & are discussing how to make decisions they won't regret. It seems to be going well & the boys enjoy it. The office work is going pretty good for me. I've been learning a lot about how the Honduran children's services system works. By default I've also been learning about the educational beauracracy that's been crazy during the past few months. When the government changes parties, everyone changes positions, even the teachers. So a lot has been going on concerning some of our teachers, but everything is pretty much settled right now. Other than that we've been just trying to avoid the bugs that rainy season brings out. There's some type of flying termite that has been rampant. They don't live long, but they are so annoying. You have to be careful that they don't get in your ears because they'll lay eggs there. And they shed their wings like crazy. They're all over the place. I can't wait til they're gone.

Mommy's Office Helper

As you can see, he has pretty good control of his head now. He can hold it up for long periods of time. He's starting to get picky about how he's held. No more cradling for him, especially if there are other people around. He likes to sit up & watch. So, it's a bit more difficult keeping him occupied while I'm at work. I have plenty of toys for him, but he just wants to be nosey.

Terrez and I are doing great. We stay busy all the time. He even started drinking coffee to keep him up through the day. The next couple of months are going to be even busier since we have teams coming down back to back until October, and we have to supervise & translate the activities they do with the kids. We've had a lot of changes with the children too. We've lost a few who decided to leave and gained a lot. It seems like we get a new child every time we turn around. It may have always been like that, but maybe I'm just more aware of it since I work in the office & file the paperwork.

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was great. Even though Jeremiah can't really do anything yet, it still was special. The pics are from that day. He's growing up so fast. For the past few days he's been rotating himself in bed so that he's in the opposite direction from where he was first placed. One morning we woke up to find his little foot poking out between the rails. I guess it's time to put up the baby bumper.

Doctor's Appointment

Well, Jeremiah's a normal sized baby. He's 12 & 1/2 pounds and a little over 23 inches long. He's in the 50th percentile for both weight & height. The doc said he's showing signs of allergies & eczema, so we have to be extra careful with what he's around, what I eat and make sure to keep him out of the heat. The last part in easier said than done in the middle of Honduras. Other than that he's healthy & changing by the minute. He can almost support his head on his own. He can hold it up, but his neck still gets tired after a while. His personality is showing more. He just loves when Terrez sings or dances & squeals in delight. And now he bats at things close to him. I know that means that soon enough he's gonna try to grab my food while I'm eating :(

Hot & Humid

So, as soon as Jeremiah gets used to the heat, the temperature rises even more & we're back to square one. It's getting into rainy season, but the heat of the dry season hasn't gone away just yet. The past few days have been around 105 degrees (sometimes more) and the nightly rains have keep the air filled with humidity. Hopefully soon, the weather will change.

We've switched to cloth diapers. The first day involved a few extra changes of clothes because I hadn't yet gotten a handle of them, but now everything is good. They're not as bad as I thought they would be. The cleaning is easy since it rinses right out.

Everything's been going really well for both me & Terrez. I still work in the school in the mornings, but in the afternoons I help out in the main office, which involves answering phones, filing paperwork, and updating children's pictures. Terrez just started a new quarter of math. Things have been going so much better than last year. The students are understanding the material better & their grades are finally reflecting that. They have more motivation to do well, and in turn the classes go smoother for Terrez. Even still it's a struggle because he always has more material to teach than time allows. He seems to make it work though.

We have a doctor's appointment for Jeremiah tomorrow, so I will be writing an update on his weight & things of that nature soon. Hopefully I can get some good pictures of him to put with that blog.

Sleeping

He is sleeping through the night.....PRAISE THE LORD!

We're Back!

So, we’re going to start up the blog again. And this time we’re really trying to stay dedicated. We’ve decided to also use this as a way to share updated pictures of Jeremiah. That way if someone misses an email, they can always come here & have access to all the pics we put up.

What’s new? Well, we have a new house down here & we love it. They finished it while we were in the US. It’s a longer walk to the school for us, but it’s a lot closer to the boys’ house where Terrez works. We’re all moved in & getting ready to start back in the school. Terrez will continue to teach middle & high school math, and I will be the school secretary so I can still take care of Jeremiah. He can come to work with me & my time is more flexible, so if I need to do something with him, I can.

Terrez & I have readjusted, but Jeremiah is still working on it. Since he was born in that big snowstorm, he’s not used to the hot weather down here. So in the afternoon he’s down to his diaper & we have to wipe him down with a damp cloth from time to time. He still gets fussy, but it’s not as bad. The first night was a long one. He did not sleep well at all. But we’ve learned how to keep him cool, and he’s back to his regular routine of only waking up once during the night. Hopefully soon he’ll be sleeping through the night.

Baby Update

We had an ultrasound last week and found out that we're going to have a baby boy. Both the baby and I are in good health & everything's just fine. Right now I'm 21 weeks, so the estimated due date is Feb 15th. We're hoping that he comes earlier though. We're both excited that we're going to have a baby, especially a boy. I feel a lot better and have more energy now that the morning sickness/extreme fatigue stage is over. I've started to show, so now I can't wear most of the clothes I have. Thankfully people here and back home gave me some maternity clothes. They're coming in useful already.

June Update

Our blogging has been getting worse & worse. I guess I should have know that since it's the same with my journaling. Since the last update much, but not much, has happened. To renew our visa at the end of April we took a trip to Costa Rica & had a nice chance to relax for a few days. It's a whole lot cheaper to travel between these countries once you're out of the states. Just last week we were the chaperons for a camp that some of the kids had to chance to go to. It was hosted by a group from North Carolina, but the campgrounds were in Honduras. It was nice getting to see the kids play, laugh, and have so much fun. Those who went got to miss school, so they were even happier. The camp had a trampoline, so they definitely took advantage of every free moment by getting on it. They did crafts & games and the girls had a makeover day with hair and nails (they were too young for makeup). All the kids loved it & were asking when they were coming back before they even left.

Internet's Out

The internet has been out for a long while, so we haven't been able to post anything for about a month. Give us a few days before and we'll update how our lives have changed :)

God's Strength

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." ~2 Corinthians 12:8-10

That Scripture is so powerful & applicable in our lives right now. Truth be told, working in the school is extremely challenging for the both of us in one way or another. It takes everything out us. Everyday we come home so exhausted, only to have to make more lesson plans or grade papers or whatever. Sometimes it seems like it's too much, but God is faithful to His word. I feel Paul when he was pleading with God to take his burden away from him. I've asked God the same thing. But God has placed me here for a reason, and in the school for a reason. And as people in my church always say, "If God brought me to it, He'll bring me through it." And He's doing just that. The past few weeks have been so much better than the first few. He's showing me different techniques and helping me with the lesson plans. My biggest problem in the classroom was filling up the time with lessons & activities. Because English class is new in the elementary, there is no set curriculum. So, for the past few weeks I've been creating a curriculum that at least I can start with. Those who follow can build on it & improve it, but at least it's a place to start. It helps me to know what I need to teach day to day & week to week. Then it becomes easier to plan how to teach it and fill in activities. Thank God for internet access! Now I don't feel as weighted down when I walk in the classroom.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As you can tell from our original weekly updates turning into monthly updates, things have picked up here. We are both teaching in school as you know and majority of our time is designated in the planning and teaching at the school.  

But in spite of our present business, God is doing some amazing things at the orphanage.  We have two new recently married couples whom have decided to serve the Lord during the first months of their marriage. Two the boys here are studying at the bible college in Costa Rica. We have the highest amount of volunteers here since Christmas.

As Candice and I noted in earlier blogs, the goal that God has given us is to "STRETCH".  And I am proud to say that is exactly what we have been doing. I teach in Spanish and so often I focused on my inability and neglect my help through God. God has been teaching me that is not our merits that leads to success but His anointing.  God anoints us to benefit others. Each day we teach, I pray for God's anointing to flow through us to the children prospering both their minds and souls.

Continue to pray for us as the new responsibilities stretch us thin. But we know we will never be stretch to the point beyond God's ability.