What a 23 month old is thankful for

Today in church during worship they wanted people to come up and write what they are thankful for... and they wanted people to be specific.  Bugga went up with Gaetan and when he was asked what he was thankful for he said, "Chocolate milk."  :)  Oh the simple things in life we should be thankful for... and how much I learn from my children.

Funny thing he did the other day... we went to a friend's house for dinner and he had gone to the potty like a big boy so they were applauding him and telling him what a good job he had done and everybody was clapping except little Lucy.  You can't blame her, she's only 3 months old, but he went over to her and clapped her hands for her.  It was hilarious.

Bugga is getting better and better about being potty trained.  He's been out a few times and has stayed dry! He is turning into such a big boy.  ::sigh::  They grow up too fast, but I there are always new and exciting things to learn and do with him.

JVG

They're home!

I was very excited to pick my parents up late on Saturday night.  When they got home they looked tired... although I probably would be too if I had been traveling for 30 hours.  Yikes.

Mom is SUPER tan... and Dad is Dad. :)  I've been hearing bits and bits of their trip throughout the week and I love it.  I know that I will probably be hearing more and more of it throughout the rest of the year.  Having an experience like that will be something that will take a long time to unravel... and I'm EXCITED about it.

I have been loving having them home.  I missed them a lot.  And I am so thankful that they are home safe and sound.

JVG

They're almost home

My parents should be in the air now flying from Kenya to London.  Their flight left 11 something Kenyan time, so about 3 this afternoon!  They unfortunately have quite a long lay-over in London, then they are on to Chicago.  I can't wait for them to come home and hear stories.  I never knew how much I was going to miss them... just little conversations that I would have with them daily, are very much noticed when I can't have them!

I am looking forward to having them home... love them very much.  Pray that their travels go well... and that everybody's luggage arrives at the same time they do!  :)

JVG

Girl time

Even though Lucy sleeps quite a bit (which is a blessing), I do feel like I don't get to spend that much time with her.  So when she wakes up to feed in the early morning I love having that one on one quiet alone time with her... sometimes i'm a little groggy, but I still love having that face time.  It's just us girls, in the quiet hanging out.  Her little cooes and smiles are worth the getting out of my nice bed for ;).  She is such a strong little lady too!  She pretty much can stand up by herself (with help balancing of course) and she has powerful little toes.  Cute, powerful, little baby toes.  She's my baby girl.

JVG

Bugga cuteness

Of course I think my child is adorable.  But there are just some things that he does that are EXTRA adorable.  For instance, he pretends sleep now... he's heard of pretending to snore and now he'll lay down in our bed and make those noises.  It's HILARIOUS.  It's the over the top kind of fake snoring too... then he'll just giggle afterwards. :)

He really likes to run laps in around the couch... but when he does he'll wave bye to you as he's going around and now he's into giving some serious high 5's!  Laughing and smiling of course.

He likes to play on the stairs a lot and the way that the railing is set up he likes to put his face up to the space in between and wants kisses.  He'll put his face in between each railing space as he goes up.  How can a Momma not give that face kisses?

And when Lucy is upset or crying he'll come and pat her back or offer up her pipe to her.  He loves his little sister so much.  It's so cute!  I love being home with him and getting to witness all his little "Tristanisms."  I am blessed.

JVG

Got a call from Africa

Since we've been staying at my parents house we rarely ever answer their landline.  For several reasons... 1.) they have a landline 2.) its usually telemarketers 3.) its never for us because people don't really know we're living here and they just call our cell phones.  However, today the phone rang in the middle of the afternoon so I decided to answer it.  GOOD THING i did!  It was my Dad!  He said that they were doing great and that things were awesome.  He even said that Mom was doing exceptionally well despite the 100+ degree weather they were having.  He said by Tuesday they should be working on the island, so that would bring cooler temperatures.

It was really good to hear them and know that things were going well.  It's been odd being on this end of the missions trip... staying home, wondering how everything is going and not having much communication.  I bet for them (which was always the case for me) that they are having such a great time, they are growing and learning and time is flying!  I am very excited for them and cannot wait to hear their stories and see how their lives have changed.

Keep on praying for them that everything continues to go well.  It sounded like everybody's luggage got there and there hasn't been any illness!  Praise God!  They come home this Saturday already!  Yay!

JVG

Potty training success!

This past Friday we took a serious stab at potty training Bugga.  We got the book that my parents recommended and followed it step by step just as they said.  We even had to get a peeing doll, (which wasn't easy to find).  We actually ended up getting a regular doll and doing some surgery to it to make it a peeing doll.  The boys apparently named is Sippy.  :)

I stayed with some good friends while this adventure was going on... which was another stipulation of the book.  No distractions at all.  So Lucy and I got kicked out, but it was good to visit and hang out with Ashley.  It's funny because that was something that would be considered very typical, since we lived so close together for so long, so it was nice to do that again.

The first night seemed to be very encouraging.  He had done very well for half of the day... no accidents!  And he even stayed dry all through the night.  But Saturday was a different story.  He didn't do so hot for the first half of the day... in fact he didn't make it to the potty at all.  But it seemed like he was really starting to get it right before he went to bed.  Poor duder was getting so tired you could see... but it was a good way to end the 2nd day.  It was starting to get a little discouraging because it seemed like he was going to be doing so well, since his first day was!  But we were really tired from the previous day (me traveling, and Papa having some intense potty talks with Duder, and of course Duder himself going through the process).

Today was much better.  He only had a few accidents in the morning but was dry the rest of the day!  It really seems like he is getting it and is so proud when we ask him if he has dry pants and they are.  :)  This is such a HUGE step for our little dude.  We are so proud of him and all he tries to accomplish.  Just gotta keep on going and I know he will have it in no time!

JVG

My parents left...

For Africa!  On Saturday I dropped them off for their 2 week missions trip to Kenya.  This will be the 2nd time my Dad has gone, but this is the FIRST time my Mom has gone on any sort of missions trip.  She is the kind that is always doing something behind the scenes, but this is her first time OUT and she went BIG.  I know that this is really big for her because she doesn't like 1.) hot 2.) smells or 3.) Traveling a ton really.  But she said that God was telling her to go so how could she say no?  Its awesome to witness her obedience in this!  I think that they are going to have a really good time together, because there is no other way to describe how it feels to serve with your spouse.

I can't wait to hear the stories when they get back.  It's weird already (and its only been one day) not seeing them, after seeing them all the time.  So we are responsible for making sure the house stays in tact while they're gone.  It's kinda a nice eye opener for me to see what it would be like taking care of the 2 kids by myself, without the help of my Mom.  And it will also be nice to see what it takes to run a house!  I know that we are looking forward to the day when we are homeowners, but for right now, we are quite happy with our set up.  :)

Continue to pray for my parents and their team.  Pray that everybody stays healthy, that none of the luggage gets lost (because they are carrying the bibles translated in the different languages there) and that there is lots of fellowship and open hearts.  We are excited for them!

JVG

The Husteds

This week our favorite couple is in town!  They live in Seattle and came back for their yearly visit.  We have gotten to see them TWICE already, which is AMAZING.  We miss them so much and we always love the time we get to spend with them.  Even though we don't get to see them a ton when we do its like we pick up where we left off.  No delay.  Its really nice that I can hang out with either one of them alone and it's not awkward.  We are definitely waiting for them to find a place to settle down so we can move by them and see them more!  :)

JVG

Bugga being cute, of course!

As you know Bugga has been a learning machine.  He has mastered the alphabet by recognition and is starting to put the sounds together!  He is still signing away, but is talking more when he does it.  :)  We have been doing fun songs to learn things like, "head and shoulders knees and toes" and various other things.  His latest cute thing he does is when we ask him where his nose is he points to it, and then when we ask him where our nose is he'll rub his nose against ours (eskimo kiss style).  He's just grinning away while he does it too... very cute.

He also has no fear or embarressment!  Today in church Pastor Rob told us the crowd not to be overly worried about letting the kids run around, as there was no Sunday school today.  And as soon as he says it what does Bugga do?  He goes running up on stage.  Nice.  :)  Rob was laughing about it... and Bugga was just soaking up the applause and attention.  It was very very cute.  I'm glad that we found a church that is so laid back and ready to go with the flow.

I am always so impressed with this dude.  Not only do we teach him things, we are constantly learning from him too.

JVG