Christmas Jammies

Oma made it Christmas Eve, minus two bags of luggage. I will post her email later. We had a wonderful Christmas day, very relaxing. Than the day after Christmas, wallah, her bags showed up! And we had Christmas again.

A favorite church of ours, Cloverdale in Idaho, sends us a Christmas package every year. New jammies for each of the kids is always included. A yearly favorite.

Babu flies in December 29. We are counting the days!

Christmas Blessings

Four little gifts under our tree.
Merry Christmas!

Levi To The Rescue

Our Seth locked himself in the boys attic bedroom Wednesday and than fell asleep for his nap. Three hours later I realized I couldn't open the attic securty door. Being a security door, it's not meant to be opened when it's locked from the inside. If we are ever robbed, we use the attic as a safe room. It has a heavy metal door with solid sliding bolts on it. We have never used it as a safe room.

Titus put a ladder on top of the car port and broke a pane in the attic window to unlatch and open it. We chose Levi to crawl up and through the heavy security bars inside the window cause he's brave and little. By now Seth woke up and is crying cause he can't figure out what is going on. Levi's reassuring words calmed him as he hopped down into the attic. He raced down the stairs with Seth close behind and unlocked the door.

Later that night, Ryan zip tied the sliding bolts open from the inside. Seth can't break the zips but he has tried to slide the bolts today, stinker that he is. Ryan assured me he used thin zip ties that I could easily break with a burst of adrenaline if I was hearding the kids into that attic in a time of crisis.

Wanza's Baby Boy

Our dear Wanza had a baby boy on November 23. We have known Wanza since 2002 when she started working for us. Caleb couldn't say Miss. Wanza at the time so he called her Auntie. She has been a positive, loving influence in the lives of our children ever since.

Wanza has a daughter, Tulu who is 18 years old. She recently married last Christmas to a good man whom she knew for 15 years. Little Ian Williams Mulwa Mbuvi was born on Tulu's birthday weighing 8lbs 6 ounces. That is amazing cause if Wanza is 5 ft, I would be surprised. I took Caleb to see baby Ian when he was just 5 days old.

Chloe's Dedication

Over Thanksgiving we attended our annual AIM Spiritual Life conference. The speaker was great, as well as worship. We stayed in a dorm with 3 other family totally 11 children 6 and under. Twice we stayed up too late playing settlers. Our true characters present themselves during competitive games! And Chloe was dedicated. Pastor Dick chose the meaning 'Verdent' for Chloe, very appropriate.

Soccer Practise

Every Monday from 3:30-5:30, Caleb plays soccer. About 8 kids show up along with a Kenyan coach and practise. Caleb is heading a ball in the pic. Than they play a game. One game, Caleb was the goalie and got hit full on in the stomach. He always has stories to share around the dinner table.

We have a "ligi ndogo" club in town, which means little league only for soccer. Eric's mom (Carrie) sent Eric to play but all the Kenyan kids his age where much better and more confident in their skills. Soccer is huge here, like learning to ride a bike for our kids is in the states. So she hired one of the refs to teach the kids soccer at her house, her compound is around the corner from ours. We pay 50 ksh for a once a week practise (less than a $1.00). I am impressed with the coach. He knows how to teach, is very patient, and makes sure the kids are having fun.

Eric practised with him for a year I think and now at ligi ndogo, his other coach was impressed with his skills.

We like Caleb being with other kids, not just our neighbors, taking turns, and being on a team. He also didn't want to go this week cause he was having fun with Zach. But he did, I told him he needs to finish what he starts. Someday, that might make sense to him!

Sportin' tudes

I have been impatiently waiting for Chloe to be big enough to wear a striped hoodie sweater from her cousins Elle and Grace. She wore it today, too cute.

Caleb's Heart

Caleb asked Jesus into his heart tonight! Ryan read the kids a Bible story and than asked them for prayer requests. Caleb wanted to have his sins forgiven and ask Jesus to be in his heart. We had been telling him about how Jesus forgives us of our sins and he had picked up on the phrase 'born again'. And that is just what he said, I want to be born again. So Caleb led his own prayer, without any prompting while we all listened. When he opened his eyes, he had a huge smile on his face.

Sunrise Acres

Ryan and I took the kids to Eldama Ravine this weekend.

We stayed the longest ever, 5 nights, 4 full days. Sunrise Acres has 4 cabins of various sizes with fully equipped kitchens a four hour drive from Nairobi. It's up in the hills, very quiet, for missionaries to rest.

I planned and packed some of our favorite meals. The missionaries who run Sunrise Acres have many ministries including a small farm which supplies guests with milk, eggs, strawberries, and pickle relish which I stock up on once a year.

It's got a long bathtub that Ryan could give all 4 a bath at the same time. Chloe loves to splash as hard as she can. The nights are cold, and the walls are thin, so the kids enjoyed wearing sleepers.

Seth was very proud of his tigger sleeper.

Chloe's First Birthday!

When each of our boys where born, Ryan brought me flowers. I carried the tradition to Chloe's first Birthday. This will be our first vivid memory of October 1. She had pink birthday cake and enjoyed 3 books just for her!

From Blue to Pink!

Chloe's nursery is the first nursery we deliberately decorated. Our fourth baby was worth it. I took the boy's bumper pad and recovered it with Kenyan material called a Kikoy with bright pink, lime green, and turquoise. We painted the walls lime green and my girl friend Tiffany made Chloe a beautiful butterfly wall hanging.

Chloe means green, vibrant, blooming. We painted her room before we had picked her or her name out. God is Good!

Before:



After:

So Big

Our little girl is filling out, putting jammies on at night take Titi Diane at least 1/2 an hour and 100 kisses!

No Training Wheels by Ryan

Well, it finally happened!

Both Caleb & Levi are riding their bikes without training wheels! Levi was first, believe it or not. He has been cruising for a bit over a week now and can get started on his own. He has tried to encourage Caleb to join him and take his training wheels off, but Caleb is not easily persuaded and the competition of his younger brother doing something he can't doesn't seem to faze him either.

After dinner last night we went out to ride bikes with our head lamps on. Levi was off and running, Caleb is riding around on one Training wheel and every time he passed I asked him if he wanted me to remove it. "NO! Dad, leave me alone, I want it on!" The next time he rode by it was the same response. Finally I said, "I'll give you a dollar, if you take your training wheel off and ride to the gate. He hit the brakes and skidded to a stop. He says,"You'll give me a dollar, really?!" I said yes. Caleb says to me, "Where is your wrench Dad, go get the wrench to take the wheel off!" The training wheel came off and he got ready and said, "Are you going to help me and hold my seat?" I said, "NO. You can do it all by yourself, to the gate!"

To make it even worse Levi got on his bike and yelled at Caleb to do it like this and off he went pedaling to the gate. Caleb asked me one more time, "You're going to give me a dollar Dad, right?!" I say, "Yes, as soon as you get to the gate." I give him a shove from under the seat and off he went pedaling to the gate, Seth and I are left standing in the driveway just laughing in the darkness. Caleb made it to the gate, made a big turn and came right back to the house, pulled up on his bike grinning from ear to ear with his headlamp shining and made a perfect stop and said to me, "OK Dad, I did it let's go inside now and get my dollar!" Well, I said, "You need to show Mom how you can ride."Caleb said, "Well OK, but you'll have to give me another dollar for that!"He's a tricky one!

Dawn came out and Caleb and Levi showed us that they are both professional bike riders now and then we went in for the night. In the kitchenI got out my wallet and gave them each 100 shillings, and congratulated them on their BIG accomplishment, and then Seth put his hand out, so I gave him 50 shillings. Dawn says I've started something!! That's the big news at our house, Caleb almost 6 yrs. Levi almost 4 yrs and the training wheels are on the shelf until Seth & Chloe need them!!

They are growing up too fast!

Love Ryan

Mommy and Me

I have a picture of me with each of my baby boys. Each one is in a white frame in Chloe's room. I have one empty frame that needs to be filled. Chloe's frame. Until now. I am going to order this picture today to fill my Baby Girl frame and have four frames with me and each of my babies.

Baby Shower (for my GIRL!)

6 weeks of love have transformed her:
-She is living up to her name which means vibrant, blooming, a green shoot.
-She is sitting up with just a little bit of help.
-She knows all of her families faces and voices.
-She talks, plays, and tries to sit.
-She loves it when her brothers talk to her.
-She sings if her lips are tickled.
-She weighs over 10 lbs.
A friend toldme she looks like Seth. Maybe that's one reason we were attracted to her.
She has a similar high round forhead (a family feature of ours), nose like Seth, and big bright eyes.







Yesterday
some of my friends
threw me a baby shower.
Look at all this PINK!

She's Home!

Chloe Marie Williams

Our new Little Girl. And she is little. We have been planning to adopt since February of 2004. God was leading us to the right time and the perfect daughter for our family.
I first held Cloe on March 7 and Ryan saw her on March 11 (my birthday). When we visited March 11, Chloe was sick with pneumonia so we couldn’t spend time with her; she had an IV and a feeding tube. New Life Home where she lived has very good nursing care, so she could stay right there to receive treatment. Doctors see the babies every day.
I’m writing this history as much to share with everybody as to save for Chloe to have one day.
My first thoughts of Chloe on the 7th where about her personality. She had energy and she was trying to engage me in her world. She made eye contact constantly and when she did look away it was because her fingers where outstretched and wiggling. They would come into view and she had to watch her fingers. Then they would pass from view and she would find me with her eyes again. Big Smiles. I came home and told Ryan, Chloe has a beautiful fun personality.
When we visited together on the 11th we couldn’t hold her, she was in a special basinet with O2 on plus the IV and feeding tube, she was sleeping peacefully. Ryan right away picked her out as his favorite. He thought she was beautiful. He wanted to spend time with her when she was feeling better.
I visited a few times during the week as she got better. Than on March 17 both Ryan and I visited. We looked at her a lot. On March 18, we took Caleb with us. He had so many questions during the week about adoption and babies. It was time. He was so excited to see all the babies. Ryan gave him a tour of all the different rooms, age groups, where they sleep, where they eat, where they play, take baths etc. Answered all of Caleb’s questions. We held other babies for Caleb to see, he didn’t want to leave. He just soaked it all in with a big smile. Just before we left, Ryan was hovering over Chloe again so I asked the nurse if Ryan could hold her just near the basinet. So he did. He tenderly picked her up and didn’t want to put her down. Caleb liked her the best, he said. I asked why, what was special about her. He looked at her again and then turned to me, ‘her hair, I like her hair’. She has a head full of thick, soft curly hair. I think if I put some special hair stuff in it, it will relax into ringlets.
On March 20, we met with the social worker and head nurse. They told us all they knew about Chloe. Her birthday is estimated to be October 1, 2006. She probably was a preemie. She was in the hospital with pneumonia. On December 29, 2006, she was transferred to New Life Home. Than we started seeing her and she had pneumonia again.
She weighs 3 kg with is about 7 lbs. She had lost with the latest illness but is taking her bottle well again. I asked the nurses to describe her personialty. One said independent. Another said observant. She doesn’t cry. She likes to watch what is going on the room around her. She was starting to feel a little better; we both were able to hold her. Ryan didn’t want to leave for work. I got her to laugh.
March 21, big brother Levi got to see her with me. He had a grin from ear to ear the whole time we held her. He was very interested in all the babies in the room, lots of questions about equipment etc. But it was Chloe he got to smile. He asked to hold her but can’t until we get her home. I sat her up on my lap and he caressed her cheek. She gave him the biggest smile.
That night Ryan got home late from work, nothing unusual. He asked Levi all about his visit over and over again. Than at 9:30pm as we were talking, he couldn’t hold it in any more. He said the reason he was late wasn’t because he stayed late at work. He left on time and sped all the way to New Life Home to hold Chloe. The home closes at 600pm. He got there at 530 and stayed til 615. He held her, gave her the bottle, played with her until she was giggling as only daddies can play with babies. And almost had her sleeping on his chest.
My two pics don’t do her justice, more will be following.
I can’t open blogger comments, for some unknown reason. Please comment to me through email. Thanks!

Long Overdue Update!

Where to begin. I am so overdue to blog. Everytime you see (name) that’s who interrupted me while trying to write this! I am babysitting Lowen and Teaghan today.
Seth is 20 months and a putz and a half. He still thinks walking is optional and crawling is desirable. Two short termers, John and Jeremy had been eating dinner (LEVI) with us frequently (LOWEN). Every night when Ryan came home from work with the J’s, Seth started walking for the first time all day. He would take 20 steps in triangles (Caleb) from one guy to the other. Since they left the end of February, he quit. He walks for Ryan occasionally but that’s it. Every afternoon after naps, I take him for a long walk around the compound. He grabs my first finger and walks beside me, steering me in the direction he wishes to go. Happy as a clam. What a stinker.

(So I yelled at all the kids to GO OUTSIDE)

Levi’s vocabulary is amazing. All my kids can talk. A lot, and very articulate. Even Seth can jabber whole conversations with hand motions. Levi is independent in playing. He can go outside, find a friend, and be gone for hours. One neighbor boy, Isaac, has invited him over for dinner twice this week. He came home talking about ice cream. He rides (yell out the window at Levi to stop bossing Lowen) his bike with training wheels all the time. Stops on a dime, steers around obstacles. Etc. I think he is outgrowing his daily naps because him and Caleb talk way too loud and long after they are tucked in bed.

Caleb has only 7 weeks of school left. He whizzes through the history and science read-a-louds. We take math a bit slower to make sure he gets it, and to way lay frustration. (long break to supervise screaming). We are taking a break on reading and working just on new letters. He is not ready for putting sounds together and I am tired of pushing it. My instinct is saying, he’ll get it a lot quicker if I let him mature a little. He’s been building elaborate forts in the attic with his friends. He still skips rather than walks and bounces instead of runs. Compound living makes it easy for him to expend that energy.

Ryan and I are doing great. A friend gave us some money recently and we (actually I) decided to do something useful with it instead of putting it in the general fund. We got cheap round trip tickets to MOMBASA!!! So March 20-23 we are on the beach without the kids. Wanza is moving in for the weekend. So easy cause she knows the routines and where everything is. I just need to have a few meals ready for her. Friends from church who are missionaries have recently retired on the coast. They have a two story (knock on the door)(put the play dough stuff outside on the picnic table) house on the beach. They live in the upstairs and the downstairs is a self-contained apartment. Just for people to come and stay. For less than $30 a night. They have a pool.

We are taking a cab from the airport and stopping at a grocery store on the way. We are going to find out what it was like to cook for just two. We are going to eat dinner with out asking Caleb not to interrupt, telling Levi (Seth found me) to take a bite, scolding Seth to sit down in his high chair. We might talk over dinner, we might just enjoy the silence. We are going for long walks on the beach without looking at every hermit crab. We are going to fall asleep by the pool with out worrying about a kid drowning. We are going snorkeling a lot. We are going to miss the kids, eventually! (took picture of kids playing play dough.)

Tomorrow several of my friends are taking me out for lunch for my birthday. I picked an Italian restaurant that has a nice dining area outside. They also make pizzas in an oven heated with firewood, forget what that is called. But so good.
I think this gives you an idea of my lack of blogging recently. I used to take my computer to a restaurant to blog every Wednesday but than I felt to busy. But my Internet at the house refuses to blog so I send my stuff to my dear Sister Diane who than posts it. But just writing stuff coherently is difficult with the interruptions. I don’t even know how to rewrite the first sentence in the paragraph. Have a good day!

Caleb is a writer

Chameleon

A poem by Caleb Williams

If you squeeze them,
They open their mouth.
They have a very long tongue.

They shed their skin.
It changes colors by
What kind of thing it is on.

Their horns are like swords.
Their horns protect them
From animals, from frogs.

An addition to our family: Tucker