Nov 12, 2009 | Baby Photos, Stories
Hey guys and gals, sorry all’s been quiet on the blogging front for a few days. I’ve still been wrestling with a bit of ill health — secondary infection from what I discovered was actually the flu last week — but I’ve also been wrestling with a bit of a bad attitude, which made me decide it might be best to hush for a bit! We visited another church this past Sunday, and a lot was positive about the experience. It was really great to praise the Lord there, but some little ‘niggles’ kind of came my way and in the end the experience was rather spoilt. When you give place to offense, well Mr. Offense sure will take the place!
So anyway, I wrote a big long post discussing all my absolutely ingenious opinions about how Church could and should be better. Seriously, I basically solved all the world’s problems in one blog post. Then decided, hmm. Let’s let that one go. One must not think more highly of oneself (or one’s opinion) that one ought. Learning that in Job at the moment. If I’m honest I think I have a rather rotten attitude coming out of this blog post, and I don’t want to pass that along! Smiles and giggles and good cheer can be contagious, and so can nitpicking, bad attitudes and the general grump-grumps! Since I don’t want to infect you, dear reader, with a case of the general grump-grumps, I would rather just hush, or else simply say God is good! He is good, and we are trusting Him to direct our steps. And He is sovereign, and He is in control, and I don’t need to take on more of the world’s problems than He has assigned to me.
And, funny enough, after all our adventures, we are feeling His direction to settle down right where we started at the beginning, at the Every Nation Church in Somerset West. We have since discovered most churches don’t seem to have nurseries for kids under two, and that we are probably going to have to drive a wee ways to get to where we ought to be on a Sunday morning anyway, and that’s okay. Above all, we’re listening for the leading of the Lord, and His direction is our opportunity to obey! Â I am really excited about heading there again this Sunday.
PLUS, as soon as I get pictures together, I will tell you the delightful tale of how my dashing husband attempted to rescue a baby bird from the clutches of death! I hope tomorrow. In the meantime, I shall share a picture that will hopefully be smilingly contagious, of our Bear as an ice-cream Sunday. And once I have some encouraging things to say, they’ll be on their way to you!
Nov 6, 2009 | Baby Photos
Hi Moms & Dads on both sides of the pond ! (and everyone else who loves our Bear)…
We thought you might enjoy a few shots of your favourite (for now, only) grandchild. We were on the beach outside our place the other day with our camera, and he was more than willing to be an adorable subject…as usual! So here’s our Bear on the Beach… enjoy!  We love and miss you!
He’s not so afraid of the sand anymore…
And he is no longer afraid to take off in his own direction at warp speed, either!
Lots of love from us in the southern sun! More to come soon!
Oct 21, 2009 | Baby Photos, Scotland, South Africa, Stories, Top Ten Lists
Top of the week to ya! This Sunday was the Bear’s 14 Month Birthday, and I think that is just plain special! Since everyone seems to like to see pictures of him, and his grandparents most especially miss him, I thought I would arrange a special Top Ten plus Four for you this week, with 14 of our favourite photos of our special wee man.
Hope you enjoy!
1. This one is from the day he was born… His first good shot in good lighting. (The delivery room was kind of dark at 2 am.)
2. This one is from when my Mom was visiting and helped him nap on his tummy so I could get some rest…
3. Aunt Dodi gave him this adorable onesie and he just posed so well in it!
4. One day, I got ready to take the Bear outside in the Scottish cold. I bundled him up and left the room for a moment, because I’d forgotten something. He started crying while I was away. I wondered why he seemed so upset, but then he got really quiet. This is what I returned to…
5. This was taken the first time he saw a Christmas tree. If you look closely, you can see the lights of the tree in his eyes!
6. This was at a snugly wuggly bafftime.
7. This was also an outfit from Aunt Dodi…also taken in South Africa. How precious is this baby zebra?
8. This was in America when he found his feet for the first time. I had no idea how adorable babies playing with their feet could be. We took lots of pictures of him in this pose because he was just being so adorable. At first we got lots of naked shots, which were of course so cute and funny, but then we decided to slap a nappy on him so that he didn’t grow up to rue the day his parents bought a camera. I think that was a good decision.
9. Here is the Bear, posing as a very very very young version of Rocky. Adwiannnn!
10. You may have already seen this one…still a personal favourite. The hair, the moobs, the drool…fabulous.
11. I call this one ‘the bairn upon the rock’ because this is on the Isle of Skye, in Scotland and ‘bairn’ is a Scots word for child. I don’t know why I love this one. I just do! (Mark was hiding behind the rock to make sure he didn’t fall off!)
12. Sorry, Mom…I just can’t let this one go. I mean look at his face! (And yours! Tehe!)
13. This was at the Bear’s First Birthday Party! He had some of his amazing jungle birthday cake and I think he rather liked it!
14. And here he is … looking almost grown up! Our 14 Month Old Bear!
So that’s the fantastic fourteen! Many thanks to the little bundle bringing us so much joy! Happy Birthday Bear!
Oct 15, 2009 | Baby Photos, Stories
One lovely thing about being in a new country is enjoying the differences in words and their meanings from one place to the next. Pants in America = underpants in Britain. Fanny pack in America = not a nice thing to say in Britain.
And “Doo-doos,” as in poop, in America is another word for a nap in South Africa. I don’t know yet whether ‘cuss’ is a word commonly used in South Africa, but I had a wee experience the other day that almost made me do so. Hopefully you can have a laugh at my expense.
We’ve had this issue for a while where the Bear (our 13 month old) will wake up much earlier than he normally does because he is so wet he has soaked through his nappy (diaper) and his clothes. A lot of times his sheets are wet too. We were thinking about perhaps starting to double up diapers at night, or to look somewhere for some night-time ones, but we didn’t have it figured out yet. Lots on the list when you’re settling in to a new country. So the stage is set!
A few days ago we tried a different brand of nappies called ‘Cuddlers’ and glory, hallelujah, the Bear slept through the night and didn’t wake us up! We were up before he was. When Mark went in to get him, his clothes were as dry as parmesan cheese when you leave it out too long. I decided Cuddlers were the super diapers I’d been looking for. Hello, sweet friend. It’s nice to finally meet you.
The day went along as usual. Bear had some milk before his afternoon nap, then I took him in and laid him down. After a wee while he was still awake, but happy. I left him since he was happy, but eventually he got UNhappy. I thought perhaps it was annoyance with the washer and dryer noises and that he would settle down, but the grumbling continued.
Eventually, I went in to see if he’d perhaps done a dirty doodle, (since he hadn’t yet that day and I pay attention to these things!) and at first I thought he had, but it was not so, friend! His diaper seemed a little wet but sometimes it’s hard to tell how wet diapers are because they’re so darn good at feeling dry these days. I decided he was being a cheeky monkey and laid him back down. He chilled out but still didn’t go to sleep. Finally when I was terribly tired of the grumbling, I went back in and brought him out to lie on the couch for a while in hopes of settling him down for a doo-doos. Still…not a chance he was gonna fall asleep.
Then suddenly I realised – hey! He’s wet! His jeans and his top are wet. Dern! So I went to change him and was highly disappointed with what I thought were the magic diapers I’d always dreamed of. Newoutfitnewnappynoproblem. By this time it was too late for the nap, so I gave up and turned the dryer back on and started another load of laundry while the Bear played on his bed for a little while. I went back and picked him up to bring him out to his toys, and realised…Dern! He is wet again! How is this possible? I looked all around to try to figure it out. His bed was wet, his bodysuit was wet, his lil’ trackpants… his blanket…what had happened, yo? No bottles lingering about…no leaks in the ceiling (yeah, I checked)… so finally I checked the new nappy. And what did I discover, pray tell? The Bear’s teeter totter, sticking out the side of the nappy had happily moistened everything in its path, except the nappy itself.
SOOO… after another fresh bodysuit, t-shirt, and trousers the Bear skipped his nap and hit the toybox, while I started my third load of laundry. Goodie.
It dawned on me as trousers number three were being scooched up around and into place – yeah this is frustrating, but my attitude is still my choice. I can laugh or cuss, and get on with it. Fortunately, I’m not too much of a cusser, so I decided to smile and chuckle at the mishap. Hopefully now you can too!
Oct 1, 2009 | Baby Photos, South Africa, Stories
We are now in Bloemfontein visiting Mark’s Mom and Dad. It’s really good to be here. We hope to take the next few days to rest after going and going and going, and pray and prepare to jump in with both feet and get started. And great news, we will be able to move in to our new place on October 1st! Â We are very thankful and excited to finally unpack our suitcases after over two months of nomadic living! I think this lifestyle is a constant reminder that we really are temporarily on this earth, and the long stay — the settling in where you don’t pack again — will happen in eternity.
I don’t know if it’s just because of all the changes that have happened seemingly suddenly (if it’s okay to put those two words together…it seems strange) but I am just overwhelmed with joy when Asher gets to be around his grandparents. I am the same way when we’re in Washington with my Mom and Dad…I mean you would think I was pregnant again it makes me so emotional! I’m almost teary just passing Asher to his Grandpa Collie so he can hold him for a while, and I’m running to fetch the camera. (By the way, I’m not pregnant again — just emotional!) I can look at pictures of my Mom or Dad holding him, and get emotional. A big part of our decision to move here was for Asher to get to know his grandparents here before we eventually settle down in the States (Lord willing and the creek don’t rise). So I suppose it’s just really great to be here, enjoying one of the reasons we’re here, seeing it happen before our eyes.
There is something significant in Scripture about generations — God being a generational God — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I hope the Lord can become the God of the generations in the Collie family as well.
So we’ve finally arrived back in Mark’s hometown, Bloemfontein. And we are on the way to the place we’ll be settling in for a while. Even though this is at least 6,000 miles away from my hometown, it’s very good to be here, and it feels like home.
xCC
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