Visa update

12/5/2009

I just realized that I never posted about our visas! I sent out a newsletter, and I forgot to post anything about it in here. I thought I'd just put a portion of the letter in here, so that you could have the update about where we are in the visa process.

11/20/2009

The original plan was for us to head to Spain on Dec. 28^th; but at this point, we are not sure if that will actually happen. We have been working on the paperwork we needed to gather in order to apply for our Visas at the Spanish consulate in D.C. We thought we would be ready to make the trip to D.C. about a month ago, but we ran into problems getting our documents “authenticated” from the state of CA. Yesterday evening, we received the documents we have been waiting for (praise the Lord!!) We spent hours last night, putting together everything we needed; and we left at 6am this morning to go to D.C. This is such an answer to prayer, because the consulate is closed tomorrow, and next week would have been difficult because it’s Thanksgiving. So, we set out this morning and drove through rush hour traffic. We arrived 15 minutes before the consulate opened and found a parking space! It took them a while to go through all the paperwork to make sure we had everything they needed, but they were so kind and courteous. We had everything in place, and she said she would send it off to Spain for approval right away.

At this point, we’ve been told it will take from 1-6 months to get our Visa’s back. This is the one thing we would specifically ask you all to pray for right now. If we are delayed in going, the kids may have to start school in the middle of the semester. Wes and I could also miss the date to enroll in our language school, and we would have to wait until the next semester in order to begin learning the language. We recognize that God is in control, and His timing is perfect! It is our prayer that the papers would be expedited and that we would still be able to leave on Dec. 28^th as planned. Will you join us in prayer for this? Please pray that our Visa’s come back in RECORD time!... please pray specifically that we will get our visas back within one month. We do recognize that this is unusual, but nothing is impossible with our Lord! This is our most urgent prayer request at the moment. Thank you for standing with us in prayer! It is so encouraging to see how the Lord has provided so abundantly, even in the little things… like a parking space!

We finished!!!!

Ahhh... praise the Lord! We finished FPO! If you read any of the other entries, you know that it was rough... but we did learn alot. We finished out our last week, had our commissioning on Thursday, and left right after the ceremony. We were ready to be finished. It sure was sad to say goodbye to many of our friends. That was definitely the high-light of FPO for us. God blessed us with some amazing friendships... for Wes and I as well as for our children.

So, now we must hurry up and wait. At this point, we are waiting for our Visa's to come in. We applied a month ago, and we have just called and emailed to see if we could get an update. So far, we have heard nothing. As we told you before, they told us it would be from 1-6 months, which means it could be MAY before we leave?!? How crazy is that? It just makes it hard to plan. If we are not leaving until May, we really need to find a place for our family of 6! :) If it's just going to be another month or so, I think maybe my parents can put up with us for that long. :) Anyway, please pray for wisdom for us. It also affects schooling for the boys. If we are going to be here until May, maybe we need to enroll them in school?? We are still praying through all of that. So, do keep us in your prayers.

Right now, we have plans through the holidays. You can check the calendar at the bottom of our blog to see where we are going to be when. We have some appointments for Nathan in Raleigh just before Christmas, so we'll be down in NC the weekend before. Wes's family is coming up right after Christmas, so we'll be BACK in Raleigh for the week of New Year's. After that... we don't know. We'd love to make another trip up to upstate NY and see all of my family, and visit Emmanuel Baptist again. If we still have no word after the new year, we will probably do that. In the mean time, we are trying to get all of Nathan's doctor's appointments lined up.

We have had some issues come up with Nathan while we were at FPO. The teachers there were concerned about his fine motor skills and his retention. We had planned to do an Occupational Therapy evaluation after FPO was over (even before the teachers had mentioned anything), but they recommended we do it asap. So, we called our PT in Raleigh (she's amazing!!!), and she got us an appointment with her friend in the same practice. Nathan and I made a quick trip to Raleigh one rainy Monday morning for the appointment. Kim (from Abilitations) is the one who worked with Nathan, and she was wonderful. She basically said that Nathan has weakness in his hands and arms from not being exposed to school (Nathan never really did much pre-school). She felt like we could get him caught up on that, though, and she gave us some recommendations.

The doctors at FPO also felt like it might be important for Nathan to be seen by a neurologist. The teacher said that Nathan would zone out sometimes when she was reading a story, and they wondered if Nathan was having seizures. Now, I HIGHLY doubt Nathan is having seizures. The dr. said they were a possiblity in CP, but that if they don't show up by 3, they usually never occur. So, my guess is Nathan was bored, or maybe we do have some attention issues we have to work on. But, we requested that we get him in to the physiatrist who diagnosed Nathan with CP. I'm not entirely sure what the difference is with a neurologist and a physiatrist, but Wes and I had talked about having Nathan seen again before we left, just so we could get a re-evaluation on where he is at. A physiatrst will have some knowledge that a neurologist would have, but I guess he is more focused on the movement part of things? I'm not entirely sure. But, praise the Lord, we were able to get Nathan an appointment just before Christmas. We were thankful that it is a dr. who already knows Nathan, and the IMB doctors felt like he would have the knowledge needed to know if there was anything goin on with Nathan.

Also, during the OT evaluation, Kim noticed Nathan having trouble seeing the dots he was supposed to be connecting. She said he would move his head in all different directions, and then he'd try to put his pencil on the dot and he would miss it. It was like his depth perception was off. We decided to try without his glasses, and he seemed to do much better. So, we do need to find out what kind of issues we are having with his eyes. These type of issues will also affect Nathan in school!! Kim's evaluation also stated that he doesn't use the lower right quadrant of his eyes and that he has trouble tracking things. We have made another appointment with his pediatric ophthalmologist in Raleigh, as well. Please do pray for all of this. We just want to do the best we can for Nathan, so we'd like to know all we possibly can before we go to Spain. I'm so thankful for how God has worked all these appointments out!

We know, even though we are ready to get on the plane and head to Spain, that God has His perfect timing for us. He has a plan... who knows, maybe we will need all the extra time in order to get all of Nathan's appointments squared away. God knows! We will trust Him as we wait. Thanks for all of your prayers! We will be able to update a little better now that we have our internet back!!!!!! Yay!

Laughable Moments

Ok, there is nothing news-worthy in this entry. And I have to fore-warn you that if you are not already a parent, you may not want to read this... it may make you think twice. BUT, for those moms out there, it may give you a moment of comic relief to laugh at my life, instead of stressing about yours. :) Ok! You've been warned!

I call these laughable moments. They are moments where you just have to laugh, or you will end up crying. :)


For some reason, Carolina has gotten into a routine of going #2 during our dinner hour. (Yes, I did warn you!) I'm not sure if it's because she's so fair-skinned, but all around her eyes goes bright red when she goes to the bathroom. One night at dinner, I could tell she was going; but we were in the cafeteria, and I figured she'd just have to wait until we got home. It's pretty crazy managing all the kids in the cafeteria with both Wes and I there, so if one of us leaves... it's insane. So, I just decided she'd be fine until we got home.

I knew she had gone; I just didn't realize how bad it was. I picked her up from her high chair and was putting the chair away, when I realized my hand was wet. Yes, lovely. I looked over her shoulder, and she had poop all over her back... all over her pants and her shirt... and yes, all over MY coat and MY hands. Now, it's one thing when this happens in your own home. It does happen... and you just throw the clothes away (just kidding...mostly...) and you put the kid in the bathtub. But we were in the cafeteria! People were eating all around us! Plus, we still had to go OUTSIDE in the freezing rain and cold before we could put the kid in the bathtub!


I looked at Wes, who was putting the trays and dishes away across the room. He could tell by my face that something was up. He came over with a look of dread, and I just turned so he could see the mess. I wish I could've captured his look (and probably mine, too!) on camera. I asked him what we were going to do... we have a sit and stand stroller with a plastic cover to keep the kids dry in the rain. There was no way we could even put Carolina's coat on without getting it all nasty... let alone put her in the stroller! So, Wes decided he was just going to carry her face down, like she's lying on her tummy, out in front of him so he wouldn't get poop all over him.

So, Wes went flying out the doors holding Carolina way out in front of him, and he ran all the way to the Quad (the poor girl had no coat on... nothing to keep her warm... but at least nothing else got dirty! lol) I got the rest of the kids all bundled, and we ran back to the quad so that I could help. By the time I got there, Wes had stripped her down and just had her sitting naked in a dry tub... poop everywhere. Wes and I work together to get her all cleaned up and then sanitized the tub before actually giving her the bath. It's amazing the girl wasn't screaming. She loves her bath, so once we started the water running, she was good! I still had all her clothes to clean, but we thought we'd conquered!

Right around then, someone knocked on the door. I remembered right at that moment that a friend of ours had asked to borrow a cookie sheet. I still hadn't been able to clean my hands, but I walked out to the kitchen and told him we'd just had an emergency with Carolina. :) I pointed (but couldn't touch anything...) to the oven where the cookie sheet was. He laughed and asked if they could help in any way. No, no... we had it under control. So, he left, and I went back into the bathroom where I had left Carolina's dirty clothes. Wes was in there helping Jonathan with something.

I walked over to the bath tub to grab Carolina's poopy clothes, and I notice something floating in the bathtub out of the corner of my eye. NO! I couldn't believe it! I screamed, "Wes!" and could do nothing but point. Wes looked and just said, " How in the world!?!?" Of course, I was giving him a hard time for not noticing it before, but there was MORE POOP floating all around Carolina in the tub! Yes, oh so lovely. She must've been curious as to what it was, because it was all over her hands and in her finger nails. She just sat there, smiling... and all I could think was, "Gross!"

We went flying into action AGAIN. We drained the tub; I picked Carolina up, and Wes got all the floating "logs" out of the tub and into the toilet. I was holding a wet Carolina... at arms length, of course... and Wes sanitized the tub AGAIN. I tried to get Carolina's hands and finger nails clean and sanitized to at least an acceptable level without getting myself soaked or poopy in the process. I cleaned Carolina's bottom AGAIN. Wes filled the tub AGAIN, and we washed her up AGAIN. What kind of craziness is this!?!? I don't think either of us were laughing at the moment... but it sure is funny now!... but it doesn't end there.

So, the NEXT night, Carolina goes again at dinner. You'd think I'd have learned, but I didn't think something as catastrophic as that could happen AGAIN. So, I do what is logical, and figure she can wait until we get home. I should just cut and paste this section from the top... lol... no, it wasn't that bad... yet. I picked her up, and CHECKED the diaper this time. It was full and yucky, and about to come up her back. We thought we were being smart this time and catching it before it made a disaster.

We do the same thing all over again. Wes runs out the door with Carolina at arms length, and I get all the boys bundled. We all RUN in the rain, and dash into the quad. I thought I was quicker this time, but still not quick enough. Once I got in the door, I find Wes kneeling beside Carolina, taking her coat off. I'm horrified! "WES! You sat her DOWN?" He couldn't figure out how else to get her coat off (yes, we actually did put her coat on her this time!) I walk slowly over, expecting to find poop all up her back again, but as I lifted up her shirt, it was fine! I was so relieved. I couldn't imagine another night like the night before. But then... as I was standing there, sighing with relief, my eyes began to focus on this large, round, brown ball on the floor beside Carolina. Realization hit me, and I could only stutter... "Wes, is... is... that... poop?!?!" I begin looking around, and it's in her stroller, on the floor... little balls everywhere! I'm thinking, "how in the world??" I picked Carolina up at arms length again (I had already had to wash poop off my wool coat the night before, and I didn't want to have to do it again...) As I'm holding her at arms length and pull up her shirt to see if I had missed anything, she begins to shake her legs... hanging in mid air, she's doing this little dance. I'm thinking, "What is she doing?" Then it dawns on me, so I lift one pant leg. Nothing. But she's still kicking those legs, so I go for the other pant leg. As I lift the other pant leg, poop falls out. Her leg was covered... or rather, smothered in poop, and her adorable pink shoe is no longer pink. It's green, and there's poop even in the velcro!!!!!!!! Now, aren't you glad it was ME, and not YOU? :)














How can such a cute, sweet little thing have so much yucky JUNK come out of her!!!!??!? She will hate these stories when she grows up, I'm sure. :)... but, for now, they are definitely laughable moments.

Crazy, but good...

12/1/2009

I can't believe it's almost been a month since I've written in here! It seems like yesterday. We have gone through so much in the past month. We survived "contingency training" where they train us how to respond in a hostage situation, a car-jacking, etc. It was QUITE a stressful week for us. We were grateful for the training, but we were also thankful when it was finished. :)

We are now in our last full week of training, and we are meeting specifically with our affinity group... European Peoples. We've really enjoyed the practical teaching, specific to our area. It's very different going to Europe than many other places; many of the techniques they have taught us as a large group won't necessarily apply to the highly educated people we will be encountering in Europe. It was wonderful to get a clear grasp of how to make a strategy for our people.










We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family in Williamsburg, and SO enjoyed our time with family. We really didn't want to leave once the evening was through. :) But, we had to get the kids to bed at a decent hour, b/c we were scheduled to go to D.C. on Friday. It was a group assignment, and the goal was to interact with internationals in D.C.


We formed a group with 2 amazing journey girls who are also headed to Spain. Unfortunately, they were in a car accident just before Thanksgiving, and neither of them could go with us. (Please do keep them both in your prayers. They are recovering, but one of the girls will have 3-4 months of rehab before she will even be able to walk again. They have amazing testimonies to share about how they were able to witness to nurses and dr.s... even in the midst of their pain and suffering.) So, we ventured an entire day in D.C. (well, it wasn't really an option. :) ) on our own. We had to ride the Metro as part of our assignment; and that was interesting, herding all the kids on before the door closed. :) I think the most challenging thing was navigating the escalators. They do have elevators, but often it was MUCH MUCH more walking to get to them, so Wes figured out a system on the escalators. Carolina was scared out of her mind every time Daddy tipped the stroller high into the air so we could ride the escalator. It rained (actually it was sleet!), but thankfully we were having lunch in a Spanish restaurant at the time. :) We tried some authentic Spanish food... even Nathan ventured out to try some "Spanish meatballs." He loved them. :) After 10 trips up and down a tiny spiral staircase for the restrooms, we headed on our way to meet internationals! Before we left, Wes was able to witness a little bit to our waiter, who came from Barcelona.


All in all, our day was pretty good. We hung out at some of the museums, so we could interact with internationals. We realized pretty quickly that we needed to have a strategy, b/c it pretty much took the two of us just to keep an eye on the kids, let alone try to start a conversation with people! :) So, Wes took the boys to look at some of the exhibits, and I just sat on an empty bench... in the middle... with Carolina sleeping in the stroller. She gave me a great excuse to be sitting. :) People would come and sit beside me to rest, and it gave me an opportunity to begin conversations. They were never very long, but I was able to speak to people from 4 different countries. It was great! It was actually my first time in D.C., so I was amazed at all the sites! It is a beautiful place.

It was a BLUSTERY day, and fairly cold; so we stopped in for a cultural experience at Dunkin Donuts. Wes said it qualified as a cultural experience, because the sign was in Chinese... since we were in Chinatown. :) We all got something warm to drink, and some doughnut-holes, of course. Carolina tried her first doughnut that day! Amazingly, we made it back to the buses in time to get all the kids settled and ready for the trip home. It was a good day... crazy, but good.