Rachel's Rambling's

Campo's Latest Project

2010-10-03T09:54:00.006-06:00

http://www.thechanpaproject.com/

Due to the massive amount of rain we have received in Nicaragua thousands of families have been pushed out of their homes. It has recently come to our attention that our neighbors down the beach in Tolas Maydas are in need of help. To see how Campo Alegria could help we decided to go check out the situation.

The road into the village was covered in water and was so deep our truck barely passed through. Water has funneled from the sugar cane fields, across the road and right into the homes. The ground is saturated with the continuous rain and the water levels have risen so high there is no where for it to drain. While some families have felt the effects more than others, most homes have been effected. At some houses the water has rose just high enough to be inconvenient, resulting in walking through a bit of mud to reach the door step. While other houses have become islands, surrounded by water on all sides. In both of these scenarios the families are able to continue living in their homes. However, other families were not so fortunate. For them the water has risen high enough to fill their homes with a couple feet of muddy brown water.

On our way back through the village we visited the school where the families had relocated. About 20 families total where packed tightly together in five classrooms. There was one shared pot for all twenty families to cook in and the mayor graciously donated five days worth of rice and beans. However, after the week is through the families will be own their own. "Where do the kids go to school now that everyone is living here?" we asked. One man explained there hasn't been school since they moved in. Soon though, some classes will start in the church while others will meet in homes.

The situation certainly is not ideal. We wanted to help in a way that would be of long term assistance to the community and find a way to open up the school. After mulling over a couple of ideas, talking with several families in the community and speaking with the mayor we finally settle on this idea: The Chanpa Project

Click here to learn more about what we are doing.

Sydnie's Birthday

2010-07-13T09:57:00.005-06:00

June 29th was Sydnie's birthday, she turned two years old and I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures of our fun day.

Three gifts

2010-06-19T19:19:00.004-06:00

We decided to fumigate our house because the mosquitoes had gotten so bad since rainy season has started. Every morning the girls would wake up covered in bites and we couldn't even sit down without mosquitoes buzzing around us. So this morning we packed up the girls, dog, turtle, two baby chicks and spent the day at our friends house.

We came home in the late afternoon and the house still stunk like the smoke they had sprayed and our courtyard is now off-limits for three days because of the chemicals sprayed in it. I was busy changing sheets, wiping things down and was worrying about the girls touching or breathing in anything that would hurt them. So needless to say I was a little stressed out and officially give myself an F- for patience with Ashlyn & Sydnie. We finally made it to bed time and after Sydnie fell asleep I went in Ashlyn's room to check on her. She was still awake just lying quietly in bed. I went in, gave her a hug and she pulled my hair back and told me she loved me. Then our conversation went like this:

"Did Jesus give me to you?" "Yes Jesus gave me three daughters." “Did you ask Him for Ashlyn, Sydnie and Payden?” "No, I asked Him for babies and He looked all over and decided that Ashlyn, Sydnie and Payden were special and He would give them to me". “Oh, and you said thank you?” “Yes, I say thank you all the time.”

She is so sweet, I can't believe this is what she is wondering about before she falls asleep. She makes me want to be a better mom, I wish I would never loose my patience with her! All my girls are such a amazing gift from God that He has entrusted to me, it is very a humbling job.

Four months old

2010-06-09T13:29:00.003-06:00

Payden will be four months old tomorrow! She is reaching for things and starting to roll over. And hopefully she will make it one of her goals to start sleeping through the night, she's almost there!

29 Years Old!

2010-06-08T21:37:00.006-06:00

It was my birthday today and I turned 29 years old! This is my last year in my twenties...I guess I'm getting old. ;)
I had a wonderful, relaxing birthday with my family. It started early this morning around 4am when Payden woke up to eat. I reached for my phone to see what time it was and my hand hit a balloon that was taped to the side of our bed. Then on the way out of our room another balloon taped to the wall and another one taped to Payden's door! When I came back from feeding Payden I went to the bathroom and there was yet another balloon taped to the toilet (how lovely) I guess someone was busy after I went to bed and he knows exactly what I do every night!
In the morning my amazing husband got up with the girls while I laid around in bed which was wonderful!! Then I opened my birthday present...a new digital camera! Our old one officially died a few weeks ago and I really wanted a new one to take pictures of the girls. So now I have a great camera to take lots of pictures with!
We went to Managua for lunch and to get a cheese cake as my birthday cake, yum! Later we had cake and had the girls hit open my birthday pinata. After we got back from Managua Adam watched the girls again while I had a facial. They are very inexpensive here and I've never had one so I thought it would be a nice treat...and it was! Another great thing about today was God answered my birthday wish! Yesterday I prayed that it would please be rainy all day, I get so tired of being hot and sweaty all the time. And today it rained all day!! The sun never came out, it was a cloudy, rainy day...my favorite kind of day in Nicaragua!
I had a great birthday, here are some pictures from today with my new camera.

Ashlyn & Sydnie loved my Tinker Bell pinata!

My three little girls.

2010-05-11T10:31:00.009-06:00

I have been pleasntly suprised at what an easy adjustment life with three little girls has been and I give most the credit to Payden for being such a good, easy-going baby. She is only 13 weeks old but it seems like she has always been here! She rarely cries and is very content to spend a lot of her awake time kicking in her bouncy seat. She is full of smiles, talks a lot and is starting to laugh, she is my little angel.

Sydnie is loud, a little bit naughty, and full of energy. She is my challenge but has an addictive laugh and I don't know how many times she's gotten out of trouble by making me laugh. She will be two years old in June and is talking like crazy, can you believe she already asks me "why?"

Ashlyn is my quite, sensitive girl who loves to help and be the mommy. She loves dancing, dressing up, and you should hear the funny songs she comes up with to sing! She loves having books read to her and has memorized most of the stories. She will be four years old in November and I can't believe what a big girl she is becoming!

I am so blessed to have my three beautiful girls!

2010-02-27T20:04:00.007-06:00

Last week Adam's dad, Grant came to visit us for a week to see his new granddaughter! It was a lot of fun to have him here and a big help to us. He made supper, entertained the girls and brought us some luxuries from the U.S.
Adam and Grant took the girls all over touring around so I could have some rest with just one little baby to think about. Ashlyn and Sydnie really enjoyed having their Grampy around to play with and we were so glad they were able to get to know him better!
It was great to have him come visit and we hope he comes back soon. ;)

Finally popped!

2010-02-15T12:46:00.009-06:00

I can't believe it's already been over a week since Payden was born! Here is the story of how she came into the world:

My contractions started around 9 p.m. But they were 20 minutes apart or more and I barely noticed them. But by 10 p.m. they were 10 minutes apart and starting to really hurt so I knew this was it! The baby was finally on it’s way!
We called our friend to come stay with the girls and headed out to the hospital around 11 p.m. The hospital is about a 30-40 minute drive, so we figured we had plenty of time. But as soon as we got in the truck my contractions went to 7 minutes, then 5, then 4...3...2. By time we reached the hospital I could tell I needed to start pushing and desperately wanted to get into the delivery room.
However the hospital was in no hurry to accommodate my desires. A man took me to reception in a wheelchair while Adam parked the car. The lady behind the desk proceeded to ask me my name, husbands name, favorite flavor of ice cream, etc... Once Adam came it was the same thing…questions and her standing there literally thumbing through a stack of papers looking for our information. She could not find the information and therefore would not let us through. It was a bit ridiculous and I was just sitting in the wheel chair pushing away with every contraction. Adam tried calling the doctor to come down and help us but he was still on his way!
At that point I started getting frazzled. The doctor wasn’t even in the hospital and I was sitting in a wheel chair pushing my baby out. I think the lady finally realized things were about to get ugly so she reluctantly let us through.
Hurray! Up to the maternity ward they wheeled me! A few minutes later our doctor ran in to examine me while I was in the middle of a contraction and pushing. At that point my water broke or should I say exploded? It sprayed Adam right in the leg! Yes! I nailed him with amniotic fluid! Doesn't get much better than that. :)
At that point we all looked up at the doctor in shock who was looking a little stunned himself. He then started yelling for the nurses to move and get me to the delivery room. Finally! I was so relieved people were moving and trying to get me to the delivery room. It only took my water shooting across the room to get their attention! :)
As the bed was being pushed into the delivery room Adam said "Dr. Menditeta! The head is coming out!" So the doctor ran around and basically caught little Miss. Payden Ily on her way out.
She was 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19 inches long, born at 12:05 a.m. on February 10th.

I am feeling very good and recovering fast. Adam has been able to be at home so I am having a luxurious time of sleeping in with my little baby while he gets up with the girls.
Payden is such a good little baby and I'm just in love with her! Ashlyn and Sydnie both love her and want to hold her & help me all they can. We are so blessed to have our three little girls!!

Ready to pop!

2010-02-06T20:52:00.003-06:00

I have officially passed my due date of Feb. 5th and have been impatiently awaiting the arrival of our new baby. I feel like my body has been giving “any minute now” signs for the last week yet nothing is happening! Usually I am very happy for the baby to stay in as long as he/she likes because they are a lot easier inside than out, yet for some reason with this one I’ve been anxious to pop it out.

However this last week Adam has been home after a busy December and January at camp. It has been so fun having him around all the time, swimming in the pool, cooking dinner together, taking the girls out to playgrounds and even the zoo. When I look back on this past week I’m so glad we were able to have a fun, relaxing time with just the four of us before things get crazy again.

One of my favorite memories from this week happened today when we went out to lunch at a local restaurant called “Tip Top”. When our food came Adam and I were eating and talking away when I noticed something bright blue disappear into Adam’s mouth. “What blue thing did you just eat?” I asked. He quickly spit out what was suppose to be a bite of a chicken wrap only to find a bright blue, deflated balloon mixed in! We both stared at it confused…finding a hair in your food would be one thing…but a balloon? We called our waiter over and Adam asked for another chicken wrap without a balloon, which just sounded extra funny in Spanish.

I was laughing pretty hard but Adam was just staring in awe. He finally said “if you don’t know there’s a balloon in the sandwich you’re making…then what does that mean…? What else is in the sandwiches they don’t know about??!” Good question! I can’t imagine how a balloon ended up in a chicken wrap!! When the waiter came back with a new chicken wrap he told Adam not to be scared to eat it…how reassuring! The restaurants catch phrase is “Saborear los buenos momentos” which means to savor the good memories. Thank you Tip Top for creating such a good memory, although perhaps next time we could do without a choking hazard in our food!

Christmas Day

2010-01-16T19:56:00.008-06:00

I keep forgetting to put pictures up of Christmas day, so here they are just a little late! This was our first Christmas spent in Nicaragua and it went great. Ashlyn is old enough now to understand what is going on and looked forward to opening her presents. Sydnie just liked ripping the paper open and playing with all the new things.
Adam's mom was able to fly down to spend the week with us. It was fun to have family visit and the girls loved having their Grammy around!

Pay Back!

2009-11-27T14:47:00.003-06:00

Some of you might remember last Thanksgiving’s blog about Adam getting food poisoning and me, (his loving wife) driving him two hours to a Thanksgiving party he could not partake in.
Well this thanksgiving Adam managed to stay away from salmonella filled eggs and we made it to the Thanksgiving party healthy and ready to stuff ourselves full of turkey. The meal was wonderful and we had a great time. When we arrived home it was late and we all went straight to bed.
About an hour later I woke up with the worse heartburn I have ever had. I only get heartburn when I am pregnant and usually it is rather mild. However this felt like my insides were on fire and made me feel horribly nauseated. I woke Adam up because I felt so sick and had no idea what to do for heartburn. He jumped out of bed and left to try and find a pharmacy still open that sold anti-acids. He returned a while later with some chalky white tablets. But as soon as he handed them to me I was off and running for the bathroom and up came my Thanksgiving dinner!
I could not help but think of how last year it was Adam with his head in a toilet. I also thought about how he had just jumped out of bed in the middle of the night with no complaint to help me in contrast to my compassion (or lack thereof) when he was sick last Thanksgiving. What can I say? He’s my better half and I am thankful for him. ;)
Next Thanksgiving our goal is for everyone in the family to eat and keep down a Thanksgiving dinner!

New House!

2009-11-22T13:54:00.010-06:00

As most of you know we have moved to the town of Granada. After a month of searching for the "perfect place" we finally found it! So far we love living in our new home and enjoying being in Granada very much. This town has a community of fellow missionaries, a bilingual church we like and a cafe full of yummy treats that I love. ;)
Our favorite thing about the new house is the pool, our girls are having lots of fun playing and it is so refreshing!
Here are some pic's of our new place:

The Entry Way The kitchen
The pool, our "happy place".
Ashlyn & Sydnie "helping" me plant flowers.

I'm Back!

2009-03-05T17:12:00.007-06:00

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last blogged! As most of you know we went back home to Maine for Christmas. We ended up spending almost two months visiting friends, raising support and getting the paper work we needed to complete our residencies and of course we had a lot of fun too! It was great to be in Maine but it was really good to come back to our “home” here in Nica.

Since being back we have been very busy with mission teams coming down to camp and getting settled back in.

The girls are doing great; Ashlyn is talking like crazy and even starting to speak some Spanish! Sydnie is sitting up, crawling and even starting to pull herself up on things.

Just wanted to give a quick update to let everyone know we are still alive and doing well!

Sydnie - 8 months
Do you think I could have bought a smaller kiddie pool?!

A Thanksgiving to Remember

2008-11-29T20:35:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving morning Adam decided to make himself some scrambled eggs for breakfast. When he went to crack the eggs he noticed there was a hole in one but figured he must have done it when he had grabbed them. About an hour later the eggs came back up and Adam had a classic case of salmonella! Nicaraguans do not refrigerate their eggs so they sit out in 90 degree weather until they are finally bought and I’ve found quite a few that are cracked since we’ve been here.

Our plan for Thanksgiving was to drive to Managua (the capital) and go to a party there some friends were having. We were going to spend the night since it’s a two hour drive and the party started in the evening. But by three o’clock in the afternoon Adam was still throwing up and feeling horrible. However I was determined to eat some turkey so I made a bed in the back of our truck for Adam to lay in, packed the girls in and off to Managua we went. I had to stop once to let Adam out so he could throw up and it was just a miserable ride for him. You might be wondering why on earth I did not just stay home and let poor Adam rest, my excuse is that I had actually gotten food poisoning a few weeks ago and felt better the next day so I assumed he was going to start feeling better in no time. Also I had not left our little town in weeks because Adam had been busy at camp and I was going a little insane being here. Knowing we were going to get out and celebrate Thanksgiving was what had kept me going for the last two weeks! I wasn’t about to give that up.

We ended up arriving at the party late (Adam really slowed me down ;) but I did manage to get some turkey and stuffing. I had a fun time talking and Ashlyn loved playing with the kids there, I walked in holding Sydnie but after that I didn’t see her the whole time. She was passed around from person to person and I enjoyed having my hands free. We ended up spending two nights there since Adam was still so sick. Thirty hours later and still throwing up he got a shot for vomiting and nausea which made him feel better. In hindsight I should not have taken Adam, but Ashlyn and I did have a really fun time and I’m glad I went.

Scorpion

2008-11-22T11:00:00.003-06:00

Here is the latest creature I found in our yard, this time I opted for a machete instead of a shovel. The first swing took out his tail, the second swing cut off his pinchers and finally the third swing did the trick. They are surprisingly fast and resilient!

This Toy will Help your Child!

2008-10-19T11:39:00.007-06:00

I have been wanting to find a doll that Ashlyn can put in water and pretend to give a bath to. Yesterday we were out grocery shopping and I saw a little plastic “Baby and Bathtub” set. So in the shopping cart it went; it was perfect and for only two dollars!

When we got home I opened up the toy for Ashlyn to play with and got quite the surprise. I knew the toy was cheap…but I guess I didn’t realize what a cheap toy in Nicaragua was like. Not only is the doll rather creepy looking but it has a paint smudge across it’s face, the head is white and the body is brown. It came with two left shoes bigger than the dolls head and a plastic pacifier which is also the size of her head, not to mention there’s no hole in her mouth to put it in. Much to Ashlyn’s delight it’s head, arms and legs all pop off and there is even an ugly gray outfit for the doll. When I took a closer look at the packaging it read “Baby & Bathtub; This toy will help your child!” Really? That is quite the claim. Help her how? Learn to rip the limbs off dolls? That two left shoes ten times to big won’t work?

The toy either belongs on the Island of Misfit Toys or on the next movie of “Chucky". Regardless, Ashlyn has enjoyed ripping the limbs off, giving it a bath and trying to put the shoes on. So I suppose it was worth the two dollars…

These pictures really do not do the creepiness of the doll justice.

Free Day!

2008-10-17T19:06:00.004-06:00

It was only 8:00 am and I was already having a “challenging” morning with Ashlyn. I looked over at my little girl wiggling in her seat and knew we must get out of the house today. She was not being naughty…she was just bored! Moments later Adam appeared and randomly asked…“Would you like me to take Ashlyn today?” Ah, my hero comes to the rescue! An hour later Ashlyn was packed up for a day at the beach with her daddy. I waved goodbye to them, walked back in the house and realized I had a day all to myself. I had forgotten how much I enjoy silence and being alone; it was rejuvenating!

What did I spend my free day doing? I cleaned! Not only did I get the normal chores done like laundry, dishes and mopping but I also did all those things on my mental “to do list” that I never get around to. That might not seem like fun, but it was to me. It was so nice to start and finish a project without interruption. By 5:00 pm I was done with everything I had wanted to do. The house was clean, Sydnie was sleeping and it felt so good!

When Adam brought Ashlyn home she seemed happy and content. I think a whole day of playing outside and getting some undivided attention was what she needed. Adam said she had a great time sitting on the playing with rocks in the sand and running on the beach. She even brought a rock back for me. J Adam also mentioned it was the most relaxing day he’s had in a while too. I think everyone enjoyed the day; thank you Adam!!

Ashlyn ready to spend the day with her daddy.

Playing in the rain

2008-10-11T19:52:00.005-06:00

Today Ashlyn had a great time playing in a giant puddle after it rained.

Tarantula

2008-09-16T19:33:00.006-06:00

I found this tarantula in our yard the other day. I know some people keep them as pets...but I opted to smash it flat with a shovel.

Two months old!!

2008-08-31T21:04:00.004-06:00

When Ashlyn was born I was instantly in love, I just couldn’t get enough of my little girl. This time when Sydnie was born it was different. I was instantly in love but it took awhile for me to actually “bond” with her. Since I already had Ashlyn I just didn’t have a lot of free time to get to know her. Then one day Sydnie smiled at me and my heart melted! Now it has become an addiction of mine to see how big I can get her to grin.

Sydnie is now two months old and is starting to learn how to “talk”. She loves spending time in her bouncy seat kicking her legs and watching her big sister run around. She has also successfully rolled over from her stomach to her back quite a few times. My favorite “accomplishment” (other than smiling) is that she now is only getting up once during the night. Hurray!

Here is a video of her smiling at my "oo and ah" noises. For some reason she just thinks it is great when I "oo & ah". This video was taken the first week she really started to smile so some of her grins aren't the most coordinated! She is getting better. ;)

Tree Dwellers

2008-08-24T10:06:00.008-06:00

This week I've noticed our chickens don't seem to be around as much as usual. Even when Ashlyn and I take walks around the yard I often don't see them. Finally this morning I started to think perhaps they are flying over our wall into the neighbor’s yard. So Ashlyn and I went on a "hen hunt" to find our missing chickens. After two laps around our yard we had only spotted one. Finally on our third lap we found both of them.
I couldn't believe I had somehow missed a chicken in our small yard so I decided to investigate the area they were hanging out in. As I walked over one of them ran by me and jumped up into our tree, disappearing into the branches! When I looked up in the tree there was one of our neighbor’s hens sitting in it too! What on earth!?
I then remembered the Nicaraguan man we bought the chickens from saying they will sleep in trees at night. I had never heard of such a thing and figured he meant they just flew up on a low branch and roosted there.
We had built our "Golden Girls" a lovely home for them to sleep in like any American would. Last week Adam had cleaned it out and I had put a fresh sack for them to sleep on in there. Obviously they were not impressed because they are no longer sleeping in their home, but dwelling in our tree!

Sitting in the tree!

Rose peeking down at me through the branches.

Their abandoned home.

Oddly enough, I also discovered there was a wheel stuck in our tree. Can't explain that one.

Volcano Conception

2008-08-14T18:52:00.006-06:00

Last week our friendly neighborhood volcano gave a burp! A cloud of ash went up in the air and "snowed" a thin layer at camp.
This isn't a great picture but it gives you an idea of what it looked like.

Volcano Conception is on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. It's one of Nicaragua's highest (5,283 feet) and most active volcano's erupting at least 24 times since 1883.

More pictures!

2008-08-02T20:38:00.004-06:00

Sydnie & Ashlyn making funny faces...

Ashlyn helping me give Sydnie her first bath.

Sydnie looking around.

Ashlyn holding Sydnie. Giving her little sister kisses.

Guard Dogs??

2008-07-27T14:36:00.005-06:00

It has finally happened…we were robbed! After living here almost a year we were starting to think maybe we were invincible…but I guess not!
Adam had just bought an extra propane tank for our stove and put it on our back porch. A few weeks ago we noticed the tank had mysteriously disappeared! After further survey of the yard we saw limbs on one of the bushes bordering our wall were snapped like someone had jumped down on them. We called our landlord and he said it did look like someone had jumped over our wall. He notified the police and had razor wire installed around the front of our wall. It doesn’t look very welcoming; hopefully the burglars will agree.

A special thanks to our vicious guard dogs! I’m sure they greeted them with wagging tails and happily showed them around the yard.

Two weeks!

2008-07-16T11:27:00.003-06:00

Sydnie is now two and a half weeks old! I am surprised at how easily she is fitting into our family. I thought having two would be a lot harder (and it certainly has its challenges) but having two is less of an adjustment than our first was. I guess we know what we're doing this time around!
Ashlyn seems to be adjusting fine and is enjoying her little sister. She really likes holding her, giving her kisses and bringing her toys. Poor Sydnie has had quite a few toys shoved in her face!
Adam has been taking Ashlyn to camp and out on errands when he is able to. This is a huge help to me; having to taking care of just Sydnie is like a mini vacation and Ashlyn loves going with her “Daddie”.

I have been able to get Sydnie on a good schedule during the day and I'm still working out the “kinks” in her night time schedule to maximize my sleep (and her's of course)!
Sydnie's day consist of sleeping, eating, diaper changes and making lots of funny faces. I have been trying to get some good pictures of her but it has been a serious challenge. She is a little wiggle worm and most of them are blurry or she's cross-eyed. I guess she's not the most photogenic baby ever! But here's a few I came up with:

Sydnie has to wear her "mitts" because she can get a little crazy with her finger nails. She looks like a boxer...or Michael Jackson.

Duck Tape

2008-07-13T18:28:00.005-06:00

Lately Ashlyn has been pulling her diaper off during naps and at night. This leaves quite the mess for me to clean up. She has been told many times in many different ways not to touch her diaper. She doesn't seem to care...so what are great parents like us to do?? Duck tape her diaper on of course! No more washing sheets everyday; that diaper is going to stay on!

First Outing

2008-07-13T11:12:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we went on our first outing with Sydnie to Managua. Sydnie and I both had doctor’s appointments which went fine. Sydnie has gained a few ounces and is up to 6 pounds 13 ounces!
After that we headed over to the American Embassy to get Sydnie registered as an American citizen.
We were waiting in a small room set up much like a BMV would be where you get a number and wait until they call you up to one of the windows.
Ashlyn was being a really good girl playing quietly and Sydnie was sound asleep in my arms. It was one of those moments where you know the situation could become a nightmare quickly with two little ones and you’re thanking the good Lord they are both happy!

Eventually Sydnie woke up and promptly went number two; it was quite the explosion. I informed Adam that I was taking Sydnie and Ashlyn to the bathroom for a diaper change (he was filling out all the paperwork).
As soon as I closed the door of that bathroom it was instant chaos.
Ashlyn asked for some paper towels to play with so I gave her a few and then turned around to change Sydnie. When I laid Sydnie down she started screaming, LOUD. I don’t think she’s ever cried that loud for a diaper change; she was angry! After a few moments of trying to clean her up I turned around to check on Ashlyn. She had lifted the toilet seat up and was dipping the paper towels in the toilet! Gross! I left Sydnie screaming away on the changing table to stop Ashlyn’s “fun”. Then I turned my attention back to Sydnie who of course was still screaming. I managed to finally get her all cleaned up despite her flailing arms and legs.
In the mean time Ashlyn had discovered the toilet paper dispenser and was pulling toilet paper out and then running to the sink and throwing it in there (not sure why, but it was better than the toilet!) All this running back and forth she was doing was setting off the automatic flush sensor on the toilet. So about every thirty seconds she would sprint by and the toilet would flush.

At that point I thought “oh my word, everyone can hear this, I need to get out of here.” So I turned my attention once again to diapering Sydnie. Unfortunately she decided she needed to go pee before I got another diaper on. With amazing skill I somehow managed to keep her outfit dry. After cleaning up that mess I finally was able to get a diaper on my screaming baby and lifted her up to console her. As soon as I lifted her up and gave her a pat she promptly spit up on me; I guess that was her problem!
Meanwhile Ashlyn was still running around setting off the toilet and collecting toilet paper which she was now using to wipe the drain on the floor. I grabbed everything up and got Ashlyn under control only to hear a knock at the door and Adam’s voice asking “Is everything ok??” I opened the door and Adam looked at me like “what on earth…?” He whispered “Everyone is staring! What is going on?” I tried to explain the insanity that had just taken place to him.
As I walked out everyone in the room was indeed staring at me. I tried to smile confidently like nothing had happened but I really can’t imagine what it sounded like to them.
As soon as we left the bathroom all was well. Sydnie never cried again and Ashlyn went back to playing quietly. It was like the bathroom was a warp world of insanity; needless to say I did not enter it again!
Other than my 10 minutes of embarrassing chaos, the rest of the day went really great and it was fun to get out!

Baby Girl!

2008-07-04T14:25:00.010-06:00

We are happy to announce the arrival of Sydnie Ella Todd! She was born on Sunday, June 29th weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces and 19 inches long.

My labor started Sunday morning when I realized I had sprung a leak! Adam and I decided to head for Managua in hopes that contractions would start soon. We arrived there around noon and decided to go out to eat and enjoy the day. So we ate, watched a movie, did laps around the mall and then we watched another movie! By the end of the second movie my leak had become a major one but still no contractions. We did have a great day though, it was kind-a like a final date before baby number two!
After the movie we headed over to our friends house where we would spend the night. Adam called the doctor to let him know I still wasn't having contractions. The doctor said if I wasn't in labor by morning he was going to have to induce. I really didn't want to be induced, so we started praying. About 5 minutes after our "Amen" my water broke and I mean it popped! I have never felt anything so weird; it was honestly like a mini explosion inside of me. Then the contractions finally started! After about an hour of contractions Adam realized they were getting really close together fast, so he packed me up and got me in the truck. By time we reached the hospital I was starting to push. Adam said he left to go park the truck and when he came in it was chaos. The doctor was shouting at the nurses and the poor nurses were flustered and didn't know what to do about me. They just kept trying to get me to change into one of their hospital gowns. Which I politely refused, I was a little busy. ;)

After transferring me onto three different beds and two different rooms they finally got me where I needed to be; the delivery room! Most of it was a blur to me; I was in my own little world. However I do remember wondering if anyone was going to catch the baby because I could feel her coming!
Once the doctor was ready Adam got me sitting up and after a few good pushes out came Sydnie! She had the cord wrapped around her neck which the doctor quickly removed and then she gave some good wails! It all went very fast, less than two hours from the time contractions started she was in my arms.

So far everything has been going well. I am recovering fast and feel pretty good! Ashlyn is a little emotional with all the change but she really likes the "baby". We are loving having another little newborn around, you forget how tiny and precious they are!
Thank you to everyone for the prayers, diapers, presents, emails and phone calls! They have been a blessing...especially the diapers. ;)
And a special thank you to my dear husband! He did a great job translating during my labor and making sure everything was done how I wanted it. He has been helping cook, clean and taking Ashlyn on all his errands. He is a wonderful husband to me and father to both our little girls!

My last hour of being pregnant.
Sydnie Ella; obviously a little annoyed by the whole birth process.

Ashlyn holding her little sister.

Busy Summer!

2008-06-19T19:39:00.005-06:00

The first week in June my parents and younger brother came to visit. We took them on a whirlwind tour of Nicaragua seeing volcano’s, markets, the ocean and of course camp and where we live. It was really fun to have them down and to be able to show them what we do here. My parents stayed for only a few days but my younger brother has been here for two weeks. It has been so much fun to have him here. He is great with Ashlyn; she just loves him and follows him around everywhere. He has also been a wonderful help around the house; mopping, taking out the trash, helping with supper. I will miss his help and just having him around.

After my brother flies out this Saturday we have a few days to leave the country and re-new our visas. Then my cousin, Camille flies in on the 26th to help me out when the baby comes. I am so glad she is coming. Adam and I have been trying to figure out who will watch Ashlyn when I go to the hospital and who will help me keep the house clean ect...after the baby is born. Camille not only volunteered to come down but raised the money to do so! We feel very blessed to have her come and help.

This is the first summer camp will be running kid camps all summer long! A team from Chop Point came down June 4th and they are camps all through the end of July. Then we have mission teams coming from different churches in the US the whole month of August! Needless to say Adam has been very busy!

Some other “events” this summer are...Baby Todd # 2 is due July 5th; only 15 more days to go! Adam and I will celebrate our fifth year wedding anniversary on July 12th and I celebrated my 27th birthday on June eighth.

Me on my b-day!

My brother playing with a crazy monkey.

Flying Hen

2008-06-01T20:19:00.000-06:00

Ever since we bought our chicken’s one of the neighbors hens has been spending a lot of time in our yard. Not only does she eat our chicken’s food but I’m worried our chickens are going to follow her back to the neighbor’s yard.
Well today she was in our yard once again and Adam said “let’s get her!” So Adam grabbed a big tarp and I armed myself with a jacket. Usually it doesn’t take so much effort to catch a chicken, but this is one amazingly fast hen and she knows we are not friendly.

Once we cornered the hen she came running at me with her scrawny legs flying and wings flapping. I attempted to stop her but she slipped past me (Adam later commented how funny it was to watch me chase a chicken with my big belly.) Amazingly enough she ran onto our porch and right into our house! I ran in and was able to trap her in our bedroom. Adam went in and after some flying feathers and a lot of squawking she was caught.

We then proceeded to cut her wings as short as we could get them. After a good clipping Adam went to throw her back over the wall. Our wall is about nine feet high with barb wire on the top making it about ten feet tall total. Adam didn’t want to throw her right into the barb wire so he threw her really high. A little too high; she went sailing straight up into the air about twenty feet. Then she started squawking and flapping her wings, but of course we had clipped them. So down came the hen falling like a rock straight onto our neighbor’s roof. She landed with a thud and a loud squawk.

Our neighbors were out in their yard when we threw her over. I can’t imagine what it looked like to them. Watching their prize hen sailing high in the air flapping her now useless wings, only to crash land on their roof.
Poor hen, I doubt she will be back.

Rain, rain and more rain!

2008-05-29T12:40:00.003-06:00

The beginning of this month officially started the "rainy season". Yet there was practically no rain to be seen; it was hot, humid and dusty. In fact it was the hottest, most humid and dusty it has been since we moved here.
Then this week the heavens have opened! The heat has vanished to a refreshing 70 and 80 degrees, the humidity has been replaced by rain and the dust has turned to mud.
It has rained everyday this week and yesterday it started raining around 4 pm and has not stopped. It rained all night, all morning and now its 1 pm and still going strong. Our dust bowl of a yard has become a lush, green swamp! The dogs are on the back porch huddled in a dry corner and chickens are on the porch front porch doing the same. I venture out occasionally with my giant squeegee to push the water back from seeping under the doors.

Everything is wet and muddy but its kind-a fun. Who wouldn't enjoy slipping around on their porch trying to squeegee around chickens? I also love the sound of the rain; it's relaxing and so much cooler!

Our very wet yard.

Golden Girls

2008-05-23T20:32:00.006-06:00

I pretty sure 98% of the population in Nicaragua owns a flock of chickens. Adam and I were the odd man out…until now. I’d like to introduce Blanche and Rose our two “Golden Girls.”
We finally gave in to getting chickens for three reasons. First I discovered they don’t need a rooster in order to lay eggs. I am not a big fan of roosters, mainly because of how loud they are. Our neighbor’s roosters start crowing at 3 am and don’t stop until around 7 am. I’d go crazy having one right outside my window crowing away.
Second, they eat bugs which include ticks! My theory about our tick infestation is our yard was the only chicken free yard within miles. It was like a tick sanctuary, no wonder they took over!
The final reason is the obvious one; fresh eggs to eat! Blanche and Rose will start laying eggs in a few months and then we shall feast. It will be a really small feast with only two chickens but that’s ok. ;)

So far we’ve really enjoyed having them. They are fun to watch peck away at the ground and Ashlyn loves feeding them. They’ve even made a friend from the neighbor’s flock who flies over the wall to visit them a few times a day (although I’m starting to think she’s coming for the free food).

Blanche is the lighter one and Rose is the darker one.

Crazy Days!

2008-05-20T12:39:00.000-06:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve last blogged. For some reason I have been unmotivated to do much of anything lately. I’ll blame it on the heat.

I thought I’d share what a crazy last two weeks we’ve had. It all started at camp with the septic tank collapsing, the water pump breaking and the power poll breaking.
Then it started to get crazy around our house. I managed to shatter our glass top coffee table. A dish slipped out of my hand and everything shattered spraying glass everywhere.
The next day Adam got in an accident with his motor bike (a taxi decided turn without looking and ran right into him). He ended up having to get some stitches in his hand.

Then a few days later we came home after a rain storm to find power was out and our dining and living room was flooded. Adam got out the flash light and walked around everywhere trying to figure out what had exploded or leaked. But there was absolutely nothing wrong with the house. After noticing our two back porches were also under water we concluded it had rained so hard and at such an angle the water had poured onto our porches and right under the doors. We spent a few hours using the squeegee and mop by flashlight to push all the water back outside.

Now for the on-going problem we have been fighting. It is rainy season here (thus the flood), which means the bugs are out! We started finding ticks crawling around in our bedroom. Gross! We thought our dog (who often sleeps under the bed) must have brought them in. So the dogs were kicked out of the house…problem solved, right? Not so. Evidently one of our dogs must have brought in a pregnant tick who promptly hatched in our room. After some research on the internet we found most ticks hatch about 5,000 babies at a time. So we have about 5,000 baby ticks crawling around our house.
They were crawling on floors and up the walls, it was disgusting! So we called in the “exterminator”. Who also happens to live behind us and is also a self-proclaimed vet. He showed up riding a bicycle with a huge pesticide tank strapped to his back. His friend showed up next with what looked like a huge leaf blower.
While they poisoned our house and yard (they even managed to get one of the dogs sick)
Adam, Ashlyn and I took off on a two day get-away. We had been planning on taking a mini-vacation as a late mother’s day/early birthday present for me. Our house being bombed with poison was a good excuse to go.
We did have a nice time at the hotel and Ashlyn had lots of fun playing in the pool. However, we all ended up getting sick from the food which gave poor Ashlyn a horrible diaper rash. We were certainly ready to stop eating contaminated food and back to a tick free home. Unfortunately that was not the case. On returning home we found there were still ticks crawling on our floors and walls. It was very frustrating to say the least. So our “exterminator” is coming back tomorrow to re-bomb the house. We are hoping this will wipe them out. If not I’m considering letting the ticks have the house and we will move.

Oddly enough last night a truck went up and down our neighborhood spraying pesticide into the air. I guess this is standard during the raining season to keep the bugs from taking over?? Or maybe he heard about us and was trying to help out!
Our latest “disaster” happened last night around two am. Adam and I were jolted awake by the sound of glass shattering. One of the pains of glass from Ashlyn’s window had fallen out and shattered all over the floor and of course gotten in her crib. So at two in the morning I was giving Ashlyn a bath while Adam swept, mopped and changed sheets.

I’ve heard a few missionaries here say they feel like they’re about five minutes away from utter chaos at any given moment. I would have to agree, we are feeling the same way! Regardless of all our “disasters” I am very thankful Adam’s accident was nothing serious, the flooding was easily taken care of and none of us have gotten cut on glass. As for the ticks…I’ll be thankful when they’re all dead. ;)

"Pooh, pooh in the potty!!"

2008-04-25T19:18:00.008-06:00

I'm sure you’re all just dying to know how potty training at the Todd's house is going. The puppy is all trained and now takes himself out. He really had very few accidents and caught on quickly.

I really wasn’t having much luck with Ashlyn. I was starting to get frustrated and think maybe she is too young. Or more likely, I had no idea what I was doing.

Then tonight Ashlyn brought me her potty and wanted me to read her books while she sat on it. A few pages into the book she went pee right in her potty! I was so excited! Adam and I made a big deal out of it giving her lots of hugs and kisses. Then she waved "bye-bye" to her pee as we flushed it down the “big potty”. About 15 minutes later she asked to sit on her potty again and she promptly went poop! Hurray! She was so proud of herself and we were proud of her too!

I can only hope this is the beginning of her being "trained". Enjoy the photo of her first successful poop in the potty. (We blurred the evidence for your viewing pleasure.)

Potty Training

2008-04-17T14:05:00.002-06:00

Last week I decided to potty train Ashlyn and the puppy. I now know this was one of the worse idea’s I’ve ever had. But regardless, the puppy is doing very well and I think he will officially be declared “trained” by the end of this week.

As for Ashlyn…she is taking a bit longer. I’m using what I like to call the “birthday suit” approach (my own personal method). I don’t think I’m going to be writing any books on potty training, or at least none that will sell. One of the main reasons I was inspired to potty train her was the cost of diapers here ($50 a box!) Yet so far the money I’ve saved in using diapers, I’ve certainly made up for in paper towels. Luckily the only flooring in Nicaragua is tile and cement, so cleaning up is a breeze.

I think Ashlyn is really enjoying all of this. She likes running around in her birthday suit and sitting on her potty while I read books to her. She also enjoys announcing to me she has gone “pee-pee!”
But as for actual potty training success I am seeing very little results. However, she does let me know now when she has gone even when she has her diaper on. I figure that’s some progress, at least she’s aware of the fact she’s going.
I think if I could get her to actually go on the potty a couple times she would get it. However no matter how long I have her sitting on the potty, she goes after she gets off and no matter how long I follow her around with the potty in hand, she goes as soon as I turn my back!

So if anyone has amazing potty training solutions, let me know! I’m open to suggestions! My goal is to have her trained by time the baby comes…but I am thinking that may not happen!

New Addition

2008-04-04T09:22:00.004-06:00

When we first moved here Adam brought home a German Shepherd puppy who we named "Rio". He was a great watch dog and buddy to Sawyer. But we soon discovered he had a genetic disorder called "megaesophagus". This is when the dog's esophagus is enlarged and they are unable to swallow food and water properly. The condition grows worse with age and there's nothing that could be done to fix it.
Knowing this we have been searching for a "replacement puppy" since Christmas. We were having a hard time finding one. Then last week we walked into a pet store and there was the irresistible face of a Golden!
So…we would like to introduce "Miles" our new Golden Retriever puppy! He is a cute little fur ball and so far has been a good little boy. He enjoys taking naps under our bed, pestering Sawyer (our 2 year old Golden), and chewing on his toys.

Rio was put down and laid to rest at camp, which was of course sad. But I am glad it is all over with and we are very happy with our new puppy!

Oh how my belly grows.

2008-03-31T16:40:00.007-06:00

Some of you have asked if I am starting to "look" pregnant yet. I would say the answer to that question is a definite yes! I am in my 26th week; so I'm just starting my last trimester. Baby Todd #2 is very active and everything has been going great!

Some Pic's of Ashlyn

2008-03-28T20:28:00.008-06:00

Ashlyn now has four front teeth; two on the top and two on the bottom. Her top two just came in this last week and boy are they big! Adam keeps teasing me about how she obviously got my "big front teeth genes". But she is just as cute as ever!

Ashlyn loves to help me bake. She's not the most precise measurer, or best mixer. But she defiantly enjoys herself and tries very hard to imitate what I'm doing and help out.

Ashlyn loves to play “dress up”! She drapes anything she can find around her neck, loves wearing glasses, thinks plastic pen cases are hats and the dirty laundry basket has become her personal costume wardrobe. Not to mention she has a minor obsession with shoes. She loves wearing them and makes sure Adam and I both have ours on too!

Ashlyn really enjoys having the dogs around. She helps me feed them in the morning and thinks it is the funniest thing to feed poor Sawyer one bite at a time. She also tries to dress them up by putting glasses or her backpack on them. She even throws the ball for them (it only goes a few feet, but they like it). When we come home she always smiles at them and says "hi dog!"

Mystery Solved

2008-03-25T09:04:00.004-06:00

A common complaint I hear from Americans living here is having an infestation of mice & rats in their house. I always just shrugged and I said we’ve never seen any in our house. I figured this must be due to the friendly neighborhood cat who climbs in our windows at night leaving dirty paw prints everywhere (so much for our amazing guard dogs).

But last night I found baby snake number two in our house. This time he/she was in our bedroom all the way at the back of our house. We showed our landlord the snake and he said it was a harmless snake that feasts on rats and mice! He said we obviously have a mama snake hanging around, most likely living under our house. No wonder we don’t have any rats in our house, they never make it that far!
Adam inspected the area where I found the snake and sure enough. Behind the door was a little hole in the floor just the right size for a baby snake to crawl through.
So today we are going to search the house for "snake holes" to fill in. Our landlord is also bringing someone to clear our backyard, getting rid of any dead leaves and weeds. I personally liked the weeds; they are pretty vines with flowers. But I guess Nicaraguan's have bare, dirt yards for a reason.

Our snake family is doing a wonderful job of keeping the rats and mice away. I’d rather have harmless snakes hanging around then to kill them off and have poisonous ones take up residency. But hopefully that will be the last snake we find in our home.

Missions Trip

2008-02-21T15:36:00.006-06:00

The mission trip from Adam's home church has come and gone. It was a really busy week, but lots of fun! It was great to see people who have been supporting us come and be a part of what we are doing. It was also wonderful to see familiar faces and show them our "home".

During the week they were here they ran a kids camp for a day, taught ESL to adults and did a construction project.

The kid’s camp went great! They had about 50 kids who came from a local school. They were able to swim, break some piñata’s, do some crafts and hear about the love of Christ!

The ESL was a big hit; the adults were so excited to learn English! They said they couldn't even sleep they were so excited to come back the next day and learn more! Adam and I are working on getting weekly classes set up at camp for them to come to and learn more.

The construction project was for a family who lives down the beach. The church built them an enclosed cement room as an addition to their home. I believe the family was in shock that this just "happened" to them. They are expecting their third child in August and are thrilled about having a water/bug proof room to sleep in. The church also gave them a propane tank and stove top to cook on. This is a huge blessing to the family since previously they would collect wood everyday and cook over a fire which filled their home with smoke!

It was a blessing to have the team here and they are excited to come back next year! Adam's mom stayed a few extra days and treated us to two nights at a all-inclusive resort here! It was lots of fun to go swimming and stuff ourselves full of food. Ashlyn really enjoyed spending time with her Grammie. She was quite the cuddle bug with Grammie, which was precious to see!

Now we are getting ready for the next team coming on the 27th! They are "Chop Point" the organization who founded the camp. They will be here for two weeks and will be running a kids camp. We are very excited to have them here since they are the experts at running these camps and once again it will be so fun to see people we know.

The "kids camp" kids and mission team.

New addition to the family's home.

Unwelcome Visitor

2008-02-05T20:47:00.000-06:00

We had a mission team from Tennessee run a kid’s camp a few weeks ago. One of the men found a six foot Boa Constrictor outside his cabin at night.
Thought you might enjoy the picture!

Christmas Vacation

2008-01-26T09:58:00.000-06:00

We are back from our Christmas vacation to Maine. It was wonderful to go back for the holidays! We had a great time visiting with friends and family, seeing lots of snow and “pigging out” on all the food we’ve been craving. I think we gave the local Chinese buffet a serious financial boost this holiday season!

Ashlyn accomplished some milestones while we were there. Her two, bottom front teeth came in! She was not a happy girl during this process, but now that they are in she looks awful cute! She also learned to walk while in Maine! It’s strange at times to have her just “walk” into a room like such a big girl!
It was really fun to see her interact with everyone around her. Once she figured out that people would say “hi” back to her, she was waving and saying “hi” to everyone. She also got to play with her “friends”. She was shy at first but by the end of the trip she was having lots of fun playing with the other kids.

I think everyone knows, but incase I missed anyone…we are expecting! I am about four months pregnant and due July 5th. We will be having the baby here which will give the baby automatic citizenship in Nicaragua. We are looking forward to our new addition!

Although I was a little sad to leave Maine, we are happy to be back! There has been a lot to do at the camp since we’ve been back. A mission’s team from Tennessee came down and ran a great kids camp. Now some church’s here in Nica. are using it to hold church retreats. And in just two weeks a team from Adam’s home church in Maine is coming down. We are excited to have them come!

Here's a picture of Ashlyn reaching in her stocking on Christmas morning.

Headed Home for the Holidays!

2007-12-14T11:44:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow afternoon we are leaving for Managua (the capital) where we will be spending the weekend with friends. Then we fly out early Monday morning for Maine! I am very excited to be going back to the states for a few weeks. I love the Christmas season and have a hard time being overseas during it! I am looking forward to seeing friends & family but also little things that I miss. Like; hot showers, yummy food, electricity 24/7, carpet instead of tile floors, safe water right out of the tap, snow…the list goes on!

If you could please be praying for us as we travel on Monday (the 17th) it would be much appreciated. I naturally do not worry or stress about many things, but flying with a baby stresses me out!
In my foolish youth I had little empathy for mothers with “annoying” kids. My worst nightmare is to be “that mom” with the crying, crazy kid.
We have a two hour flight out of Managua to Houston and then a three hour flight from Houston to Boston. Then a three hour drive from Boston to Maine.
We will be leaving Nicaragua around 7:00 am and won’t arrive in Maine until around 10:00 pm. It will be a long day for Ashlyn!

Please pray that Ashlyn will somehow want to sit on my lap for hours at a time!
Also that she will be able to sleep on the plane. She has a hard time sleeping anywhere other than a crib. And for my sanity, I stress myself out worrying about if she’s going to have a “melt-down”.
Thanks so much! It’s a relief to know I will have people praying for us! I will see some of you soon!

Late Night Visitor

2007-12-13T11:10:00.000-06:00

Last night our dogs started barking rather ferociously at our front gate. I went out to see what was causing all the commotion and there was a horse grazing on the grass by our gate.
I put the dogs inside and treated the horse a big carrot. She looked like she could use some extra meat on her bones! The thought crossed my mind that I could just bring her inside my gate and have a pet horse…but I resisted the urge.
Seeing horses everywhere is one of the things I love about Nicaragua!

Worm

2007-12-12T21:27:00.000-06:00

As I walked in our house yesterday I noticed something moving in the corner. I went over to get a closer look and there was a long, skinny worm. I was about to pick it up and remove it from our home, but it seemed weird. Not your average looking worm; it was all black, very skinny for a worm and moved differently.

I started having second thoughts about picking it up as irrational images of the worm oozing “killer worm venom” crossed my mind. I decided to call Adam over (so he would get oozed instead of me). Adam started pushing the worm out of the house with his shoe and it started squirming around. We both stopped and stared at it as the “worm” made a perfect “S” pattern as it moved along.
As we were staring at it the weirdest worm ever, a Nicaragua friend of ours (who happened to be over) came to take a look. He quickly informed us that our “worm” was a baby snake and we should obviously kill it.

So our killer worm turned snake has been disposed of but leaves us with some questions…
Where’s the momma? Does he/she have brother and sisters?
And the question that is plaguing my mind…how did he get in our house??
Our house is raised up with about a foot tall cement step all the way around. There is no way such a little snake could have gotten up it. This leaves only a few options of how it got in, none of which I like. Our snake must have been hatched in our house, on our porch, or possibly in our drop ceiling.

We are keeping our eyes out for any more and hoping to find none!

La Purisima

2007-12-07T20:48:00.000-06:00

“La Purisima” is a week long Catholic celebration here in Nicaragua. It is a celebration to honor the Virgin Mary, many people put alters to her in their homes and then neighbors come bring gifts to each other.

The locals seem to be having a grand time, but I must say, this is my least favorite “holiday” I have ever encountered. It’s so LOUD!
To celebrate there has been parades marching by, bands playing proudly down the street and music blaring at all hours of the day and night. But the one thing I dread the most is the constant explosion of mortars.
They set mortars off sporadically throughout the day and then quite a bit in the evening. But then they set them off precisely at 3:00 am and 6:30 am for about a half an hour straight.
At the 3:00 am mortar extravaganza a band even walks down our street playing! It is absolutely startling to be awaken by mortars exploding and a band marching down your street at 3:00 am. It feels like a twilight zone and honestly, I don’t know why anyone would get up that early for anything.

Tonight is supposed to be the “grand finale” tribute to our dear Mother Mary. The US Embassy in Nica emailed all the Americans and told us to stay inside our homes! I guess things can get a little crazy with people drinking and even shooting off firearms.
So here we are, safe in our home listening to a band playing somewhere in the distance and mortars exploding every few minutes. I am very glad La Purisima is almost over!

A parade marching past our house complete with a Virgin Mary float and band playing behind it.

Yummy Turkey

2007-11-30T09:50:00.000-06:00

Here's a video of Ashlyn enjoying a few bites of leftover turkey the day after Thanksgiving.

Measuring Tape

2007-11-26T20:20:00.000-06:00

One fateful day a small measuring tape appeared in our truck. We have no idea how it got there, but it has become one of Ashlyn’s favorite things to play with.
She crawls around with the tape draped over her neck like she’s a tailor. She even takes it on walks with her when she pushes her high chair around the house.
Adam and I find it quite amusing since she looks like she’s going to measure something at any moment.

Off to find something to measure!
Getting a close look at her amazing measuring tape. Trying to recall her last measurement.

Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-23T10:39:00.000-06:00

A missionary family here hosted a big Thanksgiving meal and I think every missionary in Nicaraguia was invited. I ate an enormous amount of turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Not to mention two pieces of pumpkin pie. This is the first time I’ve been overseas during Thanksgiving that I’ve actually gotten to eat turkey. I was very thankful for that because I absolutely love turkey. When we were in India I’m pretty sure they served us roasted gofer on a stick.
It was wonderful to have a big yummy meal and stuffed myself full. I haven’t done that since leaving the states and I must say I really enjoyed having the “I ate way too much" feeling.

Ashlyn was a little overwhelmed with all the people at first, but I think she had a good day. She ate so much! I don’t think she ever stopped. Everyone who sat at our table was amazed at how much she consumed. She seems to be a big fan of turkey too; every bite was accompanied by an “ahmmmmm” sound.
Ashlyn also took her first official step that day! When we first arrived I was holding her hand and walking with her. As soon as the kids there saw her they started running over. She saw them coming and got so excited she let go of my hand and took a step. Then she quickly realized I was no longer holding her and sat down! There were lots of kids there, most of them were a few years older but they really liked “playing” with her.
She also got to bounce on a trampoline and wade in a pool. Oh, and see their pet monkey which she was rather intrigued by!

Adam and I both had a really good time talking and laughing with people. You forget how easy it is to communicate when you speak the same language! It was also refreshing to talk to people my age. There are no Americans in our town under the age of 60. Not that I have anything against the 60+ age group; it was just really good to talk to girls my age. We were very thankful for the great food and fellowship, it was a fun day!

A Change in Weather

2007-11-15T14:29:00.000-06:00

When we first arrived it was hot, really hot. It was dripping with sweat at all times hot. All you wanted to do was sit around with a fan blowing on you. It was like that for the first three months we were here.

Then in October the rain started and it rained everyday, sometimes all day. The newspaper said Nicaragua received more rain this October then when Hurricane Mitch hit in 1998. The president even called a National State of Disaster because of all the rain. All this rain ruined crops and the price of beans has gone up! And let me tell you that is a big deal here, nobody in Nica is happy about the price of beans going up!
As for Adam and I, the rain got a little old; our yard was a muddy swamp most the time. I declared our house a natural disaster due to muddy dog prints everywhere.
When it was raining the weather was a bit cooler, however when it wasn’t raining the humidity was suffocating! Luckily, it rained most of the time.
Adam and I did enjoy seeing the streets flood. Within minutes of the rain starting roads would be flooded with at least a foot of water. It was amazing to see streets turn to rivers in minutes. Even better was watching people try to drive motorbikes and bicycles through them.
One time when these “floods” happened we were driving on our way to Managua. The road was dry in spots and then covered with water in others. We hit a spot where the road was flooded at the same time a man on his bicycle did. As I looked out my window I saw the man disappearing behind the wall of water our truck was spraying on him. We were only about five feet apart and I could not see him through the water. I can’t believe he stayed on his bike, I thought for sure he had fallen. But when we looked behind us there he was still peddling away!
We felt bad (or maybe I should say I felt bad because I haven’t seen Adam laugh that hard in a while). But it’s not like we got him wet, he was already drenched from the rain.

This month…the grand month of November, has been wonderful. The rain has pretty much stopped and there is a constant breeze blowing which is so refreshing! It doesn’t start to get hot until about 10 am and then starts to cool down again around 4 pm. At night I would actually go as far to say it feels cool with the breeze blowing.
So, rejoice with me! It is no longer unbearably hot!! What a refreshing change in the weather.

Birthday Girl!!

2007-11-10T20:16:00.000-06:00

Today was Ashlyn's birthday! It's hard to believe one year ago today I was giving birth to her. I didn't even know if she was a boy or girl or what she looked like. Now I can't imagine life without my little munchkin!

Her birthday was filled with the three things she loves: good food, horseback riding and the ocean.
For breakfast she had a banana pancake for breakfast with extra banana on the side. (She's a banana-holic.) I also made her a pineapple cake that she really liked. I was trying to make a semi-healthy cake, but it ended up being full of sugar. Oh well.

After cake and presents we went the camp and I took her for a half an hour horseback ride. She never grew tired of it! She is such a serious rider, all quite and concentrated but seems to be fearless! She only talks when she sees a cow or something else that catches her interest. You have no idea how elated I am that she likes riding.

In the evening we went to the ocean and played in the waves. We had supper at one of the restaurants on the beach.

It was a late night and a big day but I think she had a good time. Yesterday I was feeling a little guilty being overseas and not having a "normal" birthday party for her. But I think she enjoyed today more than she would have a party.
Thanks to everyone who sent presents for her. It means a lot to be remembered even though we are so far away!

Gecko Killer

2007-11-09T15:10:00.000-06:00

This morning Ashlyn and I were practicing “walking” in her new shoes. I was holding her hands as we circled the living room together. I noticed something on the floor just as Ashlyn’s clumsy foot smashed down on it. When she lifted her foot there lay a baby gecko…poor little guy, he never saw it coming.
On the next trip around the room Ashlyn noticed the gecko too (now with no tail and bulging eyes). This time she aimed for it and actually tried to step on it! Who knew my sweet little girl could be such a heartless killer?

A crib for Ashlyn!

2007-11-04T20:28:00.000-06:00

Since arriving here we’ve been borrowing a "Pack n' Play" for Ashlyn to sleep in. Lately I’ve been feeling bad since the mattress is so thin; it can’t be very comfortable for her. So, since she has an up and coming birthday we decided to use it as a good excuse to go crib shopping!

About an hour from us is a road with shops all along it selling hand made, wood furniture. It is pretty fun place to visit. The shops are just extensions of the people's homes; it is really impressive to see how they make everything!
After awhile of driving around to different shops everything started looking the same. But then we found a crib we liked…it has two wooden drawers on the bottom and one side of the crib unlatches and folds down. It also has a canopy that is removable. Pretty snazzy! I’m imagining hitting my head on the canopy, so we’ll see how long it stays attached.
Not only was this the crib we liked the most, but it was the least expensive one we had looked at!

Ashlyn really seems to like crawling around in it and "walking" herself around by holding onto the bars. Tomorrow we are going to buy a mattress for it and pick out some fabric to have sheets made. The crib mattresses here are just thick pieces of foam. After purchasing the foam you take it to the tailor and pick out fabric for the sheets. Then the tailors sew a whole mattress cover as a sheet with a zipper to get it on and off the foam. I’m excited to pick out fabric for the sheets and start to make her room a little more “homey”.

My little cowgirl!

2007-11-02T20:21:00.001-06:00

A few blocks from where we live is a small hotel run by an American man. In the last month he has befriended us and helped us out with various things. He also owns five horses; two
geldings, a mare and two colts. The most amazing thing is he has decided to give them to us! On Monday we will be moving the horses to the camp. Not only will they be available for the camp to use but us as well! I am so excited!

The past few days I have been going over to his place and riding them. Tonight after I had my ride, I took Ashlyn around. We did a circle around the yard and then Adam came to take her off. She started bawling! We didn’t know what was wrong. Then I thought maybe she wanted back on the horse. Sure enough her sad cry magically disappeared and she was all smiles! That was the first time I’ve ever seen her really cry because she wanted something. I took her all around the yard and even trotted quite a bit. She loved it and still cried when we finally had to get off. I could not have been more proud! I am so excited she loves riding!

Trotting around!
Taking hold of the reins!

Ashlyn "walking"

2007-10-28T09:59:00.000-06:00

Here's a video of Ashlyn "walking" by pushing a chair in front of her. She also says "bye" to us as she leaves the room.
This morning she was standing up in her crib when I came in to get her. Her eyes were peeking up over the top; she is getting so active! As soon as I put her down she's on the move. It's crazy to think she's going to be a toddler soon!

Nica. rice dish

2007-10-27T15:33:00.000-06:00

The other night our neighbor came over to bring us some of his daughter’s birthday meal. It was a special meal and his family had taken all day to prepare it. He had even taken the time to find someone who speaks English and had them write down how to explain all this to us. How sweet of him! After explaining, he handed us a plate of steamed plantain leaves tied up with string.

After opening the plantain leaf I saw these gelatinous looking cubes and said “What is that? It looks like chunks of fat!” Adam responded by stabbing one with his fork and popping it in his mouth. A second later his face twisted in disgust and he stated “yep, that's fat”.
So it has chunks of fat, perfectly cut into large cubes. Rather gross according to our food tastes. But the majority of it was a mixture of rice and potatoes with spices. Adam ate it (minus the fat cubes) and said it was pretty good.

Ok, so I have to come clean. I didn’t even try one bite. I had already eaten supper and the fat cubes turned me off a bit. But honestly I probably wouldn’t have tried it anyway. I just have no adventuresome spirit when it comes to food. I’d much rather stick to things I know and love. What can I say? It is one of my many short comings of a missionary.
In my defense, when living in India I ate more than my share of mushy rice dishes.

Ashlyn Update

2007-10-21T16:41:00.000-06:00

This month Ashlyn has really started to engage us. She laughs when we laugh and tries to “talk” about things to us. She has also discovered she can make us laugh. Once she figures out we think something is funny she will do it over and over again.

One thing that makes Adam and I laugh is when she does her “tri-pod”. I’m not sure why we call it a “tri-pod” the name just seemed to fit. It’s when she makes a V with her body by putting her hands and head down in front of her. At first she started doing this on things she liked, a rug or blanket, even sand. But now she just does it all the time, maybe she just likes the way things look upside down.

Ashlyn has also started to pull herself up and loves walking with me holding her hands. Her favorite place to stand is at the living room window because it’s low enough so she can see out. I am nervous about her falling and banging her head on our tile floor, but so far so good!

In the morning I usually sweep the house and she just follows me around from room to room playing with toys or finding something new to explore. I love hearing her palms smack the floor as she crawls after me. Lately she has been “turning on the jets” with her crawling. She has her normal crawling speed, but then sometimes when she’s excited she makes this funny panting sound and takes off across the room.

We only have one step in our house and Ashlyn has been fascinated with learning how to go down it. I have tried to teach her to how to slide herself backwards so she is going feet first, but for some reason she doesn’t seem to get that. So she attempts to go head first. She puts her hands down first and then tries to walk her hands forward enough so she can get her legs down. One time she was right in the middle of this process and realized it wasn’t going to work. She just froze and then I heard her quietly say “ut-oh”.

Every month I think to myself, “I’m so in love with this pudgy, sweaty, toothless little girl, I can’t possibly fall more in love.” Yet every month I fall more in love with her! As cheesy as it sounds it’s true, I just adore her.

Christened

2007-10-20T14:39:00.000-06:00

In Nicaragua most lower class families get around on horse carts, bicycles, or just by good-old walking. Many people are not use to traveling on buses, trains, cars etc. Because of this and the roads being rather bumpy, when they do get in a vehicle they often get a little motion sick.

That being said...I would like to announce that our truck has officially been christened…twice. I’m not sure why they don’t mention they are feeling sick so we can pull over. But just rolling down the window and sticking their head out seems to be the preferred choice. Needless to say, it gets on the outside of the vehicle. Right now our truck has throw-up down the side of it. Yuck!
I’m just glad they have such a good sense of humor about it. They really don’t seem to mind too much at all!
I will refrain from adding a photo to this blog. :)

Visitors!

2007-10-14T15:14:00.000-06:00

This weekend Adam's Uncle Bob and Aunt B came to visit us. They just moved to San Jose, Costa Rica about two months ago. Right now they are in school learning Spanish for one year. After finishing their schooling they will see where God leads them next.

It was great to see some familiar faces and to just talk! We shared our different experiences and stories about living in Central America. One silly difference we noticed was Costa Rican’s always carry an umbrella with them. But in Nicaragua few people carry umbrellas, most people just stand around in the rain. Bob & B brought their umbrellas with them, Adam and I don’t even own one! My theory is, it’s hotter here and rain is a nice way to cool off.

While they were here we toured our town, the camp, Granada and San Juan Del Sur. They have such a laid back, yet adventuress attitudes. It was our pleasure to show them around!

Ashlyn also really enjoyed having them here! It was two days of going non-stop, but she seemed to enjoy the change of pace. She loved all the extra attention and said "hi" to them at least 20 times a day. I think her favorite part was going to San Juan Del Sur where we found a secluded beach full of rocks. Ashlyn loved playing with the rocks and of course eating some sand as well.

It was a really fun, refreshing weekend and I miss having them!

San Juan Del Sur

2007-10-04T15:28:00.000-06:00

This evening Adam and I went to San Juan Del Sur, it is about 45 minute drive from our home and is a very popular tourist destination in Nica.
Ashlyn got her first taste of salt water, and I must say I think she liked it. Not only was she all smiles as the waves hit her, but she kept sucking on her hands and shirt. Gross!
We all had a lot of fun playing in the water and afterwards we went out to eat at one of the local restaurants. It was so relaxing listening to the waves while we ate. It was a great night and I am looking forward to our next visit!

Rainy Day!

2007-10-03T21:29:00.000-06:00

It rained most of the day and for the first time Ashlyn noticed the rain and seemed very interested. So I took her out on the back porch and we played in the water pouring off our roof. She would squeal and kick her legs in delight when I would swing her out into the water that was coming down off the roof. We both got soaked, but she loved it!

When it rains our yard becomes a giant, muddy puddle. The dogs decided to have some fun chasing each other around in the water. It was a lot of fun to watch them, especially when they came flying up onto the tile floors. They would slide a few feet and then wipe out, crashing into each other.

Sawyer and Rio wiping out on the tile.

It's the little things

2007-10-02T15:41:00.000-06:00

It’s the little things that make you fall in love, setting that one person or place apart.
But it’s also the little things that start to drive you crazy. That’s what this blog is about!

Every night before bed I take the dogs out to go “wee”. I have a path I always take when walking in our yard, it is the “safe zone”. Last night I foolishly wandered off the safe zone. One moment I was walking along, not a care in the world and the next second my feet were on fire. I had walked right over a fire ant hill and the little buggers were biting me like crazy. I ran to the pavement and threw off my sandals but they were all over my feet. I started smushing them to death, but they just kept biting me. So I ran into the house and hopped in the shower to wash my feet off. This got rid of them, but my feet were still on fire and this morning they are so very itchy!
It’s not really the fire ants themselves that makes me so angry. It’s the fact that I cannot stand in my own yard for more than 30 seconds for fear of getting attacked. They have stolen my freedom, I can’t put Ashlyn down in our yard, or play with the dogs, even standing still long enough to pick lemons or avocado’s is risky. I am a prisoner to tile and cement floors.
However I do retaliate against the ants. Every time I have been attacked I find their hill and douse it with vinegar and baby powder (according to my research these are two things ants hate).
Insane? Absolutely. But it makes me feel better.

The fire ant hill covered with a nice powdering.

The second thing is how dirty my house always is. I can sweep and mop the whole house and within two hours, it looks like I haven’t touched it in days. It is infuriating, especially because it’s so hot here I sweat buckets sweeping and mopping. You would think in a country where all the houses have tile floors they would have some great mops; like the Swiffer 2000 or something. But nope, I’ve got this wooden handle with a cloth mop head that I attempt to wring out by hand. After a week of mopping with it, it’s just smelly and gross. So now I am a prisoner to dirty, tile floors.

The third thing is the electricity is always going out. The electricity is on a schedule because the power company’s generators were built in the 50’s and can’t handle the country’s demand for power. So they shut the power off Monday thru Friday from 7 am to 2 pm.
It took about a week of trying to turn things on and a few spoiled bags of milk to adjust. Now I have gotten use to using our propane stove to heat things up and moving perishables into the freezer everyday.
But these last few weeks almost every time it rains, or for no reason at all the power on our street goes off. This mostly happens at night, and then Adam and I just lay in bed sweating, trying to decide if it’s worth opening the windows and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes or just to lay there and sweat. After a week of the power going out almost every night Adam did some investigating. He finally figured out there is a faulty transformer on one of the street poles. The power company has plans to fix it in a month…or so.

These are a few of the little things that are driving me a bit crazy. Someday I will write a blog on all the little things I really love about living in Nicaragua, but today is not that day.

Video of Ashlyn

2007-09-29T22:29:00.000-06:00

Here's a short video of Ashlyn saying "hi" and "ut-oh".

The World Race

2007-09-26T21:19:00.000-06:00

Today we went to Granada to meet with a missionary couple who are working with the mission organization Adventures in Missions. They are going to be moving here to help run “The World Race”.
The World Race is an eleven month mission trip for people in their twenties to early thirties. They divide into eight different teams and travel around the world ministering to the poor.

The great news is they are going to be using Campo Alegría as a debriefing base! Potentially we will be hosting them four or five times a year for week long debriefs. They have already come once before and think the camp is a great place for them. We are very excited to be involved in such a wonderful ministry!
I love mission organizations that take young people overseas for extended periods of time. I know they are changing lives doing ministry, but also everyone who is on the trip will never be the same.

Another neat thing is the missionary couple moving here are relatives of some friends of ours who went to Bethany College with us. It really is a small world!

If you're interested in learning more about The World Race, here's a link with more info. http://www.theworldrace.org/

Creepy Critters

2007-09-21T21:57:00.000-06:00

One night I was walking out to our truck and noticed that little bits of leaves were marching past my feet. These ants faithfully come out every night making a line across our driveway. They haul away the leaves and flowers that have fallen from one of our bushes.

This guy is just weird looking (I’m assuming it’s a guy…could be a lady). He or she was found crawling around on our back porch. It seemed to be eating something off the tile, but the only thing that I saw was dirt and dust. If they eat dirt, I’d like a few more of them around. Ashlyn was thrilled by this creature and learned a new word. “Bug!”

My little Ashlyn

2007-09-19T21:42:00.000-06:00

Lots of you have asked for some pictures and update of Ashlyn, so here it is!

These past two months have been especially fun watching her grow and learn.
She has started crawling, a stage I was really looking forward to. It is so fun watching her crawl around after her toys, the dogs and I. I just love having her crawl after me when I go into the kitchen. I hear her chubby little hands smacking the tile floor, and then chairs start to move under the table (she just loves playing with chairs, and usually gets rather distracted from her goal of finding me at this point). Finally I see my little cutie appear around the corner with a big smile on her face.

Ashlyn is now talking a little bit. Her first word was “hi” and now she has added “bye” and “uh-ohh” to her vocabulary. She is working on perfecting "da-da,” "ma-ma" and “book”. Everything else she calls "abee" for some reason.
We are starting to teach her "Baby Signs". So far she knows how to sign Dog and ask how to ask for More.
She is also waving to people now. Adam and I never taught her to wave, she picked it up all on her own. I was at the checkout line of the grocery store and she was sitting in the cart. I was busy paying, when I noticed that some Nicaraguan women where waving at Ashlyn and she was happily waving back. For about a week after that when we went out she would wave and said "hi" to everyone.

One thing she has learned is what the word "no" means. It has been fascinating to watch the internal struggle she has. To obey or not to obey? She only has three main rules so far; no playing with shoes, the dog dishes, and no flipping her plate of food upside down. She usually is really good at obeying, but the one rule she has the hardest time with is not touching our shoes. For some reason she has just got to touch mommy’s sandals.

My favorite time with her is in the morning. She never cries in the morning to get up, she just waits for me to come get her. When I come in she sits up as fast as she can, gives me the biggest smile and says "hi!” Her smile is what captures me; it is of pure love, like she hasn’t seen me in days.
Then its breakfast time, her usual is banana and egg. She is crazy about bananas, every morning it’s squeals of delight as I cut up the banana.
After breakfast we read books together on the couch, she loves reading books. She turns the pages as I read a long. She’s a really fast page turner though, so I have to speed read through.

Ashlyn adjusted to life in Nicaragua faster than we did. She loves going into town and seeing all the people, especially the horse and buggies go by.
People come up to me all the time because of Ashlyn. They love holding her and interacting with her. It is fun to see her engage them with smiles and waves.

If you would like to see more pictures of Ashlyn, you can visit our photo ablum of her at this link: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/thetoddz/Ashlyn

Chicken Run

2007-09-13T21:50:00.001-06:00

There is a certain event that takes place in my backyard on a weekly basis. I look forward to this event very much and always hurry to get my shoes on and grab Ashlyn so we can go watch. I think only the dogs trump my enjoyment of this fiasco.
It starts off with some clucking and bucking that sounds a little closer than usual. Then the dog’s ears go up and they are off like rockets. As I scramble to get ready, I here the clucking turn into squawking and flapping; the “event” is in full swing.

Once again one of the neighbor’s chickens has flown over our wall and is now being tormented by our dogs. It never takes long for our neighbors hear the squawking and appear above the wall. I then proceeded to capture the chicken and hand it back over the wall.
A few times the neighbors have not appeared; at that point I don’t quite know what to do with the chicken. I have considered just letting our dogs have a free lunch, but I would feel bad for the neighbors. I also though of trying to throw the chicken back over the wall. But the wall is about nine feet high and has barbed wire circling the top. I know I would end up throwing the chicken straight into the wire. So I finally decided to place the chickens on our water tank until the neighbors come.

Since this happens on such a frequent basis I can’t help but think of the movie “Chicken Run”; where the chickens are trying to escape from the farm yard to start a better life for themselves? I’m pretty sure these chickens are trying to escape from our neighbor’s yard.
And I understand why, they see their buddies get behead, plucked and thrown in a pot. They know what’s coming and they want out. Flying over the wall is their only chance.

This morning a chicken was perched on the barbed wire above the wall peering down into our yard. I’m sure she was trying to come up with a plan of how to get across the yard and over our outside wall to freedom. So far only one chicken succeeded in this, she ran across our yard, flew up on our truck, then onto our other neighbor’s roof where freedom awaited her on the street below. Perhaps this has given the others hope.

I’m not sure how long this will go on, but one thing is for sure, eventually we are going to come home to a yard full of chicken feathers and two very happy dogs.
P.S. A special thanks to my Grandma and Grandpa Moore for letting me chase their chickens when I was a kid. Knowing how to catch one has been very useful!

Church

2007-09-02T17:36:00.000-06:00

Today we went to church in a city called Granada, which is about an hour from our home. The road we take is full and I mean full of pot holes. It's so riddled with potholes the local kids fill them in with dirt and then stand at the side of the road with their shovels and beg for money. Rumor has it these kids have been known to create their own "toll booth". By holding a rope across the road to stop your car and ask for money. What entrepreneurs!
I personally love this road, it is an action packed ride of consent swerving, braking and bouncing. I enjoy watching Adam maneuver around cars, animals, people and potholes all at once.
Adam on the other hand is not a big fan of the road; his face has a constant look of pain as we bounce along. I'm sure he's imagining what kind of damage the holes are doing to our poor truck.
Ok, enough about the road I got a little side tracked there...back to the church.
The "church" we went to was a gathering of about 10 people, mostly Americans. It was held in someone’s home and was the first meeting they’ve had. It was started by a missionary couple here who wanted to be able to worship in English and have fellowship with other missionaries. So, they started their own church and will be meeting the first week of every month.

It was fun, refreshing and encouraging to go. I loved their vision for missionaries to be able to connect, support each other and worship in our own language.
Yet, at the same time they are only meeting once a month so we all have an opportunity to get involved with a local church too. I think it is a great balance and I’m excited to be a part of it.
Next month we are meeting again and afterwards we are going out for breakfast and then on a boat ride!

Intro.

2007-08-30T21:28:00.001-06:00

I have decided to start a more personal, "off the cuff" blog that will keep family members (and whom ever else is interested) updated. It will be me blogging (or perhaps a more accurate statement would be "blahing”) about my thoughts, daily life, Ashlyn, the dogs and maybe even Adam will get a few moments in the lime light, if he's lucky.

I hope you guys will like reading it, because most of my day is spent playing with a nine month old, washing dishes and throwing toys for the dogs. So I'm sure you can imagine the kind of exciting things I will be writing about. Enjoy!