First Steps!!!

You read the title right! Levi has been taking a few steps here and there and it has been so exciting! You can just see the sense of accomplishment in his little face :-) The little steps he has been taking every now and then have been so few and far between that we haven't been able to capture any of them on video until . . . tonight!!!

He must really be getting his courage up because tonight he took a few steps and then a little later he took a few more and then even later he did it again. I thought, "This is my chance to let him shine for the whole world to see!" Like any proud parent, I ran to get the camcorder :-)

With everyone in place I jumped on Samuel's bed to get the best shot and . . . "action". It was beautiful and Levi was so happy for himself. 14 seconds of fame for our little "Bisquick" (one of Levi's many nicknames). Way to go little man!!! We have a longer version, but it was just to long to upload for the blog. I wish you could see it though because we all start clapping for him and he is so happy his little legs are just a moving with excitement; very adorable.

Enjoy a little glimpse of this huge milestone. He will be all over the place in no time! Maybe we should look into buying a leash :-) Only kidding of course!

Not sure if you noticed, but after watching this little video a few times I noticed that right as I started filming Iva was climbing over the bed rail and "slightly" bumped Levi in the head with her foot. Oops! Now that is good balance to be bumped in the head and still keep going :-) And did you notice how Samuel walked right in front of him; with obstacles like these you have to have some skill to stay on your feet! It can be a dangerous environment living with an older brother and sister! I guess he is use to it because it didn't even seem to phase him! Great Job Little Man!!

Cohen's going to kill me for this!

OK, so Cohen doesn't know I posted this blog, but that won't last for long!  I couldn't resist, but hopefully it won't make him mad.  (Please don't be mad!) 

 

While cutting his hair we had a little fun and gave him a mohawk; after all, they seem to be in style now, right?!?  I just had to snap a picture of course!  I said, "I'm going to have to blog about this."  And he said, "we will have to talk about that!"  Well . . . I'm not sure we really talked about it too much, but I think he will agree that it is worth a little laugh.  I hope so anyway.

 

I also snapped a picture of Levi recently where he looked like he had a little mohawk.  I thought I would post them both.  So, Cohen, you are not alone in your humiliation :-)  I love you both!  And your mohawks too :-)

Lunch Date

A lunch date with Prince Caspian, I mean "Prince Cohen" :-)

Cohen and I were blessed again by some friends of ours who asked if they could keep our children for us. Of course we said yes! We would be loco not to!

First we went to Fresas for lunch. (A "fresa" is a strawberry.) Fresas is a little restaurant that we pass everyday on the way to and from school. They aren't open when we pass by in the morning, but we always catch a hint of wonderfully sweet smells coming from inside. Oh how I wish I could capture the sweet aroma and let you smell it in this blog! Your mouth would be watering!

Both of us wanted a cheese burger, so that is what we got. It is hard to tell from this picture, but the plate was soooooo tiny! The food hardly fit in the plate, but is served its purpose. Oh, and as you can see we had "papas fritas" too. The hamburger was a little different than what we are use too, but it was yummy none the less! And, yes, the fries were "delicioso" tambien! Look at all those toothpicks! Don't ask, because I don't know :-)

Afterward we had a vanilla milkshake and it was oh so very yummy! Good to the last "slurp"!

Then we were off to our movie. But there was only one catch . . . it was only showing in Espanol! We have been wanting to see Prince Caspian so bad that we decided to see it anyway. So instead of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, we saw "Las Cronicas de Narnia: El Principe Caspian". We enjoyed every minute of it even if we didn't understand every word of it. Now we are even more excited to see the English version. I never would have thought that I would have been so into a movie that was totally in another language, but it was great. I'm glad we decided to be adventurous a little bit!

I sure did have a great time with my prince and I can't wait to do it agian! Oh, and I forgot to mention that after the movie, he bought me some perfume (since I have been without some for the past 2 1/2 months). It feels nice to be pampered sometimes :-) Thank you Cohen!

Also, another huge blessing is that the kids had a great time too! Our friend, Karen, and her 11 year old daughter, Victoria, came over to our house and just had a great time with the kids! Thank you Karen and Victoria for making it possible for us to have some together time :-) What a blessing!

Baby Proofing

This is our way of baby proofing the cabinets. Hey if it works and it makes our world more sane, then why not. It works for the time being so Cohen y Amie estan muy feliz!

The Little Things

I recently took a picture of Cohen and Levi sticking their tongues out at each other.  It brought back sweet memories of Samuel and Iva doing the same thing when they were about Levi's age.  The little things that you remember from your children's childhood are so precious; things that you will never forget; things that will always make you smile.  I am thankful for those little things.  I found the pictures that I took of Samuel and Iva and posted them along with the picture of Levi.  I sure do love these guys :-)  Aren't they cute!?!  I think so.  We will teach them that it isn't nice to stick out their tongues at some other time, but for now we will enjoy the preciousness of childhood.

"There is a rock in my ear"

There is a what in your ear!?!  "There is a rock in my ear."  These words came out of Samuel's mouth one night at the dinner table.  I didn't hear him say this, but Cohen did.  Cohen just thought he was being a silly 4 year old, saying silly things until he said it again the next night at the dinner table again. 

 

I heard him say it this time and Cohen looked at me and said, "he said that last night, but I didn't believe him".  This time Cohen paid attention to what our little 4 year old was saying and got the flashlight.  He shinned the flashlight in his right ear and sure enough, there was a little rock in there! 

 

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.  Of course I started to panic a little bit, but Cohen felt assured that he could get it out with some tweezers.  I held his ear while Cohen carefully stuck the tweezers in and pulled the little rock out of Samuel's ear. 

 

What a blessing that it wasn't pushed in any further than it was.  And to go a whole extra day with a rock in his ear!  Next time he says something crazy like that I guess we will pay a little better attention. 

 

We stressed over and over the importance of not putting anything in his ears or nose ever again.  Praise the Lord Cohen was able to get it out so easily and that it wasn't anything worse.

 

Samuel, please don't do anything like that ever again!!!  Crazy little man :-)

Amie Esta Enferma

This was me yesterday morning. I woke up feeling pretty yucky. I went to school anyway and throughout the day I felt pretty sick.

My sickness would come in waves; one moment I would be fine and then the next moment I would be sick again.

I made it through the school day and then we headed home. A 20 minute walk and by the time we reached the door I was ready to crash. I stayed on the couch for the rest of the afternoon and most of the night. I had a little bit of a fever, was nauseous and was achy all over. It looks like whatever Iva and Samuel had they passed it to me. Bummer!

I woke up around 1:45 a.m. this morning and felt a good bit better. I ate some crackers and did some homework (I know, what a crazy time for homework). I took my shower and went to bed for a couple more hours.

I woke up at about 5:30 a.m. I started my normal morning routine with Cohen asking if I was going to be going to school today. I told him, "I think so." I felt so much better than yesterday. I wasn't 100%, but I was better. I went, and I am glad I did. We had some friends at school praying for me and the Lord answered! Thank you Father!

I didn't want to miss any more school since I have already missed quite a few days with the kids being sick. Praise the Lord, we were all at school yesterday and today!

Please continue to pray that Levi and Cohen will stay well and not get this stomach virus that we seem to be passing around. Also, that we will all stay healthy and all continue to be able to make it to school each week.

Thank you for your prayers!

To Melanie W.

This is kind of an unusual blog, but it was the best Idea I had for getting in touch with an old friend that I haven't talked to in a very long time.

 

Melanie, if you are reading this, I got your comment on my blog.  Please give me a call on our Skype number 383-1133 (that is all you have to dial and it is absolutely free) or email me at ezellec@globaloutreach.org.  I was so excited to hear from you and I would love to be able to chat with you but I don't know how to contact you other than by sending you a letter by snail mail.  Let me hear from you again!

 

I hope you see this blog :-)  Tell Shane and the kids we said hello!

 

Amie

"Sick Weeks" Not "Sick Days"

 

OK, so Iva had a sick day posted on the blog which turned into a sick week, which turned into another sick week for Samuel and Levi.  We thought we were done, but then . . . the following Wednesday morning Iva woke up and then threw up, then she threw up again, then she threw up again, and then again before bedtime.  We kept her home that day of course and the following day as well just to make sure she was ok.  She rested a lot and didn't get sick anymore which is a huge blessing. 

 

Then . . . early this (Friday) morning at about 12 midnight, Samuel started moaning and groaning, tossing and turning in his bed.  Cohen and I went to check on him and he was saying that his tummy was hurting.  Concerned, we stayed with him and then he said, "Mommy, I want you to hold me."  Which is different because he is usually such a Daddy's boy.  Of course I jumped on the chance to hold him in his time of need.  I picked him up and started walking down the hall so as not to disturb Iva (they sleep in the same room).  I got about half way down the hall and then . . . you guessed it, he got sick all down my back and all down the wall and all on the floor around me.  Cohen was right there, but couldn't catch it in time.  Oh well, at least it wasn't all over his bed and all over him.

 

Cohen laid with him on the couch for a while, while I cleaned up (fun, fun, fun). After a while, Cohen took Samuel to his bed and slept with him there for a little while and then he came on to bed.

 

Samuel woke up this morning seeming pretty normal and asking for Jell-O.  We kept him home today just to make sure he is ok.  Iva and Levi went on to school.  He seems perfectly fine to me which is a big difference to how Iva was the day before yesterday.  I guess it effects every child differently.  Samuel is eating up this whole "sick" thing.  He said that he wants to throw up.  Very odd if you ask me.  I think he is loving the attention way too much :-)  At least he is feeling good right now.  Lord willing, he will continue to feel good.  If only I could get him to understand that being sick isn't fun and throwing up definitely isn't.  He tells me that his tummy is hurting just for the attention.  I told him that if he keeps telling me that his tummy hurts when it really doesn't that I wont know when to believe him if he really is sick.  Maybe I can get him to understand. 

 

Since Iva had a picture taken of her on her "sick" day, I thought I would let Samuel have a chance too.  Iva's picture was cute, but I think Samuel's wins.  He had a good little pose don't you think :-)  The stinker!  Am I missing school today for nothing!!!  He is as happy as can be and doesn't seem sick at all!  Oh well, its better safe than sorry, right :-)

 

On a more serious note, please be in prayer for us concerning Levi.  We really don't want him to get this stomach virus.  We don't want it either, but we especially don't want Levi to get it.  Hopefully it will stop with Samuel. This was our third week of sickness and we would like to be well again for a long while :-)

Pop Corn and a Movie

Cohen and I were blessed by some friends of ours yesterday when they stayed home with our children so we could go out to see a movie. We had planned to go see the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, but once we arrived at the theater we realized that the 12:30 movie was showing in Spanish only. Bummer! We looked at our other options within our time frame and decided to see the new Indiana Jones movie because it was showing at a good time and in English (which is very important).

Our tickets were only a little over $3 a piece and we were even able to get some refreshments. We each had a bag of pop corn and we shared a large Coca-Cola for only a little over $6. We could have never done that back in the States!

The movie wasn't bad. It wasn't great either. Let's just say it was entertaining, but a little on the strange side. It had all the markings of an Indiana Jones movie just like we remember. It was hard to believe we were actually sitting in a theatre watching "Indy" fight off the bad guys. Harrison Ford might be about 20 years older, but he still seemed to play the character well.

Next time we will make sure we get to see Prince Caspian (in English). But now we know what Indiana Jones is like. If we hadn't seen it, we would be wondering what it was like. Now we wont have to wonder because we know :-)

I don't know that I would recommend it, but if you were an Indiana Jones fan in the past, you might as well go ahead and see it so you will stop wondering what it is like.

All in all we had a great time together and we look forward to doing it again real soon. Our children seemed to have a great time as well and that means a lot to us!

Thanks Mark, Marge and Eden for blessing us and our children! Thank You, Father, for the body of Christ and for great friends!