No Turning Back Now!!

I better type quick because we already called to cancel our phone and internet so we'll be cut off any minute!  I thought I'd type a little update.  Once again, no pics :(  I promise I'll get back to posting pictures again as soon as life becomes more stable again.

I am truly in awe of all that we were able to accomplish over the past week and the way God has brought every last detail together.  We just met the couple who will be moving into our home and they are just great!  Jeyson leaves in about an hour to take a bus to the airport in Brasilia.  He will then catch his flight at 10pm and arrive at 2 am in the morning.  It will be a long day for him! Turns out tomorrow is a holiday here in Brazil.  Our plan was for Jeyson to hit the ground running on Wed to check out houses, but it looks like he'll be forced to have a day to recover from his trip and to adapt to the heat.  It's probably for the best.

Tomorrow, Wed, I will be emptying out the last few things in the house and Thurs I will do a deep cleaning.  Then, I'll go straight (before the house gets dirty again hahaha!) to move over to a friend's house with Elijah.  We will stay here in Anapolis until Sunday to say final goodbyes to people.  Then, after church on Sunday we will head over to my in-law's house where we will stay until we head to Boa Vista the following Friday (May 10th).

Our biggest prayer requests right now are for Jeyson to be able to find a home for us to rent in Boa Vista.  It would be SO SO ideal for me and Elijah to just show up and move right in.  Especially because I"ll be headed to the US for a whirlwind trip for my sister's wedding May 18th....just 7 days after Elijah and I arrive!

So, it's going to be an adventure.  I can't even wrap my mind around the fact that we are actually, actually moving.  It just still seems so surreal, even as I sit here typing on a mattress on the floor because our sofas and bed are gone :)  I have a flood of emotions, but as I wrote about 2 months ago, we're ready.  That's the overriding feeling.  We can't go on in limbo forever, so we feel ready to bring on the adventure.  Though as we say in Portuguese, "My stomach is cold"  meaning....  i've got the jitters :)  So please just keep lifting us up in prayer this week, pray for me and Elijah as we stay behind and Jeyson to find a safe, comfortable place for us to call home.

In 10 Days

What a wild past 10 days it's been.  Here are some of the highlights of the accomplishments and challenges we've faced.  I thought I'd note them down mostly for myself so I can look back and see how God gave us strength to get through this crazy time.

In the past 10 days we...
- Did check ride in Sao Paulo
- Sent car to Boa Vista.  (We will use our old, basic car for getting around the city and buy a car in a few months that will allow us to get around better on the rougher roads outside the town).   It will go on a car truck on a similar route that our belongings took, arriving in about a month.
- Dealt with glass door incident (see last post)
- Got one way plane tickets to Boa Vista (April 30th for Jeyson, May 10th for me and Elijah)
- Jeyson flew 7 times in the 206 plane (He needed to do this final adoption before we move since this is the plane he will fly at our new base).
- House painted on the outside
- Emptied out many final places of the house
- Sold our couches
- Fixed our car
- Took Elijah to the dentist (x-rays and all) because he was playing and fell and chipped two teeth!  Had to make sure there wasn't any root damage.
- All three of us had fevers and I have had some migraines
- Loaded up our fridge and freezer with meals for the next days so we can empty out our house of cooking stuff (thank you to my mother in law!!).  As my mom used to say after she cleaned up after dinner "The kitchen is closed!"
- Touched up some windows
- Worked on solidifying details of couple moving into our house
- Visited with several people to say goodbye
- Got our first ever parking ticket!!!
- Drafted up a rent contract for the family renting our home
- Cleaned up our yard (power washed walk, trimmed trees), etc

What a productive few days!  I feel like we're running on red bull :)

It's crazy to think that one week from today Jeyson will be in Boa Vista searching for a home for us to rent.  I can't wait for life to sink into a routine again, and although it's still a ways away, at least we're on our way.  I am a bit nervous of all of the changes ahead.  But I also realize we can't go on living like we are at this moment forever (in addition to many things, sleeping on a mattress on the floor!).  Now, it's just a matter plunging ahead past unknowns and getting there so the unknowns will soon be the known and familiar!

Another Hospital Run

Yesterday we ran what should have been a quick errand over in the next town over, and this is how we came home.  Oh my.  What a crazy day it was!  Here's what happened.

He wasn't actually bandaged this jumbled...this is after Elijah pulling and grabbing for a while!

 While making a "quick" trip to a shop to get work done on our tires, Elijah and I were hanging out in the waiting room of the shop.  After a few minutes Elijah got bored watching tv and starting walking towards the door to check out what was going on.  On the way (and before I could say no) he slid the sliding (supposedly strong enough to be bulletproof) glass door of the shop open.  Apparently the glass door was off it's track or something crazy because the instant he slid it, the door shattered into a million shard pieces and showered down all over him.  I was instant action, yelling for Jeyson, who swooped Elijah up and ran him to get towels and to rinse the glass off with water.  It all happened so fast.  There were scapes and cuts and blood everywhere, but we couldn't tell if there was glass in him or how deep the cuts were.

Since we didnt know where we were going, the owner of the shop hoped in our car to drive us to the hospital.   At first Elijah was screaming at the top of his lungs, totally hysterical.  We held cloths on the top of his head (which seemed to be the biggest cut) as we drove.  And this is where the story really gets crazy.

We stopped at the nearest hospital.  Jeyson and I ran out with Elijah expecting immediate attention.  On the contrary, we were sent away because there was no pediatrician on duty!  We begged them to just take a look to see if he needed immediate stitches but the receptionist wouldn't even let us see a dr, but instead sent us to another hospital where there would definitely be a pediatrician.

We drove 5 minutes to the next hospital (hospital number 2), but again no pediatrician!  They sent us to a children's hospital (hospital number 3!) which was a distance away.  At that point the bleeding had really slowed down and Elijah was very calm.  We still felt like we should see a doctor though to make sure he didn't need stitches on his arms our head and that he didn't have any glass in him.  We arrived at the children's hospital, but unbelievably even THEY wouldn't take us!!!  They said the don't do stitches at the hospital.  WHAT???  I kid you not!  Finally they sent us to a sports injury hospital (hospital number 4!!!).  There was no pediatrician, but a doctor said he would take  a look.

Turns out Elijah didn't even need a stitch since, although he had tons of cuts, none of them were deep...just long and shallow.  So he got bandaged up in the total overkill bandage above.  The cuts on the top of his head are the largest, but they're not as huge as they look from the bandages, but there was no way to stick tape, just had to wrap around they whole head. It looked MUCH more professional at the hospital, but by the time we got home Elijah and grabbed it all and jumbled it.

This morning we rewraped him more conservatively :)

Anyway, what a crazy scare and a crazy mess trying to find a hospital!  We are just so thankful to God that the whole situation wasn't worse.  He easily could have gotten much more wounded, have had a deeper cut or glass in his eyes or something.  We are truly blessed to have come away with only cuts.  Of course I feel like the worst mom in the world for not having stopped him from touching the door!  I'm trying to get over that, there are after all so many unimaginable dangerous situations out there, but I'm still struggling a bit with guilt!  I'd much rather be the hurt one!
So Elijah is now 17 months old and has been in the hospital a total of 4 times (including his surgery).  We'll be in trouble once he starts getting into his real boyhood adventures!

Things are Heating Up!

Up until a few days ago, things have been shockingly calm around here.  We were sort of in the eye of the storm of moving.  But now it's crunch time.  Here are some details:

• We are on a bit of a timetable first of all because the mission wants us in Boa Vista ASAP.  Second, because we are desperately trying to get out of transition and get settled.  Third because we've already sold our car and rented out our house and they people are waiting anxiously for their items!  And lastly, because I have roundtrip tickets to the US for my sister's wedding (May 18-27) from Boa Vista and so we have to get there before that.  (Jeyson and Elijah will stay in Brazil)  Yes, we could hold off to move until after the wedding, but then we won't get to Boa Vista until almost June!!!  So we have to push and just get there before the wedding!
• Jeyson's checkride was just taking forever here in Goias.  So, instead he decided to travel to Sao Paulo for the test.  He took a 12 hour bus ride Friday night to Sao Paulo and arrived Saturday morning.  The plan was the take the test Saturday afternoon and turn back around Saturday night.  Alas, the weather was horrible so he couldn't do the check.  The check was rescheduled for right now, Sunday afternoon.  Jeyson doesn't have a car there, so he planned to get from his hotel to the airport by taxi.  Turns out he couldn't find one today on Sunday so as I called him he was on a 6 mile walk to the airport!!!  He was in great spirits though, so that's good...he's such a trouper who loves adventure!  If all goes well, he will take the test and come back home on a bus this evening.
• We found renters for our house.  It is a young couple who is getting married this month.  They live in Sao Paulo and are from our friends' home-church there.  They are coming to live in Anapolis to serve as missionaries with a church here.  The pastor of the church here came and checked out our house for them and liked it.  He is helping us draft up a contract and the couple is just waiting for us to leave and will come to Anapolis.  
• We still don't have our tickets, but our plan is for Jeyson to leave here in two weeks or less.  We've decided it would be best for me to wait behind with Elijah and only arrive about two weeks after Jeyson.  We think it would best to arrive and go straight to our rental home instead of being weeks out of a routine and guests in a house with a toddler.  Jeyson will pick out a house for us.  People are impressed that I trust a hubby enough to pick out a home.  I, however, have no doubts about it.  Jeyson will do a great job...probably better than me because I am so desperate I would live ANYWHERE right now :)  I am dreaming of arriving in Boa Vista in 4 weeks to a house with a crib set up for Elijah and our bed.  Even if we don't have a fridge or stove by then.  If we have our spot and our beds, I can survive.  Then, one week after that I'll head to the US for a week.  Once I get back, we'll make it our business to set up house and home!
• Before leaving for Boa Vista we have a bunch of last minute things to do here to fix up our house to leave it in good shape for the renters.  That way the renters will also have to leave it good, making it easier to find new renters if necessary.  This however, means lots of running around for us!
• Once Jeyson leaves, I'll have to spend the last two weeks clearing out our house of last minute things.  Giving the items that were purchased to the new owners and returning things that were lent to us for this makeshift period.   Canceling the internet, phone, etc.  Giving the house a good scrub for the renters.  I have no idea how I will take apart Elijah's borrowed crib!  I've never done that before, but I'll have to figure it out.  I may try to talk my mother-in-law into coming for a few days.  She's good at all of that stuff and/or watching Elijah while I do it.  She even is great at taking apart cribs.... I hope :)

Honestly when I think about all these details I just want to cry.  It's completely overwhelming when I list it all at once.  But if I think about each 24 hour period and all that can get done and then remember that I have 14 or more of them with Jeyson and then another 14 or so on my own, I feel more hopeful.  One way or another we will get there, just a matter of putting our heads down and pushing forward!

Little Multilingual Learner

We have a little multilingual learner on our hands.  It's been such an interesting process to watch him take it all in, I thought I'd make a few notes to myself of his progress along the way.  

Recent trip to the zoo

While we were in the US, we only spoke to Elijah in English and he had no exposure at all to Portuguese or Spanish.  Towards the end of our time there, when Elijah was just over 1 year, he started saying a few words....goodbye, night night, mama, dada.   We were on a roll...or so we thought!

Then we arrived in Brazil.  When we were leaving places, Elijah would proudly wave at our friends and say"bye bye"....only these people spoke Portuguese!  They would either reply "tchau tchau"  (pronounced chow chow) or just smile and laugh since he was such a novelty.  Within a few weeks Elijah stopped talking all together.  

I'm not sure if he was taken back by people not replying the way they were in the US, or if he was just confused, or if it simply that everywhere we went he heard Portuguese and suddenly he realized he had a lot more to take in before he could talk.  In my collage TESOL classes we learned about a process called "mapping".  Basically, before speaking, the brain needs time to create a general "map" of how a language works.  So, for the past few months he has been a completely silent mapper.  He hasn't said a word.

Here's our language exposure plan:  Elijah has been constantly been hearing English at home and Portuguese everywhere we go.  We also want him to learn Spanish, so Jeyson speaks to him some in Spanish.  We also expose him to Spanish through movies and in the future books.  If he doesn't catch on to Spanish right away that's ok.  It is very similar to Portuguese so he should be able to pick up on it easily in the future, maybe even by sending him to a extracurricular language school (very common around here).  

Well anyway, as of this past week, we can tell something is clicking. He is starting to make tons of talking sounds.  He isn't saying anything, but he thinks he is!  This is a great first step.  He's gaining courage and trying out the phonemes.  I also noticed he is understanding and obeying commands in English.  Then other day I noticed he's getting Portuguese too.  

Normally I say "Fala tchau"  (say bye) when we're leaving somewhere and model by waving, and then he'll wave.  Then the other day as an experiment, I just said "Fala tchau" abut didn't model the waving. But he followed the direction and waved!  Wohoo!

I know it seems like a small victory, but I was so excited.  This multilingual learner is on his way!

Tchau tchau!

Baby Edward

Remember my last post about helping two young mothers to be prepare for their births and newborns?  Well the big day came for Bruna on this past Thursday.  She went into labor in the morning and was ready for me to join her around 10 am.  Friends of our watched Elijah all day long so I could be with Bruna and her husband throughout the whole labor, birth, and for several hours after.  

Bruna wound up having a wonderful birth and Edward, their new son, is just perfect!  It was a completely exhausting, but just perfect, exhilarating, emotional, spiritual, and thrilling day.  I just loved the whole ministry of reaching out to Bruna throughout her whole pregnancy and then being there for her in a very intense way for the actual birth.  Her husband and I didn't leave her side, constantly massaging, encouraging, praying with, and even singing with Bruna throughout the whole labor.   

When I visited Bruna this weekend to follow up with her, she was just so happy with the way everything worked out.  It was a joy and a complete privilege to be part of.  What an exciting and unique ministry I have come across.  I love how it allows me to reach out to women in such an intimate way and how it fits so well with the stage of life I am in myself.  What mother does God have for me next?