Friends

Jackson and Ben are destined to be friends. They are only 6 months apart and the only little ones among the missionary staff. They still parallel play for the most part, except for Ben's constant "hugging" of Jackson which can look like strangulation at times. They are actually wearing the same size clothes and diapers and only 1 pound and an inch or two different in weight and height. Jackson's parents are really tall!

Double Trouble. Ben is allowed to turn on the stereo. It is a novelty to Jackson.

Sorta sharing.

Ben remembered signs that he hasn't done in months. He is showing Jackson how to say more. Jackson signs, but has made them his own! Ben was correcting him :)

Daddy practicing for 2! Loving the footie pjs.

28 week update

I went for my 28 week appointment yesterday. I kept thinking I needed to blog something about it, but I couldn't think of what to say. Oh yeah, the belly pictures! So, here it is. I did my glucose test yesterday at my appointment where you have to drink some nasty sugar drink and then wait an hour and have blood drawn. I made the appointment during nap time so Ryan could stay home and work while Ben napped. I told my dr that I was actually looking forward to an hour alone not being responsible for anyone else. She laughed and said, "How sad is that?" ha. She's right. It is pretty sad, but I did meaningless stuff on my computer and plenty of people-watching and loved it. The hour went really fast.

All is good with Nate. Nothing to report really. He seems to be more active than I remember Ben being. Maybe he is, maybe I just don't remember correctly. I will start going to see my doc every two weeks now! Wow, this pregnancy has gone quickly. I am just starting to find some everyday things (bending over, painting my toe nails) to be more difficult. Ben is still pretty easy for me to carry around, but he is pretty good to walk beside me for me the most part.

Feeding the Geese

The weather here has been gorgeous lately. Ben has started getting very excited in his car seat when we drive by any pond or small body of water (usually at shopping centers or apartment complexes). So, on Monday we enjoyed an afternoon outside and went to feed some ducks. I think they were actually geese, but whatever. Ben loved it!

There were lots!

Throwing the bread.

Feeding the Geese

He Runs!

RMO Retreat

This past weekend all the missionaries on the Wichita staff were able to get away to Morning Star Ranch for 24 hours. We actually brought in a speaker and had childcare for the 4 kids. I actually held a Bible in my lap and listened to a speaker. It was very odd at first to not have a squirmy toddler to keep quiet :) There were definitely times I was completely distracted and looking out the window to see if my child was ok, but overall, I did hear what the speaker said and enjoyed it greatly. It was also great fun to just hang out with the other missionaries and enjoy each other. We are actually all pretty good friends, but we are usually working so just playing games and enjoying each other away from the city was fantastic. Ben had a great time too!

Hamming it up with his PBJ!

Playing games after the kids were in bed. There was lots of loud laughter!

Just hanging out before the session began.

"No, what are you doing to me?"
The water was freezing and I didn't bother bringing his swimsuit bc I wasn't planning to swim.

"Over there - I want to be out of the water over there!"

"Fine, I'll wave, but I'm not happy about it."

Saying hi to Jackson who was also not a fan of the cold water.

"Yeah! I got out! Now, go far far away Uncle Matt."

Denae was one of the babysitters. She loved Ben and he loved her. She was technically off duty during swim time, but he wanted to sit with her and she loved to hold him.

Ben asked Aunt Tina to read his books to him.

Getting strapped in to the fun line with Daddy.

Wishing he was big enough to play Human Foosball with all the grown-ups. Too bad he had to sit out with his preggo mommy.

My favorite part of the Fun Line video is all the cheering for Ben. We may not be related, but Ben's Aunts and Uncles here love him to pieces! We could not be more blessed.

Grandpa & Nana Visit

Grandpa and Nana are the first guests that Ben has actually remembered! They stayed in their 5th wheel, but met up with us each day. Ben quickly learned to say "Nana" and is still saying it! Grandpa was a little harder, but he says something vaguely resembling Grandpa. Ben was thrilled to see them each and every time and was sad to see them go.

Video Overview.



Warning - Picture Overload

We went to Exploration Place, a hands-on children's museum of sorts. Ben loved it!

Veterinarian Ben

Mini-Kansas. The train was Ben's favorite part.

Daddy and Grandpa had fun too!

Making a tornado.

Driving a combine.

Riding a cow.

Flying a plane.

Flying a helicopter.

Looking out from the castle.

Cooking.

Water table. He might could have spent the entire time there.

Puzzles.

Not a fan of riding this horse.

Singing with Grandpa and Nana.

Reading with Grandpa and Nana.

Building with Grandpa.

Talking with Nana.

Throwing to Grandpa and Nana.

18 Month Stats

Ben went to the pediatrician today for his 18 month check-up.
Weight: 24 lb - 25%
Height: 33 in - 60%
Head: 18.25 - 50%

This doctor appointment was sad and comical at the same time! The nurse called his name to go to the back and he spun around like he was in the biggest trouble. We walked into the room, the only room we have ever been into at the office and he freaked out. We took his clothes off and he was ok, but not too happy. The door opened and he squirmed in Ryan's arms desperately trying to get away. He didn't like the measurements at all - full body squirm and terror in his eyes. The doctor was no better even though he is a super nice man. Then came the shots nurse. She is the nicest lady in the world and Ben was so mad at her! Ben only wanted his Daddy to comfort him :( The nurse reached for the door to leave and Ben promptly waved and said "bye bye." He was thrilled to see her go. Poor traumatized kid!

Good News! He is no longer having reactions to cows milk. He is officially drinking whole milk, gobbling down yogurt and cheese. Woohoo! We are so excited that he has outgrown this and sooner than later.

Two other things he is doing these days:

• He waves and says "bye" to everything: the toilet flush, the bath water draining, each toy as he puts it away, the checker at the store, etc.
  
• He signs thank you without being prompted. It is cute every single time.
  
  
  Just for fun!
  
  

Wrong end, but good try.

Muscle Man

Ben loves riding on Ryan's back. They make lots of noise and share lots of laughs.

Changes At Our Church

My son loves music! During worship this morning, the worship leader stopped playing the keyboard for 10 seconds to go to the next song and Ben loudly broke the silence with "MO" (more). We also pass around a box of music/noise makers to allow all people to participate in worship. Ben began playing his maraca at least 30 seconds before the worship leader began playing. He was ready to get the party started!

Ryan and I have been a part of Christ the Victor Church, the most recent English-speaking
church plant, since we first moved to Wichita. The church had been meeting about two weeks before we came so we have been here since the beginning.

Recently, it has become very clear that we needed to revisit our vision and the mission of our church and shake things up a little. Our church has so many people coming that we never anticipated or really looked for. We have also gotten quite large and are full to capacity in the home in which we meet (35-40 people each Sunday).

As part of the changes, the leadership team changed. Ryan has been on the leadership team since it began. Another missionary Daren was also on the team from the beginning. I always gave Ryan my two cents about everything (I don't know that it always got back to the team though...ha) and I am sure Tina, Daren's wife, did the same. Tina and I are now officially on the team and two other members have resigned their positions. As two couples with some children have the privilege of having our team meetings over dinner in our homes while our two boys (Daren and Tina's son just turned 1) are strapped in their high chairs! It is definitely a different dynamic and one that I am excited about!

Our first big change under the new leadership team is to find a way to multiply our church. Unlike the status quo of churches today, our vision is to multiply. When we get too big, we multiply and have two churches. When those two churches get too big, they multiply and we have four churches. It is time for our church to multiply.

Tonight we had a church-wide meeting and it was fairly well attended! We talked to the church about our plan to multiply. I think some people were completely caught off guard (even though this has always been our plan) and some people were excited about a change. Now we just have to figure out how exactly to do all this! That is why I am telling you all this - to ask you to pray along with us and with our church that God speak clearly to us about where our church will meet (we have to be out of our current location on November 3 to allow a new missionary couple to join our staff) and how exactly we go about it all. We also are praying for more people from the community! We ultimately want to train indigenous leaders to take over the church and we will move on and start another church!

Ryan has also designed a fabulous new logo for all of the churches that we will plant from here on. All church planted (even some in other World Impact cities like LA) that commit to the vision of Christ the Victor will operate under this logo! He has also compiled what he is calling the Book of Shared Spirituality that is almost a handbook for starting a Christ the Victor Church. Ryan will be published! I think I am way more excited about this than he is. Once it is on Amazon, I will give you the link :) My husband is so incredibly talented!