Reasons I love Kyle

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Kyle and Mitch in El Salvador

Do you know what happens when someone you love has to work 60 hours? You'd think that I'd be super nice, loving, and caring when I do get to see him, right? Well, in all honesty, that isn't what I've been doing over the past week. Kyle, not by his choice, is working 60 hours possibly for another 5 weeks. He gets to see very little of Eliana and me. Several times last week when he came home, I was already rocking her to sleep for the night.

So, what have I been doing with all of this extra time? I've been having one big ol' pity party. Smart idea, right??? Umm. No.

You see the thing is, I know I'm not supposed to be having one huge woe is me party. A good friend of mine reminded me that during this stressful time, I need to be Kyle's #1 cheerleader. Kyle needs my support. He needs me to love him, not lash out on him because I miss him. Weird huh. The person I miss the most in the day is the one I treat the worst.

In an effort show that I really do love my husband, here is a list of reasons I love Kyle in no particular order.

1. He makes eggs better than me. I know it is silly, but it is true. His eggs are always better than mine:) I've been watching him make them for years now, and mine are finally starting to taste close to his.

2. I love Kyle's eyes. If I could paint as well as God created the variations of color in his eyes, why, I'd be able to paint sunsets like God does.

3. Kyle makes Eliana and me laugh. Remember how I said that Kyle was coming home as I was rocking her to sleep? She'd here him come in and go from almost asleep to totally alert and moving around searching for her daddy. She loves grinning at him! I love how much they love each other.

4. Kyle is a gracious consumer of my cooking abilities. Since I've been home, I've been doing a lot more of the cooking. Kyle has thanked me for making dinner and he even likes most of it:)

5. Kyle works really hard. He shares with me about his work. I can tell you about clients, who is on the team, what software he is using, and a few of the pranks Kyle pulls.

6. After having a few "words" last night, instead of retaliating, Kyle chose to do the dishes. Some of you may think that is an odd thing to do, but you have to realize something. Kyle isn't wired to do dishes. Yes, he is capable, but it doesn't normally occur to him to do them. He is willing to do them when I ask. If you've ever read The Five Love Languages you will understand when I say that my love language is Acts of Service. So, to see Kyle do the dishes said I love you in a big way.

7. Kyle prays with me at night.

8. Kyle kisses me good morning as he heads out the door early in the morning.

9. Kyle likes to play card and board games with me. It may sound silly, but back in high school I prayed that God would give me a husband who liked to play card and board games.

10. Kyle has been super patient with me as I continue to transition into being a stay at home mom.

Time

Time. Back when I was teaching, I used to feel like I didn't have a lot of time. Now that I am home, I don't always know what to do with my time. I'm pretty sure I have cleaned more in the last 6 months than in the last 6 years of marriage. I've also cooked a whole lot more. It used to be 50/50 on the cooking. I have Bible Study Fellowship on Wednesdays which means I have Bible study to do nearly everyday. But still, I struggle with what to do with my time. I realized that although I enjoy the quiet, I crave interaction with people. I do much better when I get out of the house once a day. I've been praying about what to do with my time. I don't want to waste Eliana's nap times every day on Facebook. Facebook is nice but in moderation.

Friends of mine are involved in a Intervarsity Group called Fiful http://www.fiful.org/. They recently moved to a new location. I visited last Monday. As a friend showed me around, she noted how one day this long hall way will have art on it. Awe, art. How I miss getting my hands covered in color. So, I'm on a mission to make an art piece for Fiful. I'm just in the beginning stages, so don't think it will look like this when it is done.

7 Months!!!

Eliana is 7 months old today!

GramE and Eliana love laughing together!

21 seconds of her 7th month.

Moving... (not us, don't panic!)

Have you ever noticed that good food doesn't taste good if you are sad? Eliana had sweet potatoes and butternut squash. She LOVED having her GramE feed her. Perry, Sherry, Kyle, and I had Sequoia sandwiches. They are delicious sandwiches, however, it was the last meal we'll be sharing with Perry and Sherry for a while. They are moving to Kentucky. That is a HUGE, AMAZING praise! I'm glad that Perry has found a job. But I'll be honest, a part of me is very sad that they are moving. I'd gotten used to seeing them at least once a month. I'd gotten used to hearing them laugh as they got Eliana to laugh. I'd gotten used to the hugs, card games, and adventures around town.

Eliana loves her penguin!

Eliana and GramE

GramE had just gotten a fist full of slobber from Eliana. Surprise!

Yum!

Did you think I was the only paparazzi for Eliana???

Perry, Sherry, Eliana, Kyle, and me

Wahoo for Deals!

In September, Aimee, Troy, Kallie, Kyle, Eliana, and I all went shopping at the outlets in between our homes. At the time, Eliana had a plethera of clothes that she'd been given, so I just window shopped. I was impressed with Aimee because she was shopping for Kallie for next year. When Eliana was that little, I didn't know how to gage when she'd be in a certain size. After all, she spent the first month of her life in preemie clothes. She is pretty close to age appropriate clothes now. With all of that in mind, I went by Old Navy today. They are having 40% off already clearanced clothes. Instead of paying $130.23, I only spent $37.40 for clothes for next winter. Wahoo! Saving $93.07 sure did make my day! My mom will be so proud when she reads this!

Photo Update

Just a reminder that staying home is good, but it is not always easy.

Eliana and her ducky were having a serious conversation!

Eliana can now sit up for a few minutes at a time. Eliana's Aunties are awesome is what the onesie should say!

I can't help it. I love her smile!

She hasn't learned to clap yet, but she does like to clasp her hands.

Welcome back

I made it into Fresno around 5am on Saturday. I slept for awhile and then we headed out for lunch with Tasha's mom. I noticed, as we approached the car, that our rear license plate was missing. Someone STOLE it!

A friend suggested we call the non-emergency police line. Tasha ended up filing a report. She then had to take that case number to the DMV to have new plates issued. The fee was $19. Thankfully we did not have to pay for the tags again.

As a kid, my dad told me that people will steal the tags of plates so they don't have to purchase them themselves. His tactic was to take a blade and slice the tag in strips diagonally from left to right and then from right to left. This way someone could try to take it but would end up leaving it when they discovered that it couldn't be easily removed and made to look legit once reapplied.

I wonder if I could electrify our new plates as a theft deterent. ???

Pictures from El Salvador

El Salvador has 25 volcanos.


Neighborhood

We're not in Kansas anymore.

What are seatbelts?

Jesus Cristo, El Salvador del Mundo


Street vendor


Downtown

Salvadorian deer stand

What's a deer stand? Its a seat or platform you can mount in a tree to await for unsupecting game to get within range of your rifle.

Coconut milk anyone?

San Salvador

Church across from Central Park

Street evangelism

Amigos - gringos with translators

31 Seconds!!!

We've been working on Eliana being able to sit up! I decided to time how long she can sit up. The shortest stretch tonight was 3 seconds. The longest was 31 seconds! Wahoo!

I've also been working on training Eliana to sleep in her crib rather than in her swing. We've had at least one nap the last three days in her crib. They are short naps, but most of them are about 30 minutes. Once I nursed her, and she then slept for an additional hour and a half in her crib! I was super tired this afternoon, so I swaddled her and put her in her swing after her mini crib nap. I put the swing on for a few minutes and then turned it off. I was tired and was trying to nap myself while she did. I simply do not sleep well with Kyle gone. Last night I was up for 2+ hours in the middle of the night. Eliana only needed me for 25 minutes. The night before it was 1.5 hours. Do you know what happens when you are up that long? You get hungry. So, after some mashed potatoes, I went back to bed.

I'm super excited about Kyle's trip, but I am also really looking forward to him coming home! I've gotten out of the house everyday and seen people! It has been very healthy for my sanity. I do pretty well during the day, but I do get pretty lonesome at night. I'll admit that I am pretty much a scaredy cat. What helped me to finally go to sleep last night, or I should say at 4:30ish this morning, was to say the name of Jesus over and over again.

Kyle's in El Salvador!

Kyle along with a whole bunch of other people are serving this week in San Salvador, El Salvador! He took the camera, so I won't be able to update with photos for a little while. They left here on Friday and headed down to our hometown. Then they picked up several more from Valley, and then headed to LAX. Kyle got a few hours of sleep on the way there. He didn't sleep much on the plane. Once they got their, he went around with a translator and met about a dozen families and invited them to the free movie that evening.

Today Pastor Phil preached, with the help of a translator. He has two services at one location, and one service at the hotel that the team is staying at. Kyle went to the other location, but I don't know how it went yet. I do know that he had chicken shawarmas for lunch. He is posting things on Facebook in Spanish. HA! He also had papusas yesterday. He and Rachel said they are amazing.

I don't get to see my hubby until the wee hours of Saturday morning. I'm trying to fill my days with visits to friends around. I'll go crazy without some adult interaction. SO, if you are reading and would like to come to dinner this week or have us over, just let me know;) So far I've been successful in project Keep Sanity with Perry and Sherry's help. They came down on Friday and just left a few hours ago. We were able to go to friends' house for dinner last night. We had Ruli and Bryce join us for lunch today. Yeah for company!

Eliana and Kallie

Eliana's great great grandma made these dresses for GramE and Aunt Marcie when they were little girls. Kallie and Eliana are just far enough apart to fit the dresses pretty well. They took these pictures back in November, but I didn't post them since I sent a picture out to relatives with these wee ones together. Have you ever tried to get to wee ones to smile at the same time? I can't imagine trying to get twins to smile together regularly. It was a bit of work, but worth it. Kallie's Grandma Jan really helped by singing to them.

Funny Moments at Home

If you would have looking in my bathroom 5 minutes ago, you would have seen the seat I sit on to play the keyboard on a towel in the bathtub. Why you may ask would the seat be there? The kitchen chair didn't fit. HA! That is one of the things about living in an apartment, the tub is apartment sized. So, you still might be wondering why a seat was in my bathtub. In general I am completely blind without my glasses. Thus, I don't notice things like mold growing in the bathtub until it gets really bad. This afternoon I noticed mold on the ceiling. I'm not that short, but I'm not tall enough to clean the ceiling without a little help. Thankfully, a little bleach water and a Mr. Clean eraser had it cleaned up in no time.