bad hand

She was at it again...the hands talking to each other. She told me that her right hand was the bad hand, she couldn't tell me why though.

At dinner they are often getting into trouble, her hands that is. She said she told one to stop touching her food, and it didn't listen, so it had to go in time out!

She was so sweet at dinner tonight, saying "Thanks for dinner mommy." She must have liked it, no "you have to eat two bites before you may be excused." I think we'll have this one again.

The Big Mess

Maria made up a game complete with rules.  It was called The Big Mess...and it was a mess as you can see by the video.  Basically she dumped all the colored pencils and crayons that we own on the floor.  Then you have to  pick up some and drop them, then you have to get the same ones and twirl them in the air.  We thought it was pretty cute of her to make up a game all on her own and have rules for it.  Enjoy.

these days

Can't say what makes some days just delightful and other days that seem to drag on and on, but when you reach the end you know what type of day it has been.

Yesterday was surprisingly a delightful day.  Since we had a doctor's appointment, grocery shopping and other errands to run, it had every inclination for being one of those dreadfully long days!

We headed up to the doctor for a 9am appt.  We arrived about 10 till and barely had time to get coats off and hung(how we won't miss the coat, hat, gloves part of winter!) when Nurse Erica(our favorite!) called Anna's name.  She did the usual routine measurements(30 inches long! off the chart) , progress questions, weight(20 lbs. 80%), and told us the Doctor would be in shortly...and he literally walked in as soon as she walked out.  He did his usual checkup routine, pronouncing that Anna was right on schedule, and she only cried a bit for him and PTL no shots on the 9 mo. appt.  On the way out Maria was a very polite girl asking the receptionist for a sticker...she chose Scooby Doo, although she has never even seen it?? We also hit the bathroom and Maria didn't have her usual public bathroom paranoia of, "is this toilet loud?", "it is going to flush by itself?"  (curse those automatic toilets!)

We left and headed to the grocery.  What delight for Maria to be able to have her very own shopping cart, perfectly sized for her.  She was a very courteous cart driver I must say, not toppling too many groceries and only ramming into me once or twice. She did however block the aisle a few times, insisting that she stay beside me and not behind me, which may have been better for my calves!  Other shoppers thought she was a cute little shopper.  She didn't fuss and ask for anything, and was a great helper actually.  By the way, if you plan on Kroger shopping, Tuesday in the morning is a great time...Senior Citizen's Day...meaning all the other shoppers are usually going at the same pace as a mom with two kiddos, and they are joyed to see the girls and their smiles!

Lowe's was the next stop for a piece of glass for a frame.  It proved to be quite an interesting show for Maria to watch the worker cutting the glass.  She was full of questions and informed me that adults shouldn't use small ladders, they were meant for kids.  (There was a small step ladder in the glass-cutting area used to reach to the top of a large piece of glass.)  We looked for a couple other items they didn't have, which gave something for Maria to talk about to the cashier on our way out.

We had to go to JoAnn's next.  Anna was getting a bit sleepy by now so we opted for the stroller instead of the cart for a bit more comfortable ride.  I needed to get a few things and by the time we were finished sure enough she had dropped off to sleep.  Maria did get a bit ornery at one point by thinking that the aisles of fabric were a perfect place to practice skipping...off from mom especially.  At some point she found a penny and told me that she was going to pay for our things...if only a penny would stretch that far Maria...if only!  

After finishing there, we stopped in at Penny's, mainly because it was next door and I could let Anna sleep for a bit longer, and I wanted to look for a bathing suit for Maria in anticipation of warmer weather to come.  Anna did continue to sleep and Maria enjoyed "shopping" for her friends.  Basically she just grabs some clothes and carries it around until I tell her to put that piece back and then she gets something else.  

We were getting hungry at this point and headed to get some sandwiches to eat on the way home.  Maybe we are hitting the stage where errands aren't such a pain with both girls.  Both were well behaved, pleasant, and added joy to SO many other people as we encountered them throughout the day.  To top off the good morning, both girls napped simultaneously for 3 hours, yes, 3! 

Later that night we had the joy of seeing Maria make up her own game, complete with rules.  I took a video...look for it to be uploaded soon.   I hear a little girl waking up from a nap...so off I go.  Just wanted to share a bit of our day...as these days won't last forever, this stage of the girls life is short and fleeting.  

We have plenty to praise God for; no matter what type of day it turns out to be, God is there through it all.

9 months

It's amazing how much this child has changed in 9 months.  I guess we forgot that it happened with Maria too, but it did.
Anna is finally acting like she wants to move around more.  She sits up very well, with an occasional topple.  She will often lean way over to get something and end up in a crawl position.  She also rolls easily from back to front or front to back to get things.  She has masered scooting on her back.  I will lay her all the way at one end of her crib and she is usually at the opposite end in the corner by the time she has woken up.

She is a vocal little girl too.  Saying "uh-oh" is her newest "word", especially after she drops something on the floor.  If you tell her "clap your hands" she will, most of the time.  She still waves bye-bye, when she feels like it, not always when we are leaving or someone is going anywhere.

Have I told you already how much these two sisters love each other.  Anna can't get enough of Maria and just the other day Maria commented on how Anna was much more fun now that she is older.

We noticed another new tooth pop in a week or so ago.  It made her a bit cranky, but nothing intollerable.  And then yesterday, I spied more loose gums flapping her mouth, rather disgusting actually, but tooth number 4 just popped in...and no crankiness to warn us.

Overall Anna still sleeps, naps and eats well.  She is in a pretty good routine of napping around 10:30 and 2:00 during the day.  Bedtime is still 8, but lately she has been waking up early for a feeding.  So, I generally feed her and put her back down for a few hours till 8 when we normally all wake up.

She's starting to get much better at actually getting finger foods into her mouth, when she isn't smashing them in her hand.  She likes just about anything, but definately have some favorites...cheerios are high on the list.

She is certainly attached to mom and dad, as evidenced by the fact that it's hard for anyone other than us to be able to hold her without a pretty dramatic cry.  But we're fine with that as we know a time will come when she wants nothing to do with us for a while...oh say the teenage years perhaps.

Here are some 9 months photos to show of out little ham...she does like to flirt, especially at church, trying to steal the show from Daddy.  She does this head tilt and smile.

Hey up there!

Checking out the wall.

Definitely doesn't have the blue eyes that Daddy and Maria have...but not quite brown like Mom, more hazel like grandmas.

Looking toward the noise that she heard Daddy make.

Something sure was funny!

now look what you did

Maria's newest thing...she has been having her hands or feet talk to each other.  Like they are friends, one will say to the other, "you know I don't like that, please stop."  "No, don't put a sock on me."  But the best was her saying to one hand, "now look what you did, stop playing around, you made a mess"...hmmm, where has she heard that uttered before??

Bonjour Fancy Nancy

Our local library had a Fancy Nancy tea party again this year.

Can you tell Maria enjoyed eating the cookie that she decorated...gone in about 60 seconds.

Story time

She picked out most of her outfit all by herself.

Get a look at last year when she was still SO little!  How much they change in one year.

We have plenty to praise God for; our little girl still likes getting fancy and having a good time.  (My friend has a girl about 8 who said she was much too old to go to a Fancy Nancy party!)

Focus on Haiti

This is a great video featuring the work of a mission in Haiti. A good friend has done multiple medical mission trips to Ruuska village and her adopted daughter's baby sister, Bella, is in the video. Amazing work is being done, remember to keep praying, the people still need help.

Fat Tuesday...bring it on!

Yummy Fat Tuesday meal made totally by Daddy!  

Crepes with Chicken, Mushroom and Asparagus filling.

King Cake- typically a tiny baby jesus is baked into the cake and whoever finds it will have good luck...we opted no baked in Jesus!

It has a yummy cream cheese filling throughout.

By the looks of Maria, this won't be lasting long!

Before and after

We spent a week of vacation up at our lake house.  It was a working vacation as we still had things to accomplish around the house.  Some wallpaper scraping, painting, adding ceiling texture where it had been taken off under the kitchen overhang...other odds and ends.  We can finally say we are feeling like it's our home!  Next time we go we can actually enjoy all our time there without having to work too much.

I'll have more pictures later...I should have taken a few more, but we had napping girls!

let's go read books!

yes, we hear that quite often, much to our delight Maria is indeed a lover of books.  We do feel bad when she just wants book after book after book and we have to tell her no eventually.
Maria managed to get Aunt Therese to read every Pooh book we had at the lake house, luckily we only had a small selection of them.  At our Culver house it would have been a long story time!  Thanks Aunt Therese!

can you clap your hands?

Anna just learned to clap her hands, and she has been saying uh-oh for about a week now.  And she popped her third tooth through on the top.  Thank goodness, because she was a bit off schedule and cranky for a couple weeks.
Enjoy

Happy Valentine's Day

Look Alikes

So, I decided to put you to the test again.  See if you can figure out which is Anna and which is Maria...no cheating!  I'll let you know before the week is over.  And obviously 1 and 3 are the same girl and 2 and 4, in case you couldn't figure that part out! :)

By the way, there is a story to the "crazy sweater" as a girl called it at church this morning.  We received it as a gift from a church member back in DeMotte.  Unbeknownst to her it was from Ecuador, and I had served there for a year...what a strange coincidence!  Anyway, it is handmade and depicts animals and scenery from Ecuador.

bounce, bounce, bounce

We had a great time at Bremen Bounce for the play group.  Maria was off and running the moment we were in the door.  I had to retrieve her to get her shoes and coat off.  We were the last of our group to leave, and Maria still had tears from not wanting to leave, well, that and probably being tired.  Anna was awesome the whole time, thanks to a nap on the way up.  She fell asleep within about 2 minutes on the way back home.  Daddy went to Indy for the evening so the girls had pancakes for dinner, early bed for the girls and some quiet time alone in the house for mom.  It's off to bed for me now.
We have plenty to praise God for;

floor time

Just chillin on the kitchen floor!

reasons to celebrate

Happy One Year Birthday Easton! Last Thursday our nephew turned one.  How can a year have already gone by?  We spent time on Sunday celebrating his big day.

Maria was trying to keep Easton from stealing her sippy cup...

she wasn't succeeding at it, but after all it was his cup she borrowed!

The birthday boy had fun with his new toys.  (Boy I wish I had a good picture of my brother, his dad, at this age so you could see how similar they look, especially that big lip sticking out!)

He enjoyed watching Maria blow the horn in celebration.

He already destroyed at least one horn earlier.

We have plenty to praise God for; Easton's first year of life!

lovin' on daddy

bye, bye

Anna's new trick!



We have plenty to praise God for; the ability to learn new things, even as an adult, His grace gives us room to grow.

8 Months

She sure is growing quickly.  When our nephew turned one on Thursday(Happy Birthday Easton!) I realized that Anna was just 4 months away from her own 1st birthday.

She can finally sit, by herself, for quite a while.  Watch out what's behind her though, she still takes a dive every once in a while.  We put away the swing and the bouncy seat as she was a bit too mobile for them.  One time she ended up trying to catapult herself over the side of the bouncy seat, and the swing had dead batteries, she never really cared for the thing anyway.  She doesn't care to be on her stomach, and usually rolls quickly to her back, and if we put her down on her back she will often roll over to her belly to get something and then flip onto her back again.  I imagine we don't have to worry about her walking too early, fine with me, especially since this house has stairs, something we never had to worry about with Maria.

Anna still makes Dada sounds, but has added whistling, raspberry blowing and lip smacking to her repertoire. The whistling is pretty funny, and she is so serious when she is trying to make noises.

We have moved her on to small bits of finger food.  She can pick them up but has yet to master getting them into her mouth.  She has made a sign that looks like milk several times and often will attempt to clap when you say "Yeah".  Just today I thought I saw her wave bye-bye to me when I was waving at her from the next room.

Still a great sleeper and takes two nice naps a day also.  We can't complain too much about anything, as she is a very happy little girl.  We do think she is working on some more teeth, but I think I said that last month and alas they haven't made an appearance yet.

What about big sister?  What is she up to these days.  Maria is all about imaginative play.  She LOVES to take care of her babies.  Feeding them, putting them to bed, changing messy diapers, complete with a "ew, it's a messy one".  I imagine she says a lot of the things she does to her babies because she hears us talking to Anna.

She is an amazing big sister.  I have never worried about her doing something hurtful to Anna, so I can leave the room and not panic that she is alone with Anna.  She adores Anna as much as Anna adores her.  She hugs and kisses on her, and has to give her a blessing before bedtime.

She also like to imagine her "friends" are coming on outings with us, or eating at the table with us.  She is adamant that they are there...case in point, we were ready to leave church last Sunday and larry turned and pulled his office door closed.  Maria suddenly broke into a loud, intense cry that her "friends were still in the office."  She was VERY SERIOUS too.  I tried to tell her that they had come out and were waiting in the hall beside us, but nope, Daddy had to open the door and she corralled them out with us.  And if you respond to her talking by mistake when she is actually talking to her friends, then you will most likely hear, "No, I am talking to my friends, silly".  She likes to say silly.

Maria is also pretty much 100% day trained, but still wears a diaper for naps and bedtime.  She used to have dry nap diapers every once in a while, but recently that hasn't been happening.  She is working hard on being independent about using the bathroom, but snaps and zippers sometimes make that a bit more difficult.

She is learning her letters and sounds.  I would guess that she knows over 90% of the letters by sight and we have been working on the sounds lately.  She is a energetic reader, getting stacks of books for us to read to her.  It breaks our hearts to have to tell her that we can't read all of them each time....especially at nap or bedtime.  It seems that she gets fixated on certain stories of characters too.  At night the story of choice that she listens too most often lately is Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  I am just glad that she is listening to it, and I don't have to read it each night!

Most days she is a well behaved, happy girl, with the occasional 2 year old streak.  She does like to have a say in things, and be independent.  So we have to think in advance of how to avoid conflicts we know will happen.  It's rare to have several time outs in a week, so we consider ourselves pretty fortunate and wonder what the three's will bring.

We have PLENTY to praise God for; out two beautiful, wonderful daughters that bring joy to each day.

Keep praying

When I served in Quito, Ecuador back in 2001-2, I got to know many missionaries who still serve around the world.  I got an email forward from one of them who is good friends with a doctor who has gone with a medical mission team from HCJB to Haiti.  It always makes more of an impact with me when I have some connection to events happening.  So thought I would share what he has to say about what is happening there.  I also have a friend with two adopted children from Haiti.  These children still have family members living there and last I knew they were still awaiting news of their condition.  
Continue to pray for those responding to the call to help, those who are injured, displaced, and suffering in any way.  Pray that aid gets to those who need is most quickly.  Give if you can, we recommend UMCOR, because of our Methodist connection and the fact that 100% of what you donate goes directly to the cause, as administration fees are covered by other means.  


Hello all,
We are running out of diesel and instruments and clean sheets so I'll
take advantage of at least a partial slowdown to fill you in.

Arrived friday morning to Haiti airport aboard a luxurious Leer jet ...
flight donated apparently by the owner for relief.

Arrived at Mission friday around three o'clock ... brief
greeting and prayer from the exhausted folks who were manning the guns
until we arrived and then waded into the foray ... with hundreds of
people in the corredors since the beds were long ago full and most of
whom needed urgent surgery.  In spite of a two ortho guys and an
anesthesiologist there are so many other limiting factors for how much
surgery you can do ... but managed to get about ten cases in before
quitting at midnight.  Unfortnately the fastest ones are often the most
urgent ... amputations.  Six hours sleep and yesterday had a full day
and did about 15 surgeries.  Us non surgical types were out on the
floors trying to triage which cases were most likely to get complicated
if left longer ... Sepsis, infected compound fracturs and little kids
made up our priority list.   15 cases on saturday ... still finishing
after midnight ..more complicated cases that second day.

Now ... everything is short ... diesel for the electric plant to keep
the OR going, cast material, surgical supplies for "fixing" fractures,
food water .... everything except patients who continue to come in ...
changing the surgery list for the day as more advanced cases come in.
But ... praise the Lord ... people are trickling out too which is sort
of a miracle in itself.  I have asked almost all my patients that look
like they could go home soon ... do you have a home to return to ...
100% "no" so far.  Some have relatives who lived higher up in the hills
... but many of of the ones who could go home would eventually need
surgery and getting back and forth would be so hard.

Yesterday's hardest moment was being called to take a picture of a
little girl who looked to be 10 years old.  She had just died ... we
didn't even know she was in the hospital.  I suppose the docs who were
here before us knew she wouldn't make it so put us to work on the ones
who could.  The lady who translated for me ... whispered into my ear ...
"this is the sixth of their nine children who has died from this
earthquake.  They just want a picture" ... (Well figure out how to get
it to them).  Heartache and tragedy are soooo relative.

Last night's last patient to be seen by Dr. Nelson ... a two year old
with a large wound to her left leg and complete fragmented bones ...
tibia and fibula ... and lots of infection in wound.  Mark wasn't sure
what he would find so decided to clean the wound under an anesthesia
called Ketalar which leaves kids looking like they are sort of awake but
not feeling anything.  Cleaning the wound and finding such an important
injury put her first on the schedule today ... she will be next in when
the "lights go on".  Then we all heard her start singing ... first in
sort of a low voice and later stronger ... and it seemed happier!!  It
was in creole so of course none of useless Spanish and English speakers
could know what she was saying ... but a translator brightened up nearby
and said she is singing "I am saved, I am saved, I am saved ......"

Please pray about all this but unless you have something that HAS to
come back ... don't answer please ... just pray.  The system here when
it works is slow and downloading lots of encouraging remarks ... although
it would be a blessing,  would slow things down further.  I know you all
... thanks ahead of time for even unspoken support.  Everybody loves to
be prayed for and that's sure true of the Haitians.  (I just now heard
the plant go on .. back to work)

Love, Steve
Please pray for all