Last Weekend of Summer

OK, this post has been long in coming due to techincal difficulties. Last weekend was the Lawsons' last weekend of summer because Kevin officially went back to work full-time. What did we do to honor such special family time?

Went swimming....
Jake really loved the pool this trip; he played around much more than he has on previous trips. He was also brave enough to wade in the water up to his chin and he did NOT want help from Mommy or Daddy, so he just had to deal with us always being right by. It's too hard to get action shots without compromising the safety of the camera, so these are his chillin' shots...

Enjoyed a special Saturday breakfast of cinnamon rolls. I guess there's no other way to eat them but to stuff your face...

He was not happy with the picture taking (maybe he was embarrassed of his bed head;-)), but I had to capture his icing-covered mouth...

Mowed the yard (with Daddy's help, of course)...

Doesn't it look beautiful?
Had a blast at our church's "Serve & Slide" Saturday evening. The event was a time to get extra hands to pack school supplies and backpacks for a needy community, then head out to some food and fun. Jake was a little too small for most activities, but we managed to try out the slide before it was too dominated by the big kids. It was a process. First, I had to help him up the steps. Once we got to the top, I then coached him to slide down beside me (we're the little specks at the top)...

Then in my coaching, I got a little too close to the incline and started sliding myself. By this point, I was definitely trying to urge Jake along, but unfortunately, I went down without him...

Luckily, there was a nice boy also at the top with Jake who continued the coaching, then with just a slight push (approved by Mommy, of course), Jake finally journeyed down...

And finally, tried on what Daddy would wear for his first day of school! No, not really, just wanted to add in this cute shot...

For memory's sake

I thought of a few more things I don't want to forget down the road, so bear with me.

* Jake's closet has a sliding door, and he loves to play with it. He'll go inside the closet, shut the door, wait a few seconds, then open it up....a version of peek-a-boo. He also sometimes requests for one of us to come in the closet with him.
*Although Jake is learning many new English words (he said 'thank you' for the first time yesterday), he continues to speak in a language we like to call 'Jake-ese.' He talks and talks, but you have no idea what he's saying. What makes it especially funny is that it truly seems like he's trying to have a conversation and he's waiting for you to respond. I really believe there are full out sentences just waiting to pop out anytime
*When Jake runs, he only swings his right arm; his left one stays close to his body. Kind of weird, I know, but also kind of cute.
*Overall, I'd say he's a good eater. He LOVES fruits and we always have several kinds of fruit on hand. His favorites right now are watermelon and grapes. He also really likes oranges, cantaloupe, bananas, apples, and blueberries. He's not as open to veggies, but his favorites are avocado and green beans. He also LOVES milk. He much prefers milk to water, which are pretty much the only two things we offer him.
*He went through a stage during June and July when bathtimes were unpredictable. Sometimes he HATED it and refused to sit down, which made bathtime hated by all. Luckily, he seems past that stage and all is good and fun in the tub.
*After the last post of Jake's favorite things, we decided to cut down on his TV watching, so now he only watches about 30 minutes per day. I have to say, it's probably more challening on us than him.....that's a lot of time to keep a little boy fully entertained!

Things I want to remember

Jake is doing and learning so many things these days. I'm definitely worried about forgetting some of the sweet and wonderful things about him. Luckily, this blog will have a better memory than me. Here are some of the things I hope to remember:

*He's learning more and more words. Some of the latest words I like the best are: plessse (please), eyes, ears, toes, Skylar (I have no idea how to spell the way he says it, but he does say it), drop (a command for Skylar), tee-tee, poo-poo, potty, shoes, Blambey (the name of his lovie) and "2, 3, go!"

*His "2, 3, go!" expression is especially cute. For some reason, he never says the #1, but he says this expression a lot. He uses it when he plays with his cars before pushing them off, when he plays running games, and sometimes just to keep us on our toes.

* When someone is sitting down and he wants you to get up for whatever reason, he grabs your hand and pulls. If you don't get up immediately, he pulls and adds a grunting noise. If you still don't get up, he'll say "plessse," which is irresistable.

* He's a good helper around the house and has started doing some very basic "chores" to help out. One is feeding Skylar. Kevin or I will fill Skylar's cup with food, hand it to Jake, then Jake carries it to her bowl to dump it out. He then takes the empty cup back to its bin. This definitely can be a bit messy depending on his aim, but luckily Skylar's good at eating everything to the last drop.

*He's very good at cleaning up toys when asked. I am very grateful for this.

*He is also responsible for putting back his milk/water cup back in the fridge. He'll wait at the fridge for us to open it up (he can't open it on his own, and I'm thankful) and he'll put his cups in their designated spots.

*He can make several animal sounds including the sounds of a monkey, snake, beaver, horse, cat, lion, bear, elephant, wolf, and owl. (His horse noise is my favorite)

*When asked what sound a doggie makes, he replies, "Doggie!"

*He can make all the animal movements from the book, "From Head to Toe." I'm pretty sure he has them memorized b/c he will sometimes start the motion before you finish the complete sentence. Our favorite motions are raising his shoulders as a buffalo and bending over to arch his back as a cat.

*He's gotten much more brave about water and sprinklers. At the beginning of the summer, he would not get his face wet and would not run through them. Now, he seems to love it.

*On a slightly more serious note, we've been doing time-outs with him for the last couple months. He probably gets time-out 2-4 times per week. His "spot" is the front entry mat at the door. He does great sitting there a full minute, and we always end by saying I love you and he gives us a hug to say, I'm sorry. We do our time-outs "Super Nanny" style, and it seems to be working well so far.

* We sometimes play a running game where we run back and forth from the front to back door, with the mats as our "base." He often starts in the position a track runner would; bent over with one hand on the ground.

* He's liked shoes for a long time, and this fetish is not slowing down. He LOVES to put on either Kevin's or my shoes. He also will "ask" for us to put on his own shoes even if we're just playing around the house. At least once everyday, we can find him in our shoes. Here's the pics to prove it. I promise they were not set up...

*He loves playing with new things. Some of the new things include Daddy's tools (at least the ones he can reach). He especially loves wrenches. They are on a lower shelf in the garage and he often grabs a couple to hold or possibly dig around with. Here he is discovering a tape measure...
*He's learned and loves to play "Ring Around the Rosie" and "Motorboat," which is similar to RAtR.
*He loves to play "Jake baseball." Jake baseball means he pitches to the batter (usually Daddy). Once the ball is hit, Jake picks it up, then runs to tag the batter before he reaches home. The first ever pitcher/outfielder combo!

*He's started doing some imaginary play. This first started with him "taking" the green eggs and ham from the book and feeding Kevin. When we talk about eating things, he really likes to pretend eating and feeding.
*He has become VERY opinionated about the books we read. If he doesn't want to read a book, he will slam it closed and lean over the chair to find another. His favorite books right now are "Happy Baby Things that Go," "Green Eggs and Ham," and "Where the Wild Things Are."
*Sometimes, he does something, and I think, "What in the world are you doing?" The following picture is an example of one of those moments... *Finally, he's mostly a super silly, happy boy who's full of smiles and laughter. A day doesn't go by when I don't look at him and thank God for giving us such a wonderful blessing.
What a big smile!

19 months

This week marked 19 months. Just pictures for now, but I'll find some time soon to add the latest in Jake's world... He's gettting so big we had to get him some new shoes ;-)

Back to Life

I'm thankful to now be home adjusting back into the regular routine. I missed my boys so much; things just don't feel quite right when the three of us are apart. Luckily, they had some help from Nana while I was gone and I know they were both grateful. I got back home Sunday from Peru, just in time to celebrate my 31st birthday on Monday. My parents came in for the occassion, and treated me to a great steak dinner. After dinner, Kevin surprised me with a Diary Queen ice cream cake! It was delicious...One of the days my parents were here, we headed to The Domain to do some window shopping and to enjoy the cooler weather the rain blew in. Jake had fun running around one area where there were some cool metal figures. The ground in this area is spongy and he was running around saying, "jumpy, jumpy, jumpy."

Had to pose in front of the pretty fountain...
Jake continues to be a Papa's boy. He followed my dad everywhere, and even cried when he left the room to go to the bathroom. It's super sweet to see their relationship; he truly wants to be everywhere Papa is. Here's Jake wearing Papa's hat...

Thanks Grandmama and Papa for spoiling us with lots of love, attention, and yummy food! We had a great week!

The trip God planned

Kevin and I both had the opportunity to spend Spring Break serving at an orphanage outside Lima, Peru. It was an incredible experience for both of us, and especially me because I've always wanted the opportunity to serve at an orphanage in some way. Shortly after returning home, God worked incredibly in our lives and allowed the opportunity for me to return to the orphanage in the summer. I won't go into details on the blog, but I will be happy to share my story with anyone who asks, because I believe it's something truly only God could have orchestrated. I just returned from my trip, and again it was such a blessing to spend a week with these precious children.

This blog is usually dedicated to Jake, but I'd like to take the opportunity to share some of my trip with you. If you take just one thing from these photos, please know we are ALL God's children. No matter what our situation or cirucumstance God loves us and desperately wants a relationship with us. During the week, each American was matched with a casa, a certain age of boys or girls. I was matched with 15-18 year old girls who lived in Maria Elena casa. Here's some pictures of the beautiful girls...

Within your casa group, each American was matched with a group of kids called our "buddy group." Each day we spent a special 30-45 minutes with just our buddy group. This time was designed to strengthen relationships with the kids and allow for a greater opportunity to make one-on-one connections. Here I am with my buddy group, which my kids named "Wolfman and the 7 Princesses."
Why is there a wolfman in the girls' casa? The little boy (8), Lenin, and girl, Karol (10), in the front are brother/sister. We were told they have only lived in La Comunidad for a couple months, and had a very difficult time adjusting to their new home. After lots of tears and a few attempts to runaway, they were both put with the older girls as a way to help their adjustment and to have more hands, eyes, and hearts looking after them. From what I could tell by the older girls' interactions with these two, as well as their behavior, the arrangement has made a tremendous impact on everyone. It was great to see the girls looking after these two and seeing them participate alongside each other all week. It was true representation of "family." Each day during buddy time, we had an activity to help us have fun and grow closer to one another. One day, we played a teamwork game using pvc pipe and a marble. Here's my group working on the activity...
Every morning started with singing and fellowship as a large group, then we split into casa groups for Bible stories and VBS time. Maria Elena casa learned about different women of the Bible. For each Bible story, we had a theme (Miriam-loyalty; Deborah-leadership; Rahab-courage; Ruth & Naomi-friendship; Dorcas-kindness), games, crafts and activities to reinforce the theme and story. Each child was also given their own journal with the themes and Bible verses for the week. Here is Lenin with his journal and his picture of Rahab's house with the red cord hanging from the window...
Here's a group showing off the friendship collage they made after learning about Ruth and Naomi...Each afternoon brought a different opportunity for more fun, games, and relationship building. One afternoon, we had various relay races for the kids. I helped run a balloon relay for the older kids. One thing I really cherished about my time there is depicted in the following photos. It was really a blessing to see the joy and laughter such simple games brought to these kids...

Even 16-18 year-old boys were running with arms wrapped around each other, laughing and smiling. It was a beautiful sight...

Another afternoon was spent having organized "free time" in the casas. One of my teammates, Elizabeth taught the girls the "Thriller" dance. They LOVE Michael Jackson, and they LOVED learning the dance...Another afternoon activity was a scavenger hunt where the kids were led by clues all over the orphanage to paricipate in lots of fun activities. After the scavenger hunt, each child was given one of these big "balloons." They were so much fun, and it was awesome to see the entire basketball court filled with these huge, colorful balloons. Here's some of our girls, spelling out "M. E." for Maria Elena...

Here's a big group shot of Maria Elena and all my teammates for the week...

Here I am with a couple of my teammates, Elizabeth and Dearing, as we were touring the casas on the first day. I had a great team of wonderful women who all worked really well together. Everyone put their whole hearts into the week, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have spent the week working closely with such amazing women. Thank you, Dearing, Elizabeth, Jacky, Jenny, Katina, and Sue for your energy and love...

The final afternoon was a talent show and party. The talents were super cute; especially the little ones. Since I spent most of my time with the older girls, I have very few pictures of the little kids, but trust me, they are precious. One of the little boy casas told the story of Noah, which they learned during the week. Look how cute they are...There's always some that just "get you." Something about them grab hold of your heart and just won't let go. For me, there's a few of those living in La Comunidad, and I will always hold them close to my heart. There are three girls in particular I met in March and was so happy to see again. One of them is Marleny, pictured below. Marleny is a special girl, and I was initially very sad to not be matched with her casa, but God knows better than me. He allowed me to stay connected with her, while also connecting me to many other sweet girls.

On the last day, Marleny came to me and told me she made something for me. She handed me the scarf you see in the next photo. Initially, I responded, "No, you should keep it, I know you worked hard on it and you should wear it." (She had made the scarf in a class offered the afternoon before). She told me to look, and when I did, I saw the scarf said my name, "Kellie" on one end, then the shape of a monkey on the other. She told me, "I made this for you with your name and your favorite animal." My tears came immediately. It was so beautiful and obviously made with love. Isn't it interesting that the things that usually mean most to us aren't things that come with high price tags? The best gifts we can give and receive really are those that can't be bought at all, but rather given through love: patience, understanding, acceptance, compassion, friendship, kindness. You can't find expensive things anywhere on the property of La Comunidad, but these other gifts are flowing abundantly, and I'm thankful I had the opportunity to share in them.

No matter what, it's hard to leave. No matter what, it's hard to say good-bye to this place that now means so much to me. Fortunately, I can trust that God loves these kids and this place even more than me and He has a plan for them, no matter what!

A little catch up

There's lots to catch up on, but it's best to start from the beginning. Two weeks ago, we had a wonderful visit from Kevin's aunts, grandmother, and a couple second cousins. It was very special because this was the first time any of this family has come to visit. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the adults, but I somehow managed to get some pics of the kids...no big surprise here. Gavin and Jake stole the show with their fancy drumming and guitar skills...Although, it's our hope for Jake to one day have a little brother or sister, I'm convinced what he really wants is a big brother or sister. He loves being around older kids, and this visit was no exception. He had so much fun with Gavin. They enjoyed being silly on his Mickey Mouse pull out seat...

Gavin's little brother Caleb didn't want to miss out on the fun, so the boys let him join in a little too...

Lastly, here I am stealing some baby time. Caleb is a very, very good baby. He is so laid back and easy going...