I haven't really written much in a while so I want to jot down a few things that have been going on here.
Micaiah is finally walking. I find it funny that people comment on how it must be nice to have him crawling for so long (meaning because he can't get into as much as we would if he were walking). After having two kids who have walked late (Orin didn't walk until 15 months) I can say that there is not much difference. After crawling for over 6 months these kids are FAST. Micaiah can definitely crawl away much faster than he can walk! As far as getting into things, Micaiah has been able to easily go up and down stairs for months and can climb onto things I never would have thought he could. So in actuality unless your kid is just stationary at 16 months, I don' think there is much of a difference in them waiting.
We were really blessed on Sunday to receive a call from a Shepherd Group at our church (some churches call them community groups, or fellowship groups, etc...) saying that they have "adopted" us as their missionaries. Our church encourages our groups to adopt a missionary to pray for on a regular basis and financially support if possible. I'm still surprised when things like this happen. You would think by now that with all of the amazing things God has done over the past year in regards to prayer and financial support that we wouldn't be surprised anymore. But Damien's first thought (which is often his first thought) was "why us?" I still get in the "wow" stage for while. I guess it's good to still be shocked by things like this - I would never want to get to the point where I feel like we deserve it or not appreciate it. But in the same sense, I know that all we need is faith that God will provide what we need - why am I so shocked when God does what he promised to do. We were able to share at their group last night (Wednesday). The people where really welcoming which always makes it easier to share your heart with strangers. We're not sure the extent of financial support right now (if any) but we know they will be praying for us weekly which is even better.
Since New Years Eve Orin has been obsessed with "fireworks". Last July 4th we found out that Orin is VERY frightened of fireworks. This came as a complete surprise to us since he had never been scared of anything before. When New Years Even rolled around we were curious to see if he would still be scared. If anything it was worse. What made it even worse was that one of Mimie's neighbors seemed to be throwing a major party with some incredible (and very loud) fireworks. The poor guy couldn't sleep with all the noise and would freak out if we opened the door to walk outside. Since that night, he has mentioned fireworks every day (literally). At first, every time we walked outside at night he'd say "There's no fireworks," - I guess to remind himself that fact. Even now he'll do that, but he's also begun pretending there are fireworks in the house. He'll lay on the bed, and look at the ceiling and say "Look at all of the fireworks." A couple of nights ago we all must have laid there for 30 minutes and counted the imaginary fireworks as they shot into the sky (noises and all thanks to daddy). We recently watched a video of fireworks on a friends blog and Orin was very interested in them. I'm very curious to find out what happens when July rolls around.
Micaiah is doing so much better with his separation anxiety. Looking back at his 1st year calendar it started around 9 months. I can't believe it has lasted this long. It seemed to peak from about 12-14 months. He still often gives out a couple of cries as we pull into the church parking lot or the gym parking lot (the only two places he is away from me). And even though he cries about 95% of the time when I leave, he stops in about 30 seconds. It is so nice not to have to be concerned the entire service (or workout) that I will be called because my poor baby has been screaming hysterically for 20 minutes. He is down to nursing only 1-2 times/day and I have a feeling when he finally lets that go he will be more apt to being away from me. On a side note, I find it incredibly amusing that Micaiah seems to think that I am his - and his alone. I can't cuddle with Damien or hold Orin without him getting jealous, coming up to me and trying to get me to hold him.
We're still at 70% of our needed financial support. Actually, we've had a few people begin to support us but we don't know the amount yet (we only get statements monthly) so I think we're a little above that. It's been very interesting to see how it all happens in spurts. I'll start to get a little concerned that we've hit a plateau and God will do something to completely knock me off of my feat.
We had more sickness this week. This and last winter have seemed to be stocked full of it. Damien stayed home on Wednesday with cold/flu yuckiness. Working hard Thursday and Friday ensured that he hasn't gotten better. Orin has been having a hard time sleeping because of a pretty bad cough and I think I may be going for a world record for the number of times I wiped Micaiah's nose in a day. I think poor Micaiah has a sore throat has well because he often has his hand stuck way into his mouth and I often hear him making some pretty strange noises. I was sorry to miss church tonight because I don't want the kids to spread it around. Since I seem to always be the healthy one I'm sort of looking forward to my next illness so I can be taken care of. :-)
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This past "semester" Orin and I (along with Micaiah) took a "Preschool Picasso" class at the local rec center. Once great thing about this area is that there are so many activities that are offered through the county - at a very reasonable price. It was hard to choose which one to do so we decided on an art class. Orin loves music and we thought about doing one of those, but we listen to music constantly at home so I thought we should expose him to something new. I've been pretty bad about the "crafting" with him. I would love to do it but it's just not really possible in our current living situation. Plus we don't have any room to store art supplies. So I figured a class would do the trick. The class was for 2's & 3's but they were gracious to let me tote Micaiah along. He was great and as long as I had plenty of snacks he would just sit in his stroller and eat during the 45 minute class (my secret was to not feed him breakfast so he'd be nice and hungry!). Orin really loved it. The teacher was nice and fun and creative with her activities. We painted, glued and used glitter which Orin called "sprinkles" (his favorite part). We're looking forward to taking some other class next term.
