Recent Updates

With all this gorgeous weather, it's been hard to find time or desire to be on the computer so I find myself falling further behind and posting less frequently. I'm sorry....I do promise to keep up with the blogging and keep you up to date with our lives and our goings on and everything Korea (and more) than you'd ever want to know. 

Besides the weather being too good to be true, we've been really busy.  Since Christmas Steve has said "we are just in a busy season, it should slow down soon."  Um, yeah, that was like 4 months ago....we're probably busier now.  But at least Caleb and I are also busy (for a while there Steve was the only busy one and we were stuck inside in the cold yucky weather, with nothing to do and no place to go - ha!).  So life is improving =)  I'm sure the extra sunshine helps as well.

Steve has been busy with the youth, busy dreaming about life on life ministry and what that looks like and what he wants it to look like here at SCBC, he has been busy mentoring some of the youth one-on-one, busy working some odd jobs teaching English on the side and substitute teaching at a local school he is trying to make connections with, he has been busy figuring out how to "do" life in Korea (it's amazing the energy that goes into simple things like figuring out all your bills and what they are for, banking, finding stores to buy things you need, learning to drive, calling someone to fix your broken fridge, etc etc etc).  He has also been busy working towards starting his first class at seminary!  This month he hopes to start his first online course through RTS, which is exciting (because it is a huge dream of his and I think he will really enjoy it and learn a lot) but also not exciting because it means one more thing to do and one more thing added to his already busy schedule.  But all in all, I do have to say (again, in my not-so-humble-and-highly-biased wifey opinion) that he is doing a great job in all areas of his life (ministry and family).  I'm proud of him and it has been fun to see him loving what he is doing.

Caleb has been busy learning, learning and learning!  This age has got to be one of the best.  It is so incredible to watch him learn and figure things out and so fun to watch him just giggle and clap and run through his days.  I can't believe what an abudant amount of JOY he has and it makes me want to do everything possible to preserve such a precious spirit and temperament.  He just loves life and loves people and enjoys almost every turn.  He wakes up jumping and laughing in his crib (most mornings) and calling for us (mama!! dada!!), greeting us with a smile and running out of his room (many mornings clapping or singing his "ooo, ooo ooo!" song). 

He still doesn't have much of an appetite for real food or a desire to eat much at all (which can get frustrating and worrisome).  Some days he does better than others.  It seems to be two steps forward, one step back.  Some weeks he will eat some and then the next week hardly eat a thing.  This week has been a little better and he is enjoying scrambled eggs, almonds (ground up, not whole), apples and sweet potatoes a lot.  A friend of mine gave me the hint that molasses contains a large amount of calcium and iron so I've been drizzling that on his sweet potatoes with coconut oil and cinnamon and he has really seemed to enjoy that.  At this point we've decided not to do cow's milk with him but even if we wanted to, he probably wouldn't drink it...he won't touch his sippy cup for anything! 

Everyday I feel like he surprises me with something new that he does or tries to say.  He has a growing vocabulary and then there are many times that he will repeat what we say but only gets the first half of the world or first few sounds (and doesn't finish it)....like "please" he says "p p p!!!" and he says it when he wants something or is asking for something or wants more.  He likes to say something that sounds like "tuhdle" (kind of like "turtle") but we have no idea what it means. He says it a lot...we think it might be his word that he says when he isn't sure what the right word is.  He also started saying "yeah! yeah!" really enthusiastically last week and when we ask him to say something that he doesn't know (or doesn't want to say), he says "yeah! yeah!" instead.  Like when we say "Caleb, say thank you."  He responds "yeah! yeah!" (He can't say thank you yet, we're working on it!)  But he does use that for "yes" as well.  He either says "yeah! yeah!" or "No! No!" when you ask him something. 

He continues to LOVE to be read to (he will sit on your lap and read book after book after book) and he also enjoys "reading them" himself (aka turning the pages and looking at pictures and babbling).  Some of his favorites right now are "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar" (thank you Oma and Opa), Noah's Ark book (thank you Auntie Renee!)  and "Brown bear, Brown bear" (thank you Aunt Sandee).  And he recently really started enjoying puzzles (thank you Grandma/Grandpa Houser and Audrey, Luke and Natalie for the puzzles you gave him this Christmas!).  As I posted earlier, he has turned into quite the sleeper this past week (maybe it's a growth spurt?)....He has popped through 3 of his 4 molars (the 4th is close to through) and has 14 teeth total!  He loves to blow kisses, give hugs, give high fives, have people over, go bye bye, be in the ergo, sit on daddy's shoulders and run outside.   I love him so much it hurts sometimes.

And I've been busy with a number of things.  I have several "pending" sewing projects I never seem to have time to get to, I just finished the book "Made to Crave" which was really good and am now reading "One Thousand Gifts" (AMAZING).  I have made some friends and continue to work on building relationships here (sadly, two good friends are leaving soon....Ashley and her sweet girls in 3 weeks and Elisa and her son Eric in 2 months)...it will be really hard to say good bye to them.  They have meant so much to me already in this short time AND they are my go-to adventure girls who are always up for some fun (or thinking up something fun)!  My life might look a little quieter once they leave (ha!).  I've also been really enjoying some of the other women (including having Gail and Laurie home full time now with their babies  Isaac and Emma), enjoying playdates with Renee and Corrie (and their kiddos), I'm in a Bible study on Thursday mornings studying Proverbs, we have small group Tuesday  nights that we host and cook dinner for each week (although with 6 families we might have to re-evaluate doing that weekly....although we love it, it gets expensive!!  maybe once a month would be more realistic on the budget?), I try to go for daily walks with Caleb, have been shopping in the market more and more, and continue to try to figure out cooking here in Korea, where to get the best deals on food, how to get around and how to keep our floors clean for longer than 3 hours.  Every day is an adventure, that is for sure.

For several months I have thought about posting a schedule for you to see what a "typcial" week looks like for us but I keep putting it off until our "normal" emerges and I think I'm realizing we just don't really have a "normal" or a "typcial."  In some ways that is fun and flexible (especially for my Mr. Spontaneous Husband) and in other ways it is hard (especially for a Planner like myself).  I'm getting more used to it and I can definitely see the positives/pro's to it, but it has been (and continues to be) an adjustment (although it does seem to be getting easier).

On a more exciting note, there is a very good chance Caleb and I (and possibly Steve!!) will be visiting the States this summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I couldn't be more excited! Although I'm trying not to get too excited just yet, it's hard not to.  I miss so many of you and it would be SO MUCH FUN to see some of you (and your sweet babies!) in July.  We have some friends who might be able to help us get some cheap tickets....I'll keep you updated but if you live in MN (or the upper midwest for that matter), try to keep some July dates open.  More details soon (I hope).