Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Thanksgiving and settling in!

We were happy to celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving together as a family and with new friends! What a blessing to have a beautiful house that is becoming more and more of a home for us, a loving family to fill it, work that is SO fulfilling, health, and the chance to live life surrounded by beautiful people that God has created and having the opportunity to serve Him by serving them. We are truly blessed, and this thanksgiving season was a special time to reflect on that! 

Here is our little family, enjoying our first celebration in our new home: Thanksgiving! 
So appropriate. So reflective of our hearts at this time. So meaningful.

  

You'd think he's excited to dig into that apple pie, or something!!

We also had the opportunity to attend TWO additional Thanksgiving dinners as guests! For us it was a real treat to just be on the guest list! Usually in Shanghai WE were the ones to cook and host big thanksgiving dinners in our home, so from a cooking and coordinating perspective, this was fabulous! It did make us miss our friends in Shanghai, though, as well as our family in Ontario who were celebrating without us. We're amazed at the friendly people we've met here and their welcoming spirit. I know we will have some special friends here soon!







We were happy to discover a children's play area a few levels above our supermarket! Surrounded by a Cambodian Food Court with children's activities all in the center, parents can eat and keep an eye on their kids as they play! Wes isn't quite at that stage where we're ready to let him just take off by himself, but he's already in the middle of all the kids, playing, making friends, fighting over his space in the bouncy castle, etc. haha, he's so much fun!! 

Here he is, trying out some of the rides that are available for kids to zoom around in. He had more fun just sitting in them and pretending he was zooming around, than he did when we actually let him drive one! His attention span is too short...he always wanted to jump in and out of the cars, even when the one we got him was going! Such an active baby! Grocery shopping was never so much fun! ;)






We're still getting things set up in our house, but one of our newest additions is Wes' cool green chair! As soon as it was delivered, he climbed up into it and acted like he was the king of the castle! It's "his" chair and he likes to read stories in it with me, play with his monkey, or just sit and chill. So cute! I'm hoping to find curtains for his room soon...we've just got cardboard propped up to keep the light out. There's still time!  He doesn't seem to mind. :)




Wes and I like to visit Joe at the Bible School sometimes! We've already joined the students for lunch, and we're hoping to attend their chapel services sometime soon!




Our little sweetheart, just turned 17 months old, sporting his cool rain coat and rubber boots! He loves them and sometimes wears his rubber boots around the house just for fun! He's such a fun kid! :)

Here are a couple of clips of Wes eating and talking. It's easiest to record him when he's strapped into his chair! Otherwise he always goes after the camera and the "moment" is gone! haha
He is always surprising us with new words and things he does. His latest thing is putting something on his head (a cup, his monkey, anything!) and saying "hat! hat!" and then doing a fake sneeze and having his "hat" fall down with a crash! We all crack up when he does that, which of course makes him want to do it more!



One day we went out furniture shopping after a rain storm. We needed to get our desks, bookshelves, and a dresser for Wes. We were amazed to see how quickly water accumulated in the streets!




This was us in the back of the tuk-tuk trying to stay dry! ;)

Here is Wes playing in the puddles after the rain stopped! He loved it and cried when I took him out!



This past weekend marked a Cambodia holiday where people all returned to their home province to be with family. The result was many people leaving town, stores and restaurants closed, quiet streets, and thus not nearly as many kids for Wes to play with!
Wes clearly knew what was going on and climbed into the van that our neighbors were packing up to leave in! They'd be gone for 5 days, so I obviously didn't want Wes to go, but every time I tried to take him out of the van he screamed and cried, and tried to get back in! I guess road trips are in his blood! haha



One of Wes' favorite past times is helping mommy wash the dishes!


This little bike is too big for him, and he needs help. However, he loves to borrow other kids' tricycles! We were actually about to buy him his own...but then, well, more info about that later. 
Pictured here is our new house-girl, Kim! She's now been working for us for about a week. Wes is still adjusting to her, but she's finding ways to win him over. She is an amazing cook, keeps our floors sparkling clean, and even speaks English! I wasn't expecting a translator when I asked the Lord to provide the right person to  bring into our home! She's more than we expected! It'll take a bit of time before Wes is comfortable enough with her that we'll leave them alone together so Joe and I can slip away for a lunch date, but we'll work on it!


Wes loves watching Veggie Tales and Elmo with Daddy!

My boys! I love these guys... <3>

Wes and Daddy playing at the park!








Swing rides! Little did I know at this time how special this swing ride was. This may be the last trip to the park we take in awhile. Sadly.


Wes and I recently went for a walk together down some roads we'd never been on before! Our neighborhood is SO diverse. We walked past little huts/houses with hammocks and chickens running around, our road turned from pavement to dirt to mud that was 8 inches deep then back to dirt and back to pavement again all in less than a kilometer! We walked into a REALLY interesting area where we had to just stop and take pictures! It must be the entrance to the temple and then the temple itself behind the lake. It's quite amazing and a welcome change of scenery to our walk. Take a look! :)





On Monday, October 15th, when Wes was 17 months and 6 days old, he was playing outside with his little red wagon, as usual. Not many kids were around because of the holiday, so when a couple of girls came over on their bicycle, Wes was thrilled! They didn't speak English but they were talking and laughing together. Wes clearly wanted a ride on their bicycle, and, although I knew it wasn't safe, I knew people here did it all the time! So I let him go for a spin! He had so much fun he didn't want to stop! We had to go, so I let him go for one more spin on the bike. Unfortunately that was the time they fell over. Wes was protected, but just the way the bike fell it landed on his ankle. The result? A baby that just wouldn't stop screaming, a trip to Emerg, exrays, an orthopedic doctor showing us the crack in his tibia, and the news that the ankle must remain immobile for the next 4 weeks.

Oh boy. How are we going to keep this active 17 month old baby entertained for the next 4 weeks without the park, his swimming pool, his little red wagon, his tricycles, helping me wash dishes, etc etc etc? Basically everything that he loves to do, we have to tell him "no."
This is going to be a hard month. :(




We tell ourselves well just take it one day at a time. However, I find myself taking it one minute at a time. He is so strong, and now that I have to carry him so much it's really quite exhausting to me! Joe is a wonderful help, though! And Kim will be back tomorrow from her vacation. So that is good. But still, putting him in his stroller (now a wheel-chair!) when he doesn't want to sit, or taking him away from his swimming pool when he's saying, "water! water" over and over, or making him take his medicine...all of this is so tiring. One day at a time, though!

Joe has already downloaded a bunch of kids' stuff off of YouTube and bought a DVD player, so now he can watch movies. (so can we! :) We take him on walks, and today I put his leg in a bread bag, tied it shut tight, and let him sit outside and play with water in tupperware containers. That kept him occupied for awhile.

Day 1: he was obviously lethargic from medicine, so he was quite cuddly (like a sick baby often is, and mommy enjoys extra snuggle time!)
Day 2: he was frustrated with his inabilities and very demanding with what he wanted to do and screamed a LOT when we tried to get him to do something else. I'm exhausted right now.

What will day 3-28 bring? Praying for patience with each other as we all deal together with a challenging situation, creative ideas on how to entertain Wes and get to know him in different ways, and for speeding and thorough recovery!



For the Martin family, we enjoy looking at the 2012 Family Calendar! He's practicing names and for some reason always laughs when he sees Andy's picture and Jason's picture! I'm sure he's remembering great times from this past summer!! :) I'll try to catch it on film sometime, too.

You can notice a little potty in the corner of his room. Yes, I've started putting him on the potty every time I change his diaper! However, I really don't think he knows why I'm doing that. I'll probably delay the start of potty-training now until the cast comes off. It's easy to feel sorry for him and neglect the parenting and just give him what he wants. However, of course we know we can't let that happen! We'll find a balance. Any tips, let me know!

I guess all of this is just a part of raising a boy! :D Still loving every minute of being Wes' mommy and Joey's wife. God is SO GOOD!

We love you guys!

Joe, Nica, & Wes