What My Kids Are Used To

Will takes the kids with him on his trips to the country whenever he can. These trips are difficult 5 hour drives through terrible roads with very few stops. My kids have gotten very used to this, and I love that. Our friend, Andy, came in town and Will and Fernando took Andy and the kids on one of their pastor visits. I wanted to share a bit of what my kids are now used to:


Eating sugar cane off the side of the road

Playing with new friends. Emma took a bunch of stuff she doesn't use anymore and gave it away. This was totally her idea. I love that.

  

 

 

Playing together...because they're all just kids

 

  

They don't have indoor bathrooms in this area and they all use an outhouse. Pretty gross, but this is where the outhouse runs off...and my kids are playing in it.

And Emma has "it" all over her. But she doesn't care.

Chasing chickens 

  

A woman was not okay with Emma having "dirty stuff" all over her. So she pulled some water up from the local well and washed Emma off. I told Emma I was just glad she didn't drink the well water. To that she said "Oh I did drink it Mom". Great. Looks like we need to de-parasite ourselves before we leave here.

Beautiful scenery that I know we will miss terribly.

And of course there is a disco on board the ferry on the way home. Why not?

All of this my kids now find extremely normal.

And I love that.

Ally - 4 months old

My baby girl is now 4 months old. Where has the time gone? The newborn stage is officially over. I can't believe it! There is such a love/hate relationship with that newborn stage, but mostly I am loving seeing her growing up. Well, I'm not sure growing up is the right term. We took her to the doctor and she still hasn't broken the 10 pound mark! She grew another half an inch, so she is now 24 inches long. The doctor was not concerned though. He said they measure a baby's growth in length and brain development, not so much in weight anymore. He did give me some suggestions on nursing that I'm working through so we'll see how it goes. Ally is very scheduled and does very well on a schedule. These past few days I've been trying to feed her constantly which is just making her upset and not sleep as well. So we're heading back to a schedule, I just might shorten it a bit so I can fit an extra feeding in per day. I told him I was feeding her 5 times a day, and he said it should be more like 7 or 8. He also said adding a formula bottle or two a day wouldn't be a bad idea. So I'm going to get in 6 feedings a day and add a formula bottle at night. Hopefully this new plan will help her gain some weight before her next appointment. God just made her a little bitty thing!

She is such a happy baby and such a joy to be around. She is very content most of the time and has been sleeping through the night for a while now. I do a dreamfeed at around 10pm just so I can get another feeding in...otherwise she would probably sleep through that as well! She is rolling over both ways and is still really strong. She loves to have her mouth open and drools on everything. She doesn't spit up much which is so strange to me (Emma and Jack spit up constantly). She is so adorable and stops traffic everywhere she goes. The thing I hear the most is "Que Cosita!" (what a little bitty thing).

I still get advice constantly on dressing her warmer. I'm not sure Costa Ricans know that they live in the tropics. I always have a hat for her everywhere we go so I won't get comments. But I still hear them: "She really needs a hat that covers her ears because of the wind", "It's really cold outside isn't it", "She really should have a shirt that covers her shoulders", "All babies should wear sweaters", and "Where are her socks". And my favorite was the other day when we went through the toll booth, the man told us that we needed to lift Ally's head up because she was bent over sleeping. And I usually have my other two kids with me so it's obvious I have done this mothering thing before and have kept them alive.

I guess if I asked for suggestions that would be one thing...but I can't imagine just constantly telling a stranger what to do with their baby. Funny.

Finding Rest

I just love this picture of Emma and Ally. I see the sisterly love flowing out of Emma and I'm so glad this was captured. Emma is probably the best big sister I have ever seen. I'm so thankful that she is able to have a baby sister at her age.

I also see the spiritual significance in my life through this picture. It reminds me of my Heavenly Father's love for me even when I'm flailing about wanting to do my own thing. I think I know best and I want my own way! I pitch a fit, scream and holler when life doesn't go my way. He holds me steady, tightly, lovingly, patiently, all the while knowing exactly what is best for me. Ally was fed, changed and needed to sleep. Period. But she just flat didn't want to. All she had to do was lay her head down and everything would be fine. She would find rest in the person who knew better than she did.

I pray I remember this lesson.


"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28

Finally an American

Our little Ally Tatum is finally an American. Her picture is so cute. Here is her passport and her US birth certificate "born abroad":



And here is her real Costa Rican birth certificate:

And here is her social security number application: 

Finally, in order to leave the country, we have to have a letter notarized by the Registro Civil that says we are able to take her out of the country. Here is the letter, but we still have to get it officially signed. After that, she's good to go!

This girl is gonna have quite the paperwork! It will be funny registering her for school one day and having to take all of these documents with us. Our souvenir from Costa Rica will always be our little Ally T!

Survival at Home

This is my man doing his thing. I am so incredibly proud of him and how hard he is working. Right now this hard work means a lot of travel and we're adjusting. Being home alone with 3 kids isn't easy anyway, but it feels doubly hard being in a foreign country.

I know that he is working, but sometimes I wonder if it looks a little like this...


Or this...

Or even this...

And my life at home feels a whole lot like this....

And this...

 


I know it's not completely true, but it feels true! Will has traveled to India, Guatemala, Honduras, USA, Cuba and many trips to the campo of Costa Rica in recent years. We've developed a method here at home that has become quite routine for us when Will is away...especially for long periods of time. Here are my thoughts on surviving at home:

1. Go on a "fun" grocery run- Obviously I blogged about this yesterday and you can read about that here. We go to the grocery store at the beginning of the week that Will's gone and, as Emma says, we buy a whole bunch of things we don't need. That just means we buy food that we usually don't buy. The kids think this is so much fun and plays well into dinners of Lucky Charms and frozen pizza. Win/win.
2. Complete one achievable task- This doesn't mean clean out every closet in your house or repaint the kitchen. Keep it simple. Clean out one closet, organize a few pictures, write some blogs (obviously that's mine this time around), or wash the car. It will make you feel slightly productive without it being overwhelming.
3. Read a mindless fiction book- Think about what you would want to read on the beach or find something you can escape into. I would not recommend mysteries or thrillers! I figured that out the hard way. Then you just can't sleep at night.
4. Watch a show your husband won't- I always have big plans to watch an entire series on Netflix, but that doesn't seem to happen with small kids and that seems like an overwhelming task to me (remember #2). So I stick to shows like Gilmore Girls, Downton Abbey, Ace of Cakes and 19 Kids & Counting.
5. Eat off Paper Plates- That's especially huge for us here with no dishwasher. Cups and silverware are much easier to quickly wash at the end of the night without scrubbing. Side note: Will's favorite joke - "How do you fix a dishwasher? You slap her". Hahaha...well, he's the one who washes dishes at our house so the joke's on him.
6. Have something to look forward to at night- Save that dessert or glass of wine for after the kids go to bed.  You might even want to save your whole dinner for after the kids are in bed! I did that last night and skyped with a friend while eating. It was wonderful.
7. Don't make beds that week- This is my kid's favorite rule. When Dad's away, we don't make beds. Why? I don't know. Just thought that sounded fun and different. Will actually couldn't care less if we ever made beds around here.
8. Have one family event planned- We try to do one different/special/easy-to-manage thing while he's away. Last time we went to visit some friends in another town. This time we had a jammie day all day on Saturday. I also promised that we would go to the park every day this week at 4:00. The park is next to our house and that really keeps them from asking me all day when we can go. It has also kept them from asking if friends can come over. If they want to play, they can meet us in the park at 4:00.
9. Keep activities simple and low-key- Do the things you normally would do and it's okay to cut some things out if life gets out of hand. I opted out of attending women's bible study this morning because it felt like we had been rushing around for the past two days. I just wanted to complete one full day of uninterrupted school with Emma. This also means don't add crazy things like a camping trip or Disney World.
10. Dinner can be foods that seem like snacks- Popcorn, peanut butter sandwiches or frozen waffles can be a dinner. Or make things that your man wouldn't eat. For some reason, mac & cheese with sausage in it sounded really good to me the other night so I made it. Will would hate this, but the kids and I loved it.
11. Exercise- This keeps the depression away. Even just a little bit helps.
12. Call one friend a day- It's difficult for me to jet out and see anyone, so sometimes just calling one person a day keeps loneliness away and let's you have adult conversation. For me, I like doing this at the end of my day. So nice right before bed.
13. Talk to the Lord- Life feels really out of balance when Will's away. But this sense of weirdness makes me remember to talk to the Lord constantly throughout the day. And I have always really enjoyed reading my Bible right before bed, and I'm able to do that when Will's gone. Dependence on the Lord is key and reminds me why we're here.
14. Leave a few lights on & take a Tylenol PM- I leave the hallway light on and a light in the den. This just makes me feel better when I'm up with the kids at night. I also take a Tylenol PM which helps me sleep so I don't freak out when I hear a cat walking on our roof. I only take one because this is inevitably the night when a kid will wake up puking.

And that's my complete list. Please share some other ideas if you have them!

It Still Shocks Me

I've lived here for a year and a half, and it still shocks me. So I need to blog about it to get it out of my system. If you want to eat like an American, then you will pay for it. We are very careful with our groceries most of the time, but when Will is gone for a week, Emma and I go on a "fun" grocery run. This is when we buy American products that we normally wouldn't buy along with some other staple items to eat on that week. We have a good time, but I want to scream at the cash register when we check out.

When I used to grocery shop at Aldi, I could literally fill my cart for about $60.

Will made frequent runs to Kroger to get the 5 for $5 items.

I would clip coupons for name brand stuff we enjoyed like real Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (they don't have those here...my family has struggled with that).


Not too difficult....until we moved here.



There are no off-brands of things. You pay about double for most items because they are imported.

I haven't seen coupons. Today I noticed some "specials" but it was for maybe 50 cents off. Whoopdedoo.

And I have to throw in that gas is around $6 a gallon and not one person here complains. To have a car is a privilege in this country. And sometimes there just isn't any gas. Get over it. There might be some tomorrow.

Anyway, back to my shopping experience today. Here is a picture of the stuff we bought:

Wanna take a guess at how much it was? 

It was a grand total of 88,418 colones. That's $177.05! Yep, still shocking.

As you can see, nothing I bought is in bulk quantity.

I would like to break it down here to get an even better idea:

Jiff Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter (first time I've seen it here) - 3115 $6.24

Individual Lime Gatorade - 775 $1.55

Individual Lime Gatorade - 775 $1.55

Strawberry Yogurt with chocolate bits (1) - 650 $1.30

Strawberry Yogurt with chocolate bits (1) - 650 $1.30

Pops Ice Cream Sandwiches (6 in a box) - 2125 $4.26

Package of String Cheese - 4400 $8.81

Life Cereal - 2475 $4.96

Quaker Oatmeal Squares Cereal - 2545 $5.10

Activia Vanilla Yogurt (4 pack) - 3005 $6.02

Activia Vanilla Yogurt (4 pack) - 3005 $6.02

Pantene Naturals Shampoo - 3075 $6.16

Pantene Naturals Shampoo - 3075 $6.16

Pantene Naturals Conditioner - 3075 $6.16 

Pantene Naturals Conditioner - 3075 $6.16

Suave Childrens 2 in 1 Shampoo/Conditioner - 3965 $7.94

Nestle Cini-Minis Cereal - 2830 $5.67

Bananas (6) - 699 $1.40

Nature Valley Peanut Granola Bars - 2995 $6.00

Nature Valley Yogurt Granola Bars - 3045 $6.10

Scott Toilet Paper (12) - 5350 $10.71

Bag of Gala Apples - 3400 $6.81

Ritz Baked Crackers - 2845 $5.70

Green Tea Bags with Honey - 1790 $3.58

Diet Arizona Green Tea in can (1) - 700 $1.40

Diet Mountain Dew can (1) - 475 $.95

Diet Mountain Dew can (1) - 475 $.95

Gallon of Milk - 2150 $4.31

Frozen Tyson Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets - 2555 $5.12

Jacks Brand Chocolate Edible Straws - 475 $.95

Spicy Tuna Roll Sushi Dinner - 5170 $10.35

California Roll Sushi Dinner - 3390 $6.79

Eggo Frozen Cinnamon Waffles - 2945 $5.90

Colgate Toothpaste - 1345 $2.69

Colgate Toothpaste - 1345 $2.69

Bag of 4 Oranges - 1834 $3.67

Small Can of Cashews - 2820 $5.65

Total: 88418 $177.05

I will only vent about this once. Even though it's expensive, I am thankful that these products are available here when we want them. Other missionary friends of ours in other countries don't even have the option. We only shop like this when Will is away, and I'm sure this post will give him a heart attack. Don't worry Will, we'll eat it all!

Ally - 3 months old

Since Ally will be 4 months old tomorrow, I figured it's about time I posted her 3 month old pictures. She is just the tiniest and cutest thing in the world and so happy and laid-back all the time. Maybe she really is a true tica and lives life "pura vida". She sleeps really well and nurses about 5 or 6 times a day. At her 3 month doctor's appointment she weighed 9.9 pounds and was 23.5 inches long. Such a tiny peanut but super strong! She really is our "Tiny T" and brings us all so much joy.