Come and listen...: The First Week After Lecture Phase...

Well, we finished our first full week in our new schedule since our students left for outreach. The reports I hear are that they are doing great in Brazil and having awesome ministry opportunities! Woo! Hoo! I look forward to reporting more as I hear it!

As I wrote about last week, we had a great time with my dad and Rose. Last Monday we enjoyed time with them and they headed back to Canada on Tuesday morning. Here are some awesome pics to share from Rose's camera! I love them!

Highlights:
- Noah started cheerios, potatoes and tasted oranges this week. Now that he's discovered a breakfast food that he can eat by himself, he refuses spoon fed cereals. He says no to oatmeal and cream of wheat and only wants to feed himself =) So independent in certain areas already!
- Noah turned 9 months old on September 4! Here are the many takes it took to get a good shot...I finally got some good ones the next day after a nap while he was still groggy =)

Look at that face!

That little tongue...he is on a mission!

I'm even trying to pull his leg to keep him still for a moment...nope!

Day 2 outtakes

There we go!

So cute! My 9 month old!

- The prayer room....Noah and I have been starting to try have an hour each morning as part of our routine after his first nap and before lunch at the prayer room. It has been so awesome and he absolutely loves it in there! It is great to go during the time Steph has to be in there too because she often paces with him and I get to sit and read for a bit =) Noah has been getting a lot more verbal this past week and I can hear him chattering away while Steph paces with him =) So cute! He's singing and praying too! I also have been trying to get to the prayer room 2-3 evenings a week by myself! So good!
- Despite teething troubles, the nights have been alright. Noah gets up twice to feed but otherwise sleeps well and if he makes any other noises in the night, he is able to self soothe back to sleep. Noah still wants to eat twice a night and after thinking about a plan, psyching myself up to do it and doing a ton of praying, I'm not quite ready to let him cry it out at night and not feed him. I'm definitely finding out that this journey of motherhood is far more about my heart than logical plans and decisions =) I thought I'd do a bunch of things no problem before I had Noah....but my heart says differently now that I'm actually dealing with him =) So funny =) Also, wake ups have been normal again between 7 and 7:30am which I like a lot better than the 6s =)
- A few days where Noah took good naps!
- A visit with my beautiful friend, Christina!

- Coffee with our friends, the Coles who were IHOPers for many years and now YWAMers! They are at the Kona base (where Shane and I did our DTS) but are visiting KC!

Tom and Noah in Higher Grounds =)

- I got to go to Moms Group/Ladies Bible Study alone again this week! So awesome! (The next two weeks I will have to take Noah with me because Shane is off base doing stuff with the Call2All Congress). It has been such a blessing to go sans baby =)
- Figuring out a schedule for Noah and I in this new season and feeling a lot of excitement for fall and peace about a new pace.
- A yummy supper at Buffalo Wild Wings with our buddy, Rebekah! She has been asking to go there for all of DTS and so it finally happened =)

That Rebekah makes crazy faces!

- A YWAM ladies brunch on Saturday morning! I was going to have to bring Noah because I didn't know if I'd be back in time for his lunchtime feed but he had a later feed than usual in the night, therefore I could hold him off longer for breakfast and got to go alone! So lovely! And instead of dealing with him napping there, he had the longest nap in months for daddy that morning =) We got to welcome Ruth Xu, Peter Xu's wife, as the ladies of YWAM-KC and pray over her =)

- We got to skype with Shaun and Laurissa! I've been missing them!
- We got a relaxing, yet fun weekend! Instead of cramming cleaning, errands, laundry and grocery shopping into our weekends, I now have time to do them during the week and we can use our weekends for relaxing family time and fun! Yay! We enjoyed some time in the pool on Saturday, took walks both days and had brunch at Stephanie's on Sunday =)

Note to self: Feeding without a high chair is very difficult!

Low lights:
- Noah ate his first bug! I was soooo grossed out finger sweeping pieces of the bug out of his mouth. Yuck!

- Teething troubles =( Poor kiddo! Noah has bit Shane, Steph and I in the last while and even got a chunk of skin off daddy's forehead! Teething (and standing) has been effecting naps. It has been taking him longer to let himself fall asleep and that is getting a little annoying. Thankfully tooth #4 did cut through somewhat on Saturday...though today it's looking swollen and painful and he had a meltdown around his nap this afternoon =( I'm thankful for Motrin because I hate seeing him in pain =(
- Some very difficult moments for me emotionally dealing with the neighbor noise above us....thankfully, I found out the reason for a really rough evening on Tuesday and it isn't something that will be happening again so that's awesome!

Praise reports for last week:
- Some ideas for this new season! I took a pad of paper to the prayer room one evening with my priorities mapped out and asked the Lord to help me make a day to day schedule for Noah and I. I love schedules =) Now we'll just tweek it as we go along!
- As I wrote above, I did some thinking and praying about the night time plan and I thought I had one =) I did some seeking of the Lord last evening in the prayer room about it and Shane and I felt the same thing...not yet. So, we continue to seek the Lord on exactly how to do it and I feel hopeful and am cherishing those night time cuddles since they won't be around forever.

Prayer requests for this coming week:
- Healing for our bodies (Shane - ++ vertigo/dizziness/nausea the last 2 days, to be able to sleep and stuffy sinuses, Noah - his upper left tooth, me - aching body, sore left hip and jaw pain)
- All the things to come together for the Call2All Congress here in KC next week....we need more volunteers!
- Rest for all 3 of us and Noah to sleep through the night (of course) =)
- Peace for me with the neighbor noise
- Continued encounter with Jesus
- For our outreach team in Brazil

Here's some cute shots of Noah in day-to-day life =)