18 July 2016

Ruth Michael, you talk about putting "vehicles" (chemicals) in the pool. If you have diarrhea you call it "surgery."

23 August 2016- You turned 4. Donuts for breakfast at People's. We bought you a new dress which you picked out. Lunch at Driftwood. While you slept I made cake and icing. Papa made you noodles (what you asked for) and he made chicken alfredo sauce for the rest of us. Bob, Karin, Jako, and Maureece were here and you invited Philip, Mercy, and Sammy to share in the cake, which you helped decorate. They made the outside dining room beautiful with flowers and lanterns. Mercy put flowers in the shape of a heart on your bed. Mr. Gazi brought you a cake and a present. I explained to you how you needed to be sweet and thankful for everything and you tried so hard! You told me thank you for the beautiful cake and the special day. You ate too much sugar (coke and candy) and threw up in bed! The next day you had a cold... a little too much birthday, but it sure was fun!

5 September 2016- You love being 4. You pick out your own clothes and get yourself dressed. You help do the dishes after supper if Papa plays you your favorite song (now it is "Cheap Thrills." You want to watch AJ take a bath and then you take a shower because you are big. You are very good at the "memory" game.

24 February 2016

Iddy, you are a champ. Me and Papa have been doing missionary training and you have been hanging out with Mimi and Pop-pop and helping with the girls. And you have such a great attitude about it. I'm so proud of you!

2 June 2016- No one can say enough how sweet you are, least of all, me and Papa. You hug me and kiss me, you ask if you can help, you love on your sisters, and you are very sensitive to the feelings of those around you. You are also growing into a man, confident and independent. You speak up for yourself, you speak up in class. You're very good at fixing things and figuring things out. You want to be a good boy. I'm so proud of you and I love you more and more each day.

24 February 2016

AJ, when it's cold outside I say "brr" and you say "ba." I say "let's go" and you say "ke-ko." You love to do a head stand and look at me upside down through your legs.

8 March 2016- Everyone says you are so sweet. You love people. They say you are such a friendly baby. You still love to hold my finger and we walk together. You rub your ears when you are tired. You are very good at waving "bye-bye."

"did it go?" (Where did it go?)
"di-di" (Iddy)
"ta-tu" (thank you- Iddy taught you this one)

You put your finger to your mouth and say "sssssss" when I say "sh."

15 March 2016
"no" and you point to your nose
"da-du" (thank you)
"Papa"
"eee" (ear)
"ka" (car)
"ba" (ball)

You rub your ears when you are tired and you also put your hands together when you are tired.

4 April 2016- You love to eat off of everyone else's plate. You have to have something for each hand. When I sing "Roll the Gospel Chariot" you do your arms with me. You say "ah co" if you are cold and you cross your arms. Iddy says "hi" and you say "hi" and he says "how are you?" and you say "gah!"

2 June 2016- You are so fiery and feisty! I love you so. Even when I am mad at you you can always make me laugh with your cute face and wide range of expressions. Some of my favorite things you say:

"upth-th-th" (oops)
"chuma"
"mok(gutteral throat sound)" (milk)
"kukas" (Lucas)
"timmy" (Sammy)

24 February 2016

RM

"Knock, knock, knock
Who is it?
Grandmother pussy cat
What do you want?
A packet of milk
Where is the money
In my pocket
Can I have it?
Oh! I lost it!
You silly pussy cat, go away!
Meow"

"Johnny, Johnny
Yes, Papa?
Eating sugar?
No, Papa
Are you lying?
No, Papa
Open wide
Ha ha ha!"

8 March 2016- We told you you could have a "kiddy" cup of ice-cream at Chick-fil-a. You asked if it would have kitties on it.

2 June 2016- My sweet, sweet baby. You are growing up and learning to be a good big sister. You love your family and you love Iddy's friend, Mohamed. You love to ride your scooter and swim. You also love school. You are mostly obedient and sweet. You don't really like playing by yourself. You aren't super friendly to strangers. You love your toys, your clothes, and your family. You don't seem to want "more, more, more."

13 January 2016

Iddy, homeschooling- yikes!!! We are trying. You are such a good, sweet boy. Very good with your sisters. They ADORE you. You and I share a dislike of socializing with large groups of people. You are an AMAZING dancer and you love music like Papa. You are so sweet and kind to Mimimo and Bepops. You are so conscious of your sisters' well-being. After AJ was sick you advised me to buy new pacis, and you were concerned about the adult/child ratio at the childcare at Lifetime Fitness.

11 February- We are doing homeschool together and it is HARD, but there are some highlights. You did a Zumba class with me for P.E. and I loved having you with me. We share a love for dancing. You also love science. We made a balloon-propelled rocket car together. You did so well with that and you loved learning the physics behind it.

13 January 2016

Ruth Michael, you are three and a half! Today you told Papa the car he was putting you in was very tiny- it was a sedan! You are used to big African cars and in the States we have been driving an Excursion.
You told Nae Nae, "I will never leave you, Nae Nae. We will stay here a really long time!"
When Papa said he needed gas you told him there was a gas station by your school.
We took you to a new preschool at campus church. You didn't cry or get upset at all. You just walked right in! As long as things are explained well to you, you are fine. We can't spring anything on you. You are so much fun and love to be on the go. You can go and go forever, but you aren't crazy about playing alone (except when AJ wants to play the iPad with you). You are trying to master the American "r" sound. I'm a little sad to see you lose your Kenyan accent.

20 January- We took you out late last night for Papa's birthday. You had so much fun, and you wanted to hold both my hands all the way home while you fell asleep.

11 February- You were talking about Papa and you said, "He is a good boy." Then you laughed like you had tickled yourself. You are so much fun. You love to laugh and play. When we took you roller skating for Grant's birthday you were determined to do it by yourself. You ice-skated in Paris like a champ. You are not afraid of trying new things.

13 January 2016

Abby Jones, you put your hands together when I give you the paci to soothe yourself.
Two or three days ago I asked you what you had when you found a baby doll and you said, "be-be"
When I say "no" you point your little finger at me and say "na-na-na-na"
You try to do sign language for "more"
You are starting to nod and shake your head.

20 January- You love to say "ooh-way"
Shaking your head means "yes" or "no"
You fold your little hands together to soothe yourself.
Today Daisy Strine was here and you said "Day-je." It made her so happy!
You love to dance when the whole family dances.

11 February- You love to hold my hand everywhere. You cross your own hands to soothe yourself. You still use the paci for naps. You love to say "na" and shake your head. You still say "na-na" for banana.

17 August 2015

You and Cooper Holloway

Iddy, you are so good with the babies at New Life. Bev was bragging on you. She gave you a little boy who was totally floppy and you put him in your lap and played toys with him. She said you were better than some of their full-time workers!

9 September- PERMANENT GUARDIANS! We are so excited. It feels like you were already ours and you are even more ours. I cannot imagine our family without you. Sometimes it seems like you have a hard time expressing to us what you are feeling. We are here for you and will wait to hear what you have to say. Papa is especially good at this. You are an amazing young man. You want to do what's right. God will use you!

3 August 2015

1 August- First tooth

Abby Jones, you are sweetness and truly edible. You are trying to crawl, very sensitive and easily startled, not rolly-polly.

17 August- Little curls are appearing in the back of your head. You crawl on one knee and one foot. You still love to act shy. When someone greets you, you duck your head down and put it in my chest.

21 September- Curls in the back of your head, climbing stairs, love the knob to the speaker.

9 September- You are so much fun, loving to play and laugh. I love trying to make you giggle. You mostly just squeal.

25 September- You love Chloe the cat! You love the stairs, you can go all the way up. You can also climb up the stool. You love to wave and say bye-bye. At 9 months I had to start giving you some formula. I went on birth control, and I felt like my milk was decreasing. But you did fine! You take the bottle well and you still breastfeed really well, too.

4 October- You learned how to suck from a sippy cup. You point a lot and say, "da" "ya" and sometimes "ta-ku", "wa-da." I love having a conversation with you.

6 October- We played peek-a-boo together for a long time and you laughed and laughed. It was so fun.

9 October- You clapped with Vivian. Your top right canine started appearing. Rose said she saw it yesterday. Took you to the doc because you're a little small, but he said not to worry. You are my perfect little porcelain doll!

3 August 2015

Ruth Michael, whoah, you have so many questions. You've started swim lessons but you call it tennis lessons.

"Can somebody get me a glass of water?"- from "Tangled" "Somebody get me a glass, cause I just found me a tall drink of water"

"Their having a difficult year"- when the guys in guardians of the galaxy are holding the blue thing and screaming.

"anybody"= "nobody"
"anything"= "nothing"

When I told you to go put your shoes on you said, "mama, it's a hard knock life."

17 August- You love it when I explain things to you, "tell me all those things again, mama." You told me to stick my tongue out while peeling the orange because that's what Iddy does.

21 September- You name every doll "Gingera"

30 August- We just got back from the beach. You LOVE to swim and are not afraid of the water. You are also in a stage where you like to hold my hand. I am EATING it up!

9 September- You call me "Sarah" especially when you are having a hard time getting my attention. At night I say, "I love you with all my hear and-" and you say "troll." Then we both giggle, and I say "no, 'soul'." Then you say "let me try that again." Then you get it right.

25 September- "Yankee doodle had a dog and Jesus was his name-o"

5 October- We told Vivian that we are moving to Malindi, and you say "getting to Malindi is very difficult." If I ask you, "how did you get to be so smart?" you say, "I just am!" Iddy discovered this.

15 May 2015

Iddy, Papa's been gone for 2 days and you are being so sweet to me. Last night you told me you would get up with the girls in the morning if I was too tired! We read together tonight, and we watched a movie- you let me pick.

3 August 2015

Today is your 14th birthday. You invited your friends to lunch and arcade and a movie for your birthday. You didn't want us to sing "Happy Birthday" at the Vic but we did anyway. You get 2 hours on your phone every day and you are very sweet to make sure you don't go over. You always tell me you love me. You give me hugs and sometimes kisses. We served together at New Life one day. You are so good with babies. You really love serving at Lake Victoria school. When we are with groups of visitors you have a lot of confidence. When you are around a girl you like that confidence goes away. You tell me I look pretty.

30 May 2015

Ruth Michael, yesterday you and I played together in the little pool in mom and dad's back yard. For a while you just sat in my lap and we both put our feet in the water. I loved having you in my arms. Sometimes you tell me you love me out of the blue. I love you with all my heart.

31 May- You love to lay in between me and Abby Jones and sing "I love you, you love me" and we kiss each other and hug each other.

15 June- Your bath water was running out. I said we needed to turn on the pump. You said, "do we need to use the gatorator?" (you meant generator)

20 June- "Did it go down to the heart?" means "did you swallow it?"

19 May 2015

AJ, when you nurse, you put your hand up on my chest. Sometimes you grab my shirt to pull me closer. Sometimes you stop and look up at me and smile. You love to swing your feet.

27 May- You slept in a room by yourself for the first time. You had started waking up at night, pushing up with your hands, popping that head up, and looking right over at me like "I see you over there mama!" You love to tear paper or napkins. One time we left you with Bepops for a little while, and when we got back there were torn paper and napkins everywhere!

30 May- You love to touch my face and look at me and gurgle. You love other people's faces, too.

6 April 2015

Iddy, you fell asleep in the car when I was dropping the crew off at the Oats', so you ended up coming with me to the Vyverberg's for a play date. I'm sure it wasn't where you wanted to be, but you were super sweet about it. Earlier today you picked up AJ when she was crying. RM said, "Iddy, you're a good brother."

10 May- Iddy, I miss you so much. You went back to Kenya 2 weeks ago and it feels like forever. You showed me a mother's day card that you make me through a video on What's App. I'm so proud to be your mom. We talk on the phone and you always tell me how much you love me and miss me. I love you more than I can ever express!

6 April 2015

Ruth Michael, we are staying at the Oats' house. They have a brown lab. You say, "This dog tastes like chocolate."

22 April- You can snap!

25 April- You ask "why not?" for the first time!

8 May- You can count to 10!

19 May- You love to sing "I Love You Lord" "God is So Good." You asked Stephanie Vyverberg, "Where is your friend, the little tiny one?" You meant here daughter, Anna- same age as you!

22 May- You were crying at bed time. When I asked you why you said, "I'm missing Iddy."

13 May 2015

AJ, you first rolled over on May 13. This is also the first time I started putting you on your belly. You were four months old. You went from your belly to your back, and we were at NaeNae's house. Your first laugh was on May 7 when Papa was eating your belly. June 7, 2015, you sat for the first time. You had practice from sitting in a bumbo at Mimimo's house.

Here is what I wrote about your fourth month: You love putting your hands above your head when you sleep. You love putting one hand on the back of your head when you eat. You look deep into my eyes when I'm talking to you, and you talk back to me so sincerely. RM loves to be around you and you don't mind her energy at all. I think maybe she will be your ray of sunshine and you will be her solid rock. You love to burry your face into me or the blanket when you want to sleep. It's like your escape, your safe place.

Here is what I wrote about your fifth month: You kick your legs when you are sad or upset. That's my first clue that you will be crying soon. You have found your feet and you love putting them in your mouth. You are more and more alert. When you start to burry your face in my arm and I think you are going to sleep, you turn your head all the way around so that you can look out around you and stay awake. You "sing" yourself to sleep.

20 February 2015

Ruth Michael, you told Rose, "Don't touch me, I'm breakable!"

February 25:

We like to play by giving each other kisses and then wiping them off. Last night I wiped off one of your kisses and you said, "Don't wipe my kisses away because I love you so much!"

I tucked you in one night and said, "night-night" and you said, "I can't wait to see you"

You woke up from your nap and said, "mama, I'm coughin'. I need some 'me-sin'. Can you give me some benadryl?" Where did you learn this from?!

"I love ice-cream when I'm talking on the trampoline"

March 9:

"Goo-mote"= remote
"by-hind"= behind
-You like for me to tell people things for you. "Mama, tell Abby-Jones I like to jump on the trampoline," for example. Sharon said, "What does Ruth-Michael like to do?" And I said "swimming." You said, "And I like running and jumping and playing. Tell Sharon that!"
-Today we were walking to the pool at the Vic and you reached out and held my hand. You and I have so much fun together. You are pure joy, my little angel!

April 2:

"hospice"= popsicle
-You were outside shooting guns with Nick. Papa asked you what you were doing, and you said, "I'm killing elephants!" (You had a nerf gun)

2 February 2015

Abby Jones, you are 6 weeks old now. I love how you are so cuddly. When you are ready to sleep you like to bury your face either into me or into the bed. You are becoming more and more alert. Your eyes open wide and you look deep into mama's eyes. You have made a few sounds that sound like coo's. You love to lay on the trampoline and look up at the big tree above you. You love to be entertained by big sister's movements and songs.

Baby girl, I love you so very much. We all wonder and guess at what you will be like. Will you be more like your mama since your big sister is so much like Papa? Will you be quiet or talkative? Serious? Funny? Calm? Energetic? I can't wait to find out, and I will love the person God made you to be, whatever that looks like. I want you to believe in yourself and to know your identity as the Beloved one of the Lord. You, baby girl, will grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. You will love others as yourself and will love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. And you will learn from your mistakes. We all make them, but what we make of them is what defines us. I love you with all my heart.

Feb 12- You smile at RM

20 January 2015

Iddy, you are a good boy and I am so proud of you. You've been so busy lately with studies, tennis, washing the car, and whatever else is going on. You used your own money to buy Papa a present for his birthday yesterday. It was a leather bracelet and he loves it. You also gave Papa 150ksh to buy exercise books for someone at Ringroad who needed it, and you took a bunch of stuff from your room that you weren't using anymore and gave it to Basil to give to kids that need it. You are growing in wisdom and maturity. I want so badly to spend more time with you, but RM and AJ make very great demands on my time. You never make me feel bad about that. I will keep trying to be intentional about spending time with you. I love you and I'm so proud of you!

Oh yeah- you're getting very good at asking thoughtful questions, not just wanting to talk about yourself. I noticed it and Memomo did, too.

14 January 2015

Ruth Michael:

On the way to the airport to drop off Memomo- "Memomo, are you going to be very sad?" "Are you going to miss me?"

"Golden slumbers kiss your eyes"

"X mark-a-pot" (x marks the spot)

"Winnie the Pooh" (shampoo)

"Beenana" (banana)

10 January 2015

Ruth Michael:

"Who bought me these 20 bobs?"
-speaking of her shoes

"Ma, you look nice!"
-after I had gotten dressed and put on my new pants

"Iddy, you running really good!"
-Iddy running for tennis practice

"Memomo, you love Bepops so much"

"Memomo, you miss Bepops so much"

"Papa, I complicated"

"Papa, don't disturb me"

"I have no idea"