We're Moving!

It has been a little busy around here!

Since I last posted, Pinares hosted the ABSH Knowledge Bowl (for all of the schools in the Association of Bilingual Schools of Honduras), which Kyle was in charge of planning & running.  It definitely wasn't as much work as it was last year, but it still involved a big time commitment.  I didn't have an official job, other than to buy the snacks for the workers & coaches from other schools in advance.  I was given $325 to go out and buy large quantities of fresh fruits & veggies, donuts, cakes, chips, cookies, kool-aid, tea, cofee, etc...probably the most fun job of the knowledge bowl :)  I also ended up printing award certificates the last morning.  Then Kyle had a few days of school with no big events, and now he's away for the weekend at the Art & Music Festivals in San Pedro Sula.  Next Saturday is Family Fun Day (a carnival-like/fundraiser/fun day that our school hosts).  And then 4 days after that Kyle returns to San Pedro for 5 days for the Soccer tournament.

In the meantime our house has now gotten almost completely finished.  Our move date was delayed a little because the electric company had to come up and install the meter and give approval.  They have done that and I think the electricity was supposed to be finished up the end of this past week or tomorrow.  The school also hired 3 maids to go in and clean our house today, then they will return on Monday to clean again after the dust settles.  Then they are planning/hoping to move & install our hot water heater, water purifier, dishwasher, washer & dryer on Monday.  So we could be moving as early as Tuesday.  But if not Tuesday, then Wednesday or Thursday (because we have to be out by the end of the month).  SO...I have been packing up and cleaning the house.  I have gotten it nearly completely packed and have been working on leaving it clean for the landlord.

All of the packing has been hard on Juliana.  She is definitely excited to move to the new house (and to see Christa's bedroom  from her room) but she has a hard time when I pack up something she wants.  Plus I've been busier so she's had to play more on her own.  She was crying every night when I put her to bed (and at nap time), so for the time being she's sleeping on my floor in a sleeping bag.  And when I leave her with someone she screams and won't let go of me (which she's never done before).  I think Levi might notice that things are different too because he cries almost every time I put him down.  Which means I carry him around a lot while I'm packing and cleaning.  Which means I get more exercise I guess :)  This is definitely a good move, but I think we're all ready for it to be done with...

In happier news, we had Levi dedicated at church on Sunday :)

 Last Friday was the Pinares teacher retreat.  We drove to a retreat center an hour and a half away.  The morning had 2 sessions, then lunch, and then a couple hours free time in the afternoon.  The pool at Palabra de Vida is COLD, but Juliana really wanted to swim, so Kyle braved the water with her.

What a cutie

Waking up is hard to do

Juliana can't wait till Levi is big enough to play :)
(Can you see all the drool coming from his mouth?!?)

Reasons I Don't Blog as Often as I Should

#1 - The never ending pile of laundry 

#2 - The extra creative 3 year old

#3 - How could anyone resist those chubby cheeks? :)

We're all doing good here...today I'm working on packing up as much as I can around the house.  Still no move date yet, but it's estimated around 3 weeks from now....although we might have to move during the week or without Kyle as his entire month is packed full.  Levi's still focusing on his growing :)  He's a very contented guy with a great little chuckle that just makes you laugh along with him, and he chews on EVERYTHING.  Right now he's lying on my lap, gnawing on my elbow :)  Juliana is her usual joyful, energetic little self.  We've been reading through a new toddler Bible that some friends passed on to her for her birthday.  She's also super excited about our neighbor's new baby and her first dental check-up coming up soon.

Busy Christmas

I made a goal about a month ago to make it through Christmas preparations, the holidays, and Juliana's birthday...and then I could relax a bit before we move.  And I made it!  So today I have tried to ignore my house that looks like its been ransacked (at least mostly), played with Juliana and some of her new toys, caught up on some computer work, and after I took a shower I put my pajamas back on.

Its been a whirlwind of a month!  School ended on December 19th (I think) and before that we had Christmas concerts at school, Christmas and birthday shopping, and Christmas parties to plan and attend.  Once school ended we cleaned the house and went grocery shopping, as our cupboards were starting to look pretty bare and we had company coming.  My parents arrived on December 25th to meet Levi and spend lots of quality time playing with Juliana.  We didn't really go to very many special places, other than to Chiminike, the children's museum, have dinner/game night with the Raineri's, and my dad and Kyle went to see the Hobbit.  We spent most of our time at home playing games, reading books and playing with Juliana, holding Levi, etc...

My parents flew out the 31st and we spent the evening at the WGO Mission House playing games with several friends.  I believe both Juliana and Levi were awake at midnight (Levi slept throughout the evening though) and thankfully they both slept in the next morning :)  I spent New Year's Day afternoon working on website and database things for the Honduran Fellowship.

The 2nd we spend cleaning our house again, in time for the Mohagen's arrived!  We had a great time teaching them to play Settlers of Catan and referee-ing the two little 2 year olds who love to play with each other, but can't seem to actually get along for very long :)  I believe the only thing they can always agree on is that they both LOVE Dora.

Long before Christmas break ended I was busy preparing for Juliana's 3rd birthday party...realizing that I had scheduled myself too many things for this week...and Juliana wanted to invite many more people than I was originally thinking.  I had agreed to substitute on Monday for a teacher who was returning late from break, and Tuesday I had Ladies Bible Study in the morning and our Home Group in the evening.  Between all of that I made 6 dozen cupcakes, cleaned the house yet again, did at least 5 loads of laundry, decorated the house for the ballerina party, fed Levi (which if you've seen him recently you'll understand why it takes so much of my time), and tried to make Juliana's day extra special.  We ended up having between 40 and 50 people in our very small house (most people ate standing up) and Juliana had a great time.  Seriously, how can she be 3 already!

birth day

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

And to top it all off, we're moving sometime in the next month, so we've been VERY busy looking all over this city for floor tile, bathroom tile, light fixtures, kitchen appliances, dining room and living room furniture, cabinet knobs and handles, and I can't remember what else.  Several times we've completely worn the kids our.  This is what they look like, and what Kyle and I feel like :)

Growing Kids

My smart girl stacked her boxes all by herself from biggest to smallest...almost :)

Just before we took Levi to his one month check-up.  He gained 2 lb 9 oz in 3 weeks!  (Weighing in at 10 lb 9 oz)  To compare...he weighs half of Juliana's current weight, Juliana just barely hit 10 lbs at 3 months of age, and he's 4 inches longer than Juliana was at 1 month.  I think he's taking after his cousin Kylan :)

Christmas Decorating

 We put up our Christmas tree this week!

Juliana "helped" by getting out all the "toys"

And Levi took a nap!

Unfortunately the string of lights on the bottom of the tree is having a problem...it sparked when I plugged it in and then the line got really hot...so until we take the lights off and replace them we can't turn the tree on.

After we decorated the tree Juliana and I made some salt dough ornaments and covered them in glitter.  I learned a big lesson that day...never do a glitter activity with a 2 year old when you have a newborn in the house!  Levi ended up with more glitter on him than Juliana did...and after 3 baths I'm still finding glitter on him :)  I knew that it was too humid here to do salt dough ornaments, but was hoping they might last till Christmas...however I think I might have to take them off tomorrow if they haven't already fallen off tonight...

Juliana and I also been checking out Christmas books from the library (and was embarrassed when Juliana thought the angel on the librarian's desk was a fairy), listened to MANY hours of Christmas music (we buy 1 CD each year that we stay in Honduras for the holidays...this year was Michael Buble), wrapped the gifts, watched 1 Christmas movie (so far), and will make paper snowflakes tomorrow morning!  And each morning when she wakes up, Juliana asks if it's Christmas Day yet and then tries to convince me that it is by showing me the tree (to prove it's Christmas-time) and then showing me the sun outside (to prove its day) :)  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy Due Date Levi!

I realized a couple days ago that I never updated the blog when Levi was born.  And since I also hadn't downloaded all of our pictures off the camera until today, I'll just do all of that today, October 30th, Levi's due date!

If you hadn't already heard, Levi William Webb was born at Honduras Medical Center on October 22nd, at 5:37 pm.  He had been estimated to weigh about 7 1/2 lbs, but the first thing the doctors said after he was born was, "wow, that's a big baby".  He weighed 8 lbs 10 oz at birth, and seemed a lot bigger that first day than he does now (his face was pretty swollen and round).  He is a very good baby, rarely cries, and pretty much just eats, sleeps, and tries not to be crushed by all of Juliana's hugs :)

Juliana loves her little brother A LOT and was very excited when he was born.  We didn't tell her his name before he was born, because we didn't want her to tell everyone.  Most of the time she remembers his name now, but when I asked her today she told me his name was Baby Brother Webb :)  I think the excitement may start to wear off soon though...its very hard for me to get out of the house with the both of them and Kyle's been very busy lately, so pretty much Juliana, Levi, and I are home all of the time.  Before he was born we would at least walk to school a few times a week.  Now, every morning she asks me where we're going today, and when I tell her we're staying home she's pretty disappointed.  She has however gotten to go on a couple play dates and to a Fall party this weekend.  Should've taken a picture before we put the jacket and crocks on, but she went as a ballerina.

And just in case you don't have facebook, here's some of the ones I'm posting there...

Our new house!

A couple weeks ago Kyle, Juliana, and I went up to the school to look at the progress made on our new house.  Kyle had seen it somewhat recently, but this was the first time that I had been up in a couple months.  It actually looks like a house!  

This is the back side of the house; we'd have the right side (the part that's slightly lower).    There will be a patio on the back side (where the pillars are) with patio doors walking into the living room/dining room area.  The lower level also has a kitchen with pantry, 1/2 bathroom, and laundry room.  The 2nd floor with have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and an open area at the top of the steps for an office and maybe a smaller living room or play area or something.

This is the front side of the house (ours is the left side).  You can also see the water tower that they built in the background.  They've also dug a sewer system and have started digging the foundation of a 2nd building (that will have 4 apartments with 2 bedrooms each).

It's a little hard (exhausting) for me to get up there with Juliana, so I haven't been back since, but they were supposed to start on the 2nd floor last week.  Before we left for the summer we had been told they would start work immediately and have it done around Christmas.  There were some additional problems with the permits, so work didn't really start till August.  If I heard correctly, the builders are still being told the Christmas deadline, with the actual deadline being Easter.