Time Flies

I can't believe I haven't written since Jades birthday. I guess I could say that haven't had time but I think the truth would be that I hadn't stopped long enough to make time. So, today I'm making time. We have had busy two months but good, the Lord is always growing us and providing in ways we never would have guessed. So, here is what we've been up to...

Baby Jonas growing bigger and bigger, last week marked 30 weeks, only 10 or so to go! Its been fun this pregnancy having Jamen and Jade more aware of whats going on. I think Jade is more excited, she likes to say "Hi" to my tummy or pat her belly and say "here is my baby Jonas". We practice being nice to her baby dolls and holding them with our hands under the head and bottom, Jade says "I hold baby nice" when she does it right. What a joy this pregnancy had been despite the summer heat and normal pregnancy highs and lows. 

The real excitement this past month starts with replacing of our bedroom floors (ours and the kids). Looking back I can say it was a great time for learning work ethic and culture. I will admit in the middle of it all it was very hard and long. In-order for this work to go on, we had to move everything out of our bedroom and the kids bedroom and into the dinning room/living room. 

Jade thought this was the best thing ever! It did have its perks at time but mostly it was hard (just being honest). We have one entrance to the house so all the cement and dirt came in through the living room area and into the bedrooms. I should note that the actual construction time was only 4 days but with moving everything out of the rooms and then back in and cleaning it took a total of 7 days. 

On day three of living in one room, doing gymnastics over the bathroom floor and bedroom floors, not sleeping cause of the heat, I took the day off. I made cookies and had a tea party with the kids.  

Here is the bathroom floor! 

After two months and 4 days of having cockroaches, bad smells and having to walk funny to get in the bathroom, here is the new bathroom floor! It took us a few days to get use to walk into the bathroom normally. 

Here is Jamen playing on the new bedroom floor. We are loving the new floors! They are easy to clean and brighten up the rooms. So in those two weeks (including  the time it took to fix the bathroom) we learned a ton, I'd say the biggest thing we learned was that we are in another country. We cannot expect things to go how we would normally think, that is a very hard thing to wrap your mind around. We learned how the houses are built here, how they lay floors, how workers get jobs, how they are paid and so much more. 

Before the construction started I want to go back a few weeks and tell a quick story. About mid January I reached point of frustration, I had had enough of feeling like I didn't know anything. I had reached a point in my language study were even though I was getting in 40 hours a week I wasn't getting enough time speaking one-on-one with people. Every time we were with people they would talk to Jon, which is totally understandable, he can speak the language. Me on the other hand could only manage to understand a few words and by the time I did figure out what was said the conversation had moved on. I was only getting 2 hours a week of speaking time with people. I had looked into trying to get more time with people but it wasn't working out, I was kinda out of options. One day I finally asked a friend "what should I do?" and got some new ideas, I was ready to start them the next day. However later that night we got a phone call from the friend whom I had asked advice and she told us she had just gotten a phone call from one of ladies that I normally have language sessions with. The lady said she "wanted to help Jen more and the only days she wasn't free were Wednesdays." Jon had answered the phone and when he told me everything I started to cry. It was such a God thing, I hadn't told this lady that I needed more talking time, nor did she know that Wednesdays, at the time, was the worst day of week for us as well. We worked out the details and now I have 7-8 hours totally of language time, which is big jump for the 2 hours a week. Already I have found that in the last 6 weeks my speaking has gotten a lot better, I can at least get some words out before the conversation moves on. My goal is to keep studying very hard these last few weeks before my next evaluation mid April and before Jonas arrives, sometime end of April. Just wanted to share how the Lord continues to provide when you think all is lost!