Family Update

Here's our sweet boy with his glasses. He may not always need them, so I better get these cute pictures while I can! He's really doing well with them, especially after getting a little strap from Grandma that helps keep them on. He doesn't appear to think about them being on when he uses the strap. Just this morning, he asked to wear them so he could read something. So, they must be helping him. We'll be going back to the doctor next week to check his progress and I've already made an appointment for him to see a specialist in the states when we return this summer.
Just so everyone knows, we are winding down on our time here in Peru. We have been amazed by how much God has done in and through us over these past two years. Now, we are beginning to realize how little time we have left here, although we're not exactly sure how long that will be. We completed two years of living in Peru in March, however, it was never clear whether the two-year commitment included the language study of 7 months at the beginning. So, we are staying beyond our two years (depending on how you look at it), but now taking the needed time to phase out of ministry here. We do plan to return home in time for Michael to find a job and begin teaching (or something else that the Lord opens up). So, currently, we are still trying to determine our leaving date based on other gifts that come in, beyond the two year period. As soon as we know a departure date, we'll be happy to share it!
We are very split right now as we process leaving a country and people we have come to love and returning to "normalcy" at home. Certainly, we have changed, so what was normal is no more. We have grown-up, quite literally in Noah's case, from just barely walking to a busy preschooler. But we, too, have grown into our roles as mommy and daddy, husband and wife, missionaries - all this in a Peruvian context. Surely some of those things are going to change as we return home. Our roles will not change, but how we do them likely will. We are only at the very beginning of all the transtion that lies before us and the hardest part will be saying good-bye to our friends and "family" here.

Ethan's Video Debut

This busy mother-of-two is beginning to figure out her new life; i.e. finding time to blog and do fun things like make videos again. Forgive us for not sharing more along the way, but here's a video to catch you up on all of Ethan's growing over the last 2 months.

Glasses

This morning, before church, Michael presented Noah with his cool new glasses! Aren't they sweet??! He did a great job with them for his first day, wearing them about half the time. We're working on keeping them on, teaching him how to put them on by himself, not getting fingerprints all over them, pushing them up when they fall down his nose...this is a lot for a very busy 3-year-old boy. Sigh. Little by little. Everyone at church was so encouraging to him, especially our friends that also have glasses! This is certainly a big adjustment for all of us. We are grateful for your prayers - the Lord is giving us an extra measure of grace and patience with Noah right now with all these changes.

Another cute brother picture

Potty Training update: the potty played 1 song for him last night (= success!) and today he woke up dry from his nap! (Don't worry, I won't always update on this, but just wanted to say that we're making progress!)

6 Weeks Old

Wow, finally I have a second to blog just a little...we'll see how much I can type out with both hands before somebody needs me to hold them. (c: Yes, Ethan is 6 weeks old and my, how the time has flown! I still plan to blog about the time when our parents were here, I just might have to wait until I have a bigger chunk of time.
Since they left, though, Noah began school again, where they have insisted that he be potty-trained. That's been fun. We'll keep you posted on that progress once we see a little more. We also determined that Noah, in fact, needs glasses to correct "strabismus", which means his eyes aren't quite lined up. Read more here . We still have a lot to learn about this and it will be a big adjustment for Noah. If he wears them all the time, there's a good chance that the problem can be corrected and he won't need the glasses anymore. There's also a chance that he may need to wear a patch over the stronger eye for a time during the treatment. This is a lot to handle for a 3-yr-old, not to mention us, as we will surely need to encourage him to keep them on all the time.
Anyways, these two brothers are getting along great. Noah, upon waking or arriving home from school, immediately asks for Ethan and still just loves holding and kissing him! The other day, Noah heard Ethan sneeze and said, "Ethan has the bless you's!" He always talks to him in a higher pitch, sweet voice - must have picked that up from somewhere.
Ethan is starting to smile at me a little, but I still haven't been able to catch it in a picture. He's sleeping, at times, for 6 hour stints through the night in his own room. Truly, he is so sweet and I am just trying to soak up this stage as much as I can - now, I understand how quickly it goes.
Forgive the random nature of this blog I hope to be a little more coherent in those to come.

Tito with the little guy on St. Patrick's Day

On our way to pick out some glasses with big brother

He still sleeps a lot

But when he's awake, he's a good wiggler!

Noah opening his brand new musical potty chair!

Lots going on!

We just watched my parents leave in a taxi, headed to the airport. It has been a wonderful week shared together, full of memories and proper grandson-spoiling. We'll have to post pictures later, but they got to see much of Lima and our life here, and of course spend lots of quality time with the new nieto Ethan. It seemed so short, and it is sad to see them go. But...
Early tomorrow morning Laura's parents arrive! What a blast to have all of our parents come visit! We'll try to update more as they arrive. This is a beautiful time for all of us.

Semantics

The other day Noah and I were walking down the street, practicing our counting to ten. Thinking he needed a new challenge, I asked him, "Noah, can you count backwards from ten?"

Before I could explain or give an example, he turned around, started walking backwards, and continued, "...two, three, four...."

A little comparison...

This is Noah, maybe a week or so after he was born...

And here's Ethan...

Now, just for fun, here's what Noah's been reading recently. My, how he's grown-up!

Here's Ethan with little Janna Hope Ross - their first meeting on Ethan's one week birthday.

More Pictures...

We're mostly going to post pictures here. If anyone wants to hear more about the birth feel free to e-mail us. Short version: Ethan was born at a birth center, in a big bathtub. We arrived at 7pm on Thursday the 5th, he was born at 10:30pm and we were walking in the door to our apartment at 8am after trying to rest at the center for the night. My recovery has been awesome.

Noah couldn't wait to hold Ethan when we got home. Right away, he ran to wash his hands without us even asking, so he could hold him.

My sweet Salvatierra guys!

Ethan with his hat from Aunt Kerry. Noah said, "He needs some more clothes on!" and ran to get this hat and matching booties.

Our first attempt at the "bucket bath" - we're still learning about this new bathing method.

Our first night home, all together in the bean bag. Noah wouldn't have it any other way.

Sweet feet

Noah is very affectionate and gentle with Ethan!

Elita gets a turn. She has been such a big help to us!

Our first outing, last night, to visit the Pediatrician. He's looking great!

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us over these last several days!! God has been so good in protecting us, keeping us healthy, and smoothing this transition from 1 to 2 precious boys. We give Him all the praise for such a perfect delivery!

Ethan Matthew Salvatierra

BabysHere.com: Photo Birth Announcements

Waiting for our little boy

Here we are at 38 weeks and a few days along....honestly, right now I feel like things are changing, so heads up - I think this little guy will be making an appearance soon! After our last sonogram and OB appointment (everything looks great!) on Monday morning, we made a family day of it and went to the Parque del Olivar to get some last pregnant pictures. Here are some favorites.

Laura's 28th Birthday

Surely, this has been my most memorable birthday ever. My only request this year was that we didn't have a big party. It all began the evening of January 25th, when I recieved the call from my teammate Amanda, that it was time for her to have her baby. I had just finished putting Noah to bed and got my second wind, preparing myself to be awake for the majority of the night. Susan and I took a taxi to the Rosses house, where Susan stayed with Kayla and Bella, and I got to accompany Amanda and Jeremy to the birth center. As much as I would like to share the details from that point - it's really their story, so I better not, but I will say little Janna was born at 1:30 on my birthday, in the quiet, peaceful environment of a big bath tub! It was the most beautiful birth I have ever had the opportunity to witness! The whole process was clearly ordered by our Creator. By 5am, I was walking in the door of our apartment, Amanda and Jeremy dropped me off on their way home to introduce Janna to her big sisters!

Michael let me sleep in and I woke to the smell of waffles and Noah came to wake me with a sweet, "Happy Birthday, Mommy." I went back to sleep after Noah went to school, the rest of the afternoon was lovely and restful. We had a little family celebration with Noah; I took him to the park while Michael made our favorite Marble Cake cookies as my birthday cake this year - it was perfect! The only candles we happened to have were tealights, so it worked great for the cookies. Truly, I was just delighted by the simplicity and the love I could feel packed into those cookies. Susan came over and put Noah to bed while Michael and I went out for Thai food at one of the few such restaurants in Lima. There, Michael gave me tickets for the following night to see a highly acclaimed folkloric dance performance at "Las Brisas de Titicaca" - a show I've been wanting to see for a while, and one that would be difficult to see after the baby comes because it goes so late at night. We returned home and just before bedtime, Michael showed me a very special 30-min video that he had compiled of all of our friends here in Lima, wishing me a happy birthday!! He had traveled all over the city getting in touch with people to put this together - it was so encouraging, and a special memoir to bring home with us to remind us of all of our dear friends here! (Some of you may remember when he did a similar thing for me in college) Then he somehow got me to check my hotmail e-mail account and I saw all the dozens and dozens of birthday wishes that he had reminded people to send my way - wow!

I felt so cared for and loved! Thank you to you all who participated in making this such a special birthday for me!!!!!

The following evening, Elita came to put Noah to bed and spent the night, so that we could go to the show at Las Brisas. It was so beautiful! The live music was fabulous - we did get to dance, very gently. (c: What a special treat just before the baby is born.

Just today, Amanda, Sara, Susan, and I got to go out for brunch. It was sortof a belated birthday brunch/celebrate Amanda and Janna getting-out-of-the-house brunch. It was fun to be with just the girls. Lori would be there too, but they are back in the States right now.

Vacation Bible School

A couple weeks ago, a team from New Life City fellowship came and helped our church do a vacation bible school for the kids in our neighborhood. It was for ages 4-12 and God brought around 60 kids to learn about His love for them and their families. Michael participated using his professional skills as a music teacher to instruct a basic music class throughout the week, ultimately teaching the kids "Father, I Adore You" in a round. Here's a little clip:

Happy Birthdays!

Here are the promised pictures and video footage of Noah and Michael's celebrations. For both of my guys' birthday breakfasts they enjoyed a chocolate chip bagel (somewhat of a delicacy here - since chocolate chips and bagels are not easy nor cheap to come by). On Sunday, after naptime, we celebrated Noah's 3rd by taking him to "Parque de la Amistad," a beautiful park, complete with its own steam engine train! We got there just in time for the last ride of the day.

Monday, Michael's birthday, we celebrated with a big party for both him and Noah. This year I tried my hand at making ice cream cakes for each of them. They turned out pretty well aside from a mishap with the writing sticking to the lid of Michael's. But you really can't go wrong with these things because all the ingredients are so tasty, it's bound to produce a yummy cake! Michael was the master of events for the kids and came up with a fun musical game and the classic fishing for treasure game. Noah did pretty well for the party considering that he had skipped his nap that day - there were only a few small outbursts. His favorite parts were probably near the end when he was the center of attention, kicking a ball around the room for everyone and then getting to hold Tio Carlos' Army Saber - Carlos had come straight from work.

The following evening, we went to Robin and Elita's home and had another little party, since neither they nor our friends John and Heather (whom Elita also works with) could come the night before. We got to meet the Chapman's new baby girl, Michaela, just a few weeks old at this point.

Enjoy the video!

Peruivian Ingenuity

We've seen this many times, but this time it was happening right in front of our house. We couldn't help but take a video to share with you the marvels of bricklaying teamwork here.

Double the Fun Baby Shower

Here are a few pictures from the Baby Shower for Amanda and I last weekend. It was held at our church (the school building where we meet). They made us feel like princesses, decorating our "thrones" and placing crowns on our heads. It was fun to have both girl and boy baby things represented, resulting in a lovely mix of pink and blue decor. (c:

We played some silly games too!

It was just so fun to have friends here to celebrate with! We felt very loved and cared for by our dear teammates and church friends. Amanda is in her final days of this pregnancy now - you can be praying for her! I'm not far behind. I think it'll become more real for me after Amanda has hers.

This was from a girls morning out last week. We went to our favorite Cafe, San Antonio's for lunch - one of the safe places where you can get a good salad!! These are the ladies of the team in order from left to right are Susan, Lori, Sara, Amanda, and me.

The Celebrating Continues

Just this evening, we celebrated for the third time in just three days! Saturday, the ladies on our team and from church hosted a sweet double baby shower for both Amanda Ross and me. Her baby is due just a few weeks before ours.
Sunday, was Noah's 3rd Birthday! It came and went so fast, but we tried to make it a special family day, going to church and then to a special park with a train after naptime. It was lovely for just the "four" of us to celebrate.
And, today, before the clock turns midnight, I want to wish my precious husband a happy 29th birthday! We kinda did a combined party for him and Noah this evening, as our teammates and lots of friends from church came to "festejar" with us. With baby brother only getting bigger and bigger, this "simple" party was just about all I could do this year. It was fun though, to have our home filled with sweet friends that care so much for us.
All this to say...the pictures are coming....and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL! I am SO blessed to be your wife and I look forward to celebrating many more double birthdays for you and Noah!

After a break

Well, after two weeks off, I can safely say that is one resolution not kept. We had a great New Years on a church retreat/prayer vigil, and it has been busy since. Still, I have had a lot of good time for reflection and regrouping, both for the new year, and to make the most of our last several months here. In this year I do plan to share more of those thoughts and reactions on the blog. I always find I can organize my thoughts more clearly when I write, and it makes sense to post them, especially when they can give a more thorough picture of life here, in all its highs and lows. And with how inconsistently we send our prayer letters, its only fair to those who have so faithfully supported our ministry in various ways. God is at work here, and it's both trying and thrilling to be a part of it. Thank you for all your encouragement and prayers, and we hope 2009 is a beautiful year for all of you!

Christmas Festivities

It's been busy around here! Thankfully it's all been a lot of fun and helped us enjoy the anticipation and celebration of Christ's birth. Noah has had so much fun preparing for Christmas - he especially loved the advent candles and calendar and reminded us to do it every day. He now understands the story of the Nativity quite well and playing with the pieces of our advent calendar really helped. He has also really enjoyed the music of Christmas, often asking for us to play "Feliz Navidad" (which you'll see in the video - every part with him and/or Michael and the guitar is him playing along to the song). At bedtime, he would ask for the "Glory Song," or "Angels we Have Heard on High" - he sings along with the "Glooooria" part.

The festivities began with Noah's preschool performance - Noah was an "angel" (but we already knew that(c:). He danced with his class to the songs "Campanas de Belén," (Bells of Bethlehem) "Te Quiero" (I love you) and "Cristo Me Ama" (Jesus loves me) - and he did the best he's ever done at a school performance! It was darling.

Then, Sunday, he was an "angel" again for the church Navitiy play - this day, though, he was not SO angelic - the video taken missed the temper tantrum in the middle, where he laid face down on the floor. But regardless, it was cute to see all the little ones participating with their costumes.

Tuesday evening we hosted our first musical Christmas party! This has been a long standing tradition in Michael's family, and missing it so much, we thought we'd try it here. Michael made song sheets with many classic carols, just translated. It was so fun to share this sweet tradition with so many of our Peruvian friends. The party was complete with the Peruvian tradition of special spiced hot chocolate, always accompanied by panetón. We stayed up late after the party to finish making our gifts to friends - chocolate truffles and chocolate dipped macaroons - made with all the love and care we could pack into them. (c:

Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we prepared food to bring to the Wards and enjoyed celebrating with just our missionary team that afternoon. Michael brought our piano, Jim played the guitar, and we sang all our favorite carols in English this time. Sara Ward led the kids through a special advent book and let each of them participate in the readings or placement of nativity characters in the stable scene. Noah fell asleep in the car, so we couldn't remind him of what would happen in the morning. He was so tired that he slept through the other big Peruvian tradition - a huge firework display throughout the whole city! They are all personal fireworks, nothing official, but many are as big as the professional kinds, and are launched from every block and every street. Michael and I grabbed our hot chocolate and went to watch up on our roof - it was impressive - and LOUD.

On Christmas morning, Noah came in to sleep with us at 4:45 - a sleeping issue we're working on (c: About an hour later, he was still with us, so I crept out of bed to lay on the couch and wait to catch that first moment of him seeing the Christmas tree with all the presents under it on video. We should add here that we are so grateful for the ability to have presents and a Christmas tree. We know there are so many Peruvians who do not have either. Thank you to those of you who even took the trouble to send things or cards to us! It means so much, being so far from home during the holidays.

I had to tell Noah to look before he realized that there were gifts. Then he said that "Santa Claus came because he was kind!" (Some other Santa quotes this month include "Santa Claus is coming to Baby Jesus too!" and "I love Jesus. I love Santa Claus too!" One day he'll figure it all out, but for now we love his sweet imagination.)

We took our time opening presents one by one, enjoying the thoughtfulness of each. Then we had a special pancake breakfast followed by a very lazy day of talking to family and playing at the park - on a gorgeous summer day! Noah went to bed early after skipping his nap, so Michael and I had time to finish up our evening with a good game of Scrabble by the light of our advent wreath and Christmas tree. While he indeed beat me again, it was close!

Enjoy the highlights video of all of the fun.

Merry Christmas

Welcome, all wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span,
Summer in winter, day in night,
Heaven in earth, and God in man!
Great little One, whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to Heaven, stoops Heav'n to earth.

Richard Crashaw, 1612-1649
"In the Holy Nativity of Our Lord God"

"Incarnation" by Denise Day Spencer

He stands,

poised on the brink of two worlds:
One, land of eternal day,
the other, earth of mire and clay.

Behind Him,
legions of heavenly host,
bright faces covered, praising,
all chanting, voices raising.

Before Him,
chaos yawning, swift and deep,
known, yet unknown. Fear unfurling,
death and darkness churning, swirling.

He turns.
One last look at golden glory.
The Three part; He is now One.
The Father’s voice says, “Go well, my Son.”

He leaps
into the abyss.

His next memory will be a Mother’s kiss.

~ Denise Day Spencer, January 1999

(via internetmonk)

Last Day of School!

Noah just finished his last day of preschool for this year! We'll be going to pick-up his "grades" on Monday, but I have a feeling he passed. Tomorrow morning is his "clausura," I suppose a graduation ceremony/Chirstmas play of sorts. We'll be sure to post something about that! We're so proud of our boy for doing well in his all-Spanish-speaking preschool!

His first day of school - my, how he's grown!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my mother, and to my dear former piano teacher, Martha Smith, for collaborating to send the music I was looking for!

Because of the order in which posts went up, readers may have missed the thorough Noah update that Laura posted - see below for exceedingly cute pictures.

Music help?

Quick question - is there anyone out there with a Carols for Choirs 1 book and a scanner who would like to spread some Christmas cheer? I'm trying to get a hold of the O Come All Ye Faithful, specifically the Willcocks' alternative harmonizations for the last two verses, "Sing Choirs.." and "Yea, Lord.." I'm not up on my copyright law, but I'm pretty sure it's okay because I do own the book (it's back home), and I'm not using it for commercial purposes. The descant from Hark the Herald wouldn't hurt either. I know that's a major ask, and would be a fair amount of work to email it, but I figure it's worth a shot. If you're able and willing, please let me know. Thanks!

Noah Update

It's been a while since we've given a little update on our busy little boy. I can't believe he's turning the big 3 in January! When I look back at pictures, even of those taken when we first arrived in Peru, I marvel at how much he has grown and become his own little person.

He is a big talker - both in English and Spanish, while we think his English is probably better, we can't really tell because he usually only uses Spanish when there are Peruvians present. From what Elita tells us about the times she watches him, they have full discussions.

He is very active! We haven't used a stroller for probably a month or two since he's so good about walking (or running!) places with us. He could care less if he falls down, while Peruvians gush and marvel at his bravery - they don't like to let their small children run for fear of their falling. Most recent close call? We were playing in our little park and Noah ran right into a rose bush while retrieving a ball. Indeed a branch had impaled his forehead with 3 thorns - he did cry about that! Thankfully, they were superficial wounds and healed up well.

He is an artist, in every way! He loves to color and draw...sing and dance...and play a variety of instruments! We can't wait to see how he will further develop all of these skills. Some of his favorite songs right now are "Your Grace is Enough" by Chris Tomlin (complete with motions we do together), "Feliz Navidad (with his guitar or air trumpet)," and "Frosty the Snowman" (after Grandma read him the book on Skype). He really likes to make up his own little ditties or insert funny words into a song. A favorite - "Old MacDonald had a farm...and on that farm he had a cake!" (followed by raucous laughter)

Can you see the bunny and snowman?

He's a big reader...I wonder where he gets that from? Just yesterday, at a friend's house, Noah chose to spend a good part of the time with their books, instead of the friends. Perhaps an introvert in the making? He also asks a lot of questions now when we read together - about new words or what different phrases mean, like " What's 'Dash away, dash away, dash away all!' ?"

He loves to pretend - having his stuffed animals and figurines talk to each other. Often he'll tell me "You're Goliath and I'm David," wielding some sort of "slingshot" to spin around and aim at my forehead. He likes playing "running and tickle" or hide-and-go-seek with Daddy - actually he likes playing most games with Daddy. But Mommy and baby brother are who he usually runs to for snuggling and comfort.

He likes to talk to baby brother and "wake him up" by giving my tummy raspberries - sure enough, it usually makes him kick. About a month ago, we were walking to a friends' house in the late afternoon, and could see the moon beginning to rise. I pointed it out to Noah and he was happy. Then he asked us, "Can baby brother say 'the moon'?" I explained that he can't talk right now and that Noah would have to help teach him how to talk. So, he stopped me on the sidewalk, put his hand on my belly, pointed, and said slowly and carefully, "the moon." I think he's going to be a great big brother!

Here he is helping me go through baby brother's clothes...

...believe it or not, he had a lot of fun looking at them all, pointing out the little ducks, balls, whales, and cars on them.

Noah continues to teach us the joys and trials of parenthood - while he makes us laugh so often, we are learning the challenges that come with disciplining a nearly 3-yr-old. He reminds us of how very stubborn we are before God, wanting to do our own thing even when He knows it's not what is best for us. How much better a parent God is than I am! We have a lot to learn from him about patience, compassion, and grace.

Trust must be earned

Just read a very interesting Economist article about attitudes toward government and democracy in Latin America. With some notable exceptions, freedom is growing slowly but steadily, though people are mostly unhappy with their own country's system. In a survey taken, only one country, Uruguay, could claim more than 50% responding that they were "satisfied with the way demoncracy works in your country". At the bottom of that list - Peru, with only about 18% agreeing to that statement. As the text of the article puts it:
"Peruvians are particularly disgruntled. This is paradoxical; Peru's economy has grown faster than that of any other of the region's bigger economies both this year and last. Their discontent seems to reflect deep flaws in the political system." You can say that again! Peru's government is ruthlessly corrupt, and hasn't had the trust of the people for years. Recently the whole cabinet was forced to resign. More presidents have been installed through military coup than through fair elections, and bribery is common, almost expected at every level. I'm so glad this stuff doesn't happen in the U.S.

In other news, the Governor of Illinois.....