Settling In

We've been here a month now- that went quick!  But we have settled into a routine of sorts that will be completely upended here in a short time with baby coming along quickly.  Danny's been working remotely in the mornings and then is home with the rest of us in the afternoons and evenings.  Sometimes we'll have plans but for the most part we've been enjoying this time of rest and normalcy before big changes come!

After we left my family we headed out to Danny's but stopped halfway in between for a few days of our missionary orientation.  I have but one picture from that time.

But really, that's how we all felt!  It was a wonderful time but it was packed with information and thinking and processing and fellowship and we were tired!!  But definitely worth it for us.  We loved being with others who are on the field, some we know very well and some not so well.  To get thoughts and perspective from those in other places who have been on the field a lot longer than us was enlightening and encouraging!

Then we headed the rest of the way to our home base where we pretty much immediately started in with family time!

We were there for the annual zoo trip which the kids loved but I have to say it's quite a bit more enjoyable for me when I'm not waddling around with a maternity belt and compression socks:)  Thank goodness for benches in the shade!

Since we are going to be here longer than a normal furlough, we decided to actually send Summer to Kindergarten rather than try to home school for just a few months with a brand new baby.  After counting down the days for a long time, she was SO excited when the first day finally rolled around.  But then she woke up that morning with a nasty cold and we decided we better not send her.  Tears were shed, that's for sure!  But a few days later she was deemed well enough to go and it was Oh Happy Day!  So far she has loved it and we are happy to have a place that kindly lets us send her for just a short while!

My birthday is this week and I told Danny I really didn't have high expectations this year because of how life is right now but he exceeded anything I had in mind!  The kids each got me a little something form the dollar store and I got to open one present each day.

On Wednesday, the day before my birthday, he informed me he would not be working that day and we had plans!  We dropped the kids off at grandma's and went to Shipshewana for the day!  I had never been there and had dropped hints that I would like to go sometime.  Apparently my hints made Danny think I had been there before because he was surprised when I told him I had never been there!

We did some walking around the flea market and a few other places too, but we didn't push it too hard because of aforementioned waddling/belt/socks situation.  One of my favorite parts of the day was our horse and buggy ride with our driver Elmer.  He was such a nice old fella and I really enjoyed hearing about his life and talking about Anabaptist history and spiritual things! 

And then on top of all that he got me a couple presents from himself that were the kind of gifts that make you know he's paying attention to the things you like and that would mean something:)

Thursday we came back out to Illinois to squeeze in one last weekend before the baby comes.  And speaking of the baby, I had very minimal prenatal care in Haiti.  Partly because of COVID and partly because there just isn't as much routine prenatal care down there.  And what I did have, I had no records to show for it.  So my doctor has been catching me up on all the blood work and tests and such and wanted to to an ultrasound as well.  So I did that on Tuesday.  And surprise!!  The baby we've thought to be a girl since week 13 is apparently a boy!  Most likely that is true, but I hardly know what to think and I'm not sure it's completely sunk in for me yet.  And who knows- maybe it really is still a girl.  I like to get "going home from the hospital" outfits and I told Danny I might have to get one of each gender just to cover all my bases:)  We had two ultrasounds in Haiti and both times I agreed with the doctor that it looked like a girl but on Tuesday things definitely looked different than before!  Either way, we're good.  There were a few more tears shed by Summer when we told her but I think she's accepted it and moved on by now.

So until next time...