Elli and Lydia

Umi has been coming to our house weekly since Elli was born to help me around the house. She has grown fond of our girls. She can make them both cackle almost instantly. It's amazing. We are so grateful for Umi!

Today Lydia sat on the couch with our photo album. She pointed to a picture of Gramps and said, "See, Mamps. Say Grr, Grr, Mamps." Ha! She is having a conversations with herself that we have with her often. She can say green, great, gray, etc. But Meemaw and Mamps are what comes out for Grandma and Gramps. We are not giving up. We still have our 'grrr-and-ma' and 'grrr-amps' lessons each day. :)

HaPpY bIrThDaY LyDiA!!!

Sunday we celebrated Lydia's 2nd Birthday! Above she is wearing a new dress and her new dress up shoes (on the wrong feet)!

Sunday evening we had some friends over to swim and eat pizza.

Many families are out of town during this time of year due to school being out. And several of Lydia's friends from church have been sick. So we had a mostly grown-up crowd. There were two of Lydia's friends and three little babies.

But Lydia seems to have no problem with age difference. She has more fun playing with the adults that then kids sometimes. :) Above is Ka Hing. He and his wife Ju Li are in our cell group and go to our church. Ka Hing is a big kid!! So much fun!

And this is our friend Phyli. She is wonderful with our girls!

This is BK throwing Lydia in the air and Yong Yi to the right enjoying Elli. These guys head up our Bible Studies every Friday night. They are a blessing to be around and to have in our lives!

Kristy found the perfect dress for Lydia...

It has elephants on it and a little purse. She found it in Thailand!

Lydia enjoyed her chocolate birthday cake for a few minutes and then put it down when she spotted an orange. Who else would turn down chocolate cake for an orange??

Our cell group also helped us celebrate Elli's Full Moon. It is a Chinese tradition to celebrate the life of a child when the baby reaches one month. They brought red eggs and tortoise shells. The red eggs are hard boiled eggs died red, which signifies life and happiness. The tortoise shells have a jelly/cakey outer shell molded in a turtle shell mold with green bean sweet paste inside. They symbolize long life.

It was a special day all around! Sharon, our professional photographer friend took some pics at the party. We don't have those quite yet, but I thought these could hold you over.

Our Girls!

This past Saturday one of the Refugee schools held a fair to help raise money.

Micah, Lydia and Ray went to support the school... and play! I stayed home with Elli to get a much needed nap!

Lydia won some prizes from games and also walked away with a tummy full of yummy food and sweets!

Caitlyn (left) and Lydia (right of our Lydia)

Sunday after church we had two birthday parties to attend. Lydia is so cute with her friends.

And this is our friend Ezra!

Elli is still just laying around looking cute... most of the time. She has started a pattern of staying up for long periods in the evening with a tummy ache.

I don't know what it is about this little munchkin, but something about her reminds me of baby pictures of her Uncle Zach.

She has out grown two new born outfits. We still have two packs of new born diapers. I hope she can hold off on the growing just a bit so we can use those precious diapers.

Lydia is oh so cute, BUT she is definitely a two year old. Well almost. She has really started putting up a fight with us. It takes all of our energy to keep up with these two girls.

Here is Lydia playing in Daddy's office.

We have had a pretty heavy few days. I am feeling particularly leaky eyed. I have been told by many to expect that after giving birth. Lydia's chronic 'do the opposite of what we want her to do' is emotionally wearing, especially with a chronic lack of sleep. And this week we had a friend from church pass away. She had a car accident last week and never stabilized enough for needed surgery. She had a disorder from birth that caused her bones to be very fragile. She has been in a wheelchair her whole life. Her name was Carol. Micah and I have vivid memories at the forefront of our minds of Carol entertaining Lydia during church. We were not very close to Carol, but it is still devastating that our sister is no longer us.

Daddy bonding!

Micah lights up when he has his girls in his arms. They have had some good bonding time this week with Micah being home more.

This is a very common scene. One arm to hold Elli. And the other to keep Lydia off of Elli.

My mom sent some of Lydia's newborn clothes. It is so special to see Elli in Lydia's clothes. I didn't expect that to be sentimental for me, but it definitely is.

Roy and Kristy brought us dinner Tuesday night. They also brought Elli some mittens, Lydia some new sunglasses and hair bows, and me a Jello No Bake Cheese Cake mix! I don't have an oven, so my baking cravings have had to go deprived.

We are so grateful for our friends here! Our team and our cell group and our friends from church have been wonderful! We feel so loved and cared for. Thank you!!!

Learning to be sisters

Lydia has done really well playing by herself. The other day she put on every piece of jewelry she owns.

I thought it was so cute I did a photo shoot.

She is so serious. Getting them on just right is important to her.

She has also taken advantage of our being tied up with Elli. Yesterday Lydia was too quiet. I went hunting and found her in the bathroom putting her toothpaste on her legs like lotion. HA! What a mess.

And this is what Elli does. She is a lazy girl right now. She did stay awake for almost two hours today. And has slept non stop the rest of the day. I had forgotten how sleepy the little ones are.

Only 1 more week until our little Elli is due to come.

I realize I left you in suspense. I failed to show you the final product of our Batik outing. Here is Lydia's mater piece. I am amazed! If you would have seen her in action, you would have never thought such beautiful colors would result.

And here is my attempt at Batik. Elephants are a favorite for Lydia for Lydia right now.

Micah and Lydia have been working to build the tallest tower possible. This one was pretty impressive.

They even carried it into the kitchen area to show me while I was preparing dinner.

Hi Grandma!! Micah got a shot of us skyping my mom. I don't even remember him taking this picture. We must have been in deep conversation over her newly painted walls. :)

Lydia must have gotten bored with us. She is just like her daddy. Always pulling out a book when there is a moment of down time.

Saturday we put up Elli's bed. It has been really exciting talking about her arrival. We are trying our best to prepare Lydia. It reminds us of how we are awaiting the arrival of Christ. Elli is here in me now, but she is not here with us the way she will be very soon. We live in anticipation. Elli could come anytime now. And we live our days differently, making sure we are able to get to the hospital at the unexpected moment. Micah has been a huge encouragement. Reminding us often of what we are living for! We are like Lydia. Trying to grasp the reality that Christ is here with us, yet He is coming to reign and be with us in a way we have not yet experienced. We live our lives differently with this promise and assurance. I don't know if that makes sense. Micah said it much better. But the beauty of this analogy has a grip on us now as we eagerly wait for Elli to come!

Woo-hoo! We got a camera!!

This week we had lots of doctor visits.

Here is Lydia playing as we wait to see her Pediatrician for her vaccinations.

Along with another little boy waiting to see the Doc.

It's amazing how all little people become instant friends.

Then we went to my OBGYN to check up on Elli.

And Lydia got her usual special treatment. The midwife that assists our doctor spoils Lydia with chocolate every time.

We also made a trip to the dentist this week. We didn't manage to get a picture of that, but you know how exciting the dentist is.

Friday, Lydia and I went to do Batik! I love doing Batik!

Lydia's painting was interesting. I let her go wild. Despite my doubt, her butterfly turned out beautiful! And it is super special because it is totally her doing!

I managed to monitor Lydia and paint my own. So fun!

We have visitors here from the states. We have been showing them around town and exposing them to some of the work we are involved in. They are interested in moving to this region to serve. Micah has taken them to the Afghan Refugee school and will take them to the Rohingya school tomorrow. It is a blessing to see them rejoice in how the Lord is working here.

Today after church we all went to lunch.

And then returned home for a Sunday afternoon rest. I would say nap, but Lydia decided we had enough sleep and should just hang out on mommy and daddy's bed instead.

Just a little picture update...

Lydia playing with my face. Baby Elli with only two and a half more weeks of baking to go.

Lydia giving me sweet kisses!

Lydia helping mommy push the buggy.

She got some free stickers at the grocery store.

Lydia playing at church.