Welcome to the World Noah!!

He's here!! He's amazingly beautiful and a blessing we never deserved but have welcomed with open arms all the same. We give praise to His Creator the Almighty God who in His infinite wisdom saw fit to allow us to call this tiny little man our son, Caleb's little brother. He was born on December 15, 2010 at 2:30pm in Delhi, India. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 13oz. and we are still waiting on his length...apparently that isn't a big deal here. Caleb has taken to him so well and loves him already and helps so much. He is going to be an amazing big brother. We are getting discharged this evening and taking our family "home". We'll continue to post more pictures I'm sure, but pray for us as we start the process of paperwork and long lines - all the while celebrating an even more incredible birth - the birth of our Savior!

(**In reverse order because that is how I uploaded them and I'm not taking the time to rearrange!)

Ready to be discharged and get settled into our apartment!

Settling in for the night.

Getting kisses - and being a little upset because of the blowout mommy hasn't changed yet!

Holding his "baby no no" for the first time!

First kisses!

He walked in the door like such a little man wearing his daddy's hat and said, "HI no no!"

Moments after his grand entrance before they took him to clean him all up.

Last Moments of Being the Baby

This last month has been a roller coaster to say the least. Possibly more than any other time in our lives, we have put one foot in front of the other without knowing what is to come. For someone like me that likes to know the details, that has been extremely difficult. Everyone was certain Noah would join our family early, but God in His sovereignty has kept him safe inside thus far. Many of our current and future plans are in flux as we wait and see what God is going to do over the next month. In the midst of all of these things, it has been difficult to simply enjoy the here and now. I have a hard time enjoying this moment because I am so concerned about the next. So, it has been my aim these last few weeks to try and enjoy these moments with my baby. He will always be my first, the only one that I had completely to myself during infancy. So we are spending a lot of time snuggling and talking about baby Noah. We already know he is going to be an amazing brother. The ways that we see God at work in his little heart bring us to our knees! He is an amazing little boy, full of life and wonder and love...and we are just trying to soak in these last moments with this "baby"! These pictures aren't great (we are kind of living in a cave right now)...but the memories make our hearts burst!

This sweet couple was here in Delhi just before Caleb was born. They were so anxious to meet him but had to leave before he came. They met him months later in Thailand. They are so sweet to him, and Lord willing, if they are still in town, they will keep Caleb while we are at the hospital with Noah. They spoil him just like their own grandkids! And Caleb doesn't mind one bit..."hmmm, what's in the cup you've got there?"

"Ice cream?!!"

Jared was in classes and meetings all last week. While he was slaving away (leaving before 8 every morning and not getting home until after 9)...Caleb and I were just relaxing!

Yep! He stayed in his pajamas all day one day and we ate popcorn (along with some fruits and veggies) for lunch one day while watching Tom and Jerry (or in Caleb's world...cat and mouse).

He and Jared were snuggling on the couch under the blanket....it's cold inside! We told him to pretend like he was sleeping....and this is what we got!

He makes us laugh!!

Whoops!!

**I have been trying for days now to upload the videos, but our internet has been spotty. So I am going to go ahead and post this without them for now and hope to upload them soon!

Somehow, I managed to let an entire month pass without posting to the blog! For those of you that actually check the blog, I sincerely apologize. Every month I think I will do better, but I never manage to get posts up here regularly. We have been in Delhi for a couple of weeks now waiting on "baby brother no no" (as Caleb lovingly refers to him). Caleb now pats my belly and says "baby brother no no out"! Today I am officially "full term" at 37 weeks so we just praise God for bringing us this far and blessing us with an another amazing little boy that we will get to hold in our arms soon! In the meantime, you get to enjoy photos and video of the sweetest 2 year old boy and his adventures in Delhi!

It has been challenging going from quiet, small Kalimpong to crazy busy, noisy Delhi. Caleb spent most of his days outside while we were in Kalimpong and now we are in a small 2nd floor apartment in Delhi. God has provided some wonderful parks nearby for us to get out to and we are so grateful. Caleb wakes up in the mornings saying one of two things: "play park" or "dudh (Nepali for milk) cereal". We have had lots of fun playing in the parks here.

Our great friends and teammates joined us for Thanksgiving. It was such a blessing and made us feel not so far from home during the holidays. We had a wonderful meal with fellow co-workers and also got to spend several days taking them around Delhi.

I don't think Caleb has ever seen a football in person before, but he found this one on Thanksgiving day and didn't turn loose of it all day! He kept saying "my football". He and Daddy even took it to the park to throw it around.

Two Years Ago...

Two years ago, we experienced one of the greatest blessings we have ever known. We welcomed Caleb Josiah into this amazing and sometimes crazy life we live. It is impossibly difficult to believe that he is passing out of the "baby" stage and moving into the toddler stage. He is so much more wonderful than we ever dreamed possible. We celebrated his birthday with our close friends that we consider family now! He had a wonderful time and loved every minute of the hubbub, food, and playmates. We had a cookout with some of the best burgers we have ever had this side of the States. Brittany and I made a choo choo train cake for him (when you see the pictures just remember the love behind the cake) that he thought was a truck until we told him it was a choo choo train. He ate way too much cake and snuck some sprinkles with Brittany as well. He went to bed one tired, extremely loved and happy 2 year old!

Enjoying his hamburger, baked beans, potato salad, carrots and cucumbers with daddy.

He was so excited to get his very own cake!

He blew his candle out on the first try and then went for the sprinkles!

He loved his etch-a-sketch...and I love that he can draw and I don't have to worry about what he is writing on. He loves to draw and then make it go bye-bye.

Who on earth gave this boy a bat?! He loves it...but everyone else in the room was scared of him.

A set of 100 blocks to build with...wonderful fun to build towers and knock them down...hours spent putting them back in their box!

He loves playing with his friends Abby and Charles. He and Abby were making some music with his new drum and the lid from the blocks that makes a great drum as well!

Blogger Failure

Well, I think I am officially a blogger failure. I have great intentions of posting pictures and fun stories, but that very rarely materializes. I don't have a lot of self-discipline, and I let life creep in and keep me from doing some important things. So, I'm sorry I haven't done better at updating this blog. My ultimate goal is to set aside one day a week to blog and write snippets for an update (that I send out monthly). So perhaps one of these days, I'll actually get around to doing that! In the meantime, enjoy some pictures (and videos) of the most precious babe in our lives!

Our good friends that we lived with when we first moved to India came up for a visit this month. They live in the plains, so they came up to enjoy our cool weather. We had gorgeous weather (read - NO rain) while they were here. It was good to catch up and let our kids play together. Caleb still asks every single day for Hannah and baby.

Every night that Jared is home, after dinner, Caleb grabs Jared and tells him, "floor". Then he proceeds to climb on him and bounce around, walk up his legs and sit on his head.

Jared also taught him how to give real hugs recently. He gives the absolute best hugs of any toddler I have ever known. He squeezes you really hard and makes a cute little grunt.

He likes to imitate daddy too!

Sometimes he pretends to "rest" on the couch or the floor. It has never lasted more than a few seconds. Then he pops up giggling! He only rests when he is sleeping.

How can you not laugh with this goofy boy?!

Look closely...he is wearing my hair clip in the back of my hair. Jared has been begging me for weeks to cut his hair. I just can't bring myself to do it. I cut it a few weeks back, but Jared didn't think it was short enough. Then, to make matters worse, I took him to the market like that! Jared was horrified...as any good father would be.

Family Visit!!

After nearly 5 years overseas, we had our first family visit! It was amazing and everything we dreamed it would be. It was so wonderful to see Caleb spend time with grandparents. He loved them and warmed up immediately. It was also such a blessing for them to see where we live and what we do. I think they have a new found understanding and appreciation for our life overseas. We can't wait for the next visit! Here are a few pictures from their time with us.



Just before they left, we took a picture from the balcony.



We took them up to a tall "hill" to look out over the valley. Caleb loves to run around here.



It was in full bloom this time as well.



Grandad took Caleb on lots of walks in the stroller.



And they played in the dirt.



And watched the CCA girls from back home.



And rode the tricycle and rode the tricycle and rode the tricycle some more!



Spent lots of time on the balcony/patio.



Filled up the pool dad bought in Siliguri...it was a long process.



But Caleb enjoyed it some much!



And wore the hat Grandad sent.



We took them on a tour of a tea garden. Caleb showed off his Nepali skills.



Grandad preached at our church.



We read lots of books...and he likes to read them at least 10 times.



Spent a good amount of time in the car...riding up front with Grandad...even snoozing some times.



They also got to visit the large Buddhist monastery in town.

Extended Family

One of the greatest causes of sadness on the field for us is missing our family and friends at home. We would love nothing more than to be able to be at birthday parties, holidays, reunions, school plays, soccer games, vacations and other such family events in America. If we could simply send ourselves to America for a few hours every now and again, we would do it in a heartbeat. We love living overseas and are confident in where God has called us, but we love and miss family and good friends back home. However, everywhere we have lived overseas, God has abundantly provided for our deep desire for close friends that are like family to us. He has poured out His blessing on our family and surrounded us with an amazing family here in India. Here are a few photos of our family here!





Brittany is probably Caleb's favorite person on the planet right now. I'll admit, there have been times when he cuddles her, kisses her, hugs her and loves on her that I get a little jealous.





Caleb is a pretty extroverted little guy...he will play with anyone that looks his way.





He does have a penchant for Nepali people though!





Mr. Nathan and Ms. Kari got him a boxing set for Christmas. Here he kind of looks like a guerrilla. When he puts on the helmet...it is too much!





He likes to be in the middle of the action. Brittany and Coty were sitting too close together so he decided to climb up in the middle!





And the birds have become his friends as well. They almost stay still enough for him to pet...which would be great if they weren't enormously scary crows!