Confessions of the borderline obsessive compulsive :)

For those who know me well, and I mean really well, they can tell you that I occasionally have some obsessive compulsive tendancies. It's not something that's across the board (you can ask Gary about that... although some days as far as house cleaning goes he probably wishes it was :) but none the less there are a few little quirks to Laura Bull.

One of those comes in the form of eating habits... and not just any eating, but candy eating. When enjoying the num-nums (you gotta love Nathanisms) of Skittles or M&Ms I am known for eating like colors together. You see the correct way to eat these yummy treats is in pairs, as in two hard candy shells at a time, but not a green and a red, or a brown and a blue, no... all pairs must be eaten in like colors. It makes a little more sense in the context of Skittles since the colors do actually indicate different flavors... but I am fully aware that there is no logical explanation for the M&M eating. I am proud to say however that I have recently been able to move past the craziness just enough to partake of these two candies at the movies (dark movie theater = the inability to see the colors being eaten and we cannot have cross pollination regardless of environmental situations).

This morning I Nathan was munching on some yummy M&Ms and at one point to speed up the distribution process I put a handful on the seat of a chair for him to have easy access to (in my defense, it was a little handful as they were the mini M&Ms). I wasn't paying attention at first, but I started to noticing something very interesting, the M&Ms were disappearing in colors... first the greens... next the blues... then the yellows, followed by the reds and then leaving the browns. How seriously funny is that? My child is just barely two and already crazy like his mommy. I guess I should be thankful that at least we now know he's not color blind :) and that he can apparently group like colors together, but I still think it's a little quirky and reminds me even more clearly that this precious little man is definitely mine, and for that I am so thankful :)

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Well... it's official, my baby boy is now two years old! It's amazing how he's changed in the past two years, during our time here in Bolivia. He and I went to visit the language institute where we studied Spanish upon our arrival. They remembered the culture shocked new mom with baby in tow (only 4 months old) and were so excited and surprised to see us. I realized in that moment, in seeing Nathan through their eyes, just how much my little man had grown up! It's hard sometimes when you're living the changes with your children on a daily basis to realize how drastic they are, but being back in that place reminded me of the little baby that he used to be, and the little boy that he is now and continues to become. He has blessed my life so richly and I'm learning better everyday what it means to be his mommy, and to try to be the best mommy that I can especially for him and who he is as a person.

We celebrated his special day with the team and had cake and balloons and all kinds of fun new presents. His Papa, Nana, Auntie Em, and Great-grandmother all sent him new books and goodies from the states and our teammates showered him with great new toys. We decided to pool the birthday present money coming from Mommy and Daddy into one gift and get a good tricycle for him to have for the years to come. He's still trying to get the hang of the pedalling thing, but I think he's really enjoying it! Thank you to all who thought of Nathan, prayed for him, and sent him special wishes on his special day!

Nathan's special rocket cake... for those Little Einstein fans out there, you'll recognize Rocket and appreciate the work that mommy had to go through to help a Bolivian cake maker to understand why this particular rocket was so special to the birthday boy :) but overall I think they did a great job with just a coloring book cover to work from!

Eating yummy cake with Michaela!

Don't you know Dad... this is fun and all, but I still haven't figured out how to pedal this thing, so I'm not really sure where you want me to take her :)

Little Boys

I finally got around to finding the camera, the cable, the laptop, the power supply, and having internet yesterday... which to answer your looming question of what this has to do with anything... allowed me download all the pictures on the digital camera from the last, oh let's say, three months or so. Scary I know! So in the purging process, I found these pictures of Nathan that I hadn't had a chance to share with you faithful friends and family who follow our blog. I was trying to think of a post for them, and then realized that basically they are all summed up in the fact that I have a little boy who is ALL boy! So enjoy and know that Nathan is so excited to come home and visit everyone and show you all just how much of a true boy he really is :)

(Mommy? Who's Mommy? I've got a new best friend and his name is DADDY!)

There is nothing in this life that can't be solved, or at least survived, when I'm wearing my so cool rain boots... see?

Since Mom and Dad moved us to an apartment (man I wish they would make up their minds about where they want to live!) we had to give away Lucy. I loved playing with Lucy, and giving her hugs, but I know that she is having fun in her new home with her new family!

This is what happens when I try to tell Lucy how to do things... or when I have something that she wants really bad... she tries to take it from me and that does not make me happy... I have no idea where she learned that from?!

Explain me this...

Can anyone shed some light on this situation? So there's the whole couch right? And in reality mommy's entire body to use as a pillow. So why then did my sweet Nathan decide that the only spot that would work for his nap time was mommy's belly? Meaning that I had one baby sleeping on the outside, and one kicking from the inside, obviously not too thrilled with their brother's choice of pillow :)

Miracles do happen :)

I lived a miracle yesterday! After surviving the Bolivian bureaucracy of the phone and internet company... waiting two weeks after putting in our order because there was no phone line coming to our apartment, or there were no open slots for our internet... yesterday we had a phone line AND our internet installed and fully functioning by days end. I sat in our living room last night, on my own couch, checking my email (thanks to my wonderful husband who set up our wireless network) and marveled at how blessed I am. Granted we had to wait, and deal with some unruly employees in the process of "getting things done" but in the end, I live in a place that allows me to make phone calls whenever I need and check my email from the comfort of my own home. So yes... a miracle occurred in Cochabamba and I am living proof :)

On a more serious (and spiritual) note... over the past few months we've been able to watch three miracles occurring in the lives' of brothers and sisters here in Cochabamba. Miguel, Gabriela, and Sonia all put on Christ in baptism and we were there to see the miracle of rebirth that our Father gives in salvation! I continue to be amazed at how privileged we are to be here... to grow to know and love new brothers and sisters in Christ and watch them begin their walks of faith and become part of the body. Please pray for our new brother and sisters, that God will strengthen them and give them wisdom as they continue to grow in their faith. Please pray for us as their family here, that we will support them and encourage them in their new relationships with the Lord.

(Nathan... testing out the waters)

Gabriela, Miguel, and Sonia on the days of their baptisms!!!