a summer evening

Currently I'm in bed typing waiting for the laundry's final spin. Also in bed is Dan (with his head buried under a pillow)  a snoring dog (who will get kicked off shortly) and a baby sleeping in my womb (but still taking up his fare share).

It feels like I only share when life is crazy and changing and unknown. I wanted to share something now, in the quite, in the peaceful, in the still.... yes a baby is on his way and that is full of change and unknown, but this moment is a moment of peace and resting. Every day Jesse wakes up and rides his bike, plays with friends and tries to tackle, then kiss his puppy.  Dan works hard around the property and also sharing the dream of Sanctuary Inn (click it ;).  I... I am busy growing a baby :) (32 days until the due date) and enjoying watching my guys enjoy their day.  I am writing more (though with the sunshine there has been a loll) and excited at the idea of these stories coming to light.  One of Jesse's current stalling techniques at bedtime is to ask for me to tell him a story. It works every time.

We still don't have a perfect "life plan" but we have today, and each other and we each are enjoying the gift today is and are hoping for many more gifts of the same kind.

With that the laundry is finished.
peace and joy,
Anna

Sleep, babies and beds

Wrote this over a year ago and thought  I'd let it see the sunshine or your computer screen :) 

Let's talk about sleeping and babies. 

Whether or not your baby sleeps at night or cues all night long like ours is (I hope it's a phase) at some point during a 24 hour day they sleep, and where and on what they sleep is our topic. 

My dream bed for our baby was a suspended bed  (think basket ish) that sways gently when the baby stirs, and in so doing rocks the baby back to sleep. Given our sketchy ceiling situation and budget the swaying bed was not an option. 

First couple of nights at home Jesse slept in a beautiful wood cradle next to our bed (it was borrowed from a friend... check out her awesome blog). Side note my husband and I are both so territorial that sharing the bed with another (even someone as small as a baby) wasn't an option. Jesse hated how much space was in the cradle, after being tucked in the womb. 

So we went with option #3 a monkey. A rocking, collapsible, basinet with a monkey design on it. Jesse loved his monkey. It held him snug so he didn't startle awake during the night.   

Isn't he cute!!

We had a two room apartment in those first few months. If we were using the main room Jesse would fall asleep in our bedroom, and we would move Jesse to the main room when we got sleepy. When we were packing up our apartment and having to use both rooms Jesse slept in the bathroom. Apartment dwelling can be a squeeze but with some creativity and rethinking the norm it is very doable.

(note: my friend was discouraged by her midwife from using a monkey. The midwife said babies tend to "over sleep" and miss feedings. Jesse ate a lot when he nursed so we weren't worried... but now you know what I know) 

Next the stroller. We showed up in Israel, we left Jesse's out grown monkey in the States and decided to tackle jet leg and a new bed at the same time. Jet leg ended up being such a nightmare (I mean nightmare) that we caved on teaching Jesse to sleep in the pack 'n' play. Instead we discovered he could sleep in his jogging stroller. It reclined back, it rolls (similar to a rocking monkey), we could buckle him in, and best of all he slept in it. (craziest idea we ever had)

Now he has out grown sleeping in the jogging stroller (he moves to much for something with only three sides), so with baited breath we reintroduced the pack 'n' play.  This is night 4 and so far it's been okay. Sometimes when we check on him we realize he's practicing crawling or what seems to be him inspecting the walls of his pack. 

With all this change a couple things have stayed the same. We have used the same noise machine since the beginning. Also he has had the same fuzzy head mat since the monkey (it use to be the monkey's face). The fuzz has traveled with us to each "bed".  This way when he lays his weary head down each night it's on the same fuzzy feel, no matter where he himself may be. 

Moral of the story, find what works for you and your baby. Don't be afraid to think outside the box (or crib ;)

Ooh boy :) Since writing this we have tried to get him to sleep on many airplane flights and have transitioned from a pack 'n' play to a big boy bed. Which has it's own set of challenges. Hope you hear my heart that things don't need to look perfect. Your baby needs to be safe and fall asleep, everything else is extra. 

Thank the Lord for the flight attendant who had also taken baby massage classes. 

Family Holiday

Dog Mountain

Let's talk about "Family Holidays", not Christmas or Memorial Day,  or two weeks in Hawaii (though that sounds dreamy), but rather a day your family is simply "on Holiday". 

A story I'm currently working on has a family who decides to have "a holiday".  A day they don''t go into the office, instead they pack a treat and head outside to soak up the day.

no smiles like sunshine smiles 

Recently was a mid week weakened (which are more normal for us) and we made a holiday or it, Jesse and I made sweet rolls, then while the dough was rising we went outside.  Outside we were meet with sunshine after months of rain, so we tromped through our woods, finished the rolls, threw them in the oven, and went back outside. Dan finished his work, joined us, and we consumed a supernatural amount of sweet rolls and orange juice, while basking in the sun. Dan and I talked and day dreamt while Jesse drove his toy truck through every puddle he could find. Eventually Jesse's nap time, and some errands had to happen but that feeling of                                                          holiday lingered. 

I love the idea of Family Holiday,  oftentimes when either Dan or I am away it turns into a holiday. A way we can stop and enjoy our kiddo instead of stressing about flying solo in parent world.  Then there are times family holidays just happen and everyone joins in the easy going adventure at hand. 

Our first ever was the day I was in labor with Jesse (read full story here) to this day I swear that's why I had enough patience to let Jesse come at his own time. 

From time to time Dan will hike up a mountain for a few days at a time (think snow/ ice ax/ ropes), and when he does I get a prewritten text from his team's GPS every morning saying if they are safe. Over the next 24 hours Jesse and I do a lot of fun things to help keep my mind from being distracted waiting for the next text to arrive. 

It is a MILLION times better enjoying those around you then worrying about the one who isn't around. 

--- Fun fact: Jesse was three-weeks (yes weeks) old the first time Dan spent multiple nights climbing a mountain. (Don't feel bad for me, a best friend stayed with me and I ate cookies

Dan and Jesse the night before the climb

the whole time:) --- 

Sometimes a family holiday means we all pile into the car and head to the beach for the day. Or go apple picking, then bake a pie. Or like the day we took Jesse to his first movie.

Doing something out of your norm and enjoying each other. 

Sure, it could be different when Jesse is twelve and saying the whole time he'd rather be doing something else. But part of me thinks he'll still like them even then. That enjoying each other, and adventure are not going to go out of style. 

doughnuts and chai are always a winner

"Abbott Holiday" with some friends in Israel

Is there a better place to eat watermelon? 

Jesse at the beach in awe of the ocean

Being in the PNW has it's advantages, like waterfalls everywhere

Found this park near our old home,  quiet and perfect for picnics (Dan is making a sun s'more;) 

Another airplane flight, another adventure, another blog post.

Sitting down to write as yet again suitcases are waiting to be dealt with, this time packed. We have been in Texas through the Autumn and the Holidays, for a mixture of reasons. Needing a place to crash, needing space to think, needing to be around family, needing a job, and sunshine.

Dan's parents have been sharing their home with us. Jesse has loved spending everyday with Gramy and Pops and rushes to to the door when he hears Pops' truck backing up into the driveway.   They play the piano together, go on long walks, look at pictures, play with toys and thoroughly enjoy each other.

Meanwhile Dan has been working his bread and butter job, serving. He's good at it and it allows for Family Time every morning. I write, play with Jesse, and take care of the little needs that are left after Gramy spoils us all :)  We do these things while sorting out disappointments and dreams.  I can say laughter is back and dreams are growing. I can say lessons have been leaned and love is stronger. Faith is here but looks different then it use to, there is less fluff and more real stuff if you understand my drift.

Have you ever gotten  a Christmas tree at a farm? At our favorite place to go, before they (yes they) tie our fresh tree to our car, they put it in a shaker. The tree shakes about like crazy for a minute, at the end all the little leaves, twigs and dried needles you hadn't even noticed have been shaken off and you are left with your beautiful tree and nothing more.  I feel like my faith, my self and our life has been in a tree shaker. We have shed all those twigs we didn't know we were holding (and that we didn't need) and now it's just us standing here.

When Dan and I started this blog it was to encourage people that they didn't need to fit into a 5 year plan for life. That family time can mean early mornings and breakfast instead of dinner and evenings. That bringing your bouncing baby of 6 month to an unfamiliar country is the best way to show your new friends you care about them and trust them.  That in short there are not wrong and right ways to live your life, but instead be a person of character who is completely in, no matter where you are.

When we decided to come to Texas we did so with the understanding it was a "8 week plan".
My cousin shared with me that when her and her husband are transitioning in life they make a "8 week plan",  at the end of 8 weeks they talk about what needs to change and what has been good.

8 weeks took us to the week after Thanksgiving. We planned to be "all in" in Texas, in counseling and in work  for 8 weeks then talk about what needed to change and what had been good.

At the end of the 8 weeks our counselor spoke words of life to us, my parents bought property to start their new ministry (a home for people in ministry who need to pause and rest... like our time in Texas) and offered us a job.  We said yes to a year.  Our 8 week plan feed into a 1 year plan.  A year is perfect for us.

January 5th we get to join a group of people who have been longing and dreaming and already however they can,  encouraging those who are at the ends of the earth telling people Jesus loves them. Often while sharing this love of Jesus  exhaustion,  tragedy, heartbreak and disappointment happens and there is no time or space to pause, process and keep breathing.  Many people don't have a Texas they can go to rest and untangle.

Sanctuary Inn is going to be just that. A place of peace, of rest, while your heart has time and space for mending. We are honored to join and give back to others some some of the peace given to us.

Our family will still be us. Dan will work, Jesse will throw rocks and I will write, cuddle my loves, and listen to others' stories. But we will do it here, be "all in" at this house of peace, at Sanctuary Inn