So I've been gardening lately removing all the ugly rocks and stuff from our front entrance, and was planting these guys that will turn into a little hedge for a flower garden...

When I ran into this scary guy....we call him "scary bat spider". He's so creepy looking, and i have no idea if he's harmless, but we still stay clear of him! The rainstorm washed him away yesterday, thank goodness. I like how his back looks like an American flag. :)

Clint and I kind of like it when there is load shedding, and the lights are out for a few hours. It can be annoying sometimes, but it makes you slow down and not be distracted by everything going on around you. A few nights ago the lights were out at around 9:30pm, and I walked outside and saw this awesome view. With the lights out in our neighborhood, but the lights on in the city, they made the clouds glow sooo bright, and the stars were super bright too. You can even see some in the photo if you look closely.

Noah's got these dino pj's that Stephanie Niednagel gave us that her boys had worn, they just started fitting Noah, and the other night the lights went out again...and I noticed they were glow in the dark dinos on his pj's! The dino's glow super bright. Its so cute. The perfect pj's for loadshedding nights. When the lights go out, I still know where Noah is! He loves loves loves to pet Tobi...and since she was sleeping she finally let him just before he went to sleep.

We had Noah's friend Kristy and her parents over for dinner the other night. Kristy is a few months older than Noah, and can walk around. Clint and I cracked up every time we saw her walk into the room...it seemed so unreal! I can't believe Noah will be toddling around soon. Its funny how baby's "play" together, but not really. They look at each other, poke each other, and then play with toys side by side, but they don't really interact yet. They are good friends in the cry room every Sunday, along with Taine, a few months younger than Noah.

Brrrrrr

This last Monday was rainy and brisk. I usually wake up on Mondays rather miserable if the weather is bad because its the one day we usually go out, or do fun work on our new house cause its Clint's "unplugged" day after preaching sermons on Sun. Winter is definitely in the air, and it was freezing cold rain. But despite what I thought would be a miserable Monday, it was awesome. We all stayed in our PJ pants, and put on warm sweatshirts, listened to the rain, had a million cups of coffee, I finally got to read my new book (Heaven at Home by Ginger Plowman, good so far) and we chatted forever and played with Noah tons. It was such a fun day at home. We dressed all warm and cozy and watched the rain on the patio. Noah is miz in this photo cause he couldn't touch the rainy patio...

And after Noah's afternoon nap, the sky finally cleared, so we went to the nursery to figure out what we are going to do with the front of our house (It was just a giant walkway of mud), and looked at cool paving stones and plants. It was that awesome time of day where the sun is all golden, but the clouds are still deep grey, and walking through the nursery with Noah all bundled up, it made me feel like we were shopping for Christmas trees. I kept thinking they would be around the corner. But once again, its winter time when its supposed to be summer. I still can't get over it. :) It is the weirdest part about living here for me. I know, I know, its silly. But its just so weird.

And don't you just love baby winter clothes? It just makes you want to snuggle with them. I think I gave Noah a million hugs today.

Team Resolved

Lyle, Clint, Warren, Jennifer, Vicky, Kim, Liz and Kerry

Our "team photo"

After Cornerstone last night we realized that those who stayed late to chat were all going to Resolved! It totally feels like we are a missions team, but instead of ministering to people, we are going to get ministered to. And instead of going to a foreign country, I'm going...home. And instead of all flying together on the same flight, we are taking different flights, on different days. But we all have the same destination in mind....the Resolved Conference. It's so awesome to have the "South African" world and the "LA" world collide. I love it. I've been on 7 different missions trips, but this one might be one of the coolest. :)

More house photos...

I'm finally almost done with Noah's nursery! I just need to put the boarder up with ships on it at the top of the wall, and it'll be done! But here are some photos....

As you walk in the door....

My favorite part of the nursery...the cute face that greets me after a nap!
Changing table

I love this mobile...my dad got it for Noah when I was pregnant from Pottery Barn kids.

Rocking chair & night light

Clint's mom designs baby rooms and did mine, and I love it!...her company is BabyBuzniz. I'm so grateful for our little guy's nursery! :) I hope he grows up to love it as much as I do.

I'm an Auntie!

I'm an auntie...which is a big deal considering I'm an only child! Clint's sister had baby Dyllan a couple of months ago, I haven't met him yet. But its fun that Noah will have a cousin just less than a year younger than him. I'll see him at the end of this month.

I still haven't found my diamond, after sweeping and looking in lots and lots of dirt :( But it is insured if all the other prongs are in tact (which they are) so I'll get it replaced very soon. I'm just wearing a plain wedding band for now, but I keep hoping it will show up!

Yikes

So last night i was typing on the computer when I noticed that one of my diamonds in my wedding ring is missing! At least it was one of the small ones on the side, but still. My heart dropped. I felt like the lady in the parable who swept her house looking for the lost coin, but unfortunately, after a whole day of sweeping, there was no joy in finding it. Nuts. I looked everywhere. I even turned off all the lights and shined a flashlight hoping for a happy little glimmer smiling back at me, but no such luck.

So our next door neighbor owns a nursery, and is planting a billion plants next door. It looks awesome. Except why do people have to ruin it by putting one of those pink flamingo things in their yard? Except this one...is a big green and orange Toucan. ?!? But the cool part is that they are giving us all their "leftover" plants that have lost most of their leaves....but they'll grow soon. I'm starting to like gardening. I'm learning how to separate plants, and which ones like shade/sun. I was digging in the yard with a pick axe, and someone came up to me and said ....."you American women really don't mind hard work." Mind you that 3 construction workers were taking naps on my yard while I was hacking away at rocks in my soil. :)

So just for those moms out there reading...what do you do with your kids to keep them occupied when making dinner? Especially ones that aren't interested in playing with toys. Noah isn't allowed in the kitchen, (just a rule I decided to make so he doesn't hurt himself) and every night I battle to come up with ideas to keep him in a spot where I can watch him properly. :) So....what are your ideas?

11 Months Old!

Before I start blogging I just have to say technology is amazing. I'm sitting here in the dark, cause our electricity is off (it is off every week from 8-10am on MWF and 6-8pm TTHSat) and I can still go on the Internet. It would be more helpful if I could still cook dinner....I'm starving. :)

11 Months

In less then one month our baby will be a year! I can't believe it!

These two photos were taken only a few frames apart, and it totally describes a 11 month old to me.....

A baby

Becoming a silly kid! :)

Baby toys are now no longer desirable by this little guy. As soon as I put him down he's off and crawling to more interesting things, like opening and closing doors, pulling Tobi's tail, touching my guitar, and he can spot a cell phone, or a dvd player or laptop from across the room, and does his "missile lock crawl" towards it. He's quite sensitive cause when I say "don't touch" he usually turns around, sits on his bum, and cries. He obeys me quite easily, but now we are working on the "happy heart" part of obedience. It's hard training such a little guy. I actually am so surprised with the wealth of Christian books out there that talk about parenting, there seems to be a lack of books on parenting children who can't speak yet! So I'm so grateful for other moms! :)

Just a few days ago I was hanging curtains up on a ladder, and saw Noah going towards the fan, a definite no no. I said "don't touch" from across the room, and he cried for a minute, and then crawled the other way. It was such a picture for me of repentance. Going towards sin, but turning around and going the opposite way toward righteousness. It was so cool, I didn't have to get down off the ladder even! It was awesome to see the rewards of discipline.

At 11 months he can understand small commands like "come here" "pat your toy" "go get dad, tobi," "shake the ball" "don't touch" etc. It's so fun to see him understanding things. I've tried teaching him signs, but he does the sign for "milk" for everything, even when he has a dirty diaper, he says signs "milk." It's still helpful cause we know he's trying to communicate something. I think I need to be more consistent with my signs.

This morning George Bush was on the news, and he all of a sudden started waving to Bush, the whole entire time Bush gave his speech, Noah waved at him. I guess he knows he's American :)

Picket fence

"Isn't it ironic, don't you think? Its like when you have to pay for grocery bags, but the black trash bags are free." It's often what I think when I go to the grocery store and I'm just about to pay when the checkout lady is like "would you like some packets?" In SA they don't give em out, you have to pay per grocery bag. I always forget to bring the millions of bags I already have, so I always end up buying the plastic bags for my groceries. And because they charge per bag, they always STUFF them FULL of groceries, so that they are way to heavy to carry, and your bread is usually mushy by the time you get home :) BUT, ironically, they deliver, to your door (I kid you not) black plastic bags for your big trash cans. Delivered, and free by the government!

This is a photo of our "ocean view" from sitting on our patio. The city is Umhlanga, I think. I know its tiny, and we wish we could cut down all those trees! But I still love it.

Clint just built a picket fence around our patio, which I love! Its like a gigantic playpen for Noah, and it keeps our dog Spurgeon off the patio so that Noah can play without slobber and mud everywhere. It awesome cause there is quite a drop from the patio to the grass, so I'd always be very leery of Noah falling off, but now it's great cause he loves to pull himself up and look around.

Trying to get Tobi

Crawling lightning fast!

Looking at Spurgeon our dog

The view of the horses next door from our patio. There are 4 of them and they are so pretty. I can't wait till Noah sees them! I keep telling him "look at the horsies!" but he doesn't understand yet.

And Spurgeons favorite new game is to drop the ball right where Noah is so that I will throw it. Noah laughs when Spurgeon comes, but then gets this perturbed look on his face when he drops the ball, its quite funny.