Fall Update

Hello friends! It's been a while since we wrote anything and some have been requesting new info (I think, they want new pictures of Moses!) We have been doing well - staying busy. Moses now has long and curly hair. He loves to howl like a wolf and meow like a cat and bark like a dog. He's discovered technology. He can sense and hear a phone ring before we can. He loves the shredder! See the video below. Also, he LOVES christmas lights. His favorite thing is unplugging the Christmas tree. He'll shout "OH WOW!!" anytime we plug in the lights or drive by houses with lights in the yard. I think he's one of the funniest people I've met.

One funny story is Moses locked himself in the car. Derrick had put him in my seat (with both sets of keys in the car) and as Derrick was about to open his car door, Moses pressed the lock button. (See the video below). We kept trying to get him to unlock the car door but he would keep pressing the lock, over and over again. I called the Pop-a-lock guy but he said it would be over 30min. I started panicking and so did Moses. Finally I called 911. They said that because an infant was in the car that it counted as an emergency. A policeman drove up first. He said that we had to wait for the firemen to come! As the fireman was driving up, Moses was trying to show off for the cop and he pressed the unlock button! All the fireman got out and we all had a good laugh and sighed a big sign of relief!

Derrick took a teaching job at Dorman High School teaching math. One of their teachers died and they were pretty desperate for a teacher. Taking the job will also help the Network of churches, who are currently hurting financially, since they are helping fund Derrick's salary. It will be an interesting 5 months and quite an adjustment for all of us since Derrick will still be a full time church planter!

One fun thing we did this semester was have a girls night with the international students in town. We had some Chinese students, a Rwandan friend, and a Moldovan student over to carve pumpkins. For all but one of them, it was their first time, to carve a pumpkin. We have really enjoyed getting to know the international students in Spartanburg!

















discovered

Moses Turns One!

Our precious little mister is now 13 months old! I can't believe that a year ago we were waiting in expectation to meet the joy of our life - having no idea of who he would be or what he would look like, but knowing that we loved him with all of our hearts. And know that we've been around him for over a year now we can't even begin to imagine our lives without him. He is a real toddler now. No more baby! He is walking (he started 2 weeks ago) and has lots of little teeth. His sign language is getting so good (he can sign light, fan, more, all done, music, bath). He constantly points to what he wants. Pretzel sticks are his favorite snack. He is a picky eater and breakfast, lunch and dinner can be very frustrating times for me. If he doesn't like something then he scrapes it off his tongue and spikes it on the floor. Our floors get gross very fast. Moses can get upset quickly. When he gets mad he puts his head on the ground. It looks like he is praying prostrate but he is just pouting.
We had an ambitious birthday party. Thinking that we'd have a pool party and that the kids would be outside the whole night we invited 40+ people to our house, including 6 Chinese exchange students we had just met. Unfortunantly it rained so we were all smashed in the house. But we had a great time. Momo loves his cupcake. His eyes light up when he tasted the icing. I could hear his thoughts, "they have been holding out on me for so long!" I made him a monkey cake that I was so proud of that I wouldn't let anyone eat. :) The kids kept saying, ' i want some cake.' i said, no, we aren't eating the cake. It's just to look at. Lame! We ended up eating it a few days later. For his birthday he got a giant stuffed dinosaur which he named BoBar. He loves to tackle it to the ground. Derrick's parents got him his own little rocking chair. It's adorable to see him crawl into the chair and rock.
Enjoy the pictures of the cutie. We love and miss everyone in Mass. I am still adjusting to life in the South. I will write a post to let everyone know how the church is going.
Our

Our New House!

We are officially home owners! Derrick and I bought our first house last week. It is a cute 4 bedroom 2 bath home built in 1962. The previous owner built a little playhouse and swing set (Derrick calls it the fort) outside that Moses will love to play on. The house also has a pool (although we have no idea how to maintain a pool). There are hardwood floors throughout the house that we are having refinished. Our first 'surprise' was when we ripped up the carpets in the bedrooms to finish the hardwoods underneath them. Whoever put the carpet down used hardwood floor glue to the glue the carpet - which won't come up. So..........after hours and hours of work we are now having to buy carpet to put back on top of the hardwood. UGH. We are hoping to move in next Saturday. We are excited about the possibilities and about having a place to call our own. So all of our friends from out of town, please come stay with us! We have a room just for you. :)

All the pictures are of the previous owner's stuff. There is nothing in there now. I'll update the pictures once we get it settled with our own stuff.

Mr. Chubber

Moses is almost 10 months now and has become quite the little destroyer. He is into everything and loves to pull books or DVD's off of the shelf. He has climbed all the way to the top of the stairs (with parental supervision of course!) He loves to crawl and be chased. He can now do the baby signs for light and more quite effectively. He loves to eat - loves it! Unfortunately, he doesn't like to snuggle too much anymore, unless he is exhausted. We went to the beach and he is quite the water baby. My love for him grows everyday and I can't imagine life without the Little Mister!

Little Nasty

Little Nasty has become our new favorite nick name for Moses. As you can see he LOVES to grab food and then rub it ALL over his face. Today he had pieces of blueberries and sweet potato everywhere. The best so far are the pictures below when he ate avocados when he was tired so he kept rubbing them in his eyes. He looks like he was just in makeup to become Kermit the Frog. Derrick says he looks like the Ultimate Warrior with the food being war paint. Nothing a good bath can't take care of.