Hunting for a Turtle with a Spoon

So after our fun with Rice Crispies, my mind was turning to think of other fun textures we could play with.  So I grabbed a bag of cotton balls and dumped 'em into a bowl, and hid a little turtle within the fluffy depths and said, "Hey Owen, can you find the turtle in there?" To which he replied, "Yup!" in his very high-pitched-inflected-at-the-end reply that always means "most certainly!"

So away he went, cautiously at first, digging into the fluffy cotton.  Then he promptly stood up, ran into the living room, and came back with the wooden spoon he'd been playing with early.  (In trying, no doubt, to expedite the turtle-finding).

After a few minutes with that he stood up, pointed to the counter and said, "Sssss.  Sssss." and did this little happy-dance he does when he's really excited about getting something.  So I asked him, "You want a different spoon?" "YUP!" (insert very excited happy dance here - I'm talkin - feet going up and down, arms tightening and releasing and going up and down and even his mouth gets this real excited, anticipatory look to it - I only wish I could capture it on camera!) So I proceed to point to all the spoons in the lazy susan on the counter, all of which he says, "Nah" to.  Then I realize what he's looking for.  And I remind him he's left it over in the living room.  So he runs out there, looks around, and comes running back, extremely excited about finding this (much better) tool to look for the turtle with.

So away he goes again, digging, pushing but - "Uh-Oh." One of the cotton balls fell out.  And without even skipping a beat he proceeds to ever-so-gingerly pick it up and place it back in the bowl. (This is the point in which I realize he is my child, in case you were wondering.)

And then he's back at the task until finally....

He finds it!  He's so excited - (it's something he's never seen before, and he loves turtles).  Then after hugging it (he literally put it up to his ear and said "awwww".) he hands the turtle to me and stares at me in anticipation.  And I say, "What honey?"
And he points to the bowl, "Yup!"
"You want me to hide him again?"
"Yup! Yup!" (kicking feet in excitement, reaching for his spoons and wayward cotton balls to put back in the bowl)

:: sigh ::  these are the moments, people.  The moments that are like the sweet nothings your honey whispers into your ear, the little moments like this are the moments I live for, hunting turtles in a vast expanse of cotton balls.

The Last/First Time

The last time the three of us went camping... well, it was also the first time.
Anyway, the last time the three of us went camping...

 We stayed in a camouflage tent surrounded by a burma (bunch of thorns) to keep us safe from the wildlife.  It was Owen's first time camping, first time sleeping in a tent.  Oh. And we were in Africa.

Last time we went camping we sang, jumped and danced around the campfire with some pretty amazing people of the Masaai tribe.

Last time we went camping we had roasted goat liver and mandazi (fried dough) for breakfast.

Last time we went camping I peed (and I'm not the only one) behind this Boabab tree.

Last time we went camping we made memories we will not soon be forgetting.

But as we get ready for our next camping trip coming up, I'm looking forward to the memories (though totally different) that we'll create.  We're headed to the coast of NC for Owen's first time at the beach.  I was hoping we'd be able to find a friend, or a friend of a friend that we could borrow a beach house/condo from for free, or for trade in photography sessions, but we weren't able to.  So I was slightly disappointed that we'd be roughin' it in a tent.  Then I started to think about that first time we went camping.  And how fun it was.  What an adventure we had.  And yeah, we were in Africa so of course it was an adventure - but regardless of that, we were camping in a tent with a one-year-old.  I mean - it doesn't matter where on earth you are, camping in a tent with a one-year-old is the epitome of adventure.
So we're gonna do it again, and we're super excited about it!
We won't be jumping around singing songs in Kimasaai around the campfire, we (definitely) won't be eating roasted goat liver for breakfast, and we won't be peeing behind any baobab trees.  But we'll be making memories.  Cooking pizzas over the fire, bummin' it on the beach during the day, showing Owen the ocean, the waves, letting him get covered head-to-toe in sand, walking the boardwalk as the sun sets behind us, then making s'mores after he's asleep in the tent for the night.  We won't be in Africa, but we'll still be making memories - and for that, I'm super excited.

I'm Basking

... in the amazing one-on-one time with my little bear. 

... in the giggles and grins

... in the 'mamas' and 'papas' and the 'wassats' and all the other words

... in the unsure steps of a walker as he runs across the house squealing in delight as I chase after him

... in the living room dance parties, which he never wants to end

... in the inquisitive look in his eyes as he sees, feels, learns and experiences new things

... in the affectionate cuddles randomly received as he runs at me full force and collapses into me with his arms open wide

... in the little boy my baby is becoming as he shows his personality, his amazing amount of knowledge and his tender heart

I'm basking in the Agape Love of our Father, who knew this is what I needed right now.  What we need right now.  To take the time to just be.  Me and him, and the One who makes it all possible.  

It won't last forever, so these days I'm basking in it all.  Every. Single. Ounce of my sweet, sweet baby boy.

 

 Learning about new textures, digging, scooping and pouring with Rice Crispies! (better than raw rice or beans because it's okay if he tries to eat it, which he didn't) He was entertained for a good 30 minutes and thought it was very cool.  Though, he wasn't keen on getting his hands in there until the 2nd day we played with it.

 

Giving George a turn on his rocket before going for a ride himself :)

 Our friends gave him this backpack and he asked me to put it on immediately.  He loves wearing it and starts waving as soon as we put it on him.  I have no idea where he got that from- but he seems to know wearing a backpack means going somewhere!

 

Owen doesn't love water these days, so to help him with bath time I whipped up this recipe I was inspired by on Pinterest for some bath paints.  I modified the original and it worked great - it's 1T cornstarch, a few drops of food coloring, about a 1/2 T baby shampoo and a few drops of water (until it's desired consistency)  He LOVED painting the tub with it - and it washed right off with just water and a washcloth when he was done! We'll definitely be doing this again!

 Owen's first experience with sidewalk chalk - he had a lot of fun with it!

His first blanket fort!  He had SO much fun - he kept crawling in and out of it and giggling when he would reappear on the other side! 

Recent-isms

Owen is becoming such a little man.  His personality is starting to blossom and it's so stinkin' cute.

One thing he (still) doesn't like is getting his diaper changed.  So we usually give him something he's not normally allowed to have to distract him while we change him.  For instance - the wii remote, the TV remote, the lint roller, etc.  Well lately, whenever we get the diaper out, he'll start walking around the living room saying, "hm.  Hmmmm"  looking for what it is he wants to be able to have.  That kid.  I tell ya.  Sometimes he even gets in the drawer (where we keep some of those special items) and picks out what he wants before I've even got the diaper laying on the ground ready to change him.  It's pretty cute.

He's also enjoyed becoming more independent with his eating lately. We started him off pretty early being independent - since we never did baby food.  But lately he's been even more independent - wanting to eat the banana all by himself, with the peel on.  Wanting to feed himself applesauce with the spoon (which we normally did for him), etc.  His manners are sooo cute too.  99% of the time he'll use the sign for more when he's ready for more food.  And if I'm not looking or busy cooking dinner or something he'll say "mama, ssss" and do the more sign (which means, momma, please more?) 

 

He really is a good little communicator all the time- not just at mealtimes.  He recently got some hand-me-down puzzles from a friend (which is his new favorite thing to play with!) that we keep on the dining room table, and whenever he wants to play with them he'll walk out there and say please over and over until we walk out there and see him or until I say, "You want your puzzles?" and he'll say "Yup."  Yea.  He says "yup."  it's cute. :)  He communicates "on" by saying "ot" and "open" by saying "peh" in a whisper voice.  "St" means "stroller", "sts" means "upstairs", "bah" means "ball", "bu bu" is "bug-bug" (our cat's nickname), "ta" is "towel" "wa" is "water", "mamay" is "edamamae", "manma" is mango, "sszzss" is "raisins", "puhs" is "puffs", "baba" is "banana", "buh" is "book".  He knows "up" but also uses it to mean down :)  He'll tell us if he wants 'help' too, though it sounds more like "hep".  Just last night he woke up around 10pm and I heard him saying "help, help, help" through the monitor.  So I went in to see what he wanted, his giraffe (George) was on the floor from earlier in the day, we never put it back in his crib, and he wanted him.  As soon as I gave him George he gave it a big hug then said "puh" and pointed over the other side of his crib, where he'd thrown puppy (in attempt to get George, I'm assuming".) As soon as he had his giraffe, puppy and paci, he laid right back down and went to sleep.  He's great at communicating yes and no, too.  He doesn't really say "no" yet, unless he's referring to something he's not allowed to touch/have - in which case he says "nononono".  When he just wants to say no, he'll shake his head.  When he wants to say yes he'll say "uhum. yup. or yssss" and he knows SO many animal sounds!  For a lion he roars, for a sheep/goat he bahahaha's, for a dog he barks, a cat he meows, a bird he tweets, a turtle he says "tuh-tle", a zebra is zzzzzzz, a fish is shhhhh, a cow is mmmmoo a horse is neeneeenee, a gorilla/mokey is uugh ugh (grunting) and flowers are him making the sniffing sound.  He makes the vrooom sound when he plays with his trucks and a vrrrzzzz sound when he sees a vacuum. 

Speaking of puzzles - he's getting pretty good at them!  He can even get them in the right spots some times!

 

 

He also really enjoys his new cell phone.  Our roommate gave him his old phone to play with on car rides (because he doesn't love being in the car) and he'll open it and put it to his hear and say "ooooo?" for "hello".  The other day he kept saying "ot, ot ot ot" which means "on" and I explained to him it wouldn't turn on because the battery was taken out and he just casually dropped it over the side of his car seat as if it wasn't any good to him any more since it didn't have a battery.  Silly boy.

He got to play with some sidewalk chalk for the first time yesterday.  He's colored with crayons a few times, and he thinks that's pretty neat, but he really liked the chalk.  He kept trying to see if he could fit both pieces in one hand :)

 

 

While we were playing outside, every time he would hear a voice he would stop what he was doing and wave.  Even if he couldn't see anyone!  He's quite the socialite - so friendly!  At Target today as soon as we wheeled up to the cashier he waved and gave her a big grin, it's cute to see him be so friendly and social.

Okay, I think that's all the recent ism's of Owen.  Whew, it's been a while.  This working full-time and being a momma and a wife is not for the faint of heart!  I'm thankful there's only one more week of work until I'm a stay at home mom again - and beyond thankful that God provides for our family for me to be able to stay home with my little one - because I sure do miss him!

Our Adventure: Tanzania 2012 - the final day

6/23/12

Woke up bright and early to go shopping this morning!  We went to an artists market with woodcarvers & painters, the leather shop, and a couple other spots.

 

The Leather shop - this was the outside wall, those are little pieces of leather nailed into the concrete wall! It covered the entire wall!

Right next to the leather shop.

 

 The artists' & woodcarvers' market.

 

We got some great gifts, and saw some amazing artists at work in their trade!  We stopped by the store on the way hope to grab some snacks for the plain, ate a super-fast lunch then headed out.
On the way to the airport I asked Mary if she would mind us coming back soon and when she asked how soon Bill said, exactly what I was thinking (though we hadn't talked about it yet) "Probably next year sometime."  Wow.  That seams crazy in some ways.  But it also just seems right.  I don't know what our next trip will look like exactly - if it will be 2 weeks, 2 months or longer.  I do know it won't be a team trup though, it will be a family trip.  Either just our family or us and a couple other families with kids.  In any event it makes me excited!  Not just because we'll be back in Africa, but because there's just this supernatural joy, anticipation and excitement that comes from knowing we are smack-dab in the middle of God's plan for our lives.  It makes me tear up to just write these words!

*                                                                                  *                                                                      *

6/24/12

So on this last leg of our flight back to the States, I'm in such a different place than I was last time I left Africa.  I'm not all that sad to be leaving.  Because I know that we'll be back soon.  And I know for that to happen, we need to come back home, get back to work, and start saving up for the next trip.  So as we fly home I'm feeling an awesome sense of God-joy, God-peace.  I'm completely content.  And very excited to make way for the next trip!!

Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for coming along on this journey with us!  If you've followed us all the way through, thank you!  If you're just jumping on, be sure to go back to the archives and start at day 1 - it's a great adventure!  
We're so excited about what God is doing in us and through us and are anxiously awaiting His call to head back to Africa.  Until then we wait.  We work hard.  We save what we can, where we can and put it into our missions fund.  And we pray.  Pray for wisdom, direction and clarity.  So thank you, for taking this adventure with us, for standing by us and for supporting us!
-The Battersons 

Our Adventure: Tanzania 2012

Day 14     6/22/12

We got up somewhat early and cooked breakfast over the campfire this morning: scrambled eggs, bacon & leftover baked potatoes we made into hash browns.  The Longeedos made us mandazi & chai and we had some instant coffee we'd brought from Trader Joe's too.  It was delish - a nice change of pace from the chai we'd been drinking so much.

 Yes, that's a marshmallow in my coffee. Don't judge.    Those are the mandazis - YUM.

                                               Washing dishes with water boiled over the fire!

Kids started trickling in around 10am.  Since most of the kids in this village attend school, only about 25 kids were able to come to the outreach.  There were a handful of mamas there with infants & about 10 adults total.

   

We did our introductions and the skit for them, then gave them salvation bracelets as Ty told them the gospel message and how to use the beads on the bracelets as a reminder to share the message.

We taught them how to play sharks & minnows - only we called it cheetahs and gazelles.  They liked that game a lot!

Then we taught them duck duck goose and they absolutely loved chasing the wazungus around the circle - they would rarely tag each other unless we stepped out of the game.  It was cute.

Next we handed out goody bags.  We actually hadn't planned on being able to because we only made enough for the first village, but we counted the kids and counted the bags we had left over and ended up having just enough for each child to get one.

 

We also handed out suckers and free t-shirts that we'd brought over, then we took a few pics before heading into Longeedos house to pray over his family and their church.

As we were piling into the cars a grandmother came carrying a 6 year old girl that was crippled.  We prayed for her & saw some improvements in her mobility.

 

She had such a sweet spirit and sweet face.  She really attached herself to Peter too.  Mary felt resistance as we were praying, and come to find out her grandmother and her parents had taken her to a witch doctor previously.  The grandmother repented for taking her and confessed God as the one true healer and we began to see more improvement in the girl's mobility.  The grandmother said she would go home and ask the parents to repent as well and we all felt like this healing would be a gradual one - so we told the grandmother not to give up, but to keep praying to God for healing.  She had walked a very long way and come straight form the hospital to bring her to us specifically for prayer - so that was pretty awesome.

After that we headed home, got cleaned up real quick (first shower in three days!!!) then we headed to Alice's for a BBQ.
We got to hang out with Gaudy, Nicole & Justin again and that was really nice.  I could totally see Gaudy & I becoming friends if we lived in Moshi.  She told me while we watched Owen & Nicole playing that what we shared in church on Sunday really meant a lot to here.  She said that it really renewed her faith and it really touched my heart to know God was able to speak through me like that.
Tracy came over to hang out and give massages to the rest of the girls, we ate an amazing dinner, then headed hope to pack up.

We debriefed as a team after everyone was pretty much packed up and we all shared one God-thing that stood out to us from the trip.  Mine was about how God showed us the realities of living in Africa.  I really feel like we've gotten direction, and that we're supposed to go back again (to Moshi) very soon.  I just keep hearing God say "soon."  It also occurred to me how God was working on our (mostly my) hearts with the connection we have to Father's House in Ghana.  Since that was my first experience in Africa, I totally fell in love with it and figured we would probably live in Ghana someday and help out at Father's House or something.  But shorting after that trip & having Owen we kind of lost touch with the co-founders of FH.  We're still very good friends - but there's definitely a disconnect and we don't talk or hang out like we used to.  One night, when Owen was still a newborn, they asked us over to their house so they could see Owen & so we could talk (and this was shortly after I told them Bill & I heard God tell us (separately) that we'd live in Africa as missionaries one day).  Turns out they wanted to talk to us and pretty much tell us they didn't want us to think Father's House was where we would live/work when we did move to Africa.  At first it was kind of a shock that they would say that.  And - I'm not gonna lie - it hurt to hear it.  A lot.  I definitely shed some tears over that one.
But now, almost 12 months later, I can see (God has revealed to me) that disconnect had to happen so I would have my eyes and heart open when we came to Tanzania  And I'll admit - I was slightly unsettled with coming here.  I really wanted to go back to Ghana.  But because God allowed for that disconnect to happen, I was able to hear his voice and direction so much more clearly than I would have if I was still attached to Father's House so strongly.  Don't get me wrong - I still love Ghana and Father's House, and the co-founders very much.  And Ghana will always be the place that stole my heart.  But now I feel a renewed sense of direction.  I feel like a plan is coming together.  Two years ago God told us we would be missionaries in Africa.  But we didn't know when or where.  So our plan was to work hard to pay down debt, and keep saving for trips to Africa by using 75% of my photog. business and a portion of our income to start a missions savings fund.  But on this trip we've heard clearly and seen vividly how real it would be to live in Africa.  We found out that we can do it as a family.  We fell into a rhythm almost immediately.  Heck, Owen even rode on my lap (or someone else's) in the car a dozen or so times. :)  And I rode in the back of a pick-up truck down a dusty, dirty road.  And I peed behind bushes and boabab trees.  And my son got filthy dirty on a three day camping trip in the bush.  I bathed him in the sink.  I boiled water to do dishes.  I ate goat liver.  We all had chai, mandazi & chapati for breakfast.  We had plou.  We slept under mosquito nets. Owen became a walker in Africa.  He learned to say turtle, and dirty.
And it was all so normal.
And I love that.