Merry Christmas to all!

Better late than never...MERRY CHRISTMAS! Although this Christmas Wish is a couple days late, we are writing, hoping you all had a fabulous 25th.  We had a fantastic 18th -28th visiting family and friends and eating LOTS of food.  I was horrible at taking pictures of all the events (and forgot my camera many times) but we captured a few shots of Benjamin's first Christmas up North.  He gave the camera lots of love as usual.

We started our Christmas celebrations Friday, the 18th and spent the weekend at my parents 'by the pond.'  I forgot my camera but we had a really great time.  Benjamin and Reuben were both pretty good the whole time and Jonah and Audrey have never been so well behaved at Nana's house. Audrey had me paint her nails right after presents with some pretty polish we got her, and Jonah had a priceless look all weekend while he played with both of his new race cars.  We had delicious soups for lunch on Saturday, a elephant/telephone pictionary game during nap time, and gifts galore afterwards.  We got to attend my younger sister's church in Pella  the next morning, and Christmas at my Dad's parents on Sunday evening.  The roads weren't great but we made the trek, and had fun seeing family.  It was a busy but fun weekend.

We came home, un-packed, did laundry, and packed again on Monday night.  I worked a little on Tuesday morning, and we hit the road by 1:00 in an attempt to beat the weather.  Tuesday night we stayed at a friends to catch up a little bit, break up the trip to Northern Minnesota, and share a little about the ministry.  It was so great getting to know the Sayer's a little more.  They were close friends with Joel, and I enjoyed getting to know them better.  Jenny's house was beautifully decorated for christmas, and she made these star cookies that were 'to die for.'  Then we packed up on Wednesday, and hit the road again!

We met Joel's parents for lunch on Wednesday.  The plan was to arrive at their new house in the evening and get settled before the rest of the family joined us on Thursday.  Unfortunately, all 3 of his siblings were delayed due to the nasty weather that hit a lot of the mid-west. Joel and I were so sad to not be with the whole family, but did enjoy a day of Benjamin getting some alone time with Grandpa and Grandma.   Joel's Aunt and Uncle were also at their home up north, with only two of there four children, so our partial families combined for Christmas Eve and Christmas day meals.  That night as we sat down for a movie, the driveway filled with lights and Joel's 3 siblings and their spouses and Benjamins 7 cousins came to the door.  Everyone braved the storm and caravaned down to surprise us.  It was great.

So Christmas was very merry.  Unfortunately Benjmain's cough that has been lingering on since November took a turn and it became hard for him to breath/sleep.  So much snot! Monday morning I made a dr, apt. as soon as we got back to Ames, and we are now on our first round of anti-biotic.  Hopefully we can kick this bug by the end of the week!

One slightly frustrating aspect of the holiday travels is getting Benjamin to sleep at others homes.  At home, I lay Benjamin down and he falls asleep within 3-5 minutes.  (The past two days, it has been 30 seconds)  When we are at Nana and Papa's he takes a little longer, and at Grandma and Grandpas, its a lot longer.  I would just change up the routine and bounce him to sleep, but its not that easy.  He doesn't fall asleep if I rock him, or bounce him...he just cries.  The only exception is at Aunt Heidi's house.  She has a noise machine, and it puts Benjamin out  in seconds...just like home.  So I think the plan is to purchase a noise machine.  That way Benjamin doesn't cry so many huge tears, and I dont feel like such a crummy mom.  I wouldn't do a thing different, knowing how easy it is to put him to sleep at home.  But with as much as we travel, we do have to figure out how to duplicate it on the road!  Let the experiments begin!

Well as we gear up for one last party of the season, New Years Eve, we hope that you all have a safe and festive, and maybe even relaxing weekend!  Enjoy the rest of 2009

the beginning of CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to all! We survived the first snow/blizzard of the season and mostly because I've unofficially been banned from getting behind the wheel in the winter. That may be a slight exaggeration but given my track record (in summer or winter) Benjamin and I try to stay put :)

Joel has been great about keeping the sidewalks clean, and getting wipes or necessary groceries for us.

We're trying to save a little money by not cranking up the heat, so layers and blankets are our friend. Benjamin won't be able to wear his adorable "old man" PJ's anymore. He manages to take them off at night, and even with his space heater I found his little legs bare and chilly this morning. It made me so sad!

Well here are some early December pictures. We've done lots of baking in the kitchen, and had our first Christmas party. These might be Benjamin's greatest pictures yet :)

health

Well I've stared to attempt to cook a little healthier. I have never had great skill in the kitchen, and therefore the last 4.5 years have had far too many frozen pizza's and mc doubles! I didn't really have any goal other than to make healthy food a little more accessable, and to think of eating food for nutritional content first, and not just opting for drive through all the time. After reading just a couple of different books, I'm trying to stay far away from high fructose corn syrum, decipher good fats from bad fats, limit sugar, and take in good amounts of fiber, protien and WATER! I feel pretty great, my pants are looser and the scale shocked me so much that I almost wet my pants!

Ingredients that are staples in our cupborad right now are:

tomatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, beans, apples, bananas, avacados, lean beef, ground turkey, chicken breasts, canadian bacon, peppered turkey slices, low/non-fat cheeses and yogurts, skim milk, eggs, 100% whole wheats...

After saying that, I'm not sure about the lunch I made(as in, I made up the recipe and dont know about the health factor), except that it was WAY good.

I hope you all have a deliciously warm and healthy winter!

CHICKEN SOUP:

low sodium chicken broth

1/2 boullion cube

1/2 cup water

two chicken breasts (seasoned with paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper)

three celery stalks

garbanzo beans

fresh parsley

oregano

we LOVE dumping out toys!

my little rockstar

"hey little pookie wont ya dance with me"?

(these books are so catchy!)

benjamin and reuben

you can hardly tell which one is which! :)

our new friend Adam

I LOVE this time of year. This morning I woke up to snow, and because I don't really drive that far (and most days, not at all) than I don't have to hate this whether like most of the population. Well there isn't that much "new" in the Lewicki household. But here's a little summary of Early winter:

Benjamin is making me "one of 'those' moms." I officially think he is the cutest and most well behaved 7 month old. He probably isn't either, but he's done a very good job tricking me. I'm o.k. with that. He is so observant, and when there isn't something new or interesting to look at, he is very vocal. He has started playing on his tummy more (mostly because Joel is trying to get him to crawl,) but really loves just sitting with a bucket of toys. (He could sit for hours infront of the t.v., but I try to limit that) He started bitting pretty bad while nursing, so I pump and we suppliment with formula. He is very unpredictable about when he likes baby food, and carrots seem to be his food of choice. I sneak in banana's sometimes, and judging by his grunting and facial expressions today, we had a little too much banana yesterday. :) One slightly "un-fun" fact is that Benjamin randomly decided to go from 4 naps to 2 naps this last week. He also moved his own bedtime from 8ish to 7:30. My favorite thing about Benjamin right now is his love for books. He doesn't cry a lot, only if he is hungry, if he can't find mom, for about 1-5 minutes when i lay him down, and when I close the book we are reading. It makes him so sad to be done reading, and he just looks at the pile of books and whimpers (sometimes wails). I almost have 5 of the Dr. Sues books, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and How do Dinasaurs play with their Friends all memorized. :)

God continues to be faithful in ministry and is continuing to ask us to trust him this month. We are 67% funded for the year, meaning that this month we start going negative in our account. We feel very confident in God's calling to ISU and know that he will provide all that we need, and continue to pray that he would work through us to reach the students around us. The story of Gideon came to mind yesterday and how he kept lessening their numbers so that God would be praised in the victory. We want to be very dilligent in asking for prayer, sharing the ministry needs, and actively accomplishing the challenge He has laid before us. But I also am praying for people that we won't even contact, and others that we might not even know to become financial partners, so that neither Joel and I feel any pride in getting to 100%, and that He is soley praised in the process. I want to have a Gideon-ish story that gives Glory to Him. I would love your prayers also!

The next few weeks will be pretty insane as we meet with friends, share the ministry needs, have several Christmas parties, travel to see family, and ultimately celebrate His birth. We are praying that in the hub-ub of it all, we keep focused on Christ, who is the reason we celebrate Christmas, the author of love and family, and the One who has called us to ministry and will provide the funds. We are thinking of you all too, as you try to keep warm and stay safe in travel! Happy December!

Well Happy November to you all! I haven't written in a while, as I was reminded oh so gently, and therefore have tons of pictures and lots of 'Life' to share! So forgive me if my thoughts are

random and pictures out of order.

Benjamin has gotten so old! He has personality popping out of everywhere and more smiles than he knows what to do with. He had his 6 month check up in the beginning of November and is in tip top shape! He only grew about a half a pound since his last visit which dropped him from 95th % to 87%. Hes around 27.5 inches, with a long torso and short little legs! He started sitting up about two weeks ago, and LOVES it. I kind of love it too. I just set a tub of toys in his reach and he is content for a very long time!

Naps are going fantastic. Nights are a little different. He went from getting up once, to 2 - 3 times. This mom is not cut out for getting up that many times, so we started baby food, and are supplimenting with a little more formula in a addition to nursing. Benjamin doesn't love baby food 100% of the time, but as long as he is still nursing, thats ok with me. We'll play a little hit and miss! We have it down to once night feeding again, so that makes me pretty happy. And he has been sleeping in past 7 this last week, and that is priceless. No more 5 AM!

I am so very excited for the holidays, and cant wait to spend time in Sully with family there, and WAY up north at Joel's parents new home. It better have beautiful snow or I might cry!

Well here are some random pictures of the last month of the Lewicki life.

Have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My Grandpa Earp is celebrating his 90th Birthday this year. My mom and her siblings threw Grandpa an Open house birthday party. It was so good to see my relatives from Texas, Missouri, Cedar Rapis, Ankeny etc...

The Methodist Church in Lynville IA is where my Grandpa, Grandma (who passed away in 03) and all 7 kids grew up attending. They were able to dedicate half of the service to my family, and we had a make-shift "Gather-sing-along". My Uncle waren sounds just like Jonny Cash, and almost all my aunts sing, so it was a wonderful gift to my grandpa to hear his kids prais'n Jesus! Here are some photos!

Grandpa and the kids

Cousin Jonah watching T.V. with Benjamin

Such a good cousin

Benjamin learned to sit up right after his 6 month apt! Here is a picture of one morning when he got up WAY too early, and I plopped him in front of the T.V.



Our front yard was Beautiful this fall. It was great for "photo shoots".

Our little Pumpkin!
So Vibrant!

Our October/November Trip to Florida was so educational, motivational, and challenging. God used many disciples in the Navigator ministry to speak to both Joel and I about ministry and our personal relationships with HIM. Here are some photos!

Benjamin killing time in the lobby

Mr. Dapper

Lov'n the weather and scenery

The view from our window in the condo

6 MONTH PICTURES

Well, Benjamin has been around for almost 6 months! I can't believe it. So far he is providing so much more fun than I knew was even possible for a baby, and (cross our fingers and thanking God) he isn't quite as much work as anticipated.

Benjamin's new favorites :

• the ExerSaucer
• baths
• anything that can get in his mouth
• being tickled
• other people's noses
• his socks
• his toes (this might top all the rest!)
• occasionally rice with applesause
• rolling over
• the leaves (holding them, watching them from the window, ect...)
• chewing on bottles
• chewing sideways on pacifiers
• daddy bouncing him to sleep

Benjamin's strong dis-likes :

• having his snot sucked out
• having mommy bounce him
• sucking on bottles
• not being able to crawl to things in sight (toys, lap-top, ect)
• nursing while someone is talking
• being alone (I dont know who he gets it from :) )

We have a few more pictures coming and Will have our dr. apt. the first week of November! You can all be praying for us as we leave this weekend for a collegiate staff summitt and training. Pray for safety in travel, a Happy Baby, that we are so encouraged and fed from the Word and have open hearts and willingness to learn from others. Oh and for good weather when we're at the beach! :)

Update on Lewicki Life

Happy Winter? This morning I woke up and heard of snow everywhere. I excitedly looked outside and expected to see a white blanket brushing the grass...I was sorely disappointed and found nothing. But now it is afternoon and I am looking outside at the vibrant leaves on the tree outside my window, and I am happy to wait for snow. I get excited for winter to come, but get much more excited for it to leave, so I will be happy to wait!

October is prooving to be quite exciting. Joel is currently in KC spending a weekend with students from Ia State and others from all over the mid-west. Relationships have been exciting and encouraging lately for both Joel and I, and just last week, Joel had a pretty exciting evening. A student that he has been talking with had some follow up questions about God, and Jesus story and application to his life. At the end of the evening a light bulb seemed to turn on, and this student talked to God and told him so simply and so earnestly that he believed His story, and wanted to follow Him. God is so good, and it was pretty exciting for Joel to welcome him into the family!

Benjamin gets exponentially more fun every month. (as if he wasn't fun enough in the beginning!) He is teething, but I feel like I cant even complain. Every once in a while Benjamin will chew intensely on his fingers and be fussy for about an hour, but that is about as bad as it gets. He already has two teeth and I think two more will soon follow!

He has decided he doesn't want to bottle feed any longer, and would prefer to only nurse. I kind of love that he just wants me, it just means that I cant really leave him for more than an hour or two. Its probably more of a blessing than anything, because his demand increase has helped supply. He also "eats " cereal...He willingly eats the first bite, and then I have to trick him into eating the rest. Usually I just get him to laugh, and then shove some rice,oatmeal,apples,or sweet potatoes in. He doesn't spit it back out, so I call it a victory!

I have gotten much less motivated to make sure he falls asleep on his own, or has a schedule. I still lay him down while he is still awake, and 2 out of 3 times he fusses for 5 minutes and goes to sleep. But I have gotten a little more aware of the fact of how limited my days of rocking/nursing him to sleep are, so when he fusses/cries for much longer, I dont hesitate come to the rescue! I will only be his favortie hero for so long. :)

He is currently watching some woodworking show on IPTV, and just rolling around on the ground talking to himself. Life doesn't get much better than this!

God has been doing some construction on my heart the past few weeks. Rather than waiting till I need demolition and brand new construction its been more like renovation. He's been showing me a lot in the area of time management and convicted me tons about the phrase "dont have enough time." I am learning that I have time for most anything, however, I make choices concerning what to do with that time. I could pray for 3 hours a day, I choose to do other things that prevent this. I could sleep 10 hours a day, I can choose not to. I could take a walk every single day, I can choose to only walk some days or not at all, I may choose to have 7 one-on-ones with girls one week, but that may leave no time for Joel or no time for personal dates with God...I am accountable for the time I have been given and the choices I make concerning that time.

So whether I have a day full of diapers, or mopping, or bible study, or facebook, or sleep or ANYTHING, I am accountable for my choices. Not to be compared to other moms, or other christians, or to anyone, but to be true to how God has called me for this season of life, and for this day. This is a great responsibility and extreme burden lifted all at the same time!

And on this note I will say farewell. With a napping baby and traveling husband, I will now choose to have some quite time. I hope you all have a great week and enjoy these last weeks of Fall!