A shower and a monkey baby

Yesterday, my friends Rachel and Laurie threw Anneka (and me!) a baby shower. It was so nice. They sent out the CUTEST invitations that looked like a little international letter and had people bring items that they'll ship to us in Siberia. It was so so nice. Anneka slept through most of the presents, but she'll be surprised when the package comes in the mail and we open it up. =)

Two of the ladies at the shower got us a down snowsuit to tote our tot around in. It's perfect for cold Siberian winters (and springs). Erin (one of the ladies) said that it reminded her of the time Leif and I held a monkey in a snowsuit in Moscow. I'd totally forgotten about this, so I dug through our pictures this morning. And found it. Haha. It's so funny. Here's the original monkey and our own little monkey:

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We celebrated with some refugees from different African countries that are now living in Spokane. They prepared African dishes, played festive music, and danced for us in fun costumes.

The girls in my family (Grandma, Mom, Aunt, Cousin, and Sylvia- she's like family) all went to the spa for some time together before we head back to Russia and a celebration of the new year. I love my family!

Our visas are still on hold. It looks like we'll be getting a guest visa, which is only good for 90 days. During that time, we'll apply for a temporary residency, which is good for 3 years. All of the government offices are closed until the 10th, so after that, hopefully the ball will begin rolling with our letters of invitation and visa process (about 40-45 days total).

The other night we went to dinner at the house of a Russian family (friends of my parents). When we got there, we asked where their 7-month old baby was. "Oh, she's outside", they said. We totally thought they were joking, especially because our experience in Russia has always been that babies need to be very warm. Even if it's 90 degrees inside, people will not crack a window if a baby is in a room because of the draft. But pretty soon, we heard a cry on a moniter, and sure enough- they opened the slider to their back yard (in below freezing weather) and brought in the baby! She was very bundled. They said that Russians believe it's good for babies to sleep outside, as long as it's not colder than -20 degrees. They said that if you have a balcony that's safe, you should put the baby on the balcony. But if it's not safe, you need to walk with the baby in a stroller, up and down the street. I had noticed many people with strollers in the daytime walking around in Siberia... maybe this is what they were doing. Of course, much of the winter in Ulan Ude is below the safe -20 range!! hahaha.

A Merry Christmas

We had a lovely time with family this Christmas. Leif's mom made the trip over for a few days to be with Anneka on her first Christmas. It was fun to pretend that Anneka knew what was going on and to put words in her mouth as she opened presents. It'll be so fun to have traditions throughout Anneka's childhood, celebrating our Saviour's birth and enjoying the holiday season. Here are a few pics. (Anneka in a stocking- my brother thought this was terrible, but we thought it was funny, a Raggedy Ann doll from her great grandmother, with Gramma Irene, a snowy day, matching cheetah-print socks from Grandpa, our little sweetie snug in her bed, Anneka's favorite hat)

She's smiling!!!

It is so amazing to see Anneka grow. She has put on weight and is becoming more aware of things, and a couple of weeks ago, she started to smile at us. It makes us feel so good when she looks at us or hears or voices and gives her big toothless grin! Of course she also will smile at bright colored toys and other things so it's not just us, but it makes us feel good when it is. I think she'll be smiling a lot this Christmas too :).

Tatiana

I've been doing far less language study than Leif, as Anneka has become my first job, but I am SO THANKFUL for Tatiana. She and I get together about once a week to speak in Russian. She welcomes me in with the utmost of hospitality, serving me tea and delicious cakes or breads that she has made herself. She's just a delight to talk with. After Anneka was born, I didn't see Tatiana for a few weeks and I felt like I'd forgotten all the Russian I'd ever learned! But now it's coming back, and I'm so thankful to have this language practice to keep my mind fresh before we return to Russia. I can see how God takes care of us in so many ways. Providing Tatiana is just one of those ways.

Our Wooden Anniversary

I have been so blessed to be married to the most beautiful, amazing and loving woman in the world!!! And we just recently celebrated our 5th anniversary! I am so thankful for the wife that God has blessed me with and for the deep and wonderful relationship that I have with her! When I look around both here in America and in Russia I see so many broken or disfunctional marriages and it makes me so sad. Even in the church it seems like couples often co-exist and don't thrive as they should. But, I absolutely love being married! I absolutely love my wife! And marriage is so much more than a thing to endure as our culture often tells us. Marriage is something to be celebrated and enjoyed, and I have to say that that is an easy thing for me to do! I know that a huge reason that it is so easy for me to enjoy marriage is that God has blessed me with such a great wife. She is always supportive and encouraging. She feels things with me and keeps me striving after God. I know that so many of you have seen and felt the beautiful qualities of Jami, and can see why it is so easy for me to love her and love being with her. Well, I just had to tell you all again about how much I love my wife!!!

Eyes Open

Here it is, for those who've requested an "eyes open" picture of Anneka. She sleeps alot, so a lot of our pictures are with her eyes closed. She's been awake more and more lately, though. It's fun.

Russian in Spokane

As many of you know, our job right now is to focus on learning the Russian langauge. That is of course always easier when you live in Russia among the Russian poeple and use it and hear it all the time. We'll we don't have that advantage right now, but we are blessed to live in Spokane where there is a large Russian population. Thanks to some asking around by Linda at Barton school where she teaches English as a second langauge to immigrants, both Jami and I have language partners. The picture is me with Vlodya and Tanya. I go to their house about twice a week and we hang out in the livingroom just talking. We talk about everything from history, to polotics, to what we're doing for the week, to cultural differences between America and Russia, and really anything that comes to our minds. It has worked out well, because Vlodya wants help with his English so we usually split out time in half between speaking in Russian and speaking in English. Even when we speak in English I am being reminded of how Russians think and look at the world differently than Americans because of their background. I think that we're both making progress, and at the very least we have a good time together. My original goal was to not lose any Russian, so I have to say I'm pretty happy with how things are going.

Thanksgiving and a couple of gifts from God

We celebrated a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday with family in Spokane. It's such a blessing to be here during this time of year. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas- the sights, smells, feasts, and best of all, the time with people who are so close to us.

This picture is of "Grandma Great". Anneka's middle name is Dorothy, after her Grandma Great. We love that this means "gift of God". They both truly are gifts of God in our lives!

the Grandparents

Yes, one of the big blessings of being in the US for Anneka's birth, is that her grandparents have been able to spend time with her. Jami's parents (Dennis and Linda) have been very gracious in letting us stay at their house, and have been loving taking every opportunity they can to hold Anneka and spend time with her. My mom (Mama Irene as she has been called in other blog entries) also got to be here during the time Anneka was born and got in some good cuddle time as well. Then a couple of weeks later my dad (Eric) made the trip over from Bellingham and spent a weekend holding and loving our sweet little girl. We have been so blessed by our parents, and know that the love and care they showed us will help us to love and care for Anneka. We just want to say thank you to them for how they have loved us and how we know they will be good grandparents who love and care for Anneka too.

Hurry Up and Wait

Many people have asked us when we're returning to Russia. We have tickets for the end of January, and prayerfully we'll make our deadline. We call this time period "hurry up and wait" as we need the following documents to go to Russia: Anneka's birth certificate and social security number, Anneka's passport, letters of invitation from the Russian church for all of us, and visas for all of us. We have friends who recently came to the States from Russia to have a baby, and they gave themselves two months after the birth to get all the needed documents... and sadly, they missed the deadline and have to buy new plane tickets. Their baby's social security card took a month and a half to come!! We are very thankful to say that our social security card came in the mail and we picked up the birth certificate yesterday! We had Anneka's passport pictures taken yesterday and it was both hilarious and stressful. They had to take soooo many pictures before we had one that worked... in one you couldn't see her chin well enough, in another Leif's hand was showing, in another her head was the wrong size, etc, etc. Plus Anneka had to have her eyes open and be looking forward- this is nearly impossible with a newborn. After two trips and a couple of hours at the photo place and many prayers, we got a successful picture... hooray! Please pray that Anneka's passport will process quickly and for the process of getting the letters of invitation. Thank you!

A Little Friend

On Halloween, Anneka's little friend Kariya came over. She's six months older and I was AMAZED at how much babies grow in that short of time!! She looked so cute in her little chicken costume. Anneka didn't have a costume, but we put her in a little hat with ears so that she didn't feel left out. They were so cute together!

Praise to Our Creator!

Thank you so much for your prayers. Anneka is doing so well! She needed to gain weight between Tuesday's discharge from the hospital and Wednesday's office visit (which I was a little nervous about) and she gained what is normal to gain in a week!! It is neat how Anneka's little life is already bringing praise to God as we see how He cares for her and answers our prayers. He wants us to trust Him with her. Holding Anneka and looking at all her perfect features and feeling her little movements is truly a miracle! It is so amazing that God created her and knew her before the beginning of time. Seeing her has caused us to be filled with praise to God in our hearts and is such a reminder of how amazing He is: creative, loving, powerful, intricate. We feel so blessed! It is also amazing to think that God gave up His only son for His love of us. And we are sinners! The thought of giving up Anneka for anyone, much less someone ungrateful and self-centered is more than I can imagine. I love how God teaches us about Himself through His marvelous creation.



Although it was sad to see Anneka get an IV in her little hand, we have to admit she was pretty cute with her eye patch under the billi lights. She's such a good baby! She was so good natured about all the poking and prodding. She's so snuggly-cuddly and rarely cries.



I love this picture of Anneka snuggled up on her Daddy. He's such a wonderful husband and father- constantly loving us and serving us with kindness and affection. I couldn't be married to a more wonderful person!



We took some family pictures in the yard yesterday while the weather is still so nice. It's such a beautiful time of the year!



Anneka looks so cute bundled up. At night between feedings, she sleeps so contendedly bundled just like this.

Please be praying

The last few days have been pretty crazy, as Anneka had to go to the hospital. I called our pediatrician's office Saturday night to ask the nurse on call a few questions and she said to go to the emergency room immediately! From there, they admitted us to the hospital for a couple of days. Anneka has jaundice (not a big deal), but it could have been a big deal if it wasn't caught it time. Basically, the jaundice makes her more lethargic which makes her not want to eat, which makes her not pass any food, which keeps the billirubin in her body longer.... a big cycle. So now we're home and haven't had any time to call anyone. But we appreciate your prayers that she'll eat and get rid of this billirubin in her body. And THANK YOU for all who have heard via the grapevine and are praying. We KNOW God is answering your prayers. We'll update in a few days after we get some rest. A newborn causes little sleep for the parents anyways, and with the stress of the added hospital trip and doctor's appointments, we're living on basically no sleep for the last week!

Anneka is here!!!

Wow! What an amazing thing to have a little child born! We loved her before that, but there is something so wonderful and special about being able to hold her and look at her. We have been loving all the time we have with her. We'll give more stories later, but right now we just wanted to give you some early pictures. By the way doesn't Jami look amazing for being only a few minutes after the birth! Also, for those who are interested she was born at 11:21 pm on the 17th, weighing 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 21 inches(Jami is very happy we induced and didn't let her put on another pound or so before her due date of the 30th). Also, there are a couple of pictures at the hospital website deaconess-spokane.org, look at baby faces from October 17th, and it should be there by later today (19th).

Anneka is coming this week!

Yes, it's true, Anneka is coming! For those of you who are wondering who Anneka is, it is our beautiful baby girl! She is going to be born this week. Now, for those of you who are saying, "come on now, no one can predict a baby's birth accurately," we agree. But, we are going into the hospital on Tuesday night to start the induction porcess, so unless for some reason Anneka and Jami are major exceptions and don't take to the induction, we should be holding our little baby girl in our hands this week! It is so exciting, and we will be posting pictures as soon as we can. I love the picture above. Our friend Rachel came over and helped Jami make the letters for Anneka's room, and as Jami was taking a picture of them she noticed that her belly got in the way. The brown arch in the picture is Jami's beautiful belly sticking out a bit further than she realized. This has been common for her in pregnancy as she unexpectedly will bump into things or not fit through spaces that were no problem for her before. We'll write again soon with a baby Anneka update!

Greenbluff and God's Blessings

The leaves are turning beautiful colors and there is a definite crispness to the air. Autumn has come! I thought I would be sad when the reality sunk in that summer was over, but fall is a lovely time of year, I think. It seems too cold to be outside for long in the fall in Siberia, but here I'm fine in a jacket and jeans. So nice.

This past weekend we went to Greenbluff, the harvest area around here, with some friends. We walked through the corn maze (which really was quite impressive), drank apple cider, and saw "punkin' chuckin" where a farmer shoots a pumpkin 1500 feet through the air at a target in a field. Very impressive. We keep thinking that our baby is so manageable right now. She doesn't cry. She doesn't need to be changed. We want to take advantage of these moments!

Speaking of our baby, we received an incredible blessing from my parents' neighbors. They brought over a crib set (bedding, valance, diaper stacker, etc.) from their grandson to see if we would like to have it. The amazing thing is that it's EXACTLY the same set we registered for and picked out of all the other crib sets!! What a blessing. God loves to show how He is a part of even minute details like decorating a baby's room. It is so neat to see how he lavishly provides.

American Ultrasound

We had an ultrasound this week, and our daughter is quite large for her age (35 weeks). She's already estimated to be 7.5 pounds, with 5 more weeks to go! The doctor said we may induce a week or two early so that she'll fit. haha. It's fun to see the ultrasound pictures. She's smooshed in there and has cute chubby cheeks. That's her arm stuffed up under her chin. She must be so uncomfortable!

Thankfully, both Leif and I have found language partners to keep up on our Russian along with self-study while we're here. I really admire Leif because he's made a goal to read through the entire Bible in Russian before we return to Russia at the end of January. So far, he's on track! I think it'll prove to be helpful in so many ways, but boy is it time consuming! Many of the words in the Bible aren't words that we've learned in classes or conversations, so he reads along with his English Bible and his dictionary.

It's been good to be back in the States and fun to see many people that we love so much. The time is flying by! Especially if the baby is induced early, we may only have three more weeks of life as we know it! We're excited, though. And as I get bigger and bigger and my ribcage is more and more cramped, I think it'll be nice to meet our baby on the outside.

No Migraines!!!

We just want to give a little credit to where credit is due. Our amazing God has blessed us these last few months! Jami has not had a migraine since the end of April! That is almost five months without a migraine, and she used to average about one a week! This is an even greater blessing during this time of pregnancy because she is not able to take the migraine medicine that she used to. It is also amazing because one thing that used to trigger the migraines was being tired, and with all of the travel that we had and the tiredness of pregnancy Jami would have been miserable with migraines had it not been for God taking them away. Our wonderful God loves to take care of us!

Greeted by friends and family

We haven't even seen everyone yet, and we already feel very loved in our time back in the States! We had a wonderful couple of weeks seeing friends and family around the state, and are looking forward to settling into a bit of a routine in the next few weeks. It was great to see all of you that we have seen!!! And we look forward to seeing those of you that we haven't gotten to see yet!!! We love you all, and will continue to keep you updated through the blog (expect some baby pictures near the end of October!!!), so continue to check. There are more funny Russia stories as well as life here that will keep things interesting.