Some boxes have shipped..

If you ever want to find out what's really valuable in your life, what you really cherish, and what's really worth keeping, move to another country. As I go drawer by drawer and cupboard by cupboard, that's exactly what i'm doing, weighing the value of each and every thing. Because the more we ship, the more we spend. Those shirts that I thought I would always have that just collect dust in the back of the closet, have now found their way to the donations box, I'm not paying to bring them  back. And the jeans I've been keeping for years now, thinking that some day I just MIGHT fit into, gone.... In all seriousness there have been some hard decisions to make about some items though and it's made the packing process even harder than I thought it would be. So yes, if you've been wondering if we have packed anything, we have. We have nine boxes packed so far, and four of them are on their way to the USA right now. That was a weird feeling, and strange to think that I will next open them in Michigan, not in another flat here in Switzerland. It took a while to get those nine boxes packed though. It was usually interrupted with feedings, diaper changes, naps, or just life. And of course spending way to long looking at something to see if I really wanted to keep it. OH, and there is that fashion show I had with my daughter. I should have taken pictures of the many outfit changes. I never enjoyed playing with dolls growing up (hoping Mayla doesn't either), but I was laughing at myself as I treated her like she was one! Bless her happy little heart and putting up with me that day! 

So, you may be wondering, are we taking it all, white crib, toilet seat and kitchen sink? No, we are not packing and shipping everything. We were planning on a container, but after hearing the cheapest we could get it all over to the US was 7,500, we decided to sell as much as we can and start fresh. The thought of getting all new kitchen stuff does rather excite me though:) I feel like we should have another wedding party like we just got married and need all the basics to start life:) So we have almost everything listed for sale on two different websites and it's not going as fast as we had hoped it would and trying to keep it all organized is a full time job in its self. Trying to remember-organize who wants what and when and who is second for what has given us both headaches. It sounds easy, but it's rather complicated. Then trying to organize either meet up times and places or when they come to our place is also a bit much. Some days I just want to dump it on the street with a sign that says, 'free'. We had one big day when we lost our tv, tv stand, and dining room table, that combined with packed boxes and a house turned upside down made the move feel real for the first time! 

What's Mayla been up to with all this we her parents have going on? She's been just great. She has been so helpful, and by that I mean, content and happy to be playing by herself. We haven't even accidentally put her in a moving box...yet! I make sure that I spend some quality time with her during this whole process though as I don't want her to feel abandoned or left out.  Her happy little laughs and bright big smile let me know that it's all right in her world though. 

Christmas was nice this year, but different.  It was both of our first Christmas EVER away from family. Even though we had a tree, and decorations, we realized that half the 'feeling' of Christmas is the family time that surrounds this time of year and we really missed that this year. I keep looking at the tree we have up thinking I should be listening to Christmas music still and getting prepared to celebrate Jesus' birthday. We will be celebrating with family when we get back and I'm sure that event, being celebrated in the middle of January, will play some mind games on me. We might have to have another New Year's Eve celebration as well so that I can get my 'mind'/internal clock ticking again and get up to speed. The 'warmer' than usual weather in Switzerland is not helping the case either. 

Mayla's first bike. Yeah, probably a little premature but it's soo cute and she will love riding it with Daddy. It's even the Swiss anniversary addition with special "graphics" and matching gloves. Too bad we couldn't find Lycra in her size.

What's our plan???same as last update...get on a plane January 18th, pray during the whole flight that we are not 'those people with the screaming infant' the whole flight, land in Michigan, and enjoy family and friends. Beyond that we don't know. Will has only heard back from two jobs out of about twenty that he has applied for. So whether that means some places are still considering him, or they threw his application away with not even a glance, we have no idea, but that's okay with us! It's out of our control and we continue to trust and seek the Lord each day and realize that He has the perfect plan for us. We hold fast to Jeremiah 29:11, 'For I know the plans I have for you declares The Lord.' We also know that His timing is perfect and it may be hard at times, but we wait for Him. 

And while i'm writing, I think it's time for another reflection of SO GLAD/SO SAD! Today Will went snowboarding with some buddies (so sad for me, so glad for him, but that's not really the so sad/so glad i'm writing about). So that left me and sweet baby Mayla home alone. Well if you were in Switzerland today, you know it was a BEAUTIFUL day, and I wanted to take advantage of it.  I bundled up my joy, put her in the stroller and we cruised the lake side path. It was dusk and as I was walking along the beautiful lake, looking at the lights shimmering on the water from the houses across the way, I thought to myself how safe I felt walking all alone with her, at night. Switzerland has always felt 'safe' to me. I remember when I first moved here I was out late and no trams were running by the time I needed to get home, so I walked the 15 minutes from the train station at 1:30 in the morning. This is coming from the girl who is scared to go to her mailbox in the dark back in the states. I will for sure be so sad to leave this behind.

And as I was going down the MANY stairs tonight to get to the stroller, carrying the munchkin in her car seat, I thought to myself, 'I'm so glad I won't have to do these steps any more'. There are 37 of them outside our flat and about 15 of them inside our flat and Mayla's little, but she is putting on some poundage. I like the work out, but if you have ever carried a car seat, you know how awkward they are, and even more so bouncing up and down steps. I'm sure little Miss M&M will miss it though, those steps and that bouncing has put her to sleep many times in her short life!

TTFN! More to come as we get closer. We do want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and pray it was a wonderful time with your family. We also wish you a great start to 2013...can you believe it's 2013 already?

On the left is the first photo I took of our palm tree, the day we bought it. On the right is the last photo I took of our palm tree, the day we sold it (super sad about that too). Notice how good and lush the tree looks when we sold it. I certainly don't have a green thumb, but I did a darn good job of not killing it...first time ever keeping a plant alive:)

OH my GOODNESS........

One month, or 31 days, or 744 hours, or 44, 640 minutes..however you want to count it, it's all the same and it's the time we have left in Switzerland. My mind is racing and my thoughts are all over the place. We bought our tickets last night for a one way trip to the USA, and I was filled with all sorts of emotions. After seven years and almost four months (for me and 4 years and 8 months for Will), our time in Switzerland is slowly coming to an end. I honestly didn't think this day would stumble upon me so fast. Funny thought as i wasn't supposed to be here longer than a year in the first place, and here we are. So many years, married, and a baby later making our way back.

We recently looked into getting a container to ship all our stuff back, but after getting quotes back that ranged from 7,000-10,000 we decided we could either live on bean bags in america or buy new stuff, whichever happens first;) There are only a few things we are super sad to leave behind and that is the baby stuff i have easily fallen in love with and our super comfy L-shapped couch and a few other randoms. I'll be excited to acquire new baby stuff, but also so sad to leave behind the things that have helped along the way so far. It's amazing how fast you make 'memories' with things, or grow attached to 'things' that have helped make your life easier. This is actually a good lesson for us, and helps remind us that everything we have is of this world, when we die we can't take any of it with us anyways, so it's good to keep in check how attached one is getting to the 'possessions' of this world. Where do you put your trust/hope/ and security? I"m learning every day that I look into the eyes of my daughter that NOTHING she plays with matters and no material item she has is going to fill the void of life like Jesus Christ. 

So what have we been up to besides making our daughter smile, changing a lot of diapers, wiping her sick runny nose, washing clothes, snuggling, trying to sleep, playing with rattles, going for walks, reading books, and giving baths.....we've been trying to figure out where God wants us and what he has in store for us in America, oh and trying to enjoy our last few moments together here in Switzerland. As far as our future, that hasn't been revealed  yet, but we FOR sure have been enjoying a great deal of family time and enjoying the Christmas season in Zürich. 

Will has applied for about 12 jobs so far. The area ranges from Columbia, S.C, to Atlanta, GA and Chattanooga, Tennessee with our main focus being on Columbia, S.C. We are patient, but eager to see what is in store for us! The goos news is he is finding a lot of jobs that interest him, unlike his search here in Switzerland where he wasn't finding much that sounded 'intriguing'. 

So yes, we have a plane ticket for January 18th that gets us to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where are families are. After that, who knows! What an adventure huh? When we had sweet baby Mayla a word came to us every day and it was 'TRUST'. That trust wasn't just for our journey from ICU to NICU and back again, but for our every day life. We are trusting The Lord, trusting He will meet all of our needs as we put our hope in him daily! 

P.S. We have not yet received Mayla's passport, but according to the consulate in Bern today, it should be no problem having her passport by January 18th. Praise Jesus!

Just when we thought...

'daddy's good at balancing me'

We had this kid figured out, she goes and throws us a big fat ole loop. 

oh no, someone found their
thumb

So we have worked pretty hard over the last few weeks to establish a routine for Mayla.  Mayla would wake up slowly around 7:30/7:45 (ish), after sleeping for about 12 hours (with a feed in there around 2 or 3 then another at 5 or 6). We would all then slowly, gently, and calmly, begin our day. Keri and I would have breakfast together and take care of random morning stuff perhaps, all while Mayla enjoyed some playtime by herself on her mat. Around 9:15-9:45 Mayla would go down for a nap, that lasted anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour,  but she typically would wake up around the 45 minute mark. Then some more hang and play time before lunch about 11-11:30 (ish). After lunch it's time for a long nap of 2-3 hours or so. Then more food around 2:30-3ish. Then some more playtime by herself before another relatively brief nap before gearing up for bath time around 6. After the bath is dinner and then the evening bedtime ritual of holding and rocking her while listening to hear little music box. Once the box stops, we pray over and for her, then she gets laid in bed along with a single pull of the music making bear/rabbit stuffed critter guy. Then we bail. Sometimes we have to force a pacifier in her mouth if she is fussy before we bail, but that is a negligible process and takes a minimal amount of time. Then Keri and I enjoy dinner together, maybe a shower, and we have some nice hang time or off to bed ourselves. Mayla is usually up around 11ish for a brief feed, and by brief I mean like seconds before she is zonked out. Then back to bed and we find our selves sleeping until around 3 and start over again. 

We had worked pretty hard to get to this point and like I said, we feel like we had a pretty solid routine down too and it was so nice to wake knowing what the day had in store. That is until a few days ago anyway.

All smiles during play time

The theory thus far is that she is going through a growth spurt which screws up her sleep patterns and increases her requirement for foodal intake. Additionally, this has raised her awareness of fussy while heightening her displeasure of being held by others, by like 10 fold or something.

The end result? Mommy and daddy looking at each other asking, "what happened to our little girl?" It's like we've digressed back to young, challenging, unhelpful Mayla, albeit cuter with her smiles, cooing, laughs, and supposed talking. Needless to say, the last few days have been a bit out of the norm for us and really has us scratching our heads and covering our mouths (we're yawning).

Mayla is still an absolute blessing, our precious little lady, a miracle no doubt, but the last couple weeks sure were nicer than the last few days. Don't get me wrong, we know this stuff is going to happen. She will go through phases where she is not exactly cooperative (though I was hoping we were done with that for the next 14 or 15 years), and doesn't want to hang with other peeps, and doesn't want to sleep, and goes through feeding fads, but we were enjoying our "child holiday". Granted, I'm sure we'll have another after she goes through this funk of a phase so for now I guess will just shake our heads, smile, and offer the most loving, "Oh Mayla" possible.

No need to offer tips or suggestions or the infamous "it's just a phase", we got this, for now.... We are sure everyone has been through it, and compared to what we went through in the hospital and the first weeks out of the hospital, this is smooth sailing and we are enjoying all the joys and trials that each day brings and the continued refining that The Lord is doing in our lives. 

And now, the next installment of So Sad Yet So Glad...

First and foremost, it's important to note that we had a long list of things in a word document that we planned to write about, yet in all of our genius (mine/Will) we neglected to save the document and lost all of it, macs... Subsequently we are trying to go from memory, neither of which is very good for the both of us, but here we go.

One of the things we are terribly sad about is missing out on bakeries with fresh baked goodness each and every day, along with the smell of those goods as we walk, run, or cycle past the bakery in the mornings. Sure, there are bakeries in the US and sure we can get some freshly baked products, but it's different. There are as many bakeries here as there are Christian Reformed Churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan, maybe more. AND, most do cool designs in their breads, little people, snakes, turtles, and all kinds of other things. Additionally, the vast array of breads, sweets, and sandwiches is almost incomprehensible. FINALLY, I will miss my favorite gipfeli (croissant) ever, buttergipfeli, from my favorite bakery, Gnädinger, affectionately known as "blue bakery". We both have grown to really enjoy these gipfeli and have gone to the extent of using them as buns for hamburgers, oh so good, believe you me. Best burger buns ever! So, we will be taking advantage of all the baked goodness we can while we still can, then it's on too "real" American donuts...

Something we are soooo glad about is leaving the land of smoke. Not really sure why, but seems smoking to be one of the more popular activities of the Swiss, maybe it's a European thing. Either way, regardless of the time of year, it can not be avoided, ever! Everywhere you go you are bound to walk through someone's puff. Whether it's outside a restaurant, because it's now illegal to smoke inside restaurants, entering or exiting a train, waiting at a train, tram, or bus stop, hanging lakeside, bicycling, sleeping, or just chilling in your own place, there is a good chance you will get hit by the second hand smoke bug. Sure, there is smoking in the US and it could very well be everywhere, but neither of us seem to recall smoking being as prevalent in the States as it is here. So, Lord willing, we'll be able to add an extra year or two by not inhaling so much second-hand smoke; or at least exchange the shortening of life with something more enjoyable to us, like falling from barefoot water-skiing backwards...

Til next time, ciao!

Bible story time with mommy

Our happy little train traveler

More about Glad/Sad

As I sit here and enjoy a nice colorful, fruity stripped candy cane...from last year...(yes it's a bit stale, but it's not stopping me) the thing on my mind is Importing. I have lived in Switzerland for 7 years and 2 months (WOW) and over the course of that time have taken 17 trips to America (putting that number down makes me realize how blessed I am). When i first moved here, airlines were a lot 'friendlier', you were allowed two FREE luggages for an international flight. It was perfect. Just enough space for clothes, and american goodies. They have now limited it to one free luggage for international flights. It's doo-able, but for my 'american cravings' it was a hard hit when they changed that. As most people know, things in america are A LOT cheaper than here. We would normally save all our clothes shopping for  the USA (which was necessary anyways as it's hard to find clothes ('less expensive') that even fit Will here), and of course we had to bring back candy canes that last a year, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce, Peanut butter, and other sweets and treats that we can't get here! What am i getting at.....I"m glad importing all the things we 'needed' will no longer be a stress of ours. I did however get pretty creative at packing over the years and am glad to have had this experience! It also taught us moderation, which i'm hoping is a trait we carry back to America with us, when all we 'need' is in surplus around us!

The thing we are SAD about, is going to be a BIG shock and adjustment for us. Water....water.....water...water.....and water fountains! The water here is amazing. This one is ripe on our mind today. Will had just gone for a run and I met up with him at the Chocolate factory (he ran there, 7 miles and therefore deserved more chocolate than me). We were both so thirty and finished the water in our bottle in no time and were in need of more water, we stopped by a local grocery store and bought a bottle and to our dismay it tasted yucky! The water straight from the fountains, and taps here is so fresh, so cold, so good and beats any water from any bottle! The fountains are every where that flow with refreshing water, you can even find them on hikes in what seems like the middle of no where. And if you can't find a fountain, just head for a bathroom, yup the water right from the sink tastes GREAT! We will miss the fountains and the yummy flowing water that flows from them, as well as how cool they usually look!

So Sad, yet So Glad

It’s time for another episode of So Sad, yet So Glad. Today I’m talking about missing something that has consumed a lot of our time over the years, Youth Group at the International Protestant Church of Zürich.

Both Keri and I have been involved in the youth group at IPC since coming to Zürich. This has included Sunday teachings, occasional activities, and general hanging out with a cool bunch of teenagers. We both have had a ton of fun over the years. Some of our favorite memories are probably the annual “Party on the Mountain”, the youth retreat, and all kinds of fun activities, especially whooping a bunch of kids hinders in go-karting (Keri missed that one), even being kind enough to slam a nice young lady into a tire wall… Most recently I worked with some of the students and started a worship band out of the youth group. I’ve had all kinds of fun hanging, rehearsing, and worshiping with all these kids. Following the most recent “Party on the Mountain”, it was a joy for me to reflect on the fun I’ve had with these kids, watching them grow into mature young adults, seeing their faiths grow, and being able to have adult(ish) conversations with them. I’ve always found it easy to connect with young and old alike, but it was an absolute pleasure for me (both of us really) to poor into their lives, sharing my life experiences and faith, hopefully equipping them and their faith for the future, while being free to act my IQ rather than my age. I’ll never forget these guys and gals and will forever hold on to the memories we made. I will also continue to pray for each of them (you if you’re reading this) and hope that throughout all your lives you will continuously seek the Lord first, trusting in Him for everything, the world will let you down always (it has me…).

Something we are super excited about is American football, and being able to watch it on television without the aid of Skype. As we hang out this Thanksgiving weekend, gearing up for the annual Michigan vs. Ohio State football game, we were so excited that Big Mama just switched to DirecTV so we could watch the Big Ten Network online and catch the game with clear visuals and sound. Unfortunately we are failing at that since the game is on ABC, so back to Skype we go. Also, for the first time since Keri and I each moved here, we get to watch the Super Bowl live and direct, no 6 hour time difference, no avoiding scores & recaps until we can watch a taping, no staying up to stupid hours of the night (not that we did), and we can finally watch the Detroit Lions win a Super Bowl (right…) in living color. All the while, celebrating gluttony as only Americans can with cheese dip, meatballs, fried-fattening foods, laughing our fool heads off at commercials, and wondering, wishing, and praying for the day that D-town gets to the Super Bowl. Good times will be had on February 3, 2013…

More to come in a few days. We hope and pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and for those in the U.S., managed to stay alive through the insanity that is Black Friday (we aren’t writing about that because one of us is excited, the other not so much, you guess which is which).

Another crazy activity Keri came up with. But let's be honest, who doesn't like a crab walk race on a mountain in the woods.

Party on the Mountain standard fare, brats and peeps.

Passing along American gluttony by way of S'mores.

Youth Retreat 2008, and yes, they're real... Gone now though...

Christmas Party 2011, Wii Cow Racing Tourney, he thinks cuz he's small and Asian he can use his powers to make his cow go faster than mine, well he did... 

Life as we know it..

Has changed....it's changed sept 6th, september 14th, September 27th, and even yesterday. They talk about milestones in babies lives, but some times forget about the milestones the parents take as well, and we have had our fair share in Mayla's short (but oh so long) 2 months and 12 days of living.

I went from being so frightened for what laid ahead with her life, to fear we would lose her, to not wanting to be her mom, to not knowing how to love her like she needed, to absolute adoration and deep affectionate love that can not be shaken. I stand in awe of the way God has worked and changed her and at the same time worked and changed both Will and myself.

Mayla has made a DRASTIC 180 degree turn since we last wrote about her. We wondered what life was going to be like with our 'high maintenance' baby, and how we would survive from one day to the next. Only by God's grace was I waking every day with enough energy to get through. That is no longer the case, I awake with such excitement for the day and eager to see what God has in store for us. I have confidence back that no matter what happens, WE will all be okay.

Mayla has a unique personality about her, and I find myself lost in her throughout the day. It brings me great joy to watch her explore, learn, and study life around her. I take absolute pleasure in the little things each day, and am already complaining it's going by too quickly. I want to cherish every moment, and take every moment to enrich her life to the fullest. A baby is an absolute miracle from God, and i don't want to take for granted even a single day. Mayla is for sure a miracle and a gift from God, and there is not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for her and for what he has done for her. We lost our first baby one year and 17 days ago, and we almost lost our second one, I realize this child is NOT ours but Gods and therefore every day is precious, i don't want to miss a thing.

She has amazed us at her ability to be content when put down, to fall asleep on her own without being bounced, rocked, pushed, or fed to sleep. She has amazed us with her 'long' sleeping nights and the number of times she can smile in a day. She has amazed us at her ability to sit in a stroller and be content.....We are crazy about her.

She had an osteopath appointment (her third one) a week and a half ago. I went from being a little skeptical about it, to being a firm believer. At the appointment we mentioned again how Mayla was still screaming each time she yawned, the dr. manipulated a few things on her face, and low and behold Mayla yawned huge and NO screaming. Will and I were in disbelief, but then it continued to be that way the whole night. We were amazed and so thankful. We finished that session and the dr said the best words, 'she is GREAT, and we don't need any more appointments'. We were thrilled and so proud of Mayla for the way she responded to the three thirty minute treatments she had had!

Will and I are doing well, missing our 'dates' but looking forward to them starting back up soon (like this week) as Mayla can now go longer between feeds it will be easier to quick get away. She still struggles with the bottle, but we are proud that it's that way as opposed to her struggling with me. That alone is a miracle and another gift from God based given the fact that she was tube fed for the first 2 weeks of her life. We did manage to watch a movie two weekends in a row which also holds some serious excitement for us, even if i fell asleep in my hubby's arms half way through:) Dates were always a big part of our marriage before Mayla and we realize they are just as important, actually more important now that we have a child. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant, but just husband and wife..together. Mayla is our absolute joy, but if i'm not first a wife then i'm doing a dis-service to my daughter. We will frequently lay Mayla down on her changing table or put her in her chair and hug in front of her, kiss and love on each other. She needs to see that throughout her life, and it needs to start now.

Regarding the move, well there's really no new news there. We put in our three months notice for our flat and have had some open houses. Yesterday being the first one that actually had people attending. We have our last one on Monday and are praying that the agency finds a suitable candidate for our place so we don't have to have any more. Once someone signs a contract, we will get in touch with them to see what furniture/items they may want from our place. We are praying someone gets it who needs 'stuff'' as it will help our to-do list and reduce 'move back' costs. We will then start calling moving companies and get quotes to see what it's worth to bring back, evaluating between crate shipment and just shipping boxes. Then based on that, we will start advertising items for sale and start emptying our home. There is lots to be done, but for now we sit back and wait and try to enjoy this 'down' time before it gets crazy.

As far as Will and the 'job search'. He is currently working on updating his resume and some other 'tools' that will help in the job finding process. He has found a few jobs that interest him and we are hopeful. His goal is in the next 1.5-2 weeks to start applying for some of them and see what happens.

We have started a 'LIST' where we identify things we'll miss in Switzerland as well as those we are looking forward to in the U.S. We call it 'SO sad, yet SO glad'.

We are SO sad to leave behind an amazing network of public transportation that runs so efficiently (unless it's rained or raining, in which case drivers of, particularly those of trains, must get nervous and back off the electric throttle), and the joy we have in taking trains, trams, buses, and boats to get to where we are going. It is more often than not, that we really enjoy the train opportunities to read, talk, stare at the amazing Swiss scenery, etc. Yet we are SO glad to have a car and the thought at driving places ourselves. Will is particularly excited because he really enjoys driving; anything with an engine, a steering wheel, and a throttle (brakes aren't always necessary). Cars bring a lot of added convenience for getting places, grocery shopping, nursing hideaways, etc. They also bring a lot of added work which Will really enjoys too and I have to confess, I think he's HOT when he's all greasy and dirty... We are blessed to have a car waiting for us back in the States, not just the bucket Will is building, and Will is looking forward to finding something for himself to drive until the bucket is finished...

Oh, she is learning to take a nuggi. 

No it's not THAT cold in our house, preventive measures to avoid thumb/hand sucking.

So fun to see a swimmy diaper on her...

First pool swim. So excited she enjoyed it. Next up, Lake Zürich.