2007 recap

highlights, lowlights and middlelights.

january:

constance.

what can i say about constance ebelechukwu? here's a pic that describes what has happened since she arrived:



i cannot say how my heart has grown this past year. when i think about my heart in 2006 and what the gift of our daughter's presence has done to my heart in 2007- it seriously seems to me that my heart was teeny tiny and now might outgrow the physical confines of my body b/c of this kid.

constance has been a wonderful blessed addition to our family. she is laid back, inquisitive, an observer and insanely gorgeous. she trips over her eyelashes and loves to sing and dance. she truly seems to have a wonderful mix of both charles and me. she also seems to have been given our tenacity/stubbornness (depending on which side of redemption you look at it).

here are some of my more favorite pics:


this one doesn't need a caption...




our igbo woman

february:

snow boobs.

there are no pics on this one. all i remember about february was that it snowed a lot and my boobs hurt. and i barely slept. kinda all a blur.

march:

good riddens.

march- i was still on maternity leave and found out over lunch w/ my boss that my job had been 'eliminated'. which was fine all the same- b/c i would of preferred a dull blade to dig our my finger nails to return to work there after maternity leave. my time there was tenuous but purposeful. it was also very very stressful with the regular fifty five to sixty hour week throughout my pregnancy.

in twelve step literature there are a series of promises or guarantees for those that work all twelve of the steps in their day to day lives. one that sums up this experience is that 'God does for us what we could not do for ourselves...' we (as a couple) could never have agreed for me to leave that job for a variety of reasons- but being fired allowed me to part ways (albeit not on my terms- but good terms nonetheless) and collect- UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES. the nine months that ensued have been spent getting to know constance which has been a blessing!

april:

sold the fox



for the second time in our married life- we became a one car family. and why not? i didn't have to goto work and gas prices began their dreadful ascent.

i also discovered my love affair w/ power washers.

may:

i had a second breast cyst removed this month and planted our first garden and did lots of landscaping and shaping here at 937. the cyst was somewhat stressful- but not nearly so w/ the first time i got one and required a biopsy and all that rigmarole.

so... the garden-





the immortal eyonomous i tried to kill- but am now glad is still alive.

i cut this down to the stump in april and these are the pictures of it in july. my sister-in-law says it is a manhattan euonymus that attracts house flies. lucky us. she adviced that i leave it for another year and see what happens.


tomato representin'! early in the season w/ disappointing yield.

i also did two types of oregano, basil, rosemary, broccoli, peppers st. john's wort all of which did really well. my composting is finally paying off.

the broccoli did well. three plants total. we had a little bunny who often devoured it's fruits. charles kept threatening to shoot and eat the little bunny bastard- but didn't. i was both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

i have had a sorted history with plants. i love them- but mostly i am good at killing them. i have recently thought about doing the master gardener program through ohio state extension. the typical demographic for this program are retirees. i don't know weather to laugh or cry.

i almost killed the st john's wort but it was ressurected and eventually flourished. i did manage to kill a rose bush this summer. i don't want to dig it our prematurely- we'll see what next year holds. maybe it will be resurrected as well- but i have a feeling the rose bush is just a bitch diva.

i have a three stage landscaping plan for the back yard. it is in stages b/c we're on a tight budget. maybe sometime i'll post my drawings of the plan.

june:

• dedication. i already wrote and posted pics about this huge event. it was a wonderful day and instilled in me a gratitude for the privilege and responsibility to be a parent!
• we also went to boston for a brief vacation.
• my mom also had her shoulder replaced. this was quite a big ordeal- and she was a trooper! she is recovering well. she has rheumatoid arthritis and it looks like she will need replacement for her other shoulder. stink!

july:

the most notable thing that happened this month was a visit from my brother's family.
that's all i got on july.

august:

• my next step vocationally was solidified this month when i decided to get my certificate to teach kids with special needs.

september:

• i couldn't think of anything notable for september.

october:

nigeria.



one thing that i have not written about nigeria is how much we grew as a married couple because of this trip. i have said to a couple of friends that i kept thinking throughout the trip about that passage of scripture from ruth ' your people will be my people; where you will stay i will stay; where you will die i will die'...

having a baby with charles made me fall in love with him at a new level- but seeing him in nigeria was so good for me and our marriage. the romanticism of 'PLANTING a CHURCH in LAGOS' (if i had teddy bear icons and kisses i would put them here)- is gone. instead i have an abiding sense, conviction and burden to the life work that we have to nigeria both while we're here and when we live there.

november:


my first turkey. i brined it and it was good.



someone was sick in our house pretty much everyday in november. first me- then constance, then charles. i hate being sick. we also didn't have a computer during november. and my unemployment benefits ran dry.

regardless of these downers- we did have a great thanksgiving and managed to get some nice pics.

december:

• i began working three days a week for a friend cleaning houses ) which you may of read about our adventures in previous posts).
• i finished christmas shopping the earliest ever (mainly b/c i did most of it in nigeria).
• i found a job that i am hopeful is an answer to prayer!

overall

we have so much to be grateful for! last years favorite phrase (MAKE SWEET SWEET LOVE) varies greatly from this year's favorite phrase (UNEMPLOYMENT WAGES). it has been a year of blessing and love all the same! we are very grateful!

other favorites include:

favorite book: runaway bunny
favorite song: what a merciful god (our lullaby)
favorite authors i discovered: miroslav volf and joan chittister

summer recap 2007

here's a summary of our summer. the last two summers seem to have been particularly full and hectic. but i wouldn't trade them for anything.

dedication


me, charles, constance (note her rhinestone paton leather shoes), jennifer and my mom

this was our highlight of our summer. in early june- we dedicated constance at church. my sister in law who lives in nyc came in and brought felicia (her best friend) and felicia's son c.j. we had nigerian friends here in town attend as well as other friends from different parts of west africa. then, of course were all our peeps at church. it was a very sweet and tender day and i get teary just thinking about how meaningful and special it was to me.

we hosted a party afterwards complete with nigerian food. we had jallaf rice, goat , stew, plantains and other things i forget. jennifer and felicia did all the cooking which was incredible and so helpful. i remember being awakened at 4am that morning to the sound of clevers on cutting boards as they prepared the meat for the stews. needless to say- it was quite a celebration.

dates:

more recently we've addressed our famine in our dating life. we have done a kid swap with a friend and charles and i have spent lots of good time over coffee talking and enjoying eachother. being home full time and having charles' work schedule has made for more time together than we're used to- but somehow we don't get away and chill together. i'm very grateful for the chance to be alone with charles and talk and chat and ask questions. charles is seriously one of the most interesting and intriguing people i've ever met! i love hearing his perspective and stories.

boston



we went to boston for a couple of days courtesy of skybus. we stayed with friends kyla and michael who were so helpful to us during our engagement. we had a great time at the beach and met up with friends nelson and nkem who live in revere. we did a lot of resting and talking and connecting. it was wonderful.

cousin visit

my brother's family came in early july. we don't get to see those guys enough- but they're a ton of fun and we love them. the kids are all growing and it's so great to see their personalities evolve. i really respect my sister-in-law and brother's parenting and this year- i saw it w/ new eyes being a new parent myself. aidan just started fourth grade, jack second, maggie kindgergaren and sweet sweet nora another year at preschool. LUV those guys!

vocation decisions

we have continued to pray and consider what i should do about a job. at this point the plan is for me to enroll in a licensure program to teach in january 2008. charles will continue to prep for his gre and apply for his phd program in educational psychology. in the meantime, we continue to pray that God would provide income for me that would allow me to work part time from home. this is all i know at this point. the unknown is un-nerving- but whatcha gonna do? it would be so nice if the Lord showed us the next fifteen steps of life... but alas- He only seems to show us the next thing to do. probably a good thing- i'd have an anxiety attack otherwise.

summer conference

we had a conference here in columbus for 2million prayers for nigeria. it was pretty great. it reminded me of how little faith i have. the Lord exceeded my meager and embarrassing expectations. our mostly anglo church represented well which made me feel so loved and like people 'get' my husband and how freagin awesome he is... which most women i know will tell you your love factor goes up in their book when you love and respect her husband. there were two nigerian pastors that spoke and our pastor as well. we met a number of other nigerians and our friendship with overcomers (a nigerian church here in town) grew. one very cool thing to note is the traditional ethnic strife between tribes has been taken head on. i love that from a ground level there is partnership between people groups who histrionically have suspicion as the norm and instead have cooperation and encouragement as the norm.

buckeye village:



i have spent an unusual amount of time at buckeye village this summer. this where many teaching assistants and gradute students live at ohio state. it is the refuge camp of residence life. the conditions are pretty meager. as a church, we have a heart to serve residents in practical ways. buckeye village is a stone's throw from our church and in our neighborhood. we've spent many a saturday doing prayer walks, weeding garden plots and handing out school supplies to the kids. our kinship will start hosting a potluck there each month. good stuff.

i think everyone needs opportunities to at least feel like a foreigner (but preferably be a foreigner) and feel stupid and pronounce mandarin incorrectly. i've been taught the word for basil, garlic, and lettuce and butchered them completely- but to the delight of my teachers who seem thrilled i even bothered.

trip prep

our big news this summer has been that we booked tickets to goto nigeria in october. we have been busily preparing and cannot wait to arrive and be with our family! this will be my first time there and constance is the first grandchild on charles' side of the family. so it will be quiet a big deal to be there. we will be doing a conference for 2MPFN similar to the one we held in early august here in columbus. we will be solely in lagos and don't plan to travel this trip to charles' father's village. i am both thrilled and terrified about the trip. more to come on the trip soon.

constance

constance is doing great! she's growing and started eating solids this summer right at the six month mark. she likes pretty much everything i've given her. i'm using that super baby food book and like most first time moms- i'm very by the book. i never thought i'd be one of 'those' moms that was semi neurotic and vigilent and makes home made baby food to boot. but it somehow happened. i'm basically martha stewart.

she's still a little peanut wieghing about 15lbs. she still loves nursing (as do i) and can sit up well. she isn't super wiggily or discontent not being able to move more but being on her stomach is more bearable.

her disposition is very easy. she's laid back and very pleasent pretty most of the time. she seems to like to sing- which is so funny. she needs time to warm up to most people and still seems to flirt with boys. literally, i've seen her tuck her chin into her little chest and bat her eye lashes. oye. give this fifteen years and we might have some problems. she particularly seems to like people that are darker complected.

we got a old school johnny jump up (i think that's what it is called) which provides hours of entertainment. constance loves it and it s a great way to have her with me in the kitchen and make her happy while expending energy. we've spent most of the summer watching her do this to date. constance stopped her passifier and doesn't want a bottle anymore. we've moved to a sippy and it's not going so well. but i figure she'll get the hang of it sometime. here's a shot of her:

her sleep has been a bit stressful. she's moved out of that super flexible stage of sleep and takes some time to rebound if she misses a nap. the big news in this arena is that we no longer swaddle her. it was a bit of a traumatic transistion and i'm glad we're past it. this was the first move i made where i knowingly caved due to motherpressure. while the close tight swaddle used to be comforting; now- we're pulling out all the stops. she's got beatrice the bear (who is the same size as constance). this was my mom's contribution (god love her). then there's blanky. i'm hoping that the blanky attachment isn't pattern dependent. if it is- i'm screwed. i've just been switching out these amy coe flannels. we'll see.

this is all in efforts to help her 'self soothe'. the most effective tool for that is not beatrice or the blanky. constance loves her hair. and just lays on her back in the crib with her hands just above her temples and rubs her hair. and who can blame the kid? she does have some pretty great hair. when she does it- i seriously get weak kneed with oochy gooshy love. i've actually began to stroke her hair to soothe myself. it works pretty well for me too.

speaking of oochy gooshy love- i still fight the urge daily to give her hickies or eat her. people can tell you, 'marriage is hard work' or 'being in love is wonderful' or 'the love for your kids is indescribable'- but i guess you can't know- until you know! what a wonderful surprise!

this was a long post... thanks for reading and here's to a wonderful autumn!