Marie Klein Burtt

the story goes that when our great-aunt betty came to help after sarah was born, she would sing to sarah, “sierra sue. how do you do? your heart is lighter than mi-iiii-ne.” i don’t know why she sang it to sarah since i am actually the one named su{sanna} but for some reason it just seemed fitting. for years, when aunt betty would come to visit, she would sing it to sarah.

i prayed for sarah to be born. i actually remember telling my mom, “i want a sister. i have two brothers but i want a sister!” her response? “ask God for one.” i think they were already pregnant but not telling us because i’m positive a few weeks later my parents told us we were going to have a new baby and i was shocked at how quickly God heard my prayer. i knew she was going to be a girl because i had prayed for one. when they called us from the hospital to tell us that she was a girl, i was so excited.

she was pretty awesome for a while. she was basically my living doll and i took care of her. i got her dressed, i carried her everywhere, i burped her. i was seven and i loved every minute of it. then she became a little less awesome. she started breaking things. and she did it so well. she wasn’t supposed to play in my doll house (the old fashioned kind with real, miniature furniture). but she did anyway and broke pieces every time. then she started to write. on my things. the word, “sarah.” she really wanted my samantha books, so she of course took possession of them by writing “sk” on every one.

but those days were still pretty good. those were the days when i was the “big sister god.” she had a bed and i had a bed, but she slept in my bed. it was a big bed, a double yet somehow she always managed to roll right up against me. she remembers making little noises and kicking a little until i’d say, “sarah are you okay?” and she would answer, “i have to go potty, will you go with me?” she hated coyotes and their howling. if the coyotes would start, i would jump up and try to cover her ears until they stopped so that she wouldn’t wake up hysterical.

i moved out of our bedroom and downstairs when i was fifteen or sixteen, i think. a year or two later, dora moved in with sarah. i graduated and went away to college. she came and visited once and i was of course the proud older sister showing her younger sister off. but we didn’t really know each other then. yet. then i went through a few stupid years. you know, the years you go through where you are really smart and know everything there is to know and everyone else (especially parents) are just really dumb? yeah, i think all adolescents go through it to some extent. after college, i moved down south.

then she went through the stupid years too. and we really weren’t friends then. i mean, don’t get me wrong. we were sisters. but we weren’t buddies or friends or the best way i can put it, kindred spirits (thank you anne of green gables). we were just doing different things . our own things. but enough light hearted banter about sarah. (although it’s all true. at least 99% true. okay fine, 98%.)

sarah graduated with a degree in photography and moved down south and we started hanging out more. she was starting to come out of those stupid years and i was starting to figure out how you treat an adult sister. we kept hanging out. addy was born and sarah was her own personal photographer. addy’s first word was “mama.” addy’s second word sounded something like “doh” which we coined sarah’s nickname, in case you were wondering how she became “auntie doh doh.” we actually started enjoying the hanging out. we did things. coffee. then christian and i became the foster parents of three amazing girls and my life became a blur. sarah was there after work every single day. i actually think she stopped having a social life during that time.

the summer after the girls left, we spent a lot of time together. grief has a way of bringing people together and making friends even closer. but it was more than that. our sister relationship was becoming a friendship relationship. we discovered we actually had a lot in common. with the girls gone, we no longer needed a third bedroom and sarah was willing to help pay rent. it started as a financial blessing but it ended up just as much of an emotional blessing for both of us. sarah, christian and i are all “norcal” transplants and there is something to be said about “safety in numbers.” (okay, okay, slight jab at socal but it is a completely different world down here!)

last semptember, our family welcomed a little guy to foster. he came on wednesday. on monday, i didn’t feel so great and took a pregnancy test. {pregnancy test = mercy, nine months later.} little man was not so easy. we were pulling all-nighters and our hair. two weeks later, we sat sarah down and gave her a note that said, “we need you to pull more weight.” she was so serious, not sure if she should be hurt or what. then we told her i was pregnant. i don’t think i pulled another all-nighter with little man after that. somehow christian and sarah took turns with little man in the middle of the night and got up and went to work everyday. they cooked and cleaned and i puked.

when little man left right before the holidays, it was official. my little sister, the original punk, the master of tricking mom into thinking she was innocent, the middle child and i, we were friends. no wait, we were bosom buddies. we were kindred spirits.

it’s still hard for me to grasp that the Lord is calling christian and i to moldova and calling sarah to stay here in thousand oaks. who will make inside jokes with me? who will make socal jokes with her? how can we be kindred spirits when we live almost six thousand miles away. yet i know that no matter where we live, our friendship can stay just as strong if we keep working on it. sarah sent me a song the other day and it reminded us that the Lord has every chapter of our lives in His hands. the beginning says,
where you go, i’ll go
where you stay, i’ll stay
when you move, i’ll move
i will follow…
all your ways are good
all your ways are sure
i will trust in you alone
we are believing that promise, right now: all His ways are good and all His ways are sure. we are also hoping that the next chapter of our lives has us living in the same country. or at least continent.

until then, we have plans. we started a blog called a sea apart. the plan is for each of us to take a photo every day and post it, 365 + 365 = 730 pictures. we are pretty much going to be famous after next year. you know, we will publish it in a book and sell it and never have to work a paid job again. but just in case that doesn’t happen, you should probably just follow the blog instead.

i love you, sarah. i am going to miss living with you more than you realize. you are an amazing sister and an amazing aunt. i am very thankful for skype, internet and our cameras!

her latest obsessions are smiling, “talking” and sticking her tongue out. when she isn’t too busy doing those three things she is also realizing that can grab things and sometimes they end up in her mouth. she still rolls off tummy time if she isn’t in the mood. 🙂 she also thinks big sister, addy grace is the coolest person in the world and i think they can communicate! this is the last time she will wear her newborn onesie, next month i will just lay it next to her. notice it doesn’t snap and she is in a slightly too big diaper. i bought a big box for while we are in montana and i didn’t want her outgrowing them. enjoy!

To understand this birth story, Addy’s birth story needs to be explained first. I should add my own “disclaimer” that I am in NO way doubting the Lord’s perfect will in the way he allowed Addy to be born. I know that the Lord used it to teach me (and Christian) a lot. However, when it was all done and said, I knew without a doubt that my body had not been given the chance to do what it was designed to do – – give birth naturally.

When we found out that we were pregnant with Addy, we did all the research and decided that we would deliver at St. John’s in Camarillo because they allowed midwives to practice there. I started my prenatal care at The Women’s Place and mainly saw one of the midwives. During my prenatal care with Addy, I met Dr. Fischbein but I didn’t have a lot of interaction with him since I was seeing the midwives.

I had everything planned out and knew I wanted a natural delivery without pain medication. Then Addy didn’t come – – for twelve long days. When I finally went into labor, it was the day before Thanksgiving. I had a “typical” first time labor, starting around 2am on Wednesday morning and continuing all day, through the night and on into Thursday. When I finally went into active labor, it was on one of two days of the year that the midwives or Dr. Fischbein were not on call.

I can say quite simply, we did not care for the doctor that was on-call that evening. She didn’t really care for our natural delivery plans and she definitely didn’t want to be at the hospital the night of Thanksgiving. The nurses were amazing but they were doing all they could to help me progress the way the doctor wanted me to – – the “blueprint” of deliveries. When I got stuck at 9.5 cm and Addy’s head was caught on the lip of my cervix, they had me push while trying to move the cervix – – for a few hours. I was completely wiped out by the time I was successfully dilated to 10cm and I was on pain overload.

That was pretty much it – – the doctor came in and let me push through one contraction and decided she was done with the entire thing. It was the craziest, most blurry moment of my life. She used words like “emergency” when she called a c-section yet she never said Addy was in distress (a common reason for a c-section). Somehow, my “emergency” c-section took 45 minutes to get together, while they were telling me not to push (for those of you that have pushed, you know how crazy that is). It was our first delivery and we were uneducated. At that point, we didn’t know what else to do but believe the doctor.

I am thankful that Addy was born safely and was a healthy baby, yet I also look back at my c-section and wonder why a c-section must be done the way it is done. After Addy was taken out, I remember lying there and wondering what was happening. I asked the anesthesiologist is she was actually a girl and how she looked. My first look at my baby girl was a five second glance as they held a swaddled baby next to my face before “whisking” her away. I had to be sewn up and then taken to the recovery room while Addy had to have a lot of “stuff” done to her. Forty-five minutes later, my baby girl was finally brought to me and laid on my chest.

I am blessed that Addy and I were able to bond and make up for that lost time. Addy was simply natural at nursing and wanted nothing more than to snuggle on my chest. I was also blessed that physically, I had a fairly quick and easy recovery. Emotionally, however, I felt like I had been in a horrible car accident. The following three weeks were a blur as we attempted to get back to a somewhat normal life. I struggled for months trying to come to grips with my c-section. Just when I thought I had dealt with it, I had two friends give birth successfully in February (three months later!) and I found myself in tears once again. I struggled feeling depressed that something was “wrong” with my body. It was a healing time in my walk with the Lord however, and finally about six months later I was able to surrender the entire thing to Him.

When we found out we were pregnant again, we automatically made out first prenatal appointment at The Women’s Place. (*Insert shameless plug – – if you live in Ventura County, you have to meet Dr. Fischbein because he is the BEST there is!) When we went in, we met with a new OB/GYN and found out that Dr. Fischbein wasn’t doing any hospital deliveries and that St. John’s Pleasant Valley didn’t allow VBACs. At the time we thought it was our only option and went along with it. Then in January, I was accidently scheduled on a day that only Dr. Fischbein was in the office, so I ended up seeing him instead of a midwife. Somehow as we sat there and talked, we ended up telling him how frustrated we were about being forced to have a repeat c-section.

Doctor Fischbein didn’t miss a beat – – explaining to us that it wasn’t truly our only option. We could have a c-section if we wanted but we could also not consent to a c-section once we got to the hospital. They can’t force you to have surgery but for myself personally, I knew that I needed a supportive environment if I was going to have a successful delivery. Another option was to find a hospital and a doctor that allowed VBACs but that would mean us traveling 45 minutes or more (think Southern California traffic if I went into labor during rush hour). Then Dr. Fischbein explained that he was doing home deliveries in an effort to reestablish a woman’s choice to give birth naturally and the way she decides to. He explained the thoroughness of it and what it would look like and as I sat there listening, I knew this was going to be the way baby #2 would be born.

At this point, I will skip January through May – – it was “typical” pre-natal care although I will argue that it was the best. It was mostly doctor’s office yet ten times more personal. We would have a full hour visit each time, Dr. Fischbein was the only one doing an ultrasound (not a tech) and he encouraged us to bring Addy and include her in the process. Towards the end, we met the midwife that would attend our birth with Dr. Fischbein and they made a home visit and helped us set everything up and plan out the birth. We felt relaxed yet completely prepared. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. ☺

Of course, I went late, just like with Addy. I guess 40 weeks is just not my magical number. I did everything known to be natural and healthy in order to induce labor but it was pretty much useless. It was such a challenging yet amazing time in my walk with the Lord. I look back now and realize just how much I (and probably many other women) had this idea that I was in control of when the baby would come. I knew that there was absolutely no reason the baby needed to be medically induced yet. At 39 weeks, the estimated weight was only around 6 pounds and I was still only measuring around 35-36 weeks. I knew my birth would be more successful if I let the baby come when ready but I will confess that I spent at least the last week shedding a tear or two every night! I wanted to know if there was a boy or girl in there and all I wanted to do was go shopping!

Finally I was approaching 42 weeks and Dr. Fischbein has a family reunion on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Tuesday before he was supposed to leave, we went in for our 41.5 week visit and I asked him if he would be willing to strip my membranes. I guess I have stubborn membranes because it didn’t really hurt and nothing happened. We decided to come back in on Wednesday and try one last time and that time it finally hurt a little but it only lasted for about an hour. We spent the day trying to relax and stay distracted. For two weeks I had been going to sleep diligently by 9 or 10pm but that night I had no desire to go to bed. We finally got to bed around 11pm and while Christian drifted off to sleep, I lay there thinking about meeting my new baby.

Then I had an uncomfortable contraction. I won’t say it hurt, but it was in the right place and it wasn’t painless. I was pretty sure it was false, but I sat on my birth ball anyway, laid my head on the bed and fell asleep. I woke up to another contraction. I glanced at Christian’s cell phone and it was 12:01a. I dozed back to sleep, only to be awaken by another contraction at 12:06, then 12:11 and 12:16. I remember thinking, “could this actually be real?” I dozed between contractions that came every five minutes until 1am and then my stomach started really growling. I moved to the living room, ate two bowls of cold cereal and set myself up with my birth ball, heating pad, laptop and worship music. I managed to surf the internet but stay off facebook to keep from looking suspicious! Around 2:30a I decided I needed another distraction so I woke my Mom up, knowing she is quite coherent in the middle of the night and thinking Christian could probably use the extra sleep.

My goal was to make it one hour at a time without waking Christian up. It ended up being pretty easy to do for a couple hours. My mom and I chatted about anything and everything, pausing for contractions that never stopped coming every 5-6 minutes apart. Most of them were bearable with my heating pad on my birth ball, worship music and my mom distracting me. We ended up waiting until about 6am to wake Christian up – – which was a blessing because he was very rested. Once Christian woke up, he and my mom got to work getting the room/living room/kitchen ready. I think we called Dr. Fischbein around 6am and told him that I had been having contractions since midnight. He was asking Christian how bad Christian thought the pain was which made me smile a little as Christian attempted to describe my “condition.” He said he would call and check on us in about an hour or two after everyone was up and around. I was a little worried my contractions would just stop once everyone was awake and I will confess I was earnestly praying that this was still the “real thing.” I still kept thinking it might be fake because baby was moving around so much and kicking so much and I was sure baby needed to stop moving in order to be born!

To my excitement, even after Sarah and Addy were up and my Dad came in from the motor home, my contractions were still coming at least every 6-7 minutes apart. They were definitely getting more uncomfortable and I would need to stop and focus on each one. It was such an amazing experience already at that point – – I was walking throughout the entire house, watching everyone get ready and whenever I would have a contraction, whoever I was around would stop and hold my hand, rub my back, stroke my hair, etc. Addy would come over and squat next to me and rub my back and say, “it’s okay mama.” I don’t remember hearing Christian talk to Dr. Fischbein again but I believe he and Karni (our midwife) came around 8:00 am. The only thing he did right away was check the baby’s heart rate, which of course stopped my contractions for a few minutes. They encouraged me to take a walk to help the contractions come closer together so at that point, my dad and Addy headed off to Burbank to make business calls and Christian, Sarah and I (with Sarah’s camera in tow) took a long, slow walk around our neighborhood. I am sure whatever neighbors witnessed us walking thought we were out of our minds.

The good part is that I am pretty quiet during the early stages of my labor so at least I wasn’t hollering my way around the neighborhood. I remember telling myself, “don’t worry Marie, you won’t even live here in a few months!” The walk didn’t speed up my contractions but it definitely intensified them and lengthened them. I had a few contractions that at the 30 second mark, Christian would say, “okay it’s halfway over” and I would exclaim, “no it’s not, it’s still getting worse” and the contraction would end up being a two minute contraction. I had one that I thought would never stop and it ended up lasting three minutes! I was pretty exhausted during those contractions and ready to head home after about an hour. When we got home, Dr. Fischbein and Karni were completely set up and had decided to go get some breakfast and let me focus and be alone.

My strep B test had been positive at 36 weeks, so in my own living room, Dr. Fischbein administered a dose of antibiotics through IV around 10am. That also helped my contractions phase out for about ten or fifteen minutes. I remember we were talking and laughing and then Christian hung the IV bag from the curtain rod on a hanger which made me laugh. It was night and day different from the IV I had gotten with Addy. Dr. Fischbein put a heparin lock in so that they could give me a dose of antibiotics every four hours as long as I was in labor. I think I was feeling kind of antsy at that point because I wanted to be progressing faster – – as far as I was considered I wanted to be pushing. I spent probably another hour or more just walking throughout the house and having contractions. I pretty much had a contraction in every room except the garage and Sarah’s bathroom. I even used Addy’s toddler bed and crib to support me at different times. I think everyone was eating lunch and they were encouraging me to snack, but I pretty much only wanted almonds and juice.

After lunchtime, Dr. Fischbein and Karni encouraged me to take another walk and afterward we would break my water (my water never broke on its own with Addy either and they finally ruptured it when I was 9 cm). This time our walk only lasted about 45 minutes and it was a LOT of work. I had intense and long contractions although they still came every 4-5 minutes a part. I was completely wiped out and told Christian I was ready to go home! When we got there, I got my second does of antibiotics and then Dr. Fischbein checked me for the first and only time. For those of you that think it would be better to be checked more often, I can honestly say that it was probably the best thing. I was not focusing on a measurable “progress” but instead simply focusing on each contraction, one at a time. When he did check me, I was dilated to a 6 or 7 and 100% effaced. Even that, I found slightly discouraging. I wanted to be dilated to 10 cm!

Dr. Fischbein ruptured my membranes (aka “broke my water”) around 2:30 or so. I was feeling pretty tired but I knew that my contractions would become more intense with the head bearing directly down. I asked if they thought I could get in the shower and that helped a little but it also slowed my contractions down. That was the last thing I wanted to happen, so I got out. I decided to lie down instead because I was really feeling sleepy. I immediately dozed off and slept for 15 minutes before I was awaken by a pretty painful contraction. I started to doze off again and found myself again jarred awake by a painful contraction. I was determined to get some sleep and tried to find a comfortable position. I was just starting to doze off when a third contraction hurt so badly I had to sit up to get through it. I started walking around the room until Christian came back in and then he helped me through a few contractions by massaging essential oils (for pain) on my lower back. I was getting to that place where everything hurt and it was hard to cope through contractions.

I decided to try sitting on the toilet. Don’t worry; it’s not as strange as it sounds. Many women have sat on the toilet during contractions and even pushing. It’s actually a pretty comfortable way to sit when you are in labor. I was trying to focus through my contractions and all of a sudden I wanted Christian and my mom right there with me. I was starting to shake all over and cry. I remember thinking I couldn’t keep going but now looking back I realize I was in transition. I looked at my mom and said, “I really want to get in the tub, like NOW.” I think they were having a problem filling the tub because our water heater is pretty small and had only filled the tub a few inches. Unknown to me, they started boiling water in everything and anything and dumping it in along with cold water and got the birth tub ready really fast.

It did feel better although I think in my dreams it had made the pain go away completely. It mostly just dulled the pain and helped me regain my focus and concentration. I started off by leaning over the edge of the tub and hanging onto Christian. I don’t actually remember this, but I am told this was the position we were in when I almost gave my husband two spiral fractures. All I remember was that for the first time the baby was completely silent and I had pain and pressure from different areas. I think there were a few times when I wanted to yell but I didn’t want to scare Addy and my dad (who were hanging out in the garage). I was still crying when I got into the tub and tried to take just one contraction at a time. I’d guess maybe 45 minutes into it, I started wanting to push and I started feeling differently. All of a sudden all I could think about was meeting our baby.

I ended up being in a kind of sitting position while Dr. Fischbein was trying to help me during contractions. Sarah, who had been quoting “Baby Mama” to me for months, while joking that she would be my “biwthing pahtner,” actually ended up being one. She held me under my arms for probably an hour. My mom was on my right side, helping me support my foot and leg and Christian was on my left side doing the same thing. Dr. Fischbein explained pushing but that was about it. He didn’t tell me when to push or when not to push. Pushing was still really painful – – in fact for me it was a little more painful when I first started pushing. Getting into the groove of pushing was pretty easy but I was so ready to be done that after a few pushes, I didn’t think I could keep going. It felt like contractions were coming one right after another and nothing was happening. I remember thinking a few crazy, irrational thoughts and then I heard someone exclaim, “there’s the head!” I know that normally would be an exciting part, but for me it was really scary for a brief moment, because everyone had seen Addy’s head also before my c-section. In that moment though, I remember realizing that everyone was standing around me, cheering and praying and no one was panicking or upset.

I heard Dr. Fischbein say, “no, probably twenty more minutes.” I guess he was answering my sister-in-law who had asked if she should start the video camera. I just remember exclaiming, “I can’t push for twenty more minutes!” Dr. Fischbein calmly replied, “what’s twenty more minutes? Six, seven more contractions? Look how many contractions you’ve made it through today” and he placed my hand on a tiny little head peeking out and said, “do you feel that? That’s your baby.” I think that is when the mad woman took over and the pain blurred away in the intensity of the moment. I had to work for about thirty more minutes but each push brought me closer to meeting my new baby. At the very end I remember thinking, “I HAVE to get this baby out” and pushing with all my might, a dark head of hair came out all the way. I’m pretty sure I yelled but I’m told I was actually pretty quiet. Dr. Fischbein checked for the cord and helped the top shoulder out which allowed the baby to rotate face up. He then pulled her slightly out and let me reach down and take over. I was the one that was able to pull her all the way out and she was already just staring at me and I brought her up to my chest. I glanced down and said, “I thought you were a girl!”

She just stared at me with the biggest open eyes and I held her close, repeating, “my baby really is here.” The next thing I actually remember saying was, “someone get Addy” but I think she was already in the room. Christian was bending over the tub with his hand on her head and I think that was when I said, “her name is Mercy Adoniyah.” Addy was completely mesmerized and it was quite possibly the most perfect moment. I think almost everyone in the room was grinning and crying at the same time. No one did a thing that I can remember. Because they didn’t cut the cord immediately, Mercy didn’t scream or get upset. She just started taking small breaths through her nose while her cord finished pulsating. She stared at me the entire time I was in the tub. After they clamped her cord and Christian cut it (the real cord, not the trimming version in the hospital) she gave a few hearty cries for good measure and then calmed down again and went back to staring at me.

When it was time to move into the bedroom, Christian took his shirt off, they handed him Mercy and put a towel over her. Once I was in the bed lying down, Christian laid her back on my chest. Of course there were a few more details like delivering a placenta and all but it just doesn’t seem all that important once the baby is finally here. I will mention that thanks to the awesome support of Dr. Fischbein, I didn’t need any stitches or anything. We were just allowed to be alone as a family for probably more than an hour while Dr. Fischbein and Karni cleaned up, everyone made/ate dinner and just had a normal evening. Around 8pm, Dr. Fischbein came in and did a newborn exam, which Mercy handled like a champ and then Karni helped me take a shower. Once we were back in bed, I tried nursing Mercy again but she wasn’t really interested. She just wanted to look around and soak everything in. I ate some dinner, made a few phone calls and then I was ready for bed. Mercy was ready to sleep and slept soundly in her cradle the entire night.

I’m sure there’s more and I’m leaving out some detail. I think this sums up enough though and it definitely took me long enough to write. I really have been working on this for the past two months. I can’t believe that today is August 16^th and my baby is two months old. Happy birthday, princess. Mama loves you very much!

i realized that i never posted all the amazing pictures sarah took when mercy was one week old. this photo shoot was actually really hard because mercy kept waking up and being all alert instead of being a normal sleepy newborn! it took us a couple days to get all these.

{By Christian}

Briceni, Moldova – Days 5-9

It’s about a 3 hour drive from Chisinau to Briceni, at the northern tip of the country.  It’s a fairly scenic drive, out in the countryside.  Without the different street signs, Moldova could be mistaken for the midwest, or maybe even parts of central California.  There is a lot of corn and grapes grown here, along with other tree fruit.  The orchards are endless, and the soil is dark.  It’s a perfect place to grow things.  Right about here, I would typically insert some correlation for how it’s a perfect place to plant a church, but we’ll see about that in the future 🙂

Steven and Teresa have been ministering in the village of Briceni for about 6 years.  We drove up to their house to move their things back to Chisinau.  They definitely don’t have a lot of furniture, especially by American standards, but it is a fair amount.  I’d hate to move it alone, that’s for sure!  This move from Briceni to Chisinau is one of the primary reasons I came over here to visit.  I wanted to help them physically and practically, and also get a lay of the land from the area I’ll probably be living.

We spent Monday and Tuesday packing up the house and getting the big furniture out to the garage.  The plan was for a truck to show up Wednesday morning to take all the stuff to Chisinau.  At around 8, this little van comes to the house.  It was like the European equivalent to a Chevy Astro.  Totally not going to work.  Maybe we could get the couch and a few chairs, but the refrigerator is not going to make it!  Steven was frustrated, and I was thinking we’d just have to make multiple trips – like 8.

Steven and Teresa’s friend Anya got smart.  She called the furniture company in town and asked them about moving.  They said they do it all the time, and they have a big truck, and they’ll be there at 2.  We unloaded the van and waited for the truck.  At 2:30, it showed up, and it was a real truck.  Like U-Haul status.  We had the furniture out of the garage and into the truck in about 15 minutes.  Then we spend another hour and a half loading the rest of the stuff from the house.  It worked great!

The driver came and got the truck and told us he’d be in Chisinau at 7:30 in the morning.  We got in the car to go, but we had a lot of stuff people.  Steven and Teresa in the front, Elias in his carseat, Aiden on my lap, and Anya and her nephew on her lap.  Plus the back was full of stuff we’d need for the night.  Oh yeah, and it started raining on the drive.  Not like a summer sprinkle, mind you, but full-on pouring.  We got to the apartment, parked, and sprinted through the rain and the mud to get inside.  Then we prayed the rain would stop for the morning.

It did.  The truck got here at like 8:15.  Just before that, our helpers arrived.  Steven has recently befriended some people from a church in Chisinau.  We thought like 2-4 guys would show up to help us unload.  8 people came!  We had the whole truck unloaded in just over an hour!  We were and still are praising God.

Anyway, it’s been an exciting couple of days.  Tomorrow, we go back to Briceni to go on the church’s annual camping trip (Camping in Moldova!).  Then Sunday we’re back in Chisinau, were Steven is going to teach at the church that helped us move.  Then Monday, I fly back to the States and my family.

I’ll keep you updated when I can, but I doubt I’ll get Internet while I’m camping 🙂

{By Christian}

Chisinau, Moldova – Days 1-4

I’ve been off the grid for a bit, as Internet was sketchy on my travel here, but I am here safely, and I’ll give you some updates.  Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures.  Maybe I can upload some when I get back to the States
I left Tuesday morning at 1am from LAX (my flight had been delayed over an hour).  I landed in Chisinau, Moldova, on Wednesday evening at 6pm.  With the 10-hour time difference, I had a 33 hour trip, with about 4 hours of sleep.  I haven’t pulled that kind of day since college!

I’ve been with Steven and Teresa and the boys, staying at Cristi’s house in Chisinau with his family.  Our three families will be the church-planters, when my family comes in January.  It has been a blessing spending time here, and I expect Cristi, Steven, and I to have a long-lasting ministry together.

We’ve been spending our time working on Steven and Teresa’s new apartment: painting, wallpapering, and getting things ready for them to move in.  It is very interesting to see poverty and riches in such stark contrast. One minute, you’ll be standing next to a dilapidated wall, and the next you’ll almost be run down by a high-end Mercedes or BMW.

Thursday night we had a Bible Study in a village outside the city.  Steven led worship, Cristi taught a short study, and I got to share my testimony and what God is doing in my family’s life (through a translator, of course!)  That night, it was plain to see that these people love Jesus, and the ministry here can thrive.

Today (Saturday), we’ll be finishing up the apartment, and tomorrow drive back to Briceni to pack Steven and Teresa’s house up.  We’ll move them to Chisinau on Wednesday.  If you get a chance, please pray for safe travels and that all the work would be completed quickly!

Thanks, and I’ll check back in later!

so christian left for moldova on monday evening and arrived on wednesday afternoon. i decided to take him, even though it was a late night trip for me. we had five bins going over with him that i had packed. each one weighed under 50 pounds and was filled with clothing, books, etc. we decided to send as much as possible with him because american airlines *only* charges $150 per extra piece of baggage (after one free bag) and when we go in january, lufthansa charges $200 per extra bag.

monday night we had dinner, put addy to bed, i nursed mercy and we left (with auntie sarah babysitting of course!). we left early, ready for any “glitch” that might come up. when we were getting there, we were trying to decide if we should do curbside drop off or just park and get a luggage cart – – but those bins were really big and we had five. we decided to pull up to the curb and see what we could find. christian immediately found a young man (skycap?) with a flat bed type luggage cart. they loaded the bins and headed in while i went and parked the car. when i got back inside, christian had just gotten to the counter. the ticket agent checking him in was friendly and chatty. while i was parking the car, they had weighed one bin at 49 pounds and then the ticket agent told christian, “i’m pretty sure they all weigh 49 pounds.” on top of that, after checking a few things on his computer, he told us that we actually had to pay turkish airlines fees instead of american airlines fees because christian switched to turkish before leaving the country. what a praise when we found out our fees came to $225, not $510!

at that point, the skycap who had stayed there with us said to christian, “check it out – – i’m gonna take you somewhere it will be easy to x-ray the bags. i’ve gotcha all the way.” he took us to the far end (first class area) where he helped send all the bags through the xray machine and on the other side, he secured each bin with eight zip ties. what a blessing! finally he loaded them all up again and took them to the other side of the ticket counters where they were sent with oversize baggage. christian had the opportunity to share a little with him about what we were doing and he was very receptive.

after that, christian and i walked over to the international terminal and enjoyed some coffee and frozen yogurt before i decided to head home. christian called me about thirty minutes later saying that he had gone through security without an issue. mind you, he had quite the carry-on luggage – – two laptops, two routers, a nebulizer, our wii and all the wii accessories just to name a few things. he had to go through security at lax and jfk and both times everything went through flawlessly. when he got to jfk, he planned to sleep but changed his mind and took the subway to see the freedom tower (memorial for 9-11). from what he told me, turkey was a pretty quiet layover and by that point he just stayed in the terminal because he was tired. the only “unexpected” cost of the entire trip was going through chisinau. i guess the customs official told christian that those bins were full of things christian was going to sell and make a profit so he would have to pay a “tax” of $50. oh eastern europe, we’ve missed your “fines” and “taxes.” 🙂

hopefully christian will blog about his entire trip when he gets home. i have been able to talk to him a few times on skype and he seems to be doing great. they have been staying in chisinau getting steven and teresa’s new apartment ready and then will head back to briceni on sunday to get everything and move into the chisinau apartment on tuesday. he should be nice and tired when he gets home, just in time to move us up north!

the days are going faster and faster it seems. we move up north in twenty days. weird.

here is mercy’s one month post, slightly late because i had to upload the pics. but better late then never, right? 🙂

*****

dear mercy,

i can’t believe you have been here one month. it’s been a beautiful and wonderful blur. in the blink of an eye, my love for addy multiplied into a love for you and addy and i can’t even imagine life without both of you. thanks for being such an easy baby and a snuggle-y one too. <3

love lots,

mama

seconds after birth

her newborn onesie (a few hours old)

almost outgrown newborn onesie (one month old)

she’s so alert already

giving mama a piece of her mind

kisses make everything better

hopefully a few more catch-up posts are coming soon!

a letter i found on my laptop this morning. it feels pretty appropriate to have a good laugh on the “eve” of my due date!

written five days after addy’s due date:

*****
Dear Addysen Grace,

Sunday was your due date but it came and went and you stayed safely inside my tummy. On Monday we took a long walk and went shopping with your Grandma Klein and your Auntie Dora and then I went to yoga class but you still did not come out. On Tuesday, Dad and I went to our doctor appointment and Dr. Fischbein said nothing was happening yet and I was a little discouraged. On Wednesday I had reflexology that is supposed to induce labor. Then I took another long walk and I drank a total of EIGHT ounces of castor oil. That was a very long night and yet still you did not come out. On Thursday I had more reflexology and I will confess I spent part of the evening crying…but oh no you decided to stay in a little longer. On Friday we walked all the way from our house to the Westlake Promenade to see the tree lighting ceremony and fireworks. I ate an entire cup of habanero salsa and almost threw it up before we walked back home. And guess what? Even that didn’t make you come.

I’m starting to wonder, will you ever come out?

Love,
Mama
*****

moomoo (aka grammie klein) and i took addy to disneyland for the first time when she was six months old. since then, moomoo has been with addy to most of her disneyland trips (and there have been a lot). today is possibly addy’s last disneyland trip as a california resident and also moomoo’s birthday – – so it only seemed fitting to celebrate moomoo’s birthday all day long!

happy birthday moomoo! we missed you today!

my mom taught me to sew when i was in junior high and high school. i only wished i had paid better attention and appreciated it more! when i was pregnant with addy, i really wanted a sling called the peanut shell but i didn’t want to spend $50+ on it. i looked online, downloaded a few tutorials, borrowed a sewing machine and yes finally made my own. i think it cost me about $10. i can’t find a picture of me wearing it, but here is a picture after a walk (the sling is black and white). addy would sleep forever in there while i would wear her around the house and get everything done!

after that, christian and my parents bought me a really nice janome sewing machine for my birthday and i started sewing. i think i had to call my mom during every single project in the beginning. most of my ideas come from browsing the internet and looking at other tutorials and projects. just recently i have also started browsing clothing stores and “stealing” ideas. my latest interest is “refashioning” (beneficial come moldova, i hope!)

i have been wanting to do something with my sewing as i am finally transitioning from beginner seamstress to intermediate seamstress and that is where the idea of selling on etsy came into play. we are also working on saving money that will go towards moving to moldova next january. this seemed like the perfect way to take a hobby and turn it into something that makes a profit. addy helped me come up with a name – – strawberry shortcake is her favorite tv show and mary poppins is her favorite movie, hence “strawberry poppins.”

another cool aspect of my etsy store is that you are not only supporting us as a family going on the missions field, but you are also supporting foster/adoption awareness. i wanted to make sure i was giving 10% back, which goes to an organization started by my brother and sister-in-law, called hope takes root.

if you haven’t checked out my facebook page or etsy store, please do. if you would like to help share my store with others, i now have business cards and would love to send you some to hand out! i have been blessed already by the encouragement and support from my friends and family. a friend of mine, gina has a fun blog to follow and she even wrote a little something about strawberry poppins (thanks, gina!).

back to sewing i go!