Marie Klein Burtt

Whew, what a week! Pops and Grammie and Auntie Dora came down on the Monday before Easter. I had not found time to even think about nesting but with Grammie here to get things done and Dora here to entertain Addy, you would not believe what we accomplished. Basically, baby can come anytime. Well, technically anytime after May 6th. We found newborn baby clothing and washed them, got out all the newborn diapers, put the cradle together, made new summer swaddle blankets, finished a few random sewing projects and lots more. Here are a few pictures from the week.

Addy, Dora and Mama dying eggs:

We went to Aunt Debbie’s house for dinner and Colton taught Addy how to search for eggs:

Showing off her hard work and pretty outfit on Easter morning:

Thirty-four weeks pregnant – – just a month “or so” to go!

Family pictures:

Addy and her Pops:

The next time Grammie and Pops come down, it will be for baby’s birth. Come on baby, aren’t you anxious to meet us the way we can’t wait to meet you?!

Oh and one last thing. If you want to see the Resurrection Story through the eyes of our kids and youth, you have to watch this video. It’s powerful!

my baby girl is tactile. i can’t deny it. all the signs point to her being tactile and i know first hand what a tactile child is like. why? because i am was one. 🙂 today, we started with finger painting on a cool big piece of paper i found when i was cleaning out the garage. we ended with? well, you can see for yourself. 🙂

the pictures of her wearing sponge bob boxers are after i washed her off and while i was mopping the kitchen floor. i told her, “addy go get some clothing on” and this is what she picked out. i love this kid.

special thanks to:

moomoo for letting me be just that creative as a child

grandma for buying us a serious amount of art supplies

our amazing land-lady for being really smart and putting vinyl floors in our house

dohdoh for bringing home a costco size box of wet swiffer sheets

daddy for cleaning the house every week so that we can make a mess!

Here it is, our second letter! Now we wait until new baby comes before we take pictures for our prayer cards. One step at a time, right?! I have never been so excited nor felt such a PEACE about building our support team. God is faithful and I am reminded of that daily. Even watching Him prepare the way in Balti before we are there is such an encouragement! If you are interested in supporting us after reading this letter, follow the link on the right side of the blog (titled “Support Our Mission”) and we will contact you. Thanks also for all the encouragement already! <3

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Dear Friends and Family,

We wanted to update you all on our plans for moving to Moldova. The next step in our family’s endeavor is to build a support team. Like we mentioned in our initial letter, that team will support us not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally. We want to apologize if this letter seems impersonal. We are just trying to contact all of our loving friends and family at once! We hope each of you will want to support us in any of the following ways:

Emotional support is, quite simply, encouragement. Not only are we leaving family and friends, we are also leaving the culture, language, and way of life that is familiar to us. While we know that God has called us to go, we also know that all missionaries find themselves discouraged at some point. Our desire is that part of our team would be those with the gift of encouragement – – those who love sending letters, emails and packages while following our blog and constantly sharing with others the work that is going on in Moldova.

Physical support is the financial aspect of a missionary’s well being. It is also a key aspect, because quite simply, we don’t have the means to support ourselves in a foreign country just yet. When we get to Moldova, we will need to focus immediately on important details such as learning the language! Supporting us financially allows you to also be a part of our mission to better the Moldovan peoples’ lives. The easiest way to make an impact is when a team of family and friends commit to giving a monthly amount that is feasible for each of them.

The last aspect of our support community is spiritual. We believe that the commitment to pray for us is vital to the success of our mission. We know that God is going to move in the country of Moldova and in the hearts of the people there, and we would ask you to join us in seeking the Lord for this mission.

What does this actually look like? We invite all of you to follow our family blog (www.kleinburtts.com) and our ministry website (www.moldovachurch.com/balti). For those of you that feel called to support us financially, our sending church is partnering with Shepherd’s Staff, an organization that will facilitate the logistics of our mission. If you want to join our prayer support team, we will be sending our weekly prayer requests via email. As for emotional support, we would love to build a closer relationship with you through email, facebook, twitter and any other way we can connect.

Please get to know us better and contact us if you have any questions!
Christian’s contact information – christian@moldovachurch.com; 805-234-1105;                             www.facebook.com/christian.burtt; twitter: cburtt
Marie’s contact information – marie@moldovachurch.com; 805-807-7413;                                          www.facebook.com/marie.burtt; twitter: marieskb

Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy letter!

Blessings,

Christian, Marie, Addy and new baby 🙂

baby should be here in less than ten weeks – – which basically means in two months addy will have to share everything (doh doh, the camera) with new baby. in honor of being an only child for a few more weeks, here is a post of just addy. 🙂

Sorry we’ve been kind of quiet lately – – our goal is to get on a routine so that by the time we move to Moldova we are updating our blog on a weekly basis, not just when we remember to!

Baby #2 is growing and doing well. I am feeling pretty good and very thankful that I am still sleeping somewhat comfortably. We still don’t know if baby is a boy or girl and we can’t wait to find out. This week brings us to 30 weeks (out of 40 weeks) or according to my calculations about ¾ of the way done! Of course a “due date” is more of a window – – a pregnancy is considered “term” at 37 weeks (gulp!) but it is also common to go until 41 or 42 weeks. Addy was born nine days late which means baby could possibly share a birthday with Auntie Sarah (June 7th).

Valentine’s Day fell on a Monday – – our day off. We had a quiet morning (check out Addy’s awesome hair-do) and of course ate candy at a completely inappropriate time of the day (aka breakfast). I am not sure Christian would completely approve of this picture but it cracks me up – – Addy loves her bath and spent probably 30+ minutes in the bath this morning. I asked Christian if he would be willing to read his Bible while keeping an eye on her. He isn’t using the toilet – – oh no, he’s just giving me “the look” for taking his picture.

Addy and Daddy have been spending time together every morning while I take a shower. (Pre-pregnancy, I used to be showered and ready before Addy woke up but these days I need a little more sleep.) Addy likes Daddy to play right alongside her, even in her play tent. They also do her alphabet puzzle each morning and I am amazed at how quickly toddlers learn. She can take almost every single letter and say, “A says æ, A says apple.”

We are getting prepared to move to Moldova. We are practicing hanging out our laundry instead of using our dryer. Okay, we confess our dryer broke but it’s still good practice, right?! We also mailed off our first letter – – a letter explaining more about what we plan to do and what our timeline looks like. If you didn’t receive our letter, you can find a link on the right side of this website. If you would like to receive our next letter, please email us (marie@moldovachurch.com) your mailing address. We are excited to officially be a part of Shepherd’s Staff, an organization that will be partnering with our church and handling all our finances. We just received our account number, which means we can also start raising financial support! You can check out our link on their website Shepherd’s Staff

My mother came out in me on St. Patrick’s Day. I found myself roaming the house around 2am with baby insomnia so I dyed all the milk and creamer green! It was priceless to watch both Sarah and Christian’s reactions when they poured green creamer into coffee. Of course, we also made green scrambled eggs – – yum!

Addy and I have been doing lots of crafts – – she LOVES everything messy. She is also my big helper and wants to cook and clean and wash. She’s is going to make an amazing big sister!

We’ve also been doing “school” every day. Nothing too detailed, but a couple of months ago I started noticing how Addy was absorbing everything around her – – the good and the bad. It made me realize I should focus on her learning the good! I stumbled upon one toddler preschool program online that I thought looked fun, so I “stole” the idea and twisted it a little. Basically I just made an excel worksheet that is 26 weeks long – – each week you focus on an animal, vocab word, number, color, shape, letter and Proverbs. It’s easier than it sounds! We go to the library and get five books about our animal every week. We probably spend 15 minutes to sometimes an hour each day doing “school.” We use puzzles (she has the alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors), youtube videos, Target $1 workbooks, free online printables, glue sticks and scissors, food and lots more. When the week is over we have made a poster with each newly learned subject. It’s a hit and I love the simplicity. Sometimes we spend two weeks on a theme because we are busy. If you want the excel document I made, just email me!

I will leave you with a funny story. Yesterday while I was working, Addy was stacking all the cans from the garage pantry in the kitchen (who needs blocks?). Then I heard a small “ruckus” so I went to check on her and she was working away on a can of tomato paste with a can opener.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked her and she replied, “I’m making soup!” “But Addy, that’s tomato paste.” Without even missing a beat, she replied, “I’m making tomato soup!”

Please keep us in your prayers – – the next two months are going to be hectic around here as we try and get everything done before baby comes. We are working on garage sales, organizing, paperwork and that’s just the beginning!

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Most of you that read this blog probably received this letter in the mail (or you should very soon!). I thought I would share it with anyone else and it will stay on the right side of the blog, under “pages.” If you didn’t receive this letter and would like to, just email me (marie@calvaryskyline.org) with your mailing address. If you received this letter, don’t worry – – you will be receiving our prayer cards in the summer!

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Dear Friends and Family,

We’re not sure if you knew this already, but we are planning to move to Moldova.  If you already heard the news, then then that sentence didn’t shock you.  If this is the first you’ve read of it, you’re probably thinking things like, “Where or what is Moldova?” “Why would anyone want to move there?” Or maybe, “Who’s this letter from?”  And, “Why are you telling me this?”  Hopefully we can answer those questions for you!

Moldova is the poorest country in Europe, wedged in between Ukraine and Romania.  Although it’s technically been a democracy since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Moldovan people have “elected” the Communist party since 1992.  That alone should be enough to understand why it’s so poor.  The people there have to deal with corruption, crime, and poverty.  On top of all of that, the country has been spiritually suppressed since the Communists took over.

As a family, we consider our faith in Jesus to be the most important facet of our lives.  It is this faith that compels us to minister to the people in Moldova.  We often ask ourselves, “Why DO we want to move there?”  Primarily, it is obedience to the call that God has placed on our lives.  The location itself is not on our top-10 list of ideal homesteads.  Our faith reminds us that we will be more content in the will of God than we will be anywhere else.  So, Moldova it is!

Our goal in Moldova is to start a church in the city of Balti, the second largest city in the country.  We will be working alongside our friends Steven and Teresa Yeats, who have been ministering in Moldova for the last 5 years.  Practically speaking, we will be doing things like teaching English, providing activities for youth, and generally trying to better the lives of the Moldovan people.

This is just a short note about our intentions to move to Eastern Europe as missionaries of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Our plan is to spend the next year in preparation while continuing to work at Calvary Chapel Skyline, here in Thousand Oaks, California.  We are planning to fly out to Moldova in early 2012.  We have been starting to learn the Russian language, which is definitely a challenge. We will also be building a team here in the States that will pledge to support us financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

We’ve shared this information with you because we would love for you to partner with us.  This will be an exciting and trying time for our family, so we can use as much support as possible.  In the coming months, we will be getting our administration in place, and will keep you updated as to our progress.  We try to keep our blog updated regularly at https://kleinburtts.com, so head on over there and check it out.

Most of all, thank you in advance for your prayers and support.  We are excited to share this adventure with you!

Sincerely,

Christian, Marie, and Addy Burtt

so one question i’ve been asked is – – why do you want to wait to find out what this baby is? answer – – we want something to be a surprise. if you don’t remember, addy didn’t want to be born. i didn’t go into labor until forty-two weeks pregnant followed by two days of labor and hours of pushing, all medicine free until finally a spinal and a c-section. we are definitely having this baby at the same hospital and at this point that hospital doesn’t allow vbacs. sooooooooo all that to say, we already know this baby will come on may 27th, which is why we decided we want to mix a little suspense in.

another question is – – what about little man? we don’t know much more than we did six weeks ago. the biggest development is that we know little man is on a reunification plan but those can always change with time. birth mom has about five tasks she has to complete weekly for the next six months. we also know little man needs a lot of prayer. developmentally and behaviorally, he is harder than any parenting, babysitting or nanny-ing i have ever done. we are pretty sure he was exposed to meth during pre-natal development. we also know he was extremely neglected. besides that, we just take one day at a time, because that’s about all we can handle!

addy is doing pretty well – – very two at times aka very strong willed. i am amazed daily at how much she understands and consequently how important it is that i am diligently disciplining and discipline her (oooh tongue twister!). i have had this conversation with her more than once:
me: addy who does Jesus love?
addy: me!
me: and what does Jesus tell addy to do?
addy: obey…
me: who does Jesus tell addy to obey?
addy: mama and daddy and doh doh
me: are you obeying?
addy: nooooooooooo….

addy is also going to have a birthday this month. we are keeping it very small and hopefully less overwhelming. we are celebrating it the day after thanksgiving when all four grandparents, aunts, uncles and her two cousins will be here. besides that, she is just going to have three little “girlfriends” over. sarah and i are sticking to polka dots, rainbow candies, balloons and of course a little elmo. we are starting the week with disneyland with grammie, pops and cousins emma and spencer (oh and some aunties and uncles i guess). we will end the week but getting our christmas tree and putting up all our decorations. i love this time of year!

lastly, moldova…the Lord amazes me with his provision even now. we haven’t even gotten there and the Lord is already working out the details to our residency visas. wow, huh?! we’ve just started the long path of craig’s list and garage sales. what can go now and what goes in a year? need anything in particular? you can place a hold on it. 😀

and on that note, i am going to head back to bed…hopefully. you may notice this is being posted at 2am. i actually went to bed at 9:30 which was 8:30 thanks to the time change. but little baby bean in there decided to spice it up and make me want to puke in the middle of the night and has kept me awake since 1am. which is why i am sitting here, typing and eating rice chex (saltine crackers for the gluten free).

p.s. the pictures are a second trip to the pumpkin patch with uncle nate, auntie dina, grace and zachary. the girls had a blast!

**flashback photos**
addy and grace’s first pumpkin patch was october 2009 – – at least this proves addy’s hair is kind of growing!