Recent (or...sort of recent) Happenings
11-16-06
Greetings! It's been a looooong time since our last update on here, so this is going to be long. Read what you want. Way too much to tell, but we'll try and hit the important stuff. Most exciting and most importantly: we have a new member of our family!!! Claire Zenita Qerrat'aq Schneidler was born at 4:03 pm on April 30th, 2006 in Everett. She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces, and mama was in labor for about 18 hours from start to finish. Tammy did super well, and I got to be there to encourage her and marvel at the miraculous gift God gave us! It was an amazing experience, and Claire today is a healthy, happy 7 month old girl who is a constant joy and delight to us. She is not yet crawling, but we expect chaos to commence any day now!
Our piipiq (Yup'ik for baby) is named for St. Clare, a friend and follower of St Francis. You can read about her here or here. Zenita is the name of a friend, and it means "with the grace of God," and Qerrat'aq was our dear friend Martha's Yup'ik name. We're not sure where Schneidler comes from. J
Our other big hospital stay this year was when Tammy broke her leg in March, six weeks before Claire was born. This is a very long story, if you want to read about it, click here. Needless to say it was a harrowing experience, but Jesus and some good friends and family helped us through it. I've stocked up on ice melt, rock salt, a pickaxe, and sand (for traction) to try to make it more safe this year. So far we haven't had very slippery conditions, just windy ones! The wind has been between 15 and 40 mph for a few days now, without a break. If we ever built a home here, we would definitely make a wind turbine (like this one) part of the package. Here is a sample graph from my weather station that Tammy gave me as a super-cool birthday present this year:
So what do our lives look like now? I do a lot of studying and baby sitting, and have another year and a half to go in my masters program. Tammy is working 80% time, giving her a little extra time in the afternoons for planning and feeding Claire. We are often worn out these days as we get used to having a little one, but it is a joyful time for all 3 of us! I've provided this page if you want to see what a typical day looks like, exactly.
We had a great time when Tammy's mom Donna came to visit in early October; Claire especially enjoyed it! It also allowed me to get some extra studying and some outside projects done, like putting the anemometer (wind thingamabobber) up on our roof and hauling the kayaks under our building for the winter. We had a great time relaxing and playing around with Donna and were honored that she would come all this way to spend time with us. We're also excited that my mom Linda will be coming sometime after Christmas for a similar visit!
What am I not telling you? Claire had a nasty bout with something the other night, throwing up 4 times in 40 minutes. L It was scary to us, we really prayed and she seems ok now. Being new parents, we are probably hypersensitive, but it is still a challenge to put our trust in God sometimes. Definitely makes us feel the cost of living here: no 911 service, no ambulance, no immediately accessible doctor or emergency room. But we remind ourselves that our true, best hope is in the one who indeed holds our lives, not in those other things. We try to keep our eyes off of the tossing waves, and on the one who promises - and has the power - to get us through the storms.
The worst Claire incident so far was about 2 weeks ago when she rolled off of the couch under my watch. It is not a long drop, and she landed on carpet, but it was terrible. She ended up being diagnosed with a strained muscle in her right arm that made it hurt to raise her arm above her head (like when changing clothes). This only lasted two or three days, but it will certainly stay with me. Now I must say that this is something that people warned me about probably a dozen times. Honestly. My father in law in particular was quite clear about this, warning me not to wander far from her when she was up on something, but apparently I had to learn the hard way, and I'm so grateful it wasn't worse than it was. It was just one of those things where I'd never seen her move that far before, at all, and she must have thrown her toy (I found it on the edge of the couch), reached for it, toppled forward, and then for some reason rolled forward still more until she rolled off. I was several feet away, taping up a box for mailing and had my head down, and I was shocked to hear the loud thump and see my daughter on the ground. What an awful feeling. Everyone I tell this to assures me that this is nothing and I should hear what THEY did with their child, which makes me feel a little better, but rest assured, my lesson, at least in regard to falling, is learned!
Oh man, one thing I forgot to mention was our huge California trip that we did in August, with 12 kids, 2 parents chaperones, and Claire. Phew! We had a fantastic time, and it was so cool to give those kids that experience. I have a movie that we made from that trip, but it is huge; if you really want to see it, though, we would be happy to send you a CD (for the low price of $299.99, payable in six easy installments). One highlight from our trip was landing at LAX in the evening, and watching the kids marvel at the sea of lights (or, rather gape, open-mouthed). Tammy and I have dreamed of seeing those expressions on our kids' faces since we first moved here, and were thrilled to be with them for that experience. Watching the Dodgers game was an unexpected highlight; kids didn't take their eyes off the "action" for even one millisecond, not to get concessions or even go to the bathroom! When Tammy and I finally figured out that they were treating it like a basketball game, we really laughed to ourselves. Claire was a trooper in the midst of all the heat and travel throughout our trip, and she was doted on by 14 willing baby-holders/lovers as much as we would allow it. Most of all, we just loved the chance to spend time with all those wonderful students of ours. We pray that they will each deeply know the love God has for them.
Quyana for reading our latest news!