Turkey { week 1 }

*edited to add: we have talked with our mentors and we cannot publicly post anything connected to the people we encounter. This is just for their safety and privacy. However, we would love to share with you once we get back home! Thank you for understanding, and enjoy the "touristy" side of our trip!


This past week has been a whirlwind. It feels like we just got here and haven't even begun to dig in, but at the same time, it feels like we have been here a while and are finally settling in to our "new home." I think it is safe to say that we love where we have been planted for this season. The atmosphere is different than Texas, yet feels strangely familiar. We have seen kindness and welcoming arms from everyone we have come in contact with. The Smith family has taken us in and started mentoring us on everything from relationships, to parenting, to buying and cooking Turkish food. We truly have been blessed by this past week. The next three will fly by so fast, but we know He has so much in store!

For those that are wondering, we are here as part of Eli's school requirements. It is hard to explain our "task" or "position" while we are here because most of it is observing and listening to a family who has been in our shoes before. We will be involved in everything they are doing - building relationships with the local people, encouraging the brothers and sisters in the area, and living life as a family in our new environment.

This post will probably be long, but I want to fill you in on the details of our time here so far.

We live just outside of a small town, in a nice little three-story apartment in what is called a site (see-tay), which is really just a gated community. The way everything played out for us to live here was definitely orchestrated by God. Ask me, I'll tell you about it sometime!

The back of our apartment. Can you imagine how wonderful breakfast is on our porch?

We do have running water, but it has a very high lime and calcium content. Instead, we get our drinking water from fountains like these all over the city. This water is pumped in from the mountain streams and is so pure and good! This one happens to be at the front of our site.

I am amazed by the way God can use Sarah, at such a young age. She has already made friends with a few other kids in our site and we have had a chance to visit with their parents in very limited and broken English and Turkish.

This friend is two months older than Sarah.

Showing off her new tricks.

We love the little playground right outside our house.

This week we've had the chance to visit two different pazars. These are markets where individual people can sell their own fresh produce, cheese, eggs, nuts, and spices. I only took a few pictures, but I will try to take more next week. These people come from neighboring towns and mountain villages and work so hard to produce beautiful and delicious foods. Their livelihood is dependent on how well their goods sell. In the morning, the pazar is like what you see below. By the afternoon, it is hard to walk because so many people are there buying and selling. It is really neat (and overwhelming!) to observe!

This is only a tiny portion of the whole pazar. There are tents back-to-back, filling parking lots and down several city blocks.

We are in a small town, but it has several conveniences, like a small grocery stores, a few restaurants, and a beautiful bay area. One night, we decided to be brave and venture out into the city on our own. We managed to order food, order tea (a very popular social thing to do here), walk around the boardwalk, and have our picture taken twice! With little to no knowledge of Turkish words. We were pretty excited that we made it through the night so well. These pictures are from the boardwalk. Even though this is in the city, it is so peaceful. My favorite night so far.

People here LOVE Sarah. And I am not exaggerating! So many people were fascinated with her, giving her kisses, pinching her cheeks, and speaking sweet words about her. We have even had two different people ask to take pictures of or with her. I mean, I don't blame them!

I could go on and on about how beautiful it is here. We are perfectly nestled in between the mountains and the sea. In fact, we can see the sun rise over the mountains from our front door and the sun set over the bay from our balcony on the back of the third floor. Our God is beautifully creative. We are so thankful for such a view. 

This beach is within walking distance of our house.

Eli and Sarah went on a hike to the hills behind our house. You can see our site in the bottom right.

View of the olive groves in the hills behind our house. We've been told often that this is "olive country."

Just yesterday, we went with the Smiths and some friends to a waterfall in a national park. We only thought the view from our house was breathtaking - this park, with its river, trees, and rocks left us in awe. We all needed a breath of fresh air.

This picture doesn't do the fall justice. You can see the Smiths' son in the bottom left, about to jump in. That's how big this was!

Eli was crazy enough to jump into the freezing cold water. He said it was worth it. I'll just get my feet wet and keep the rest of me dry and warm, thank you.

The way he loves her blows me away.

I am so thankful for a husband who sees the importance of having pictures of all of us. If it were left up to me, there wouldn't be many pictures with me in them. Instead, Eli is able to capture one of my favorite photos and I am so grateful.

When I look back over our first week in Turkey, I am able to breathe in deep and exhale with an abundant gratitude. God has placed us here for a reason. Maybe it is to prepare us for a future here. Maybe it is to strengthen us as a family without other distractions. Maybe it is to simply rest in Him. Whatever his plan, I am glad to be a part of it.


"I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Ps. 16:8

Jacksons in Turkey

I just want to write a quick post about our upcoming adventure. (really, it will be quick this time!)

Eli, Sarah and I have the opportunity to travel to Turkey for a month and work alongside a family in their work on the field. Eli and I feel that our family is called to serve, but as of right now, we don't know what all that includes. We don't have any specifics for our future, but we can feel God working in our family to prepare us.

We actually leave this afternoon to begin our 23 hour journey to get to Turkey. Before we go, I wanted to ask you to pray. For our family, for the ones we will visit and build relationships with, and for the "Smiths" who have so much to teach us. I will leave you with a few specific points to lift up to our Father.

• Travel: like I mentioned, this is not a short trip. Between car travel, plane flights, layovers, and a bus ride, this trip will total 23-25 hours. Add in an almost-two year old... I think you understand :)  We pray for patience and understanding from the other travelers (and ourselves) and for smooth flights and transitions between countries.
• Safety: the area we will be working in is very safe, away from the conflicts that are so prevalent on the news. Still we ask for safety in traveling, and in living daily life while we are there.
• Sarah: she has traveled before, but never anything like this. I know that she won't understand everything. And we will do our best to explain and comfort her when she is confused. Our prayer is that she would be impacted by this as well. Even though she is young, God knows her and has begun working in her. We want our family to be one as we share with others and learn how to live life abroad, including Sarah. We pray for a calm spirit for her (and us!) and that she would begin to see God's love displayed.
• The Smith family: they have been so gracious to allow us to come work with them. We ask that God prepare them for us and us for them. Opening up their lives to a new family is not an easy task, especially since they just returned to Turkey after being away for a year. We pray for strength and wisdom for them.
• An attitude of learning: one of our main focuses while we are there is to learn what it is like to live as a family in a new culture. We also want to learn how to best serve those around us, as a family. We pray for our hearts and minds to be open and receptive.
• The families we come in contact with: We pray that our brothers and sisters would share God's love through their lives. We also pray for the ones who haven't taken that step in their faith yet, that their eyes would be open to all that he is doing and how much he loves them. 

Thank you for joining us on this adventure! Even though we expect to see God working in mighty ways, I know that we will be amazed by how big he is and all that he accomplishes.

I will hopefully be adding updates while we are there, using the internet cafe down the street from our apartment. I look forward to sharing with you.

Hey there, Old Friend!

We are just going to pretend that it hasn't been almost a year since I last wrote on here and jump right back in, mk?

I was very, very close to letting the blog go and forget ever updating it again. Life has kind of held me captive. Thankfully all is well. I have to admit, though, it is so much easier to capture a picture, add a short caption, post it to Facebook or Instagram, and have the moment recorded. But I do miss having updates and posts with actual words. So, I am dusting off the keyboard and getting back to blogging.

It feels overwhelming to try to go back and fill in the last year, so I will leave that up to you to look through Facebook and Instagram posts for all the details :) I am going to give a quick, picture-filled post to recap the most recent things. (Who am I kidding, it probably won't be quick... I always have too much to say!)

Let me tell ya, life with a toddler is FUN and definitely keeps me busy. Sarah is now 22 months. Not our little baby anymore! It seems like Eli and I keep saying each stage is so fun, but this is hands-down the best so far!

Sarah is full of life, giggles, and independence. She is extremely strong-willed, curious about everything, and has all of her grandparents, aunts, and uncle wrapped tightly around her finger. So I don't forget, here are some of my favorite things about this sweet girl:

• She loves to sing, but never on command. Some of her favorites include "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "You are My Sunshine," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Jesus Loves Me," "Old MacDonald," "Wheels on the Bus," "ABCs," and of course, "Let it Go." 
• Her favorite foods are "nummies" (gummy snacks), "stawbies, blackbies, bluebies" (strawberries, blackberries, blueberries), watermelon, any kind of chicken, avocado, brown rice, and chips and salsa. Really, she loves anything she can dip. hotdogs in ketchup, pancakes in syrup. Oh, and gluten free cupcakes, thanks to Nana ;)

• She has recently started praying before meals and before bed. Her prayer is the same every time, but couldn't be any sweeter. "Tan-too Jesus. We wuv you. Amem." If you don't speak toddler, that translates into "thank you Jesus, we love you, amen."
• She can count to 14, say all of her ABCs, knows most of her colors, and recognizes a few shapes. She proves how smart she is all the time!
• Any time she wakes up from a nap, she will yell "Momma.... arrrr you?" It melts my heart to hear that she wants me like that. Every time.

• Also, she has the best bed-head. All day long.
• "I need it." No matter what it is, if she wants it, it's important to her. Then if we ask her to ask nicely, she says "I need it, please?" 
• She talks in complete sentences and refers to herself as I, Me, or Sarah. Her sentences are not always understandable, but she does a very good job most of the time communicating to us. I love hearing her put words together and tell us what she is thinking or needs. She amazes me every day!
• Her favorite movie is Frozen. She asks to watch it  e v e r y d a y . 
• She can be a bit of a stinker, but she really is a very sweet girl. She loves to help around the house, like cleaning, picking up toys and washing veggies. She even sings "tean up eddybody" (clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere...) 

Goodness, I love her!


About 2 months ago, we had a very scary trip to the ER with Sarah, which resulted in an overnight stay at the hospital and many, many tests. We are not completely sure of the cause, but Sarah had a febrile seizure. While this was extremely scary and hard to handle, the doctors assured us that this is actually more common than we think and Sarah is completely fine. Our God is good and he is taking care of our girl. She was so brave and reacted much better than we thought to the hospital scene. And she was the cutest little patient ever.  * Don't let the right picture scare you - she has an EEG brain scan on to monitor for seizure activity. Baby had to have a "pretty hat" too :)

This post has gotten pretty long, so I'm going to end with a few pictures of recent things we've done.


Her first swim lessons. She has grown to love being in the water, but is still not fond of going under. But hey, we have progress!

We took her to the splash pad the other day, but she hated it... So, we ended up in the creek. This girl cracks us up. She wouldn't get close to the sprinklers at the splash pad, but she would wade in the creek up to her neck with her Daddy. I'm so grateful for him and how he shares his love for adventure with our girl. 

 Fourth of July parade.

Dear Sarah, 

It has been a while since I have written you a letter on here, but know that I grow more in love with you each day. You have a sweet spark to you that lights up our family. You can be quite the stinker sometimes, but Daddy and I wouldn't be who we are without it! It's your sass and independence that makes you our Sarah. You are so smart. You amaze us with your knowledge of numbers, letters, and words. I know God has big things in store for you. We pray every day that you would grow in your love for him and worship him with your life.

I love you more, 

Momma

**I have another post in the works about our upcoming trip to Turkey. Stay tuned!!

Sarah { seven months }

I've said it many times and I'll continue saying it - the time has just flown by! I'm so blown away by how much Sarah has changed and become her own little person.

Month seven:
Her 7 month birthday happened right before Easter, so we thought it would be fun to take pictures with her Easter basket. (Also, we needed props to keep her occupied!)

During month seven, Sarah was really into exploring everything. We couldn't just leave her to play on her playmat anymore. In fact, this is the month we put the playmat away because she just wasn't interested in it anymore.She would rather play with everything else around her (mostly things like the TV remote and our phones).

No work on crawling yet, but we worked on spending more time on her tummy without getting upset. From there, she would kick kick kick and try to scoot around. Most of the time, though, she would end up getting fussy and want to be picked up.

This month was a little difficult, mainly due to teething. Toward the beginning of the month, I got a call from the daycare saying Sarah had a 101 fever and needed to go home. Sarah had never had a fever, so I was pretty sure it was either the 6 month shots she just had or teeth. Two days later, her bottom left tooth came through, and by the end of the week her bottom right tooth popped up. Talk about worlds different in her fussiness! She was much more pleasant and happy once those teeth came through.

Later in the month, Sarah figured out how to barrel roll like a champ. This new found mobility kept her entertained and very happy. Our little roly poly could now move across any room, from toy to toy, even on the changing pad - definitely had to keep an eye (and one hand) on her at all times! 

There is pretty much a given understanding that if something is in Sarah's hands, it is fair game to go in her mouth. Doesn't matter what it is - TV remote = in the mouth. Leaf on the ground = in the mouth. Piece of food she stole from our plate = in the mouth. But her favorite thing to chew on is our phones. I guess the rubbery feel of the case is like candy.

New foods this month include sweet peas (tried again and liked them), carrots, and juice and water out of a sippy cup. She wasn't very good at using the sippy cup, though. Probably something about the way the spout was shaped and the amount of suction required. 



She was definitely a Momma's girl this month (and pretty much every month)! Her favorite thing to say was "mamamamamama" all. day. long. One of my favorite new accomplishments happened when she started holding her hands up anytime I was around.

Likes:
     * playing with the lotion bottle
     * rolling and getting away from us
     * her toes
     * Sasha
     * Momma

My love,

You are growing up right before our eyes. I can't believe that you are big enough to have not one, but TWO teeth! Your personality amazes me, and we can already see little quirks and distinct parts of your personality. You are so much fun to be around. I know I will keep finding new things every month that I love about you, but right now, I just want to focus on who you are this very moment. But if you could do me a favor and stop growing so fast, I'd really appreciate it!

I love you more than you know.

Always, Momma

Sarah { six months }

I wrote most of this post when Sarah was 6 months and 5 days old and forgot to finish it, then got busy and didn't post it...Now she just turned 9 months...AGH! Well all I can say is, here's month 6! (you're welcome Mom, Renee, Dana, and Kelci!)

We ventured outside for our 6 month pictures because the weather was so beautiful. Sarah absolutely loves being outside. It really calms her down when she is upset. She just looks around, feels the wind, and takes everything in. She's not a big smiler outside, though. I guess she's too busy soaking in her surroundings.

At Sarah's six month check up, she weighed 15 pounds 5 ounces and was 25 3/4 inches long. She's in the 50-75th percentile for all her measurements. Our little growing girl! Her doctor said she is very healthy and looks great. No ear infections, fevers, or sicknesses over here!

Our adventures in homemade baby food have continued and I'm really enjoying making her food. Up to month six, Sarah's food included sweet potatoes, avocados, and peas. I have adjusted how I make the avocados and she likes it much better. However, the first time Sarah tried peas, she really didn't like them and gagged. I guess the food processor didn't blend the skins well enough for her!

Sarah ate at her first restaurant during month six. One Sunday, we went out to eat and I could tell she was getting hungry. I had already given her her bottle during church, so I didn't have anything to feed her. Thankfully, we were at a Mexican restaurant, so i just mashed up the avocado slices on my plate and finger-fed her. Big hit! The waitresses gave us looks like we were crazy, but she was happy. 

At daycare, we upped the milk intake to 13-14 ounces total from a bottle and one nursing session every day. I am so grateful that her daycare is right next door to my school. I get to see and feed her at least once and sometimes twice a day. This gives me a much needed break from the craziness of school! She has several friends at school and really seems to be doing well.

Sarah's personality is developing and changing every day. She is getting so inquisitive, wanting to hold, touch, or taste everything. And believe me - she tastes everything! If it is within her reach, she will do anything she can to get it in her mouth! 

She also discovered that she can make several different sounds and laughs. Sometimes she "talks" with a high-pitched voice, and other times she sounds like such a big girl. She also laughs many different ways - high pitched screeches, loud cackles, rapid-fire panting, and even a big girl laugh too. I love that she is discovering her many talents! 

Another thing she discovered this month was her tongue. She loves to stick it out and rub it on her lips. My guess is she was just getting ready for teeth. But I'm getting ahead of myself :)

We definitely have a blondie on our hands. She has almost lost all of her dark, newborn hair, and now has beautiful soft blonde hair growing in. I can't wait to comb it to the side and put clips in it! Oh, she is growing up so much. I just can't believe how much of a big girl she is.

Month 6 likes:

• Tags. On anything and everything. Clothes, toys, her playmat. Anything that has a tag instantly becomes her favorite thing to chew on. 
• Her toes
• Her door frame jumper (like a Johnny Jump-Up)

Hey blue eyes!

Month 6 dislikes:

• Having her nose wiped
• Sweet pea skins
• Getting dressed or undressed

My Sweet Sarah, 

Baby girl, you are growing so big. Every time I turn around, you are doing something new and exciting. I can't believe you have been in our little family for half a year already! You are such a blessing in our lives and we can't imagine it any other way. We love you, sweetheart. We always will.

To the moon and back, 

Momma

{ Time }

Right now, and for the past several months, I have struggled with sitting down and actually writing anything on this blog. I've toyed with the idea of stopping the blog all together and moving on, just living life as it comes. But then I remember why I started the blog in the first place: to have a place to record life and the way it is happening right now, little notes here and there about our days so we can look back and remember it just the way it was. It seems that since Sarah was born, all I have really posted about is her monthly updates (or lack thereof these past few months...). I'm sure I could come up with all kinds of excuses for why I haven't written like I'm too busy with Sarah, or life is hectic and I am tired, or even blogging is too time consuming. And while those may be appropriate sometimes, really it's just that I am caught up in the middle of living it all right now. I'd rather spend time being a good mommy to Sarah and wife to Eli. This time is precious to me and is going by so very fast.

Thanks for bearing with me as my posts are few and far between these days. I'll hop back on the blogging horse soon enough. But for now, I'm enjoying my sweet girl who is learning to stand on her own, trying new foods every day, chatting up a storm in her sweet little voice, and looking at her Daddy and I like we hung the moon. We are so undeserving of her little heart so full of love for us.

I am so afraid of these days going by too fast. So instead of operating on the fear of how fast time is flying, I'm going to enjoy the present.


Be back soon with a recap of things that have happened and Sarah's past few months.

Sarah { five months }

Month five was the biggest month for change so far. We have such an active, growing girl, and we can't get enough of her!   (Month five was Dec 29 - Jan 29... Month six coming this week!)

At the very beginning of month five, we had Sarah's 4-month checkup. She weighed 13.9 pounds and was 25 inches long. Growing so big! She has gained many new rolls all over and is looking cuter than ever! I just love her chunky thighs.



Her doctor gave us the go-ahead to start cereal or solids at night if we wanted. I have been so excited about starting baby food because I really wanted to make my own purees. I know she doesn't really need anything other than breastmilk, nutritionally, but we went ahead with cereal because she had been very interested in our food and seemed hungry even after nursing at night. We started with rice cereal to get her used to the texture and eating off of a spoon. About two weeks after starting rice (and switching to oatmeal because rice caused tummy troubles), we started with veggies. Let me just say, this girl LOVES her sweet potatoes! We also tried avocado toward the end of the month, which she really didn't care for at first. She's a texture eater like her Momma. Once we added oatmeal, she gobbled it all up! 

Another suggestion from the doctor was to put Sarah in her own room. Up until Christmas, Sarah was still in her cradle in our room, but we (actually just me...) would wake up with every little noise and she expected us to tend to her any time she woke up. Now that she's in her own room, she can soothe herself and fall back asleep easier if she wakes up. We also sleep better. Win, win!Also, she is now sleeping 10-11 hours at night. Woohoo!!



Guess who is sitting up?? And loving it!

Sarah has been trying to sit up for a while now, but never quite had the strength. Now she is sitting really well and really enjoys the new found freedom. She can reach all her toys, see what is going on, and be more independent. Momma and Daddy love the freedom too!

At the beginning of January, Sarah switched from staying with Ms. Linda during the day to going to daycare at my school. We really loved Ms. Linda, but I cannot say how happy I am that I get to see her every single day and even feed her during the day! I am so grateful that my school has a daycare for teacher's kids right next door. The ladies there are great and I know Sarah is well-taken care of.

Someone has become quite the Momma's-girl lately. She's been very clingy and cuddly. I find this so sweet and flattering, but it's so difficult to get anything done! Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn and naptimes! Although, I won't have these times forever, so I'm soaking them in while she still wants to be around me all the time!

Teething is now in full swing. All the tell-tale signs are there: fussing, gnawing on her fingers, rosy cheeks, and slobbering on everything her chubby little fingers can get a hold of!

Some other new things we noticed in month five are:

Sarah has fallen in love with her feet! She likes to grab them and stick them in her mouth any chance she gets. She also likes to "help" when we're changing her diaper by holding her feet. Silly girl!

She has become very ticklish and it is over-the-top adorable! Her most ticklish spots are under her chin, on the back of her neck, where her bottom and thighs join, and the bottom of her feet. It's so fun to see her squirm and giggle. This is one of those times when we realize how big she's getting!

As you can tell from the pictures, Sarah's dark newborn hair is just about gone. She still has her old man ring around the back of her head, but the rest has fallen out and has been replaced with beautiful, fine blonde hair, just like Momma and Daddy had when we were little.

My Sweet Baby, 

I can't believe how much you changed this month. You are becoming a little person right before our eyes. Your Daddy and I are so blessed to get to be your parents. We thank God every day for allowing us to be a part of your life. You are such a precious gift to us, sweet girl. We love you more than you know.

To the moon and back, Momma