radiantchristians.com

“Mama Can You Hear Me?”

Melissa — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:57:13 +0000

Mothers everywhere I implore you. Heed the toot! Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by repeatedly unproductive toots. If your child has not “deposited” in two days, yet has been tooting up a storm, do not assume that last toot you just heard was unproductive! Children have a way of lulling us into a false sense of security by making major loud “uncle craig” style toots. Then comes the moment, you’re having a lovely cuddle on the couch. Baby is sleeping peacefully on your chest, full belly, quietly breathing, and suddenly… a slight movement… “toot” … not one of those big burley toots being ripped over the last few hours… but a nice, gentle lady like toot. You sit for a moment and realize you’d best get your other child a drink of water (since she’s been begging you for the last three minutes from her high chair). As you get up, you think you might feel a little moisture, but it’s been hot & muggy and you’ve been sweaty, so you go to lay the baby in the cradle. As you are looking at that darling angelic face you see a bit curry colored substance on your arm and realize… yes, the baby has had a MAJOR blow out! Not just a little blow out, or average blow out, not even a more than average blow out… but a blow out to beat all blow outs! As you carry her to the kitchen (instead of the bathroom because there is less carpet between you and the kitchen than you and the bathroom, and closer to the baby bath tub) you begin to realize that there is blow out on your shirt, and your shorts and you scream to your husband for assistance. As you try to extract your child from their clothing, without making it worse… you make it worse! Not only does your baby get a “curry smear” all the way up their back, on the back of their arms but it even goes into their hair. What you also at first fail to realize is that it has dribbled down your baby’s leg and at least a quarter of a cup of curry sauce has hit the floor! Taking care to avoid the puddle, while laughing your head off in amazement, you order your husband to get the camera… no one will believe how bad it was!!!

(it’s unfortunate you can’t see it as well in the photo as it was in person!)
After tag team rinsing the baby off, and then giving a very thorough bath, your husband disinfects/sanitizes the kitchen counter, sink and floor while you lotion and redress your darling, once again lovely smelling, angel. And so begins an evening of laundry!!! :) One more round and I get to go to bed. Night night all!!!

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HIP-HIP-HOORAY, I DECLAIR IT’S JAMMY DAY!

Melissa — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:33:06 +0000

Sometimes it hits me… Hey, I’m the mom!
Vienna is a happy little girl, most of the time. She however doesn’t like to get dressed without playing the run away game. On mornings I’m feeling tired, which basically is most mornings right now, this does not amuse me… then it hit me… hey, why do we have to get dressed anyway? Her jammies are clean, she just slept in them, no accidents, no peanut butter sandwich down the front, or spilled milk like her clothes get during the day. Just sleep “dirt” which is what? Not much in my estimation. Therefore, I have declared it Jammie Day! I mean, her jammies cover her just as well, if not better than her clothes. So who cares? Well, my mom, but her jurisdiction over me has gotten gray since I got married and had kids of my own. YES! ***insert maniacal laughter*** The power is intoxicating… maybe we’ll have ice cream for lunch!

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To You Oh Lord- Ziva’s Dedication

Melissa — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:34:59 +0000

I’m really embarrassed at how much I’ve cried over the last two years. Suddenly I tear up over just about anything that could be considered touching! I mean really, I cry at commercials, when I read scripture, when I just look at my rose garden and think oh isn’t that beautiful and tear up! It’s ridiculous! Something has happened to me now that i am a mom. Originally I blamed it on pregnancy hormones, but I didn’t get a break from it in between my girls, so, it just must be the new me! But what I don’t understand is why more mom’s and dad’s don’t tear up dedicating their babies. Think about it… it’s the first step in letting go of your kids, the first moment you say, Ok Lord this is out of my hands and fully in Yours. Not that His hands aren’t the most trustworthy place in all existence for your babies to be, but still… the enormity of that statement to me is a huge deal. I know that it may mean that some day he calls one of my girls to live over seas, far away from me, and as much as I don’t ever want to live far away from my girls, I do want them to follow Him. But since I have lived far from my family, and at present have family living over seas, I guess maybe I realize a bit more what it could mean in the future. I try not to borrow tomorrows troubles but at moments like a Dedication it’s hard not to see what could come.

Pastor Jerry is a family friend and he did Ziva’s dedication blessing, which was sooo nice, and we are so glad he was able to do it. He’s also good at helping by cracking jokes! He did however resist joking about Ziva’s dress :) and what I like to refer to as her “Flying Nun Sleeves!”

I found this dress in Good Will. It is sooo beautiful. Someone went through a lot of work to make it and I just thought it was sooo very sweet. (It doesn’t show up so very well in this photo, mabye I’ll have to take a photo of it on the hanger to show). Then I found the white booties at Carter’s (the ones that were made with the dress were waaaayy too big for Ziva). I did not try the dress on Ziva until the night before her dedication (as I was too busy adding bling/beads to it so that she could sparkle! I mean really, when you are being presented to a King you need to be beautiful and have some bling!!!) Anyway… I didn’t realize how HUGE the sleeves were going to look against her head ha ha ha… but I still loved the dress on her :) Though it was a bit warm in church (usually the a/c keeps us all feeling mostly cold, not this last few weeks though!) so we had to take the dress off her rather early!

To add to my tearfulness I must confess that we had a rough morning. Not only have I been a bit sleep deprived, but several things that were supposed to happen kinda fell apart… we were late which added to it all and … well, I’m not handling stress so very well… but hey, nothing that huge or important (it just felt like it at the time!) So just prior to service starting I had a bit of a major meltdown (hence no makeup left!)

Times like these it also hits me however, how blessed I truly am! I waited many long years to find my Sam, and he is more wonderful than I could have possibly imagined! And that we have such a fabulous live, and two beautiful daughters, well, that makes me cry too!! So you see, I can’t win for loosing as far as the crying goes, but I figure hey… sometimes crying is a good thing!!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY VIENNA!!!

Melissa — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:56:36 +0000

Two years old… I can’t believe Vienna is already two years old!!! We had a fabulous birthday celebration!

Uncle Matt and Auntie Es spent the night, so it was a great treat to her to find them here when she got up in the morning. (which came all to early for me let me tell you!) In the morning she got a Mini Mouse “back pack” and inside the small little pouch she got some “chappy”

(she is currently obsessed with Chap Stick! so I broke down and got her a stick of her very own… all natural so when she over indulges or actually eats it the effects wont be sooo bad! ha ha ha). Her lips will never get a chance to be chapped! ha ha ha… She carried her Mini Pack with her all morning.

We spent the morning at Silver Creek Falls with Uncle Matty and Auntie Esther (who is here visiting from Ukraine).

Vienna did great hiking down and back up from the South Falls (we made it all the way past the bridge at the bottom). The weather was PERFECT~! After our little hike we went over to the play structure to have lunch… I packed everything for ham sandwiches… except the bread! Thankfully I had a PB&J for Vienna already made, so she was able to eat. The rest of us had Soda, Oreo’s and Dorito’s for lunch!!

After our adventure we came home and had a family party for Vienna. Ziva slept through the whole party (well, until the cake was served!) so that was a very good thing for me as I got to participate in everything and it all ran smoothly! (well, except Es had to hand wash dishes because I forgot to turn on the dishwasher before we left, oh, and the same with glasses… yeah, recognize a pattern here!??!! still not back on my “mental” game!!) Vienna had great fun, she loved all her gifts.

Auntie Es got her an ice cream cake from DQ (one of the things on her “list of things I’d like to do while in the U.S.”) and decorated it with an Elmo and Dorothy :) (It’s actually a bath toy where the water washes the dirt spots off of Elmo, but no matter, it was actually clean! ha ha) and the cake was a huge hit, though Vienna was a bit confused about having the cake be cold! Until she realized it was ice cream, then it didn’t take long to eat it And we had spaghetti for dinner (Vienna’s favorite).

My big girl was so tired by the end of the day she didn’t even put up a fuss!!!
I was equally tired… still am

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Nostalgia!

Melissa — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:46:58 +0000

Nostalgia, today I got an email from a friend recalling memories of Ferrell’s Ice Cream Parlors. They were a Portland Oregon original, I didn’t know that they had them anywhere else in the country but apparently at one time they had 130 parlors! (now they are back down to three… one in the L.A. area and two in Hawaii). It was a fantastical place for a kid to go! The people all wore old fashioned shirts and straw hats, the tables were printed with old newspaper prints, there was ice cream ice cream and more ice cream, lots of pomp and noise… they would bang a drum, set off a siren and sing loudly for any birthday, anniversary, or other such event. There was even a bowl of ice cream you could order that two people carried out on a stretcher because it was soooo big!!! (like party size!) Then there was the GINORMOUS (thats enormous on top of gigantic) candy shop filled with old fashioned candies… suckers as HUGE as your head (and half my body when i was a kid!) twirlly suckers, jars upon jars of jaw breakers (some almost as big as my head!!) Oh the amazing-ness of Farrell’s. Sadly they are no longer in the Portland area, and apparently the family is out of the business now and it is in the hands of others… but my fond memories of the few times we were able to go for those special treats will forever be in my memory. Thanks Kathleen for reminding me!!
That begs the question.. what will Vienna and Ziva think back on when they have kids of their own and lament the loss of their “nostalgic” place? What will they remember as great fun, and fantastical? What memories can I create for my little ones? Yesterday was Vienna’s 2nd birthday (but we couldn’t all get the family together until tomorrow so we are celebrating tomorrow). I can’t wait for her to have her little family party! I’m ready to decorate and make it a special time, even if it is just a cake and a few presents… after all, that’s more than she needs! I’ll post about it on Monday.
We’ll also go to the beach sometime in the next two weeks with Auntie Es and Uncle Matt while Es is here from Ukraine. The beach has always been a special place to me, and I hope it will become a special place to my girls! There is just something about the grandeur of the ocean that leaves no doubt there is a divine creator in control of everything!!
For now, I’m off to try to just get us dressed for the day ha ha ha… and then Mimi (grandma christoff) will come and watch the girls while I shop for groceries and party supplies… gotta at least have a few streamers!)
Hope your day is full of memories today!!

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What’s With the Name???

Melissa — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:39:42 +0000

Ziba? Zeevah?? and Ali-what?? Ha ha ha… We’ve had quite the reactions to our daughters name. We love it… but it may take people a while to grasp it, and we don’t mind. Ziva’s name has special meaning to us, and since everyone asks I thought I’d write an explanation as to how she got her name.

It’s kinda long and complicated… so bear with me… but then by now, ya’ll should know to grab coffee when sitting down to read anything written by me~! Ha ha ha…

Ziva (pronounce Zee-vah) is Hebrew for Bright or Radiant (the feminized version)
Alethea (pronounced Al-lee-thee-ah) is Greek for Truth

Our family website is RadiantChristians.com after Psalms 34:5 “Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered in shame”

And Sam’s life verse is Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” when read in context (especially starting with 25) the verse is about how trustworthy our Lord is… we will be provided for, just not maybe in the way WE want things to always pan out… but He is in control none the less!

My life verse is Philippians 4:6&7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

…and so for us, her name reminds us that the most radiant truth of all… we have nothing to worry about as the Lord will always be there to take care of us!

Since our marriage, Sam and I have been on some life roller coaster rides! Never really having financial stability, making a move back to the U.S. off of the mission field with no money to ship our stuff home with and no jobs to go home too (and no work experience within the U.S. for Sam)… but through everything the Lord has provided, and provided well.

Initially we just liked the name Ziva, then loved it when we found out the meaning… (it’s actually a name we found off the t.v. show NCIS~!)

Part of what put me on the process for a meaningful name for Ziva is because of her due date. See, Ziva was due on the date that Sam and I lost our first baby. That day used to be a sad day for me every year, it was something to dread, and at first it made me fearful for Ziva’s safe arrival… but as the weeks went on the date became a date to look forward to, he replaced my sorrow with gladness He cared enough about me, to take that sad day from me… He doesn’t choose to do it for everything, but it just felt like He did that for me in this case. It’s been a year of being shown time and time again that the Lord is Good and Faithful and we have nothing to fear, though I stress and fear all of the time, because in my earthly self I want life to be painless… but it just never is painless. With this year being a year to reflect on all of that, it just seemed fitting that we would name our daughter a name that is a milestone of sorts for solidifying that in my faith.

Sam and I feel so blessed and privileged to be in His care and to be blessed with a new daughter. (We don’t take our ability to become parents lightly, many of our family and friends are not so blessed, so we are truly thankful).

Ziva will be a constant reminder that even in times of trouble we have nothing to fear because Our Father is there, in control… it may not all turn out the way we wish it to, he’s not a “Santa god” but His love for us is deep and wide and though sometimes we must go through dark times, He is always there with us through it all.

That our friends and family, is how our daughter got her name. Ziva Alethea, Radiant Truth

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ZIVA ALETHEA IS HERE!

Melissa — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:13:41 +0000

Wow, it’s taken me forever to blog the arrival of our newest daughter Ziva Alethea. She was four days past her due date in her arrival! But she arrived much faster than her sister!

Monday morning I went to the midwife and my water broke at 9:45 a.m. I was soooo excited because we have been waiting so long it seemed for her arrival. Since I was having so many early contractions and we were concerned she was going to come early, it felt like she was much later than she was. I was in no hurry to get to the hospital because I was thinking labor was going to take quite some time. (With Vienna it was hard contractions for 14 hours and pushing for a solid 3 hours). So we took about 30-40 minutes to get to the hospital. But by the time we got to the hospital things were really rolling!! We got settled into our room, and the midwife got an epidural ordered up for me… while the nurse tried to start an I.V. This took the longest and was the most unsuccesful part of the whole experience! You should see the bruises on the back of both of my hands! Eventually she asked the anesthesiologist to put the I.V. port in which he did quite quickly despite that pregnancy makes my veins roll. This guy was great! He had that epidural in within TEN MINUTES!! (as opposed to the hour it took the other guy when I had Vienna!) If you have a baby at the Silverton Hospital, try to get your epidural while Mr. Rod is working!!! THANK YOU SIR!! While he was swabbing my back for the epidural, I was already in “I wanna push” mode!! (and was pushing a little bit without telling anyone! Yeah, this delivery progressed QUICKLY!

Shortly after the epidural took effect it was time to push! Wow, so quick!! so within less than an hour from then Ziva was born at 1:15 in the afternoon! Thank You LORD for a much easier labor and delivery! Hard labor was only 3 and a half hours this time around (though I had labor for a month if you consider the nearly constant contractions I was having, but at least they weren’t totally painful like hard labor!). I’m so thankful for the short delivery, even Sam said that it was bearable and maybe we’ll have another baby after this after all! ha ha ha

Ziva was 9 pounds and 7/10ths (.07) of an ounce! a FULL two pounds more than her sister! But mommy made it through with no stitches or anything so we are fully on the mend now! PTL once again!!

Mimi & Poppie Christoff were there with us for the whole delivery again this time. Sam again was the best coach ever, he’s such a fabulous husband!! And gloriously wonderful Daddy!

My brother Craig and my sister-in-love Joany were watching Vienna and brought her to the hospital three hours after the baby was born. Vienna got to meet her sister. You should have seen the joy on her face when she first saw her sister!!!! It was soooooo precious!! I wish I would have had a camera trained on her! She had a great time meeting Ziva and running around the room full of people she loves. She got her very own wrist band that said that Ziva was her baby too. She gave Ziva so many kisses (and still gives her tons of kisses).

Sam and I stayed the night in the hospital, and the next day, just 27 hours after Ziva was born, we were on our way home!! Since Tuesday we’ve had many a visitor and have settled into life as the Bibles 4 :) Sam’s been taking care of his girls (all three of us) and Vienna’s been treated like quite the princess by going on special “field trip” outings with Auntie Joany & Uncle Craig and Mimi & Poppie. She’s just been soo good and so happy (and thankfully worn out!).

Last night Ziva slept for 5 hours! So we’re doing pretty good on sleep as well now. She is still working on learning to eat, but already starting to fall into a pattern for that too. Life’s good!!

More to come. Soon we’ll post the meaning of Ziva’s name and explaination as to why we chose it… as many people have been asking :) It’s a bit longer of a story, so it may take me another day or so.

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WHY WHY WHY?

Melissa — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:02:43 +0000

Why is this baby not in my arms? I’m sooo tired… Today is her due date, it would be nice if she came today. I’m just not good at waiting for things… and since we had such early contractions where they thought she would come real soon and now it’s drug out to her due date… it just feels like it’s never going to happen without intervention, and that’s got me a touch… depressed? frustrated? irritated? panicky? all of the above?

What’s the deal? Does my body just not know what its supposed to do? After my water broke with Vienna they had to induce me with pitocin because labor didn’t start on it’s own. Now it seems it’s figured out how to contract, but still doesn’t know how to go into labor… Would I have been one of those ladies to die back in the days before medicine is what it is today? Would my body ever figure it out? I’m not trying to complain, I am thankful to the Lord that He has blessed us with the ability to have children and to have them in a day and age where we have modern medicine to take care of them and keep them (and me) alive

I’m just way too pregnant and way too hormonal to cope today… I’m ready to have my body back so I can move around the house without waddling and without feeling like i’m going to fall flat on my face It’s pretty comical to watch me actually …. I”M HUGE! and I carry all out front of myself so the baby really feels heavy!! My lower back is not happy about it!!
Just finished talking with my friend Kimma via Yahoo IM. Kim is in Latvia. I LOVE having IM!! :) She talked me down out of my frustration, and once again I am doing better…. still going to post this, but at least I can end it with a … she will be here soon (aren’t good friends just WONDERFUL BLESSINGS FROM ABOVE!?!?!)

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Yes, I’m Going To Brag!

Melissa — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:07:45 +0000

My Husband is the best!!

Yep, he’s the best!!!! The poor man has had to deal with a first and most of the second trimester of this pregnancy with a puking wife!!! He stepped up to the plate and did all the diaper changes (to keep me from extra pukes) he did the dishes, he just helped out with everything. Then we had about two weeks where I could do stuff ha ha ha… then the third trimester kicked in with the aches and pains and inability to pick up Vienna. Then came along the early contractions that exhausted me, that kept me from doing anything hardly at all for two weeks so I spent most of my time at my mom’s house. All the while Sam took care of making the money, and taking care of things around the house too!
Today I am due… and this little baby STILL doesn’t want to come out… Yesterday I spent the day at my mom’s house (because I tried to do stuff around the house in the morning and over did it) and Sam not only did all his work, but he cycled through all of the laundry for me so that all I had to do this morning was fold and put away! HE’S SUPERMAN!! Such a trooper!!
I LOVE YOU BABE!!! YOU’RE THE BEST!!!

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Promises Promises~!

Melissa — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:50:42 +0000

Nope, no baby yet. In fact, the contractions stopped for at least 12 hours yesterday/last night, and they are slow today. Hard, but far apart. A far cry from the 5 minute contractions I had last week, and the hopes of this baby coming real soon are diminishing (at least for me, because I had gotten my hopes up so much that she’d be here last week!) I’m so anxious to hold this baby (and to be able to move again!! ha ha ha). Why oh why can’t delivering a baby be more precise? Why couldn’t we just have a more accurate date that the baby will come. Oh the waiting is the hard part!! I thought for sure with all the early contractions she’d be here. I was hoping she’d come today. Still am.

So, I’m home from church yet again, I can’t sit comfortably in service at all, so I just stay home and listen to the podcast. Sam and Vienna are at church without me. It’s very hot here… not quite noon and it’s already over 81 degrees (that’s 27.5 for my European friends). Thankfully we were able to purchase a window a/c unit when I was expecting Vienna, so I have that cranked and am quite comfortable at the moment, but if I go outside I’m sure I’ll melt!!

Hummm… this isn’t feeling as funny and light hearted as I had hoped. I guess I’m a little more down than I thought I was. I can’t find anything I want to cook for lunch/dinner. We have a ton of food, don’t get me wrong, its just trying to figure out what to make…. nothing sounds right, or if it does I’m missing this or that to put in it… humm… well, we’ll see what I come up with… there’s always burgers and fries :)

Anyway, just waiting for my baby to decide she’s ready to come out and play ;) Have a good day all

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