28 weeks

This is last week's picture at 28 weeks. Things are still going well!! He'll be here before we know it!

The Big 4-0!

Birthdays are always fun to celebrate, especially when you hit a new decade...but there's something about 40. Marshall has been a great sport about this big birthday, and he still can't believe he's 40. I had to do what I could to make it good and memorable!

Friday, his actual birthday we started out in Lima (because of the baby scare) and were on a super early flight back. We both were very busy making up for the day before being gone (Marshall with his SAM Academy classes and sermon prep, me with birthday gift and party prep). We went out to a late lunch at one of his favorite spots here in Pucallpa, where I gave him a small book I compiled of favorite memories, nicknames, parenting advice, etc from people throughout his life who helped contribute. My goal was at least 40 entries for his 40th...there were 42. :)  He loved it. 

Saturday was the day of his party. I was going non-stop all day long to make up for the lost day of party prep (though finding out our little man was alright was worth it). From more baking, sewing bean bags (for the cornhole game-which was a hit!), decorating, it was a crazy day! I couldn't have pulled off the party well if it weren't for several people helping out! 

The party was no surprise to him, but I didn't want him to know about the decorations....so I had to be tricky inside and outside the home. It was a Gator theme (from his University of Florida alma mater), and I used what I could from my jungle resources! :) 

I also posted a few of his MANY nicknames he's gotten through life....these are the ones that most of his friends here know about, or use regularly. :)

It'll receive no special award for its beauty and design, nor will it be pinned on pinterest, but here's his favorite chocolate cake before he blew out the candles. (there were 4 sheet cakes to serve).

And this was one of my favorite surprise projects, and Marshall LOVED it! It was somewhere around 85 pictures of him throughout his life: baby, childhood, teenage years, marines, college, Peru 2000-2002, seminary, trips to Europe, the middle east, back to Peru 2007-2010, and a few of us the past few years. God has given this man SO many adventures and he's had such a FULL life/ He loves sharing his stories, what he's learned along the way, and what God has done in his life. (He's gonna be a great dad!)

Here's the food table....as orange and blue as I could get it, even if it wasn't the exact orange and blue! Once again, I had A LOT of help here with this! Several people brought snacks and drinks. 

Marshall shared with me that he wanted cornhole at his party, and originally was going to make it himself. About a week before the party he told me he highly doubted he'd have the time to make it, and for me not to worry about making the bean bags. I asked if I could have them made, would he still want them....and he said yes, but didn't know who I was thinking of....so I slightly conspired, they were made, and it was such a HUGE hit! The kids were playing with it non-stop, and some adults got a few chances too.

There were easily at least 50 people that came. I didn't and haven't counted, but a good amount of people showed up. It was really fun!

 

We also had tables set out with games for people to play too... Dutch Blitz was the most popular!

And finally, a picture of the two of us....I mean....three of us! :)

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY MARSHALL!!!

A Little Baby Scare

Tuesday night (shortly after we opened our fun baby shower bag from the US) we had our next doctor's appointment with the OB/GYN here in Pucallpa. Everything was fine with the physical, but when he did the ultrasound, he told us that I had too little amniotic fluid.  He explained that this could mean our little guy may have kidney problems or a blockage, and he also wanted us to prepare for a premature birth and gave me a prescription for some steroid shots to help mature the lil' guy's lungs. He said there was better equipment in Lima to be able to evaluate further. (I was only 26 weeks and 2 days at this point.) 

I (Becca) held myself together well while in the office, but broke down when we got in the truck.  Over dinner we prayed and talked about various scenarios. Was this a huge find and would we find ourselves having a super preemie baby? Is there something wrong with his kidneys?? ('Cause if so, I'm goin' home!! I know some great neonatologists!!) Or is this just another case of bad equipment/medical care in Pucallpa??

I scanned the ultrasound pictures, prescription, and other info and sent it to my OB/GYN in Lima that night to see what he thought. In the morning I saw my email didn't go through. I tried again. Strike 2. UGH!!! So I texted him (doctors here will give out personal phone numbers). He emailed me quickly (which made me realize my scanned files were too big). He looked over the stuff told me NOT to take the prescription meds (which we didn't get for a reason) and that they'll only help after week 30-31. He couldn't read the ultrasound pictures well, so he recommended that we come right away to Lima to get things checked out. He was out of the office, but wanted us to see another doctor who was specialized in 3D/4D ultrasounds. 

So then we scrambled. I called that doc's office and the only available times were the following day (Thursday) at 11:30 or this week on Tuesday. Marshall called our travel agent friends, and within an hour we had flights to Lima for that night and an appointment the next morning. 

I was always excited about having a 3D/4D ultrasound to see our little guy's face....but not really under these circumstances! We get to our appointment and didn't know what to expect. First off, we saw a VERY full bladder and healthy kidneys (CHECK!), he measured his head, and then checked circulation INSIDE of his brain!! We could see his brain and the bloodflow! Crazy!! (All checked out great there). Next the heart....we got to see INSIDE of his little heart. I couldn't help but not count everything and look at each valve flapping well. How often will you ever get to look inside your child's heart???? (It also checked out great). Amniotic fluid....CHECK!! Normal level!! :D There were other things that were looked at as well, and everything came back great! He's a healthy boy! 

And we got to see his precious face! I think he's quite handsome!! :) At one point we saw him move a finger on his right hand over his right eye!! SUPER CUTE!! and when we were looking at the 2D profile of his face, we saw him swallow...even the doctor was excited, I guess that's something you don't see on an ultrasound everyday!

So the little guy gave his parents a little outing/32 hour date in Lima! We got to see a few good friends, enjoy COOL weather and HOT showers (instead of the other way around), and eat at Papa John's, McD's, Chili's (a pre-birthday treat for Marshall), Starbucks, and Dunkin Donuts! We don't regret our decision to go at all. We're so glad we did!

We're not quite out of the woods (or jungle I guess!!) yet though. Please pray for a continued healthy pregnancy. Dengue fever (a mosquito borne virus) is really strong here right now, and depending on the strand, it can be dangerous to a pregnant woman and the baby in the 1st and 3rd trimesters. I'm leaving for Lima early, in January, to avoid further risk. Please pray that I don't get dengue, and if I do, that its a mild case that causes our son no problems. Thank you!

Baby Shower in a Bag!

We were SO HUGELY BLESSED this month by some sweet maternity and baby gifts from Marshall's mom and some friends in Birmingham. Two of our friends here went back to the US for Thanksgiving, lightly packed, and were willing to help us get things down here....it evolved into a "Mobile Baby Shower" or "Shower in a Suitcase". It was such a HUGE thing! Both for those purchasing and those carrying this bag for us!! It was also a HUGE blessing that our friends didn't get stopped in customs and got the green light! After opening the bag, we were so surprised of all that was in it that could've been taxed! (PHEW!! Thanks God!!)

Its hard to find good quality baby and maternity items here in Pucallpa (and in my size), and if you go to Lima to get some important things, its often 3-4 times more expensive than it is in the US. 

We got the bag last Tuesday, and it was like Christmas for us! Maternity clothes, baby clothes, a transitional playpen, monitor, a moby wrap, CLOTH DIAPERS (!!!) and other VERY important baby/mommy needs!! 

Mommy/baby needs, transitional playpen (his crib)!!! :D

SUPER cute onesies!!! And 12 cloth diapers!!!

Maternity Clothes!!! :D

It was our first baby shower! And what a fun and creative way to have one so far away from home, family, and friends!! Thank you so SO much to all of you who took part in it!!!

Thanksgiving: Jungle Style

We had a great Thanksgiving meal with many other missionaries here in the area. There were 102 of us in all!! Represented were missionaries from SAM (South America Mission), IMB (International Mission Board), Pioneers, Kids' Alive, and independent missionaries. 

When you pull together so many people, it has to be very well organized, and our friends Vann and Vanessa Brock did a great job in doing so and hosting! 

It took place at their house, Vann smoked 3 large turkeys and fried 3 others, everyone brought a side, tents were set up for us to eat under, and it was a great afternoon sharing with each other. 

Just some of the feast!!

There were games (horseshoes and American football), a trampoline and playground for the kids to play on, and plenty of chairs to sit around and visit with friends.

This is a fun picture for me (Becca). These two ladies were my friends in Arequipa when I was in language school in 2005 - early 2006. Cristina (on the left) grew up in Pucallpa and it was her husband in language school at the time, and they had a 6 month old (who both Emma-on the right- and I babysat). Emma was also single like me at the time, and now, the Lord has brought the 3 of us back together, with husbands, Emma has a little boy, and my little one is on the way! Fun to see what life brings through the years!! :)


We are so thankful for what God has done this year! Its hard to believe its almost over! From all of our support being raised to be able to leave late January, language school in Arequipa, crazy legal paperwork with visas and drivers licenses, moving to Pucallpa, settling in, beginning ministry, getting pregnant, and now prepping for our little man's arrival! We couldn't be here without your prayers and support! Thank you! We do not take it for granted! 

24 weeks!

Things are continuing to progress very well! Our little guy is growing and moving around a ton!! Here's the newest baby bump....its crazy to think he'll be here in 16ish weeks!! Time is flying!!

Critters

I posted about bugs and other jungle creatures shortly after we first got here, and I'm sure there will be more stories to tell in the future, but here's a collection of critter stories from the past few weeks.

Tarantulas......

Marshall discovered an adolescent (not small, but not full sized) tarantula in our cool room one early morning. He caught it and put it in a tupperware bowl. I saw it later when I woke up and didn't think about taking a picture of course. He took it down the street and let it out in a wooded area since they are good spiders to have around to kill other "unwantable" things.

Then a few days later he walked out of the house, and saw one running up the sidewalk, full-speed ahead at the front door....well, in great defense of our home, this one didn't make it to the wooded area down the street, it got smashed instead!


Ants.......

There's a saying that the jungle is an ant's world, and I (Becca) think it's right!! There is such a WIDE variety of ants here....the small sugar ant, small black ant, small red ant, large black ant, large red ant, leaf cutter ants (who blaze their own trails as they carry off grass and leaves they've cut down).....I could go on.

There's a type of large fire ant that if you kill it, it puts off this horrible smell....and its on you for hours! I was in the kitchen the other day and felt something on my leg and knocked it off and killed it before I knew what it was. It took NO TIME AT ALL to figure it out! (Bleh)

Then, another time I was in the kitchen prepping something, I walked toward the front of the house for some reason, saw a large black ant and attempted to kill it. Granted, I was wearing some foamy flip-flops, but there was a lot of weight and pressure behind it. The little guy just wouldn't die! He would writhe around for a while, but then get back to walking. So I kept it up and he stopped moving. So I swept him up into our dust pan and went back to the kitchen. About 30 minutes later I felt something on my toes, and brushed it off to see another (?) black ant just like him. He put up a harder fight, in fact I somehow knocked only the 3rd large portion of his body (the abdomen) off, and he still kept walking towards me! It was a crazy site. I gave him the final blow, and threw him into the trash. Out of curiosity I went over to the dustpan, and sure enough that black ant wasn't there.....was it the same one coming back for vengeance?? Hmmmm.....we'll never know!


Flour Bugs......

At a local store you can buy white flour and wheat flour in bulk (also where I get my peanuts for peanut butter). Early on in using this wheat flour, I would see little black bugs crawling through it, so I started sifting the flour to get them out. The fine flour would go right through, but the wheat grains and flakes are a little more challenging to sift through.....you need to watch for movement and go in with a spoon to get it out. The black bugs are easy enough, but in doing this sifting, I also found some little worms, which unfortunately are the same color as the wheat flakes. (I also found silk-like flour webs in the flour container before learning I needed to sift).

I make bread about every other week, and sometimes don't need the wheat in between  making those batches. The last time I went to make bread (fortunately had just bought some more wheat to add to my stash) I opened the container and 2 fly-moth-like bugs came flying out at me....that container hadn't been opened for about 2-3 weeks.....ugh! Those weren't ordinary worms....they were fly-moth-like larva. Yummy!!  How many of those have we eaten????

Mango Season!!

There may be some challenges to living in the jungle (like the intense heat and humidity), but one thing that is not a challenge for us, rather a HUGE blessing are MANGOS!! lt is both of our favorite fruit.

A "common" mango tree next to our house

There are so many mango trees around, and the last few weeks, we've been collecting, washing, peeling, cutting, and freezing these delicious beauties. There are several different types of mangos, and I learned that there is a difference between the varieties.

The fairest of them all is the "chico rico mango" aka "small and delicious"....and that's just what it is!

A Chico Rico Mango

I might sound a little like Bubba from Forrest Gump, but there's so much you can do with mangos.....and its sooo goooood!!! ......mango smoothies, mango juice, mango cobbler, mango jelly, mango salsa, mango glaze, mango sliced, mango diced......

Mmmm.....Mango smoothie!

As I mentioned, I learned there is quite a difference between the mango varieties. Marshall has been collecting all the chico rico mangos that he can, but I've seen so many others on the ground in our neighborhood that also need a good belly to go into...and if I'm "eating for two" why not help two of us out, right?!?!

He's told me that those mangos are the "common" ones, and more fibrous.....but fiber is good for you too, right?!?!? So a few days ago I was walking/running up and down our street and saw two beautiful yellow-orange mangos on the ground undisturbed by any ants, so I grabbed them and brought them home. I told him I had 2 "common" mangos, and he gave me the fiber warning again. I had one that day for lunch, it was juicy and sweet....BUT I needed to floss my teeth after eating it. Two days later I ate the other one, and it was worse! Some of those fibers were super thick and it felt like wood shards from a toothpick in my mouth!! Ugh....alright, I learned my lesson!!

Chico Rico's it'll be.....soft, juicy, sweet, and almost fiberless.....and I'm pumped that we have a bunch frozen for later when the season ends!

PEANUT BUTTER!!!

Another adventure in the kitchen under my belt! Imported peanut butter here can be SUPER expensive....$10ish for a jar of 16 ounces. It's a yummy taste from home, but one of those items we've gone through slowly because of the cost. Especially making peanut butter desserts....ugh.....using 1 cup of peanut butter is so much more painful!! I'd seen on pinterest how you can make homemade peanut butter, but didn't know where in town I could get peanuts. Then a few weeks ago I was chatting with one of my friends and she said she makes her own peanut butter, and shared how she makes it and where to get it in town. There's a store here that sells roasted peanuts for around $3.50 for a kilo (that's 2.2 lbs). 

So, I set out to attempt this task! My friend had given me a heads up to watch that my blender doesn't get too hot (I don't have a food processor yet...which would be the better option for this.) It was the peanuts, oil, and sugar (we added that in after the first batch needed a bit of help). 

After posting on Facebook my excitement about the peanut butter, I was asked to show pictures.....so I made a new batch this week with pictures just to post on here!  

Blender, roasted peanuts, oil, sugar (or honey instead of sugar is delish too!)

I dumped in about a cup of peanuts at a time (as I'm learning how my blender responds), a dollop of oil, and about a tablespoon of sugar. Blend until the consistency desired is reached. (For me I can't get the consistency "creamy". Its somewhere in between creamy and chunky. I've already used the peanut butter in recipes that call for creamy or chunky and they've both turned out well.) I often had to "assist" the blender stirring and mixing up the peanut butter. 

Then once the consistency desired is reached, I spoon it into the container I want to store it in. The kilo of peanuts makes a bit over 4 cups of peanut butter.

Here's what I had on hand to store them in.

The 10 Stars

A few years ago when Marshall was chronologically teaching the Old Testament here in Pucallpa, he came up with 5 stars/highlights of the OT to help explain how and why Christ had to come. Often the OT can be overwhelming, but he broke it down to the basics while covering the details.

You may remember that he had the opportunity to preach at the church we attended while in language school in Arequipa. He did a bible summary in 7 weeks from Genesis to Revelation which was a lot of hard work! In teaching the summary, he came up with 5 more stars/highlights of the NT to add to the 5 stars he already had for the OT.

These 10 stars in all, to us, are the biggest and basic highlights of scripture that go over how and why Christ had to come, what Christ did, where we are now, and that Christ coming back. There's a ton of great discipleship material out there, and we like what we're incorporating now with the BILD material, but not all the materials out there give believers an overview of the big story....from Creation to now to what's to come. These 10 stars, with their details, do.

Marshall shared these stars/highlights with the church leadership, and now for a 10 week series each star is being preached at our church. They split up the sermons between 4 pastors and leaders, Marshall has already preached twice and will twice more. He's done a great job! Here are some pictures from his first sermon introducing the series.

The 10 Stars are as follows:

• The Creation
• The Fall
• The Promise
• The Abramic Covenant
• The Davidic Covenant
• The Birth of Christ
• The Death of Christ
• The Resurrection of Christ
• The Holy Spirit as a Guarantee
• The Second Return of Christ

Peru BILD Conference

Early last month our church Mil Palmeras hosted a BILD conference for pastors here in Peru. BILD is the discipleship material we're using here to build up and train leaders. You can read more information about their international discipleship program here.

It was a great week as between 65-70 pastors and leaders from all over Peru came to Pucallpa to attend this conference at the church. (Even a few of Becca's friends from her previous team in Lima came...it was good to see them!)

The first day was a crash course of the make-up and philosophy of this socratic method of group discussion learning. The 2 following days were made up of discussion groups going over the first book of the material and practicing the socratic style of leading the group. The last 2 days were spent looking at the larger studies offered by BILD in church-based theological training where the socratic style of teacher/student and student/teacher dialogue learning take place.

Its exciting to see what God is doing with this program in our church here, and we're eager to see how else He uses this material in Peru! Please pray with us that His kingdom will continue to expand here in Peru!

Group Photo of the conference attendees

20 Weeks!

Here goes....the first baby bump photo update. We're now 20 weeks along, and doing well! The lil' man is very active and moving a lot. March still seems a long way off, but we know it'll be here before we know it!!! 

It's a .........

BOY!!!!

I (Becca) went to Lima last week to see the doctor who (God willing) will be delivering our little baby next March. Marshall couldn't make it because of a BILD conference he was a part of in Pucallpa....more on that later.  It was a great appointment, he was very thorough, and he'd probably be my choice in the US. Everything looked great for me and our little baby. We did the ultrasound and he asked prior if we wanted to find out the gender. When it came to us looking for the gender, we both thought we saw something, but little man here wanted to be modest and covered up a bit....so we came back later, and sure enough we got to see all that is needed. =)  The doctor made a DVD of the whole ultrasound so I could show it to Marshall. 

We had decided that I wouldn't tell him the gender if I found out until getting back to Pucallpa. Originally the plan was for me to wear a blue or pink shirt for him to pick me up at the airport and see it then. Because of responsibilities with the conference he wasn't able to pick me up, so decked out in blue and green I welcomed him home that night when he got back. We would be excited about either gender, but if you could write your own story, we would've started out with a boy. 

Now we can start planning a bit more and start to seriously consider names. Thanks for joining us on this adventure! 

Pregnancy: Week 15

So far everything is going well! I made it through the first trimester, and really can't complain about my pregnancy so far in comparison to many women out there. My biggest symptoms were fatigue and some stomach uneasiness (typically after eating). Even though I'm through the first trimester, some of those symptoms have been lingering through these first few weeks of the second.

We had an appointment 2 weeks ago with a doctor here. The baby is growing great! We had some beautiful views with the ultrasounds, though they didn't come out quite as nice in the pictures we took home with us. Our first view, we saw the baby with its hands by its face and then it moved them really quickly. It also turned on its back and we got a great view of the spine. We got to hear its heartbeat too. It was moving around quite a bit! We might have our hands full!! =)

Next month's appointment will be in Lima with the doctor I've chosen to deliver there. We may be able to find out the gender if little bit lays just right! =)

Sorry...no baby bump pictures yet....I'm not showing much, its pretty much only slightly noticable to Marshall and I....baby's just pushing some fat out is all! =)  We'll post some when its postable! =)

Adventures in a Jungle Kitchen

When we got married, I was working full-time (nights) at the hospital, and Marshall was working part-time for SAM. He insisted (and I was SUPER grateful) to do most of the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc because of my work schedule. Between that and our support raising travels on the other weeks, I could probably count on 1 hand the times I got to cook for him in our first 18months of marriage. Well the times have changed. He does love to cook, so I haven't completely dominated the kitchen, but I have been doing a bit more than I used to in a US kitchen. 

Its quite easy to spend the entire day in the kitchen...between cleaning your vegetables and fruit properly, de-boning and prepping your meat and chicken from the market, and prepping most things from scratch.

Of course we've had the normal casseroles, lasagnas, spaghetti, baked chicken, grilled chicken, tacos, banana bread, brownies, and cookies, etc....those are normal to me and not worth writing home about (or blogging in this case....even if it does take longer to prep). Pinterest and friends here with a lot of experience have been quite helpful as well with some of these "from scratch" recipes. Back home, a lot of the following I'd just get at the store, but here, its not as available, and if it is, it's imported price is ridiculous, and its just better if you make if from scratch anyways....and in the end, it's probably more healthy!

Since we've been here, I've made:

- several batches of white and white/wheat bread

- pizza dough....and pizza sauce

- pickles

- pesto

- tortillas (with the help of a tortilla press)

- ricotta cheese

- (I've learned how to make mozzarella....I just don't have the ingredients here to make it)

- camucamu juice drink (Camucamu is a jungle fruit SUPER high in Vitamin C)...to me its like a slightly tart tropical punch drink

- oh and our new fun breakfast concoction.....banana bread french toast....you have to try it!! 

I've got a lot more on my mental list I want to make, but am pumped that the above turned out well and edible....they'll probably be made the most! More kitchen adventures to come! =)

Yesterday's white/wheat loaves

Marshall was super excited and proud of this pizza...insisting on a picture of me with it! =)

Indoor Baking

We got to an all new indoor record high today....98 degrees! The even more amusing bit is the weather website Marshall loves (www.wunderground.com) had posted that it was 95 degrees, but "feels like" 124 degrees! 

Yea....just a little toasty! 

A Little Addition to our Lives

One of my all-time favorite passages of the Bible is Psalm 139. It means a little more now.....

Psalm 139:13-17

¹³ 

For you created my inmost being; 

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

¹⁴ 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful, 

    I know that full well.

¹⁵ 

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 

¹⁶ 

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ 

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! 

    How vast is the sum of them!

We announced our special news a few weeks ago on facebook, and are a bit behind in announcing it on here. We're expecting our first child in March. I'm a few weeks shy of completing the first trimester. Everything has checked out fine so far with the doctor, and shortly after finding out the news ourselves, we got to see our little one and hear its heartbeat. We're excited, but its also surreal. 

We'll be updating more on the baby as we know more! Thank you for your love and support for us!

Home for Now

We've pretty much done all we can do for now in taking care of important projects on the house, and making some spaces livable and comfortable. Here are some pictures of our home and the set-up we have for now:

Our bedroom (connected to the cool room): 

(We made a doorway between the two rooms so they can share the AC unit.)


The Cool Room/Den/Living Room:

(The passageway between the two rooms)

 The rest of the house...future warm living room, dining area, and kitchen in the back

 (Our friends are letting us borrow this table and benches until we can get our own set.)

The Kitchen:

My favorite cupboard! =)