Ahhhhh

My suitcase finally arrived this morning from Rome. ROME! How does that happen? Grand Rapids sounds nothing like Rome. Whatever. I am going to see what American Airlines will do for me for all my trouble. We'll see if they do anything.

My sister got married last night! So, we are all breathing a sigh of relief that the suitcase is here and my sister is married! I would post some photos but I cannot seem to find my camera. No, that was not in the suitcase. It was here, but I am not sure what happened to it. That is so sad! Hopefully we can find it.

Tomorrow Crystal and I are heading to visit Travis' grandparents, along with Sophia. Then I go to St. Louis on Tuesday! Yay! That's about it for now. I have to get some sleep.

Welcome to America!

Sophia went to sleep a little before 9 last night and she did not get up until 11 this morning! Now she's sleeping again. She is doing really well considering what we just went through. :) I went to sleep around 9:30, but woke at 1:30 and was up until about 3. I started to read "The Secret Garden" which I have not read since I was a kid. Very enjoyable! Then I slept the rest of the night and took a little nap this morning.

Sophia, Grandma, and I went to Target! Wooo hooo! Target was always one of my favorite stores, but it's even more now since not having anything quite like it in NZ. I was just so excited and my mom was cracking up at me. I found some shoes for the wedding which were a good price and I'll be able to wear them again. Since my suitcase has still not arrived I also purchased some underwear. But then I just started throwing things in the cart because everything is so much cheaper! I got some tights and socks and stationary and I could have gone on and on, but I thought I would wait. The check out guy asked how I was doing today and I told him I was just really happy to be here because everything was such a good deal. He thought I was pretty funny too. I'll head back some day without Sophia to do some clothes shopping for myself and Travis. I'll get to do lots of shopping if my suitcase never arrives. But I would prefer to get my suitcase.

We also visited Sophia's Great-Grandma today for a little while. She was happy to see Sophia and how much she has grown. The last time she saw her in person she was only 1 month old.

Oh, a little more on the lack of suitcase. I left my planner with all my phone numbers in my suitcase, so if anyone isn't getting a call from me, that's why, so call me at my parent's house. Beckie was over today and was able to go and scrounge some clothes together for Sophia and me so I am now showered and in clean clothes! Yay! Although, my hair is looking pretty crazy because my hair gel is also in my suitcase. At least I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow and I can get some more gel there! I think God is still trying to teach me patience. Please pray for my suitcase to arrive soon. Thanks!

We Made It!

Sophia and I finally made it to Grand Rapids after about 24 hours of travel. Sophia did really well for the most part. She slept quite well on the long flight from Auckland to LA. I let her play in her bassinette for a while before sleeping and she thought it was so cool to be up there looking out at everyone. She was just sitting there laughing. (photo to follow soon hopefully) I did not really sleep at all on that flight, so that was a bummer. Oh well. We had an extra seat next to us which was really helpful. Yay! And a man from STL and his son were on the same flight because they had been speaking and singing and stuff for the missions conference at Covenant church (where we attend), so they offered to help me. They ended up sitting a few rows away from me so I dropped her off while I walked to the toilet and they watched her for me.

I had an older man help me push my trolly around the LA airport which was really difficult to do while also pulling Sophia in her stroller. Sophia kind of broke down a bit on our flight from LA to Chicago, but it's to be expected when she only slept about half (or less) of what she usually does in a night. The man sitting next to me held her and played with her for a while. The woman I sat next to on our very short flight from Chicago to GR held Sophia almost the whole time and Sophia even slept in her arms. The poor girl was so tired she couldn't even eat her cheese. Cheese is probably her favorite food, and she just had a piece of it in her hand and I don't think she had enough strength to bring it up to her mouth.

My bag did not arrive along with the car seat, which is good and bad. It's really good we had the car seat to take her home in from the airport. But it's not cool that I don't have clean clothes for either of us to wear! Oh well. Hopefully it will arrive tonight or tomorrow. For now, I am very thankful I packed one clean set of underwear and my mom (or mum) is loaning me some of her pjs.

Oh, one more funny thing, also with a photo later...I ripped my shirt (the one I'm wearing in my facebook photo) on the way to the airport while I was reaching to do something for Sophia. It was in a random place on the arm, not on a seam or anything. I was wondering if this was foreshadowing for the way the rest of the trip would go. Anyway, I had other clothes in my suitcase but I did not have another button down shirt which I wanted to wear to make certain things easier (use your imagination here) so I kept the shirt on. The hole kept getting bigger and bigger, so when my parents saw me at the airport, they thought I looked pretty rough! Maybe I should stop working out. :)

Ok, that's a lot more than I thought I would write, but thanks to so many people for praying! I am going to bed now. (sorry if this is filled with typos)

Here We Come!

We are heading to the airport soon.  I am still feeling a bit nervous about these three flights, but hopefully Sophia will be an amazing traveler!  I will be in GR from Monday, October 19-Tuesday morning, October 27.  If anyone wants to talk or hang out, I'm pretty busy with wedding stuff for my sister (which will be so much fun!), but feel free to call my parents' house.  I will post after we make it there (but maybe not immediately).  

Sophia Pics

Many times on Saturdays, Travis, Sophia, and I do something together as a family.  Last week we went to the Winter Garden at the Auckland Domain.  It is so beautiful, and actually free.  So many things cost money here.  I miss all the free things in St. Louis!  

Travis posted a blueberry pic of Sophia, but I thought I would throw one in too.  :)  

I'll be in the states in a few days!  Please pray for me as I travel with Sophia.  See some of you very soon!

One Week

Sophia and I are going to be on our way to the USA in one week from today!  I am nervous about flying all that way with her, but hopefully she'll be the trooper I know she can be and we'll make it ok.  

Travis is not happy about being away from Sophia for 2 1/2 weeks.  We've done it before when it was just us, so that doesn't bother us too much, but with Sophia it's much different.  She still has not gotten a tooth and is 10 1/2 months old, so I'm kind of expecting that to happen while we're gone, and that would be very sad for Daddy.  

I am really looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family in GR, STL, and even LA!  

Garden

While my parents were here, my dad helped me get a vegetable garden going. We have no yard at all, so I am growing things in pots on our back deck. Veggies, along with most other things, are pretty expensive here, so I thought it would be good to grow some of our own food. I'm starting small this year, but we'll see what happens in the future.

These are bell peppers (called capsicums here).  I have planted these outside, but my camera batteries are dead so I couldn't take a photo today of the plants in their new home.

These are cucumbers, but they are still living inside until they sprout some more leaves.

And here we have the crawling beans.  They are outside now and will be crawling up a string.  I am also going to plant some lettuce sometime soon.  Hopefully there will be some fruit from my labors!  Or should I say veggies from my labors?  Ha ha!  I know, that was bad.