Creation Museum

We're having all kinds of fun while Stephen is away this week! Yesterday we went to the creation museum with a couple of my cousins and their families. Besides the very real looking dinosaurs (I didn't get pictures of them), the petting zoo was the best part for Nate. They even had a camel, which I was very excited about. Go Camels!

I tried to get Nate to pet the camel, but he was fine with just looking.

The donkey got some good sniffs of Nate's feet, but he curled them up so he couldn't do it anymore.

I guess Nate's feet smell good!

Chicago

Stephen left for Texas on Friday to attend a week of teacher training, so my sister and I came to Chicago for the weekend to visit my brother and his family. We had an adventurous day yesterday taking the train into the city for some shopping. Sam, Nate's 6 month old cousin, had an allergic reaction and ended up in the emergency room downtown. He's fine now and we're having a much calmer day! Here they are playing together.

They're very curious about each other

Nate spitting at the camera

Sam with his daddy

Pancakes

Lately we can't sit down to eat without Nate whining and fussing and dying to eat something too. Tonight we had breakfast for supper (one of our favorites) and Nate couldn't get enough of the pancakes (whole wheat with wheat germ - yum!), or so we thought. When we took the tray off to clean him up we found a bib full of pancakes.

Back in America

We've been back in America for 2 weeks now, although it seems kind of like it's been months! So far we've had a yard sale, cleaned out a lot, and visited with friends and family. We've also been teased with possibilities of jobs in the Northern Kentucky area, but so far all have fallen through. So, the plan is still Texas in August. Great timing, huh? Texas in August!

Nate turned 11 months old last week! He's still not crawling, but he loves walking around the coffee table. It's become rare for him to sit on the floor and play. I guess this is the beginning of mobility!

Goodbyes

I'm sitting in a hotel in Istanbul waiting for Nate to wake up from his nap, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to update the blog. For those who don't know, we've made the decision to move back to the States. When we made the decision we trusted the Lord to provide Stephen with a job in the fall, and He has. He's been offered a teaching job in Burleson, TX, so it looks like that's where we'll be this fall. We're thankful for his job, but we know that this whirlwind of life will continue for a few more months.

We've spent the past three weeks packing our things and closing down our lives in Turkey. There's a lot I'd like to say about the last two and a half years, but I think that's way more than one blog entry. For now I'll just say that three weeks of preparing for difficult goodbyes and then actually saying them was almost more than we could bear. Besides saying the goodbyes, packing up, and selling everything we own (for the second time) I also came up with a list of "lasts," both good and bad, to help us cope with leaving behind dear friends. Here they are.

The "I'm so sad" lasts:
• Last time to hear Nate called Umut.
• Last time to worship in Turkish.
• Last time to eat perde pilav, tavuk şiş, iskender, cevizli ev baklavası from Mado, and my neighbors’ various treats
• Last time to be forced to eat my plate full of sweets because it would be rude not to.
• Last time to stay awake listening to the music of weddings nearby, and the concluding fireworks.
• Last time to order fruits and vegetables from the little market down the street and have it delivered to my door.
• Last time to watch the elderly lady upstairs lower her basket down past our window to the neighbors below to be filled with food.
• Last time to drink tea and snack on sunflower seeds with friends and neighbors.
• Last time to sit on the balcony and marvel at the 2800 year-old castle down the road.
• Last time to use a squatty potty. (The clean ones aren’t bad and are preferable to western toilets when no one knows how to clean them.)

The "I'm really not sad at all" lasts:
• Last time to call and order water.
• Last time to wait all afternoon for the water to arrive.
• Last time for Nate to be awakened from his nap by strange noises coming from upstairs.
• Last time for me to be awakened in the night by strange noises coming from upstairs.
• Last time to be awakened by the call to prayer.
• Last time to be awakened by the sun beaming through my window at 4 am.
• Last time to clean coal dust (even out of the inside of my wardrobes and cabinets!)
• Last time to be told that Nate isn’t dressed warm enough and that he’s going to get sick because of it.
• Last time to be told Nate got sick because he got cold.
• Last time to have to bargain instead of paying a set price.
• Last time for the electricity to go out in the middle of cooking dinner, sending an email, talking on the phone, in the elevator …
• Last time to hold Nate in my lap in the car and endure the bumps, swerves, and fast stops and starts while he squirms and reaches for everything around him.
• Last time to deal with the insanity that is our city’s airport. A description would not do it justice.
• Last time to drink milk out of a box that’s been sitting on a shelf for weeks.
• Last time to use a nasty squatty potty.

The lists might grow as I ponder some more ...

Picnics and Weddings

Picnics and weddings are what summers are made of here, and we attended both last week.

The picnic:

Nate with his friend Ava. It was actually chilly, and Ava's mommy dressed her appropriately. Sorry, Nate.

It's not a picnic without chicken wings on the grill.

Exhausted ...

The wedding:

Traditional dancing and traditional dress.

What's a wedding (or any occasion) without tea?

Nate enjoying himself as usual, and showing off his own moves.

Nate's new moves

The past few days Nate has been putting one leg to the side and leaning forward. We think this means he'll crawl soon, but we've thought that for weeks now.

Leaving tomorrow

We're returning to Turkey tomorrow. Here are a few pictures to get you by until we can post again.

Nate with his Aunt Liza. Nate screamed for 20 minutes after she got him up from his nap the first day we were here, but their relationship has improved since then.

All the late nights and running around have worn Nate out.

Cuddling with Daddy.

Nate still hasn't figured out how to go forward,
so he gets himself into some predicaments.

Pictures from the past month

Time to catch up on some pictures ...

Packed and ready for his trip to America.

Meet Ernie - Nate's first dog encounter during our overnight stay in Istanbul. He was timid at first, but warmed up quickly.

He didn't even mind the face sniff.

Hangin' out with Granddad.

Nate and his cousin Sam got to spend a lot of time together.
They even had matching outfits - totally unplanned.

With Erica and Sam. Sam was 3 months old, Nate was 9 months.

With Nathan and Elizabeth.
The three of us probably hadn't spent this much time together in 15 years!

Nate makes us look good.

Mom

For those who don't know, Stephen, Nate, and I have been in America for about three weeks now. We came because my Mom's illness was progressing quickly. In the last few months she experienced much pain and suffering due to her cancer. In spite of the tremendous grief that we're experiencing, we're thankful that she's now pain-free and with her Lord and Saviour. She went to be with him a week ago today.

To continue to honor my mother, and for the benefit of those who were unable to attend her funeral, I wanted to post the following speech that my brother wrote and presented there.

Sharon Elise Iles grew up in the countryside of southern Campbell County, daughter to loving parents who provided her with a strong Christian upbringing. Her brothers added to the joy of her childhood by balancing their parents discipline with the kinds of mischief all kids living in the country can generally get into.

As she went through school, my mother became a top scholar in her class, as well as a skilled musician and singer. She studied education and music in college, and her love of music was always noted when she recalled how marvelous it was to sing Handel’s “Messiah”, from memory no less, with the university choir.

As most of you know, my mother loved the Lord and accepted him as her Savior at an early age. While my mom had a career as a teacher, her love for Jesus led her to do her most important work in the Church. As a young adult, she sang in the choir, taught Sunday school, and volunteered for countless projects. To borrow a good old-fashioned Baptist phrase – “if the doors to the church were open, she was there”.

Our mom met our father while they were both teaching at Campbell County High School. They were older than most people of their time when they were married, but were anxious to start a family – and my sisters and I were born in the early years of their marriage. Together, my mom and dad provided a wonderful childhood, one that is full of memories of picnics in the park, dinner at the table every evening, clothing Mom made by hand, Holiday cheer, and of course, the annual family vacation! Looking back at those times, there is no doubt that we had our piece of Americana that to us was heaven on earth.

Then, after a brief but brutal battle with cancer, our dad died in 1989. Mom had steadfastly looked for a miracle, but it was not in God’s plan. What was in his plan though was to place a Godly woman at the head of our house.

Part of our mother’s daily ritual, in addition to beginning her day with a cup of hot tea, Bible reading and prayer time, was to faithfully keep a diary of each day’s events. She left us with nearly 33 years’ worth of memories in writing that we will treasure for years to come. As we attempted to plan this service, my sisters and I realized we could not recall the details of our dad’s funeral, but we found mom’s diary from 1989 and it provided the details, right down to what her children wore. As we poured over the details of that difficult year, we were amazed at how mom trusted in and praised the Lord even in the midst of being left to raise 3 young children, with serious questions about how she would provide for the family.

On the day of our father’s death, Mom wrote these words in her diary: “I have a great task ahead of me now.” As we stand here today, we all know my mom accomplished that great task which was laid before her. My sisters and I made professions of faith shortly after my father’s death because of my mom’s example. We continued the family vacations and created many more happy memories. We are all established adults now and each have successes we attribute solely to the way our mom raised us. And just as my mom reached the stage in life where she could enjoy the fruits of her labors – her adult children and two new grandsons – she was called home to heaven and is now safe in the arms of Jesus.

We prayed initially that if our mom was to suffer that her suffering would not be long. While we all asked Him to spare mom countless times, He showed mercy in taking her quickly. We know, and wish you to also know, that her faith never wavered and her Savior led her all the way on this short walk home.

God’s plan is perfect – we are not meant to understand it, but we can see him at work. Each night before bed in the hospital, Elizabeth would read mom some of her favorite passages from the Bible. In addition to the 23rd Psalm, the last passage my mom heard on Saturday evening was Proverbs 31 which is a mother’s description of the characteristics of a virtuous woman. On Sunday we spent one final mother’s day with our mom. Today, as we lay her to rest—on our dad’s birthday, nonetheless—we, her children, rise up and call her blessed as declared in that famous Proverb.

Over the past weeks I asked the Lord (and I know my sisters did as well) to provide me with just a little of the strength He gave my mom in difficult times…and He has provided abundantly. As we worship together, we hope you will find strength in Jesus as well.

More Nate and Ava

Nate and Ava are eight months old now. They're so big! They got to play together Saturday evening. Ava couldn't keep her hands off Nate. He is pretty cute, but we hope she has a little more self-control in the years to come. (Just kidding Sheryl.)

Chocolate

The other day I was drinking tea with my neighbors and we were enjoying the usual snack foods that go with tea, one being a wafer cookie layered with chocolate cream (a lot like the ones in the States). There’s really no standard for what babies should and shouldn’t eat here, so my neighbors told me that these cookies are great for babies to suck on because the wafers dissolve immediately with their slobber. It didn’t matter how many times I said, “No, please don’t give it to him. I don’t want him to have it.” It was as if I wasn’t even there. Here, the word no doesn’t carry much weight, to say the least. To stop them I would have had to grab him, get up, and walk out. In the states I think I would have done that, but here that would have been the most culturally inappropriate thing for me to do and I would have so greatly shamed myself that my relationship with them would have screeched to a stop. Besides, these are my neighbors who live right outside my door and who I see several times a week without even intending to. So, to continue the story, they gave it to him and I watched in horror as he smeared chocolate all over his face. When small pieces began breaking off in his mouth I forced it out of his hands and began digging pieces out of his mouth, which made him scream because he loved it. What 8 month old wouldn’t love chocolate? Because he screamed they gave it right back to him and began instructing me on how to raise him. “Give him whatever he wants. If he asks for it, give it. It doesn’t matter if it’s sweet, all kids love sweets, so give it to them …” My poor baby Nate suffered through his first taste of chocolate at 8 months of age. I’m sure one day I’ll laugh. Just not today.

Standing

Nate loves to stand, but I get tired of holding him up all the time, so I've started putting him up against the couch for some relief. He thinks he's SO big! He's also starting to work on his crawling skills. I don't think it will be long now before he makes his first moves.

Laundry

Stephen has been toting Nate around in the laundry basket all week. He seems to like it, and it keeps him occupied for a while.

If you look closely you can see Nate's two bottom teeth.
Click on the image to enlarge it.

Bath Time

Nate may not appreciate these when he gets older, but I bet his wife will.

7 Months Old!

The older Nate gets, the more fun he gets, and the more pictures we take! He was seven months old yesterday. What a big boy!

Nate has become pretty good at getting his pacifier back in his mouth by himself. Most of the time he gets it in any way he can, which often means upside-down. He doesn't seem to care.

Sometimes it helps to get on his level.

Nate and Ava

Nate and Ava finally got to play together the other day. Actually, they mostly just stared at each other and grabbed for the toys, but hopefully play dates are coming soon!

Out and about

Happy mom, sleepy baby. Nate and I got out of the house yesterday by ourselves for the first time in months. It has finally warmed up here and besides coming home with mud-covered shoes from the melted snow and ice, we did really well. He was obviously a bit worn out, but I think we'll be doing it more often!

Nate is doing really well sitting up, but he doesn't quite have it down yet. He still falls over quite a bit - hence the pillows surrounding him.

Happy Anniversary!

As Stephen and I celebrated our first anniversary with a child on Saturday, we realized once again how much our life has changed since Nate came along. Stephen worked most of the day - Saturday is his busiest day lately. So we made plans to go out for dinner (a rare occasion these days) to the nicest restaurant in our city. It’s so nice that the average plate costs about six dollars (including bread, salad, and a salsa-like dip), and if you sit next to the windows you have a fabulous view of one of the busiest roads in town. Of course we chose a window seat. One of Stephen’s friends is a waiter there, so we sat in his section. He immediately came over, took Nate from us, and began walking him around the restaurant for all to see, kiss, and pinch his cheeks. This remained the theme throughout dinner. He would occasionally return to wheel him around the restaurant in his high chair, or someone else would come up and ask, “ Bebeği sevebilir miyiz?” or “Can we love the baby?” It was probably one of the least romantic meals we’ve ever eaten together!

I won’t make us sound too pitiful. We did get some time to ourselves. Our friends, Jack and Sheryl, graciously offered for us to put Nate to bed at their house while we tried out the newest joint in town –an ice cream place called Mado. It’s the first chain restaurant from the West to come to our city since we’ve been here and it just opened a few weeks ago. After going there I’m not sure how successful it could be here. But we’ll enjoy it while it lasts!

Just for memory's sake here's a picture of Stephen and me in front of my dorm room door before one of our first dates. It's crazy how much has changed - including our hair! Mine isn't nearly as curly, and Stephen's just isn't.

Tummy Time

Nate does really well with his tummy time lately. He's stopped rolling over again, but at least he's not screaming every time we put him on his tummy!