A New Player for Team Deschaine

It has been a year and a half since I have posted on this blog.  A lot has happened (chronicled on our other blog) and I actually haven't written any posts anywhere for about a year.  But now I'm back in the action hoping to document our family's adventures again!

 

Last summer our family returned from our 6-month overseas trip.  All of our happenings from that trip is on our other blog.  We returned home on June 17 (Father's Day) and the very next day I found out I was pregnant!  We have since progressed through a healthy pregnancy and on February 13, 2013 we welcomed Lucas Nike Deschaine into the world.  Here are some photos of our pregnancy.  I will post stories at a later date. I'm just trying to catch up on the last year and a half!

 

12 week baby bump 

Sonogram at 21 weeks

 

37 week (?) baby bump

 

 It's a boy!

Lucas Nike Deschaine

2/13/13

9 lbs 2 oz

20.5 inches long

BJ's new do

BJ got his first haircut as a 2-year-old. Once again, I had the honors of cutting his hair. It actually goes quite well if you sit BJ in front of the tv :) Instead of Veggie Tales, BJ has taken an interest in Curious George. I was able to cut his hair in only 1 episode! It's a record for me:)

Before:

After:

It looks like he doesn't like his new do! Actually, he's just a little upset that there is hair in his mouth!

Check out our other blog!

I haven't posted on this blog in a while. Check out our other blog (see link to the right) to see about the most recent adventures in our household!

So what has been going on in the Deschaine household?

There have been quite a lot of changes in our household. I have delayed posting about it for several months for many reasons. But I can delay no longer!! Many of you already know, but for those who don't...this post is for you:

Our family is following God's call to be short term missionaries to South Asia. Due to the sensitivity of the ministry, I can't post certain details (like exactly where we are going). Our goal is to leave the States at the end of December and return mid-June. During our stay we will determine if the Lord is leading us to continue on with this ministry beyond June.

We have created a mission blog (see the link to the right). We'll be mostly posting to that blog once we reach our destination so check there often.


Now...for the story on how we reached this point in our life. After we returned from our summer vacation at the end of July, Brian was notified that he (along with several other teachers) was laid off from his teaching position. We were quite shocked, especially since school was scheduled to start in just 2 weeks. Brian applied for several teaching jobs but nothing came together. During this time, God was AMAZING! He provided for EVERY need, sometimes before we even knew there was a need! God was using this trial to draw us closer to Him, to teach us to depend utterly on Him, and to prepare our hearts to better serve Him. In September (on a Wednesday) Brian was offered a part time college coaching position in Pennsylvania. We took a few days to pray and seek council. That Sunday, after the morning service, we asked someone to watch BJ so we could have some quiet time to make a decision. We decided that since this was our only job option it must be where God wanted us to go. Little did we know that God had other plans!


At Sunday night church, a missionary couple visited our church and presented an urgent need for a PE teacher, coach, and athletic director at their school. Their current person was leaving in December and they needed someone to join their team in January. Because God had already prepared our hearts (and our circumstances) we were willing and able to meed this need. We talked to the missionaries and then took an additional few days to pray and fast. We both felt this was exactly where God was calling us! We made the decision in September, were approved by the missionary organization in mid-October, and have been traveling to raise support in November. We are currently back in Maryland but only to pack up our house. Time is quickly approaching for us to leave!


Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section. I'll try to answer them as well as I can!

Pumpkins and Apples

Tis the season for apple picking and pumpkin decorating. We've done several of these activities in the month of October.

BJ proudly displaying his pumpkin that he painted at our church's fall festival. Please take note of his sweatshirt...it is his absolute favorite. You might see it in many future pictures as he never wants to take it off. Even indoors (hence this particular photo).

We went to Miller's Farm on my birthday for some homemade softserve icecream (it's never too cold in MD to eat icecream!). I got pumpkin spice and vanilla twist (of which BJ ate most of it) and Brian got Apple Pie and Pumpkin twist. Yummy!

BJ is smiling REALLY BIG in this picture. His smile is SO big that even his hands are involved!

A birthday pose with my boy!

Last weekend we went apple picking in VA (I really don't remember the name of the orchard). The place was PACKED due to the holiday weekend (we didn't think of that when we decided to go). This place was HUGE! They had pick-your-own apples, pumpkins, a cow, food for sale, apple cider, and a small country store that we didn't bother to go into because the line was going out the door. Despite the crowds (and the heat....it was nearly 80 degrees!) we had a fabulous time!

BJ testing his strength! Good thing that pumpkin didn't break when he threw it!

BJ is such a big helper. He LOVES helping out around the house too!

Mommy and BJ

These apples were not good for picking but they were good for diving into! BJ did a belly flop right on top of them and squashed a rotten apple. Yuck!

And who can resist climbing into a tree?!

With all the apples we picked I have made apple crisp, apple pie, and papaya-apple sauce. We still have several apples left. I need some more recipes!

The last post of summer pictures, I promise!

I wanted to share one of my favorite pictures of BJ and his cousin Tommy. I had to scan it so it took a little longer to post. This picture is from our trip to Bethany Beach at the beginning of July. Tommy's expression is SO my sister! It cracks me up every time!


In August, BJ and I were invited to a play date at a splash park in VA. Not only was it an amazing place, it was absolutely FREE!!

Because balls are still BJ's favorite thing...

Chocolate, Cucumbers, and Cock-a-doodle-doo

These are the 3 newest words in BJ's vocabulary.

• Chocolate, or "choc" as BJ says, refers to chocolate milk. He will stand with his hand on the refridgerator handle and repeatedly say "choc". Hmm...I wonder if he's thirsty?! Once I open the door he knows immediately where the chocolate syrup is and, honestly, gets a little mad when I don't reach for it. If it where up to him he would drink chocolate milk 24/7.


• Cucumber, or "cuk" as BJ says, refers to Larry the Cucumber. Boy, does BJ love Veggie Tales! He's been able to say "Bob", as in Bob the Tomato, but it took a little longer to master Larry's name. Every night we watch 5 minutes of "bob and cuk" or "bomp bomp bomp bomp" (which is how BJ sings the theme song).


• Cock-a-doodle-doo, or "ca-ca-ca", is the sound a rooster makes!! One of BJ's favorite books is "Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks". The book starts off with a farm scene at night. When you turn the page the sun is rising and the rooster crows "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" BJ will switch back and forth from those two page and laugh hysterically as the rooster (aka mommy) crows. He now can do it himself. Too funny!