Friday, April 19, 2013

Days Passing By

I think about this season I'm living as a momma -

Please pick up your shoes
Stop racing your car on the wall. It leaves marks.
Look at how high you can jump.
No more pretending to be mean animals you are not being kind to each other.
He doesn't like it.
I know you think you don't need to go potty, but you need to at least try.
Yes, that's a beautiful picture.
Thank you for obeying the first time.
My yes is yes and my no is no.
Please eat your dinner.
Can I have a kiss?

My brain isn't my own. I'm always engaging with a little person. Something is always being asked of me. I always have to respond. But there's a magical time. It comes every day without fail. As sure as the sun rises, it also sets and there's BED TIME. Tonight as I walked through the house, things that normally annoy me a bit, actually warmed my heart. For whatever miraculous reason, I saw that this season won't last forever and the preschool/toddler days will pass by. So here's little reminders of these little men who have invaded my heart. Tonight, the "messes" they left for me serve as reminders of the rich joy they bring into our home. Austin and Jonathan (through the Awesome Hand of God) given me a new identity - Momma. One for which I am forever grateful.







So tonight, I didn't clean up the bib on the floor, the shoes thrown in the corner, the books left in the wrong place or the animals "drying" from their bath. I left it all there. I know they'll be a day where I long for these messes. So today, I choose to enjoy it instead of clean it. Because these sweet boys are only going to be 2 and 3 for one year. Then they'll be 4, 5, 6, 7..... and I mustn't wish these precious precious days away




Thursday, April 18, 2013

Corpo De Bombeiros Vila Mariana - Fire Station Vila Mariana, Sao Paulo

Our boys LOVE Firestations, fire fighters, fire trucks, all that goes with it! I am sure the foundation for their admiration of firefighters sprung from their G-daddy being one for over 28 years. I really enjoy their love for this profession. Today we got to take some dear friends with us on the adventure of exploring the station and the Fire Museum!
Walking to the station. The kids did great. The excitement gave them the stamina for the mile walk there!  

We're here! And thrilled to be with friends :)


My little firefighter!

Under water rescue boat


Examining rescue pictures

Austin's favorite picture


Fire gear looks good on them

Our little group!

We got to see the rescue truck leave on a task!

Baby Pierre!

The water carrying truck

Old horse drawn fire carriage

The boys insisted on wearing their firefighter boots!

Learning about the equipment

Seeing the uniform

Up we go onto the truck!

Mateo wearing the helmet

Austin wearing the helmet

Jonathan wearing the helmet

Silly faces in front of the water rescue truck

Uniform Lockers

Motor cycle

Hanging on the rope

The firefighter is off on a run

Buddies!

Group picture with the firefighters

Pierre wanted in on the fun too!

Finished the day playing on the Habibs Boat!


The boat was too noisy for Jonathan!

Michelle loved the fun too!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

How we got to where we’re going- Written August 2011


I found this on my desktop. It's a blog post I wrote as soon as we'd arrived in NY for Aaron's first year of grad school. Somehow I never posted it. I thought it was worth posting. It makes a perfect opener to sharing what's next in store for us as Aaron finishes grad school this summer! More to come. First, please reflect with me on the beginning of our journey! 

So we here we are in New York City where Aaron will begin a dual degree for a Masters in Public Policy and Public Administration. It’s a two year program that will be one year in NYC and one year in Sao Paulo Brazil. Many of you who read this blog know how we arrived at the decision to go to grad school but some may not, so it’s worth a blog entry!
Three years ago (currently 5 years ago) we started grappling with the idea of grad school for Aaron. When we lived in Brazil before, we worked with college students who were essentially the elite of society. We were very burdened by the needs of the society as well as the personal needs of Brazilians. We wanted to return to the US to get training in how to tend to those needs. We weren’t sure what that would look like initially, but after a couple years of being back, we began to catch a vision for a holistic ministry. We want to establish a center or NGO (non governmental organization) agency where we can help churches, government, and nonprofit agencies to work together in collaboration to tackle needs within a community.
In light of that, we felt like Aaron getting formal education in public policy/administration emphasizing on international development would be a great asset. This vision was increasingly becoming more of a defined call of God on our lives. So Aaron began studying for entrance exams for grad school and started researching schools that had programs to fit this long term goal.
Our intention was to go begin grad school in Fall of 2009. That spring Aaron changed jobs from Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator for the city of Grand Prairie, TX to Grants Planner for the city of Arlington, TX. If we were to leave for grad school in the fall, Aaron would only be able to serve in that role for 9 months. This along with learning that we were expecting our first born in May of 2009 made us decide to put school off until fall of 2010. Aaron was thriving in his role with the city of Arlington, and we loved being able to birth our firstborn around the support of an incredible community. When Austin was 5 months old, we learned he was going to be a big brother! The new baby would be due in August of 2010. Immediately our plans were pushed back. There was no way we could birth a baby, move cities, and start grad school in one month. A very clear memory from that time for me was asking Aaron if he was disappointed that we would not be able to attend grad school that fall. He said with great confidence, “I would much rather have another baby than start grad school right now.” I knew God had prepared us for this little gift growing within me!
On with the story…during a trip to Brazil in January of 2010 Aaron discovered Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). It’s the top Public Administration school in Brazil. He was inquiring about attaining a degree from them as we were in the process of exploring how and when we would return to Brazil to live. He learned during that visit that FGV had a partnership with Columbia University where he’d study for one year in NYC at Columbia and then one year in Sao Paulo at FGV.  For the next year, we researched, prayed, explored, prayed, visited, prayed, applied, and prayed some more about where to go to school. The actual decision is a lengthy blog post in itself, but it was very clear to us one Sunday Morning early May 2011 that we were to go to Columbia/FGV. Aaron was awesome in including me in this entire process and we were totally on the same page with this adventure we are embarking on! 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

An Ordinary Day....

....filled with extraordinary moments!

This past Wednesday was such a sweet day. It's Saturday now and the vividness of the day that played through my head is growing faint. I imagine that as the weeks, months, and years go by, it will fade completely. So here's to remembering those extraordinary moments!

We got to go to Moments for Moms on Wednesday. I call it my happy place. It's a time where moms get together for fellowship and encouragement. The kids get to go play with one another while moms share a cup of coffee, hear a talk on something to sharpen your mothering, and then chat with one another about life.  It's been the place over the past year where God has given me a warm embrace time and time again. It was the last time we will get to go to Moments for Moms in Sao Paulo. It was a emotional time in that there was so much gratitude for that space in our lives. And saddness to begin the goodbyes.

On our way home, we unexpectedly ran into Aaron as he was headed to school. It was so fun to smile at each other across the side walks and watch the boys run to their daddy. Aaron also shared the good news that his 7pm class was cancelled so he'd get to see the boys before bed!

After nap we had to go to the grocery store. Everyone was dreading it. It's one of my least favorite "chores" in Sao Paulo. It's close to a mile walk up hill to the store. Convincing the boys to stay in the stroller in the store (when they can touch everything on both sides of the isle from inside the stroller-the temptation is too strong), is no small feat. Then the walk home down hill with a full stroller pulling you down. Austin was whinny, saying the store was not fun and he didn't want to go. All of this was lead to one of those extraordinary moments of the day. We sat down to talk. I told him I didn't want to go to the store either. I agreed that it wasn't fun. But we talked about how much of a blessing it is to get to go to the store. We remembered all the people we walk by that have no food and no opportunity to buy things at the grocery store. I asked him to help me change my attitude and we agreed to choose to be thankful together about going. It was almost magical.

By the time we got home it was 5:50pm. We had that stroller full of groceries, and dinner (usually served at 6pm) had not even been prepped for. I immediately I thought the boys would need a movie to get through dinner prep to be able to stretch out their hunger for a late dinner. But in the moment, they were playing well. So I decided to let it ride. To my surprise they played super well for an hour while the groceries were unloaded and dinner was made. The laughter coming from the living room gave me the energy I needed to keep on keepin on :)

What pulled my heart out was what came next. Dinner was finished, dishes were done, I'd bathed the boys, and we were on the coach starting bed time books when daddy arrived. Jonathan heard the key in the door and jumped up. His hands on his cheeks as if anticipating. As soon as the door opened, he ran to daddy (still on the outside of the apartment). Jonathan hugged his daddy's legs and said, "I love you (-pause-) I love you so much." My heart melted. It really did melt. I was not alone in this. Aaron had to peal his heart off the ground too. We sat down to read. We each had a kiddo on our lap. Aaron had his arm around me. We were reading The Legend of the Candy Cane. All was well in my my world. In the middle of the book, Austin reaches over and grabs his daddy's hand. That was when I lost it. I know I'm pregnant, but I'm pretty sure my reaction would have been the same (maybe if not pregnant I wouldn't be weeping again while typing). I could.not.stop.crying. I wanted with everything in me to stop time. I wanted to freeze right then and never get up. I wanted to be in my husbands embrace holding my children to adore their daddy FOREVER.

O Magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together
Psalm 34:3

A dear friend recently challenged me to look for magnify moments in my day. It's transformational when we choose to see the joy a day holds. I wish I was better at this. I wish I my eyes were more in tune with the extraordinary moments. Each day holds them. They unlock unmeasurable joy. Unfortunately in my life they are missed all too often. But on this ordinary day, I was Graced with the vision to see them. I am so grateful!

Friday, April 5, 2013

Baby #3

I've been thinking a lot about welcoming another little one into our family. I've been getting really excited about having a newborn to cuddle. As I think back to Austin and Jonathan, I am not sure I fully delighted in that season. With Austin, there was this, OH CRAP - what have we gotten ourselves into? This little thing NEEDS ME 24/7. I am not sure I meant for this to happen! When the anxiety from all that settled, he was probably close to 3 months old. Then when he was 5 months old we got pregnant again with Jonathan. The "OH CRAP" was a little louder this time. It came with a few more freak outs (lasting well over 9 months). When the anxiety settled from that well, we began preparing to move our family across the country to NYC....(I could elaborate, but that's not where I want to go with this post).

So...hindsight's 20/20 right? 

I realize that I lost a lot of those sweet sweet moments in the dust of difficult circumstances.

Third time's the charm right?

There's absolutely NO indication that the circumstances will be any easier this time around. I heard a quote that says something to the effect (paraphrasing here!)

The most stressful times in life are starting a new job, making a big move, or having a baby.

Well in true Pierce love for intensity we are doing ALL of these at the same time! But, I don't want to loose the first precious moments of the life of our 3rd child's life in the midst of crazy circumstances. I also don't want to have no memories of this pregnancy because of the craziness of life through it. After all, this baby will have been in two countries and three states by the time it's born (more on that another time!) We have stories to tell him/her.

So in light of all this, I want to put it in writing. I've decided I need to write about the pregnancy. I need to write about the eagerness of meeting him/her. I need to document these things. Of course to remember them later, but also, to make a point to stop and enjoy them. I didn't do this with the boys. I think if I had, there wouldn't have been so much lost in the dust. I've learned my lesson. I need to live in light of that lesson. or I haven't really internalized it!

So here's to writing about our new arrival! 

**Disclaimer** I don't want to fool myself in saying I will be writing about those newborn days I plan to treasure. Yes, I am intending on delighting in them, but I'm sure the spare moments will be dedicated to enjoying my "big boys", spending needed time with hubby, or sleeping! 


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Easter

We had a quiet Easter this year, but it was so neat to celebrate some of what we (Aaron and I) remember from our childhood with our boys. Austin and Jonathan are at an age now that they fully understand and enjoy it. We had a sweet morning devotion with the boys before going to church. The boys have been really fascinated by the Easter story. Their favorite parts being the Roman soldiers who were "MEAN" and the stone being rolled away from the empty tomb. After church and nap, we blew out some eggs which was a perfect opportunity to talk about the empty tomb. Of course ended the day with some Brazilian Easter Egg goodness.
















For me, by far, the highlight of the day was the boys wake up conversation. One saying to the other, "It's Easter! It's Easter! We get to celebrate JESUS today." A quiet, simple Easter it was - but the meaning was clear as the early morning sun! 

He is Risen!