If you can't go, can you send?

If you can't go with our team to Chenzhou, can you send?

Send what?

Money, to support a team member?

Donation money to buy bottles, cleft bottles, formula, diapers, wipes, and lotion?

Our team blog now has a Chenzhou "store" set up on their site.

You can designate what you want to the money to go towards, and pay the money securely through PayPal!

Please stop by here:

http://teamchenzhou.blogspot.com/

To see what you can send!

Two months, 6 days away!

Becoming a Mrs!

As if Lindsay and AJ didn't do enough awesome-ness Saturday night, they then turned around the next morning to throw me a shower!

Man, they are awesome.

Dad came downstairs long enough to meet Renee and Allie!

They got me SO many gifts! I was spoiled :)

The extension of my family! I am going to miss them SO much!

All of us (Besides Renee and Allie who had to head to Allie's violin recital!)

Be prepared to go "awww!" Allie made this card for us! 

It says, "Have a good wedding Mrs. Amy and Mr. Chad!"
And there's lovely beads on the front!

"Have a great wedding,. Hope it's a good one."
And then she wrote our names in a heart!
I almost cried because it was so sweet, no lie.

Being a Bachelorette!

They dressed me up,

Took me to Shogun,

And to dessert at The Melting Pot,

And got me some interesting gifts!

My sweet, lovely, wonderful sisters/hostesses. I can't say enough praises for how awesome of a party they threw!

Thanks, beautiful ladies for celebrating with me!

Malehloa Update, April

I wish I had more to update on, but all I have is this:

In my latest sewing kick, I made her a blanket for her cold Lesotho nights.

I hope she likes purple as much as I do.

I like to think she does.



The blanket isn't huge, because it has to fit in a small envelope, but its something snuggly and warm, and something from our hearts and my hands.

Also, there is a letter waiting for us at Chad's parents' house from her and her family.

I absolutely can NOT wait to read it.

Because we miss someone we've never even met, but is still so precious to us!

Fire Me...

Okay, so I am slacking on blog posting...

Fire me. (As my mommy would say!)

Why am I slacking?

Maybe it because this week I made this many cupcakes for Life Community Church's 1 year anniversary:

If you didn't want to count all of them to see how many, it's 270.

All baked, iced, and decorated by me. 

With help from Chad on Friday.

Notice this is just the cupcakes, not iced?

Well, my fail #2, I didn't get a picture of all the iced ones.

Fire me again.

They had yellow icing and red, blue, or green 1's on them, like a first birthday!

Those little cream colored squares on the top?

Yep, those are my business cards.

I have this crazy dream to launch this hobby of mine into a small side business.

But we will see if that happens!

So that's where we've been, and now we are headed into a week full of class, homework, work, IM Soccer (for Chad) , sewing, and wedding planning (both for me).

And we also find out if Chad gets an internship with Edward Jones.

And if so, where?

And either way, job hunting for me!

Here we grow...

Teaching and Learning

Over the weekend, the Butterfly Home tweeted out a picture of two of their sweet babies hugging with the caption,

"teach a baby to love, and they do!"

I was struck by that.

Because in my mind, love is inherent, not taught.

If I tell Landon "love you buddy!" he says it back.

We've never really taught him that, he just knows.

But then I remembered how different these babies are growing up compared to the way Landon is.

He's growing up like I did.

Surrounded by a loving family.

Not all orphans get to experience that.

And that thought itself is horrible.

Which is why I'm thankful for the Butterfly Home.

And why our team is traveling halfway around the world.

And why we so desperately want and need hands and hearts to join us.

Are you team member #10?

Playing Grown Up!

We bought furniture today!

Like grown ups!!

Thanks to a furniture store in Rolla closing, we now have a lovely set of table and chairs and an entertainment center!

One Month

One Month.

One month until I'm a married woman.

Remember me talking about in previous posts how I wasn't feeling stressed?

Now, the wedding stress in on. Full force.

Donations of coffee, hugs, and Valium (JUST KIDDING!) will be gladly accepted.

Oh, yeah, and there's that whole "school" thing too.

Minor stuff like that.

Updates from Nanny-land.

 I am now the proud (?) nanny of two guinea pigs.
 Luke named his Mater and Allie named hers Nibbles.

Luke is fascinated by them and always wants to get them out and play (no surprise).

I texted Chad this afternoon and made him promise our kids could never get rodents as pets because they're smelly and messy, and I'm pretty sure I'd have a heart attack if they got loose in my house.

Like the good man he is, he agreed.

That's all from nanny-land this week!

Sew Ready for China!

We are trying our very best to raise support for my trip to China this July.

And to offset the cost, I am hoping to bake and sew my way there.

I have one baking job, and I am hoping to take on more of that and more sewing projects.

(In the middle of wedding planning and school, but hey, I like having things to keep me busy!)

So since its spring and everyone seems to be having babies/expecting, I'd really love to take on more "baby sewing" such as:

• bibs
• burp rags
• blankets
• car seat covers

I'm not setting prices, as I hope that instead of paying me, people will pay directly into my Account for the trip, since its tax deductible for them and raising money for me.

The steps to do so are found in this post.

So if you'd like me to make any of these things for you or for a gift, you can email me!

amylynn9109@gmail.com (Be nice, don't spam me!)

I hope to hear from y'all soon!

Malehloa's Birthday

Question: How long does it take mail to get from St. Louis, Missouri to Lesotho, Southern Africa?

I have no idea.

Which is why I shopped for and sent Malehloa's gifts today.

This is as much as I could fit in a 6x9 bubble mailer!

How many hair bows and headbands can I send her without looking a little crazy?

These were too cute to pass up!

Since stuffed animals were too big to put in a bubble mailer, we sent her this flat version of a stuffed animal!

Along with the gifts, we sent hugs, kisses, a birthday letter, and a picture of us.

I hope it gets there in time!

P.S. My family has taken to calling her "Molly" because that's easier to say than "Malehloa"

I like it.

P.S. Again: Any other ideas of things to send to a one year old girl in Africa? That fits in a 6x9 bubble mailer? Suggestions would be awesome!

Happy Easter!

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter from us to you!

Zoo Invasion!

This past week Chad and I decided that it would be fun to take Landon to the zoo this weekend.

After we got approval from his mama, they decided to go, and one thing led to another, so that by Saturday, there were all 10 members of the Stuart/Dunham/Rucker (that's us!) clan piled in 2 cars and headed to the zoo.

It was Emmett man's first trip and we were all SO excited to take him on such a pretty day.

But it seemed that everyone else in the states of Illinois and Missouri decided to take their kids to the zoo on that day also.

After circling the zoo we found 2 spots semi-close to each other and loaded up the stroller.

Poor Emmett had NO idea what he was getting himself into.

But like the angel-baby that he is, he did great and we had an awesome time.

Favorite Landon photo of the day

Favorite Emmett photo of the day

Seeing friends at the zoo is always fun!

At ages 22 and 20 we are definitely as excited as the boys are about being there!

Landon standing up in the high chair to yell "Mao Mao!" at Baby Jaguar

Snack time

Little buddy all tuckered out in the Monkey house.

Landon loves Unca Cad

Unca Cad let Landon ride on his shoulders for the last part of the zoo!
(Notice how Landon holds on to his forehead?)

What a fantastic day!

I can't wait to take them back when Emmett has more of an understanding where he is!

Our First Place!

Okay. Occupy Investment has paid off!

As of 8:30 this morning we are officially leasing our first place.

Which happened to be our first pick.

Camping paid off!

Wanna see?

Of course you do!

The apartment was rented at the time so we had to go in and take very few pictures!

The dining area to the right of the door...

Continuing around in a circle to the living room...

Then to the kitchen!

Making a complete 360 to the laundry closet to the left of the front door...

Spare room/study and bathroom to the left of the kitchen.

Notice there's no picture of the master bedroom?

That's because the current tenant was sick and staying in there while we looked at it!

It's okay though. We have seen the virtual tour and we like it! 

Wow...our first place. I feel so grown up!

Musings...ChenZhou 2012 Part 1

It has been a few days since we announced my call to China this summer.

And I have gotten reactions that span from positive, to negative, to absolute disbelief.

The most common question goes something along the lines of, "But, you're going to be newly married! What are you two going to do without each other for TWO WHOLE WEEKS?!"

And that's what I'd like to address. In this I have 3 main thoughts:

1. The most obvious is yes, we will miss each other but we are both grown adults who can take care of ourselves for 14 days.

2.Once we get married, my husband does not become #1 in my life. The Lord and His will are still #1. Period. And being called to mission is being called to mission, whether it comes 2 months or 20 years after we are married.

3. Are we a little scared to be apart and have limited contact for two weeks? Um, duh. But do you know what is more scary to me/us?

• Living for storing up treasures on Earth (Matthew 6:19)
• Ignoring a clear calling from the Lord.
• Living a life of apathy to these sweet children's plight. (James 1:27)

We are taking a leap of faith here, because honestly, I have no earthly idea how we will get the money and on time.

But we strongly believe that if the Lord calls, which He has, He will provide. Period.

So what now? 

Support raising, that's what now.

Tax deductible donations.

How to Donate:

1. go to visitingorphans.org
2. click donate in the top right
3. Pick "fund category" "ChenZhou July 2012"
4. Fill in the rest of the info.
5. If you'd like to donate to a specific team member, click "Team Member or Ministry Name" and fill in the name.

       *side note if you decide to support my trip: I am going under my maiden name as I will not have time to change my passport before the trip*

Above all else, PLEASE pay attention to this:

Pray, friends. Pray for our team, for health and safety and bravery, and pray for our loved ones back home. Our team leader is leaving 4 of her 5 babies and a husband. Many are mamas leaving their babies. I'm a newlywed leaving my husband. And most of all, pray that the kids, the nannies, our guide, the hotel workers, everyone will see Jesus.

Mommy Days

Today is a Mommy Day.

Meaning a day where my appreciation for mommies grows a TON.

Days like these I didn't expect to have for another, I don't know, 10 years?

When Chad and I have our own little ones?

Today...wow...my brain and body are running on "E" so forgive me if I make zero sense.

I woke up early today feeling pretty good.

I was able to get some things done before an easy drive to work.

And then I walked in the door.

And little man took one look at me and started to throw a tantrum.

Throwing himself on the floor, screaming, crying, the works.

So. Very. Two year old.

And then Allie walked in the door from her sleepover and the first words out of her mouth were, "Guess what?! We stayed up until 1am!!"

And she has another sleepover tonight.

And her mommy had set up for us not only to dye 2 dozen Easter eggs, but ALSO bake cupcakes.

Mini cupcakes.

In this little cupcake maker that Allie got for her birthday but never used before.

The one that only makes 7 mini cupcakes at a time.

You can do the math to see how long that could take.

So of course, little lady was tired and becoming hyper active to counteract that so as we are starting to get the egg dye out she was literally shaking and spinning around the kitchen.

Have I mentioned that it has been so long since I've dyed eggs that I had to read all the directions because I didn't remember?

As the child is spinning around the kitchen?

I also talked to my mom during this time and she had 2 pieces of not so great info for me that I was trying to process.

So as we get deep into egg dyeing, little man wakes up from his nap screaming.

Of course.

So I got him out, tried to change his diaper but they were all gone.

Ugh.

So then it was his lunch time as "Sissy" kept dyeing eggs, as well as her shirt and fingers.

So I got his lunch all made and he wasn't wanting to eat, which was strange because normally he's a big eater and wouldn't eat breakfast.

Mom called again and I was telling her how crazy things were around here.

And then I went over to Allie to help clean up the dye mess that had been made while she started violin, and then I heard the sound...

You know, THE SOUND.

The one we all dread.

Yep, sure enough, little man threw up all over himself and high chair.

Cue panic, running a bath, notifying his mom, and bathing him.

With amateur violin artist is playing in the background, for 45 minutes. Loudly. 

I checked his temp and it was 99.2. Not bad, but still not normal.

And as I am doing all of this, little lady finished up her violin.

As I was wrestling little man back into clothes (and I diaper I thankfully found!), she asks me,

"Miss Amy, can we bake the cupcakes now?! I'm bored!"

I actually kept my cool.

But I won't tell you how much caffeine I'm running on.

Easter Wreath Time!

This is probably the cheapest Easter wreath you can make.

No, seriously.

I calculated my total cost to be less that $5.

That isn't counting the spray adhesive I had at home!

I took the other half of plumbers pipe fitting and secured it into a circle. ($.49)

Then I spray painted it green (the whole can was $.94 because I bought the cheap kind)

And let it dry.

Then I took the spray adhesive and coated what I decided to be the front (how much does that stuff cost? I don't know. I bought it so long ago that I forgot)

**crafters note: the spray adhesive is nearly impossible to get off wedding rings and glasses. You may want to remove them first!**

Then I took the green Easter basket stuffing and stuck that to the adhesive ($1 and I didn't use the whole bag)

Then another coat of adhesive to get it all to stick.

After it was dry, I took my bag of small Easter eggs and my E-6000 glue and started gluing them on top (Eggs: $.70 for the bag and I didn't use them all, and I don't remember what the glue costs. A little goes a long way and I'm pretty sure its not more than $2-3)

I let that dry and then added a ribbon bow that I made and a ribbon to hang it with ($1 bin at Michaels!)

And then I ended up with this:

Excuse my lack of photography skills.

Total Cost: $4.13

I think its cute and worth all the scrubbing needed to get the adhesive off my hands!

An Interview With Landon

An interview with Landon, age 2 years and 7 1/2 months

If something doesn't make sense it's because I quoted him exactly!

Tell me something about Mommy: don't know. she's pretty she not have hair like brown.

About Emmett: he's emmett hes my best friend. and lilah and libby and jackson.

About Daddy: he has white hair.

About Bella; she has red hair like daddy.

Who is your brother: Emmett

Do you like him? Love him? yes, Yes

Favorites:

Food pretzels (eating currently)

Drink: chocolate milk and milk

Show: Little Bear and Dora

Color: I like blue, I do like blue

Game: Backyardigans (I thought that was a show but whatever!)

Toy: going to your house (Amy and Bella)

Book: The Hockey Game

Animal? jaguar like Baby Jaguar

What does he say? Mao Mao! just like that.

Song? no but I have dance.

Go? the park

Store? get some food, restaurant with food with me getting food and going home and eat it

Outside? play my swingset

Sport: "bam bam" on Kinect

Movie? don't know, Cars 2

How do you feel about potty training; I already do it. I like it.

Do you like it? yes I just go potty one weekend though.

What color is your hair? I don't know, I want to see my hair. (heads to mirror)

Do you like me asking you all these questions? NOOOO.....

Then he left to go fill his pants while talking to himself.

The Things I Am Not...

Its funny how unexpected situations can teach you so much about yourself.

Like fishing with my fiance this past weekend.

I haven't been fishing since I was probably 10 and I went with my dad.

Which I liked because he did all the "yucky stuff" that I wouldn't.

I am not okay with leaning halfway into the water with danger of falling.

I am NOT okay with putting a worm on a hook.

I am not ashamed to be proud of the one time I cast the line more than a foot.

I am not a fan of touching fish.

Or taking them off the hook.

But I am a fan of paper towels so that I didn't have to touch it's slimy body.

Side note, it took me so long to get up the guts to touch it that Chad had to put it back into the water on the line two times so it didn't die.

The only reason I agreed to do it was because when Darren came down to join us he told me that it was a pregnant fish. And I didn't want the babies to die.

You're probably reading this and laughing.

And that's totally fine.

I'm 20, almost 21, not afraid to fly off to China with mostly strangers, yet I can't touch a worm or a fish without freaking out.

Oh, the irony.