Life with all tile floors...

Since the dust and dirt here is so bad here, all of the houses we've ever been in either have tile or concrete floors. Well, except the ones in the bush, they have dirt floors. Living in a house with all tile floors has its advantages and disadvantages.

Some of the pros:

1. Spill some water on the floor...no big deal it will dry!
2. Spill some of that red kool-aid on the floor...no big deal it will wipe up easily. No need to worry about stains!
3. Zeke's going through a throw everything he's eating on the floor, no big deal, it will wipe up.

Some of the cons:

1. Tile floors aren't that comfortable to lie on. Arnett and I truly miss being able to lay down on a nice carpeted floor.
2. If it falls, it's pretty much a goner!!! We've broken tons of things, plates, cups, bottles. If it gets accidentally dropped onto the floors it's chances of survival are slim to none!
3. For me, sweeping. I despise it!! Thankfully, God has provided us with an awesome house helper who does the sweeping for me!!

So, for us, we aren't huge tile fans. Now, in a kitchen or bathroom, we like it, but the entire house, no thank you!!

Last week Arnett and I were talking and I was telling him how thankful I was that we haven't had Zeke at the doctor with any broken bones or cuts that needed stitches! He's an "all boy", active, adventurous 2 year old!! So, it's only by the Grace of God that we haven't been at the hospital with any "little boy" accidents. Well, this past Saturday, we had our first "almost needing stitches" experience. Here's what happened:

Arnett's buddy came over for a visit Saturday afternoon. When he comes we always give him a coke and he always shares said coke with Zeke. Well, a month or so ago, Zeke was drinking some of the coke and he accidentally dropped the glass bottle (yes, you can still get cokes in the glass bottle here!). Ever since then, Arnett's friend has been extremely cautious when sharing his coke with Zeke. Well, Saturday, Zeke was drinking some of the coke and he dropped the bottle again. Before Arnett's buddy could scoop Zeke up, Zeke took a step back and you guessed it, instant cut! Of course, Zeke started screaming! Arnett and his buddy whisk Zeke into the kitchen to try to get it cleaned up and I just stood there paralyzed with what to do. I'm learning in an accident situation I'm probably not the best person to have around! Finally, after they got it cleaned up and Zeke calmed down, we saw, thankfully, it wasn't too bad. Praise the Lord, He spared us from having to get stitches...this time!! Zeke's doing fine now, Sunday he was walking on his tip toes which was quite a funny sight!! Here's a picture of the cut:

This was taken the day after. The "ring" around it was from the band-aid that he wore to bed Saturday night, I just hadn't had a chance to clean it off yet. I'm happy to report that today, it's much better and is closing up!! Zeke's quite a hoot, if you ask him to show you his boo-boo, he's proud to show it off and try to tell you what happened!! Until next time...

Going where He leads...

I promise to type up more about this later, I just wanted to get this out there quickly...

After much prayer and seeking the Lord's direction, we have decided to end our term early due to the complications we have had with this pregnancy. We know this is the path God has for us and we are resting in the peace that He has given us. We are extremely saddened to be saying goodbye to so many friends and to colleagues who have become our second family. We ask for your prayers as we pack up our house and say our goodbyes. Also, pray for healing as Arnett has come down with another nasty cold and I feel like I may be getting it too. Until next time...

Counting Our Blessings...

I follow several different blog that have different themes for different days, "Wordless Wednesday" & "Thankful Thursday's", are two that I can think of off the top of my head! Well, I am in no way going to commit to doing a weekly counting our blessings but today my heart is just overflowing!! The old expression, "My cup runneth over," is definitely in the fore front of my mind today!! No, we still haven't heard anything from the midwife with our company but today, that doesn't matter!! So, what's been so great the past couple of days?? Well, let me tell you...

It has rained the past two days!!! Now, this isn't incredibly uncommon since we're smack dab in the middle of rainy season but it's still been wonderful!! It's also helped my lovey dovey feelings toward the rain since the power outages have been minimal!! Thank you Lord for power!!! It's been so nice to not be sweating all the time!! This morning I had a yummy cup of decaf coffee (another blessing!!) and this was the comment I made to Arnett, "I'm kinda cold sitting here underneath this fan!" Okay, I just said that I was cold and I was still in Mali!! A true blessing for sure!! Thank you Lord!!

Several months ago a friend of ours from our training days in Virginia e-mailed us and told us about a couple that was coming to Mali this summer. This couple has been sent out by their church to work with the local churches to help mobilize them to reach the unreached people groups of Mali. So, we started e-mailing them trying to assist them as they packed a crate and prepared to move to Mali. This past week they finally arrived in Mali. Another couple that will be moving to Mali next summer also came to check Mali out and see where they will be moving next year. Yesterday, we were able to have them over for a traditional African meal (thanks to a wonderful house helper!), take them fabric shopping, then to the tailor, then to the grocery store, and then I helped the women cook lasagna from scratch! Now, before you think, "Crystal, you're supposed to be taking it easy!" I stayed home and Arnett did the running to the market, tailor, and grocery store with them! It was such a blessing to be able to help these couples. We're planning to meet some more with them this week and help them out anyway we can. Thank you Lord for allowing us to have time right now to help these couples out!!!

This morning was a fun morning around here!! First, this little one was kicking up a storm!! I've noticed he or she moves a lot during the night...maybe it's just because that's when I'm the most still and notice the movement. That's what I'm hoping it is. I hope he or she doesn't already have days and nights mixed up! Another simple blessing was chocolate chip pancakes and bacon!! Even though the pancakes were a little on the chocolaty side! (I got a little carried away throwing the chocolate chips in!)! Arnett made the comment, "I'll take a little pancake with my chocolate please!" Oh well, they were still yummy and we all enjoyed them!! 

We've also been quite entertained by Zeke lately! I don't remember when he started this but we would lay him down for a nap or for bed at night and he'd say, "Pa (his word for potty) and then make grunting noises like he had to poop!" It was quite comical and we quickly learned he was trying to delay nap or bed time!! Then, when he realized that grunting wasn't going to work he'd start asking for random people, his papa, our house helper's son, whoever he could think of. One day this week Arnett had laid him down and shortly thereafter had to go back in to check on him and when he got in there Zeke tells him, "Done! Done!" I was overhearing all this on the monitor and thought I was going to fall off the bed laughing!! The real kicker came this past Thursday though, we had laid Zeke down to take a nap. Arnett came back in our room and we were sitting here working on our computers. I then heard Zeke's door open. I asked Arnett, "Did Mariam (our house helper) just go in his room?" He was like, "I don't know but she better not have!!" Arnett then proceeds to go check things out. He found Mariam sitting at the table eating her lunch and Zeke standing there in the living room. Our little monkey boy has finally learned how to crawl out of his pack-n-play!! We put him back in his bed and he then crawled out 2 more times. At that point Arnett and I didn't know what to do, so we just put him in our room. Thankfully, he hasn't crawled out anymore...this week!!

Until next time...

Still waiting...

I just wanted to write a quick update as to what's going on with us. We are still waiting to hear back from our company doctors. Our company has a midwife that works part-time and is, unfortunately, traveling this week. Due to her part-time status and the fact she's traveling, we have not heard back from her yet. We've been told it will be at least Tuesday of next week. I'm trying to just let it all go and let God have it. However, I have this nasty, horrible, no good habit of picking it back up and trying to work out a solution myself. I find myself spending the days worrying and fretting over what's going to happen, if our little one is okay, and what we should do next. I'm trying my hardest to cling to Philippians 4:6-7 (HCSB):

⁶ Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Until next time...

A fun day at the park...

Today we decided to get out of the house and take Zeke to the National Park of Mali. It is an incredibly nice place and a true haven away from the dust, trash, and lack of grass that we have become accustomed to. It was also nice to get away and spend time as a family, away from all the fretting we've been doing over the past few weeks! Last night I asked God to just provide a perfect day for us and to bless our time. When we left our house the skies were clear and it was sunny (we are in the middle of rainy season right now!). I was thinking, "Thank You Lord!" We had to make a few stops before heading to the park and by the time we were headed that way it looked like it was going to rain. My first reaction was anger and frustration. I mean why couldn't God just give us a break?? I quickly realized this was wrong and started thanking God for the opportunity to get out as a family and spend time together. It had started sprinkling some by the time we arrived at the park but we decided to go ahead and go in. Well, the weather turned out GREAT! It wasn't hot and there was a nice breeze. It eventually started sprinkling harder but never the buckets of rain that we've gotten used to. We were able to spend about an hour at the park but eventually the rain ran us off. Zeke loved the park and running around. After our trip to the park we went and had lunch at a place that has good American type food. We got some yummy cheeseburgers and fries!!! Then we came home and all took a 2 hour nap (Zeke slept 2 1/2 hours). Then we had an amazing dinner with the girls next door!! Thank you Lord for an AMAZING day. Here's some pictures from our GREAT day!!

 

Climbing on the jungle gym! Right up his alley!! He's our little monkey!

Checking out some kids that were playing on the swings.

Running around and having fun!

Telling us, "Na, Na!" That means come in Bambara!! He was ready to go have some more fun!

This is what he was wanting to go see, the water fountain. Also, right up his alley...he loves the water!!

Zeke and his Daddy.

 

You can't see it but in this picture or the one above it but they are standing on a little bridge over a creek. Here they are checking out the water below.

Zeke not wanting to go home!!

Until next time...

Appointment update...

Well, we made the trip to the American OB/GYN last Friday. I wish I could say that I walked away with 100% confidence and zero confusion but, sadly, that is not the case. Here's the recap:

Basically, the doctor feels that I'm having a "threatened miscarriage". So, in other words my body is threatening to terminate this baby. The doctor said bed rest hasn't been proven to help in this situation. He did an ultrasound and our little one was, once again, kicking, squirming, and doing well. The baby measured well, measuring almost a week head by the size of his or head and right on schedule by the length of his or her femur. He did note 2 spots that he said could possibly be blood clots but he couldn't tell for sure. Since he feels that bed rest won't help, he released me from that and said I could do whatever I wanted, except run 5 to 10 miles a day. I assured him, that would NOT be a problem!! :~) He also said he didn't see a problem with me flying. I had stopped spotting over the weekend but that has resumed today.

So, where are we now? Well, this morning I spoke with the nurse that works for our board that lives in Dakar. She is going to consult with her partner (also a nurse) and a midwife that works for our board in Virginia. Hopefully, we'll hear back from them on Wednesday.

So, how are we doing? Honestly, we are utterly confused. We are getting two completely different opinions and just don't know which one to follow. We are worried that if I over do it the problem will get worse or that we will indeed have another miscarriage. We are trying to decide what would be best to do for our family, to stay and finish out the remainder of our term (about 10 weeks) or to go ahead and leave now. One thing that is heavy on my mind is an experience some friends of ours just had. Long story short: They decided it was in the best interest of their family to end their term about 8 weeks early. She was pregnant when they left. Well, at 28 weeks into her pregnancy she started having complications. Since she was home the doctors were able to hold her off delivering until 34.5 weeks. She is now the proud mama of a beautiful little girl. If they had not decided to leave early she would have still been in Mali when the problems started at 28 weeks. In the back of my mind I'm thinking, "God, is that what you are doing? Are we having these small problems now so we'll go home early and You know about a different problem that is coming?" We just don't know what to do. If God wants us to stay, then that's what we want to do but honestly we just don't know. Mentally, I am done. I know that 4 weeks of bed rest hasn't helped that situation. Nor has worrying about all the what if's. We are earnestly seeking the Lord's direction in all of this. Our greatest desire is to be obedient to Him, no matter what that means. We're praying that He will give us peace as to the direction we are supposed to take. Please join us in praying.

One side note is that we had a great time with our friends. We even got to spend some time with a couple that we met while we were home last year. They are currently learning French in a neighboring country but will be moving to Mali the end of the month. It was great to spend time away from our home and be with friends. It was a great distraction from all that we have going on. Praise God for this!!

Until next time...

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

This post will be exactly what the title says, a little bit of this and a little bit of that!! Hope you enjoy, please forgive me for the length of this post. My mind has nothing to do all day, so I sit, type blog posts in my head, try to figure out what God is up to (something that I know is pointless but I just can't seem to stop it!!), try to contemplate all the scenarios that may happen and what we'll do in each one. Needless to say, this bed rest is kinda dangerous, especially since I tend to over analyze EVERYTHING!! Sometimes, no make that all the time, I just wish I had an "off" switch for my brain!!

Since we live in Africa it is totally customary to have a night guard. Most of the expats here have them, some even have a day guard in addition to the night guard. It's not that things are so bad that we need a guard, it's more like a deterrent for would be thieves. The culture here is big on honor and shame. I mean to get caught stealing would bring such shame to a person and his family that it would be like social suicide!! Not to mention for them, spiritual suicide as well. So, anyway's, we have a night guard who comes at 6:30pm every night and stays until 6:30am every morning. Our guard's name is Alasane and we've grown quite fond of him. When we first moved here he, his wife, and then 2 children lived in a store room in our courtyard. Our company decided it would be best for him to get his own place, so about a month or so after we got here they helped him get set up in a new house. I think because he lived here he takes extra care and has a deep bond with our house. We often call him "super guard". Most guards will sleep during the night but not Alasane, we often hear him walking around in the middle of the night. We've even caught him wondering around checking things out during a thunderstorm!! What a trooper! Anyway's, he and Zeke really have a special bond. Every night when he gets here, he quickly takes a shower (also a very common thing around here), so he and Zeke can begin their nightly routine. The routine consists of about 45 minutes or so of Alasane doing whatever Zeke wants. They "play soccer", Alasane rides Zeke around on his bicycle, they run around chasing each other, and of course they turn all the outside lights on. I love sitting here listening to them outside, it brings me such joy to hear such big, belly laughs coming out of my little boy!! Many nights it's also helped get supper on the table faster since we didn't have a 2 year old helper in the kitchen! So, the other night I finally got the camera out and took some pictures of the nightly routine, I hope you enjoy them....

"Look at me Mama!!"

Telling me "Bye!"

In other Eubanks' News. I'm currently 15 weeks and 5 days into this pregnancy. Physically, I feel fine. I'm still spotting some. Mentally, I'm going crazy. I know it's a combination of the pregnancy hormones, plus the extra hormones the doctor has me on, and the fact that I've been glued to the couch or the bed for 3 weeks and 3 days now!! Please pray for all of us. That we will have the strength to do whatever it is that God wants us to do. Here's a picture of my ever growing "bump"...

  

We've also decided to get a 2nd opinion about what's going on. The African doctors here are not the same as an American doctor. They don't like to be questioned about anything! Most of the time when you go, say for a cold, they'll just say, here's a prescription, go get it filled, take the medicine, and it will get better. They don't tell you what's wrong or anything. They tend to have the attitude, "I am the doctor, I know all!!" Not something this American girl is used to. So, about 5 hours from where we live is a mission ran women and children's hospital. Due to that fact that's it's 5 hours away we've never considered it an option in my prenatal care, not with Zeke, the baby we lost last year, nor with this baby. I mean why drive 5 hours, when there's a doctor 20 minutes down the road. Even though, after my first ultrasound with my doctor here, the one I blogged about here, I seriously considered switching to the doctors there. Anyway's, this hospital is mainly for Africans but it is ran by Americans who happen to be missionaries but who also happen to be doctors!! Yep, that's right there's an American, English speaking OB/GYN at this hospital. After talking it over with the doctors who work for our board, we decided a 2nd opinion would be a good idea. They gave me the all clear to travel that far (the roads here are not the greatest in the world!), as long as we broke up the trip. So, in a few days, we'll be headed that way, stopping a little over half way to spend the night with friends, getting up the next morning and going the rest of the way to see the doctor. To say I'm a little nervous, anxious about this appointment would be an understatement! I have really been struggling the past 3 weeks, but especially the past week. I just want some answers!! I'm praying that I'll get some more concrete answers at this appointment. I'm praying it won't be like that first ultrasound appointment where I walk away feeling frustrated and disappointed. I pray that all is still well with our little one. At the same time, I'm so looking forward to talking with an American doctor!! I mean, I'll be able to understand EVERYTHING that he says!! Praise the Lord! I'm hoping he'll be like my wonderful doctor in America and will sit down and kinda talk through this with us. I'm also looking forward to getting out of the house for a few days and spending some time with our friends!! It is a much needed break that I have been counting down the days to since we decided to get the 2nd opinion!! Praise God for providing this opportunity!! Please be lifting up the following requests:

1. Safe travels for our entire trip...there and back home.
2. Health for our little one.
3. Wisdom for the doctor and us as we meet and discuss what he thinks and where to go from there.
4. A sweet time with friends and some fun while we're away!! (as much fun as one can have on bed rest!)

Thank you for standing in the gap for us. We couldn't do this without your faithful prayer support behind us!! Until next time...

Appointment update

We are home from our appointment. Praise the Lord the baby is healthy, kicking around, and was even waving at us!! We tried to find out if it was a boy or a girl but the little booger had it's legs closed!! The spots of blood are still there but they have gotten smaller. She put me on bed rest for another month. We talked to her about, staying and finishing out our term or if it would be better to go ahead and go home now. At this point she doesn't want me flying due to the pressure it would put on me and the baby. So, for now, we're stuck at home. Please continue to pray for a healthy baby. Also, pray for our sanity. The past two weeks have been difficult on all of us and we are all already stir crazy. The thought of doing this for 1 more month, well, I just can't even think about it! I told Arnett, just put me on a boat and I'll go home that way!!! Thank you for your prayers!! Until next time...

A little fun in the water

Well, since our vacation had to be canceled, Zeke decided he should still have some fun in the water!! So, this afternoon, we filled up a laundry bucket and he played for about 45 minutes. Here's some pictures:

 

At first he wasn't too sure about getting all the way in. He kept saying it was cold!!!

It didn't take him long to get over that though!!! Here he is with a mouthful of water!! He would get out and spit it out on the plants!

"Aaah! This is the life!!"

Potty break time!!! Looking to get the "okay" from Daddy to potty outside!!!

Taking a break!! All that water fun tires a little fellow out!!! Well, that and not taking a nap today!!

 

On the bed rest front. Things are still pretty much the same. I'm still hanging out in the bed or on the couch. I'm still spotting. And we're all still stir crazy!!! Our appointment with the doctor is tomorrow. We are really anxious about what we'll find out. We're still praying for discernment with what we need to do next, if anything needs to be done. Will update tomorrow after our appointment!!! Until next time...