Longacre's Christmas Letter 2013

This Christmas season is so fun! Victoria is finally old enough to know what Christmas is and really enjoy decorating and making Christmas cookies.  Seeing her eyes light up every morning as she reminds me about our advent calendar is priceless. We are spending our days watching Christmas movies, ice skating, and shopping for Christmas gifts.

Victoria is about to turn three, and Gloria had her first birthday in October.  Victoria is old enough now to pick her own birthday theme, so this year it is Minnie Mouse, though I don’t think she really cares that much about the theme or gifts. What she really cares about are the people attending.  Before we have an event at our home, she asks me continually who is coming.  Because she loves people so much, it really saddens me that she can’t see her family more. Thankfully we are going to make a whirlwind trip home this summer to visit everyone!

As a reminder, we are here in England as Drew works on his dissertation to get a Ph.D. He was given a scholarship for 3 years to do this.  Drew was blessed to get an early reply to a post-doctoral position in Helsinki, Finland, so we are not moving home quite yet, but rather spending the next 2.5 years in Finland!!

I’ve learned some interesting facts about Finland. It has one of the best educational systems in the world. The game Angry Birds was designed there. There is a law in Finland that states that all citizens are able to obtain broadband internet, which means that even if you live in the country you can have high speed internet at a low cost.  If America had this law we would have far better Skype sessions with my dad!  You can also see the beautiful northern lights (Picture Included) from Finland in a rented igloo, if you like. J And though I hate the cold, I am really excited about the move.  Christmas in Finland sounds a bit magical.  The country is full of reindeer, snow, and Christmas markets!!  Another thing that really excites me about Finland is the saunas; most every home has one in it!!!  

It seems both of the girls love to travel.  This past year we have been able to go to Ireland, Germany, Scotland, and France. And out of all the places I’ve been I think I like England best. The English countryside’s autumn has got to be the prettiest thing in the world.  Our very dear friend and neighbor John Grosvenor took the girls and me out for a drive to the country, and it literally took my breath away; it was just so pretty. I’ll really miss living here……….. but there is no place like home!

I am very excited to go home this summer.  We had hoped to visit this year, but plans didn’t work out. But this time we will certainly be going, because Drew’s brother Kyle is lucky enough to be marrying Sarah Turrentine!! We are so excited about the wedding! I’m hoping to also be able to attend my little sister’s graduation from high school and maybe even get to see the new Da Silva baby!  But with Drew’s scholarship and foreign tax obligations, I think we can only be out of the United Kingdom for a month.  So we will see what we can fit in!

Victoria is growing up fast and is quite the talker.  She also loves to sing. Victoria and Gloria both started baby ballet this year.  The teacher is amazing, and they both love it! Gloria just loves music.  No matter what she is doing, if she hears music, she stops to have a little dance. Gloria is a very good child, but her hands just always seem to find something naughty to do. She gives me a run for my money! She is such a precious thing.  One look into those sweet brown eyes or one cuddle makes you forget what a mess she has just made. Having two children has proven to be a lot harder than one.  But I can’t remember a year filled with so much joy.  I love my girls so much and am very lucky to have a husband who goes straight from working on his dissertation to helping me with the girls.  He gets very little rest, and we love him for his devotion to us. Hope to hear about your year as well.  We miss you all very much. God bless!

Christmas Letter

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season! England is even more romantic during the holidays. In winter our city is not only blessed with stunning old buildings that scream beauty and history, but it is also adorned with lights and festive decorations. Many cities have a Christmas market as well. At a Christmas market there are many stalls with unique and fun gifts to buy. And if you get thirsty there is mulled wine to drink. Mulled wine is a wine served hot that is mixed with cinnamon, cloves, and other warm spices. But I have to say my favorite season in England is not winter, and it certainly is not its cold summers, but rather is fall. Not only because fall has the most BEAUTIFUL colors, but because this fall we were blessed with our second daughter, Gloria Anne.
Gloria came very fast with not even 2 hours between when my water broke and when she arrived. Unlike in America, a midwife delivered my baby and not a doctor. In fact I only saw my doctor two times in total. Health care is free here, but it comes at a cost—not much time with a doctor or other perks. I had to come home the day I delivered or I would have been put in a room with two other new moms. My bed would have an uncomfortable, thin, flat mattress and I would have to say good bye to my husband for the night. They even asked for a diaper from us as soon as Gloria was born! It was very different than the nice room Drew and I stayed at when I delivered Victoria. I stayed 3 days with my husband on a bed that inclined and was supplied with everything I needed for my baby. But I almost prefer giving birth in England because of the amazing midwives. Midwives come to visit you the day after you leave the hospital. Yes, you heard me right, they come to you. House calls!!! Gloria took her time gaining weight, so a midwife came every two days to check on us. I loved it!!
Though Gloria scared us a bit when she was not gaining weight, she has been a great baby. She loves being held, so I’m hoping she will be a cuddler! She is also a great sleeper, giving us a full night’s sleep most all nights. Victoria loves Gloria very much. She always wants to hold her and check on her if she is crying, though she is not fond of mommy and daddy giving Gloria so much attention. But all in all she loves being a big sister.
This past year I gave Victoria a “You are my sunshine” themed first birthday party. Before and after that party she has truly been my sunshine, cheering me up when I look out the window and it is raining again! She has an amazing smile that makes your heart sing. She loves to read, it is only her books that capture her attention for more than 5 minutes; most toys don’t get much play time. Being in England we are nurturing a love in Victoria for English authors. She has almost memorized the children’s counting book entitled Pride and Prejudice, though her favorite book, so far, is Peter Rabbit. She spent about 2 months carrying around the book and would tell anyone who would listen that “Peter was naughty by going into Mr. McGregor’s garden”. This year I’m giving her a Peter Rabbit birthday party. I can’t believe my little girl will be two next month!
Drew has been doing a lot of reading and researching! I’m proud to announce that he will be getting published in the journal Dead Sea Discoveries next year. He is already half way through his doctorate program and is still thriving at the university he attends. He has an amazing adviser and great colleagues. But our biggest blessing in England is our small church. Our pastor is a very loving man with a lot of practical wisdom. I’ll miss our church more than anything when we leave Birmingham. However, I’ll miss the rain least of all!
This past year we have missed many weddings and other special occasions in America. It is at those times when we miss being home the most. I hope all of you know how much we love you even though we are so far away. We think of you all often and pray this next year is filled with blessings from the Lord.

The advice I wish I was given about raising children (especaly about flying with children)

Now that my sweet little Victoria is a year old, I can't help but look back on my first year as a mother and reflect. As I was preparing to be a mother I was searching for advice and once I was a mother I searched even harder!  But most people gave me the same advice that went something like:  "Spend as much time as you can with your baby; you will never regret it."  But I wanted something more practical so I'm writing this for all my friends who are yet to have children.  I hope this helps!

Now I want to elaborate on the beforementioned advice. I do agree with it totally!  I needed this advice and I think all new mothers do. I don't think I totally understood at the time what exactly the advice entailed.  Sometimes spending time with your child means leaving your completed washed clothes in the washing machine...wet! (At least when you live in England and have to hang your clothes instead of simply throwing them in the dryer).  Sometimes this means serving up something simple or even take out to guests!  And sometimes this means (dare I say it) having a messy home when guests come over (or at least your husband would have wished you left it dirty because you instead barked orders at him as you two cleaned it in a rush)!!!  If I would have seen this before I had Victoria I would simply have thought, with good time management one can clean and spend time with their children.  Which may be true, but what about time in the Word?  Once you commit to read your Bible during your child's nap, and spend most of the morning making breakfast and cleaning up after breakfast and sweeping your seemingly always dirty floors you are left with little time before it's time to make lunch and dinner, and before you know it your day is over.  As Dr. Halstead, a Master's College professor, used to always tell me "you can only do your best with the time you have," and in short, one does not have enough time to read their Bibles, clean, cook, and spend time with their children; sometimes things do not get done efficiently.  My point is, spending time with your child may be more difficult than it seems, but it's soooo worth it.

The next thing I learned from Laurie, my sweet neighbor in California.  Which is somewhat ironic in that it mostly blessed my English neighbor Peggy. Lori told me if you let others hold your baby it makes them enjoy them more and in turn helps your baby enjoy others more (or something like that).  I certainly was not the epitome of this point, in that, I was scared others would drop Victoria and I honestly missed her when others were holding her.  But Drew and I did try to carry this out and it has worked!  This is mostly on my mind, being my neighbor here in England just died, leaving us all broken hearted.  But even though we had only lived next to her for 4 short months Victoria and Peggy had formed a strong friendship.  After small talk in the walkways, Peggy asked us to come visit her every day, and we did.  During that time Victoria's sweet personality brought so much joy to Peggy that we were both mutually blessed.  Besides Peggy, Victoria's charms seem to catch the eye of many a stranger here in England who, after noticing her, noticed Drew and me (who were normally lost or in need of some other assistance)!  Victoria would not have this charm if we would not have allowed her to be comfortable with strangers.  So teach your child to love others from the beginning, which is the second greatest commandment after all.  I know many children just want their mothers all the time, which is okay, but if your child will go with others allow them to.  Victoria is probably just an outgoing girl, but I'm so thankful I did allow others to hold her in the beginning because inside I didn't really want to, but it has come back to bless our family.

Next point is concerning waking up in the middle of the night.  Drew and I were committed to allowing Victoria to "cry it out" in the early stages of sleep training (this is not advised as a newborn, at that age if they cry they need you) and she became a very good sleeper.  But once she got a bit older if something would wake her up, I'd run in delighted to get to spend some more time with my sweet baby.  I'd maybe read her a book, put on a show for us to watch as we snuggled or call the grandmas on Skype.  I saw these times as rare treats! But after the after-hours fun came about 15 minutes of crying once I put her back to bed, which broke my heart (and sometimes lead to me getting her again, which made things even worse!).  I would now advise parents in this situation to simply go into your child's room, check on them, give them a quick hug and leave, not allowing your emotions to get the better of you and thinking about what's best for your child and not what's best for you (which is a really good point in itself).  The latter option will probably get 1 minute of crying and back to sleep.

I have to admit that raising Victoria this first year was very easy.  Breastfeeding was difficult, but having the best daddy there to help me, and many gifts from friends and family, things seems to come together nicely.  In addition Victoria was a very easy baby (what awaits me next????!!!) so I would not consider myself a professional quite yet. But I want to add a couple more tidbits of advice about traveling with babies. Because I have travelled A LOT with Victoria, I'd consider myself somewhat seasoned in this area.  Drew and I counted up that Victoria has been in 15 different airports in her short life!  So here are my tips!  Hope they help!

-Dress your child in light PJ's.  These allow your child to be comfortable, which is very important!  Also the temperature is somewhat uncertain on an airplane and with the PJs your child is warm enough with long sleeves and pants and cool enough without heavy jeans or sweaters.
-Dress your child very cute!  The stewardesses normally fall in love with Victoria which is really helpful because on a long flight they are most certainly my ally.  I normally put a cute bow on her or some other cute accessory.  I was going to make a shirt for Victoria this last trip that read "Going home to see my grandmas for Christmas."  I know something like this would have left the stewardesses as putty in my hands!  I'm thinking of my friends Melissa who is going to adopt from Africa soon.  If that sweet girl has a shirt that reads "Just adopted!" I know everyone would just love to celebrate with you on the plane.  Having a baby while travelling can be very helpful. People love to help people with babies!  And even the customs workers seem to soften if you have a baby! On our last trip home the man at customs stamped Victoria's build-a-bear pawsport for her bear!  He was happy to do so!
-Call ahead and see what the airline can do for you.  Normally they can provide you a cot to hook to the wall for the baby to sleep in during the flight (a lifesaver) and baby food, but you can't get either if you don't call ahead. Most airlines allow a free stroller (or buggy as many internet sights will read) for children flying but the child's baggage allowance seems to change depending on the airlines.  We have had none, to 20lbs, to a full bag!  And all of these baggage allowances were not on the airlines' webpages, so you have to call and ask. (I'm talking here about a child under 2, flying for free domestically and for 10% internationally, which is the normal amount). If you are like me you like to fly cheap or you HAVE to fly cheap if you want to fly at all! ;)  But Lufthansa is a great airline for people with children.  I read that from friends of ours who are Americans living in Jordan, but after flying with them I am completely convinced.  They cost more but are worth every penny!
-Try to arrive at your destination in the afternoon.  After many layovers, when we finally arrived here in England for the first time, though we were beyond tired, we still wanted to visit a bit before going to sleep. This was difficult with it being so late at night. :( And then our last trip home to England put us here in the morning and no matter how much we tried, we could not keep ourselves awake past 5pm and thus our sleep schedule is nuts. Arriving in the afternoon gives you some time to visit and then go to bed at a reasonable time.
-Pick a seat by the window.  I always picked a seat by the aisle so that if I had to change Victoria's diaper I could move out without disturbing anyone.  But this last time I was forced to sit by the window and loved it!  It was nice being able to breastfeed with a little more privacy!  And it was nice not having to move for others needing the restroom once Victoria feel asleep.
-Wear a tanktop under your shirt so that you don't have to show more then necessary while breastfeeding.  Lifting up your shirt to breastfeed can leave your back and some of your stomach exposed.  A tanktop covers everything not in use!  Also if you get your shirt dirty (and with children it always happens) and can just take it off. Also wear a large sweater that wraps around you.  I love these sweaters!  If I have Victoria in a carrying device on my chest I simply wrap the sweater around both of us to keep us warm while going to and from the airport.  This even works in the cold winter months of Colorado and Birmingham England but when we went to Iceland I did cover Victoria up quite a bit more.
-Breastfeeding or letting your baby snack during takeoff and landing is a good way to help their ears not to hurt.  Thankfully Victoria has never had this problem!
-Organize your diaper bag in a way that makes things accessible quickly.  Don't bring too many things as this makes searching through your diaper bag really annoying! I'd bring:
*Extra PJs
*About 6 diapers for the flight and wipes
*Some staple small toys (Victoria likes toys to chew on and books)
*A new really fun toy (noise is not an issue, planes are very loud and the toys' noise won't bother anyone)
*2 bibs and baby food including lots of snacks
*And an ipod with lots of games and movies (if you have one!:)

If anyone has any other tips please comment.  I hope this blog post is a blessing!  And thank you to everyone who has blessed Drew and me our first years as parents.

PS Here are some items that really came in handy.  I'd recommend all these items to new mothers.
*A bib that wipes clean. Washing 3 bibs a day gets old!
*A mesh snacker that allows you to put food inside it and gives your baby the fun of sucking on something but keeps the seeds away. Check it out on Amazon here.
*Video monitor.  Love it!  I love looking at my sweet little girl and knowing she is still there and no one has taken her (do I worry too much?? :)
*breast pump.  If you are going to breastfeed this really REALLY comes in handy!

What to do with this baby?!?

Being without a car is starting to be inconvenient. We do have a bus stop right in front of our home, which is a blessing. But even if I want to go somewhere, which would take about 5 minutes in the car, it takes 2 hours there and back on the bus. Thus Victoria and I stay home most days. We normally like to take walks around our beautiful area, but with the bad weather setting in, we stay home more.

If Victoria takes two good naps, the day seems to be bright and beautiful. But when she takes bad naps, the day gets frustrating! We can't really go anywhere with no car and bad weather (though I just throw caution to the wind a couple days a week). And I only have a handful of things to do with Victoria till my ideas get completely depleted.

Today was a bad nap day. And though we had our sweet neighbors over for tea, the day seemed to go on and on. By the end of the day Drew and I had;
1. Read books 3x
2. Practiced walking
3. Crawled around with her till our knees hurt.
4. Watched 3 shows (don't judge me; the person who said "don't use the TV as a babysitter" must have never had to make dinner or clean for guests).
5. Looked at pictures 2x
6. Alone play
7. Together play on the floor, bed, couch.
8. Ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
9. Took a bath.
10. Played paddy cake.

And after all these things I was wiped out. Totally and completely wiped out... and I looked at the clock...5:45pm...still 2 hours till bed time!! Ahhhhhhhh!

Dear friends and family, please, please, please send ideas. Highchair games, Busy games, or Educational games. Anything! Please send ideas, and please pray for us to be good parents.

Detectives

Being in England is somewhat like being a detective. There are so many things that are spelled or named differently. But being a detective is fun! I solve mysteries everyday! I added some pictures to help you all understand. :) I even solved a mystery while writing this post! I kept hearing banging noises that sounded like fire works. Then I started SEEING fire works but had no idea why. I enjoyed watching the fire works with the lights out with my family, I mean who would complain? But I had to know why?! I did some research and found it is an Indian holiday called Diwali!

We love being in England. Though I think the sweet lady downstairs was right to say to me after seeing my enthusiasm for the fact that they were going to build an ice rink across the street for Christmas, "oh sweetie, you must be lonely." I don't miss anything much about America, other than the people. I want to be with my sweet precious friend on bed rest, and my sweet friend Leannie as she plans her wedding. But I am thankful to be where the Lord has us.

Victoria is sleeping better and has our neighbor lady wrapped around her finger. We have decided to go and visit daily. :) Drew continues to love teaching Hebrew and studying. He is living his dream life! :) We just hope to get him a desk soon. After making a huge order on Ikea we found out they will deliver to us in about a month. lol! We had no idea it would take so long. I guess we didn't learn our lesson with the month long wait for Internet. With no desk, Drew uses the table. So at every meal I bring out the plates and he tries to shove his books over to make room. So we eat praying our cups of water won't spill onto Drew's computer and Victoria won't blow raspberries with a mouthful of baby food and cover Drew's library book with sweet potato and baby drool. :)

We love our apartment (video to follow soon, sorry it is taking me so long Janel), we love our neighborhood, and we love our church! Things are going well for us!


This post's question is this. Can anyone tell me about Diwali?

Stranger love

Drew and I just got back from dinner. We went to a nearby pub to celebrate getting Internet and finally receiving Drew's scholarship money. Getting his money meant we could now buy things like a can opener and hair dryer. Not exactly necessities but things that are very nice to have. Though I have to admit that some wants are necessities for this girl... One such thing was a high chair. If I had to feed my squirming daughter one more time from my lap, I was probably going to go insane! Thankfully I talked Drew into getting one a week after we arrived. It took a 6 hour bus/train/bus trip where we had to carry all our Ikea goods on top of Victoria's stroller, but we made it!

Being in England this past month has been hard. Not having money or Internet while in a country you're new to is.....difficult. There were so many questions I needed answers to! What foods should Victoria not be eating? Where is the closest store? What is "neat" referring to on my floor cleaner? All these questions had to go unanswered :(. I was also a bit lonely. Christian friendships are such a treasure, especially when your life is so crazy. But with my little Victoria to keep me busy and entertained I seemed to somehow make it through. But the thing that I am most thankful for is stranger love. What I mean by "stranger love" is when people love you when they don't even know you. Countless people have given us directions and advice. But one family gave us many things we didn't even know we needed. One of those things was rent. If this friend would not have insisted on lending us money for rent and deposit we would not have been able to move into our apartment till today, being Drew just received his scholarship money. If we would have not been in an apartment we would be in a hotel without a refrigerator, which is hard--ours was broken for 2 weeks and it was very difficult. In an hotel we would have had to share a room with Victoria, and waste A LOT of money. Drew and I took the rent money reluctantly but if I would have known the mix up with the scholarship would happen and the trouble transferring our American dollars into UK pounds was going to be, I would have taken that money with a whole new enthusiasm. So in short, if you see someone in need please be kind to them. They may really need it!!!!!!!! We sure have! The family kept saying, "If it were my daughter in another country I'd want someone to help her," which is a great way of looking at it. Really taught me a lesson.

UPDATES:

Victoria is doing well. She loves crawling around our apartment! We don't have carpets so I end up sweeping numerous times a day so the floor is suitable for her. She loves to practice standing on her own and I'm sure she will take her first steps soon. She is full of giggles for daddy's games and kisses for mommy. She is growing up fast! She will be 9 months old soon and the sweet baby I once knew is now turned into the baby who cries while getting her diaper changed, and growls waiting for me to make her food and screams ANY TIME she is not getting her way. I used to think she was the cutest and sweetest baby the Lord had ever made. Now I just think she is the cutest. :) Please pray for us to be wise with our little stinker.

Drew has started his studies at the university (or "uni" as everyone in England calls it). His first research project is reading the Isaiah scroll. Goggle has just started publishing the Dead Sea Scrolls online, which was frustrating for Drew because he didn't have the Internet to read them, but now he does! Any guesses as to what he is doing this moment? Drew also started teaching his Hebrew class. It consists of 7 girls! All girls! Crazy. I decided that to help with his class I would make cookies every Monday! Kinda take the edge off the weekend, and maybe attract some boys to the class.

God is so faithful and good. During this difficult process I came across a Psalm that David wrote. He says that even during trouble soon the good will come again, and it is so true. It's very silly to be sad during hard times because the Lord's faithful love will always be revealed again. God never says life will be easy! But I have to praise Him for allowing me to get that highchair!

For our trivia I'm going to write 5 things on our shopping list. All of them will have the UK English word, and whoever translates all of them into USA English first wins a copy of a recipe for one of Drew's and my favorite English foods: Yorkshire pudding! It is not a dessert surprisingly, but delicious!

Kitchen rolls, bathroom tissue, cot, rubbish bin, and nappies.

Bonus: I will probably get this stuff from Asda which is a UK equivalent for what American store?

Love you all, and miss you very much.

Blessings upon blessings

Drew and I are loving England. The food is great, a lot like ours, but with fun little twists. The people are nice, and the buildings are just BEAUTIFUL. Before we arrived in England we met an English family visiting their daughter in the States who offered to pick us up from the airport when we arrived. We were so thankful to God for allowing us to meet these kind people, but since then their love has overwhelmed us. They were forced to rent a car to be able to pick us and our suitcases up from the airport, which was so kind. They have introduced us to delicious English food and made us countless cups of tea. They have allowed us to stay with them for a week! And they even have driven us into Birmingham 2 times (a two hour crazy drive). With their help we have been able to rent a beautiful apartment. Finding an apartment has been our biggest prayer request and it is soon to be answered. We will be moving into our new place tomorrow. Our other prayer request was Drew's medications. He has Crohn's disease, and without insurance his pills would cost over $800 in the States. But it looks like it will only be 8 pounds here. We are yet to get the pills but that is what a nurse told us, so we are very hopeful. It looks like we may have also found a church! We will be visiting for the first time on Sunday but it sounds like it will be a perfect fit. With all the answered prayers we hope that, with us, you will praise our wonderful God for His goodness. We are excited to serve him in this new place. Please send suggestions of places for us to visit while in Europe. I hope some of you will also be able to visit soon. Lastly, as an incentive to read our blog, we want to have a little contest. The first man to translate the Bible into English was a man from England. The first person to comment on this blog with the name of this man will receive our first postcard from England! Love you all!