Caleb & Della: September 2014

September Report

Charlotte was born September 12^th with no complications! A day that Della and I will celebrate from now on. We have now been here for seven months and I feel that both Della and I have completely changed. Not just because we are now parents but also in many other ways. We worked hard to prepare before we moved here, but in many ways we both feel like fish out of water. One of my personal desires was to somehow be in a situation where I completely depend on God. With the birth of Charlotte we have to depend on God, now more than ever.

The birth of Charlotte was beyond my imagination. We have a wonderful doctor and she took good care us. We arrived at the hospital at 3:00 and basically just waited for two hours. At 5:00 sharp Della was taken into surgery and I was allowed to watch every second of the operation. Our doctor figured I would pass out but I didn’t even blink. The operation only took twenty minutes and Charlotte was born at 5:50. We were all taken care of by the hospital staff and our family in Ataco. We left for home at 5:00 Saturday, barely even 24 hours after birth. Della had a painful recovery for the first week, but she feels much better now. We are still adjusting to Charlotte’s sleep schedule. Your prayers and concerns are felt and we are thankful that our family has grown.

The church of Ataco has continued to grow this month. There have been at least four more baptisms and one that I had the privilege to play a special part in! Lucky, our teammate, has been working with the ladies of the youth group and studying the bible with them. Last Friday, Carla decided to unite to Christ through baptism and I was given the opportunity to do the dunking and even ask her confession in Spanish. As a church, we have now completed reading over the entire Old Testament. I have managed to continue attending some of the Youth Rallies and helping with the bread and coffee outreach. Also, Samuel Azucena has now committed to working with the new Christians from now until he starts college in January.

In my spare time I have continued my effort to study Spanish. I read the book of Mark, out loud, in Spanish, to Lucky and she made sure that I pronounced every word correctly. I have handwritten all 501 and most of the conjugations of the 501 Spanish Verbs book. I also entered all of those verbs in to a Java program that I made that applies spelling rules to conjugate the verbs from the infinitive form. Speaking a new language has been one of the most difficult things I have ever tried learned. “The more I know, the more I know I don't know.”

Many wonderful things have happened this month, but we can’t help but look forward to the coming months. During the month of October we will be visited by our moms, my sisters, and brother-in-law. We are also going to start the process for Charlotte’s official birth certificate and passport. Charlotte has made us miss everyone more than ever. We have been gone for such a long time that we plan to come back to the states in early December and stay through January. This also corresponds with the time that my parents are planning their move. So we will be coming back to El Salvador with them; hopefully recharged and ready to serve even better than before.

In Christ,
Caleb, Della & Charlotte

9/30/14: Day 212: Whistle Boogers

I spent the day writing the monthly report for us and Lucky. At 2:30, I watched Charlotte while Della went to get a haircut. The dryer was delivered as promised today but sadly the 240 socket behind the stove does not work. I got out my voltmeter and discovered it was only getting like 20 on one side and 40 on the other. I could hot wire it into the fuse box but Della insisted that I should wait for the landlord to install the new plug in the garage. I pre-read two chapters in Acts and read one out loud to Lucky. I have also had some minor stomach troubles all day. In the evening Della discovered that Charlotte had some boogers that she wanted to get rid of. We didn’t have a bulb so Della tried to put some drops down her nose and it was a major fiasco. I glad babies don’t remember being babies.

Della, sporting her new haircut
Della was so happy that I took this picture

Charlotte asleep in her chair
I got to take a picture of her everyday!

9/29/14: Day 211: Sunlight

Charlotte has not been sleeping well the last several nights. So we were still asleep at 8:00 when our Landlord rang the doorbell. She was here to respond promptly from our conversation last week. She had a huge bush cut down that was blocking all the light to all the bedrooms. She had hoped to get the concrete poured but the engineer was not available. We showed her where we wanted the dryer and she said she would get the 220 socket put in this week. She also gave Charlotte three cute outfits. I am very thankful to have a good landlord here. Lucky thought she had some bible studies for the afternoon but they canceled so we went down to Ahuachapán to shop for a dryer. We checked three stores; none of them had them on hand but they did have them in nearby cities. On our last store they assured us that it would be delivered tomorrow so I bought it. Della and I spent the rest of the evening resting and talking about how we missed home.

Our landlord holding Charlotte

9/28/14: Day 210: Insomnia for Della

Della didn’t sleep at all last night so I stayed home from church in the morning to watch Charlotte while Della slept. At 11:00 I went to the church to make sure our guests we had invited knew they were welcome but they were not at church. Linda was back for the first time since she had her baby Brianna so I invited their family for lunch. After we finished eating and were visiting the first guests we had invited arrived. Thankfully there was plenty of food to cover my blunder and we all had a wonderful time. Charlotte was nice and quiet for everyone but after they left she got fussy again. I went to the afternoon service and we had a few more guests come over to see Charlotte afterwards. Then Della cooked pancakes for dinner but ants had gotten to the syrup. I told Della that chocolate covered ants were a delicacy and that syrup drowned ants might taste pretty good but she didn’t buy it. I ended up putting peanut butter and honey on mine and it tested wonderful.

Linda, Brianna, Carlos, Carly, Della, Carlotte

Linda holding Brianna and Della holding Charlotte

Charlotte asleep on Della

9/27/14: Day 209: No Power

The plans for the day didn’t work out. I was going to help Lucky with the bread and coffee and then go to a Youth Rally. At 6:45 Lucky went to go prepare the coffee and as she was on her way back the power to the city went out. We decided to wait until 8:15 and then give up on bread and coffee if the power had still not come back on. It ended up being that the power didn’t come back on until 5:00 PM. By the time we got everything cleaned up we decided to skip the Youth Rally because it was an hour away and we didn’t really care to swim with them in the afternoon. I ended up spending the majority of the day studying the preterite tense. At 5:00 I walked to the Landlord’s house and paid the rent. While I was there it started pouring rain so I sat and talked with her for a bit in Spanish. She said that she would cut back the plants that are blocking the sun from our bedroom and make sure we have a power outlet for a dryer next week! We need a dryer because it is normally humid here but lately it has been super humid. Our clothes are not drying and are molding.

Edgardo holding Charlotte

Carla holding Charlotte

Charlotte sleeping

9/26/14: Day 208: Spanish Baptism

Last night was another chilly night. So today Della decided that she wanted to go to Santa Ana and get some better winter outfits for Charlotte. We left at 10:30 and arrived at the mall an hour later. Della ate Subway for her first time in 10 months and I ate Burger King. As I was finishing my burger I felt a wave of nausea but thankfully it passed. Then we went to Simans and found her several good outfits. After that, we needed a few groceries so we walked to the other side of the mall. I felt that Charlotte was getting hot in the carrier so I put her in the buggy and everyone in the store kept telling us that she was cold. We arrived back home at 2:30 and I wanted to take a nap but Charlotte said not. Lucky left for a bible study with the teen girls at 3:30. At 5:00 Lucky called me and said that everyone else was busy so could I do a baptism. The kiddy pool at the church has a leak so I tried to go to the natural springs but they were already closed. So we went all the way down to Ahuachapán to the church where Osvaldo preaches. It was a little rough but I managed to do it all in Spanish! Lucky had been studying with Carla, who is 17, for a while now. Lucky said when the study finished this afternoon she asked Carla if she had any questions and Carla said “When can I get baptized!?” Praise God for the new addition to his family!

Buying winter outfits

I hope to get this for Charlotte one day

Charlotte asleep in the carrier

Charlotte cooling off in the grocery cart

Wake up little Charlotte

Lucky and the teen girls (Carla is in the tiGo shirt)

Baptizing Carla

Celebration time

Charlotte is two weeks old!

9/25/14: Day 207: Baby Frontpack

Finally finished reading the book of Mark out loud in Spanish today with Lucky. Charlotte is sleeping better every night! This morning Della wanted to go for a walk so I strapped on the baby backpack that Clyde gave us. We walked down to the park and found a new store that had just opened 15 days ago. I like apples and they had a slice of apple pie on the menu so we got one. On our way home we saw Paolo and his girlfriend and they came over and met Charlotte. When we got home we opened the box containing the pie and discovered there was mold on it! The store was on the other side of town so I just decided to cut it off and eat the rest. It tasted pretty bad. At 4:30 Samuel came over and we walked to visit some recent converts. One was not home and another we had a 20 minute study with. Then we walked to the bible study in Ataco where little Carlos lives. He asked about my sister, Leanna, saying he was looking forward to seeing her. When I got home I chilled until 9:00 and then went to bed.

Charlotte in the pack

Della burping Charlotte

Moldy Pie

At the park with Charlotte

9/24/14: Day 206: 501 Spanish Verbs

I finished working through 501 Spanish Verbs and started entering them into my computer program. I also read Mark a bit more so now I only have one chapter left. I spent most of the morning researching the Pentecostals online and pulling together scriptures. The water cut out around noon and didn’t come back again till the evening. At 1:30, Lucky and I went to visit the contact we had from yesterday but when we got there she was asleep so we will try again another day. Then I went to Wednesday night service and class couldn’t happen for the kids because the rooms were flooded. After church I spent the rest of the evening talking with Clifton and Christina on Skype. This was the first time I had talked to Clifton since Charlotte was born. I can’t wait to see my family in person again!

Making a poop

Wide awake!

9/23/14: Day 205: Studies

I spent the morning taking care of Charlotte and studying a bit of Spanish. Lucky has a bible study at 3:30 with a lady that I had previously studied with so I decided to come along. So I spent the afternoon preparing and gathering some on the subject of sin in general. When we arrived at the house for the study they turned out to not be available. So we went to a few houses in the area that were contacts of sister Isabel who was with us. We were taking her home because she had been in Ataco for a ladies meeting and she had decided to stay with us for the studies. The first contact was Pentecostal and we studied for about 15 minutes. The second contact was catholic and we studied for over an hour. Both said we could come back soon for follow up. At home, Della and I watched the end of season three of Once Upon a Time and then went to bed.

Charlotte on her bouncy chair

9/22/14: Day 204: Stitches Removed

Della’s bandage is starting to fall off so she texted the doctor and she said we could come in today instead of tomorrow to get stitches removed. I spent the morning working on a project and finished at 1:00. Lucky spent the morning organizing and she brought out these eight baby dolls. She said that she had intended to use them for Della’s baby shower but when she found out the shower was early and she had missed it she brought them anyway. Each doll had a different expression. I told her she could teach a parenting class here for the teens with them and she said she had already thought of that and was interested. At 1:15 Della and I left for Sonsonate. The doctor gave us a good report and Della said that the removal of the stitches wasn’t nearly as painful as she had feared. It was 2:30 and we still hadn’t had lunch and Charlotte was hungry so we went to a restaurant. We got back home at 4:30. The power went out for 30 minutes for no reason, it wasn’t even raining. I read some more of Mark out loud with the flashlight to Lucky. In the evening Della and I made a team effort to give Charlotte a good bath. She hated it but I think she did better than the first time. I managed to go to bed around 9:00 and before we went to sleep we all three, Charlotte, Della, and I held hands and while I prayed.

Creepy baby dolls

And their creepy baby doll butts

Charlotte up for another bath

Team effort!

Charlotte drying off

9/21/14: Day 203: Back to Church

Today was the first time I had gone back to church since Charlotte was born (I missed 1 Sunday and 1 Wednesday). Everyone asked about Charlotte and Della and was very welcoming. Last week, our reading assignment was Jonah, Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. Carlos taught the sermon which focused on four verses out of Jonah about anger. Charlotte slept well last night; true to her every other night of sleep schedule. We took a nap this afternoon and it stormed like crazy. The thunder shook the house and the power blinked more than ten times. Then I went back for afternoon service at 4:00. I managed to speak to Paolo a bit in Spanish. In the evening, Della was feeling even better still so she cooked some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Charlotte sleeping peacefully

9/20/14: Day 202: First Baby Outing

She slept the least tonight. Less than one hour! Charlotte dirtied every outfit she has. We went through at least seven diapers! The diapers were cheap quality so didn’t keep in anything at all… I think she is on a sleep every other night schedule. I gave up and held Charlotte from 4:00 until 7:30 for Della to get some sleep. Then at 8:00 I went with Lucky to hand out bread and coffee. There was the biggest turnout ever to help from the Ataco church than ever before. We went through the ninety cups of coffee in about 20 minutes. Then I went home and thankfully Charlotte was asleep so I slept for a while. Della started feeling much better today. Della felt so good that she decided she could walk, while carrying the baby, to the House of Coffee for lunch. The House of Coffee is about 75 feet from the house. Lunch was nice but Della was in a bit of extra pain throughout the rest of the day. Hopefully she didn’t overdo it too much. We spent the rest of the day at home together. I plan to go back into full swing of attending bible studies and teen events after Tuesday; when Della gets her stitches out.

George, one of the recent members helping with the bread and cafe

Carlos evangelizing

A mom and her baby having some cafe and bread
There is quite a lot of character in this photo

Two kids receiving bread and cafe

Our new dryer

Daily picture of Charlotte
She is sporting one of the new diaper covers
Hopefully this will keep it all in!

9/19/14: Day 201: 1 Week Old

Last night Charlotte slept the best yet. I got nearly six hours of sleep! Charlotte is one week old today! Last night I heard a commotion in the kitchen and when I looked I saw a grey animal with a white belly jump four feet up and eight feet across to get out the window. It was so fast I couldn’t make out for sure what it was but I think it was a cat. Then this morning, as I was changing Charlotte’s diaper she had a major explosion. I didn’t think it was humanly possible! But I was holding her feet while changing her when she decided to add to it… It projected over three feet; getting all over the bed and the laptop. That is the last time I will change her on our bed… We had no water until the afternoon and sister from the church came over and brought us some. Then Lucky called me and showed me that we have a new pet! There was a rat outside with the rabbit eating the watermelon. We let Charlotte sunbathe a bit in the morning and she seemed to hate it. Della and I decided to buy some Once Upon A Time episodes and we watched them this afternoon. Then another sister from the church came over and gave Charlotte a baby blanket and some socks. In the evening I read another chapter of Mark in Spanish to Lucky.

Sunbathing

I hate Sunbathing

The sister from the church that brought us water

Our new pet rat

Charlotte's dented ear

Charlotte holding my finger

Charlotte's 1 week pic! Born at 5:50 PM

9/18/14: Day 200: Cold Night

We got the least sleep of any night so far last night. We decided that she might have been a tad cold and that might have been keeping her up. At 10:30, Lucky and I went to Ahuachapán. Lucky needed to go by the bank and then we went looking for some warmer outfits for Charlotte. We drove all over town looking for a store called Elizabeth which was said to be one of the only clothing stores that didn’t have second hand clothes. We wanted new clothes because it takes at least two days to wash anything and we needed her to wear it tonight. We found three warm outfits, and Lucky paid for one of them as a gift for Charlotte. Then we went to the grocery store and then back home. I was exhausted so I crashed for a couple of hours. At 4:30, Lucky got a call from Samuel saying they needed transportation to get to a baptistery. Samuel had been out visiting some of the new Christians with Edgardo when he met a guy named Francisco that just came up to them saying he was interested. Lucky and I took Samuel, Edgardo, and Francisco to the midwife’s house and used their pila. Then we took Francisco and Edgardo back to Shucutitan. Then we all three went to the small group devotional in Ataco. On the way, we stopped by the house and Samuel got to meet Charlotte. The small group was super small tonight. I drove Lucky back to the house and then drove Samuel up Apaneca. Charlotte went to sleep at 9:00 and so did I.

Samuel and Francisco

Francisco just baptized

Little Carlos got shoes for his Bday!

Charlotte and her winter outfit

9/17/14: Day 199: Pediatrician

Charlotte is starting to develop a pattern. She was up the most the entire night again. I managed to sleep from 7:00 AM until 9:00. Then Lucky and I left to meet the pediatrician. Sonsonate is a 45 minute drive and our appointment was at 10:00. Della has been dreading this because she not up for the ride on the bumpy road and so she has to be separated from Charlotte. I was hoping to be home close to 11:00 but the pediatrician did not show up until 11:10. She said she had been tied up with another commitment. The report is that Charlotte has not lost or gained any weight. Charlotte’s umbilical area is looking good. The pediatrician didn’t even feel the need to make a follow up appointment. She just said to call and return if Charlotte has any problems. We got back home at 12:00 and thankfully the car had kept Charlotte asleep most of the journey. Then Lucky and I walked out to get lunch and medicines for Della in Ataco. We returned at 1:00 and I stayed home with Della for the rest of the day. I rested and studied a bit more. At 7:00, Charlotte had a dirty diaper so I decided it was time for her first bath at home. I was hoping that the bath would wear her out and she would sleep well tonight. She slept from 9:00 PM until 12:00 AM and then was wide awake the rest of the night.