update

We are all doing well. We will soon be leaving Peru, and so for the next few weeks we will be getting ready to go. We will be going to Iowa next month.

After Andrew was born, going to the U.S. seemed impossible. Having to get visas for Andrew & Eliana, and that is so expensive and difficult to do. But what is impossible for us is possible for God. I soon learned that Andrew was eligible to be declared a U.S. citizen, and so he was given his U.S. passport. We wanted to go to the U.S. and atleast visit, but did not know how to go about getting Eliana some sort of visa. We thought about a tourist visa, and just stay in Iowa for a while, and then returning to Peru. I know we prayed for guidance and help, and God did just that in his time. God gave Eliana an immigrant visa. This will be a very special Christmas, because Paul, my sister and her family, my parents and Eliana, Andrew, and I will all be together for Christmas. I don´t know when the last time me, Rhonda, and Paul were all together with my parents at the same time. So this is very exciting, and we will have to take a photo of all of us together.

Andrew keeps growing. He is starting to learn how to push himself up on something, and straighten his legs, and so his is kind of in a push up position. He likes to throw his toys. When he was in his walker, he was hitting his rattle real hard on the top of the walker, and broke it. He also broke another by throwing it on the floor. It is funny, because he will throw his toys on the floor, but then right away want to go and look for it. He used to always wear a hat, and I remember one time we were talking to my parents on webcam, and I took Andrews hat off so they could see his hair, and he started crying, and so we put the hat back on him. But now his hats don´t stay on very long, because he pulls them off.

Andrew has both front teeth on the bottom, and one on top is coming in. He does really good, and I think does not have the pain or discomfort that a lot of other babies have when they are teething.

Oh, This morning I was laying on the bed, and Andrew had crawled onto my back and he saw my ear, and bit my ear. And with those teeth of his, that hurt. If it hurts when he bites your finger, you know it will hurt when he bites the bony part of your ear. But of course he just wanted something to chew on, especially now because he is teething.

Everyone get ready to welcome Eliana & Andrew to the U.S.

Here is Andrew in his new stroller, that we got for our trip to the U.S. Instead of carrying him in the airports, he can be in this, and I imagine he will sleep in it. That bar is to help keep him from falling out, but he likes to put his feet on it. The first time he did it he laughed, and has been doing it since.

Look what he is doing!

That little guy, he loves to be stood up. I think he has wanted to get a hold of that stuff on that shelf for a long time. He likes to kick that shelf through the bars on the crib. Today he got on his knees, and reached up to get to the stuff on the shelf. His cold medicine, and desitin, and all that sort of stuff is up there. I helped him get on his feet, and he was then able to stay stood up by himself. He is so active, when he gets to walking, I don´t know if I am going to be able to catch him.

I like to read David Wilkerson´s blog, and I really find his posts encouraging. I think that David Wilkerson spends a lot of time in prayer, and that is why he is able to write what he does. He strengthens my faith, and living in a world that is spinning more and more out of control, that is actually what we all need... a strong faith.

May God have the glory...

Today Eliana had her visa interview in the embassy, and she was approved for an immigrant visa to go to the United States. An immigrant visa is for moving to and living in the United States.

Usually the process takes atleast 9 months, and can take much more than that. But for Eliana, it took much less time. It took the help of my parents, and a law office, and God helping and blessing each step of the way. Truly it is God that has opened the door. Everything is happening in God´s time, and I can see that it is true that everything is beautiful in Gods time.

Eliana and I are excited to go to the United States. I am looking forward to showing Eliana and Andrew my country. I am also glad that my parents can know my family. They have waited a long time for this, and it will be a very special time.

describing Andrew

I usually post photos and videos, but haven´t been doing much writing on here. So today instead of photos, I will write about Andrew, and so you can get an idea of what he is like. Well my parents probably know about all of this, because I tell them on the phone and in emails.

Andrew is probably most known for his smiles. He loves to smile. He smiles at us, smiles at Elianas family, smiles to people on the street, and in the buses. And when he smiles at people, they smile back. It only takes him a second to make someone smile. Some people call him ¨Randall¨, because when my Dad was here, he was very friendly to everyone and smiled a lot, and people remember that.
Really is incredible how fast Andrew is growing. He is doing some crawling now. He also has 2 teeth on the bottom. He used to chew on his hand all the time, but once his teeth started coming in, he would chew on his hand, and then cry, because it hurt. So he has pretty much stopped that, and instead likes to chew on other people. He will grab my hand, and try to get it in his mouth. Sometimes I will let him chew on my hand, but usually it doesn´t last long, because it really does hurt. The other day I was carrying him, and he saw an opportunity, and bit my arm, and I was quick to get it out of his mouth. It felt like 2 little needles went into my arm.
Andrew has quite a few toys, and even the new train that is on the last post, but it doesn´t take him long to lose interest in a new toy. For example, tonight he had all his toys to play with, all bright colors, and different shapes, and some made music and lit up, but instead he saw that I was laying there writing in my note book, and he was so excited, and crawled over as fast as he could so he could play with my notebook. I told Eliana... ¨he will get tired of it in a moment¨. But I waited, and he just wanted to play and play with it. The only thing that would take his attention away from my notebook was Elianas handheld mirror that he likes, but usually can´t play with. And so I went back to writing in my notebook, and put a pillow in front of me so he would not see what I was doing. But before long, Andrew was staring at me, and letting out some yells and I think he was probably saying ¨Daddy, what ya got there?¨ And soon he was headed my way to see what I was hiding on the other side of the pillow. I guess what Andrew likes the most is what we don´t usually want him playing with. He really likes to take my hat off my head, and even has a special noise he makes when he is doing it. He screams, but a different scream.
Andrew is very loved by Elianas family. I guess you could say he just lights up the room, and lights up peoples hearts. Everyone knows we are soon going to the United States, and it will be very hard for Elianas family to say goodbye to Eliana, Andrew, and I. But at the same time I know they are happy for us, and also happy for my family, because they can finally meet Eliana and Andrew. I think is is amazing how God is preparing everything, and I am glad that everything is going according to God´s time. In God´s time, everything is special, and God makes everything fit together perfectly like a completed puzzle.
If I had only one wish for Andrew, it would be that he could know how much God loves him, and that Andrew could be full of God´s love, and it would overflow to others. I can´t think of anything more important than that.
Well that was going to be the end of the post, but I will tell you another story. You know how a dog guards his bone and will growl when someone gets near it? Well that reminded me of Andrew the other day. Andrew has some shoes, and he likes to chew on the shoe strings. Well when we are getting him ready to leave the house, we will get those shoes out, and he will see them, and want to play with them. But once he has one in his hand, you sure don´t want to take it away from him. I learned that lesson, because I took the shoes from him to put them on his feet, and he cried, and I think in his mind he was thinking that he had just been robbed. Even giving the shoes back to him would not calm him down. He was just upset. Eliana is smarter than me, and she will get some of his other shoes, and give them to him, and so she can get those shoes to put on his feet. But anyways, I believe it was the next day, he was playing with his shoes again, and I was nearby, and he was like a dog guarding his bone, and when I sat next to him, he was letting out some yells, because he thought I might take his shoe from him. But I calmed his fears by getting the matching shoe, and giving it to him, so he had both shoes.
Well one more thing Andrew likes is pretty much any type of peek-a-boo. He will lay on the bed, and I will get down on the floor, and crawl around the sides of the bed, and pop my head up, and he will laugh. But I can´t get low enough, so he can see where I crawl, and whenever I pop up, he is usually already looking my direction.
I believe if it wasn´t for Andrew having such a good mother, he would be a very different baby. Andrew is certainly a very blessed baby because he has a wonderful mother, and Eliana is not just a good mother, but also a wonderful wife to me.

a new toy

It´s not that Andrew is always smiling... I just like to take photos of him smiling, and it is not hard to make him smile. Andrew got his first wrapped present. It is a train, and you have to put the different shapes through the holes. The walker toy that he has, we won´t be able to take that to the U.S., and so that will be going to Grace, Andrew´s cousin who is even younger than he is. And after that, it will go to a different baby, another cousin who is expected to be born in February.

scrapblog

I really like scrapblog, an online site where you can upload photos, choose from different themes, like I did below, or create your own starting from a blank page. The theme I chose below was from baby einstein, and I just added the photos, and deleted a few things, and this is it. You can make as many pages as you want, and then publish it so everyone can see, and also download it to your computer, and even order your scrapbook, and they will print it, and make it into a book.

dancing

crawling for cookies

Sorry, I know the video didn´t come out well. My digital camera is getting old, and has some problems, but I think its going to make it until we go to the U.S. The photos came out pretty well, just the video didn´t. But in the video you can see how Andrew is starting to crawl. He will do anything to get his hands on a cookie!

We had no idea that Andrew liked it when the bed is moved. Actually the other night we found that out by mistake, because I moved the bed a little, and it made him laugh.

a new favorite photo

Mi bebe durmiendo a lado de sus amigos Yoyo & Blue

Here is Andrew sleeping after a day of playing. He is sleeping beside the monkeys Yo-yo and Blue, and his snail, and his book that he likes very much, and his ball. Now he is very interested in things other than his toys, like the baby wipes case, or Tim´s hat, or his shoes, etc. When he see´s something of interest, he gets very excited, and will lunge for it.