September 2020

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• Activities during the month of September: Besides our normal activities, Grandpa and DD visit for a couple days for the first time since Morgan was born; went to Dayspring for Labor Day weekend; went to a pool party with friends; my mom visited for a few days so Ricky and I could go to Morganton by ourselves for a day; took our Filipino neighbors to tour Morganton for a birthday treat and share at our home church; Aolani had several play dates with neighbors; went to church and lunch with friends; and, had neighbors over for dinner.

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Psalm 8:1-6
• Verses I memorized: John 1:15-18

August 2020

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• Activities during the month of August: Besides our normal activities, my mom visits for a couple days; I see a neurologist about the pain in my left ankle; a prayer team comes over to pray with me; the kids attend a VBS in SC; Ricky meets a mentor for lunch; the Bible study with our Filipino neighbors restarts; Aolani and I go to a new dentist (we both have cavities we were told!); we do EOG testing for both big kids; Ricky joins a neighborhood fantasy football league; we go with friends to their church and meet other friends from Wilmington for lunch; we begin third (Micaiah) and fifth (Aolani) grades; we make a day-trip to visit my paternal grandparents in Greensboro and get to see my brother and parents also; Aolani gets a cavity taken care of; and, we go to our local Farmers Market (we like it!)
• Morgan turned three months and instantly became more interactive and giggled for the first time! Another happy and easy baby! However, I am feeding him with the breast and bottle (breastmilk), which is quite a bit more work than I am used to from nursing only.
• We (mostly Aolani) are “teaching” Raphael: letter-tracing, activities from Slow & Steady, arts and crafts projects, and helping the big kids with their chores :) 

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Psalm 100:4-5
• Verses I memorized: John 1:11-14

July 2020

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• Activities during the month of July: I have my final postpartum appointment; Aolani has her final tutoring session; my mom visits for a couple weeks to help us get caught up on sleep; Ricky leads a Bible study for our neighbor’s family in the Philippines; we attend a Fourth of July celebration next door; we begin our almost weekly prayer walks in our neighborhood; kids go to JAARS for a play date; finish our James Bible study and break for a month; friends come help assemble a big trampoline from the grandparents; share dinner with neighbors a few times; attend a birthday party for one of Micaiah’s friends; big kids begin taking Taekwondo lessons taught by a neighbor outside; Ricky meets up with a fellow Asburian for lunch; we meet with a friends for lunch on our way to Morganton to visit our close friends, see their new baby, and attend a birthday party they put on for their July kiddos; and, Ricky began our missionary work with the International Media Services department (from home) since we got to 100% of our recurring financial support pledged by the end of June!! It was a buzzer beater!>

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Romans 8:1, Psalm 100:1-3
• Verses I memorized: John 1:6-10

June 2020

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• Activities during the month of June: We enjoy a 3-day visit from our dear friend Teresa, who currently lives in Florida; continue a Bible study with our Filipino neighbors; have two more prenatal appointments; Aolani still receives free tutoring; countless zoom meetings continue; a friend begins to come over monthly to help; spend a day with our neighbors at their house; Aolani spends the night with a friend in the area; Ricky’s mom visits us in our new home for a week and meets her fourth grandchild (toured our town, went to a cookout at our neighbors’, return to our old town for appointments and errands, and more outings); our good friend, Regis, comes for a weekend and we play 5-person Caverna; and, have a sweet couple over for dinner:) 

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Psalm 121:5-8
• Verses I memorized: John 1:1-5

May 2020

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• Activities during the month of May: We begin potty training Raphael, who does well until Morgan is born; continue a Bible study with our Filipino neighbors; have two more prenatal appointments; my parents visit to finish some final things to do getting the house settled before baby comes; take a meal to a woman who had COVID-19; I got to attend a virtual baby shower; Morgan debuted (a quick labor and delivery at home) on our anniversary 13th wedding anniversary, which happens to also be my dad’s birthday and my brother’s anniversary!; lots of postpartum appointments; meet with a lactation consultant to overcome reduced prolactin levels caused by the RLS drug I take; my mom arrived shortly after Morgan comes and stays for about two weeks; and, we have our first cookout at our Filipino neighbors’ house.

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Proverbs 18:9, Proverbs 16:24, Psalm 121:1-4
• Verses I memorized: I reviewed Psalm 103 for Morgan. 

Morgan’s Birth Story

In the days leading up to the labor and delivery, I had been having light contractions and lost several mucus plugs.

The night before the big event, the contractions were longer and harder than before,  and there were other signals for upcoming labor. So, I alerted the midwives, doulas and my mom. Then, I tried to go to bed early and get a little sleep in case it was "the night".

Sure enough, I woke us a little after midnight from strong contractions. I tried to go back to sleep, but the contractions would not let me. About an hour later at 1:30 a.m., I tried to wake Ricky up because the contractions weren’t going away, and I knew active labor had now begun.

He was able to get me up out of bed at 2 a.m. We went into the bathroom, got me ready and put me in the wheelchair. Then, Ricky got back in bed.  I began timing my contractions: 3-5 minutes apart, 1 minute long. So, I called everyone on my birth team. A half an hour later, Ricky got back up to feed me and give me electrolytes. This time he wouldn’t be going back to bed!

Soon after, both midwives and one doula trickled in. The contractions were picking up fast — in strength and length.

Around 4 o’clock that morning, I had to use the restroom. When Ricky tried to put me back in the wheelchair, my body would not have it, and I screamed. That scream woke Aolani. Transition had hit. I got Ricky to carry me straight to the bed. He laid me on my right side and then went to help the midwives set up the birthing pool while the doula sat beside me.

Aolani tried to stay in the bedroom, but she quickly lost interest and went into the living room. I had a few really hard contractions before feeling the urge to push.

I began yelling for Ricky to lift my leg. He appeared in the bathroom doorway holding a wrench and looking perplexed. Next thing you know, I was pushing Morgan out! After one or two pushes, I looked down, and he had slid out on my bed at 4:26 a.m.

One of the midwives rushed over and scooped him up and gave him to me. Aolani came in when she heard Morgan cry, and she even got to cut the umbilical cord about 10 minutes later. Once Morgan had a good latch and my placenta was delivered, then everything else went like clockwork.

We got to spend a good hour alone with the baby before the midwife examined him. During that time, the midwives cleaned up, and my mom arrived along with my second doula.

Morgan was wonderfully perfect with an Apgar score of 9 and weighing exactly 7 lbs and measuring 19.5 inches long. Morgan arrived on mine and Ricky‘s 13th wedding anniversary -- May 20th, 2020, which was 12 days before the due date, but the exact day for which we had been praying!

We were also blessed with a short labor, as I was only in active labor for three hours! And our other two sons slept through the whole thing! Haha! They woke up to find us with a little baby boy in our arms, as the midwives and doulas had already left. What a wonderful surprise :)

April 2020

• Activities during the month of April: Quarantine continues so we did a virtual home meeting on Facebook, have a lot of Zoom calls and meetings, and Aolani begins online tutoring :) We, also, took a five day trip to Dayspring to celebrate Ricky’s birthday with my parents.

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Psalm 16:3, Romans 6:23, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Isaiah 40:31
• Verses I memorized: I am reviewing Psalm 103 for this baby.

March 2020

• Activities during the month of March besides a lot unpacking fun: My mom returned home to convalescence; Ricky updated at the DMV; went to Morganton one day to run errands, meet people for dinner and church elders; met with our new housecleaner, a sweet Hispanic lady who comes every other week; had a family that we trained with in Florida two years ago over for dinner; Ricky met with a retired judge for lunch; met with the doula for the birth; the big kids got to attend a homeschool P.E. group twice; had two more families over for dinners; my parents came two separate weekends to help with more unpacking projects; the midwives come to our home to meet and have our first prenatal appointment; meet with our backup doula; the social distancing and quarantine begins mid-month; since we gave away our television screen when we moved, our family pizza/movie night has become pizza/game night (which we have all enjoyed; and, Ricky has joined his department’s prayer and staff meetings via Zoom.
• Raphael’s romps: calls poop ‘boop’ and toots are’doodies’ ; is all boy (loves being loud, vehicles, gun sounds, balls, kicking, is rough and tough, bugs, food, outdoors, dirt...); and, is very organized and neat :)

• School verses: Aolani and Micaiah -- Psalm 24:3-10
• Verses I memorized: I am reviewing Psalm 103 for this baby.

February 2020

• Activities during the month of February besides a lot unpacking fun: We had many guy friends help us do some minor remodeling of our new house, packing, moving, unloading, assembling furniture, painting...; two, long IKEA visits; Ricky shared with a group of pastors; Ricky’s dad and brother came for a visit and brought lots of used furniture, etc; celebrated Aolani’s birthday in Morganton at our friends’ house with a spa party and several of her friends; visited three local churches before the quarantine; got to go see Ken Fish; and, we got to attend a FamilyLife marriage retreat for free (as Wycliffe missionaries) one weekend in Myrtle Beach while my mom babysat the kids here at our house!

• School verses for the new school year: Aolani and Micaiah -- 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 24:1-2
• Verses I memorized: I finished memorizing Psalm 103 for this baby.

January 2020

• Other activities besides the normal during the month of January: We let the kids have two sleepovers and several play dates; went on a coffee and game date; my mom joined us for half the month to help me start packing; Ricky had countless meetings; visited many friends to say our final goodbyes; had two appointments with doctors and found out that this baby is a boy(!); our home church had a commissioning service sending us out as missionaries (see video); had my 20th spiritual birthday; closed on our first house; gave away our tv screen to a family; got to share at a church; enjoyed a final small group (party for us!); drove to our new home to pray over it; and, held a gratitude party to honor, thank and say goodbye to everyone who has helped us do life in Morganton through stories, food and gifts (mini bags of coffee) :)
• For Lent, Ricky is rising at 6:30 every morning and I am trying to guard my speech so as to not speak death but life over myself.

• School verses for the new school year: Aolani and Micaiah -- James 1:5
• Verses I memorized: I am working on memorizing Psalm 103 for this baby.

“And his name shall be called...”

Boy #3:

MORGAN ISRAEL DIMARTINO 

Morgan: We initially thought of Morgan as we wanted to memorialize our time living in Morganton. Morgan is a Welsh name that used to be a boy name but has become unisex (we know two boys named Morgan and two girls named Morgan). It means “sea-chief” or “sea-defender.” We love that because God has really been moving our hearts for the sea peoples, like those in Melanesia, the Sentinel Islands, and elsewhere. Lastly, Micaiah really wanted another name to begin with ‘M’ since there are two ‘A’ names and two ‘R’ names in the family :)

Israel: All of our children’s middle names are from Aidan’s side of the family, to give them honor. Aidan’s brother is named Jacob, and God changed the Jacob-of-the-Bible's name to Israel after Jacob had spent the night wrestling with God (Genesis 32:22-28). Hence, Israel means “perseveres with/triumphant with God." Also, we wanted to keep the theme going by including a Hebrew name in each boy’s name.

DiMartino: "Di" is Italian for "of, from" and "Martino" is allegedly a mountain in Italy from whence the ancestors originate. "Martino" is derived from "Mars," the Roman god of war.

It’s our easiest kid name to pronounce ;)

So, our family consists of AAA for the girls and RMRM for the boys!

Merry CHRISTmas!

2019

I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10 (NLT)
 

So thankful for Jesus, Abundant Life!

Ricky, Aidan, Aolani (almost 10), Micaiah (8) & Raphael (2)

• I am just not going to be able to get to write my annual Advent post this year. 

• I am now over 17 weeks pregnant with our fourth child, and I feel great! Just felt the baby move for the first time yesterday :) First trimester was rough — nausea, vomiting, sinus infection, unable to ride in a car, craved cold stuff like popsicles, couldn’t handle the smell of coffee... Due date: 6/1/20! 

• Buying our first house and getting a loan is way more work than I anticipated! My mom will help me pack during January, and we move in February only two hours south of here, near our work at JAARS :)

Grateful to be Thankful

• Other activities besides the normal during the month of November: We had some neighbor girls over for a little Bible study; Ricky’s dad and brother visited, and they all went mountain biking; a friend visited overnight; the big kids had some play dates with friends; and, we went to Dayspring for five days and celebrated Thanksgiving with my family :)
• Aolani told us that she was playing the persecution on her electric piano (percussion) :)
• Raphael’s romps: He began to put two words together or say long, unintelligible sentences to ask me for permission to do something;) ; completely weaned this month; got his first haircut from a friend; began to brush his teeth and pretends to spit; he loves to come into our bed in the morning and get me up with a kiss; and, freaked out one night because there was a hair spider in his bed that he thought was a bug!

• School verses for the new school year: Aolani and Micaiah -- Revelation 3:20, Joshua 24:15, Matthew 6:9-13
• Verses I memorized: I am working on memorizing Psalm 103 for this baby.

Family Goes Out, Mommy Stays In

• Other activities apart from the normal during October: my mom visited and treated us to a pumpkin patch; I began to feel the first trimester woes and got a nasty sinus infection; we started our next year of school; Ricky participated in a mountain biking race — got last place and a flat tire but had a great time; Raphael turned two; and, Ricky took the kids to a Reformation Day party.

• We started school this month, but I forgot which ones we learned... I will document them with November’s :)

Summer Sweetness

• Other activities apart from the normal or our trip during September: we had a cookout with our neighbors, had a home meeting at our friends’ house in Hickory; Ricky helped a friend run his coffee cart; our church had its annual summer gathering and baptism; Ricky’s mom visited (and we did a lot!); and, Aolani went on a little girls retreat with her best friend to the Outer Banks.

     

• Trip quote log:

“Why did we bring the baseball bat on this trip?” Ricky 

“Is there a plug back here?” Micaiah

“The only way to get him out of there is to say, ‘Nunna, nunna!’” Aolani, about Raphael and food

“If you want to keep people subjugated, the last thing you place in their hands is a Bible. There’s nothing more radical, nothing more revolutionary, nothing more subversive against injustice and oppression than the Bible.” - Desmond Tutu

“Daddy, we have a problem. I flushed the toilet and it’s overflowing.” Aolani

“Look, there’s a princess!” Aolani, about a quinceñera (a party for a Mexican girl when she turns 15)

“I told you over and over, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to bring it? You love it.’” Aolani

“Just go. No one’s going to care. You’re a little boy. Just go.” Ricky

"It’s not coming out. I don’t know why." Micaiah

“Are we meeting anybody here?” Aolani “No.” Ricky “Oh, that’s boring. I like meeting people for lunch.” Aolani

“Wawa baby.” Raphael

“Dad, don’t you love how Micaiah says ‘flesh’ instead of ‘body’? I love it.” Aolani

“You Christians are lucky. You can worship God in a language you understand.” Don Barr quoting Muslim Indonesian woman

“What was that!?!” Ricky, about any noise in the car

Summer Son Enjoyment

• First week of August: My mom took Micaiah home with her to spend his week alone with the grandparents; we loved on Aolani by letting her have a sleepover with her best friend, watching Ever After together, playing games and more; went to a pre-wedding reception picnic at a park; and, we had a breakfast, two lunches and a dinner with friends.
• Second week of August: We met my parents halfway to trade the big kids and let Aolani have her week alone with the grandparents; we loved on Micaiah by letting him have two play dates with his best friend, taking him and Raphael to the the movie theater for a family showing of the live action Lion King, playing games and more; Ricky took me out for a lunch date one day after we got something notarized; and, met my parents halfway again to get our girl!
• Third week of August: We went over to friends for dinner; attended a rehearsal dinner for a wedding that Aolani got to read 1 Corinthians 13 in the next day (she was so excited and did a beautiful job!); Micaiah had a play date one afternoon; had a cookout with some close friends; Ricky received some farm animal training to help out our friends and then he went kayaking again with his guys’ night group (not in the dark this time!); spent a day with my aunt and uncle and went to their pool; and, the kids and cooked meals for another family one afternoon :)
• Fourth week of August: We went to Charlotte for a few days and met with several friends; had a friend come over to babysit all day one day while Ricky took me to court to witness for a friend (but ended up not needing to), so we went on another lunch date; Ricky met a mentor for lunch; and, he took the big kids to play laser tag for their first time as a surprise for completing another school year:)
• Raphael's romps: U I have missed documenting so many milestones and notes here! He was really attached to Mama this month but usually it’s Dada; is learning his body parts; loves balls and is naturally athletic (started kicking on his own a while ago; and, really started to adore trains. He likes sleep a lot and will even run to his bed if he’s really tired!!

• School verses: Micaiah -- Proverbs 1:7 ; Aolani — Romans 8:28, 31
• Verses I memorized: 1 Peter 4:13-14, Psalm 103:1-2

Fish in the Water

• First week of July: This month started off with a bang! We had a friend over for dinner; finally got a new car (savings and a loan and trade-in) after three visits and named our new black Dodge Caravan (2018) Ebony; had to take Micaiah to the doctor for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever after a tick infection; visited our Romanian friends on Independence Day and went swimming in their pool; Ricky’s dad and fiancée Denise visited for a few days; Ricky and I attended a graduation party without kids; and, Micaiah had another freak accident and got a deep wooden splinter under his big toenail when he hit his foot with his sledgehammer! Poor boy had a rough week :(
• Second week of July: I got my bloodwork; Ricky’s mom visited for a week flying in from Washington state; she stayed in a hotel, and the big kids alternated spending the night with her; she babysat so Ricky and I could go to the movie theater; Aolani and I attended a bridal shower; the kids swam in the hotel pool several times; and, we all went to a kids’ birthday party and the movie theater.
• Third week of July: A friend visited overnight; Aolani woke one morning with a swollen face and eyes swollen shut (an allergic reaction to poison ivy); and, we shared several meals with friends.
• Fourth week of July: Ricky shared at our church; the kids began lessons, for the third year (they love them!); we met with friends several times for meals; the kids had a play date; we shared at a Guatemalan church; and, we crashed another church’s summer picnic ;)
• Fifth week of July: My mom visited this week; swim lessons continued and finished this week; a friend came over for dinner; and, Ricky went kayaking down the Catawba River with six other guys, which turned into an adventurous, epic trip (mostly due to nightfall)!
• There are several things that we that happen almost every (normal) week: family pizza/movie night, church, farmers market, flea market, small group gathering (biweekly), housecleaning lady helps (biweekly), a friend helps cook (weekly or biweekly depending), a friend helps some and brings her kids to play, grocery stores, and meeting with our Wycliffe coach (plus our daily routine tasks).
• Raphael's romps: I am still nursing him, but only before bed and when he wakes in the morning (this is the big one). I have mostly weaned him from other times of the day and night the past few months. Raphael will grab his diaper to tell me he pooped. He makes this loud dinosaur growl/wail when he is extremely upset or distraught. He points to clouds and calls them balls :)

• School verses: Micaiah -- Psalm 150, John 14:23 ; Aolani -- Matthew 16:24-25, Psalm 37:4-6
• Verses I memorized: Deuteronomy 32:2-4, 1 Peter 4:12

Revolving Doors

• April: We had lots of guests, dinners and cookouts, taxes, our birthdays, annual cabin adventure with friends, and my mom coming to help us prepare for our 8-week trip around North Carolina (and a little into South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky).
• Ricky’s social media posts will have to do for our recent 8-week trip around North Carolina: Instagram and YouTube. I need to upload the pictures from Instagram of our trip because we took most of the pictures Ricky’s phone, which died during the trip.
• Last week of June: My mom helped us unpack and get settled; a friend watched the baby while we all went to see Aladdin; Ricky taught VBS at a local church; we had three other appointments and four parties, including a moving party as our church finally got to move into its building (after meeting in a high school for 18 years)!
• Raphael's romps: His vocabulary is beginning and growing! First words (not in order) — no, stop, don’t, wawa (water), nunna (he calls all food banana), mama, dada, whoa, duhdoh (all animals are dogdog),wats dat?, meme (Mommy’s milk supply), bawl (ball), buh (bug), book (but the ‘k’ is silent)...

• School verses: Micaiah -- Psalm 23:5-6, Joshua 1:9, Matthew 7:7, John 14:6, John 13:34, Philippians 2:14-15, Psalm 119:11 ; Aolani — Acts 17:25, Matthew 6:20-21, Matthew 6:31-34, Mark 12:30-31
• Verses I memorized: 2 Chronicles 7:14, Matthew 28:19-20, Rev 1:5-8, Isaiah 50:4-5, Titus 3:3-7
•  Trip quote log:

“Mommy, can I bring my whole Lego bin... my whole big Lego bin? Can I Mommy? Can I bring that?” Micaiah 

“Her face talks.” friend MJ, about Aolani. 

"Is this Florida?" Micaiah

"Mommy, I think me and Micaiah got Daddy’s silly genes and not your serious genes." Aolani 

"Daddy, I think I’m going to be a smart butt. I don’t know that I am, but I think I am." Micaiah

“All I heard in the car was [crunch] [crunch] [crunch] [crunch].” Aolani

“Mommy, do you know what day it is?” Micaiah “Is it the day I die?” Aidan (wishfully)

“That’s my daddy. He’s hilarious.” Aolani 

“You’re trying to make Alli [our friend] lose her brain.” Micaiah  

"Have you ever killed anyone, Ms. M?” Aolani 

“I’m becoming a night owl, but I don’t want to. I’m trying to stop.” Micaiah 

"Daddy, I know where everyone is going to sleep, okay? I got sleeping rituals." Aolani 

“I’m about as tall as collegers. People that go to school are short. People that do school at home are tall.” Micaiah

"I’m a good forest doctor." Aolani 

“I can’t wait till a robber comes to our house.” Micaiah

"Daddy, does bargain mean you don’t want to listen and you wanna throw up? That’s what Micaiah said." Aolani 

“Now I know it doesn’t take two people to lift those blueberries.” friend MB

“Every time I wake up in the morning and I watch TV, I don’t like it. I get lazy.” Micaiah 

"My real name is just too hard. You can call me Lizzy.” Aolani 

"I’m a grown-up boy, Daddy. I don’t like watching TV, I’m picking up, I'm obeying, and I get my sleep. Watching TV gets me bored." Micaiah 

"Did you get Micaiah’s diaper bag?" friend MB

“This guy—he’s a later.” Aolani 

"I love watching his little feet run." Micaiah 

"You mean, I can do that (kick someone in the nuts) when someone robs me? Aolani "Yeah." Daddy "I can’t wait until someone robs me." Aolani 

"You guys are such good parents." Micaiah 

"Mommy’s breath smells like strawberries. Your breath smells like a wrap with pickles that’s been overcooked." Aolani

"It’s just life, Daddy. It’s just life." Micaiah, on losing his thumbuster AGAIN 

"Places that end in 'world' are way better than places that end in 'land'." Aolani 

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

• First week of February: My mom returned home with us to stay for a week and help us get unpacked somewhat; she babysat so we could go visit friends for the Super Bowl; a friend came over to cut our hair, mine too (I had a foot whacked off to donate to Children with Hair Loss— my ninth hair donation); and, we all went to the chiropractor and dentist.
• Second week of February: This was the week to reconnect and play with all of our friends — two sleepovers, small group, 2 play dates, a dinner with friends, and a lice invasion (we are pretty sure that we got it from a house in Georgia.)
• Third week of February: A friend comes over for game and pizza and movie; Ricky shares at church while I stay home with the two little boys with sinus infections; Aolani celebrates her ninth birthday by putting on a rose party for two neighbor girls (she even made her own cupcakes!); and, our friend briefly returned to comb out any remaining nits.
• Fourth week of February: We had a very relaxing visit with Ricky dad and brother and stayed home; the big kids hung out with friends all day after church while Ricky took me to a bridal shower in Black Mountain; we shared dinner twice with friends; Ricky gave Aolani her first tennis lesson (Ricky really wanted to start P.E. with the kids); and, Ricky took the boys to the doctor for non-emergencies (six weeks of hoarseness for the baby and a huge, stubborn plantar wart for Micaiah).
• Raphael's romps: He loves Ricky and calling out Dada for him; when he is done nursing, he will sit up in my lap and stretch his arms up to Aolani to get him; adores bananas; rubs everywhere; does sign language for milk; and, wakes up once or twice a night still :(
• We can really see God’s hand of protection on us during the trip now as we look back retrospectively. On the trip, we avoided bad illness requiring a doctor’s visit, emergencies, and contracting lice (even though we stayed at a house with lice). Yet within two weeks of being home, we take the boys to the doctor, Aolani has to go to Urgent Care for a deep gash needing a tetanus shot, all three males get sinus infections, and we all get... lice! (Lice is super annoying, requiring 20 hot loads of laundry, lots of combing and showers with lice shampoo, quarantining stuffed animals, and sleeping in shower caps twice a week apart...)

• School verses: Micaiah -- Isaiah 55:6-7, Proverbs 15:1, Psalm 23:1 ; Aolani -- Isaiah 26:3-4, Matthew 12:34
•  Verses I memorized: Jeremiah 17:9, 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, Isaiah 40:29

How to be a Road Warrior

"I cannot possibly imagine taking a cross-country road trip with little kids (+ nursing baby and wheełchair) for almost five months... How did you do it??"

Besides being crazy and motivated, here is our strategy and advice:

First thing first, any road trip must be saturated with prayer!

The next thing I did was let people know of our upcoming trip. Then, I used a free mapping site (batchgeo.com) to map every address I had. I used that map to create a general trajectory of our path and sent that out to our contacts to let them know that this wild dream was becoming a planned reality.

Now, I did not contact people individually far in advance to schedule dates and times. I only made plans one to two weeks out (ideally). I would say about one out of three friends couldn’t meet or host us. When that happened, we had backup options to avoid a bunch of hotel expense! We are members of A Candle in the Window, a Christian hospitality network with families all over the country (and world)! Or, we would use a Wycliffe hospitality roster that has families all over the U.S. willing to host Wycliffe missionaries. Out of the 144 nights on the road, we only paid for two hotels (and not out of necessity, but by choice). 

We learned that the optimal time to stay with anyone, besides parents, is one or two nights. More than that felt like an intrusion, no matter what they said or how close you are to them.

One big rule: we tried to limit the amount of driving we did in one day. Our goal was four hours, knowing that could take us five to six hours to get to our destination. We usually took one bigger stop (gas, eat, potty, diaper, nurse) and one quick stop to potty. We tried to stop only if the baby was awake ;) And, we did not drive every day! Limiting our time in the car each day was a huge sanity-saver and made this endeavor more manageable :)

Traveling with kids: Honestly, they took a bunch of naps. When they were awake, they could think, pray, sing, talk, play with car games or toys, or look out the window... We also listened to a lot of audiobooks, Bible dramas, and music :) Oh, and snacks, lots and lots of snacks!

And, lastly, lots and lots of PRAYER.