A Concerted Effort

So, I'm giving this blogging thing another try. I have come to own the fact that I will never be the pastor's wife who artfully explains entire passages of scripture, details an extensive list of home projects that I have accomplished...all before lunch or poetically describe the many strange and yet wonderful things that my children do each day. BUT I do think that I could make more of an effort to keep my friends all over the world a little more 'connected' to our family and post pictures that only those same friends could appreciate.

In order to make my first post 'back' a little less verbose, I have decided to summarize some the last 6 months of our lives in bullet form...

Recently, our family has:

- Moved from Omaha, Nebraska (USA) to Cape Town, South Africa. We did this because JD took the job of Africa Director for the Acts 29 church planting network (www.acts29network.org)
- Found a house to live in, which we truly enjoy and found a car (no small feat, let me assure you)
- Welcomed a new member to our family six weeks later...this addition's name is Sloane and she is now 5 months old
- (JD has) traveled back to the States, Uganda twice and is about to leave for Zambia in a few weeks
- We have celebrated Cohen's second birthday...party to happen this weekend
- had a summer,(winter here) intern from Minneapolis, Minnesota live with us for almost three months (we just said goodbye last night)

Other than this, we have done a few trips around South Africa and generally worked on adjusting to life in a new home. Below, you can peruse some of our latest pictures of the kids...enjoy!


It's like Cohen doesn't realize that this face is a complete admission of guilt...


What I truly love about this shot is that it's taken in the DEAD OF WINTER...man, we truly do live in paradise


Birthday Boy. Not sure if the 'smile' on Cohen's face is as a result of the new basketball hoop he got for his birthday or because he's seething inside at being made to wear his dad's latest Ugandan purchase


My pretty...teething

Sloane Adine Senkbile

Saturday we welcomed our little daughter into our lives and could not be happier! Sloane was born at 11:50 in the morning, weighed in at at 7 lbs and 6 oz and was 20 inches in length. Her arrival was a little shorter than her big brother - 3 hours from the first contraction to the cutting of the umbilical chord, which Michele was thankful for! (Especially after big brother, Cohen's, 19-hour journey)

We came home from the hospital the next day at lunch time and have been settling into life as four. Cohen is still trying to acclimate to not being an only child anymore. Wrestling and running are very much a part of our lives around here with a little boy and I think he is somewhat confused at this not being much of a part of Sloane's routine yet :) All in all, he is doing really well and has been going on a lot of 'adventures' with dad during the day while mom tries to get the hang of nursing again.

Baby girl looks much like her brother did when he was born...a head full of jet-black, slightly curly hair, dark eyes and skin, and very long fingers and toes.

More details about life for the Senkbiles to follow...but really we know that, all of you are just interested in seeing what she looks like, so here you go, enjoy!


Mom and Sloane about two minutes after she was born


Very excited to be weighed and measured :)


20 minutes old and waiting to take a bath


Sloane's first bath, at about 25 minutes old


Daddy and his princess ... quite ridiculous already!


Big brother Cohen trying his best to give 'gentle love'...

More pictures of our first few days at home, to come...just thought we would get the first couple on there for everyone to see.

Thanks for all your prayers and support, from all over the world ... literally!

Silly Mommy Part II

Note to self: this is why we take a bath and put on our pajamas after dinner. And, this is why when mommy rolls out pizza dough, she should make sure that little boys have been removed from the table before turning around to put the pizza in the oven...

...Silly mommy...

Chores

So, we've been thinking for a while that Cohen has had like 14, almost 15, months of free room and board. I mean, we're all about him feeling welcome and all that, but we want the kid to grow up to be a man... so, we're going to get started on the whole chores thing. Vacuuming first...

(sorry, couldn't get the video to rotate)

Ahh...Fall...

For the ten years that I have lived in this country, I have tried hard to maintain my South African identity, knowing that I would probably eventually live there again. Sometimes this has involved resisting 'absorbing' too many American traditions, or having too much of American culture rub off on me. This is not because I dislike America, or any of my American friends, but simply because I want to never forget where I have come from and the traditions and cultures that have shaped my identity as a South African citizen.

Having said that, though, one American tradition that I have no intention of resisting... the annual fall trip to the pumpkin patch. Now that we have a son, this is even more. I love the hay rack ride, the pumpkin picking, the hot chocolate, the petting zoo, all of it. Last fall we took Cohen on his first trip to the pumpkin patch and since he was 6 weeks old and it was about thirty degrees outside, it was not a resounding success.

This year, however, was a different story. It was a beautiful autumn day outside, seventy degrees, and now that Cohen is 14 months old and walking around (and apparently adores animals), this year was wonderful fun. Enjoy the pics...

This Just In...

Baby Senkbile number two is due February 2009. Last Friday we found out that Cohen is going to have a little sister. I must confess, I am more excited about the news than I thought I would be...always thought I would be a boy mommy, but obviously that's not the case. So, we will gladly be accepting any or both of the following:

1. Advice on how to be a girl mommy
2. Girl names. Our list of boy names is enormous, sadly not the case with girl names

Little Smasher

Today was Cohen's first birthday party, which we are sure we enjoyed more than he did. Not because he wasn't having fun, but more because we think he was completely oblivious to the fact that we had gathered in his honor. One thing to which he was not oblivious, though, was his 'little smasher'...his own personal birthday cake. Words cannot describe, so we've just included a video clip - enjoy!