Jonny and Lisa Lobel

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Carter is six months old today. We tried to take our monthly picture, but he’s getting too big for the blanket and we didn’t have great light, so when we cropped it, it got all fuzzy. But he’s still cute! 

At six months, Carter is still nursing 5 times a day (sometimes 6 on a difficult day) and also eats solid food once a day. He loves food. He’s only had carrots and avocado so far, but he ate them both with no problems. Green beans are next on our list to try. 

At his appointment last month, he was 7.2 kg. He is wearing size three (5-9kg) diapers (I think the size might be different in the states) and mostly 3-6 month clothing. There are a couple unusually large 3 month items and a few smaller 9 month pieces that he also wears. He easily rolls from his back to his tummy, but hasn’t figured out how to get back yet unless he’s in his crib where he can use the sides to help him roll back. He varies in sleeping position depending on how long it takes him to fall asleep. His three main positions are on his back, on his side, or on his tummy with his bum up in the air. No matter what position he’s in, he generally sleeps through the night from 8 or 8:30 until 7ish. He still takes about 4 naps a day, but the number and lengths vary based on our activities during the day. 

He babbles a lot, mainly using the “b” sound in a variety of forms. He interacts well with people and smiles a lot, but he tends to be more on the serious side. When we go someplace different, he observes what’s happening for a while before he starts to contribute. He continues to melt my heart every day when he smiles at me when I walk into the room, stops to talk to me while nursing, or just cuddles up in my arms when he needs a break. 

I love this little man.

Carter has been rolling from back to front quite comfortably for a week now. At the beginning he occasionally had a bit of trouble depending on how close he was to the furniture.

Of course now that he’s rolling, he sometimes gets into a bit of “trouble” in his crib. 

It is amazing how big he is getting and how capable his is of so many things. sigh… he’s growing so fast. yes, i’m one of those mothers.

In other news, Jonny is on a hiking trip with his dad and brother, so Carter and I have been on our own for a week so far. I’m so thankful for good friends to hang out with around here. God has truly blessed me in the friend department. We definitely miss Jonny while he’s gone though. I think that Carter even notices that his daddy is away.

My brother and sister-in-law are coming to stay with us for a few days next week. I am really looking forward to their visit. They have never visited before, and I always feel as if I don’t get enough time with them when we’re in the States. So now we’ll have a few days of uninterrupted us time. We’ll go back to Prague with them where they will fly to London and Carter and I will fly to meet Jonny, his dad, and brother for a bit of a vacation.

Just for fun, here is Carter at 2 weeks and at 4 months. 

The best way to get people to come visit is to have a baby. Seriously. Since Carter was born, almost three months ago, we’ve already had five visitors. Carter has enjoyed meeting his extended family, and we have enjoyed the company and the help.

Visitor number 1: Pipa (aka grandfather on Carter’s dad’s side)

Visitor number 2: Grandma Debi (aka Grandmother on Carter’s mom’s side)

Visitor number 3: Aunt Mandy 

Visitor number 4: Aunt Beata (technically, she was the first visitor also, because she was here when Carter showed up 3 weeks early)

Visitors number 5: Opa and T.C.

We have two more scheduled visits on the calender. Aunt Erica arrives the day after Opa and T.C. leave this weekend. Uncle Justin and Aunt Judy will visit Carter and me in August while Jonny is hiking with his dad and brother. We can’t wait to see them!

People have asked me what the biggest change has been since Carter arrived. It’s hard to pick just one thing. In reality, everything has changed. How could it not? We have a baby! And yet, at the same time, everything feels completely normal. I almost feel as if it has been this way for ages and that Carter has been a part of our lives for much, much longer than a month.

One specific thing that seems to have changed is my capacity to love. Almost the instant that Carter was born I felt as if I loved more than I ever had before. I never realized that I could love someone this much in such a short amount of time. It was as if the floodgates broke and it all came rushing out. And it seems that my love for him is continuing to grow. 

I feel as if loving this little boy is what God created me to do.

At a month old, Carter…

… enjoys tummy time.
… can hold his head up while on his tummy
…. has had many visitors, including his Grandpa Lobel.
… makes eye contact.
… eats every 3 hours (more or less).
… has peed or pooped in the middle of a diaper change more times than not.
… loves taking a bath.
… makes many precious and hilarious faces.

And so we celebrate the one month birthday of our little boy.

Born March 12th, 2011

Click for more pictures

For this year’s New Canaan Society annual retreat, I made my shortest trip to the States ever.  As we expect our baby within weeks, I simply couldn’t risk spending more time.

The first stops were Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where I visited Philadelphia Biblical University and Lancaster Bible College in an attempt to make connections and open doors for BMA students to study at Christian universities in America.  Accompanying me on his first visit to America was the pastor of our local church in Frydlant, Lubo Hlavacka.  He was amazed by the number of squirrels running around.

My father, brother, and assorted friends picked us up in Pennsylvania and drove with us to Hot Springs, Virginia.  Men from all over America meet at NCS to seek friendship with God and friendship with each other.  I spoke at the NCS Winston Salem chapter in February and got to see those guys, along with many others at the annual retreat.

NCS 2011 Guys

My brother helped me run a promo from the BMA ministry table the first night.  We offered a free glass of Radegast, Frydlant’s local brew, if people signed up to receive our monthly email and pray for us.  About forty people signed up (and got a free beer).

God stirred my heart throughout the conference.  I felt challenged to revisit my motivations in serving God.  I don’t want to simply be a faithful worker or a steadfast sin-abstainer.  Friendship with God, with Jesus, should be the emphasis of my life.  Other relationships, living righteously, and ministry will all find their proper place as I focus on simply knowing God deeply.  I think Paul realized this when he talked about knowing Christ and being found in him in Phillipians 3.

Seeing family, being touched by the Holy Spirit, worshiping in English, and sharing a weekend with so many men of God were all great reasons to fly to the States for the weekend.  I hope this is the start of a whole new level of friendship with God.

Last week a good friend of mine came over to hang out, and she offered to help put together the IKEA dresser we got for our baby’s room. I was super excited about it, because it otherwise wouldn’t have been put together for another week or so. This way I was finally able to wash and put away the little baby clothes we have. It has been really great to have time to get things like this done and spend time with friends.

I have also had time to do some other projects that were put on the back burner. I organized some of my kitchen drawers (there’s still more to do) and almost finished a sewing project that I had been wanting to make. I made a set of rice filled numbers and a matching bag to carry them in. The finished set will also include a plus and minus sign so that kids can practice early math.

There are a few more projects I would like to get done around here, but I’ve still got a bit of time left to work on them before our little guy is due to meet the world.

January is often a busy month for us, and this year was no exception. The 31st was the end of the first semester, which meant that there were tests to make and grade and overall grades to put in. In addition to the normal busyness, we had some fun things to keep ups busy too. Our friend, Nathan and Meredith came to visit for a few days. We played enough Carcassonne to satisfy us for a while, and I got to make coffee for someone (Jonny doesn’t like it, so I rarely make it normally).

Nate and Mer

It was also my last month of teaching for a while. The students made some creative pictures and even wrote some notes for me and gave me enough chocolate to last the rest of my pregnancy. I’m sad that I won’t get to see my coworkers much anymore, and yes, I’ll even miss the students, but I’m thankful for a bit of a break to get a whole list of things done before this little man arrives.

Some of my students with me on my last day of work

Right after the semester finished, Jonny left for a 10 day trip to Ireland to see his sister Beata and some other friends as well as to connect with his church there and to the States to spend some time with his Opa and speak at a men’s group in Winston Salem. Thankfully between the really busy part of January and his trip, we got to have a stay at home Italian dinner date, complete with a red checkered table cloth, thanks to our friends the Pattys.

spaghetti and meatballs

Right now I’m trying to get a few of my projects done, or at least started, and eagerly awaiting Jonny’s return on Monday night.

Another fun bit of news from January: As of the end of the month, we are halfway to our goal for a family car! Thanks to everyone who has contributed!