Breech

Currently, Russell baby #2 is in the breech position. :( Sad, I know.

Our hopes are to be able to have a natural delivery and not a C-section. However, with having a prior C-section and with this baby being in the wrong position - it's not looking good.

So this is my plea that you would pray for this baby to turn. I would love to be able try to deliver naturally and the recovery from a C-section is a beating.

We know that the Lord is sovereign and He can do whatever He wants. So we trust whatever happens is good and in His plan.

That is all. :)

Christmas Time in Nicaland...

So, this has been our first Christmas to be away from family. Ever. David and I have the blessing of our families living about 10 minutes from each other. So, for the past 7 years we have always been able to see both sides during Christmas and even on Christmas day.

This Christmas is our first not to see either side! It's been a little weird and lonely. We miss seeing all of our friends, going to the candle light service at our church, having an awesome Christmas Eve at the Rushing's, and enjoying Christmas day with our families. We also miss the cold - or at least a change in the temperature (we all know Dallas could be in the 40's or maybe 79 during Christmas). We miss being able to wear jeans and sweaters! We miss hot chocolate. There's just something about Christmas time in the States, with your family, that is so special.

With that being said, we have also enjoyed our time here. We've tried our best to start some fun Christmas traditions. We had delicious home-made cinnamon rolls (yeah, I'm tootin' my own horn)on Christmas day. We've also been able to make some delicious Christmas cookies! This year we have a tree and a fair amount of Christmas decorations! Our family was kind and sent down gifts at Thanksgiving, so we had fun presents to open too! It's also been wonderful to have David home all day (except for today - he's sliding down a volcano at the moment). It's wonderful to not get so wrapped up in the comercialism, busyness, and materialism that is so prevalent in the States. A side benefit is that the weather here is fairly nice - like I slept under a sheet AND a duvet last night!

Here are some pics of what we've been doing...


Beckett helping with the cinnamon rolls.



And here they are!



Opening presents!





My sweet boys! We went to a cute town about 2 hours north of Managua, where there are pine trees, and it's a little cold! Look, they're wearing pants!


Hanging out with my friend Alicia in her Daddy's car!

Boy or Girl

So this is a test to see how many people are still reading our little blog!! :) It could just be 3 (Orell, Tracy, and my mom)!

David and I are notorious for being last minute. An example of this is, we currently have NO names picked out for our upcoming baby. Like, not a 1. It's terrible, I know. It's just the way we are. (I was never the girl that had my future children's names memorized in high school - just not me!) It doesn't bother us; however, I do think it bothers some of the relatives. :)

So in about a month or so, we'll be adding another Russellsprout to our family and I want to know...

BOY?

or

GIRL?

Let the voting begin!

Opps, Sorry!

So, it's been a while. Sorry. I blame the pregnancy and the transition of Beckett taking 2 naps, to only 1 nap. Time during the 1 nap is valuable - it's time for me to cook or to spend time with the Lord or to write an email or to take a nap myself!! So blogging got pushed aside.

But, I'm back!

So what's been going on since I've been gone? Lots! Actually I can't think of what I wrote about last and when it was, so I'll just give you some of the highlights. In bullet form!

-Woodcreek, our home church, sent a group of ladies to work with House of Hope. This group of ladies was awesome, mature, fun, and super-servants. They were able to speak hope into the lives of many women that live or are associated with House of Hope.
When your home church comes to where you live, regardless if you know them all or not, it's like family visiting. So we felt honored and blessed that they were here.

2 sweet girls living at House of Hope


-At the end of October, Beckett and I made a short trip home to Dallas. We went because we won't be able to come home at Christmas time because our second baby is due in January and we went to go see our friends, the Lilley's, new baby! Exciting and fun times were had by all!
Beckett went to a pumpkin patch, fed some crazy goats, went to our church's fall festival and was extremely spoiled by all 4 grandparents!
I ate some delicious food, spent time with my mom, searched and found all Beckett's old clothes, and went to Target and Walmart numerous times! Fun times for me too! Plus I got to hang out with sweet baby Evie Claire Lilley!



-In November, a lot of the Russells came for Thanksgiving. This time it really was family coming to visit. We went to Laguna de Apoyo ( a gorgeous lake set in a crater of a volcano) and just hung out and visited. Again, fun, fun!


Ok, so that was just a brief wrap up of our life while I was away - not blogging!

Baby Lilley!

I don't really know all the details, but ALL the Nica Russells are so excited to have Baby Lilley in our world!

Way to go Jon and Sami!

Can't wait to mee her!

Woodcreek Women!

On Sunday, a group of ultra cool women from our church is coming here! Woohoo!

They will be working with House of Hope - a ministry that help women and kids ( you read that right) in prostitution or sex trafficking. They have been diligently praying for the women they will be working with and I am really excited to see how the Lord works in this trip!

I've stated this over and over -but it means the world to us that our home church comes to Nicaragua. When we first moved here, we knew there was so much need in this country. We are so thankful that our church in the states would come here and serve in a variety of ways (at House of Hope, at One by One ministries, thru Living Water). We know that there are million places in the world that have many, many needs. We are beyond blessed that Woodcreek Church would come to where we are! It makes our hearts happy!

7 years

(on our honeymoon, 2003)

Around this time 7 years ago, I was receiving a call from my soon-to-be-husband. I was busy getting my hair done, applying the 5th layer of mascara, and chatting with my closest girl friends. He was calling to tell me that he felt sick. Not just a cold sick, but I'm about to throw-up sick. And when David throws-up it is bad. Real bad.


(Christmas, 2004)

I remember thinking, I hope I see him at the end of the aisle.


(Crested Butte, 2005)

But really I had no doubts. I knew that he loved me. I knew that he already made his mind up about me - that he was going to stick with me forever. I knew he would be there.


(Jeremy and Michelle's wedding, 2006)

I'm so thankful he was there. The best decesion of my life was to marry him.


(Puerto Rico, 2007, one of the top 2 favorite vacations ever!)

I've heard of the saying "The Seven Year Itch" - meaning that around 7 years of marriage you start to get bored and want out. Praise the Lord that is not us! That's not to say we haven't had our really hard times. But I am thankful that God has protected our marriage, kept us united, and increased our love.


(1st semester in Nicaragua, 2008)

It's been 7 years since we vowed before the Lord to stay together. It feels like so much more (in a good way). We have done so much. We've started with only a couch and a bed and slowly we have built our lives together. Now we live in Nicaragua with 1 awesome baby and another one coming!


(1st week with Beckett!, 2009)

Seriously, praise be to the Lord for the blessing of David!


(Summer, 2010)