Baptisms

11 people were baptized at our church last Sunday. It was wonderful to see Eduardo up there after many years of our church joining his wife and daughter in prayer for his salvation. Three others are from a town south of Bogota where a team from our church have been leading a weekly Bible study. And another four are all members of a family that has been attending for years, so it was good to see them take a stand showing a true commitment to Christ.

Favorite Baby Pictures So Far (3 to 7 weeks)

Look at that skinny little arm... Cedric is now at a better weight!

First book ever read to him!

 Off to see the doctor as a family... best way to travel, especially as we walk and catch taxis everywhere!

 Going for a stroll in Bogota's botanical gardens.

 Finally enjoying a bath... he hated it for the first two weeks.

One of Cedric's main pastimes... [or should I say, "used to be"]

Good grip for a little guy.

 Making the most of final days with Nana.

 First smiles on the 4th of July!

 Learning all about plumbing from his dad.

 Saying goodbye to Nana and Papa Yarrall... we miss them!

Playing with his mama!

First Week with Cedric, Last Week of Semester

It has been a bit crazy in our home. There are two blurry-eyed new parents, one hungry boy and a couple of helpful grandparents!

Cedric's first full week at home has been pretty normal. We've been learning how to feed/eat, trying to catch 2 hour stretches of sleep and trying to figure out what's what with a helpless babe in our care! It happened to coincide with the last week of classes at the Bible Institute, so Bill has been grading the piles of papers and tests that accumulated over the past three weeks. As of Thursday night he is done... for the next 6 weeks. Thankfully the break will give him time to finish a lot of the extra running around for Cedric (he needs to apply for two passports and become an American citizen ASAP)... as well as time to catch a few naps here and there!

So how's Cedric? We spent another day at the hospital for check ups this week. For the most part the doctors are not particularly worried about him, but are just monitoring a few of the issues he has had. So, we're in the middle of follow-up visits regarding his heart (they detected a slight murmur - told us not to worry). And we'll do the MRI later this month. At his first pediatric visit all his neurological functions were well within normal range. He lost about 10% of his birth weight, but hopefully he'll pick up most of that before his next visit... he seems to be eating better?! 

 With Nana Yarrall

 and Papa Yarrall

 Bill's learning to multi-task: grading papers and soothing his son!

 First Family Photo

How we managed a full day of going to 3 doctors and 1 x-ray!

Five of the seven graduates from the Biblical Foundations program at the Bible Institute.

 The women who successfully completed the Saturday morning women's ministry course.

Cedric Update - 4 days old

 It has been a whirlwind of a week!

Cedric's birth has brought us a lot of joy, but mingled with grief over the rough start he has had. We look forward to bringing him home soon!!

After spending the first 36 hours in the dark about what was wrong, the doctors were able to thoroughly explain how some of his organs had suffered due to asphyxia during birth and that his skull had received a fracture with some bleeding underneath that spot, but not in the brain. 

They've now confirmed that his heart, lungs and kidneys are all now functioning normally. His neurological exam yesterday was completely normal for a three day old baby (the first one on day 1 was not at all normal). In about a month they will do an MRI to determine whether any parts of his brain were affected by the lack of oxygen.

So, the only thing keeping him in the hospital is his digestive system. They are slowly increasing the amount of formula they are feeding him and determining how well he feeds and processes it. Once they are happy with that they will release him to come home with us!

THANK YOU for praying ... Cedric is now our miracle baby twice over!

We are pretty exhausted, physically and emotionally. But not discouraged.

 

 Sad to say... this is  Cedric's first bed!

 First hug with his mum.

 Hanging out under the lamps with his dad. (Bill has been able to go more frequently to be with Cedric.)

 Whenever we are there he seems happy and content... some of the nurses have other opinions!!

First time eating with Angela.

Cedric Thomas Loudon - Day 1 of life outside the womb

After 11 hours of labor (7 of which were fairly easy) and half an hour of pushing, Cedric Thomas was born at 11:33 pm on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 in Bogota, Colombia.

We chose Cedric primarily because we like the name! But also, as culturally mixed up MKs that we are, we wanted an Anglo-Saxon name that would reflect some of our way back common ethnic/cultural roots. We each have a grandfather called Thomas, and it is also Bill's middle name, so we chose his second name for the family connection and to remind Cedric of his godly heritage.

The actual birth was difficult for baby. He came out facing the "wrong" way which made it hard for him to pass through easily, he stressed out and possibly inhaled/ingested meconium on his way out. The doctor ended up using forceps and he got a small fracture on his skull. As a result he was almost immediately put into an incubator. He has been in NICU under observation. As of today (5/26) we know his heart, lungs and stomach are all ok. He will be fed for the first time this afternoon then monitored for that and the healing of the fracture.  We hope to have him home in a few days or less. 

Update as of 5/26 9PM: Baby did not in fact inhale meconium. Rather his bigger problem was that he lacked oxygen during the birth process and his organs showed signs of oxygen deprivation. Praise God he is healing from that trauma!! We are waiting to know if there is anything of concern due to his head trauma.

 

First picture... after they cleaned out his lungs and stomach and wiped his skin.

 Meeting his dad

 Meeting his mum

 Half a day old, cleaned up more

 21 hours old - best looking baby in the world :)

A little visit to connect

2011's First Semester Classes

Classes have been going well this semester. We are actually half-way through the semester!

Julian teaches Apologetics on Thursday nights and has 20 faithful students in his class. He is challenging them to really think about how to respond to people who attack the veracity of the Christian faith. They find it hard, but rewarding.

On Saturday mornings I co-teach a class for women. Our focus has been our ministry as women in the church, especially directed to wives of elders and leaders. The two women on the far right are Consuelo and Amanda, also co-teachers. The other two teachers are not pictured. We split the semester into 5 modules, each one of us teaching 3 or 4 classes in a row. My  module is over, so now I get to sit and learn along with the 16 students enrolled in the class.

Bill teaches New Testament Survey on Thursday nights to a class of 28 students. They have just finished the book of Romans... hard to teach that in one 2-hour class! As an overview class Bill has to keep things moving and focus on the bigger overall themes of each book. The Institute offers in-depth book studies as well that many of these students will eventually take after they finish their survey courses.

Gilberto teaches Hermeneutics on Saturday mornings with about 20 students in that class. This is notoriously the hardest class we offer and the teacher often has to "un-teach" many of the bad habits students have picked up about how to read and interpret the Bible. For many this class is life-changing!

 On Tuesday nights Bill teaches an Introduction to Biblical Languages class for leaders and Bible teachers. There are 9 students in the class, here they are below taking a quiz. The purpose of the class is to understand better how we got the Bible and an overview of the Greek and Hebrew languages. Eventually, if there is enough need and interest, courses in Greek and Hebrew will be offered.

The other two Institute classes are held at a different location, way in the south of the city... so no pictures of them! There Sergio is teaching Old Testament Survey and Jose Luis is teaching the book of Galatians.

long time, no blog

 This blog is going to be a bit "random"... I haven't been as good lately about taking pictures!!

So, here's a brief view of some of my daily life stuff:

This is the corner where I wait every Saturday morning at 8AM to be picked up by a woman in my Institute class. From here it takes about 15 minutes to get to class, we're usually there well before the 8:30 AM start time. (This is about 2 blocks from our apartment... it used to take me 5 minutes to walk, with 18 extra pounds it's taking closer to 10!)

After my Bible Institute class on Saturday mornings I head out to our prenatal class in the north end of the city. I usually have an extra half hour before Bill arrives to meet me... this has been my weekly tradition! (I sometimes ask for Decaf, but I think what I really get instead is lactose-free milk =D.) Bill shows up at 11AM for our 2 hour class... only one more to go!

I walked home through our "barrio" from a bridal shower at our church last Saturday and found this curious - it isn't the norm, but it isn't surprising! This must be a new hole-in-the-wall restaurant, advertising their food with music. The guy in the street is dancing! They were pretty loud and though didn't have many people here, most people within 4 blocks were paying attention... Saturday afternoon is a busy day in the barrio - with most corner stores hosting groups of 4-10 men sitting outside drinking beer!

This is the fruit and vege store I like to shop at. It is much cheaper than the regular supermarket and is more like a farmers' market, so the quality can actually be a lot better (although it doesn't always look as pretty!)

Sometimes we crave food items that aren't available here... some of them I have figured out how to make, for example - English Muffins:

& Pita bread (not pictured) with hummus: (fyi - Pita bread can be bought here, but I like to make my own, it's pretty easy!)

Church life has been ticking along... I've been working closely with this woman, Maria Teresa. Together we have been discipling a younger woman for the past 6 months. We have one session left next Saturday. My other "girls" have been a little harder to meet with lately - their work and study schedules don't leave them with much free time.

On Sunday mornings I often hang out with the greeting team (not always these girls) - we use nametags to help us remember each other, it is especially helpful when there are new or visiting people, both for them and for us! Currently we have about 230 adults who regularly come, but usually about 150 at a time! One of my roles at church is to maintain a directory and prayer list, so I find that hanging out here and greeting people as they arrive helps me know who is who and who to include.

Life for me these past few months has been all about classes, home keeping, church and BABY stuff. And I think that order of priority is about to be turned upside down! Here we are at 7.5 months, only 6 weeks to go!

I really enjoyed "attending" a baby shower for us in California... via Skype! Some women from our home church met at my mother's house and I joined them online. I know I will enjoy all their generous gifts eventually, but what was mostly special for me was to see them and talk to them... it almost felt like I was there. (My sister has also been hosting a different type of virtual shower... my family has had to be creative with us living all over the place!!)

PS: Our weather this year. More days like this than not! Rainy season seems to be never-ending this year. On days like this one I miss my mountain view!