Cutting up tiny pieces of fruit… watching Ema put a cheerio in her baby doll’s mouth … ’spotting’ my wobbly daughter as she holds onto the coffee table… seeing her smiling face as she enters the room behind me- crawling like a pro… I love these moments that encompass my day. I don’t have as many moments to myself because Ema doesn’t play in one spot anymore. She is less interested in toys and more interested in exploring. So if I’ve been out of touch, that is partly why- I have a roaming girl on my hands. Talking on the phone is even more difficult because I’m trying to teach her boundaries as she explores (such as saying ‘no’ to wires etc.). Forgive the interruptions if you’re a friend who will catch up with us on the phone soon. I’m torn during Ema’s nap times between productively working with Hrvoje in fundraising, cleaning up, or taking personal time (to read, talk on the phone, or blog). The first two usually win out.

     We’ve also been traveling quite a bit lately. We were up in Michigan (western and northeastern) and now we’re in Indiana again. Since we have been staying at three different homes this past week and a half, we have been more ‘present’ and engaged with the people in our lives who are hosting us. I didn’t take evenings to blog but rather converse. Someday we’ll have a home and routine and this blog will be the place to visit on your web surfering work-breaks.  But until then, our periodic updates will have to do. Here’s a little video of our Ema who is officially 11 months old today! I wish I could video all of her little babbling conversations with me and how she waves to a room full of people like she’s in a parade… but here’s a bit of our girl.

 

  

         

         

           Some work… some play… and lots of family time this past week. While visiting with my family we were catching up from the past months of being apart and talking about the upcoming changes in our lives. If I could use one word  to summarize a theme in our lives it would be- change. That may sound corny, but there’s been significant transitions in all of our lives and more coming in the near future, so we had a lot to talk about. In fact, I must say that we had a nice balance of activity and ‘talk time’.

        Preparing to move to Croatia has made the need to connect with all them more intensified, and my time with them was definitely part of a the bigger ’transition process’ for me. We all admitted that we’ve never had this type of transition happen in the family before and don’t quite know how to do it… since two of us three girls are moving to Europe this year. But, I think we’re on the right track. Thanks fam for your open talks, laughs, and new memories.

 visiting my Grandparents

       I loved having Jodie and Jeff’s kids here. Ema interacts with her cousins more now, and she even learned to stick up for her self with her toddler cousin Liesl playing with her (yes, I broke up a little fight between them!). I think all the action around her pushed her to strive for a new level of mobility. Since her cousins were here she has been scooting around and is almost crawling (she can go backwards but only inches forward for a moment), and prior to their coming she had been rolling every where. She has started trying to pull up onto her knees and likes to ‘walk’ around with us supporting her. Lately she’s been putting clothes on her head, tried to put a Q-tip in her ear (since that’s where I put it…), claps when I say ‘yeah!’, waves hi and bye, and puts her hands above her head and yells when I say ‘How big is Ema?!’. All of this to say, Ema is blossoming before our eyes. She is such a joyful child… oh, and she loves watermelon! (Ron told me today it is very nutritious, so that made me happy)

   Liesl and Ema playing 

    trip to the mailbox

      One of the highlights of our time in MA was Hrvoje’s naturalization interview. We went to Boston for his interview and all went smoothly- so he’s been invited for the oath ceremony in mid July when he will officially be an American citizen! It’s still not a reality. All the years of visa and green card forms and issues are coming to an end. Maybe it will hit us when he gets as US passport, and then we get to start on my ‘green card’ for Croatia when we get there!

      It has only been five days since we were in California packing for our move back to New England, but it feels longer because it’s like another country on the east coast. It had been really hot in San Diego when we left, plus we had several intense days leading up to our flight (our short trip up to Sacramento was so encouraging). I felt especially sensitive though during those days packing up; there’s probably a well of emotion underneath the business and details that I don’t have time to process. I have a sense that this new season of fundraising is going to be both joyful and difficult since we’re heading into the summer that we’ve been praying to leave for Croatia. We are hopeful!

    Wiggle-worm Ema made the flight back East extra unrelaxing… Once we arrived we’ve been able to catch our breath, and it has already been great to share a bit of life again with Mom and Ron. I want to share a few pictures from the past weeks in California since this blog has been silent.

    Our friend Elizabeth visited us who is presently living in Minnesota but had been at APU with me. We took her into San Diego and to Coronado Beach where we took these pictures. This was Ema’s first time feeling sand. Amazingly it didn’t end up in her mouth!

        

 

  

    

Elizabeth with Ema

 

MFT Reunion in Temecula (these were some of my classmates while at APU)

     This is Betty. We stayed with her for about three months! She’s one of our heros. She extended so much love to us and adopted us into her family (we didn’t know her prior to coming apart from being friends with her grandson!). God provided for us amazingly through her. Thank you Betty for your kindness~ we’ll miss you!

  Tickle Time! Ema turned 10 months old recently. She’s not crawling because she gets where she wants to go by rolling around and scooting. She is definitely a people person like her father and loves to ‘talk’. We can’t say enough about how much joy she brings to us.

    

We love San Diego!

 

       This past weekend Hrvoje and I dedicated Ema to the Lord at our home church in San Dimas. We made a covenant with God to teach Ema to love the Lord, watch over her spiritual education, and raise her according to the Word. Most of all, for me personally, I am striving to teach Ema to love Jesus. My parents taught me  about God from the moments I could understand, and I invited Jesus into ‘my heart’ when I was just three years old. I actually remember that night. 

        Here are a few pictures after the dedication of Ema on the stage in her special dress (made by a woman in the church). It was so good to see everyone at church again. The people of San Dimas really are a ‘church family’ to us, but of course we missed our families on the East Coast and in Croatia this weekend.

  

   We loved rebonding with the teenagers over the weekend and saw how they have each matured over the year that we were gone.

        I can feel and now see not only one little tooth finally starting to poke through Ema’s bottom gum but two! Even after having Ema in our lives for 9 months there are still times when we’re trying to understand her. Seeing her little teeth helps explain some of her fussiness that had otherwise been random guesses that she needed more sleep. In these past two weeks we have seen Ema’s personality more. Hrvoje and I concluded the other day that she is even more fun now that she initiates playing (sticking her finger in our mouths for us to bite it), she anticipates our sneak attacks from around corners with giggles, and it’s entertaining to hear the sounds and voice inflections that she’s putting together (‘Utt’ is her new command). She’s also more difficult though because we’re trying to curb her shrill screams and her emerging will.
          I can’t quite summarize our last month of traveling and speaking in Arizona with one word. From Sedona, to Tuscon and Phoenix, we met wonderful people and enjoyed experiencing the desert climate (and it wasn’t that hot yet… 95 degrees). I can testify that some people there really do have desert landscaping in their lawns, with rocks, bushes, and cactus, rather than trying to maintain grass. This was new for me to see being an East-coast girl. Here are some pictures of our travels between California and Arizona, and then we also visited Makayla and Brian where Ema swam in a big pool for the first time. Though she was tentative at first, within a few moments she had a great time.

  Sedona, AZ

  Road trip to Tuscon

  desert on the way to Tuscon

  friends condo where we stayed in Phoenix (note: rock lawn)

  first moments in the pool

 Ema is about 9 1/2 months now!

  pool girls

           Looking back at Arizona and this past month I think that I will come away with remembering the point of surrender that I was brought to. I mean surrendering everything that we do each week and even hoping/planning for the future… laying it down to God, relinquishing control, and asking God to be gracious with His child who tries to work harder than Him. Grace has a fresh meaning in my life.

         Since our last entry we have somehow found ourselves in a valley of emotion. Discouragement comes and goes, and unfortunately is came again this past week. Thankfully God doesn’t change with our emotions, and He can never be a ‘bad object’ because He is the source of everything Good…He is Good. 

            On a lighter note, we’re not the only ones going up and down! This little video of Ema was made last week right before her bed time. Though she’s tired, she still had some energy left for a few bounces. There are times when she doesn’t stop cooing (talking), and we’re wondering if this is a taste of what is to come… This video catches some of her little noises as she is practicing different pitches and lengths of sound.

 

 http://www.youtube.com/v/CpMn80cp8E4&hl=en\

               Vacation is over, Easter was great, the wisteria tree is making the air perfumed around the house, and God encouraged us with a miracle yesterday. Last September Hrvoje applied for US citizenship by submitting his paperwork for Naturalization. We were told that it takes 14-18 months for the applications to process, so we were resolved to the high chance that we’ll be in Croatia when Hrvoje is called for the final interview. He would need to fly back to Boston sometime this coming fall or winter in order to take the test and interview. On Wed. Hrvoje checked the naturalization website and saw that they are processing applications submitted in May of 2007, and since he submitted his in Sept. we knew we still had some waiting on our hands. Moments later he checked his email to see a note from the Aasens who receive our mail. To our amazement…. Hrvoje is invited for his interview this coming May 27th… which means that his application was somehow already processed, there were no mistakes, and the date that we would need to be in Boston ‘just happens’ to be during the two weeks that we are already planning to be in Massachusettes! Doesn’t that send goose-bumps down your arms?! We are so encouraged at how God answered our prayers that He would work out the details of life as we plan to move overseas. It’s not everyday that His face shows clearly through circumstances as it did yesterday, and so we wanted to share it through this blog.

Here are some pictures of the last part of our vacation with Hrvoje’s cousins Luci and Martina.

  walking around Las Vegas

    Grand Canyon West

 Easter was spent in close friends Makayla and Brian. They took this picture for us in their back yard.

 Ema in her new doorway jumper

  Ema safely getting to know the doorway jumper

       When Hrvoje and I lived in Southern California for two years we were only able to see a small fraction of all there is to experience and see. We were working, in grad school, and usually spent our free time recharging our energy at home. However, this week we have had an opportunity to finally see and experience more of this area. Martina and Luci, Hrvoje’s cousins from Croatia, have come to visit us. So this week we vacationed with them by showing them our favorite spots in Los Angeles, and we saw San Diego for the first time. It has been great spending time with them and showing some of his family a bit of our world here. Hearing Croatian, talking about life there and comparing it with the culture here may help prepare me for the transition ahead of us this year. I’ve appreciated these days with them partially because I’ve been thinking more about Croatia and I’m getting to know Martina and Luci better.  

          Hrvoje and his cousin Martina in Little Italy, San Diego

   cousin Luci and Ema

      Mission San Diego, where the first Spanish franscican priests set up a school to teach Native Americans in California

 we walked around Hotel Coronado, San Diego

      Presently we’re being housed by a woman named Betty outside of San Diego, though I don’t have a picture of her and her flowers yet. We’ll be here until mid May and are already so blessed by how she opened her home to us for this time. As she gave us the initial tour of her home and showed us our rooms, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude to God for bringing her into our lives.

     Ema will be 8 months old tomorrow! She is waving (to herself) and loves being ‘out and about’, often smiling at strangers or waiters. Sometimes when I take her out of bed in the morning she leans forward and touches her little lips to my face… a baby kiss of some kind. There’s no better way to start the day than for me to see her excitement, smile, and whole body wiggling with joy. It’s as though she just loves being alive and it makes me love being with her even more!

 Ema 8 months old

     

      The first week in California was spent at a conference in the mountains outside of Los Angeles. The conference center was in a tranquil location for spiritual retreats and family camps. We left encouraged and refreshed from good teaching as well as rare hours of solitude in the evening. It snowed up in the mountains a wet, heavy snow, but these past few days in Temecula, CA have been so beautiful that it’s like summer.

There are two new aspects to parenting that I experienced these past two weeks….

      Two days ago I decided that the reason Ema wasn’t rolling was because I kept picking her up (or ’saving’ her from distress). So, I let her fuss and fuss on her stomach, and cheered her on to roll. Let me tell you, the drama displayed was not pretty as she struggled and collapsed in despair with her head on sheet crying. I gently took her arm, put it abover her head, and rolled her body. I showed her how to roll about three times then let her try on her own. She started struggling by straining her body in the direction of a roll! We were getting closer! I showed her again, then the next time I put her arm up and let her try to roll…. half way there she needed a little tip to roll over! Cheering and praising the little success we tried again. Ema was acting so exhausted that she didn’t quite roll on her own that afternoon. But, the next morning, good and refreshed, I only had to show her one time… arm up and roll… and she did the entire thing herself! Yes, my 7 month old is now moving on the floor. We still cheer for her every time she rolls and now, just like a pro from rolling for an entire day, she will start rolling the instant I put her on her stomach…. now there really won’t be any tummy time!

       As I was watching Ema struggle, I knew I needed to gently push her outside of her comfort zone, which was not easy. It occurred to me during the dramatics that this must be how we (as in ‘we’ humans) are in relationship to God so often- He pushes us for our own good to move and do something we’re totally capable of doing, but we only feel the frustration of not getting our own way. I must have heard that in a sermon illustration at some point and it came back to me as I was watching her.

        Ema’s will is emerging, or if I was writing a book about these past two weeks it would be called Ema’s Emerging Self. She is not only becoming more independent of me in good ways, like being able to ’save’ herself from staying on her stomach when she tips over from a sitting position, but she expresses her desires very strongly sometimes. Up until now I could put things in her hand or take them away without a complaint as though she never had an opinion about what was happening to her. The other night she was holding her brush (an object that she loves right now) while I was getting her in her pajamas. When I took it out of her hand to put her hand in the sleeve her little body started flopping around with cries and protests. I looked at her and suddenly realized that my little 7 month old was having a baby-tantrum! Hrvoje and I have since been talking about this new phase of parenting that is fast approaching… the one that involves saying ‘no’ and guiding behavior. It’s hard to know how to guide Ema because she’s a baby, but now that she’s more interested in non-toys (like cameras, cell phones, remotes, paper, jewelry etc.) we are setting limits each day. Here are some new pics of Ema, enjoying holding the camera case!

     

  Our latest posed picture

      The last two weeks that we spent in Michigan were very ‘white’ weeks because it seemed as though the snow didn’t stop falling. From the moment we rushed up to Springlake, MI to “beat the storm!”, we had several days when more and more snow was added to the already covered roads. All of our appointments were held though. The locals seemed less phased by the weather; respectful of the rough conditions but not overdramatic. The first week we stayed with our friends Josko and Bethany Vukusic, and the second week the Newhouse family hosted us (Peter and Shawn with their three kids). On Sunday morning Peter’s car got stuck in the driveway, so I snapped a picture from the window. Let’s just say that we’re ready for the California sun tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that it’s already time to fly west for this next leg of our journey.

              The Sunday morning snow…

                                        stuck in the driveway

       Josko V., Jen B., and Bethany V.

                                    Josko and Hrvoje

  The Newhouse family (Megan, Isaak, Shawn, Peter, and Sophia)

       Overall we’re ‘keeping it together’….emotionally that is. There’s an underlying stress to what we’re doing that is so subtle that it’s hard to put a finger on how it impacts us. We’ll suddenly become of aware that we’re not feeling so grounded emotionally but rather just kind of surviving the constant transitions and meetings. Hrvoje and I are learning the importance of pausing to have reflective talks with one another. We’ve done some work to draw closer this past week, and it is work because it’s hard to be honest sometimes. Valentines Day wasn’t celebrated in a traditional sense for us (no flowers or special dinners alone), but Hrvoje and I aren’t ’surviving’ marriage as we do other aspects of life right now- it’s our haven, and this week particularly I’m thankful for our marriage. ’Car time’ is a gift.
            Ema is turning 7 months old in a couple of days! Her newest thing is shrugging her little shoulders while she’s playing or just looking around (she just like shrugging). She has a tooth she’s working on (by chewing everything in sight), and she now loves animals and watching children. In fact, the picture of the Newhouse family is great partly because Ema is admiring Sophia in it, Ema’s favorite person while we were in Michigan.  

   Ema helping with the laundry

       We’ve been working hard support raising and I want to share that we hit a pivotal moment today. We reached 50% of our needed funds to go to Croatia, which was an overwhelmingly thankful moment for us (I cried). Today is a good day because it’s like we’re on top of the hill looking down now… hoping that the up-hill climb is over and that we can start letting something like gravity carry us along. I don’t know what that gravity will be… perhaps it’s God, the unseen force at work around us, that will continue to move us forward as He has already been doing.