2 Weeks of BEN!

Little Ben has hit the 2 week mark- and is doing wonderfully! Eddy and I have been adjusting slowly to our new addition- emotions ranging from elation to utter confusion (what's wrong with him? why is he fussy? what do we do??) to complete exhaustion... Oh- how quickly life can change!

But overall, we are beyond blessed by Benjamin- he is a content little guy, who fusses rarely and sleeps like a champ! My mom, Bronwen, has been in town for the past few weeks, helping us adjust, picking up the slack around the house and loving on Benjamin- what an incredible help she has been! We're begging her to stay, but it looks like she'll be heading back to HI next week... what will we do without her?!?

I'm doing well- healing up and feeling much better! While the C-section was unexpected, we welcomed it and were grateful to be here in the states, where an emergency surgery could be performed safely and easily.

Thank you to all our family and friends for your love and support during this time... and to our church family for providing so many delicious meals!

Photos: BENJAMIN!!! Nana and Grandpa meet little Ben just out of the womb... Ben's first jaunt out of the house- Target... Ben and Eddy take a little nap... Ben welcomes fall!

Benjamin Welch Soboll

And he came... after 22 hours of labor Jess couldn't take anymore and got a epidural. At that point the baby was showing a little fetal stress. To get worst the contractions were gone and Jess was only 7cm dilated after all that time. So, the C section was the only option that we could take.

With 10 minutes of surgery, the baby was out and on my arms. Jess had another 30 minutes to go to close everything.
Benjamin Welch Soboll came on Oct 16 at 22:34 with 9.3Lbs, 21 cm long and healthy as it could be.
Jess still recovering from so long hours and pain, not saying the medications.
Now the baby is 20 hours old and is nursing great. No much milk from Jess yet but it is starting...
Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement... Now we are a family!!!

26.2

And time came to run the Marathon. Twin Cities came so fast... seems like that 30 weeks ago was just on the back corner.
Well, it was a little cold(around high 40's F) and more than 11000 thousand runners. My goal was to finish around 4 hours and I was feeling good about it. So, I decide to fallow the 4 hours pacer. I was feeling great until mile 16. At mile 18 I hit the wall. By that time I was 2 minutes ahead of schedule... At mile 19 water "break" the pacer start to run again and I just couldn't follow him anymore. I saw him take off and my legs could not go anymore... Cramps and more cramps and um hill. It was great to have Jess there and some friends to help out with encouragement. Walk and run walk and run.... I finished at 4hours and 18 minutes. i wish I could had done faster, but as my first, I'm pretty happy about the result. Two days of pain after the race, could barely walk.. now my thoughts are all on the baby.
And the baby is moving and moving alot.... This next Monday Jess will be 39 weeks, so at any time he will show his little face to us.
Jess more and more, feels uncomfortable and tired... her allergies are not helping much too... we walk often to his room and the expectation in daily building in. The Mid wife told us he is probably around 6 and 3/4 lbs. He probably will weight 8lbs when born. Jess is looking great and the tummy so cute.
We have Jess Mom with us for 3 weeks now and it is very exciting. Jess Dad will be here with us for few days next week too. Have this house is a huge blessing right now!

Jess still working on the short term manual at the Church and Im helping with Kids and the manual too.

Photos: Twin Cities Marathon and Jes's tummy!! (And snow in MN in the beginning of October!!!)

Running the Race

A week from today Eddy will be running the Twin Cities Marathon... after almost 30 weeks of training, sometimes (most times?) completely grueling, he now stands just 6 days away from the starting line of 26.2 miles... WOW... now that's what I'm talking about it! My mom will be coming in on Thursday to help me cheer, and a friend who served with us over in the Land-of-Sand, Chelsie, will be coming up from Nebraska to run as well. Pray the weather is cool and calm, with no rain! Go Eddy! Go Chelsie!
And my race is winding down as well- 37 weeks... check! Only 3 more left... well, technically. Thank God I've been feeling great and at our last check-up, we found out everything looks good, he's head down and weighing in at 6+lbs (a good guess by our midwife)! The baby room is pretty much ready, thanks to craigslist.com, friends with lots of extra baby stuff and baby showers. Now it's just a matter of packing our hospital bag and watching some birthing videos... but either way, he's coming, ready or not!

The St. Louis Park Girls Soccer team continues to have some struggles, but has been showing signs of improvement... the girls showing a little bit more interest, giving a little more effort and getting a little more excited. Eddy's focus is on motivation, striving to see them not only excited about the game, but excited, disciplined and motivated about life. There are 4 more games left in the season- so they've still got time to turn their record around... Go Orioles!
Photos: Eddy heading back out on a long run... We had the pleasure of watching our good friend's son, Ethan, play for St. Olaf College (my alma mater)- we went down for homecoming and stuck around after for some photos... Coach Soboll on the sidelines... An autumn flower...

Breakdown Blues

Let me start out by saying just how blessed we have been by our sending churches-- aside from the love and support, the encouragement and "standing with us" has been key to our time here in the states. Our sending church here in MN has continued to pour out blessings, searching for a house for us to live in, trying to find a car for us to use, providing a place for us to work, giving us multiple opportunities to share... and had given us use of their handy church van... for our entire time home! We can't believe just how giving they are!

Unfortunately, this absolutely wonderful mini-van started having some transmission problems... as in it can only shift up to 2nd gear... darn! (Honestly... how fast do we really need to go?) We'd hoped for the best, that it could be easily fixed (ummm... transmission... not so much), but realized the worst and started seeking out other options. We borrowed cars for a few weeks- many thanks to all our generous friends! And then, finally, after much deliberation... bit the bullet... and decided to tap into savings to purchase a used car for our time here in the states. We hope that our selection was wise and that we might get some (most??) of our money back when we sell it in a few months... we'll see! But with a baby on the way and a MN winter looming large in our near future, we felt it wise to have a somewhat reliable mode of transport.

Eddy's soccer team has hit a bit of a plateau, witht their record 2-3-1 (w-l-t)... We're hoping for a few more wins this week, 3 games! The tricky part has been motivation. Some of the girls are just absolutely, completely unmotivated- not showing up for practice, being disrespectful, putting forth zero effort... Needless to say, Eddy has his work cut out for him- but I can't think of a person better suited for the challenge! Go Eddy! Go Orioles!

I've hit the 36 week mark- hooray! I'm feeling good and it seems that my belly has started "dropping" a bit... which is great for eating- less indigestion and heartburn... but a bit tricky on the nerves- think: sharp shooting pain down the right leg, leaving me temporarily incapacitated... who needs to walk or stand when they want all the time? BUT, honestly, I'm still feeling great and truly can't complain!

Photos: The poor ol' church van... Our "new" 1999 Honda CRV... Eddy and his JV soccer team... Some crafts I've been making during this "nesting" phase (purses and key chains... to name a few!)...

Endurance

Endurance... for Eddy AND me! As some of you may know, Eddy has been training for the Twin Cities Marathon, coming up here on October 4th, and just today completed his longest training run-- 20 miles!! Keeping focused for so many months in preparation for a marathon, with long runs getting longer and longer, can be (or IS) a grueling process. But he's stuck to it and tomorrow will start "tapering" down the mileage, in prep for the big race in October. Well done!

And for me, well, I'm heading into the home stretch of my first pregnancy, 35 weeks and counting... Endurance for sure! I actually cannot complain one bit- it has been quite the uneventful and somewhat "easy" experience. So while physically, I'm holding up great, psychologically speaking, I think Eddy and I are trudging through the "terrified-clueless-first-time-parents-to-be" phase... which has lasted pretty much the whole gestational period! How do we prepare for something that we cannot possibly prepare for? How do I cope knowing that in a few short weeks I will go through some of the worst pain I will ever experience in my life? How do we DO this?!?! And then the somewhat comforting thoughts return... People have been doing this for years, decades, centuries!! We're not the first ever, we won't be the last and we're definitely not alone. We have wonderful friends and family that have all given timely words of advice, prayer and encouragement. And, of course, we have God... and no one tops his wisdom, insight and experience with children! AND, the big and, we're in going through all this in Minnesota- which has its hot moments, but is NOTHING like the land-of-sand... thank you for this wonderful respite, Lord!



We're continuing to work at the church in the mornings and Eddy is coaching a girls high school JV Soccer team. They've had 2 games- one win, one loss. But the loss was to a team with 20 players--Eddy only had 13! So, we're rooting for the St. Louis Park Orioles and hoping he continues to coach and train them through to a great season!

Pictures: Eddy on the run- the LRT in Minneapolis makes for an easy, but boring out-and-back... Our dear friend Jen and I at the MN state fair- check out that belly and the best roasted corn ever!... Me- the monthly update--he's still growing... I've started nesting and have taken up sewing again- with great fervor; here's one of the many items I've whipped out as of late...

Fellings of home

Finally, after 4 months traveling and moving here in the States, we got a home to stay for the next few months. We are in Minneapolis MN in a rental unit that needed some work. So we did the job and with that the rent had a break for us. What a wonderful place!!
The feeling of going "home" is just great! Don't have to go through our bags to get my clothes or the feeling that nothing in the place belongs to us is over for a while.
Jess has been "hunting" on Craigs List for some furniture and some Garage Sales still going here. Good Will is one of our best places to shop too...
A supported family gave us an offering for the baby and/or a couch. We have a couch!! After two and a half years of marriage we have a couch. Craigs list scores again!! Brand new IKEA Ektorp for last than a half price!! Now we can cuttle!!!

This last Sunday we had a baby shower that a couple put together for us here in Minnesota. (Thank you so much Heather and Jeff!!!) We got so many baby clothes and presents for the baby. It was fun!! I never have been is a baby shower, so I didn't know you have to show the presents and say ahhhhhhhhhh for everything, but when the bags of clothes came in, some guys told me that I didn't have to show everyone, just few ones... The best part is to feel loved by close friends!! People that care and love!!

Next week we start working at the Church and my soccer season is going very well.

Blessings

Photos:
Diamond Head, Honolulu and some beach glass from 5 tables beach, North Shore, Oahu. Our baby shower

Wrapping up Time with Family...

Eddy's already made the trip back to Minnesota and I'll soon follow him this next week... Our time here in Hawaii has been wonderful! We decided to make it a little longer than before, as with the arrival of our son in October, we may not get back here so soon or often. Our days have been spent with my (Jess') family, visiting old friends and taking in as much as we (I) can of "home". We were blessed to have a few weeks with close friends who flew out from FL for a family vacation (photos in older post) and gave us an excellent excuse to be tourists and venture around the isles a bit!

Eddy is back in Eden Prairie, as he starts his soccer coaching job on Monday. We both will start working at the church within the next few weeks, creating a manual for short-term trips and helping out wherever possible.

I'm 31 weeks pregnant and feeling great! Eddy and I are both surprised at just how much a tummy can grow to accommodate a little fella, but are blessed that this has been a relatively pleasant, healthy journey thus far. And while we are excited about getting things ready for our little bundle-o-joy, we know that our future isn't necessarily so easy to prepare for... Africa remains on our hearts and in our "plans". But, as many a wise parent has told us, all plans are off when dealing with your own child! So, we are waiting until baby Soboll arrives before making any definitive decisions about timing and moving.

Photos: Random summer shots... Eddy catching a "wave" on the OR coast... Eddy and Mom on the Big Island watching lava from Kilauea run down the slope into the Pacific (note reddish/orange stuff in between their heads)... Eddy and Dad at the Pacific Aviation Museum near Pearl Harbor... Eddy running on the North Shore- 14 miles!!... Eddy and Mom, the fearsome Stand Up Paddlers (SUP), surveying the ocean... Eddy and I on the north shore... The tummy progression (from month 1 to month 7, minus month 5...oops!)

In Hawaii

Just some pictures of Hawaii and Jes's tummy... (or our tummy :))

A quick one

Just to say that we are doing great!! Jes's tummy is growing and 29 weeks are here. She is in great shape and not complaining on anything, which is great... The baby
I got a job at a school in Minneapolis as soccer coach for high school girl. The job is going to be 6 weeks long and starts on Aug 17th, with that I'll be going back to the main land on Aug 13th.

The carpet finally came, the home is ready and we are excited to start getting the stuff that we need for the house and baby's room specially.

Here in Hawaii we are so blessed seeing at the big Island lava coming down the mountains, snorkeling and swimming with dolphins. Right now a family from Miami is with us and we are having a bless with them.

We are spending lots of time with Jes's parents and it is great to see grandma wondering about the baby and the mother to be.


Photos: Our baby (no name yet) at 24 weeks old. Two more months and we will be a family!!

No Internet, No house, No carpet... God is good!!!

It has been almost a month without publishing anything... We are lacking of time or what??
Well, since we arrived from Africa, we still using the same clothes from our bags and we still on the "traveling" mode. We have no "home" to live and our clothes are the same one that we brought from Africa... With that note, internet is just another thing that we don't have at the moment.
We went to Salem OR and saw some good friend and our beloved Church. It was so good to be there and connect again with people that love us and support our job in Africa. What a good time with our pastor and the Church family... we ready miss you guys!!
On the way back we stopped in Wyoming for few days to visit our "second" family. A short stop but very refreshing and encouraging seeing Gods work there too. I wish i could live in WY, but it would be another challenge for Jess.
Now we are back in Minneapolis. We were staying in someones house and now in the Pastor's home. The house that we are going to stay in needed some painting and a new carpet install. This week I spent time painting the house when Jess was the runner for more paint, food and materials. Long days and after 10 gallons of paint, the place just need the carpet and the bathrooms painted. The carpet guys came this morning to install the new one and on the way out, after they started laying the pads, I saw that the carpet that was brought was the wrong color... OOOPS! Jess ordered and it was wrote on the bill the wrong color... I told them to stop and ran to the Home Depot... The manager changed the order but now we have to wait... It was to be installed in 72 hours, now only God knows when!!!
We are a little tired of jumping bed to bed and roll our suit case for almost two months now.

Jess is getting more and more pretty with the baby showing more. We went to the doctor this last week and seems like that she has a gestational diabetes... with that say, that baby is little bigger than it should be. The good news is that the baby is healthy and dont have any signs of abnomarlities. Praise God!!! She is going to do a 3 hour sugar test this week to see the reality, she is not to excited about it because we "love" suggar and now that we are in the country that we can eat.... we have to be more careful!

Tomorrow Im running a 10K race and the Marathon training has begun... Oct 4th, here we come.

As soon as we find our card reader, we place some pics.... our stuff is everywhere...

Blessings

In Salem OR - 21 weeks

It is so good to be in Salem again!! The Base, friends and where the calling came to us the first time.
We had an opportunity to come and bring some equipment to the program that we use to run here from Minnesota. Such a blessing with the financial help and the Van that the Church in Minnesota is lending us. God is faithful!!!
We just came to know that our both insurances are going to work together for the prenatal and deliver of our baby. We were worrying about the cost and how much we would have to pocket out on the cost... again, He is taking care of us!
Jess is looking prettier and prettier every day, she still pretty small and you have to really look to see if is a baby there, and the baby is kicking and moving all the time.
We are having a ful days here of visits and meetings with people that support us and work at the same agency. It is so good to see freind and be loved by them. Fun to hear their histories and that their lifes are moving too and the Lord is taking care of each one.

We will be going to WY on the 15th for few days and back to MN on the 20th.

Sorry for no pictures, I have to post some later

Blessings!!!

Stateside!

Whilst we officially arrived home over a week ago, the actual adjustment to the arrival is just now starting to take place... We are both overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of this place- the trees, the grass, the rich blue sky... We can't help but make "oooo" and "ahhh" sounds on a regular basis. We've been overly blessed to have a comfortable place to stay and the use of a vehicle- a fabulous mini-van (which Eddy and I think is the handiest invention- tons of space, removable seats, standing room... what a concept!). Our friends and church have welcomed us back with open arms and we've been bustling about sharing meals and stories together.

We decided it might be a good idea to take a few days, just Eddy and me, to sort of debrief a bit, get away and "breathe". I (Jess) decided a trip "up North", as they say here in MN, would be just the thing. And that would have been the case had I checked the weather forcast... doh! Duluth, MN, the port city on Lake Superior, and the coastline up to Canada, CAN be absolutely beautiful; but can also be absolutely horrible! (Curious? Listen to Gordon Lightfoot's "The Edmund Fitzgerald") So, completely unaware of the gail of 40 mph winds and 30F temps that awaited us "up north", we ventured out in our handy mini-van, packed to the gills with firewood, camping equipment and food. We'd even spent a few hours carefully planning out our geocaching goals -- Grab a cache in Canada!! (never heard of it? You're missing out! www.geocaching.com)We should've guessed there'd be problems as we started out way too late, driving out of the cities around 1pm- guess Africa is still in our blood... We scored our first "find" an hour or so outside the cities, a relatively easy park and grab with a short venture into the woods. The next one followed suit, easy hike to a quick find. We were on a roll! Until... we were back on the highway and I glanced down towards Eddy's legs and saw... a TICK!!! Ugh! And then another! And another! And another!!! (FYI- it's wood tick season in MN...) We honestly should've stopped then. From that point on we were itching and scratching and shaking and just plain PARANOID. But we kept on trucking- all the way up to the frigid Superior. We managed to find a few more cahces, but our hopes of a quiet get-away, with campfire time and walks along the placid lake shore were dashed. We took a few pictures, tried to take in the icey beauty, jumped back in the van and raced back to sunny Minneapolis.
Otherwise, we are well! I'm around 20 weeks along and officially started looking more pregnant a few days ago- and we've even been feeling the little guy move! My mom arrives tomorrow to visit for a few days and Eddy will be running a half-marathon on May 31st. (He's training for the Twin Cities Marathon in October.) We're hoping to take a trip out to WY to visit some friends in the beginning of June and then back to MN to help lead a Church outreach up North.
It's definitely a bit surreal being back and we're still trying to figure out which end is up, as they say. But each day gets a little easier. Making sense of living the last year in the Land-of-Sand and adjusting temporarily to life back in the U.S. has and will have its challenges-- maintaining vision while seeking out refreshing and "plugging" back in to our social networks. We trust God will triumphantly lead us through this next chapter of our lives, as he always has!
Photos: A couple of dust shots- the usual view of the Nile, followed by the view during our 5 day Habuub... Eddy in the stairwell- it was swept a few hours before... geocaching in MN- Eddy's the dark glob in the background... Our first cache in Duluth- freezing!... Eating Tobies famous caramel rolls and caching- does it get any better?... Eddy pointing out into the frigid surf, where some college guys were boogie-boarding... fools!!!... Eddy finds a cache in Duluth- debriefing at its best!