Tag Archives: imanuel alexander

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Ty’s First Haircut

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So, on the evening of Monday, April 26, Ty was given his first haircut.  He didn’t have much hair to begin with since a lot of it started falling out last month, but the remaining strands were getting pretty long.  Lala and Nana were leaving the next morning, so Nana offered to cut Ty’s hair.  He did a pretty good job at sitting still and not fussing.  She didn’t bring her scissors and supplies, so she had to use our ghetto scissors and Israel’s beard trimmer, but the cut turned out so well!  Ty looked so different, but very cute. 

Ty sitting in his comfy barber chair.  

In commemoration of this milestone, all of the other boys (Israel included) supported Ty by also getting their haircut.  It was the boys’ first professional cut!  Nana used to cut Israel’s hair back in California when he was a little boy.  We really appreciate her for giving so many haircuts in such a short amount of time!  Israel got his hair cut after Ty.  The next morning before leaving for the airport, Imanuel got his hair cut.  And believe it or not, Micah got his haircut en route to Marquette airport in our big blue van, Leon! 

Now all of the boys in this house are well-groomed and looking sharp.  


Ty & Nana

The final results!

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Growing Pains

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It’s been at least a couple months now since Imanuel has been complaining about pain in his legs.  Particularly his knee.  It would always be after I put him down for bed in the evening.  He would come out and start crying and saying that he hurt his knee.  But whenever I asked him if he bumped it somewhere, he’d say “no”.  It just hurt.  The first couple weeks of this, I thought it was a ploy to get himself out of going to bed.  So, I didn’t have much mercy and would just make him go to bed.  He would cry and cry.  After it kept reoccuring (-it wouldn’t hurt for several days in between), I began to think and pray. 

Then the Lord brought to my remembrance a short conversation that we had had with our realtor, Kristen, when we first began trying to sell our house 3 years ago.  She mentioned that her son was going through growing pains.  At first I didn’t know what this meant.  I thought maybe she was saying that he was going through a rough phase emotionally in his life.  But she went on to say that she had been massaging his legs every night because they really are bothering him.  That’s when I exclaimed, “Growing pains are real?!  Like a literal, physical pain from growing?” 

I never knew that before.  Anyway, I’m glad we had that short conversation because I believe that is what Imanuel is/has been going through.  I did some research online and his symptoms from the unexplained leg/knee pain usually in the evening or at night, and the fact that he fits the age categories of 3, 5, or 8 years, all point to this.  I read that this happens to about 30% of all kids.  How lucky of Imanuel to be a part of this elite group!  From time to time, he will wake up in the middle of the night and just start crying/whimpering.  Then, it will get worse and worse until he opens the door and starts yelling for me and saying that his knees hurt.  So far the best thing that has helped ease his pain is massaging and putting a heat pack.  I’m not sure what else could work.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

So, now I know that “growing pains” is not only the name of a great TV show from back in the day, nor is it an expression used for drama during adolescence, it is a real pain that Imanuel is unfortunately going through!  Pray for us!

      

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Our Little Miracle

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This past Friday, the Lord gave us a little miracle. 

It was a crazy day because I was frantically trying to clean our house, cook dinner, and get us ready for the Sabbath, in general.  A turn of events found us in the boys’ bedroom where I was changing Micah’s diaper and Imanuel was crying because he just had a little accident where he hurt his leg.  It felt better as we were walking out of the room, but as I swung the door shut, I didn’t realize that Imanuel had his fingers in the crack of the door where the hinges are.  I literally heard a crunch.  I immediately swung the door open and pulled his finger out.  He had never cried like this before.  It was one of those silent cries where he didn’t breathe for about a minute but his face was contorted to form the most pitiful, pained look.  I tried hugging him, but his body was frozen and stiff.  Needless to say, he was in some serious pain and I felt so terrible.  After about 5 minutes of crying and whimpering, he calmed down enough to let me know that his finger hurt.  Then he went on to ask, “Why did you close the door and hurt me?”  And then he started balling again.  Yes, I felt horrible.  Anyway, I explained that it was an accident and he knew that.  His finger was blue and majorly dented where the edge of the door pinched his finger against the wall.  He was sitting on our green couch when he looked at me and said,

“Mama, I want to pray and ask Jesus to heal me.” 

I told him that that was a GREAT idea.  So, I asked him to pray and he did.  It went something to this effect: 

“Dear God, Please help my finger to feel better and heal me.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen”. 

I had wrapped a little bandage around it, but right after we prayed, I decided to take that off and I asked him if he wanted a bandaid.  I took off the bandage and looked at his finger (-it was primarily his pointer finger that got pinched).  Then I momentarily got confused because I didn’t see the bruise or the dent.  So, I got his other hand and looked at that finger.  Manu was like,

“It was this finger.  It doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

He started wiggling it and moving it around.  I touched it and asked if it hurt and he said “no”.  I think I was more shocked than him.  Anyway, I kept looking at his finger over and over again and touching and pressing here and there in disbelief.  I was so surprised and said, “Your finger is better!!”  Then Imanuel exclaimed, “I want to pray again and say ‘Thank You’ to Jesus!”  I agreed that that would be a good idea.  He prayed and thanked Jesus and said that He was “so nice” to heal his finger! 

I must admit that after this whole ordeal, I began to doubt this miracle.  I was rationalizing. 

Babies and little kids have super-quick and efficient immune systems.  Little cuts and bruises heal so quickly!  Maybe that’s why it went away so fast…etc.etc  But I’m so glad that Imanuel thinks it was Jesus!

As if God was trying to prove Himself, Imanuel got hurt a couple hours later.  He bit himself on his fingernail.  He was crying and crying again.  It was a little red.  I immediately suggest that we pray since that worked last time.  So, I prayed for his little finger.  After I said, “Amen”, I asked if his finger felt better.  He said, “no” and continued to say that it still hurts and that he needs a bandaid.  It hurt for the next 10 minutes and he wouldn’t stop whining about it. 

Sometimes I believe God must get so frustrated with my unbelief and hypocrisy.  He knew that often when I pray with my kids to “help” them with a problem, (or even to thank Him for that matter!) it is more of a lesson to teach this “good habit” as opposed to really believing that even at this young age, God could truly answer any petition we ask Him and that He is our Lord who is beyond worthy of our worship.   

I’m so thankful for this experience for my son & for myself.  There is no doubt in my mind that Imanuel believes with his whole heart that Jesus healed his finger because He is “so nice” AND that He is able and willing to help us.  And now I believe it too.  I was so rebuked by this experience.  God truly does care.  He wants to reveal Himself to us.  He is just asking for a simple, child-like faith. 

Prayer is such a privilege and I hope to never take it for granted again.

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Happy 3rd Birthday, Imanuel!

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On March 4th, we celebrated Imanuel’s 3rd year of life outside of the womb.  Wow, how time flies!  I still vividly remember blogging about how my pregnancy with him was going – how I couldn’t get that taste of bile out of my mouth, how I had barfed frequently (esp. on airplanes), and how I sat at my desk on my last day of teaching and knew that by the next time I came back, I’d finally have been able to see and hold my baby boy!  And just yesterday, he turned 3 years old!  It has been a joy and privilege being able to watch my baby grow. 

When they are babies, even the littlest things bring so much pride to (first-time) parents  – the first roll over, graduating to a bigger diaper size, eating solids, growing teeth, etc.  But as they become toddlers, there is so much more reason to be proud -crawling to walking, speaking words to speaking sentences, learning to share, to saying prayers and asking for forgiveness and the list goes on.  As their character and personality develops, you realize how much deeper a love can grow. 

And as I reflect on these past 3 years, all I can say is that raising Imanuel has truly been sweeter as the days go by.  Now, not to say that all days go “sweetly”.  But the experience has brought greater and yet greater joy.  I don’t wish I could go back in time.  I’ve loved him even more throughout each stage of his development.  And when I just long to go back to the times of having a baby (who can’t talk and talk and talk) I can always go to Micah.  

We had a low-key birthday celebration.  We went to our weekly home school group in the morning, spent the afternoon together as a family, and then we had dinner at Pizza Hut with Grandma Karen.  She never forgets the kids’ birthdays and always gets them such nice presents!  While Imanuel and Micah don’t have their biological grandparents around, they are so blessed to have such loving grandmas and grandpas from church!


We made cupcakes and brought them to share with all of his friends from the home school group.

 
We came home and Manu opened presents!

Underwear and socks from Mama!  And matching clogs/house slippers for the boys too!

A golf set from Daddy!

He was very happy with his gifts.  In fact, when asked whose gift he liked better, Mama’s or Daddy’s, he said, “I like both!”  He really loves socks. 

I made this mini-cake using 2 mess-kit bowls.  🙂  It was “funfetti” cake as requested by the b-day boy. 
   
He was so excited to see his cake!  He LOVES strawberries too!
   
 He blew out all the candles in one try!  Daddy was so proud!  Micah just wanted to eat the cake.

Happy Birthday, Imanuel Alexander Ramos!  We love you sooo much!!

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Imanuel Alexander’s Debut as Bible Boy

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Imanuel was asked to be the Bible Boy for Andy & Idaliza Publes’s wedding on January 4, 2009.  (We’ll never forget that date since that is Bentley’s birthday!)  I declined right away because I wasn’t sure if Imanuel would actually walk down and not ruin the wedding.  He’s only 2!  But, both of them insisted that they love kids and they think it would be cute even if he messed up.  (Right.)  Well, I consented, and after several practices in our house, (where I would hum “Canon in D” and our hallway would be the center aisle), on that beautiful, brisk wedding day, he did a marvelous job.  He handed that heavy Spanish Bible to Israel who officiated (-it was his first wedding & it was in Spanish!)  Israel did great and everyone was happy.  😀  Praise God!  It was a gorgeous wedding that we felt so honored to be a part of. 

Here is a clip of Manu walking down the aisle.  This was taken by Andy’s (groom) friend on his phone.

We’ll try to get some pictures up sometime too. 

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Our New Wood Stove, the Snow, and the Boys

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For the past couple of weeks now, we have been using our “new” wood stove to heat our house. Propane has been ridiculously expensive and so we’re trying this alternative method. It’s been great so far. It will definitely be considered one of our best buys for the year. Costing only $15 for the used oil can and $150 for the starter kit, it is the cheapest wood stove you can get. It probably doesn’t score too high on its safety ratings, but with our trusty smoke & carbon monoxide detector-in-one, and with the Lord on our side, we aren’t too worried.  It may look ghetto, but it keeps our house a piping 72 degrees when the coals are hot!  


If you haven’t noticed, our pets love this room now!

For the past couple of days, it hasn’t stopped snowing:

Today Israel had a District 1 meeting in Marquette, so while Micah was sleeping, I decided to take Manu out to play.  He’s been having some trouble going to bed at their normal bedtime (7pm).  And he’s constantly tempted to wake up Micah to play after he can’t fall asleep.  So, in an effort to help tire him out, I’m trying to keep him more active during the day.  (And we’ve been pushing his bedtime back about an hour.)  Hopefully this new tactic works.


Building snow bricks for our cave…

We started making a snow cave.  (It also doubles as our personal sledding hill.)  When it stops snowing, it’ll probably be twice this size.  I’ll try to get a picture when it’s completed.  This is when we just started.

And lastly, here are the most recent pics of the boys chilling at home.  Micah is now 14 months and in 2 days, Imanuel will be one month shy of 3 years old.

 
And we especially want to thank Auntie Jen for the singing cow.  Micah wants it pushed over and over and over and over again.  In the second picture, he’s actually asking me to push it.


Micah’s long tresses and lashes.  He hasn’t had a real hair cut yet.

He can stand up and walk along furniture, but his main mode of transportation is still on all fours. 

While I encourage sharing, I try as much as possible to ensure that they don’t share their food with our dog.  Sometimes I permit it, but it is usually only when Imanuel asks if he can.  But I find it quite hilarious that both boys can now protect themselves and their food from the snares of Bentley.  Micah still isn’t 100% successful, but he’s getting there. 

The boys eating and making sure Bentley keeps his distance.

Imanuel handing a cracker to Micah as Bentley gets into position.
  
But then Micah stuffs it into his mouth before Bentley snatches it out of his hand.  I rarely have to intervene now.  🙂  But it is a rather stressful way to eat snacks. 

Micah is into putting objects into containers.  He’ll crawl around the living room picking up toys and putting them into the laundry basket or toy box.  He kept putting toys into the cracker jar and Imanuel kept taking them out.  LOL.


Micah signing “More” and “Please” – his two favorite words.

Manu smiling for the camera.  For some reason he just loves the full body PJs.

I can honestly say now that things are getting quite challenging and it has everything to do with the cute little boy wearing his “footies” seen above.  Everything prior to this time was a breeze for me (-I realize now in retrospect).  Trying to parent him has become like an experiment where you try to say/do the “right” things to get the desired results but every time you fail and/or mess up, it adds more and more variables.  It can easily lead to feelings of regret, fear, and insecurity. 

The older Imanuel gets (-and the longer I am a mother), the more I feel so strongly that God takes such a huge risk to entrust His children to humans.  Or maybe I should say that He has such confidence.  It is rather humbling.  I mean, I would trust very few people to even babysit my kids, let alone raise them.  And they are people who I obviously feel are “better” or at least would do a comparable job as me.  Yet God says to me (and to us) that He trusts so much in the power of His Son’s sacrifice, that He knows that it is possible for me to do the impossible.  He knows I can raise my kids to be fit for this life and for the life to come.  He knows I can overcome myself and be the example He wants me to be for my boys.  Sometimes I don’t feel comfortable with that responsibility.  But, the encouraging news is that the omniscent God knows that it is at least possible.  At times, it takes a lot of faith to believe.   

Anyway, to end on a lighter note, I wanted to write down some funny things I want to remember.  Imanuel loves to sing.  One of his up and coming favorite songs is “Read Your Bible, Pray Everyday” which also goes to the same tune as “I Will Make You Fishers of Men”.  He loves both of those songs.  Well, the interesting thing about that tune and both songs is that he cannot seem to get the lyrics right!  Without fail, he always sings,

“Bring your Bible, pray everyday and you’ll grow, grow grow…” 

I completely blame this one on Sikhu (by way of Sebastien) because she would always say, “Worship!  Bring your Bibles!” 

And another time, he was singing to himself, “I will make you fishers of men…” and when he got to the second verse (Hear Christ calling, “Come unto me, I will give you rest…”) he started singing,

“Hear Christ calling, ‘Come unto me, come unto me, come unto me,
“Hear Christ calling, ‘Come unto me, I will make you sleep’
“I will make you sleep, I will make you sleep…”

Then I began wondering if he even thought that was a good thing or not…

Anyway, everyday, while it brings its challenges, has so many more happy moments that at the end of the day, I feel so very blessed.  I am thoroughly convinced that God desires His children to experience happiness even here on this sinful earth! 

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Eucerin Mischief and Micah’s Words

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So, a couple nights ago, our friends Carol and Jennifer (students at Tech) were chilling with me.  They are still on break and they were able to spend a lot of time at our place (as they live in Kenya).  It has been such a blessing.  Anyway, on Tuesday night, I had put the kids down and we were chatting in the kitchen. 

* Imanuel had crept out of his room twice already because he had to “go to the bathroom”.  And I put those words in quotations not because he didn’t HAVE to go, but because he would FORCE himself to go…like 5 drops max.  Unlike his brother, he has never fully recovered from jetlag due to our trip to GYC. *

I soon noticed that the lights to the boys’ room was on.  This has NEVER happened before.  And I was quite frustrated because I knew that Micah would now be awake as well.  I opened the door and immediately Imanuel threw something out of the crib (-he had climbed into Micah’s crib…as his custom has been lately), hid his face in his hands and started crying (- a sign of conviction in this case).  And to my horror, Micah, sporting his normal unassuming look, was covered in white stuff.  All I could utter out of my mouth was, “Oh My Goodness.”  The girls ran into the room and gasped. 

I pieced things together.  That day I had bought an $8 jar of Eucerin cream for Micah’s back.  (He has eczema.)  Imanuel must have found it when he decided to switch the lights on.  He was having fun making Micah (and himself) up until I walked in.  (I have a feeling that Imo’s lotion and make-up sessions with me and Uncle Justin inspired him.)  And Micah had no choice but to consent to this.  Both of them remained so quiet the whole time.  Manu had thrown the empty jar on the floor when I walked in.  He found the courage to look up and he too had his hair and face covered with the cream.  It was everywhere – on Micah’s blankets, on their clothes, on the actual crib…etc. 

Needless to say, their heads were so creamy and oily we weren’t sure where to start.  The girls got Micah and started a bath for him.  I had a “talk” with Imanuel and then he too got in the tub.  To give Manu some credit, he mentioned that Micah was already awake and that is why he decided to turn on the lights so they could see while they played.  This was stated after my accusation that he woke Micah up by turning on the lights.     

Anyhow, no matter how much shampoo was used, their hair remained greasy.  Today, two days after the incident and at least 6 shampoos later, there is still a slight oily film in their hair.  So, basically, not only have I wasted an entire new jar of cream, I used up at least a week’s worth of shampoo in 2 days! 
 
I was quite lucky to find out, after the fact, that Carol and Jennifer thought Micah looked so hilarious they had to take a picture before cleaning him off.  So, here is the calm, laid-back Micah after being woken up from his slumber and slathered with lotion by his brother.  He is held by the lovely Carol.

This following picture was taken the next day.  And just to let you know, their hair is NOT wet.  It’s made me a believer in the power of Eucerin.  It keeps the moisture in and never washes out! 

Manu insisted that Auntie Stephie be in the picture as well.  (We called her to wish her a happy birthday and she’s still on the line).

It is beginning to be a trying time with Imanuel.  Although that was a pretty hilarious experience, I know that now more than ever, I need to beg the Lord to give me wisdom and patience in how to deal with Manu’s mischief.  He just loves to have fun…but sometimes it is at the expense of obedience.  I pray that even now, Imanuel can develop the self-control to follow the rules, even when temptation is lurking at every corner (and from every object!).      

Micah Christian is 13 months…and TALKING.
On a more positive note, Micah is successfully signing:
– “more” – It has taken him a while, but he finally does this one properly!
– “please” – Often times, he ends up rubbing his thighs (or anything else) instead of his chest.
– “all done”
– “give”
– “I want that or I die!” – He made this one up himself.  He pounds on his head with both hands and looks at me intensely when he desperately wants some food item that he sees.  I have no idea where this has come from.

And he proudly utters two words: 
– “Ma-ma” – which ends up more like, “Ma-ma, Ma-ma, Ma-ma, Ma-ma…”
– “Bah-bah” (bye-bye) – And this goes along with frantic waving of his hands or with a phone to his ear.

Micah is such a (big) bundle of joy.  In his own calm manner, he can brighten the darkest night.  We are thrilled with his progress and we hope and pray he continues to develop his own little personality that is graced with the love of Christ.


Micah:  my calm, serious baby


Manu:  my sweet, mischevious boy 

Everyday brings such challenges and joys.  Both drive us to our knees in humility and awe.  Being a parent has been the most ground-breaking experience for me.  It has forced me to understand more of God and who He is and for that I am eternally grateful.  Praise be to God forever and ever!

P.S.  We pray Daddy will come home from Denmark safely tonight!

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The Update on Underpants

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So, the two boys in our home have upgraded underpants. 

For Micah, in an effort to be more earth-friendly, to limit our trash, and to be kinder to his bum, we’ve become a gFamily.  www.gdiapers.com  We’ve joined the revolution.

Imanuel on the other-hand has upgraded from colorful-tighties to solid tone boxer-briefs (- upon strong recommendation from the man of the house, because he understands).  So, Imanuel is thrilled to know that he wears undershirts and underwear that look just like his daddy’s.  I was tempted to take a picture of the two of them and post, but after further thought and consideration, I realized it probably wouldn’t have been the best decision. 

The next update will hopefully be when Micah is officially at crawling.  Now he can scoot forward (but still mostly backwards), and he has started the rocking/swaying on all fours.  That is the tell-tale sign that it will soon come!

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“Thank you for writing Your Bible for me”

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Before I put him down to bed: while I’m brushing his teeth, making him go bathroom for the last time, and changing him into his PJs; my Manu will ask “Can I talk to you for a little bit?”

So I’ll take him to my room and we’ll lay in bed together. I’ll ask how his day was, if he had fun, etc. And whenever we connect really well, I’ll try to tell him something about Jesus. I’ll say “Manu, do you know that Jesus died to save you?” and he’ll respond “Jesus died to save me?” Last week, he asked “Can I say thank you to Jesus?” And so it began…

I had to explain to Manu that although we can’t see Jesus and we probably won’t see Him until He comes again, we are still able to talk to Him and He hears us. In our conversation, I tried to explain to Manu that God’s presence is very real and that He still communicates to us through His word. And then, it struck him. I could tell. He began to understand. He said, “Jesus talks to us through the Bible?”

After telling him that he was correct, I asked Manu if he wanted to talk to Jesus. Manu told me that he would. I told him that we talk to Jesus through prayer as if we’re talking to a friend. I told him that he could tell Jesus anything he wanted to tell Him. And so we knelt on the bed and Manu prayed a prayer that I’ll remember for a long time.

“Dear Jesus, thank you for dying for me. Thank you for writing Your Bible for me. I love you. In Jesus name, amen.”

* added note: This post was written by Daddy.