*Be prepared for some venting. If you don't want to hear it, don't read!*

i don't know where i'm going with this, but I just felt compelled to write. so, Isabella is such a joy! she's a smart little girl. She has been drinking out of a sippy cup for the last few months, she feeds herself finger foods (and prefers it over being spoon fed). She recognizes words like "light" and she looks up and points to the light. She claps and waves and gives kisses.

It's so fun seeing her develop. She weighs almost 19 pounds and is 68.5 cm long. She's a pretty big girl. Maybe that's why she's not even crawling yet! She will be 9 months on the 10th. I try not to let it bother me, but as a mother, it's hard to not compare your baby with other babies. Isabella is pretty close to crawling, she scoots around and rolls anywhere she needs to go. She is pretty dangerous now, i can't leave her alone for a second. But unlike other babies at her age, she is not pulling herself up or crawling. I tell myself all babies develop at their own pace. yes I know. i don't need to be reminded of that. I'm just sharing my thoughts.

The encouraging thing is that God knows exactly what we need. And it's true that I don't need a crawling baby in the place where we are living. Ugh, which makes me think about how badly i want to move. Our home (which is the church) is NOT baby proofable (i know that's not a word, but my english is pretty bad when I go long bouts without speaking it).

Carpeting is a LUXURY people, be thankful. I've wanted to get rugs for a while. but you know, they are a luxury, so that means that they are imported from somewhere else. A small rug the size of a double bed costs at least $200 US dollars. Putting her on the floor is confined to a small square of foam puzzle letters. God knows when she starts crawling I'm gonna have to take her to the emergency room for splitting her head open on the floor.

Her walker is fun for her, but that's pretty dangerous too. I only use it downstairs and in the same room where i am. A johnny jumpup thingy would be pretty cool, but not possible. We don't have doorframes like in the US. there is nothing in our home we could hang it from! Darnit.

Oh, please forgive me.. I realized I am totally complaining. Lord knows my feelings on all this, as we've had several conversations about it. And yes I'm submitted to His will, knowing that we will live here as long as He deems necessary. We are missionaries and we can deal with a lot and still be content, so please don't think I am an uncontent person.

I fight my "gringa" ways all the time... thinking that carpeting should be a right. I suppose this is a large reason why most babies in this part of the world dont start walking until a year or after. And most babies skip crawling all together. I've read that skipping crawling can affect a child's ability to read. This is a myth. It's been proven that it's not a necessary developmental step, like sitting or rolling over is.

I digress. I want to move, separate our living space from the church. A small apartment or house would be perfect. Something warm. Our home (aka the church) is beautiful and large and cold. Too large. Too cold. We use a bedroom on the 2nd floor as our living room so it can maintain the heat a little better. Plus the whole downstairs is used for the church. I pray for something that is warm(er)... that lets the sunlight in. For those who don't know (and for the 3 people who actually read my blogs), our home is made of concrete (hence the earlier refrigerator reference).

A year ago, our next door neighbors decided to eliminate the structure on their property and build two 6 story apartment complexes. (they are still constructing!!) The SAME month (a year ago), our front neighbors also decided to build a 6 story apartment complex. Can you imagine the noise day in and day out (7 days a week!). And the mess that is left with gravel and sand all over the sidewalk in front of our front door. and our water gets shut off randomly (without notice). We always have barrels and bottles of tapwater handy just in case.

Last night (and also is a frequent occurance) someone decided to park their car on the street just below our bedroom window at 2AM to drink and play some peruvian mexican sounding music so that the entire city of cusco could hear. Yes it woke up Isabella. Ricky had to yell from our window to get the guys attention. He turned the music down, but our entire household was already awake by then. I wanted to call the police, but calling the police wouldn't do anything anyway. They don't respond during mid-day let alone at 2 in the morning.

Another interesting thing about our street is the young drunk people that come home from the discotheque at 3am and yell/laugh/fight just long enough to wake us and the baby up. Oh and we are in October, which in Cusco is the celebration of Cristo Morado (Black Christ). every morning for the entire month, the catholic chapel near our house lets off huge firecrackers at 6 in the morning, sometimes earlier. It sounds like fireworks are going off in my room. I am much more accustomed to this now than I was 2 years ago, but it still makes me jump out of my skin every once in a while.

There are many good reasons why I want to move (not mentioned above). Having the church in a separate building would be beneficial and a blessing in many ways. The members of the church would be able to take ownership over the church (instead of thinking of it as our home). They would have many more opportunities to serve. We would have a sign out front and would be able to receive people who come in from off the street. Gosh, the list goes on. I have discussed this with the Lord many times. No need trying to convince Him because he already knows. His timing is perfect, so i abide in faith.

Aside from all this, the Lord gives me incredible sleep, even with an almost 9 month old that still doesn't sleep through the night. I'm up every few hours for some reason or another. I feel rested and refreshed even through it all. I don't feel stressed (maybe a little, but only sometimes). We are so blessed and grateful. God knows we are. He is good to us. We rest in His goodness and know he'll let us move sometime SOON to a quieter neighborhood of Cusco!