WANT MORE PICS???
Hava is ok with being on her stomach for a short while...as far as the toys are concerned, she doesn't like to go after them, but that's ok...she's a smarty pants...she pulls the blanket til they come to her! I know it's fuzzy, but I couldn't resist the smile!
This was my first HA! moment of the week...I called Al and they both looked at me the same way at the same time! (Hava kept the look for the picture, but Papai decided to smile. :o))
So, this week we finished making sure we are ok with the 3 cereals (rice, oat and barley)...and moved onto... (duh duh duh duh) APPLESAUCE! This was my second HA! moment....I was in tears laughing at the faces Hava would make trying to figure out what was in her mouth. I really wish you could have all been there for this one...she would make a face like we had given her a lemon, let it all fall back out of her mouth and then open her mouth really wide with her tongue out like she was about to gag. So, it wasn't a big hit to begin with, but she loved it today.
I used to love this song when I was a kid....guess I passed it on:

Rubber duckie, you're the one. You make bathtime lots of fun. Rubber duckie, I'm awefully fond of you...doo doo doo doo doo doo dooooooo
Rubber duckie, joy of joys. When I squeeze you, you make noise. Rubber duckie, I'm awefully fond of you.
Every day when I make my way to the tubbie, I find a little fella who's short and yella and chubbie....Rubba dub duckie!
Rubber duckie, you're so fine. And I am lucky that you're mine. Rubber duckie, I'm awefully fond of.....Rubber duckie - wish I had a whole pond of....Rubber duckie, I'm awefully fond of you...doo doo doo doo doo!!!

THE NEWS
First of all, to put all your imaginative minds at rest, no, we are not pregnant again...at least not now. :o) We will definitely let you know as soon as that is the L-rd's plan.

We have been praying for a LOOOOOONG time now about what the L-rd wants of our lives as a family. We have always known that He has called us to ministry, but between moving to the states (the different language and culture for Al), changing directions and migrating to Texas, job changes and expecting Hava, we didn't know what, how, when or where. After quite a bit of seeking the L-rd, we have finally surrendered our feeble abilities to His service - completely.

Basically, the plan right now is for Al to continue at his job through the next year as we raise ministerial and financial support. About this time next year, with the L-rd's blessing, we should be able to dedicate our time solely to ministry. Our intentions, at present, are to direct mission teams to the amazon region of Brazil for evangelistic and discipleship purposes. We want to give mission teams a "fuller" cultural experience when they travel as opposed to a culture shock and sporadic evangelism/discipleship. We plan to prepare them through linguistic and cultural learning PRIOR to their trips, as well as travel with them to minister together. We would like to eventually extend this ministry to other regions/countries. Our desire for our child(ren) is that they would be able to travel with us and grow up learning how to dedicate themselves to service (no matter what area they choose). So, although it is in the relatively distant future, Rachel will be home-schooling the kid(s).

Over the past year or so, we have been working on our first project - which is really what has set this new direction into motion - Project AMO (Amazon Musical Outreach) is a group of American musicians and theatre artists who will be helping native musicians present an evanglistic musical in the city of Santarem as well as on the river (Summer'08).

Our decision to dedicate ourselves fully to ministry was an easy and hard decision at the same time. Easy because we know it is what the L-rd wants us to do, but hard because we have to submit our controlling spirits to His guidance and plan. We need your prayer now more than ever, especially since our family's very survival depends on all of us following the L-rd's leading.

*If you would like to know how you can support the Leite Family Ministry more specifically, please write to: leitefam@yahoo.com

*If you would like more information on Project AMO and how you can support this event, please write to : projamo@yahoo.com

THE TRIP

So, it actually took us about 11-12 hours both ways on our recent trip, but Hava was GREAT. We only stopped for feeding and potty breaks and she was just fine. She only cried for a second whenever we would put her back into the car seat, but I think that was because she figured out that she would be in there for a while. Once she was in, she would play, listen to music and take nice loooooong naps. We were very impressed with her traveling skills, so thank you for your prayers - she did excellent. Once again, she has proven to be a "Caldwell," now that we know she likes to travel! Here's a picture of her on the road.

HAVA'S SLIDESHOW
Well, I finally did it....I made a myspace. I found so many people on there that I haven't talked to in forever, so I did it to see if anyone else comes along that I haven't seen. I'm not really big into myspace, but I was able to create a slideshow on there of Hava. So, when you get a chance, go check her out! (Make sure your speakers are on, and scroll down a bit...it's on the right side.) www.myspace.com/havasmamae
More pictures to come here soon!

Please keep checking in here with us, we have some important news to share in the relatively near future!

A FIRST
So, mom and dad are stateside celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. They were with us for a while, but are visiting with my brothers now. We are all supposed to get together in Brownsville next weekend...which means, this will be our first real road trip with Hava. We will only be gone for 2 days, but I am already considering the pile of things we'll need for her. The trip is supposed to be around 9 hours, but with Hava-breaks, it will probably take us a good 10-11. Any advice on traveling with a 4-month old is welcome! We actually love traveling, but have never done this with Hava - so our opinion might change. :o) But, Hava takes hour-long road trips with us about twice a week to our congregation and she is usually wonderful, so we're hoping and praying for the best.

FYI - ATENCAO
We just updated this blog so that ANYONE can leave a comment, whether you are a blogspotter or not. Just click on "comments" in green which follows the blog, remember to fill in the code as you are prompted and click anonymous. But PLEASE SIGN your name in your comment, so we know it was you! :o)
Thanks.

Renovamos este site para que QUALQUER pessoa possa deixar recados independente se tem um blog aqui ou nao. So clique no "comments," que segue o blog em verde, preenche, bate o codigo que dao e click no "anonymous." Mas FAVOR ASSINE o seu nome no seu recado para que possamos saber quem foi! :o)
Obrigado.

I Admit to Being a Horribly Human Mother
I don't even know if you can make it out in this picture, but, I was cutting Hava's fingernails yesterday and did what I hoped I would never do...I cut her precious little finger! It was the smallest snippet I think I have ever seen, but it bled like no tomorrow - I felt horrible. My first reaction was to stick it in my mouth to stop the bleeding, then she took it from me and stuck it in her mouth....after she realized it didn't taste as good as usual.....she stuck it back in my mouth! ha!:o) It made me reminisce about my absent-mindedness of new mommyhood:
- the day I almost burnt the house down when I forgot I put some of her bottles to sterilize in boiling water, we all went to take a nap and when we woke up...there was a housefull of smoke! (of course, NONE of our smoke alarms worked...nice hint!)
- the day I locked my precious baby in the car when I thought I was being careful with her, I didn't want to get her out in the heat, but I had put the keys away as not to scratch her when I took her out...then I went to make sure the door was open that we were going into...and I closed her car door!
- the numerous days she tries to help me get her out of her seat and I bump her head on the ceiling of the car.
- and now, the day I made my baby shed her first blood.

Any of you mommies out there who feel like you have done a horrible, unimaginable danger to your child....rest assured, you are not alone. Love really does conquer all!
So, before you look at this -NO, this is not a norm for Hava...but I just noticed one day that she was watching TV! So, I sat her in her stroller to see if it was for real....IT WAS! She must be our daughter!

She is continuing to eat better and better...and is usually a happy eater. I think she likes oatmeal better than rice, but she can down 4 tablespoons of either in no time..and she doesn't even want a bottle of milk to help her.