No Pictures, Just Thoughts

We are doing well. And that is because the L-rd is so good to us. The other day, we had a slight "accident," and as soon as it happened I thought "We should have expected this...nothing has happened to us in a while!." But I love how faith proves itself through works.

It happened immediately after we mailed out our support-raise letters for our ministry and upcoming project. I won't go into the details, they really don't matter, but there was nothing we could do at the time but wait. And while we waited, we waited on the L-rd. Come to find out, we didn't have to do ANYTHING. The L-rd completely took care of us and the situation.

Now, let me take a moment to say, we aren't always so easily trusting in the L-rd...we are very hard-headed and tend to want to fix everything ourselves, but after many trials where we had no option but to trust Him, the faith and trusting part has gotten somewhat easier.

We have a promise, not only that we are given a measure of faith, but each of us can increase our faith. It's like a muscle, it grows when you use it. So, as painful as the situations are sometimes, we are learning that the pleasure that comes after trusting in the Creator and Sustainer is more enjoyable than being able to fix the situation immediately.

We pray that each of you who visit our family page here are blessed daily by His presence, His peace, His direction, His forgiveness, His love and His faithfulness.

SHE'S MOBILE!!!
As most of you know, Hava has never been too big on moving around. Although lately, we have found her in her crib in the morning rolled over on her stomach and playing. Since I know kids start crawling before you know it, we already started to child-proof the house. She doesn't like to be by herself, but we have tried to help her gain some independence by leaving her sitting on the floor or in her play pen. A few minutes ago, I had left her sitting in the middle of this blanket. She made no noise as she watched the game "Meal or No Meal" on Sesame Street.:o) I looked over and she had rolled over to her stomach and was at the end of the blanket with the tag in her mouth. And then...it began... She started to push up on her hands...
And push herself backwards...
And kept on moving...
Till she was completely off the blanket!
Yes, she is crawling - albeit, backwards - nonetheless, our little Hava is mobile now!

PICTURE TIME!!!
I know it's been a while, so here goes your Hava fix! (Pay no attention the dates on the pics, our camera is crazy like that.)


She sits up most of the time now and rarely falls over.
Hava and her buddy Kefa - being noisey during a business meeting, no less. It was THE CUTEST thing ever....they kept reaching out for each other and switching toys.
Miss thang playing around. Watching daddy come home from work through the front door.
This is her buddy Tyler's 1st birthday party (1 year old, 2nd party!).As you can probably see in the background, it was a long day for her. She passed out.These are the CUTE sunglasses she got from Tyler's party. She loves them and oddly enough won't take them off. :o)
Her favorite show - the backyardigans.Smacking daddy on the face.

MAILING ADDRESSES FOR NEWSLETTER

If you are interested in a personal newsletter from the Leite Family Ministry, please email your mailing address to: leitefam@yahoo.com

Se estiver interessado numa carta pessoal do Leite Family Ministry (Ministerio da Familia Leite), mande o seu endereco de correio para: leitefam@yahoo.com

BIRTHDAY MINUTE KISS

Did you see the "Everybody Loves Raymond" episode about the birthday minute kiss? Ray's mom would always kiss his forhead on the minute he was born every time he celebrated his birthday - and the one day she didn't do it, everything went wrong. Well, Hava got her birthday minute kiss today. At 1:14 pm (13:14) today, she officially reached the 6-month marker. Here is a picture to prove it (I just realized our camera date is off by a day).

She is one happy kid and we love her to death. What a blessing that the L-rd chose to give us this time with her. It is so fun to get to know this little girl. We really hope the world can get to know her too.

Happy Birthday, Hava!

So, Miss Hava will be 6 months old in 2 days. Time really does fly. She had her doctor's appointment last week measuring 25 1/4 in. and weighing in at a whopping 15 lbs. 10.5 oz! Can you believe that little tiny baby has grown so much???

So, here is an update on the new things in Hava's life. You might even notice some hair finally coming in. No teeth yet, but the food keeps on coming.

We just finished introducing her "last"fruit - prunes. (When we get to Brazil next year, there will be a whole new list of fruits for her to try.)She was pretty pleased with her ability to suck food down - and the prunes didn't taste so bad either.Here's the first vegetable - modeled by "Senorita Carrotface."Happy baby with a full tummy! Oh, well, it was a full tummy.... the front is clean, the other side, um, not so much! ;O)
Here she is starting with the sippy cup.It was fun for a few minutes and then she got frustrated with it. We'll keep trying.She loves her papai...
And mamae's pretty cool too.
After a long day......... Boa noite! (Good night!)

Leite Family Ministry

Many of you have inquired about the details of the Leite Family Ministry. To give you a better idea, here is an overview of the plan we have. Having said that, keep us in prayer as we try to follow the details of the L-rd's leading and not our own.

Our ministry will basically be two-fold:
1. To support missionaries and their ministries through evangelism and discipleship
2. To support missionaries and their families through compassionate relationships

Our idea is to go, either just as a family or preparing mission teams, to places where we already have contacts who need support. This can include any evangelical ministry, country and people group. We want to spend time with them in their daily ministry activities and support those who are being evangelized and/or discipled. We also want to provide special activities or events where we can share as a family or as a team through our gifts and talents. Having had quite a bit of experience with mission teams, we feel that many times, although their efforts are much needed and appreciated, they are somewhat sporadic and inconsistent with the true focus of the missionaries' ministry. In the event of taking mission teams, we would like to do a more comprehensive training for these teams prior to traveling so that they will have a fuller spiritual experience through culture and language in missions. In these instances, we will use our resources here in the US (people who are from those specific areas and cultures) to meet with the team members and provide them with cultural and liguistic tips to enhance their expereience.

On the second hand, we feel that many times, missionaries do most of the ministering and are rarely ministered to. We want to take some time with these families to sit, chat, share and pray together. We want them to know they are loved and appreciated and that they have someone, even for a week or two, who is committed to them and to their family. We would like to spend time with their children as well as we compile some research about their unique circumstances at such formative times in their lives. We wouild like to be able to attend mission meetings, where missionaries get together, where we can share some music and encouragement with them. Eventually, we would like to use our research of missionary families on the field to minister to families state-side who are contemplating going into overseas missions.

Our first project is called PROJECT AMO (Amazon Muiscal Outreach) - set for the summer of 2008.

In Portuguese, AMO means "I love." We are presently preparing a musical team to go to the Amazon region of Brazil (where Rachel's parents now serve) to present a co-labored musical with the Brazilian musicians in the city of Santarem as well as some of the poorer river villages. This team is preparing separate skits and training sessions for the people in that area. At this point, we have started our fund-raising for Project AMO. We need to raise close to $50,000 for the entire team and expenses for these productions in Brazil. Please pray about how you, your family, your friends and/or church/congregation would be led to give to this project. For more details on this particular project, please email Rachel at: projamo@yahoo.com

We have other projects (where we have contacts) in the making including, but not limited to: Kenya, Nigeria, China, Italy, Ukraine, Germany, Israel, Costa Rica and Taiwan. Our family has also begun fund-raising for the Leite Family Ministry. If you, your family, friends or church/congregation feel led to particiapte in our lives in any way - be it through prayer, financial support or participating directly in a missions project, please contact Al or Rachel at: leitefam@yahoo.com

Thank you for your interest in our lives. Please keep us uplifted in prayer as we seek to honor the L-rd, His name and His will throughout the world.

~the Leites~

UPDATES...

Of course I will get to the reason you came here first.... goes by the name of "Miss Thang," "Madam Fuss-a-lot," "Chubster," "Baldie," ...just kidding....heeeeeeeeere's HAVA!

Sitting up...Finding her feet....Taking it easy...(shirt says: "Daddy does my hair")Smiling...Smiling some more...Playing in her new bouncy seat...Yes, it's a jungle scene...she sits in a frog, spins a lizard, has a parrot overhead, the sun and a rainbow, a flying bug, a monkey, parrot and, um, and elephant (?) with sounds. Yeah, I know, there are no elephants in the amazon...tell it to Fisher Price.Hava's first fourth of July...Just chillin...Watching the kite mamae is holding while papai takes the picture...Having fun with papai...First time in the swing...On papai's shoulders...And now, our family news:

As you probably all know by now, we have submitted ourselves to full-time missions. We hope that Al will be able to leave his job by next May or so, then the real work begins. Our heart has pulled us in a very specific direction - to support missionaries, their families and their ministries. We hope to be able to assist them with evangelism and discipleship with the people groups that they work with as well as bring small mission teams to support them. But we also desire to bring some "home comfort" to these families - we want to inspire and encourage them and their children. Many times, missionaries familes do all the ministering and have no one to minister to them. We would like to cultivate these relationships so that they feel supported in the work the L-rd has called them to do. The L-rd has also put a desire in Al's heart to take the TOEFL and then go to seminary to study family counseling, so please keep him in your prayers.

Our first international outreach will be through a music missions team next year to the area where my parents serve. It is called Project AMO (Amazon Musical Outreach). We have already started the fund-raising for this amazing event, but we need close to $50,000 for the entire team. Please pray about how you, your friends and family and/or church might be able to invest in this ministry. For more information on the specifics, email: projamo@yahoo.com

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.

HAVA WEARS ME OUT
So, you know I love her to death and when she is cute, BOY IS SHE CUTE! But when she is crying, BOY IS SHE CRYING! Mom and Dad are in from Brazil, which is wonderful - and she was a little angel today at the mall, didn't fuss one bit...not about being off of naptime, not about being hungry...nothing....all smiles. I sort of saw it coming. She was a mess later this afternoon and tonight...completely wiped out and screaming at the same time and wearing us out in the process...hence, why I am writing this at 11:30 pm when I should be asleep. I'm off to bed now, my baby is silent...finally.

Hava was showing all the signs of wanting to eat solids. She was sitting up, chewing her fists, big weight gain and waking up at ALL hours wanting to eat. So, she was getting way too much formula....hence....the big event - 5 days away from being 4 months. She's an early-bird!


Finally, she was very tired of the high chair and had to have some comfort while trying to get this stuff down. We switched off and on between the cereal and a bottle to help her understand how to swallow. She was worn smack out and went straight to sleep after it all. She's been doing this "holding her head" thing for a while now...always when she is eating. It is so cute!!!