Susanna Jane turns ONE!

Hard to believe that this "Baby B" is a year old today! We love you, Susanna Jane - it's a joy to have you in our lives. 

No News is...Aggravating.

We're still waiting for news on Susanna Jane's long-term visa. The same one we started applying for last January.

About a month ago, Christiana met with our visa agent to give him the latest round of documents, including new letters from our insurance company and a lease with Susanna Jane's name on it. However, when Christiana handed that particular document over to our agent, she was told it was merely an amendment to our original lease. She would have to return home with Susanna, locate the original lease, and bring it back to our agent the same day if we were to meet the deadline we'd been given.  Why? Because all of the previous copies of our original lease had "expired".

True story - documents have expiration dates. If we were to go a certain number of days past the date stamped by the notary, we have to start again. It's the same lease, the exact same information, with the same original date of occupancy. The only difference is it has a fresh new stamp on it. 

More documents = more trips to the notary = more MONEY to be paid! 

People have insinuated that our visa agent is to blame - he isn't. He's merely the messenger, so don't shoot him. (As a matter of fact, he doesn't get paid until our daughter gets the visa so he's every bit as anxious to see this completed! The extra fees go to the document center & the notary.) Unfortunately, we've gotten caught in a corrupt loop somewhere in the office of the foreign police. Someone is sitting on our daughter's case file, probably expecting a bribe. 

Our baby girl turns ONE next week - we'd love to give her a VISA for her birthday! Will you continue to pray with us to see that this matter is finally resolved?

A Big Week for Susanna Jane

Our little girl is now six months old! She's a busy little girl, who is always on the move, even in her sleep. We had a good six-month check-up this week, and we're now starting solid foods. Below are a few pictures of the big event.

Sitting up like a big girl - we like the chair!

First bite of solid foods...

Mom! What is this?!? Are you trying to poison me?

 Fortunately her disgust was short-lived, and she now enjoys a variety of pumpkin, squash, carrot & pear.

We're so thankful for this precious little girl!

Susanna Jane Brande - 6 months old

Coming Home

Thursday morning around 10:30, I called Christiana to find out what the doctors had decided and was very excited to find out that she and Susanna had been given the "all-clear" to go home.  So I scrambled and in about an hour, wrote out lesson plans for all the classes that needed to be covered Thurs afternoon and Friday.  Around 12:30, some friends from school  -- who had offered their car -- picked me up at the apartment, and we drove to the hospital.  When I got there, I learned that all the paperwork was done and everyone was ready to come home.  So we packed Susanna in her snow suit that was 3 sizes too big, put her in the car seat and headed home.  We were all very thankful to be home, especially Christiana! After sleeping on a hard hospital bed for 4 nights, our bed was the perfect way to catch up on rest.  And praise the Lord, Susanna slept almost 5 hours her first night home.  What a joy to have our family together in our own apartment!

Brande New Baby

We are excited to announce the arrival of our daughter, Susanna Jane Brande, on November 10, 2013.

She arrived at 11:22 am, Prague time, and weighed 5.3 lbs, measuring 18.5 inches. Christiana labored at home, and we arrived at the hospital barely an hour before she was born. We were blessed to have excellent nurses and a doctor who spoke English.

Because she is so small, Susanna had to spend her first day in an incubator, which has been very hard on Christiana, but she's now with her mommy, and we're praying she'll be coming home very soon.

Thank you for the many prayers you have prayed for Baby B's safe arrival.We can't wait to have Susanna Jane home with us!

A Quick Break

This weekend is our school's fall break and a Czech Holiday (Independent Czechoslovak State Day to honor the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918). We have Monday and Tuesday off from school and had originally thought of going to Berlin. We realized, though, that with Baby coming, there is still much to do to get our apartment ready for her. So we decided to go explore a Czech castle instead. Some of our friends at school recommended Karlstein Castle built by and for Charles IV. http://www.hradkarlstejn.cz/home1/

Sat morning we got up early and took a 30 minute train ride out of the city.  The morning was foggy and grey but we went anyway, hoping the sun would show itself.  When we got to the town, we had to hike 2 km to the castle.  We took our time and enjoyed time together and the beauty of the morning.  We got there just in time for a tour of the main castle.  And when we came out, an hour later, the sun was shining and the fog was gone.  And we were able to get many pictures of the beautiful countryside.  (More pictures are available on our facebook pages)

We spent the afternoon walking back down the mountain, visiting a wax museum, and enjoying a lovely lunch.  At the bottom, we meandered around for a while until we found our little hotel situated on the river.  The hotel even came with a camel, a pig, donkeys, and ducks.  We only stayed one night and returned to Prague this morning.  It was a short get-away, but one that we needed.  Perhaps when Baby B is older, we will go exploring more castles.  Until then, we will finish getting everything ready for her arrival.  Please pray that she will come soon and that the delivery will be smooth and uneventful.

Our Current "Campground"

We have a home - Rumunska 14!  Although it's lacking a few several comforts of home, we're very thankful to have found a place to live which is so close to the school, and so close to our budget. Now we're praying that our container will clear customs without any further delay, so that we'll finally be able to sleep in our own bed again. We've gotten several mixed messages concerning the delivery of our belongings, but we're hopeful that our things might arrive before the start of school next week.

Here are a few pictures of our new place. Please excuse the mess - we're still trying to determine where we'd like everything to go.

Our entry way - big enough to be a room!

This is our current "bedroom" - we're futon-sitting for some colleagues headed on furlough.

While our kitchen came with a stove, oven & even a dishwasher, it did not include a refrigerator. We're currently borrowing one from the school, but we will have to purchase one in the near future.

Our kitchen - refrigerator not included.

The frig & microwave graciously loaned to us by CISP

Here's Baby B's future room! We're very grateful that we've been loaned a crib and a changing table for this year.

Baby's room - some assembly required

Our bathroom has it's own boiler (no more summers without hot water!) but it did not include a washing machine.

Shower & washroom on the left; toilet & sink on the right.

We had not planned to have to buy two major appliances right at the start of our term, so we are praying for the Lord to provide not only affordable equipment, but also the additional funds we'll need to pay for delivery and installation.

We do not have internet at home. Christiana initiated the process of trying to get us connected, but it will be another week before they even send a "technik" to evaluate our flat to see what sort of a set-up we can have. The next big step is to put all of the utilities into our names, and to get an affidavit from our landlord stating that she has the legal right to rent us this place. Once we have those documents, we can apply to be legally registered in Prague 2, which will pave the way for us to eventually have our visas extended.

Please continue to pray for the safe delivery of the contents of our container, as well as for all of the tasks we still have to accomplish to be residents of Prague.

Safe Landings

This was us, approximately 24 hours ago. At least, we think it was 24 hours -it's hard to tell. We've been awake for a very long time.

You'd think we were moving to another country or something...

We have landed safely in Prague, Czech Republic, and miraculously, so did ALL of this luggage! (If you know Phil's history with lost bags, you'll appreciate the significance of this.)

We are very, very tired, but we are so grateful to be here. The next few days will be spent registering our visas, getting Czech sim cards for our phones, buying transportation passes, and most importantly, signing a rental contract for a place to live. Please continue to pray for all of the details to fall into place for our housing & the arrival of our shipment.

This Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

We were given the gift of a photo shoot before we left Missouri. This picture pretty much sums up our summer. (Photo credit - Holly Hyde & Posy Creative)

Reservation Complete!

Praise the Lord, our reservation for a space in the maternity hospital has been completed & confirmed! We are very thankful to our colleagues in Prague who've persevered with this process. We also appreciate everyone who has been praying over this situation.

One more thing we can cross off of our "Czech List"!

Yes, We Are Expecting

It's been a busy week. We sent out our latest newsletter by e-mail and the USPS. We mailed some more requests for support. We finally dispatched our visa applications. Somehow, we forgot to post about our most exciting development - we're expecting!

Since this has raised as many questions as it has congratulations, here are some of the FAQs & Answers:

When are you due?

Baby B's ETA is November 16, 2013. 

Do you know what you're having?

Not yet, but we'll find out sometime in June. Yes, we'll tell you the gender. We need to know how to pack!

What will you name him/her?

We have no idea at this point. We might not know until November. We both take names pretty seriously, so this is something we'll be mulling over for quite some time. We probably won't reveal the name until the birth. 

How are you feeling? 
Phil's great; Christiana's green. There is no such thing as "morning sickness" around here - nausea lasts all day, and frequently through the night. Some days are better than others; some foods help and others don't. We're hopeful this will pass as we end the first trimester, but if it doesn't, we'll roll with it.

What will this do to your plans to move to Prague?

Right now, not a thing. If all continues to go well, Baby B will be born there after we arrive.

As we've researched maternity & child care in Prague, we really like what we're learning. The Czech Republic has some of the best birth statistics in the world (even stronger than the US.) One of our future colleagues at CISP had her first child in Prague, and she's been incredibly helpful as we've been making plans. We've already made connections with a doctor there (who speaks English!) and we're prayerful that we'll be able to register in our maternity hospital of choice.

What will this do to your plans for ministry?
Phil will still teach English & Bible at CISP; Christiana will continue to serve RCE (though she obviously won't be traveling this fall) as staff care & recruitment coordinator. Naturally we will have to adjust our schedules/levels of involvement once we have a baby, but we'll take those as they come. 

Does this mean you'll have to increase your budget?
Our estimates were made with the hopes of starting a family. We didn't know if we'd be adding Brandes by birth or through adoption, but we knew we wanted our home to include children.

Are your parents/families excited?
OH.MY.WORD, that's the understatement of the year! It's hard to gauge who had the better reaction, Christiana's mom, or Phil's dad. Baby B will be the first grandchild/niece-or-nephew on both sides, so yes, everyone is very excited.

What do you need most?

PRAYER! Please pray for health & safety for Christiana & Baby B. Pray for us to have wisdom as we continue to make plans as a family. Pray that we'll be able to register in our maternity hospital of choice. Pray for us to have patience as we deal with (more!) document demands. 

We appreciate all of the encouraging notes, e-mails, phone calls & texts we've been receiving. Thank you for sharing in our joy!

A Reeeeeaally Long Layover

Living & serving overseas has taught us a lot about traveling. We know how to maximize our suitcase space (It's remarkable what you can pack in a pair of shoes!) We have long lists of  "items sure to get your bags hand-searched" at airport security.

We'll tell you (within a few grams) whether or not your suitcase is at its weight limit. We are experts in making the most of our time in airports between connections.

Christiana on the day of departure for The Great TransSiberian Adventure.  Not all of those bags were hers...

If you'd asked us a year ago this time where we thought we would be in 2012, Phil would have said, "Korea" and Christiana would have promptly said, "Russia". (And we would have answered as singles, both pretty sure we were going to stay that way...) 

Imagine our surprise in being:
A) MARRIED
B) in **neither** of those countries
and
C) still in the US on what has become an "extended sabbatical"

Life is weird, no?

When God brought us together in January of this year, we both suddenly realized that returning to international ministry was going to look very different. Different as in, "not-going-back-to-where-we-thought-we-thought-we-were-going" different. Different as in, "we-don't-have-a-unified-vision-of-where-we're-supposed-to-be" different. Different as in, "we're-going-to-be-here-longer-than-we-thought" different.

We knew that getting married, moving to a new country, adopting a new culture, adjusting to a new language AND attempting to return to full-time international ministry might just be too much for a first year of wedded bliss. After much deliberation & prayer, we ended up in Niceville, Florida.

Niceville. Sounds like a lovely little serene hamlet, doesn't it? And it is nice, it's just not...well...where we expected to be.

So where are we headed? We're not sure just yet.

How soon will we be departing? That all depends on where we're supposed to go.

One thing we know for sure - we're going to make the most of our time while we're here. Sometimes layovers provide opportunities for much-needed rest.

Phil on the way to Uganda in 2011. Naps are good!

You Have Arrived at Your Destination

Have you been looking for us? Well, here we are. The Brandes.

We've both tried our hands at blogging several times before...neither of us has been particularly successful. Let's see if writing in collaboration is more motivational for us than going solo. We certainly hope so. 

We're in the midst of trying to revamp our ministry updates & resume communication with our friends, family and support network. Having our own website (or at least a new blog) seemed like a good idea. 

How do we look so far? 

Remember, this is for posterity, so be honest, hmmm?