Aunt Jackie is Coming to Chapel Hill!

My sister Jackie is a nurse and came down to interview at UNC a few weeks ago. She got the offer (no surprise) and decided she couldn't resist living close to Michel and me! Okay, lets be honest, it had nothing to do with us and everything to do with Bentley! :) Since coming down south for college, I never lived near a family member, so we already have big plans of dinners together, training for a marathon (okay maybe just a half), Bentley and Jackie time (meaning Michel and Jess time, yay!), etc. She starts January 11th in the pediatric oncology unit. We are so excited to share the next 5 months of life together!

Here is a pic from her most recent visit in November when she was here interviewing, which was also Bentley's 3-month birthday!

PS - Kinda funny how Bentley looks way more like Jackie's child than mine! People may be a little confused! Hah.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was so special because it was the first time in 7 years that most of us were home for Thanksgiving! (We missed you Chris and Heather!) It felt just like old times, except for the fact that we had Bentley with us this year! We kept our traditions, like our morning "turkey trot" and going around the table to say what we're thankful for. It was neat to reflect on the past year and how God has been so faithful to us, given that a year ago I was pregnant at Thanksgiving and had no idea! Bentley got to meet his GG, his great grandmother who is Gran to us.

He also got to hang with his older cousins Connor and Cooper. Aunt Julie did her fair share of reading during the week! LOVE this picture, one of my all time faves!

Grandma and Grandpa were in charge for a night while Michel and I got out for a date! For those in Hershey, Devon's is an awesome seafood place. Great food and great atmosphere! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Those who know the Bartons know that the week of Thanksgiving also signals the start of basketball season, so Bentley was ready! My dad coaches at Messiah and his team is off to a great start. http://www.messiah.edu/athletics/sports/mens_basketball/

We also threw a shower for my cousin Evie who is engaged and was up visiting from Florida with her sisters Peggy and Christy. So great to see all of them. Her fiance Zack is a basketball coach, so we obviously all approve! :) He is a great guy and we are so happy for them. Here is Zack with our cousins Evie, Peggy and Liz...and Bentley who manages to get into all photos!

Bentley is happiest now when he is "standing". He gets so proud of himself for putting all his weight on his legs. He looks around like "Look at me!". Hopefully he will be as athletic as his Aunt Jules....over Thanksgiving we found out she was named NCAA D-III National Player of the Year!!! Way to go Jules!!

Catching Up - Jess's Wedding

Jess is one of my best friends from H-town. We've shared so many seasons of life so it was so much fun to be part of her wedding and to know so many people there! The wedding was in Williamsburg, VA and was beautiful. Here she is with her new hubby Hawley! Beautiful bride!

Yes, it was the biggest wedding party known to man...15 on each side!! We had a blast.

Lynne, my other best friend from H-town, who now lives in Charlottesville and is on Athletes in Action staff at UVA. Love her! We had so much fun together.

Bentley went to Nate & Janelle's in VA Beach to stay for the wedding day and night. It was so nice to enjoy the wedding and reception with my hubby!

Catching Up - Visit from Cindy

Michel was blessed with "host" families during his time at Davidson as an international student-athlete. Cindy was his host mom and she has remained part of our lives and is like family to us! She saw Bentley when he was first born at the hospital but she came back with some other members of the Davidson basketball family, Susan, Gwyn and Brenda. We loved th visit and all the meals and snacks...you all definitely spoiled us! Can't wait for Bentley to see his first Davidson basketball game.

Final Four!

My sister Julie is a junior at Messiah College and plays field hockey. Here she is scoring the game winner in OT to send Messiah to the Final Four next weekend! We are so proud of you, Jules! (And nice guns.)

Tonton Christian

Last week we got a surprise visit from Michel's brother, Christian. He came all the way from Kinshasa with 2 close friends to meet Bentley! It was so fun to have him see our world in Chapel Hill and have someone from Michel's family see Bentley in person (we've been relying on Skype and webcams up to this point).

With Santos and Max

Happy Halloween!

From our little dinosaur...

QT with Bentley

This past weekend Michel attended a conference called "Souly Business" that he goes to each year. It was our first time apart since Bentley arrived (sigh). Bentley must have known, because he came down with a rash a few days before, which kept him up at night. Talk about good times! Thankfully I have wonderful friends here like Anne who helped me out. I had to attend a black tie fundraiser Saturday night, so she had him for a few hours and was so patient! And she snapped a pic for Michel before I left.

But overall it was a good bonding weekend for the boy and me. I felt like I got to know him so much better. We went to the mall, to my friend Kelly's baby shower, to Babies R Us with my friend Katharine, the pharmacy a few times for rash treatments! We also went to our friends' son Andrew's first birthday party! So Bentley put on his Sunday best.

Here we are with Andrew and his mom Emily, and Katharine with her son Noah (inside her belly of course!). Katharine is due the end of January. So exciting!

Before we knew it the weekend was over and Papa was back. Michel had a great weekend but was quite tired given he had a servant role and was on kitchen duty (up at 4:30 and to bed at midnight). Here I was thinking all weekend that at least one of us would be well rested going into the week! Not so much. So nap time was calling.

Side note: Put your head next to a baby's head and take a picture...it's sure to give you a complex about how huge your head is! Hah. True confessions, Michel and I have measured our head circumference before when arguing over whose head was bigger. While Michel's won the prize, I must confess mine was bigger proportionally to my height (sadly). Aren't we mature?!

Fall Break

One of the best things about being on a school schedule is there is always a break around the corner! Last week we enjoyed a few days at our friends' beach house in Atlantic Beach. Thanks Spencer and Emily, and their 1-yr old son Andrew! We had great time with them, and Emily's mom and grandparents came over for a day to watch the boys so we could have a date night! We went over to Beaufort and had seafood at sunset along the inlet...amazing!!

Then we were back in Chapel Hill for a few days to get our selves together before kicking off our second quarter. Bentley got lots of tummy time...working on those neck muscles.

The weather officially turned fall, so we also enjoyed some nice walks and the chance to break out some of Bentley's jogsuits (thanks Jenny and Ed!).

And now it's back to work! :)

2 Months!

Happy 2 Month Birthday, Bentley!
Papa did a photo shoot of the big man acting like a grown up. Enjoy!

Rocking himself...

Sleeping in a big bed...

Hanging out in his crib...

...and contemplating life on the sofa!

Bentley's Name

Many of you have asked where the name Bentley Scott (Sanu) Lusakueno came from!

Bentley is after Michel's great grandfather on his dad's side. The older Bentley was also the son of an American and Congolese! So it seemed it was very appropriate. Here is a picture of the older Bentley and his family.

Scott is after Jessica's dad, Bentley's grandpa! Aka Coach Barton and Harv. We hope Bentley takes after his grandpa's devotion to family, integrity, passion, work ethic, athleticism, X and O game sense, his love for the disadvantaged (the underdog), and his desire to honor God with his life!

It is tradition to have a 2nd middle name in Congo after a family member, so we chose Sanu after Michel's uncle who invested in and mentored people in Africa through his businesses and improved economic development for many people in the middle class. You can learn more about him at this website: http://www.dokolo.com/An%20African%20vision.html

For practical purposes, he will go by Bentley Scott Lusakueno since that is long enough. :)

Lastly, here is an old pic of Michel's family...Michel is the baby!

Catching Up...

Okay so we were a bit ambitious in thinking we would be able to keep up a blog, but we've moved over to blogspot and are feeling optimistic again given it's a little more user friendly!

Wow...we've gone from 2 weeks to almost 2 months in a hurry! Everyone told us it would go too fast so enjoy every moment. But in our heads we were thinking...fast is good...we want our sleep back! Luckily Bentley is quite comfortable sleeping most places, including his dad's hand!

But it is true; the time is flying and our little guy is growing taller and stronger. He is not bothered at all that his feet hang out of most things!

Like father like son!

We tried to capture a 1-month photo but he wasn't interested in smiling for the camera.

He loves to look at a painting from Congo that Michel's parents gave us. We cannot wait to take him there, hopefully next summer!

Until then, we'll enjoy the time here and the longer nights of sleep we're slowly but surely getting!

Bentley's First Two Weeks

It is hard to believe that just two weeks ago we heard Bentley's cry and held him for the first time. It is a moment we will never forget, as we looked at one another with tears streaming down our faces. We had surely witnessed a miracle!

In some ways the first two weeks have gone by so fast; in other ways it is hard to remember what life was like without Bentley! He has surely changed our world. One of our new favorite things is giving him a bath...afterwards he is relaxed and ready to snuggle!

The theme of the past two weeks has been all about God's provision. We feel so blessed to have Bentley in our lives, and are amazed by the way God has provided for us through all of our family and friends. For all of your meals, gifts, visits, phone calls, emails, and encouraging words, we are so grateful! They have been so helpful as we've begun classes. Here is Bentley wishing his dad luck on the first day back to school!

We had Grandma and Grandpa Barton here the first week, showing us how this parent thing is done and providing morale support during the late night feedings. This week we have Aunt Jackie here to help us prepare for and get through our first week back to classes. We have no idea how we would be managing without her!