Beach Bums

OK! Confession time...we live 2 1/2 hours from the beach and we have been twice in the last 2 1/2 years. Yesterday, we took the early bus down and the afternoon bus back and spent about 4 hours at the beach. Enough for me to get a little sunburned, and Tim, who refused to wear sunscreen, get quite a bit sunburned! Anyway, the following are the pictures of all of us having a good time...well, all but Lydia, who did not like the waves and cried almost everytime I took her out. Hope everyone is having a nice summer.

The Beard

For the last almost 2 years Tim has worn either a goatee or beard...well, that came off yesterday!

This event spawned quite a story! I am the one who encouraged Tim to cut it, not because I don't like, I do. I have felt particularly warm this summer, which makes me assume that everyone else is really hot too! So for a "summer do" Tim shaved it off...how long that will last I don't know. But I told him he could grow it back if he didn't like it. A little while later Elijah came into the kitchen to announce that he too was growing a beard! This is medical mystery, but he very proud of the "growth" and tells everyone about it! Some friends came over last night to hangout (or maybe so the wife, who had heard about my beardless husband from her husband, wanted to see!). Elijah also informed them that he was growing his beard. They admired his "whiskers." And he informed them that his whiskers would be poking people soon, so they needed to be careful! So far, thankfully, no one has had any injuries from his "poky whiskers!"

And for more fun, here are a couple of pictures I took of the kids on a Saturday morning. Lydia is chewing a lot these days due to some new teeth, #7 just poked through. Isabella and Elijah are both benefiting from Isabella's ability to read, although he still prefers me to read "The Wild Things" as he calls it! Hope everyone is gearing up for a fun 4th of July...that will be our one year mark to begin the final countdown!

Lovely sounds

This morning at breakfast we heard a sound that most of you all would curse to hear at 7:45, but to me it was a wonderfully familiar sounds. A lawnmower. Yes, I know that many of you hate to mow and the sound I have complained about once or twice in my life too. But this morning it was familiar. It was a "home" sound. It felt really normal. It made think of the Lovin' Spoonful's "What a Day for a Daydream. "

"And fall on my face in somebody's new mowed lawn."

Voting time already?

Alright, so this is totally NOT political. Instead, I decided that I would post three pics of the kids when they were all about a year...you cast your vote to say who looks the most alike!

In other pictures...I noticed that the last time I posted Elijah got the short end of the deal. So we took a few more pictures and here they are!

Handsome boy!

Picking up!

The wild thing pretends to make fire!

Dr. Lydia

Big girl growing up fast

Not much to say, but...

Well, I don't have a whole lot to say, but I have taken a few pictures that I thought I would share. I thought I would start out with the most recent...taken this morning...of the player yet to be named! I debated whether or not the wait would be worth it, but of course it was. I left the house at 7 this morning and didn't get back until almost noon! But I came home with a picture! So without further ado...

Head on this side...feet on this side!

The bright spot above the head is a hand,

the other hand is above the belly.

Girl loves her bath!

And loves to laugh!

Mom and the girls

Dad and the kids

Mom and the kids

Peek-a-boo!!!

Breakfast

One of the easiest and most convenient breakfasts here is eggs and toast. As opposed to cereal it's cheap and easy to find. Tim and I prefer our eggs over easy while I usually scramble the eggs for the kids. But now that Isabella is growing up she wants to eat things the same way the grown-ups do. This puts poor Elijah in a bad spot. He doesn't care for change or new foods, and I have been too lazy to make his scrambled. Yesterday, I made him the perfect egg. The yoke was lovely and runny, while everyone else's had been broken or a little over done. What is his comment?
"Did you put orange juice on my eggs?"
Looks like I need to quit being lazy and scramble his eggs!

Kids grow up so fast...

I am so amazed at how fast our kids are growing up. We feel that time moves very slowly where we live, and yet the kids are growing twice as fast. It feels like the kids will have had 10 birthdays in our 3 plus years here. We have had a couple of experiences lately that have really driven that home.
Isabella called Tim into her bedroom the other night, this is very common, a hope to spend 5 more minutes awake. She informed Tim that she had names picked out for her children when she grows up. The girl will be Angelina (after Angelina Ballerina). And the boy will have the name of Peter Pan. Already planning names, ahhh!
And yesterday, she was, as many little girls her age do, pretending to get married. We only had a purple blanket for her to drape around herself so she decided that I needed to buy her a white "marrying dress." On a whim, as I was trying to do something and wanted something that would occupy her, I pulled up the David's Bridal website and let her look at wedding dress. She had blast! In fact she looked again last night. After she felt she had seen all the dresses that were "her favorite" she called Elijah in and they looked at tuxes. Next we'll be picking out the hall to have the reception in and the future will only have to show up.
As for Elijah, he is making great steps forward. He is changing from the squirly toddler to a preschooler. I have told him that in the fall he will start preschool. He is very excited. He'll even sometimes sit quietly with us while Isabella does her Kindergarten. Lately, he's been asking me to do some school with him while Isabella takes breaks. This consists of reading just a couple stories, but six months ago, he couldn't sit through any story let alone two. If only we could get him to eat! Last night he did eat carrots willing...in carrot cake!
And Lydia has gone from just "being able" to walk to preferring to walk. She's so funny to watch running here and there. She's figured out how to go down the stairs. She turns around and slides her legs down first. She can even climb down off of our bed without going head first! She, as opposed to Elijah, will eat just about anything. But will happily let you know she's done by knocking the spoon out your hand or spitting the food out. It usually comes without warning and makes a great mess!
Lasts but not least, although the smallest, the new baby is I guess growing...my belly sure is. I am not as sick as I had been. I am hoping that if I keep telling this baby to be lazy and laid back I won't have another crawler until I am back in the States! We'll see!

The Year of the Golden Pig

Many of you I am sure have been to a Chinese restaurant where they put down the paper place mats that you can use to figure out whether you are a dog or a dragon, a rat or a snake. These also detail who you ought and ought not marry and tell you your personality...with varying degrees of accuracy! As my Mom always says, a stopped clock is right twice a day. Anyway, also in the cycles of Chinese divination is some kind of metal rotation that is then matched with the animal. This year is the Year of the Golden Pig...a very lucky year! I'm sure you all remember the big rushed to be married in 1999, well, that was NOTHING compared to the baby rush this year! Apparently all children born this year will be wealthy. I'm not so sure I can believe that though. And our decision to have a child this year was not based in anyway on this fact (or fiction!). The following, though, is my attempt to have my first prenatal check.

The first hospital we went to we left rather quickly. It was, in general, overflowing with patients. When I went to the maternity section, the nurse angrily sent me to the gynecology department...where we were rebuffed again. When we got back to the nurse in the maternity department, she told me the wait would be over three hours. I needed to come back at 7 the next morning...no, they don't do appointments here. So off we went to find another hospital.

We told the taxi driver one hospital, but he insisted on taking us to another (everyone always knows better than everyone else...I get tired of being told what to do and where!). So off we went to another, of course it was all the way across town (gee, I wonder why he wanted me to go there?). When we arrive, we are directed to a crowded hall. Women are sitting, standing, pushing into the exam rooms...total chaos. We finally find the nurse who is to check in the 2 month pregnant women. Her first question: Does she want the baby? Are you sure? The push to get abortions here is worse than a Planned Parenthood clinic! She directs us to a door.
At the door, which is open, I have to take my chart in and line it up with the other charts on the nurses desk...while one patient is talking to a nurse and another is getting undressed to be examined. So I go back to door where we wait, in the doorway listening to the girl who is in there have her appointment. The only thing separating us from the girl getting undressed for her exam is a curtain and a plexi-glass wall. Yet, because of the lighting situation (none in the main part of the room, and very bright exam light on the other side of the curtain) we can see everything going on behind in silhouette. I find it very uncomfortable. Also I realize that these girls are having to place the exam table's sanitation paper up there themselves. I don't see anyone wash their hands.
After waiting for over an hour and half, I am finally called in (with another girl in tow). I am told that she won't see anymore patients. My friend who is there translating for me, tells them I have been waiting a long time. I don't want the female exam...which upset everyone. They tell them I just want some blood work. They look at my list and tell me I don't need these test. Then after some arguing, they say I don't need them until I am 3 month pregnant (I think they are just trying to get me to leave). Finally, after a great deal of explaining, they roll their eyes and we go into another room. Where two nurses are seeing two girls at the same time. By the way, there is no such thing as doctor (or nurse) patient confidentiality. The nurse who is leading the way tells my friend to follow her into another room. She goes into the room, turns around immediately to come. "There is a girl being examined in there." My poor friend has seen it all now! She tells me she is glad that she was not wearing her glasses!
We finally get someone who is willing to right the order for me and we are sent to the 3rd floor only after we pay. On the 3rd floor, I sit down to give my blood and ask, as always, if they were new (meaning the needles. The nurse said no and I jerked my hand back...she was not about to let my hand go so fast. But my friend clarifies my question, to which she answers, "yes, the needles are new. I thought she meant this stack of papers." (like I would care anything for her stack of paper!)
With my blood drawn, we carry my blood down to another window where they will finish the tests. After we get the results, we take them back down to the second room we went to in order to see the nurse again...this time we don't have to wait! We are told that the test is normal (or literally, no BIG problems). So back to the 3rd floor for the urinalysis, and for all you girls out there all I can say is "squatty potty." I feel very gifted! Once that ordeal is over, it is back down to the nurse who tells me again, ok. Then she says I need to come back at 4:30 that afternoon. I can tell, that did NOT happen. And I will not go back to the hospital unless I have a major problem and it is unavoidable.
So this was my person experience with the "baby boom" in the Year of the Golden Pig. And the next time you think that the doctors office is a big time drain...I was gone for about 4 hours with little to show for it. Be glad that you have private appointments. Be glad your doctor washes his/her hands. And for the doctors in America, I know you all work long hours...but at least you are paid for it. Here they are paid like common workers with little to no training. My friend told me of a friend who said that she wanted to quit being a doctor to become a waitress. She said that she worked for 24 hour shifts or more and was paid about the same as a waitress.
Well, that's all for now...I hope to post some pictures soon of the BIG girl Lydia who was one on Wednesday!

Xinku: a language lesson

Well, ok, so my Chinese isn't that great. And really, I'm sure that no one wants a Chinese lesson, but this is really less about the language and more about the mindset.

"Xinku" (pronounced "Shin-coo) is something you say when you ask someone to help you do something and then it ends up being a lot of trouble (Sorry, I "xinku" you). The meaning is causing a lot of trouble or work. It literally translates "heart bitterness." It is not a positive word at all.

Since we have been back, most people who know that I have three kids tell me how "xinku"ed I am. In the States, we might say "Wow, you must really be busy!" But it is not meant to say that the parents are not blessed. Here, that is not true. It is almost like people are saying that we are cursed...I know it is not quite that strong, but it feels that way. I would have to admit that, yes, right now in my life, it's a lot of work. Sometimes, the kids go through phases where they cause constant trouble. I have days when I wait all day long to put them to bed at night...but it's funny because it seems that those are the days that about 15 minutes after they have gone to sleep I miss them. I have to resist the temptation to get them up and hug them and say, "let's just play a bit."

So in a country, where families only have one child, spend very little time with their children, and never discipline them, I feel I am the least "xinku" of them all. I pray that I will never feel that my children are "xinku" for me. I pray that I will always remember that they are my "xingfu" (blessing!).

So if you have kids, go love on them and tell them that you are blessed to have them and not troubled to have them. Each child is a gift!

News worthy!

Hey, everybody. It's been a while mostly because there hasn't been a lot of "news worthy" things going on in our lives. We have arrived safely back at our home. Already gotten to "enjoy" the priviledge of being the center of everyone's attention. And been blessed with warm (translate HOT) weather. But as most of you who know me, I love the hot. So now that we have gotten all of our bags unpacked and the winter clothes put away, I find myself with just a bit of free time to sit down and write.
In regards to the pregnancy, I was blessed that I didn't have any morning sickness on the flight back home...which was really good because Isabella got an ear infection and Lydia didn't think that sleeping was all THAT important. But since we have been back, it's started up. I can't wait to get past this part of the pregnancy. I can never say which is worse, feeling sick or throwing up. In other pregnancy news, I've had my first craving. With Lydia I craved dumplings from the restaurant right around the corner from us. Right now I'm craving I dish from the same restaurant. It's tofu that's been pressed to be thin and flat like a tortilla. You use it to wrap around meat (pork with some kind of gravy) cilantro and thinly sliced leeks. It's so good. It's about all I can think about too! Well, at least it's something I can get!
In more exciting news (yes, I know there is something more exciting than the weird things I want to eat), Lydia is WALKING! We've been saying "any day now" forever it seems. And she finally let go. She's pretty proud of herself too. When she walks she gets a very satisfied look on her face. We plan to get the video camera out soon and get a clip of it. Lydia's fourth tooth has also broken through with two more just starting to push down. She's growing up so fast!
Well, that's about it for now!

All the latest news!

As most of you know, we are in the States right now~whooo-hoo! We are having a great time. We had over a week with my mom. We got to visit with some good friends in Louisville...oh, and there was a fabulous wedding! Tim and I even got a date while we were in Louisville without kids. And, by the way, Disturbia is a pretty good movie (a remake of an old Alfred Hitchcock film, The Rear Window).
In other news, Isabella is such a big girl! She had her ears pierced. I'll try to post a picture soon.
And the last, most exciting news, we are expecting again. Number 4 is in the works! We just found out. And I'm due December 21st. I really hope the baby is born before Christmas.
Well, this is just a quick update. Hopefully I'll post more soon!

D-Day

Today is the first day of the rest of my vacation...or something like that. Only about 4 1/2 hours before we leave for the airport. Then begins the LONG travel. I am so excited that my stomach is a little gittery. I was debating whether or not to have coffee...but I'm sure that you can figure out what I decided there!
Anyway, the kids are so funny. Isabella keeps telling us that Grandma doesn't have (fill in the blank) in America. And Elijah keeps asking, "How many days til we go to Thailand?" And when I tell him we aren't going, he says," No, America Thailand." DUH! How could I be so stupid?!? And Lydia has no clue. Except last night she really enjoyed chewing the locks on our suit cases. And she tried to help me stitch up one of the suit cases.
But, nevertheless, the DAY has come. We are all packed up...save a few last minute things...and we have a plan for what to do in airports, and when we should make the kids sleep (I hope that'll work). We get to find out in just a few long hours if we have built America up to be "Disneyland." Or if the food really tastes as good as we remember. Or if a personal car is really as convenient as we remember. But we know that all of our family and friends are as wonderful as we remember them...we think. ;)
Love you all, and see you soon!!!

Coffee

As most of you know, saying that coffee is an addiction for me is a bit of an understatement. I drink coffee every morning. And most mornings, I feel like there isn't enough coffee in the world for me. I am usually drinking my coffee while I do school with Isabella. We do Bible, history, reading, hand writing, and copy work. Copy work, as opposed to handwriting, requires me to read a word of sentence out loud and Isabella sounds it out and spells it.

Ok, ok, all this sounds like meaningless drivel...I'm getting there, be patient! I've never told a story quickly in my life.

So...this morning, Isabella was working on math and science with Daddy, and Elijah and I were reading his preschool books (for which he has no attention span!) Anyway, when we finished reading, I went to get a little more coffee. Elijah said to me, "Oookaay, now I'm ready to do my coffee work!"

And I thought that was pretty cute!
Have a good day!

Warm Sunday

Ok, so here's something really vain that I miss about America: dressing up the kids. At home I used to put the kids in onesies or normal stuff throughout the week, but on Sundays, we all dressed up. And as every one knows, dresses and little suits are WAY cuter when they are teeny tiny! During the winter, I never dress the kids up. It's always just as much as I can put on them. But now, my vanity can be appeased. The weather has taken a pleasant turn for the warmer, and the cute little outfits have been pulled out. Don't worry, it's between 75 and 80, so I'm still getting nasty looks for dressing my children in too few clothes.

The funny thing about the things that I really miss about America is most of them are totally superfluous. Foods (ranging from baby carrots to crab legs), convenience items (Swiffer!), carpet, and personal cars are all things that we can live, and live well, without. It's amazing how growing up with things we become so attached. Sometimes, I don't understand why the Chinese think that Air conditioners and heaters are so unnecessary. I guess sometimes when you grow up living without something you become attached to not having it. Now, of course, missing family is the one thing that is completely necessary. I'm just glad that we are here in this day and age. 100 years ago people moved to other countries and no one ever expected to see them alive again. Things have really changed.

ANYWAY...below are pictures are the kids in pretty clothes!

All smiles (well, almost!)

Beautiful girls

Taking care of sister!

Crazies!

The Crazy Life!

Eight days a week

Ok, so if I base my weeks on the old Beatles song, I only have a week until we leave for the States. Excitement doesn't even begin to touch what's going on here. Isabella keeps up with the official countdown. Elijah argues that we are going today or tomorrow or "3 days" depending on his mood. One of his favorite things to say is "3 days." "When's the last time you went potty, Elijah?" --"3 days." Which of course we all know isn't true, but he says it with confidence. "Elijah, when's your birthday?" --"3 days" It's the staple answer to any time related question...the three-year-old equivalent of "two weeks." (Money Pit)
We can't imagine what it will be like to be in a restaurant where no one is smoking. Or use seatbelts again. And don't even get me started on the car seat issue...which in all honesty could be a big deal as Lydia has never really been in one. Our kids are used to climbing all over the back seat of taxi, how are we ever going to strap them down?!? What's it going to be like to wear flip flops out and not come back with black feet? Or not having to dodge hockers, well, anywhere (hospitals included)? And of course, a very question, once I'm in a place where I can buy clothes that fit...how much money will I spend? Old Navy, here I come!!! Well, these are just a few questions that we are looking forward to answering! Hope to see you all soon!

Baking in the East

One of my biggest stress relievers is cooking...more specifically baking! I usually like to bake cookies, brownies, cakes, or whatever sounds good at the moment. One of the blessings of living here is that since we don't have many bread products, I have been forced to bake for necessity not just pleasure. Out of this I have become better at making all kinds of things. Flour tortillas has become quite a regular for me. And lately we have added Naan (Indian flat bread) to our diet. We try to eat a lot of salads, and Naan adds a lot of variety in that we can wrap our salads! My latest conquest has been bagels. Yes, after living here for two years and wishing we had bagels, I finally broke down and started making them myself. One of the reasons I like to bake sweets over bread (besides the obvious "chocolate" answer) is that it doesn't take as much time. Bread is SO time consuming. And my previous experience with trying to make bagels had been painstakingly long. But this time I found a true Jewish (yes, folks, these are Kosher!) recipe and it is so easy. So we are now on our second batch...and it's pretty exciting and a lot of fun. As for the kids, they were tickled pink (or blue) when I made them blueberry bagels (thank you to whomever sent the dried blueberries!). After this, who knows what I'll add!
In other truly more exciting news...
Right now, Isabella is pretending to be a penguin. Thanks to the movie March of the Penguins (and they have only seen it is French) the kids have learned a lot about a penguin's life. So Isabella has a plastic ball (her egg) between her feet and is waddling around like a penguin. Pretty funny!
Elijah has finally conquered the "potty training" thing. It's been a long time since he wet his pants last. We are so proud. And another thing we are proud about is that the vegetable hater is finally coming around. He has eaten salad a couple of times now and asked for seconds on broccoli...these are major milestones in his life, I think! He's really a great kid!
Just the other day, Lydia started clapping. It's funny because she has been ahead of the curve in a lot of things (crawling, etc.), but never even tried to clap. She is also struggling to get those top two teeth down, should be any day now!

10 month old

Also in today's news, Lydia is officially 10 months old. I can't believe how fast she is growing. She can say "Dada" and "Mama," although never on command. She waves, even bows sometimes when the Thai ladies said hello to her in Thailand. Mostly she is curious and busy all day long. She has two new teeth that have almost broken through. She LOVES eating table food that's been cut up (don't worry, I didn't give her any of those fried green beans!).

She's a happy girl.

Sisters, sisters, there were never more devoted sisters...

More of the happy girls!

I love being a big brother. It's a serious, contemplative job.

But there's a time to play too!

The Three Amigos!

San ge Hao Pengyou!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

French Fried Green Beans

Well, I had my first Chinese cooking lesson yesterday. Two ladies from our favorite restaurant came to teach 3-4 of us how to cook a few of our favorite dishes, only one of which we knew was fried. So yesterday's menu consisted of beer-battered corn, spicy green beans, and fish. The beer-battered corn turned out funny because as most of you know, we don't have any beer in the house! And I learned yesterday how to fry a fish skeleton (head and all!) and arrange it on a platter so that it is "pretty." Actually, I think it's a little scary--a smiling, fried, smashed-down fish head! But the meat and sauce was great! The lady who showed us how to cook it was concerned I think because none of us ate the fried bones or head. The only disconcerting thing was that even though the fish fillets were boiled, at the end she poured hot oil over it. The last dish the spicy green beans is one of my all time favorites. I used to feel good about myself when I went out to eat here because we always order a lot of vegetables. I no longer have that good feeling. I found out yesterday that they deep fry the green beans. Yes, not sauted in bit of oil. We are talking about a wok filled with oil and the green beans are just thrown in! I have never heard of this before! So if you want my advice, never learn REAL Chinese cooking...it will only depress you (and make you fat!).

Pictures

Isabella spots Daddy in the crowd during the concert!
Isabella wanted to know what Jonah must have felt like.
Is this all there is to life? I'm hot and bored!
Lydia's baby dedication
Elijah loves to sing!

Long time, no post!

As many of you have noticed, it's been awhile since I blogged last. We have been out of the home since the beginning of the month. Travel has been interesting--more so than usual! Our first hotel we were supposed to have two adjoining rooms. We had two rooms but they were five doors apart. Also, the hotel was supposed to have a crib for Lydia, but when we got there we were informed that they never have cribs...not really a good place to have a FAMILY education conference! This led to a lot of confusion and early nights for us. I think I went to bed at 9 or so a couple of times. But from there the trip looked up. We were blessed with relative health, only one small 24 hour virus and a couple of colds. The kids had a great time in the their classes. Even Lydia seemed to love playing with the other babies. We also had a great improvement in name recollection this year. Last year, all of the kids' teachers were simply called teacher and the other kids were just called girl and boy. Lydia was lovey with all of her teachers and has done better not "having" to have Mama all the time. Big plus for Mama!
But for us the best time was the middle week of our trip with the blessing of great worship time and preaching. One of the highlights that week was the day we Lydia dedicated. It was a great moment knowing that all of our friends were committing to pray for her and us as she grows up. After the baby dedication, the kids (including Isabella and Elijah) got up to give a little concert. They were so cute! Last year only Isabella was in the concert and she refused to sing. But this year both sang and sang with smiles and all the motions! Elijah likes to sing the song "I have a friend, his name is Jesus J-E-S-U-S." Well, his spelling skills are still developing, so he spells it "S-U-S-U-S." Isabella who started the week out only swimming with her floaty, now splashes around without it. (Yes, this is still just the kiddie pool, but we felt it was a big step!)
Once we finally finished all our meeting, we headed back to Bangkok. Tim and Elijah then flew back home and we girls stayed in Bangkok for Isabella to have her tonsils out. With that done, we just waited around for her last two appointments so we could finally get back home. We were suppose to fly all the back on March 8, but as some of you have heard it didn't quite work out that way. We arrived in Kunming only to find out that we had no flight to Nanning. I was really upset. To make a really long and confusing story short, they decided to bump the flight up from 8:20 to 5:30. Not very convenient for me considering I wasn't off the last plane at that point! Oh, well, it's all over with!
And we now have only 18 days until we climb on another plane to head back to the States. I'm a little overwhelmed considering we have not been on US soil in over 2 year. I am anxious to see how America has changed and how we have changed. I am also interested to see how our kids react. Isabella only remembers bits and pieces, and Elijah remembers nothing. Lydia of course has never been! We are really hoping that it will be a very relaxing time of rest and rejuvenation! See you all soon!