Vacation photos, Take 2!

We had fun taking a day trip from where we were staying out to a more remote, tropical island. Actually, we thought it was more remote . . . until we saw the other hordes of tourists getting on the same ferry as us! Remote, but developed, would be a way to describe this lovely island location. Here our friend Chris is holding Clara Anne on the ferry boat ride over. Chris was such a good auntie to Clara Anne and Chloe the whole week we spent together. They had fun playing a little hide-n-seek game!

We ended up sharing the beach with a lot of Asian tourists who were fascinated with Clara Anne and Chloe. The girls didn't mind, though--they just got right to work digging and playing.

This time John built the girls their own small pool--the sand was too fine and wet to make a castle. The girls thought it was Great!

Look, Mommy, underneath that white sand is a layer of gray muck! Fun times!

Chloe loved having her "own" place to play.

Mid-afternoon, a storm started to roll in. The sky turned dark and threatened rain--it was beautiful.

Only a few swimmers left out in the swimming area! Plus the tide was going out, so the water had receded dramatically already.

None of this fazed the girls! Once you're at the beach and wet already, a few raindrops don't matter at all! The weather quickly blew through and we all "washed off" the sand in the ocean before packing up and heading home. Just call us beach bums!

Believe it or not, I have at least one more round of pictures to post . . . so many times on vacation I get caught up having such a good time and forget to take pictures. But this time I was determined to snap a lot, so I still have some to more to share with you. Until next time . . .

A Feast of Vacation Photos!

Sorry for the long overdue update! Our vacation time was wonderful, and now we are in the midst of a week and a half of meetings. I have just a moment and thought I would put some photos up for your enjoyment!

First, here we are in the airport in Hong Kong, enroute to places further south. Can you believe there are now several Krispy Kreme donut shops around HK? And three in the airport itself? We didn't waste any time having a snack. Yum! (The girls were too busy eating to smile for the camera!

We ate our first Hong Kong supper at a favorite place, Nomad's. John and I ate many meals here during the month we spent waiting for Clara Anne to be born, and then we celebrated our anniversary here, taking along tiny Clara Anne, just three days after she was born! It's a special place for our family! The dinner was delicious, as usual.

Here are some pictures from our first of several trips to the beach. Clara Anne loved the ocean waves, jumped right in, and enjoyed letting them make her bob up and down.

Chloe was more content to play in the sand (including eating a significant amount). I had packed a picnic lunch and though her hands were sandier and sandier, she didn't seem to care that her hands were dirty. She kept dropping raisins in the sand, picking them up (along with lots of sand), and then eating them!

John and the girls had fun building a sand castle. Fun times!



This is the pool attached to the place we stayed. I think there were some days we barely got out of our swimsuits! Clara Anne especially really enjoyed the water this year, and with her floaties on, was pretty much independent.

Pool time fun!

More vacation photos to come! Stay tuned. . .

We're in the Pink!

It's a girl! Today was the day of the happy scan, and the doctor knew within a moment or two of beginning the ultrasound that the baby is a girl. So much for maternal instincts, right?! (I had been thinking all along that it was a boy!) Anyway, we're excited and glad to know that everything looks very good with our little girl--the doctor was able to examine her in great detail and pronounced her very healthy. He did mention that she looks very long; but then again, she has a tall daddy!

John is really outnumbered now; we were laughing together today thinking about when all of the girls will go through puberty and their emotions and hormones will kick into high gear. Estrogen overload! In the current future, I guess that single-over-double bunk bed that we were looking at will really come in handy. All three girls may be able to share a room when the baby gets big enough.

I was also able to get some other medical issues taken care of today (tested for gestational diabetes, given the Rhogam injection, other bloodwork done, etc) and then all four of us visited the dentist this afternoon. Everyone did fine in the dentist's chair except Chloe--the dentist insisted on holding her and she was scared and screamed. He was concerned about her because of her paci use--said that she has developed an open space in her bite from the pacifier often taking that space. He recommended that we take the paci away sooner rather than later. Part of my maternal protectiveness thought, "well, that's fine, maybe after our big trip. Or, after the new baby. Or, you know, sometime in the next year."

However, he must have been a prophet. I tucked the paci away and we packed up to leave the dentist office, got on the subway for the umpteenth time today, and headed back to the center of town to visit Ikea and have dinner. And somewhere, I do not for the life of me know where, the paci got lost. It could have been Ikea. It could have been on the MTR (the subway). It could have been on the very crowded city streets. It could have been in the McDonald's. It could have been anywhere in the Toys 'R Us. All I know is that when John said to me in the Toys 'R Us, "Hey Rachel, can you get out Chloe's paci?" which I had earlier confidently reassured him was in my bag, it was nowhere to be found.

Now if there was a place to lose a paci, Toys 'R Us is the place since they actually sell pacifiers there. But none (I repeat: NONE) of the pacis they sold were the right size and shape; they were all too small. So we gave up the search and decided to head for home with two girls who were very tired of being out and about anyway. Poor Chloe, she's going to have to adjust to life without her precious paci, cold turkey. She fussed a bit at bedtime tonight, but I hope will be able to forget it soon. I guess Someone else decided for me that it was time to be done with it! We'll hope the next week goes ok!

There's the news from our house! We need to leave for the airport at 8am tomorrow so I'd better get to bed. Good night!

On our way to the Sunny South!

Yes, it's 4am. I couldn't sleep. I woke up, thinking about our lovely trip ahead, and just couldn't get back to sleep, so I thought I'd share a bit with you all.

We leave later this morning for lovely, warm weather, quite a bit farther south of here. It's been c-c-c-cold here lately, with temps in the teens and twenties, and lots of snow flurries. My kitchen, which does not have a radiator but does have three walls of very poorly sealed windows, has been literally like an icebox. I left a fruit salad out there on the counter the other night (the kitchen door closed to keep the cold from leaking to the rest of the house), and discovered the next morning that bits of fruit had frozen and then turned to mush as they thawed. Though it is strawberry season here (they're grown in greenhouses), they've been unavailable at our street markets because of the cold--they just freeze too fast. We are thankful for our government-regulated heat which has still done a pretty good job of combatting the cold. Some winters we've felt way too warm in our apartment, but this year has been just about right. One downfall--usually I hang our laundry in a sunporch (also unheated) off the girls' room, but with the cold, we've had to resort to spreading it out over our furniture to get things to dry.

So, we're looking forward to a chance to thaw a bit. We will stop first to see the doctor who assisted me when Clara Anne was born, to check up on the baby and hopefully find out the gender! I keep thinking of this baby as a boy, but we shall see! Then we'll go on even further south to a land of sea, sun and sand, spending a week of vacation with some dear friends and then about 2 weeks of meetings. International travel with very young children is always interesting, but this trip is certainly more low-key than the one we were making (back to the US) last year about this time. My sweet Asianese friends have been concerned about me traveling, being pregnant and with the two children and all (travel with small children is just something they do not do) but I told them it's nothing compared to getting ready to fly across the ocean!

It's been fun to see Clara Anne's reaction to our plans this year. She is SO excited to go swimming, to go to a big toy store (there's a Toys R'Us in our future), and to go swimming. Did I mention the swimming? She was very concerned that we remember to take her swimsuit and her floaties. The pool time will be abundant so that will really be fun for both of the girls.

So, we're packed and ready, only a few details to finish up in the morning. My helper is going to be staying at our house off and on while we're gone, so that will be great. I told her I was going to leave the breakfast dishes for her to finish up! She's really looking forward to the break, too, I know, so it'll be a blessing for her to have some time off.

Well, I guess I should go back to bed and try to catch a few more winks. 4am is way too early to start the day, eager anticipation notwithstanding! Check back in the next day or two--I do hope to put up a post when we find out whether pink or blue is coming our way. Traveling adventures, here we come!

This is only a test . . .

There are some circumstances which seem, to me, like a true test of motherhood. People often think of giving birth as a huge test. In fact, it is, but for me, the reality and difficulty of those birthing moments are already in the more distant past. Certainly those were interesting and challenging moments, but they were over fairly quickly and soon (mostly) forgotten. More difficult, I think, are the ins and outs of daily mothering. Early mothering involves a lot of sameness of every day's basic tasks, and then the need to repeat those tasks again and again and again. Now I am at the stage where some of those basic tasks are being taken over by my children--Clara Anne can dress herself, brush her own teeth (after I apply the toothpaste), take herself to the bathroom, etc. But I am finding there are still some tests to this whole motherhood business.

The most glaring example recently has been in Clara Anne's own attitude towards discipline. Recently we have seen some moments of terrific stubbornness from her, almost unbelievable determinedness of will, as she has sought to test us and see exactly where the boundaries lie. We have tried our very best to administer discipline with love and grace, and build the bonds of the relationship as much as possible. But lately this testing, instead of coming out in one or two dramatic incidents, has been more of a daily, hourly, moment by moment resisting. This morning I had planned a special shopping trip where just Clara Anne and I were going to go. She was excited about it, but then dawdled, and delayed, and fussed about having to wear tights under her jeans (it's been really cold here), and wanted to wear two different colors of socks to which I said no, and on and on until finally the getting dressed process had frittered away so much time that we didn't have enough time to go and get back before lunch. Not being able to go on the special outing was a direct result of her not obeying quickly the first time I gave her commands. She was sad, and I was sad, since I wanted to take her, but there was nothing else to be done.

On one hand, I feel a bit frustrated at her constant testing of me. I admit that it is hard to keep my cool when I feel like my every simple command (Clara Anne, do not take that away from Chloe. Clara Anne, come here, etc.) is ignored, questioned, or only complied with grudgingly. On the other hand, it seems to be a totally natural and expected part of childhood, especially considering that every child has a sinful heart. As I lamented my fatigue over the constant battle the other day with John, he said oh-so-very-directly, "Did you really expect anything else, Rachel?" Ouch. But he's right; it's par for the course.

I've recently been enjoying a brief time of prayer right after lunch, when the girls sit down with Lou, my helper, and do a little language study in the form of an Asianese Dora video. I retreat to the bedroom and have a half an hour of precious time. Today as I went into that time I was feeling truly in need of an encouraging word, and of course the Word did not disappoint. I'm following a one year plan of reading through the Scripture, and today's reading came, in part, from Psalm 11 where it clearly says, "The Lord will test the righteous . . . " (italics mine). I felt that was a confirmation to me, saying "Rachel, this is a test, but this is only a test. Rely upon Me and I will help you!" I needed that! Whether this testing goes on for another day, or two, or a week, or two, or longer, (maybe years), I need to stay faithful to Him, loving and gracious towards my daughters, and relying on His strength for it all. A big task--a true test!

The task of training and raising children, shaping their characters for eternity, pales in comparison to the other test of motherhood that I've experienced lately--that is, cleaning up throw-up. Now there's a test! Chloe woke us this morning at 5:30 crying, and had thrown up in her crib, though miraculously missed the important items (her blanket, her stuffed Mater that she sleeps with, and her doll Zipporah). Somehow, the words of my friend Danna still ring true: "Before I became a mom, I used to think that changing diapers was so gross. But now, if my child is about to throw up, I cup my hands in front of her!" Such is the paradigm shift of becoming mothers! But, you know that you are truly a mother when you get in there and do what needs to be done, cleaning up the mess. I can say that I successfully passed that test! The rest still remains to be seen . . . but with every new day, there is fresh grace, and fresh hope. So it is with all of us on the spiritual journey. May we all persevere and someday hear the words, "Well Done, my good and faithful servant!"

Round 2

Here are the last two pictures I didn't have time to upload the other night! Chloe managed to get a couple of cute pictures, too. That's our cute Chloe girl!

New Pictures!

Today we were able to pick up the professional photos that I had done in honor of Clara Anne's third birthday! I used the opportunity to have some taken of Chloe as well, and of the two girls together. They turned out nicely, I think! It was our best photo session so far. This time, I was not afraid to tell the studio people when I didn't like something, or ask them to change a background or remove a (chintzy) prop, so that was a great improvement over my previous experiences at this place. I also had shamelessly bribed Clara Anne with a trip to KFC afterwards if she was a good girl and smiled for her photos. She was therefore quite cooperative and we were able to finish the picture-taking in under an hour!

I love this first one--she looks like a little classical musician with her velvet hat and the violin they gave her to hold!

A sweet smile from a sweet girl.
In her special Christmas dress, a gift from Grandpa and Grandma Roelofs. (She was fascinated with all of the fake gifts underneath this tree and kept trying to open them! Oops!)

Sister sweetness!I love the expressions on both of their faces in this one.
This was taken early on, when Chloe didn't know if she liked the idea of having her picture taken in this strange place with lots of people looking at her! (Being foreigners, we seem to attract a crowd wherever we go, and this was no exception--there was a family waiting to have their pictures taken and it seemed like they had nothing better to do than stare at us!) But I loved how Clara Anne was trying to comfort Chloe--she seems to have a compassionate heart (sometimes!).

Christmas girls! I have a few of Chloe alone, but they'll have to wait for another time--blogger is working slowly and I need to get to bed! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

One Picture Says it All!

So yesterday, I was busy in the kitchen with my helper and Clara Anne and Chloe were playing happily in their room for awhile. Soon Clara Anne came out, dressed in this getup. She had on her Dora undershirt, one green sock and one pink sock, pulled up to the knees, of course, and was wearing her Dora swimsuit. She ran out to me and announced excitedly, "Look, Mommy! I look like Snow White!" Umm . . . right, Clara Anne. Maybe it was the ruffle on the swimsuit?! And what does the fishing pole have to do with it, you ask? I have no idea! That's our Clara Anne!

Chloe Speaks!

Well, actually, it didn't happen overnight. For quite awhile now, we have been wondering when Chloe was going to manage to form some recognizable words. She's had the "m" sound down for quite awhile, and used it for an occasional "Mah-mah!" or "moe, moe, moe" which meant more. But other than that, though she was and continues to be very vocal, she just isn't saying many clear words. I will admit that I was a little concerned because by 18 months (Chloe's age now) Clara Anne was saying a lot--a lot of nouns, especially, and using simple words and phrases to communicate. However some of my friends who are more experienced parents reminded me that every child is different, and Chloe will speak when she is good and ready.

We are seeing some progress. This morning after her bath Chloe saw the lotion bottle in my hand and said very distinctly, "lotion!" However, getting her to repeat something is nearly impossible--she just closes her mouth and gives us a silly smile. Of course, the minute I stop "trying" to get her to say something she is babbling on in her own language, exclaiming over this and that. For someone who doesn't say much that is recognizable, she surely can be loud!

Recently, though, I was so proud to hear Chloe put together her first simple sentence. Whenever you think about your child's first words, you always envision something sweet and wonderful like, "I love you, Mama." Is this what Chloe came up with? Not quite. She came toddling in to where I was working in the kitchen one day a week or two ago, tugged on my pants and said, "Mama, poo-poo." I checked and sure enough, she had spoken correctly. She then tugged on her own pants and looked at me expectantly.

So there you go--not exactly romantic, but functional nonetheless! She actually used language to communicate one of her needs. Now if only she would figure out that language really can help her, and it's not such a bad thing to join the speaking world! In the meantime, we'll enjoy all of the many and varied vocalizations of Chloespeak until she learns to speak English. Patience, patience!

So It's Not Figgy Pudding . . .

But this recipe for Rice Pudding is a real winner! Yes, I know some people consider pudding of any type dessert, but you can think of this like a super-easy and tasty breakfast food, making your typical breakfast cereal pale in comparison. It's got the basics--a healthy grain, milk, and is lightly sweet, similar to other breakfast foods we like. Not to mention for us here in Asia-land, breakfast foods (westerner-friendly, that is--I'm not counting left-over stir fry or rice porridge with pickled vegetables) can be difficult to come by. Our local mega grocery stores have been out of cereals for weeks now, so improvisation is necessary. As an added plus, this pudding is a great use for leftover rice, something we often have in our frig. So try out this simple recipe and maybe your kids will ask for thirds, like mine did this morning!

Rice Pudding

2 1/4 cups (approx) cooked rice (Alternatively, cook 3/4 cups rice in 1 1/2 cups water until water is absorbed) ** Do not use instant or converted rice--it will not absorb the milk properly!
1/2 cup sugar (more or less, to taste)
4 cups whole milk
1 cinnamon stick (if desired)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine the rice, milk, sugar, and cinnamon stick (if using) in a saucepan. Bring the milk to a simmer and cook gently for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toward the end of the cooking time stir more frequently--the pudding is done when the rice and milk have amalgamated (there's a word for the day!) into a thick porridge. Do not overcook or the pudding will be solid, rather than creamy, when cooled. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired. Serve warm or refrigerate--it can also be eaten straight from the frig! Enjoy!

Happy 2008! (Only a Few Days Late!)

Happy New Year, everyone! Despite my best intentions, we're already almost a week into the new year by the time I am posting some fun pictures of our New Year's Eve party. We got together with some American friends and ate delicious food (wow, there's been a lot of that going on lately), played games--the kids too--and laughed and talked until late in the night. Actually it was the wee hours of the early morning. We put our kids down for bed at their normal hour (8pm) at our friend's house so that we adults could enjoy some time together, too. So since the kids were sleeping soundly, we just stayed, and stayed, and stayed! John and I set a record for being out late--I think we arrived home about 3:45am and got the girls back to bed in their own beds again about 4. Thankfully they then slept until 10! Or at least, it was 10:04 on my bedside clock when Clara Anne's calls of "Mommy! Mo-o-o-ommy!" finally penetrated my sleepy haze. Staying up that late was a really fun thing to do--once a year, maybe. Otherwise the recovery time is just not practical!

So here's some picture highlights of our party: First, Clara Anne and Chloe, my purple girls, all bundled up to go outside. It's been pretty cold lately!

Chloe and I next to our friend's lovely Christmas tree. Like my paisley prego pants??

A fun activity for the kids--stringing popcorn necklaces. They really enjoyed this as well as a Dora Dominoes game and a Colors game.

Each family also enjoyed a very special activity--making S'mores (over the gas flame of the stove), made extra-special by the fact that the graham crackers and the marshmallows have to be imported. Chloe enjoyed hers, down to the last bite!

We adults played a really fun game (after the kids went to bed) called "Apples to Apples" where we all got to know one another a bit more and laughed a lot in the process. Then we ate some more dessert (Apple Crisp, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and Hello Dollies) and laughed some more. I am thankful for these friendships and for a special evening together!

So, another year has passed. 2007 was a year of travel, transition, and many, many blessings, like spending time with so many friends and family members, seeing our girls grow and mature, and learning that our third baby was on the way! We are thankful for the mercies we've been shown, and are looking forward to a new year of His continued work. May you also see Him at work in your lives in this coming year! And whenever the calendar turns, I think--maybe this will be the year of His return! Amen, let it be so! But as we wait, Happy 2008 everyone!

Anniversary Fun!

On December 28, John and I celebrated our Eleventh Wedding Anniversary! It sort of snuck up on us this year, with everything going on around Christmas, but we managed to arrange an evening out all the same. For the first time, we left our girls for a significant portion of time with our house helper, Lou. She was so good to be willing to stay into the evening so that we could go out during the girls' nap and stay out for dinner. Our plan was to return home in time to put the girls to bed ourselves.

We decided to keep up the tradition and go bowling on our anniversary. It seems like every anniversary we've spent in Asia we have gone bowling! So there you go, in the absence of Bed and Breakfasts, we've had to get a bit creative in our choice of entertainment. The bowling alley here (the only one I know of in a city of 6 million people) is almost like bowling in America, since the bowling alley seems to be lock, stock and barrel imported from the States. It's really fun! John and I enjoy the competition, as well. I knew that my I could hold my own during the first game, but that later on, as I got tired, it would be harder. Sure enough, my predictions were correct. Here's the scorecard (all electronic) after our first game:

Fun times, even for a 6 month prego!

After John smoked me all three games, we decided to try our hands at a few other games that were in this bowling alley. We had the most fun playing this street basketball game. The machine had previously had a high record of 250--here we blew it out of the water at 292!
We then discovered that if we scored above a certain point level, it would give us yet another round, so we were able to smash our previous record and set the new high at 337! We had great fun playing this together! It was 11-year teamwork at its best.
We finished by eating at one of the nicer hotels in town that has a great evening buffet. We returned home to find everything in good order except one very notable exception: I had foolishly left on a low, accessible table Chloe's baby book, which I had been working on. It had just needed a few finishing touches and I was in the midst of it when it was time for John and I to go. Chloe found this book, and while Lou was getting supper on the table, Chloe went through and began to systematically tear pictures out and then began tearing pages out, as well as tearing those pages to bits. Lou was so apologetic, but it wasn't her fault. Chloe has had issues with tearing paper before, and though I was very sad that she had found this book, it was partly my fault as well. When we came home and confronted Chloe with the evidence, she looked extremely guilty and refused to meet our eyes. Finally after some time she said "yes" when we asked her if she did it. Her own sin convicted her! John spent about 2 hours that evening piecing things back together and then taping and taping and taping. About 8-10 pages were affected, and 4-5 of those look really tacky, but it will be a memory for her when she is older, right?

All in all, it was a lovely anniversary. We really had fun on our date out, enjoyed our dinner, and it was good to just spend some time with the two of us alone. PTL for 11 years of marriage!

A Glimpse of Christmas, 2007

Here's a peek at our Christmas celebration--it was a wonderful time! I had low expectations this year, since the past two years very little has gone as planned, (including sudden illnesses, over-busyness which led to tiredness and bah-humbug attitudes, and fussy children). However my low expectations were happily surpassed and we really enjoyed creating some new traditions this year. Christmas Eve found us eating some special food which John and I chose together--we decided on Marinated Chicken Wings with a Mandarin Orange and Carmelized Almond Tossed Salad. I served the wings with rice and it was a very tasty meal! We then lit candles, sang carols, and read the Christmas story before inviting the girls to open some new gifts. This year our plan was to buy the girls a toy kitchen--one big gift that they would both share. However, due to various factors (that's a whole other story) it didn't work out, so we ended up with a bunch of small (read: cheap) toys, including several sets of little dolls and doll furniture, similar to the Polly Pockets. The various parts have already been scattered hither and yon, but since they were very inexpensive I don't mind too much.

Clara Anne's third birthday was also a very special celebration! We began with a special birthday brunch (we had let the girls stay up until 11pm the night before, playing with their new toys--a late-ness record for them--so breakfast was also quite late). We were then able to chat with some family via the internet, which was so special, and then in the afternoon Clara Anne got to take out her new bike for a spin. She did great on it! I think she will really have fun with it, especially when the weather turns a bit warmer. I did make the requested homemade pizza for her birthday supper, and we enjoyed that with some birthday cake. Wow, it's really amazing how quickly the time has gone by--it seems just a short while ago that we were looking forward to the birth of our first child, and now we have two big girls with another babe on the way! We are thankful for our dear Clara Anne and the three years God has given her--and we pray for Him to give her many more! It has been especially encouraging to see how she is understanding and growing in more and more spiritual knowledge--memorizing Bible verses, learning to pray by herself, knowing the gist (and details!) of many Bible stories, and just generally comprehending more of a spiritual nature. I pray that this next year will bring even more understanding to her heart.

But on to the pictures . . . Here my little elves are helping to bake some cookies, several days before Christmas. (Licking the beaters is helping, right?!)

Opening gifts--the girls received some really fun book/CD sets from my mom and dad. Tubby the Tuba has been requested several times a day since then!

Chloe gets excited about some plastic kitchen toys.

I'm not sure what this look means! But Chloe is really enjoying her new doll, named "Zipporah" by Clara Anne. (At her request, we've been reading the Exodus stories over and over recently.) The birthday girl at her birthday brunch, wearing a birthday gift--a new princess bib.
The brunch spread: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, an Egg-Bake with some leftover Christmas ham that we had ordered through an import store to share with some other Americans, and fresh strawberries, which are now in season. And don't forget the cup of Starbucks Decaf Verona! The birthday girl on her birthday bike! Such fun!


Happy Third Birthday, Clara Anne! We love you! (This was not the requested "green cake with blue candles" since some friends unexpectedly gave us a cake. We still managed the blue candles part, but Clara Anne didn't seem to remember that she had wanted a green cake, so happily ate this one--the frosting first, of course!)

A Little Christmas Cheer

We've had lots of fun getting ready for Christmas this year. Perhaps it is because Clara Anne is now almost 3, and so realizes more of what's going on, but it has been a true joy to share

with her about Christmas--the TRUE story, the songs, and the festivities. Of course, Christmas is extra special to her because it is also her birthday, but she hasn't yet seemed concerned about the fact that these two special events fall on the same day. It's funny, some people have seemed disappointed for us (or for her) that she doesn't get her "own" special day, but we think it is very special that she was the Father's gift to us on Christmas Day.

So what have we done to get ready? Well, there's been lots of talk about preparing our hearts for Jesus, and looking forward not only to celebrating his birth but also anticipating his second coming. We've been enjoying putting a small figure on our Advent calendar each day after morning devotions. Also, singing Christmas songs has been a big part of this year's preparations. My mother gave us a Kindermusik CD called "O Come, Little Children" that both of the girls just love, and it has helped them to be familiar with lots of different Christmas songs. One of their favorites is "The Friendly Beasts" which has verses for the various animals that were (perhaps) present at Jesus' birth and the gifts that those animals gave the newborn King.

Look Mommy, I'm helping to trim the tree! (Taken the day after Thanksgiving.)

And I'll pull the ornaments off as fast as you can put them on, Clara Anne!

On Wednesday when Clara Anne and Chloe got together with Emma and Samantha to play, we drew pictures of hearts and decorated the paper with paint to put under the tree as a gift for Jesus--reminding us all that Jesus wants our hearts more than any other thing. Aren't the girls cute in their (totally unplanned) matching clothes?

Clara Anne has even had fun helping me make some cookies. Peanut Butter Star cookies are some of my favorites at Christmastime, and Clara Anne did a good job of licking out the measuring cup used for the peanut butter, licking the beaters, and then placing each star on the cookies at the right time. She loves to help!

John and I have a special gift under (well, actually next to) the tree for Clara Anne's birthday this year--a small bike with training wheels for her to ride. She is so excited about it--she was there when we chose it but we are having her wait until her birthday to open the box (and have Daddy put it together). I hope it will provide lots of hours of exercise, entertainment, and enjoyment!

So how will we celebrate Christmas and Clara Anne's birthday? Pretty simply this year, I think. John and I have talked about making Christmas Eve more of our special, candlelight, family worship service with singing and the Christmas story, then allowing the 25th to be a celebration for Clara Anne. I think that's what we'll aim for this year. We'll probably have a special birthday breakfast and then we gave Clara Anne the choice of what she wanted for her birthday supper. Can you guess? It's going to be homemade pizza, with "a green cake with blue candles, Mommy." Ok, Clara Anne! I think we can do that! Here's our happy Clara Anne opening an early gift from Grandpa and Grandma.

As we have thought about preparing our hearts for Him this Christmas, we are aware, again, of how many (in our city and where you are, too) are not doing that because they have never heard of Him, or believed in Him. This has given us a renewed heart for prayer and sharing as Christmas day approaches. Let every heart prepare Him room!

Thankfully. . .

Chloe seems to be doing much better. Today she was noticeably better in mood and disposition, and a closer examination of her mouth seems to show that the sores are healing over. She is still smiling with a funny, swollen upper lip, but otherwise seemed much more like herself today. She also took a 3 hour nap yesterday and today; that can't hurt anything! (I feel certain a 3 hour nap would do wonders for me!)

Her recent trauma has brought out an affectionate, cuddly side of Chloe that I haven't seen before. I guess you could call it clingy, but cuddly sounds better, don't you think? I've gotten lots of sweet hugs and kisses from her in the last week, and now her favorite thing is to run up to me, wrap her arms around my legs, and put her face between my knees. It is a gesture that travels directly to a mother's heart, and makes me so thankful for these two little girls who somehow, miraculously, almost in the blink of an eye, are part of our family. I wouldn't trade them for anything, cuts, sores, hugs, kisses, and all!

A New Plan of Attack

So while we were on our little trip recently, I hurt my knee. I don't know when I hurt it, or how I hurt it, but my right knee has been giving me quite a bit of pain since then. It's ok if I'm just sitting stationary or stretching it out, but bending and flexing, especially to get up or down, is really painful. I've had to resort to various old-person tactics to get myself up and down--pushing with my arms, leaning on my other knee, etc. It's pretty pathetic--I'm only 31!

My suspicion is that somehow I hurt it, or strained it, during a couple of inadvertent long walks we took while in this larger city. Twice in the same day we ended up walking nearly an hour (with me carrying heavy Chloe a good bit of that time) without truly intending to. The first time was after a wonderful lunch at Outback, when we all decided a bit of strolling would do us good. But after we had strolled awhile it seemed like our apartment was just ahead, we might as well keep walking. It was a beautiful day and the walk was nice, too--just the weight of Chloe in my arms got tiring. The second time we got off the subway, thinking that the restaurant we wanted to go to was right next door, but in fact were given bad directions by the restaurant staff, even when we called back to double check. What was supposed to be "right on that main street in front of you" ended up being more than an hour of walking. I wasn't the only one feeling strained--there were seven kids under the age of six among us, so everyone was a bit burdened down for that long of a walk! (To the kid's--and adult's--credit, though, I didn't hear any complaining from anyone that whole long walk! We all persevered with good attitudes and that made our food taste that much better when we finally arrived! Hey, it was a good character building exercise!)

So my theory is that in holding and carrying Chloe so much on my left side, I somehow threw things out of whack and compromised my right leg. I had a bit of soreness and pain in that leg even as we were walking, so that's where this theory was born. But who knows, it could have been something totally different.

Anyway, my knee pain, combined with being 22 weeks pregnant, combined with the fact that despite our plans we are still living in the apartment on the fourth floor with no elevator, made me think through a new plan of attack for going out with our children in tow. I just cannot carry Chloe much anymore--she has got to be at least 25 pounds and really isn't stable enough (or quick enough) to climb up and down those 58 stairs by herself. Clara Anne does better, but still, if we're in a hurry, she usually needs to be carried as well. I'm sorry to say the double stroller, so worth every penny when we were using it in the States, has only made it out a few times since we've been back in Asia. That's because I discovered that I could not carry the stroller down the steps and supervise a child at the same time. So taking the stroller out by myself, so convenient when it was in the back of our minivan in the States, is almost impossible. I have to bring it down first, then either carry Chloe and supervise Clara Anne or make two trips to get them both down the stairs, then by the time they're all settled in the stroller it's time to get a taxi and fold the stroller up again. Finally the whole process has to be repeated when we get home! Not quite as convenient as I was hoping!

And, since it looks like we may be living in this apartment for another 5-6 months (due to various factors) and no elevator will be magically appearing, and soon we'll have three little ones to carry out, we truly needed a new plan to manage this situation! And, here's what we came up with!

My friend Rebecca (herself a seasoned mother of five) had recommended strongly to me a baby carrier called an Ergo. [Actually, Rebecca, it was your comment on my blog after our trip that made me start thinking seriously about buying one! The power of suggestion!] She has one and let me try it on this past summer when we were visiting their home. The Ergo is different from other carriers in that it balances the weight of the baby on your hips, not on your back. I did some reading online, and many mothers who had previously used the Baby Bjorn (what we have) said they just could not manage their babies after about 7-8 months. That was exactly my case. By then Chloe was so heavy, and my back would start killing me, not to mention my shoulders sinking down with her weight, that I could only wear her in dire necessity or for brief periods of time. So the Ergo is supposed to be comfortable for a child up to 40 pounds! Wow, Clara Anne isn't even 40 pounds yet! The Ergo is also a soft-sided carrier, not a framed back-pack type, so it can be folded up and stuck into a handbag or whatever. Another plus is that the baby can be worn on the parent's front, back, or hip--three positions so you can find what is most comfortable for you.

So after looking it up online, reading and researching a bit, and realizing how this could free up my arms and deal with the problem of having to carry Chloe, I made a pitch to John. The only drawback--the price, seemingly rather expensive. But I was surprised by how quickly he thought it was a good idea and that I should get it! So happily I have placed my order and it will ship to my parents' home before Christmas, when they will ship it on to us.

Part 2 of the new plan of attack involved looking for a very small, compact umbrella stroller, to use especially when traveling. And we found one! It's a bit of a cheesy design, but otherwise fits our criteria and so I think will be helpful.

Now we have some options: for now, Clara Anne can ride in the umbrella stroller and John can carry Chloe in the Ergo, yet leaving his hands free. OR, Clara Anne can walk, the stroller can stay home and Chloe can ride in the Ergo. OR, Chloe can ride in the stroller and Clara Anne can walk. After the new baby comes, I can carry the baby in the Baby Bjorn for a few months while John continues to carry Chloe in the Ergo while pushing Clara Anne in the stroller. After we move into a new apartment, with an elevator, the double stroller can be used much more commonly, but for now we thought this was a much better plan than us both needing to manage an at-loose child. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, containment is the best policy!


So, going out and about in our city, though not having the convenience of walking a few feet into your garage where you strap your child into his/her carseat and then you are free to walk around the car, load other things, etc, all only a few steps away from your home, is still workable. We just had to get a bit creative in the solution! Can you tell I'm excited about my new purchase? My days of carrying Chloe are nearly over! Now if only I could get my knee to feel better . . . :)

Concerning Chloe

It's been a rough week for Chloe. I always feel like I don't give her enough "coverage" on the blog because she is smaller, and doesn't really talk much yet, but this week she got more than her share of attention.

It all stemmed from a seemingly innocuous fall last Saturday evening. She was sitting on John's lap and we were all singing Christmas carols. Losing interest in the singing, she squirmed to get down, and John let her go. Apparently, though, she wasn't quite ready and instead of landing on her feet she fell facefirst onto our hard wooden floors, landing directly on her mouth. We picked her up immediately and saw that her mouth had already begun bleeding.

At first it was hard to tell where the blood was coming from. Did she bite through her lip? Bash her tooth up into her gum? Bite her tongue? But upon closer examination, the blood seemed to be coming from the little flap of skin that connected her upper lip to her gum between her top front teeth. It was bleeding a lot, and after deciding that we didn't think she had seriously injured herself, we cleaned up the blood, and I gave her some ice to suck on as well as a bit of pain reliever, knowing she would probably be sore.

But that was just the beginning of her woes. The sore place soon developed what looked like white, infectious spots, which we think are canker sores. Apparently it's common for canker sores to result from trauma to the mouth. So her lip swelled up, and a canker sore appeared on the outside of her lip as well as on that "flap" between her top front teeth, and her gums continued to bleed with pretty much any contact. Poor Chloe!

She was really feeling miserable by then. Four or five days had elapsed since her little tumble, and she was running a high fever, not sleeping well, not eating well, and basically being a crank. Not that I can blame her, since I have had mouth sores in the past and it is truly no fun. The worst part was that I wasn't sure how to help her! Finally after talking with my pediatrician online, and sending him a mostly unhelpful picture of the spot, we hit upon a four-pronged approach: 1. Brush her teeth with a bit of toothpaste (which always causes some bleeding, and thus a need for a drink of water). 2. Spray a small amount of salt water directly on the sore spots. (Drink some more fresh water to get that salty taste out of her mouth.) 3. Apply a bit of orajel, the stuff meant for teethers. 4. Give her a bit of children's tylenol, to help the fever and the pain. (Final drink of fresh water.)

As you can probably imagine, this was not Chloe's idea of a fun time, though she does usually feel better after we've been through the whole rigamarole. In the picture above, you can see a tiny bit of how her gum/lip right around her top two front teeth is swollen. We are hopeful that another few days of treatment will help her to heal up.

The hardest thing for me has been to not give in to her every request since I know she hasn't been feeling well this week! It's hard to punish her for whining when she's obviously so uncomfortable. But, of course, it's for her good!

She hasn't lost a bit of her cuteness, though, as you can see from the above picture. Hopefully my purple girl will not be feeling so blue this next week!

Do you think we need a new bathtub?

My girls don't think so! Photo taken this morning, December 10, 2007.

As Promised . . .

Take a look at these photos from our recent trip! Though I am never as faithful about taking pictures as I intend to be, I ended up with a few cute ones. Enjoy!

Fun times at a kid's play area!
All the kiddos lined up for a morning Advent devotional.Let's go swimming!
Two peas in a pod.

Traveling Adventures

If you read to the end of my last post, I made a comment about "travel in this country always seems to sap my energy." I had new reasons to ponder why that is so after our trip home on Friday.

First of all, John and I have learned that when traveling, especially in Asia, especially with children, that allowing extra time is always a good idea. If you have to wait a few minutes, even a half hour, on a plane or train or bus, it's better to be safe than sorry. So we have usually built into our travel day schedules a time margin for safety's sake.

However, on Friday we must have forgotten everything we've learned. We slept just a little late (love those hotel black-out curtains!), then took just a little too much time getting ready, just a little too much time eating the fabulous buffet breakfast at this hotel, and by then we realized we were falling behind schedule. The girls, sensing the time pressure, and noting how mommy and daddy were too busy to pay close attention, of course chose those moments to disobey and need punishments, which took even more time. Then we quickly packed up, did a double-check of the room, called the bellboy, and checked out at the front desk--all of which took just a little more time than we had hoped.

So our intention--to leave about 9:50 or 10 at the latest, to catch a 10:50 train--was postponed, little by little, until finally when we were all settled in the taxi and on our way to the train station, it was 10:15. We asked the driver with trepidation, "how long does it take to get to the train station from here?" "Oh, about 30 minutes," said the driver breezily. "Well, could you take the fastest route, please? We are in a hurry," said my husband, trying to be breezy but with a note of underlying urgency.

This was not a banner moment for me. I was envisioning the worst--we miss our train, there are no more tickets, we are stuck in this city, we have to take the slow bus that takes 6 hours, etc. But hope springs eternal, and miracle of miracles, we arrive at the station about 10:35.

We struggle out of the taxi, me with the dead weight of Chloe in my arms (she had fallen asleep on the taxi ride), and John trying to manage Clara Anne as well as two large suitcases, Chloe's booster chair, his computer bag, and the Pack-n-Play. A enterprising gentleman comes up to us with a dolly in tow, wondering if he could "help" us. "Hah! For a hefty fee, I'm sure!" thinks John, but then reconsiders--actually yes, we could use some help. The man immediately loads up all of the heavy luggage, and once we show him our tickets he knows exactly where to go. We make a run for it. (Well, the man runs, John scoops up Clara Anne and runs, and I straggle behind with Chloe, my purse with its broken strap, and a miscellaneous bag of snacks, books, and blankets for the train.)

We made it to the building, (the taxi had to drop us off about 2 blocks away, truly inconvenient!) through security, and then as we approached the tickets-only area we began to slow, anticipating that we would now have to take all our luggage. But even as the ticket agent yelled at the guy helping us, our helper waved him off, went right through the gate and down the stairs.

[As a sidenote, stairs without a ramp or escalator, are a really stupid thing to have at a place like a train station or airport. Anyone who has thought about it for any length of time whatsoever realizes that at a place like that, everyone has luggage of some sort! Therefore that luggage has to be lugged down the stairs and then back up to the platform. That was the case at this train station.]

There was a ramp going down the stairs, which our guy tried unsuccessfully to navigate--all of our luggage toppled off the dolly and onto the stairs. But we got loaded up again and quickly made our way through a long hallway and then faced another set of stairs, this time going up. A very kind passer-by gave our guy a hand so that the luggage could stay on the dolly all the way up to the top. We arrived at the top, breathless, and then took off running again for our train car which was quite a ways down the line.

Ah, the happy moment when we stepped aboard the train! Our guy had made it with us the whole way, and John dug out his wallet to compensate him accordingly. He first gave the man 30 local dollars, but the man wasn't happy with that and was grumbling and complaining. His next smallest bill being a 50, John just gave it to him and figured, oh well, it was worth it. 80 local dollars was a small price to pay for having made the train!

We boarded at 10:47, and the train left at 10:49, a minute earlier than scheduled. My first words to John were, "Let's never do that again!" But we were so thankful to have made the train, we just sat there in shocked relief for the first few minutes! Truly, if not for our friend, who managed the luggage so that John could carry Clara Anne, we would not have made the train, and who knows what would have happened then. If not for his help, we would have had to go at Clara Anne's pace, down and up all those stairs and through the crowds--it never would have worked.

Suffice to say, when we finally got out of the train, made it through the station, stood in line for a taxi, got all our stuff in a taxi, and made it home to our apartment, we were extremely glad to get here. Whew! I'm glad we have a few months before we need to have any more traveling adventures! The saying remains true--"East or West, Home is Best."

Fun Times Were Had By All

It's our last night on the road! Tomorrow morning we will eat the lovely buffet breakfast available at this hotel, then pack up our things and head back home again. It's been a good trip. I thought I'd share some highlights with you . . .

The time shared with our friends in the capital city was truly refreshing. We enjoyed staying together, meeting together, eating together, and letting our kids play together! It was really a special time of refocusing and connecting; I'm so glad we had this opportunity. It was especially great to have this dedicated time to meet together since our normal, once-a-week meetings are more brief and compact--in this situation we had more time to share and discuss things.

The women had a super evening out which included Starbucks and dessert at TGI Fridays, and we even found some time for shopping--you've got to hit the import store when you can! Perhaps if you've never lived outside the US you might be wondering, "What's the big deal about the import store?" Well, the big deal is that usually a good import store (and there are several in the capital city) has some items which are virtually nonexistent in our city. If I want some graham crackers or powdered sugar, for instance, I need to buy it in a larger city and take it back home with me. So here's a sampling of my purchases this time (in no particular order of importance): Dijon mustard, canned artichokes, Goldfish crackers, Spray-n-Wash laundry pretreatment, blueberry muffin mix, and the find of the day--Johnsonville Bratwurst, John's absolute favorite! We will really enjoy that treat! However, I looked several places and never found Karo syrup. The supplier for that must have run out and never restocked!

John and I have had a good couple of days investigating the possibility of giving birth here in a city only 2.5 hours from our home (by train). Yesterday we visited the hospital, and though in many ways it looks and feels like a typical Asianese hospital, (i.e. not so clean, no nursing staff to speak of, everyone crowding in to see the doctor at the same time) today we were able to meet with an English speaking doctor who allayed some of my concerns about delivering here. She seemed willing to work with me personally and said that if I called ahead for appointments I could see her and she would be my doctor, similar to what we would do in the States. She also seemed willing to go along with my ideas of natural childbirth, which encouraged me. It helps somewhat that this is my third baby, so though I have fairly strong opinions of what I want and don't want, she didn't discredit them since I obviously have some experience in the matter! So we are hopeful that it will work out to be here.

One interesting conversation came when we did the ultrasound. There were three people present--me, a nurse, and the ultrasound technician. Here's how things unfolded:

Me: I really want to find out the baby's gender. Now I am in the 21st week so I hope we can see if it is a boy or a girl.

Nurse: Yes, probably we can see clearly. Do you hope for a boy or a girl?

Me: It doesn't matter--as long as the baby is healthy that is ok.

As I am getting on the table . . .

Technician: How far along are you?

Me: 20 weeks complete, I'm in the 21st week.

Nurse: Yes, she already has two girls and wants to see if this is a boy or a girl.

Technician: (not having even touched me with the ultrasound wand yet) Oh, at 20 weeks we cannot see clearly.

Nurse: Really? It's still not clear at 20 weeks? When is it clear, then?

Technician: Well, it's hard to say. But now it's not clear.

At this point, I was inwardly quite upset at the technician's attitude. She did not even want to try to see the baby's gender, and I was really hoping to find out! I felt like saying something not so nice about the quality of the machine or how I had found out earlier than this with my other two pregnancies, but figured it wouldn't help and so just held my tongue. She rushed through the procedure and soon I was out of there. However, later I found out that because it is against the law for the technician to say anything about gender, even to a foreigner, the technician was just responding in a typical Asianese way--giving me the runaround rather than just telling me directly that she wasn't allowed to tell me. I thought that maybe since this was an international clinic, the standard would be different, but I was wrong. So there you go, we'll have to wait another 7 weeks until I have an appointment in Hong Kong. I just hope the baby won't be too big by then to get a good look! If so, I guess we'll just do what our parents and grandparents did--wait until the baby is born!

The housing options in this city also look promising, and happily, there are Starbucks within walking distance of all three potential apartments we are are considering! The hotel we've been at the last two nights has a Starbucks just a 5 minute walk away. Last night after the girls were in bed, John stayed with them and I went out for a late-night latte. (I drink decaf all the time anyway, so the time of day makes no difference). I ordered a decaf tall gingerbread latte and it was just perfect. Perfect! Just the right amount of whipped cream, foamy milk, and hot, strong espresso-gingerbread flavor. My only regret was that it was so good, I drank it so quickly! I savored every sip, though. It was wonderful! I couldn't have made it better myself!

Another fun highlight for the girls has been swimming at the hotel pool. Our first time swimming, Chloe was a bit uncertain and cried, though I held her close and we gradually got into the water, going deeper and deeper. She soon discovered the pool was like a big bathtub and started splashing around and having fun, though she didn't want to leave my arms. Tonight, though, she knew right away what to do and kept wanting to throw herself out of my arms so she could "swim" by herself! She also saw Clara Anne confidently swimming out in the deep water, climbing up and down the ladder, and playing on the steps, and I'm sure that encouraged her too. But I didn't have floaties for Chloe tonight, only Clara Anne, so I had to hold Chloe back a bit. I was surprised how quickly she took to the water! The girls looked so cute in their swimsuits too! Fun times!

So it's been a good trip. We are eager to get home, though, and back to normal life and routine again. I enlisted Lou, my helper, to get the house ready for us so we should have a sparkly clean home and dinner waiting when our train arrives tomorrow. That will certainly help, since traveling in this country always seems to sap my energy. I think the girls are ready to be home again too. I know they're tired of reading the same 8 books that I packed for the trip!

Next time, pictures from our fun times! Stay tuned!