We made it! We arrived in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon, actually about 2 hours earlier than we planned. Our plane took off and landed early, and so we were able to get on a connecting train earlier than expected. That's always nice when you're traveling! We were only on the road from 7:20 am until 4pm instead of 7:20am to 6pm, like we had originally planned.
The older girls did great during the travel, were (fairly) obedient and entertained themselves, as well as sticking close to Mommy and Daddy which is always important when going through new places, customs and immigration, and getting into taxi queues. They were troopers! I'm sorry to say, however, that Christin had the unhappiest day of her life. It began well; she ate a good breakfast at 6am and then was just ready to fall asleep when we got in the first taxi of the day to take us out to the airport. That was all right on schedule. But then, 30 minutes later after arriving at our airport, she was awakened by the change in movement, and just couldn't get back to sleep. Most of the time she was happy, but then when she started fussing I tried to feed her and she refused, absolutely refused!
I was baffled. I had never faced this before with Clara Anne or Chloe and I didn't know what to do. I tried soothing her, and then offering to nurse again; I tried forcing her head into position, which only made her madder, and I tried begging and pleading with her! Nothing was working. Surprisingly, she was still fairly happy despite the fact that she hadn't eaten. Any more attempts on my part to make her nurse elicited a fresh round of angry crying.
She refused to nurse all through the flight, and then as we took a taxi to the train station and went through customs, etc, and then got on the train, she fussed on and off but nothing too serious. I tried again as soon as we were settled on the train, with no success. We finally arrived in Hong Kong, got into another taxi and by this time she had had enough: she was tired, hungry, and mad. We arrived at our flat at 4 ish with her loudly voicing her displeasure the whole way.
I tried again to nurse her and she refused, madder than ever. By now I was feeling VERY uncomfortably overfull of milk. She had not eaten since 6am. I put her down to sleep and I got into a hot shower to try and relieve some of the pain, praying all the while that when she woke up she would be ready to eat. (Of course I did not pack my pump for this trip since I haven't needed it since the first few days after she was born!)
And sure enough, about 2 hours later, she woke up, and smiled at me the sweetest smile, as if to say, "What were you worried about, Mommy? Oh, was I unhappy today? I've forgotten all about it! I feel great now!" She then nursed well and went down for the night, sleeping until 6:30 this morning with no problems.
Whew! Glad that didn't last any longer!
We had a full day today, beginning with McDonald's breakfast. What is it about McDonald's breakfast that is so yummy and satisfying?! We then took the bus down to the Harbor City Mall and spent a significant amount of time playing/looking around Toys'R Us, a couple of bookstores, and buying a stroller. John took the girls to play at an indoor arcade/play area while I fed Christin and then we had a late lunch at Triple O's (thanks Sandra for introducing us--I did have the blueberry milkshake and yes, it was fabulous!). Clara Anne fell asleep on the bus on the way home, and when we had to wake her for the final walk to our apartment she was stumbling around as if in a dream. Despite the late hour, we put both of the girls down for naps when we got home at 4:15, and they slept until I woke them at 7:30! We had a light supper and then they went back to bed at 9. I think we really tired them out today! (It didn't help them that they were awake at 6:15 this morning despite the long travel day yesterday. Maybe tomorrow morning they'll sleep later!)
As we exited the mall and made our way to the bus, toting a large package, three kids, a side bag, and the new stroller, John summed it up well: "Ah, Hong Kong. Convenient, but grueling." It's true, there is excellent infrastructure in HK--great subway system, fast buses, it always seems so convenient to get places. But yet, transit in HK always seems to take longer and more energy than we expect. I think the bus ride from the mall back to our place was nearly an hour, definitely an hour with the walk at the end. Plus we're always toting things, even if we didn't purchase anything we still have our kids! Today for a good bit I had Christin in the Baby Bjorn, John had Chloe in the Ergo and Clara was riding on his shoulders! It was a sight to see.
So, we're off to a good start here. On a side note, the furnished flat we're staying in is the same one we lived in for almost 3 months while waiting for Clara Anne to be born, then after she was born and my parents came to visit. Lots of nostalgia associated with this place!
The plan is to go to Disneyland on Monday. The girls are already excited! Check back next week for pictures!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
What a week!
Last week was an exciting and fun-filled time here at our home. My childhood friend Heidi, who is my earliest memory and who grew up right next door to me for 16 years, came to our country to visit! She spent time in some of the major tourist cities and stopped at our house for a few days along the way. This was her first time to this country and she was soaking up all of the adventures!
And what a week we had. Heidi arrived on Sunday and had expressed interest in trying some local "family-style" food; the stuff the we typically eat on a daily basis because my helper, Lou, cooks for us. Lou and I had such fun planning the meals that Heidi would be there to try and give Heidi a balanced taste of all things local. I especially loved sharing my favorites with Heidi, as well as seeing her eager enthusiasm and excitement to try new things. Lou cooked up a storm and suffice to say, no one went away hungry!
What was on the menu? Here's a sampling: Chicken wings and potatoes braised in a soy sauce and pepsi mixture . . . spicy tofu with deep-fried hot peppers and ground beef . . . celery stir fried with cashews . . . egg stirfried with tomatoes . . . baby bok choy stir fried with fresh mushrooms . . . minced garlic shoots with ground pork wrapped up in tofu "peel" . . . deep fried chicken strips served with a spicy sauce made from sesame paste, hot bean paste, and soy sauce . . . glass noodles with shredded pork and cucumber . . . the list goes on! (We didn't eat all of this at one meal!)
So the food was a fun highlight--Heidi took pictures of everything and even bought some local ingredients to take back with her to the States, so she can try cooking it some of the dishes at home. She lives in a very diverse area of New York City and so thought she could find some things in small grocery stores there.
Heidi decided to lengthen her visit in our city by one day because last Wednesday the Olympic Torch came through our city!!!! I am so glad she was here for it, because honestly, if it hadn't been for her I probably would not have tried to go and see it. You know, large crowds, difficulty finding taxis, probably having to walk a long ways, as well as conflicting information about WHAT was actually going to happen, WHERE it was going to happen, and WHEN it would begin. I must have asked about 25 taxi drivers what they knew about the Torch's appearance, and finally a day or two beforehand everyone seemed to agree. The torch would be run down a major street in the south of the city, starting at the Sports Stadium at 8am.
So Heidi and I got up early, (Christin got a very early feeding), got out to the street and managed to flag a taxi fairly easily. I told the driver to take us as close as he could to the starting point. He did so and the air was crackling with festivity. People were everywhere, waving flags, selling Olympic memorabilia; everyone moving with one goal: to get as close to the main street as possible. Barricades were up in various areas and there was a strong police presence. At one point I felt a little afraid because the crowd was so large, and so excited, that if suddenly someone had discovered a way to get past the barricade there could have been a stampede.
By this point Heidi was somewhat resigned that we would not actually be able to see the torch. I was still holding out hope, though! We kept walking and finally found a place where we could get through to the road. We made our way to a small grassy knoll and thought we had a pretty good vantage point, so stayed there. It was right at 8am.
The next thing I knew, a man who had climbed a tree next to me (and therefore could see better than the rest of us!) started yelling that it was starting. We craned our necks. . . and yes! There it was! First came a group of runners, then we saw the runner with the Torch, and then he stopped and passed it on to the next runner! We saw the passing of the Torch!!!! We were yelling and waving our flags and jumping up and down just like everybody else!
(Later we discovered that they passed the torch every 200 yards or so, so it wasn't as unique as we thought. In fact there were more than 200 runners just in our city!)
Heidi and I were ecstatic. We could not believe that we actually saw it with our own eyes! And just like that . . . it was gone. A large choir was singing and a group was playing traditional drums as everyone cheered and chanted, and then gradually the groups broke up, people started moving, and the police slowly opened up the street for foot traffic. Everyone was still milling around and enjoying the atmosphere, so we joined in on the fun.
Eventually it was time to head home so we started walking and made our way through a typical alleyway where many, many vendors were selling their goods. Everything from fresh seafood and fish, to handmade noodles, steamed buns, flatbread, fruits and vegetables was being sold there. To me it is a common sight, but Heidi thought it was all fascinating and took lots of pictures as we progressed down the alley. Finally we arrived at the end and after waiting only about 10 minutes for a taxi, we were on our way home. What a morning!
We had such a great visit with Heidi. She and I reminisced over old times, had fun talking about this country's language, culture, people, and food, and talked about the future. It was such a treat to have her here! We were doubly thankful for our new place where we could accomodate her so comfortably and give her a bedroom and bathroom to herself. (John and I slept on our comfy couches!)
And now, we're off again! John has been working on our visa status for quite some time now, and it turned out that we do need to leave the country when our visas expire, which is on the 31st. So we will be traveling to Hong Kong on July 30th and staying for about 3 weeks or however long it takes to process our business visa. He's been getting our paperwork in order and it looks like things should work out. We shall see!
So there's been no shortage of excitement around here! In fact, Clara Anne and Chloe were so excited today that nobody took a nap! (Well, maybe that wasn't the reason . . . ) They do love to travel, though, and are looking forward to our trip. I am mostly looking forward to it but do hope we don't get stuck there for too long. It's always more comfortable to be at home (especially when I have Lou around to help keep things clean and food on the table!) but we will make the best of our time. We're planning to take some of our waiting days to do fun family things, maybe even Disneyland! I'll try to update occasionally from our travels. Stay tuned!
And what a week we had. Heidi arrived on Sunday and had expressed interest in trying some local "family-style" food; the stuff the we typically eat on a daily basis because my helper, Lou, cooks for us. Lou and I had such fun planning the meals that Heidi would be there to try and give Heidi a balanced taste of all things local. I especially loved sharing my favorites with Heidi, as well as seeing her eager enthusiasm and excitement to try new things. Lou cooked up a storm and suffice to say, no one went away hungry!
What was on the menu? Here's a sampling: Chicken wings and potatoes braised in a soy sauce and pepsi mixture . . . spicy tofu with deep-fried hot peppers and ground beef . . . celery stir fried with cashews . . . egg stirfried with tomatoes . . . baby bok choy stir fried with fresh mushrooms . . . minced garlic shoots with ground pork wrapped up in tofu "peel" . . . deep fried chicken strips served with a spicy sauce made from sesame paste, hot bean paste, and soy sauce . . . glass noodles with shredded pork and cucumber . . . the list goes on! (We didn't eat all of this at one meal!)
So the food was a fun highlight--Heidi took pictures of everything and even bought some local ingredients to take back with her to the States, so she can try cooking it some of the dishes at home. She lives in a very diverse area of New York City and so thought she could find some things in small grocery stores there.
Heidi decided to lengthen her visit in our city by one day because last Wednesday the Olympic Torch came through our city!!!! I am so glad she was here for it, because honestly, if it hadn't been for her I probably would not have tried to go and see it. You know, large crowds, difficulty finding taxis, probably having to walk a long ways, as well as conflicting information about WHAT was actually going to happen, WHERE it was going to happen, and WHEN it would begin. I must have asked about 25 taxi drivers what they knew about the Torch's appearance, and finally a day or two beforehand everyone seemed to agree. The torch would be run down a major street in the south of the city, starting at the Sports Stadium at 8am.
So Heidi and I got up early, (Christin got a very early feeding), got out to the street and managed to flag a taxi fairly easily. I told the driver to take us as close as he could to the starting point. He did so and the air was crackling with festivity. People were everywhere, waving flags, selling Olympic memorabilia; everyone moving with one goal: to get as close to the main street as possible. Barricades were up in various areas and there was a strong police presence. At one point I felt a little afraid because the crowd was so large, and so excited, that if suddenly someone had discovered a way to get past the barricade there could have been a stampede.
By this point Heidi was somewhat resigned that we would not actually be able to see the torch. I was still holding out hope, though! We kept walking and finally found a place where we could get through to the road. We made our way to a small grassy knoll and thought we had a pretty good vantage point, so stayed there. It was right at 8am.
The next thing I knew, a man who had climbed a tree next to me (and therefore could see better than the rest of us!) started yelling that it was starting. We craned our necks. . . and yes! There it was! First came a group of runners, then we saw the runner with the Torch, and then he stopped and passed it on to the next runner! We saw the passing of the Torch!!!! We were yelling and waving our flags and jumping up and down just like everybody else!
(Later we discovered that they passed the torch every 200 yards or so, so it wasn't as unique as we thought. In fact there were more than 200 runners just in our city!)
Heidi and I were ecstatic. We could not believe that we actually saw it with our own eyes! And just like that . . . it was gone. A large choir was singing and a group was playing traditional drums as everyone cheered and chanted, and then gradually the groups broke up, people started moving, and the police slowly opened up the street for foot traffic. Everyone was still milling around and enjoying the atmosphere, so we joined in on the fun.
Eventually it was time to head home so we started walking and made our way through a typical alleyway where many, many vendors were selling their goods. Everything from fresh seafood and fish, to handmade noodles, steamed buns, flatbread, fruits and vegetables was being sold there. To me it is a common sight, but Heidi thought it was all fascinating and took lots of pictures as we progressed down the alley. Finally we arrived at the end and after waiting only about 10 minutes for a taxi, we were on our way home. What a morning!
We had such a great visit with Heidi. She and I reminisced over old times, had fun talking about this country's language, culture, people, and food, and talked about the future. It was such a treat to have her here! We were doubly thankful for our new place where we could accomodate her so comfortably and give her a bedroom and bathroom to herself. (John and I slept on our comfy couches!)
And now, we're off again! John has been working on our visa status for quite some time now, and it turned out that we do need to leave the country when our visas expire, which is on the 31st. So we will be traveling to Hong Kong on July 30th and staying for about 3 weeks or however long it takes to process our business visa. He's been getting our paperwork in order and it looks like things should work out. We shall see!
So there's been no shortage of excitement around here! In fact, Clara Anne and Chloe were so excited today that nobody took a nap! (Well, maybe that wasn't the reason . . . ) They do love to travel, though, and are looking forward to our trip. I am mostly looking forward to it but do hope we don't get stuck there for too long. It's always more comfortable to be at home (especially when I have Lou around to help keep things clean and food on the table!) but we will make the best of our time. We're planning to take some of our waiting days to do fun family things, maybe even Disneyland! I'll try to update occasionally from our travels. Stay tuned!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Very Last One!
Some of you may remember all of the trouble we experienced in the States last year over the issue of Clara Anne's positive PPD test (the skin test that tests for tuberculosis). We suspected that it was positive because of the live vaccine (the BCG) that she had received at birth against TB. However, doctors in the States wanted to err on the cautious side, in case she really did have TB. So, after her positive skin test we had to go through a lot of rigamarole getting her a lung x-ray, then despite the fact that the x-ray was clear, it was still recommended that she take a course of antibiotics to make sure her system was clear. The catch? The antibiotics were a twice a day event, for 9 months!
Clara Anne quickly caught on to swallowing the small pills and was a trooper about taking them every day. After a while, she would often remind us if we forgot to give it to her! But I'm happy to say that on Friday, July 18, (my birthday), Clara Anne started off the morning with her very last pill. Hallelujah! We are ALL glad that the medicine is finally finished!
Clara Anne quickly caught on to swallowing the small pills and was a trooper about taking them every day. After a while, she would often remind us if we forgot to give it to her! But I'm happy to say that on Friday, July 18, (my birthday), Clara Anne started off the morning with her very last pill. Hallelujah! We are ALL glad that the medicine is finally finished!
Yummy in the Summertime!
I've found a new favorite recipe to share with you all, for a yummy summertime drink! The girls and I had a fun time making it and sharing it together, I hope you enjoy it too!
Homemade Frappucino
Fill a glass with (about 2 cups) ice. In a liquid measuring cup mix 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk. Meanwhile, brew one cup of very strong coffee. Pour the milks over the ice, then add the coffee and whatever flavoring you might happen to have around--chocolate syrup (about 2 Tbsp), or vanilla coffee syrup, or I just happened to have some Starbucks Caramel Sauce on hand so I added a generous dollop of that. Pour the contents of the glass into the blender and process until smooth and foamy. Enjoy! (Or for a really decadent treat, top with whipped cream and additional caramel sauce!)
And yes, the girls are sitting up on my countertop! It's always fun to "help" Mommy in the kitchen!
Homemade Frappucino
Fill a glass with (about 2 cups) ice. In a liquid measuring cup mix 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk. Meanwhile, brew one cup of very strong coffee. Pour the milks over the ice, then add the coffee and whatever flavoring you might happen to have around--chocolate syrup (about 2 Tbsp), or vanilla coffee syrup, or I just happened to have some Starbucks Caramel Sauce on hand so I added a generous dollop of that. Pour the contents of the glass into the blender and process until smooth and foamy. Enjoy! (Or for a really decadent treat, top with whipped cream and additional caramel sauce!)
And yes, the girls are sitting up on my countertop! It's always fun to "help" Mommy in the kitchen!It will never look this way again!
Several weeks ago, (wow, am I that far behind in my blog posting?!) I tackled the final organizing task of moving to our new place . . . sorting and shelving the girls' books. At our old house, we had a very small bookshelf and so a lot of our books for older readers were in storage still. So it was a real pleasure to unpack those books and get them all on the shelf for easy access!
Here's the breakdown: Top shelf, just pictures. Next one down: Classics like Heidi, the Chronicles of Narnia, some Shakespeare and Dickens for children, and several musical books that have a CD accompaniment. Next: Lying on their side are some books too big to put up ("oversize" is the library category) as well as all of our Bible storybooks and other Christian books. The next shelf down is all anthologies on the left, including single author collections like the Beatrix Potter collection and A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh. On the right are early readers (Frog and Toad, Dr. Seuss and others).
The bottom two shelves were organized with the idea of helping the girls reach these books easily. The second to the bottom one has hardcovers on the left, a stack of board books in the middle, and softcovers on the left, which include several books of similar kind like Curious George, Madeline, and Mercer Mayer Books. The bottom shelf is basically all board books with some local language kid's magazines on the far right.
I look at this bookshelf and see hours of fun! I loved reading as a young child and was frequently teased by my older brothers that I read so much, I needed to take a UHaul to the library! Certainly our collection is not as extensive as a library is, but we've got a good start. Soon I will be collecting more books in preparation for homeschooling and look forward to adding those to our shelves.
Perhaps this shelf will not stay this organized, but actually I've found that the order has been somewhat easy to maintain since there is a place for everything. And the girls have seemed to respect the order and organization, so haven't had issues with pulling out tons of books and scattering them everywhere. (It seemed like that was always a temptation at our old house.) But at any rate, I wanted to give you a glimpse of the bookshelf in its present state!
Happy reading!
Here's the breakdown: Top shelf, just pictures. Next one down: Classics like Heidi, the Chronicles of Narnia, some Shakespeare and Dickens for children, and several musical books that have a CD accompaniment. Next: Lying on their side are some books too big to put up ("oversize" is the library category) as well as all of our Bible storybooks and other Christian books. The next shelf down is all anthologies on the left, including single author collections like the Beatrix Potter collection and A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh. On the right are early readers (Frog and Toad, Dr. Seuss and others).
The bottom two shelves were organized with the idea of helping the girls reach these books easily. The second to the bottom one has hardcovers on the left, a stack of board books in the middle, and softcovers on the left, which include several books of similar kind like Curious George, Madeline, and Mercer Mayer Books. The bottom shelf is basically all board books with some local language kid's magazines on the far right. I look at this bookshelf and see hours of fun! I loved reading as a young child and was frequently teased by my older brothers that I read so much, I needed to take a UHaul to the library! Certainly our collection is not as extensive as a library is, but we've got a good start. Soon I will be collecting more books in preparation for homeschooling and look forward to adding those to our shelves.
Perhaps this shelf will not stay this organized, but actually I've found that the order has been somewhat easy to maintain since there is a place for everything. And the girls have seemed to respect the order and organization, so haven't had issues with pulling out tons of books and scattering them everywhere. (It seemed like that was always a temptation at our old house.) But at any rate, I wanted to give you a glimpse of the bookshelf in its present state!
Happy reading!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Totally Terrific Two!
Chloe turned two on June 26, 2008. Wow! Where does the time go? We had a really fun day celebrating her birthday. It began with a special birthday breakfast that included blueberry muffins, some singing for her, and balloons and a princess-themed banner hanging across the window. Our next fun event was to get the whole family ready for a trip to the swimming pool! Our new apartment complex has an indoor pool which we had not yet visited. The girls were so excited to go swimming! Chloe is still happiest if she just plays around the edges of the water, but she had a great time, and looked awfully cute in that Dora bathing suit!
Christin slept happily in the stroller while we swam and enjoyed the water. How do you like Clara Anne's swim get-up?
We then came home for a delicious Asianese lunch prepared by our house helper, including a cold noodle dish which is traditionally eaten on birthdays. The length of the noodles is supposed to signify long life. Whatever the meaning, they are tasty! We finished the meal with a good old western standby--birthday cake. This recipe for "Minnesota Chocolate Cake" is destined to become a favorite in our family because of its ease of preparation and use of local ingredients (i.e. oil instead of butter, cocoa powder instead of baking chocolate). Yum yum! Clara Anne thought she would give Chloe a bit of help blowing out the candles.
Christin slept happily in the stroller while we swam and enjoyed the water. How do you like Clara Anne's swim get-up?We then came home for a delicious Asianese lunch prepared by our house helper, including a cold noodle dish which is traditionally eaten on birthdays. The length of the noodles is supposed to signify long life. Whatever the meaning, they are tasty! We finished the meal with a good old western standby--birthday cake. This recipe for "Minnesota Chocolate Cake" is destined to become a favorite in our family because of its ease of preparation and use of local ingredients (i.e. oil instead of butter, cocoa powder instead of baking chocolate). Yum yum! Clara Anne thought she would give Chloe a bit of help blowing out the candles.
After lunch the girls got to play with one of Chloe's new gifts. She got one gift to share with Clara Anne and one gift for herself. The gift to share was a set of wooden blocks. Up to this point, our toy collection was lacking this basic and fun toy! We decided it was time and found this set of pretty painted blocks in a local market. The girls played with them in the same place on the floor, non-stop, for one hour and 43 minutes after lunch without disputes, without getting up for a drink of water, or to go to the bathroom, or anything!!! I was so amazed I just let them keep playing rather than enforcing nap time. (I knew the start time because they had just started playing when I was sitting down to feed Christin.) They had such fun and were so creative with the things they were building, making trains with them, and finally at the end Clara Anne had made the blocks into little people and was telling stories about them. FUN TIMES!
Chloe's other gift, for her alone, is this new bright green bike! Finally I said they had to be done playing with blocks and put them down for a late nap. Then we woke them to go downtown to pick out this bike for Chloe. She is so excited about it, though she needs to grow just another inch or two to make it really work for her legs. How do you like her fake smile here?
There's the real smile, but the sun was too bright!
We love our totally terrific two year old! It is so interesting to see her personality emerge. She is our brave daredevil, very physically active. She loves to climb, run, roll, crawl, jump, and dance. She is just now putting short sentences together: "That's Daddy's chair! . . . Let's go outside! . . . Where's my blanket?" Her hair is crazy curly and she has stout, strong legs. She still loves Mater (a small stuffed one) and her pink blanket dearly, as well as a particular stuffed bear with a purple ribbon around its neck. Chloe is not a snuggler; she'd rather be running around. She loves to eat and eats quickly, especially sweets. If given a treat, she will polish it off in a matter of moments and then look at Clara Anne's portion and say, "More?". But she loves Asianese food too, even the spicy stuff!
Chloe loves Christin and calls her "Kiss-tin" but is oblivious to Christin's crying. She and Clara Anne get along pretty well but still occasionally wage possession wars. Chloe is usually pretty happy-go-lucky and so it was strange lately to see her waking up crabby from naps, crying over small things, and being generally sensitive. We think she may have some two year molars coming in which may be the source of the troubles.
We are thankful for our sweet Chloe Rachelle! She's a blessing to our whole family. Happy Birthday, Chloe! We love you!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bathing Beauty
I gave Christin a bath in the sink at our new house recently and was rewarded with lots of cooing and this beautiful smile!
She's been giggling a lot recently and today John really got her going. I'll have to get it on video and post a little clip. She's a darling! I think that smile would melt anyone's heart!
Monday, July 07, 2008
Moving, Asia Style
Friday night has arrived again. Where did the week go?! Finally, here are some pictures of our move, three weeks ago today. We've already been here three weeks! We're feeling really settled; we even have pictures hung on the walls! I'm so thankful; we're ready to be done working on the apartment and get on to more important things. We hope to invite over some of our neighbors over in the next week or two and make some new friends.
More stuff!
The last picture of the girls in our old house. Our friend Amy watched them that day while all the transitioning was happening, which was a huge help! So this was in the morning just before I took them to her house. John was in the midst of disassembling the crib, where Clara Anne had slept for her whole life! We had never moved her to a big girl bed because her room was too small to accomodate one. Chole, until we moved here, had slept her whole life in a pack-n-play, so our move to this house really was exciting for the girls--big girl beds at last!
Here we are! John is in our kitchen, doing a little work above the range. Notice the sink that I was raving about in my last post! (I didn't mention there what you can see here, that looking out of my window is looking into about 200 other apartments. But looking down out of my window is the lovely nature scene previously described. That also means that my neighbors can look in at me as well! One morning, to my suprise, as I was standing at my kitchen sink holding Christin, a woman across the way in a 5th or 6th floor apartment was looking seemingly directly at me and I was just wondering if she could see me as clearly as I could see her, when she waved at me! I didn't know whether to wave back or quickly leave the room!)
First meal in the new place--KFC. You can see our comfy couches and MANY trunks in the background.
The pile of rice bags made it safely! Here they're piled in Christin's room with the happy green walls.
The inaugural bath! Clara Anne and Chloe really love the new tub! (Mommy does too!) They still would rather stand up and play instead of sit down and actually bathe, however. And Chloe hollers whenever I have to wash her hair. But the idea of a bath is still fun to Chloe. Why wouldn't it be, with all those fun toys?
One thing that hasn't changed--story time with Daddy in the evening.
And a final picture to share: my first cooking project in the new kitchen, which Clara Anne helped me with--granola.
Hope you enjoyed a brief glimpse of our new place! I'll post a few more pictures as I take them. Picture taking hasn't been high on the priority list as we've been getting organized, but now that we're more settled I'll do a bit more. It's starting to really feel like home. The girls have already made some new friends, playing out at the sandpit and at the playground. I think living here will be great for their language skills, and mine too! Until next time . . .
Here's one of our last pics in our old house. You can see some stuff piled up next to the chair in those plaid bags. In America, you might move by collecting cardboard boxes, but here in Asia, we just used a lot of what we call "rice"bags. They are durable and handy for non-breakable items. They're also really cheap and so when we ended up buying more three different times, it didn't break the bank. (How did we ever accumulate so much stuff?!)
More stuff! The last picture of the girls in our old house. Our friend Amy watched them that day while all the transitioning was happening, which was a huge help! So this was in the morning just before I took them to her house. John was in the midst of disassembling the crib, where Clara Anne had slept for her whole life! We had never moved her to a big girl bed because her room was too small to accomodate one. Chole, until we moved here, had slept her whole life in a pack-n-play, so our move to this house really was exciting for the girls--big girl beds at last! Here we are! John is in our kitchen, doing a little work above the range. Notice the sink that I was raving about in my last post! (I didn't mention there what you can see here, that looking out of my window is looking into about 200 other apartments. But looking down out of my window is the lovely nature scene previously described. That also means that my neighbors can look in at me as well! One morning, to my suprise, as I was standing at my kitchen sink holding Christin, a woman across the way in a 5th or 6th floor apartment was looking seemingly directly at me and I was just wondering if she could see me as clearly as I could see her, when she waved at me! I didn't know whether to wave back or quickly leave the room!) First meal in the new place--KFC. You can see our comfy couches and MANY trunks in the background. The pile of rice bags made it safely! Here they're piled in Christin's room with the happy green walls. The inaugural bath! Clara Anne and Chloe really love the new tub! (Mommy does too!) They still would rather stand up and play instead of sit down and actually bathe, however. And Chloe hollers whenever I have to wash her hair. But the idea of a bath is still fun to Chloe. Why wouldn't it be, with all those fun toys?One thing that hasn't changed--story time with Daddy in the evening.And a final picture to share: my first cooking project in the new kitchen, which Clara Anne helped me with--granola.
Hope you enjoyed a brief glimpse of our new place! I'll post a few more pictures as I take them. Picture taking hasn't been high on the priority list as we've been getting organized, but now that we're more settled I'll do a bit more. It's starting to really feel like home. The girls have already made some new friends, playing out at the sandpit and at the playground. I think living here will be great for their language skills, and mine too! Until next time . . . Corrections
Ok, so I had some of my facts wrong. That quote about Mendelson's book was from USA Today, not People. (Does People even do book reviews? Not sure where I got that from!). And also, her pages on dishwashing come to a full eight if you count the instructions about using an automatic dishwasher, not five as I had previously written. Wowza!
Just thought I'd clarify!
Just thought I'd clarify!
Sunday, July 06, 2008
The Pleasure of Doing Dishes
With a new house has come some new housekeeping habits. One that is so truly amazing (and therefore blog-worthy) is that I am finding a new secret pleasure in doing the dishes. What?! How can this be?
Well, for one thing, dishes-doing at our old house was very laborious. I would first fill and heat a pitcher of water on an electric burner thing made for that purpose. Then I would pour that water into a large plastic bowl in my very low sink and begin to wash. As the water cooled I always had to plan ahead because the electric burner took several minutes to heat up. If there weren't very many dishes, often I would let myself stack the dirty dishes, thinking that it wasn't worth heating up the water. My kitchen also wasn't lit very well so doing the dishes at night was difficult--hard to see whether I was getting them truly clean or not.
But here, in the new place, my kitchen has a sink which is just at the right height, so I don't have to crouch over it. The hot water, miraculously, comes right out of the tap! I can wash AND rinse in hot water! Hallelujah! And we planned out the cupboards and counterspace so that standing at the kitchen sink is looking right out of a big window and seeing a lovely view below--a winding path with willow trees, sumac, and other trees lining it as well as a stream with goldfish and a small waterfall. It's Lovely with a capital L.
Another factor causing me to enjoy my dishes-doing task is a book recommended by my friend Gretchen. Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson was described by People magazine like this; "This book is to the home what the Joy of Cooking is to Food." I've been a devoted Joy user for a long time now (actually, mostly since we moved overseas), and so with that and Gretchen's recommendation, I knew I would love Home Comforts. It's a great book: practical, thorough, and beautifully written. She devotes about 5 full pages to how to wash the dishes--truly--I was just looking at it last night. Most of her routine is what my mother taught me, with a few refinements. And the way she writes about it makes you feel like doing the dishes is really worthwhile, a service for your family which is helping to build your home, which of course, it is.
So there's my secret confession. Many times in the last two weeks I have had a mini-retreat to my kitchen to do the dishes while thinking, praying, and enjoying the beauty outside. A big sinkful of hot soapy water--what a lovely sight! The pleasure of that is only surpassed by the pleasure of clean dishes, dried and put away and the kitchen all in order again. Who knew doing the dishes could be so refreshing?
Well, for one thing, dishes-doing at our old house was very laborious. I would first fill and heat a pitcher of water on an electric burner thing made for that purpose. Then I would pour that water into a large plastic bowl in my very low sink and begin to wash. As the water cooled I always had to plan ahead because the electric burner took several minutes to heat up. If there weren't very many dishes, often I would let myself stack the dirty dishes, thinking that it wasn't worth heating up the water. My kitchen also wasn't lit very well so doing the dishes at night was difficult--hard to see whether I was getting them truly clean or not.
But here, in the new place, my kitchen has a sink which is just at the right height, so I don't have to crouch over it. The hot water, miraculously, comes right out of the tap! I can wash AND rinse in hot water! Hallelujah! And we planned out the cupboards and counterspace so that standing at the kitchen sink is looking right out of a big window and seeing a lovely view below--a winding path with willow trees, sumac, and other trees lining it as well as a stream with goldfish and a small waterfall. It's Lovely with a capital L.
Another factor causing me to enjoy my dishes-doing task is a book recommended by my friend Gretchen. Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson was described by People magazine like this; "This book is to the home what the Joy of Cooking is to Food." I've been a devoted Joy user for a long time now (actually, mostly since we moved overseas), and so with that and Gretchen's recommendation, I knew I would love Home Comforts. It's a great book: practical, thorough, and beautifully written. She devotes about 5 full pages to how to wash the dishes--truly--I was just looking at it last night. Most of her routine is what my mother taught me, with a few refinements. And the way she writes about it makes you feel like doing the dishes is really worthwhile, a service for your family which is helping to build your home, which of course, it is.
So there's my secret confession. Many times in the last two weeks I have had a mini-retreat to my kitchen to do the dishes while thinking, praying, and enjoying the beauty outside. A big sinkful of hot soapy water--what a lovely sight! The pleasure of that is only surpassed by the pleasure of clean dishes, dried and put away and the kitchen all in order again. Who knew doing the dishes could be so refreshing?
Friday, July 04, 2008
Did they move or fall off the face of the earth?
The answer is A: we moved!
Two weeks ago today, to be exact! It's been a whirlwind since then. Unpacking and organizing, unpacking and organizing some more. We've been in the thick of things here, and this last week was annoyingly complicated by having no internet access. The guy came yesterday once and today twice to fix the problem, and so now we should be good to go, except for one fault: the internet hook up cord is in the girls' bedroom! I never realized before how much of my internet time was while they were sleeping! So I think I've been online about 20 minutes in the last two weeks.
All that to say, I have lots of pictures of both our moving and Chloe's 2nd birthday, but they'll have to wait. Check back again soon! But I wanted you all to know we haven't fallen off the face of the earth!
Hope everyone is having a lovely 4th of July weekend!
Two weeks ago today, to be exact! It's been a whirlwind since then. Unpacking and organizing, unpacking and organizing some more. We've been in the thick of things here, and this last week was annoyingly complicated by having no internet access. The guy came yesterday once and today twice to fix the problem, and so now we should be good to go, except for one fault: the internet hook up cord is in the girls' bedroom! I never realized before how much of my internet time was while they were sleeping! So I think I've been online about 20 minutes in the last two weeks.
All that to say, I have lots of pictures of both our moving and Chloe's 2nd birthday, but they'll have to wait. Check back again soon! But I wanted you all to know we haven't fallen off the face of the earth!
Hope everyone is having a lovely 4th of July weekend!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Moving, Memories and More
The day is finally arriving! Tomorrow morning at 10:30 am, a truck will be pulling up to our door and several men will be in charge of moving all of our stuff to our new apartment. I just talked to John and he said that the kitchen is almost completely ready--just a few final details to finish up (like hook up the gas, fix a leak in the hot water heater, etc.). He said it looks great! I am so excited! I can hardly believe it is actually happening!
We are 98% packed up here at our old place; so much so that I called my friend Rachel today and asked if we could spend the morning and have lunch at her place today. With everything packed, it's really not a fun place for the girls to spend much time. They're napping now and we'll just have this one last evening to spend in our place.
About a week ago, I was so impatient for the move, and feeling like saying "Good Riddance" to our apartment with its issues (dusty, a toilet that seems perpetually broken, our "shower" in the middle of the bathroom floor, the touchy electrical outlets, etc.). I shared my feelings with John (read: complained) and he said that instead I should focus on all of the happy memories that we've had in this place. I grudgingly agreed.
Last night, it was his turn. He was celebrating the fact that the girls no longer had to bathe in their tiny tub, with perhaps a touch of "good riddance" in his voice. But then I was the one waxing nostalgic about all of the memories we've made in this place.
We've lived here more than 4 years. That is longer than we've lived anywhere in our marriage. If the walls could talk, they would tell you about the births of three healthy girls, about welcoming those babies into the family. They would tell you about some tough times where we were really lonely and feeling like we weren't doing any good here. They would tell you how we learned and grew, how we made friends, how our language skills improved, how we hosted many people for meals with lots of talking and a little singing around the piano afterwards. They would tell you about the birthdays celebrated, about the over-the-top Christmas lights, and about the good smells that came from the kitchen. And they would tell you that we were happy here.
It's funny, because my girls probably will not remember this place, or only have very faint memories of it, by the time they reach adulthood. A place whose address I have said to literally thousands of taxi drivers over the years will no longer be our home.
As we've prepared the children for our move, we've talked again about what "home" means. This was a discussion we started when we were getting ready to go back to the States last year, when we knew we would be in a lot of transition, and when a simple question from a stranger "Where are you from?" was enough to make me pause and think twice. What we shared with the girls then is what I've been telling them again now: Home is where your family is. If you are with your family, then you are at home. Even more, home is where the body of Christ is. If we are together with those who also love Jesus, then we are at home. And of course, we know that actually, truly, this world is not our home. It is ours only for a brief while until we get to our true Home, which is what we are all longing for. Our desire for safety and security, a place where we can relax, unwind, be ourselves, be refreshed, be encouraged, and all of that are all desires for our true home. No home on earth can perfectly fulfill that longing.
But with that being said, we are eager to provide even a shadow of that type of home for our family to live in. We are excited about our new home. Clara Anne is excited about her new purple room with Dora sheets. I'm excited about a bathtub! But more than that, I'm looking forward to making memories in a new place, and hoping that we can live there for a long, long time. I hope it will be the place my girls grow up.
So, goodbye Jiefang Dong Lu #58-1-3-401. Hello Lu Neng Kang Qiao #12-4-502! Stay tuned . . . pictures to follow in the coming days!
We are 98% packed up here at our old place; so much so that I called my friend Rachel today and asked if we could spend the morning and have lunch at her place today. With everything packed, it's really not a fun place for the girls to spend much time. They're napping now and we'll just have this one last evening to spend in our place.
About a week ago, I was so impatient for the move, and feeling like saying "Good Riddance" to our apartment with its issues (dusty, a toilet that seems perpetually broken, our "shower" in the middle of the bathroom floor, the touchy electrical outlets, etc.). I shared my feelings with John (read: complained) and he said that instead I should focus on all of the happy memories that we've had in this place. I grudgingly agreed.
Last night, it was his turn. He was celebrating the fact that the girls no longer had to bathe in their tiny tub, with perhaps a touch of "good riddance" in his voice. But then I was the one waxing nostalgic about all of the memories we've made in this place.
We've lived here more than 4 years. That is longer than we've lived anywhere in our marriage. If the walls could talk, they would tell you about the births of three healthy girls, about welcoming those babies into the family. They would tell you about some tough times where we were really lonely and feeling like we weren't doing any good here. They would tell you how we learned and grew, how we made friends, how our language skills improved, how we hosted many people for meals with lots of talking and a little singing around the piano afterwards. They would tell you about the birthdays celebrated, about the over-the-top Christmas lights, and about the good smells that came from the kitchen. And they would tell you that we were happy here.
It's funny, because my girls probably will not remember this place, or only have very faint memories of it, by the time they reach adulthood. A place whose address I have said to literally thousands of taxi drivers over the years will no longer be our home.
As we've prepared the children for our move, we've talked again about what "home" means. This was a discussion we started when we were getting ready to go back to the States last year, when we knew we would be in a lot of transition, and when a simple question from a stranger "Where are you from?" was enough to make me pause and think twice. What we shared with the girls then is what I've been telling them again now: Home is where your family is. If you are with your family, then you are at home. Even more, home is where the body of Christ is. If we are together with those who also love Jesus, then we are at home. And of course, we know that actually, truly, this world is not our home. It is ours only for a brief while until we get to our true Home, which is what we are all longing for. Our desire for safety and security, a place where we can relax, unwind, be ourselves, be refreshed, be encouraged, and all of that are all desires for our true home. No home on earth can perfectly fulfill that longing.
But with that being said, we are eager to provide even a shadow of that type of home for our family to live in. We are excited about our new home. Clara Anne is excited about her new purple room with Dora sheets. I'm excited about a bathtub! But more than that, I'm looking forward to making memories in a new place, and hoping that we can live there for a long, long time. I hope it will be the place my girls grow up.
So, goodbye Jiefang Dong Lu #58-1-3-401. Hello Lu Neng Kang Qiao #12-4-502! Stay tuned . . . pictures to follow in the coming days!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
When Daddy's Away . . .
The girls will play! John has been gone so much lately, working on things at our new house, and we've also had numerous days where our house helper was at that house, helping to make the remodeling process go smoother, so the girls and I have been on our own for lunch. I know, I know, I'm really spoiled to have my helper make lunch for us every day. She is such a help to us and a blessing to our whole family!
But anyway, when she was gone, and John had other events as well, the girls and I decided to have some fun. One day we had popcorn and a movie for lunch (a rare treat!), and one day we had this lovely picnic, as you can see. The menu included peanut butter and honey sandwiches, raisins, potato chips (we can get an only-slightly-funky version of Lay's here) and as a special treat, red Kool-Aid for our beverage! It was a fun time and the girls enjoyed it thoroughly. They are still talking about it now, days later. Fun times!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Christin Cracks A Smile!
Late last week, after a happy afternoon feeding, Christin was feeling talkative and trying out all of her smiley expressions on me. This has been a pattern recently, and finally I caught it on film! So here are some of the pictures taken that day, for your viewing pleasure!
Sweet girl! It's amazing how smiling just transforms her face. We love to see her smiles!
Sweet girl! It's amazing how smiling just transforms her face. We love to see her smiles!
Our Favorite Granola
Granola has been a popular food at our home lately. It's easy to make, tasty, and serves as a good substitute for breakfast whenever rice pudding isn't on the menu. Actually, lately my girls have been requesting it as a topping on their rice pudding, which also works. I enjoy it with cold milk, but it would also be great sprinkled over yogurt or in the winter, with hot milk. Now, this is not the healthiest version of granola that ever existed (mostly because of the butter), but it is pretty tasty and makes the most of ingredients we can get locally. Give it a try!
Homemade Granola
5 cups oatmeal
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use 200 grams)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
Mix together the oatmeal, raisins, walnuts and brown sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, melt together the butter, honey and vanilla in the microwave. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. If desired (and of course, I usually desire), add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup shredded coconut. Press into a 9x13 or 11x17 greased pan and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned. While still warm, crumble into small pieces.
Sorry that I don't have any lovely pictures like my friends Sandra or Rachel would have had with this post!
Homemade Granola
5 cups oatmeal
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use 200 grams)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
Mix together the oatmeal, raisins, walnuts and brown sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, melt together the butter, honey and vanilla in the microwave. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. If desired (and of course, I usually desire), add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup shredded coconut. Press into a 9x13 or 11x17 greased pan and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned. While still warm, crumble into small pieces.
Sorry that I don't have any lovely pictures like my friends Sandra or Rachel would have had with this post!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
When will we ever move?
You may remember a few months ago, when a frequent theme of my blog was "when will this baby come?". Now, however, we are finding our patience tested again as the completion date for our kitchen remodeling keeps getting pushed back. Originally it was supposed to be this past Monday, but then last week they called and said it would probably be this Friday or Saturday. So, we planned to move early next week. We even booked a moving company.
But, it seems plans are meant to be changed. We called the kitchen people again this afternoon to confirm and now they said it will not be ready until next Wednesday or Thursday. We will then need to leave a day in the middle to clean before we can actually move.
Zaogao! (That's Asianese for "shucks" or "oh dear" or "oh man!").
The most "zaogao" part of it is that we are basically packed up here at home--almost everything is already in boxes or trunks, awaiting the move that we thought was going to happen three days ago. We saved out things we still need but everything is very "luan qi ba zao" (literally "at sixes and sevens" . . . i.e. messy.) Um, is this a post or an Asianese lesson?
Anyway, it looks like we're going to have to live with the mess for a few more days. I feel at this point like I did waiting for Christin--I'm not going to believe it actually will happen until it is all said and done! No use getting my hopes up! I almost don't believe the kitchen people that it will happen next week--I should just be prepared to wait another two weeks or so.
On the bright side, the new apartment looks great and everything is done--including curtains--that we can do before moving in. Patience, patience! We'll keep you posted . . .
But, it seems plans are meant to be changed. We called the kitchen people again this afternoon to confirm and now they said it will not be ready until next Wednesday or Thursday. We will then need to leave a day in the middle to clean before we can actually move.
Zaogao! (That's Asianese for "shucks" or "oh dear" or "oh man!").
The most "zaogao" part of it is that we are basically packed up here at home--almost everything is already in boxes or trunks, awaiting the move that we thought was going to happen three days ago. We saved out things we still need but everything is very "luan qi ba zao" (literally "at sixes and sevens" . . . i.e. messy.) Um, is this a post or an Asianese lesson?
Anyway, it looks like we're going to have to live with the mess for a few more days. I feel at this point like I did waiting for Christin--I'm not going to believe it actually will happen until it is all said and done! No use getting my hopes up! I almost don't believe the kitchen people that it will happen next week--I should just be prepared to wait another two weeks or so.
On the bright side, the new apartment looks great and everything is done--including curtains--that we can do before moving in. Patience, patience! We'll keep you posted . . .
Thursday, June 05, 2008
A Morning Scene
Here's a snapshot of the scene at our house one morning last week. While I was sitting on the couch answering some emails, Clara Anne and Chloe found a little table, covered it with Clara Anne's blanket as a tablecloth, and set the table for tea. They proceeded, completely unhelped by me, to "serve tea" and enjoy a little meal together, as Christin looked on with interest. It was the first time they were all "playing" together! (If you can count Christin's watching as "playing.") More tea, anyone?
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
We are getting there!
Progress is being made at our new apartment! Yesterday saw the VERY happy completion of all the shopping. I am not sad at all to have that phase behind me. John and I learned to be very decisive shoppers. We would go into a store, scan briefly, and then if we liked something, start bargaining for the price. Lots of these places (like light fixtures, for example) group themselves together, which was helpful in the scanning-window shopping phase. There is a HUGE light fixture super-mall very close to our city. It is three floors and then some of shop after shop after shop of nothing but lights! It's the same with furniture; all in the same section of town are huge areas of nothing but furniture stores. There are probably 30 curtain stores within one of the furniture places--all grouped together.
So, we tried to make the most of our time and I'm so happy to say that the last item on our list--a coffeetable and end table for the living room--was crossed off yesterday! No more shopping! Also, the apartment is really starting to look like a home. John set up our living room furniture earlier in the week, so at least now we have somewhere to sit down when we are there working. The table and chairs were delivered that same day, and the girls' bedroom furniture came yesterday. The bathrooms are almost complete; just some cabinets being built that will be installed early next week, hopefully.
The final hurdle is the kitchen. As soon as the kitchen is done, we can move! Right now it is an empty space with absolutely nothing inside. John and I had talked through what we wanted and then he designed it; after showing the designs to the kitchen store that we're using the manager there was pretty impressed with John's drafting ability! They are building the cabinets now and will install everything at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
And, we had our first time of taking the girls to the house to play yesterday. One distinct advantage of this apartment complex is its beautiful layout. There is a natural spring coming up at the one end which trickles its way through the complex, with trees, bushes, and winding paths all around. The water is filled with schools of goldfish which delighted my girls. It's so lovely and green and full of places to sit and take in the view for awhile. Yesterday my friend Rachel and I met there and took our girls to play at the playground as well as the sand pit which are all within the complex. They got extremely dirty but had lots of fun! It will be SO wonderful to have a place outside for the girls to run and play--at our current apartment we were surrounded by lots of dirty concrete and pavement. I'm really excited for them about this--visions of bike rides, picnics, strolls, and fun times are dancing through my head!
I'm not the only one that thinks it's a great play location for kids--there were tons of other kids out and about yesterday! I'm hoping that Clara Anne can make a few friends, too, and we can go out and play together. It'll probably be a great way for me to make friends, too!
So, in response to my friend Becky's question about "Is it [all the remodeling] worth it?" I will have to say yes. Other than the painting, things have really gone smoothly and we are really excited to see all of our plans and long-delayed ideas come to fruition. Things I bought more than a year ago in the US for "our new house" are finally now getting to be used! That being said, though, I do hope we will not have to move for a very, very long time. Most people feel that way after moving, though, right? But especially in our situation, if something were to happen where we would need to leave quickly, we are willing and ready to leave it all behind. We hope and pray that won't be the case, however!
I sort of wish that I had been taking pictures when all this was happening so that you could see the before and after, but you'll have to be content with the after when it's all finally done! In my mind there is still a crystal clear mental picture of the day some workers were installing new tile walls in our kitchen--with a pile of cement that they had mixed up directly on the floor. A sight to behold, that's for sure! Amazingly, it did all come clean later on.
So we'll wait eagerly for the kitchen people to call, and then it's time to go! John has already done a substantial amount of packing at home so we are nearly ready to actually move. I'm happy for the progress--we'll see what the next week brings!
So, we tried to make the most of our time and I'm so happy to say that the last item on our list--a coffeetable and end table for the living room--was crossed off yesterday! No more shopping! Also, the apartment is really starting to look like a home. John set up our living room furniture earlier in the week, so at least now we have somewhere to sit down when we are there working. The table and chairs were delivered that same day, and the girls' bedroom furniture came yesterday. The bathrooms are almost complete; just some cabinets being built that will be installed early next week, hopefully.
The final hurdle is the kitchen. As soon as the kitchen is done, we can move! Right now it is an empty space with absolutely nothing inside. John and I had talked through what we wanted and then he designed it; after showing the designs to the kitchen store that we're using the manager there was pretty impressed with John's drafting ability! They are building the cabinets now and will install everything at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
And, we had our first time of taking the girls to the house to play yesterday. One distinct advantage of this apartment complex is its beautiful layout. There is a natural spring coming up at the one end which trickles its way through the complex, with trees, bushes, and winding paths all around. The water is filled with schools of goldfish which delighted my girls. It's so lovely and green and full of places to sit and take in the view for awhile. Yesterday my friend Rachel and I met there and took our girls to play at the playground as well as the sand pit which are all within the complex. They got extremely dirty but had lots of fun! It will be SO wonderful to have a place outside for the girls to run and play--at our current apartment we were surrounded by lots of dirty concrete and pavement. I'm really excited for them about this--visions of bike rides, picnics, strolls, and fun times are dancing through my head!
I'm not the only one that thinks it's a great play location for kids--there were tons of other kids out and about yesterday! I'm hoping that Clara Anne can make a few friends, too, and we can go out and play together. It'll probably be a great way for me to make friends, too!
So, in response to my friend Becky's question about "Is it [all the remodeling] worth it?" I will have to say yes. Other than the painting, things have really gone smoothly and we are really excited to see all of our plans and long-delayed ideas come to fruition. Things I bought more than a year ago in the US for "our new house" are finally now getting to be used! That being said, though, I do hope we will not have to move for a very, very long time. Most people feel that way after moving, though, right? But especially in our situation, if something were to happen where we would need to leave quickly, we are willing and ready to leave it all behind. We hope and pray that won't be the case, however!
I sort of wish that I had been taking pictures when all this was happening so that you could see the before and after, but you'll have to be content with the after when it's all finally done! In my mind there is still a crystal clear mental picture of the day some workers were installing new tile walls in our kitchen--with a pile of cement that they had mixed up directly on the floor. A sight to behold, that's for sure! Amazingly, it did all come clean later on.
So we'll wait eagerly for the kitchen people to call, and then it's time to go! John has already done a substantial amount of packing at home so we are nearly ready to actually move. I'm happy for the progress--we'll see what the next week brings!
Burps, Blemishes and other Baby Fun
Somehow while we weren't looking, our sweet Christin has been accomplishing "firsts" like she's in a hurry to grow up or something! She is already past the one month mark and has achieved some of those first milestones. Her first smile was actually not at me, but at a brightly colored Lamaze toy that I had been holding in her line of vision. It wasn't just a fluke, either! I tried it again a day or two later and she did it again! I think she was just shy of four weeks old at that point. Not to worry, I did get a glimmer of a smile directed towards me just shortly after. Whew! It's tough to take backseat to a bright green stuffed butterfly!
Christin has also started a bit of cooing--using her voice for something other than crying. Her body is filling out a bit, too, and her eyes are less cross-eyed-looking; all signs that the newborn stage is over and she's graduated to "infant" status. Where does the time go?
Then one morning, it was as if someone had flipped a switch and she woke up with signs of infant acne and cradle cap, all in the same day. Right now she's got a worse case of blemishes than I ever had as a teenager, which is saying something! Glad I got the pictures done for her baby announcement before the hormones kicked in!
Christin is so funny--she sometimes is eating so vigorously that she doesn't want to stop to burp. She'll actually burp while nursing and I'll hear the little air bubble come out her nose! None of my other girls have tried this trick--it's uniquely Christin.
Her vigorous nursing, though, wasn't enough to keep the mastitis away. Life around here has been at a fairly high stress level, what with the moving plans, not having my husband around for several days last week, and children who have been struggling with obedience lately. (Maybe the last two go together, what do you think?!) So last week, when I received unexpected guests in the middle of a feeding and got interrupted, I developed almost an immediate plugged duct which led to a high fever only hours later. I was able to continue on with our various packing and moving chores, but at a slower pace. I am thankfully feeling back to normal now and hope that I won't have to go through that again!
Christin continues to do great sleeping. For about two weeks now, she's been averaging 8-9 hours straight with a "dream feed" (eating while basically staying asleep) either at the beginning of the night, when I wake her to eat before I go to bed, or in the morning, when she wakes up at 6. Her long sleeps do wonders for me--I'm so thankful. Clara Anne and Chloe both trained to sleep through the night fairly early, but not this early and so it feels like a miracle! Her sleeping so well has been a wonderful blessing especially considering everything else going on!
I have new pictures to post, but . . . another time! I'll leave you with a quote from Clara Anne about Christin, "Mommy, I like her! She is really precious to me!" You said it, Clara Anne!
Christin has also started a bit of cooing--using her voice for something other than crying. Her body is filling out a bit, too, and her eyes are less cross-eyed-looking; all signs that the newborn stage is over and she's graduated to "infant" status. Where does the time go?
Then one morning, it was as if someone had flipped a switch and she woke up with signs of infant acne and cradle cap, all in the same day. Right now she's got a worse case of blemishes than I ever had as a teenager, which is saying something! Glad I got the pictures done for her baby announcement before the hormones kicked in!
Christin is so funny--she sometimes is eating so vigorously that she doesn't want to stop to burp. She'll actually burp while nursing and I'll hear the little air bubble come out her nose! None of my other girls have tried this trick--it's uniquely Christin.
Her vigorous nursing, though, wasn't enough to keep the mastitis away. Life around here has been at a fairly high stress level, what with the moving plans, not having my husband around for several days last week, and children who have been struggling with obedience lately. (Maybe the last two go together, what do you think?!) So last week, when I received unexpected guests in the middle of a feeding and got interrupted, I developed almost an immediate plugged duct which led to a high fever only hours later. I was able to continue on with our various packing and moving chores, but at a slower pace. I am thankfully feeling back to normal now and hope that I won't have to go through that again!
Christin continues to do great sleeping. For about two weeks now, she's been averaging 8-9 hours straight with a "dream feed" (eating while basically staying asleep) either at the beginning of the night, when I wake her to eat before I go to bed, or in the morning, when she wakes up at 6. Her long sleeps do wonders for me--I'm so thankful. Clara Anne and Chloe both trained to sleep through the night fairly early, but not this early and so it feels like a miracle! Her sleeping so well has been a wonderful blessing especially considering everything else going on!
I have new pictures to post, but . . . another time! I'll leave you with a quote from Clara Anne about Christin, "Mommy, I like her! She is really precious to me!" You said it, Clara Anne!
Monday, June 02, 2008
Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!
Today my parents are celebrating 41 years of marriage! Congratulations, Mom and Dad!
I have much to be thankful for when I look at my parent's marriage. When I think of their relationship, I think "stability." Their marriage has seen the births of three children and the death of one, my brother Dan at the age of 33. They have weathered many health crises together--mostly my mom dealing with diabetes, a heart condition, and lupus, but also my dad's heart attack last year. They have adjusted as both of them have experienced a change in jobs. They have seen a lot together in 41 years. But I am so thankful for how they have remained faithful to the Lord during all of the ups and downs and LIFE that happens over 41 years!
I am also especially thankful for my parent's unqualified support of my life and endeavors. I always felt their support as I pursued music in my earlier life--even if it was operatic singing and not the piano playing where my mom shows such excellence! They came to many performances, from recitals to concerts to operas on the professional stage. Then, as John and I began to shift our focus to farther shores, they showed their support bravely though they knew we were taking their potential grandchildren with us! Now they have remained a wonderful support and even as the grandchildren have arrived, one by one, my parents have never seemed bitter or resentful that they are far away. They simply enjoy the opportunities that they have to connect with my girls--whether it be by living at their house for several months last year or getting together to chat online now. As you can imagine, this is a wonderful blessing for me and our whole family.
So Mom and Dad, I hope you have many more years together. I am thankful for the Lord's faithfulness in giving you these years! Have a wonderful anniversary and enjoy reflecting on some of the highlights! We love you and are always praying for you!
Love from your daughter,
Rachel
I have much to be thankful for when I look at my parent's marriage. When I think of their relationship, I think "stability." Their marriage has seen the births of three children and the death of one, my brother Dan at the age of 33. They have weathered many health crises together--mostly my mom dealing with diabetes, a heart condition, and lupus, but also my dad's heart attack last year. They have adjusted as both of them have experienced a change in jobs. They have seen a lot together in 41 years. But I am so thankful for how they have remained faithful to the Lord during all of the ups and downs and LIFE that happens over 41 years!
I am also especially thankful for my parent's unqualified support of my life and endeavors. I always felt their support as I pursued music in my earlier life--even if it was operatic singing and not the piano playing where my mom shows such excellence! They came to many performances, from recitals to concerts to operas on the professional stage. Then, as John and I began to shift our focus to farther shores, they showed their support bravely though they knew we were taking their potential grandchildren with us! Now they have remained a wonderful support and even as the grandchildren have arrived, one by one, my parents have never seemed bitter or resentful that they are far away. They simply enjoy the opportunities that they have to connect with my girls--whether it be by living at their house for several months last year or getting together to chat online now. As you can imagine, this is a wonderful blessing for me and our whole family.
So Mom and Dad, I hope you have many more years together. I am thankful for the Lord's faithfulness in giving you these years! Have a wonderful anniversary and enjoy reflecting on some of the highlights! We love you and are always praying for you!
Love from your daughter,
Rachel
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
