shopaholic

So I have been doing a little buying for baby Judah. Oh yeah, so I think we have decided on Judah Wallace for the baby's name. But this is about my internet shopping spree not son #3's name. So I've only bought a few clothes because between the few things I kept and what Tara is so graciously letting me borrow back (thanks friend!) I'm pretty set in that department. But my friend's husband will be making a quick trip back to the States at the end of April and we have a group coming at the end of June. Each has agreed to bring a suitcase, or close to it, filled with baby items. So the first load coming in April will be full of all the goodies I bought and clothes from my mom. The second will be full of baby items (diaper cream, medicines, etc. that we can not buy here) and clothes from Tara. But I am most excited about what I've bought. Doesn't everyone like to get new stuff? So here is my little shout out to three sellers on Etsy and my new fav baby carrier.

OK, my first purchase was this lovey blanket. The seller actually calls it a Wee Wubby. I loved this. I bought two identical ones of the larger dot print. I especially love that she sells them as a set of two and has some really cute fabrics to choose from. We learned very quickly with Kirby that it was really nice to have one for baby and one to wash. Especially during sickness. Plus, my boys are no dummies, we tried to find one that was similar and they only wanted one specific one. So having a lovey double is great until they are old enough to fingure out that it's actually two separate but equal loveys and neither of my boys seemed to care by that point. And lets face it at $18 for two it's a much better price than many boutiques and even stores like Target that charge between $10 and $25 for one. Plus from now until April 4 there is free shipping!

Purchace number two was this gorgeous nursing cover. This was also at a great price and even with shipping was at least $10 less expensive than the ones sold at other stores I checked online. I've never had one of these before and had always just used a blanket with no problem. However, from what I hear about the curious people around here is that if you have just a blanket draped over you most people will assume the baby is just asleep and will take it upon themselves to take a peek underneath. So this purchase is made in hopes of sparing the embarrassment of showing many Chinese people my boobs.

My next great find was these adorable baby leg warmers. I was faced with trying to figure out something that would work really well as an under layer for Judah during the cold months (remember we don't have heat) without him looking so bulky. As I look online it seemed that leg warmers would be great to keep him warm and still convenient for diaper changes. I found these (the pair I linked is just one of 4 I will get) and this seller has great deals. I chose to get 3 for $22 and she includes a free pair and free shipping! So excited about this.

Finally I bought this nice Ergo baby carrier. It was a little pricey but I figured I got great deals (remember I can't go to store to find sales so great online deals is my best bet) on the other stuff so this could be a splurge. I really wanted one that would be secure and usable for a while. I do not live in a car seat and stroller friendly country so a durable, washable and multi use carrier was a must. I liked this one cause it goes from newborn to up to 90 lbs. I have so many friends that live here that highly recommended the Ergo for all the reasons I was looking for.

So, I guess I owe Stan a huge thank you for indulging me and letting me buy all these things with very little comment. For me these were good prices for good quality. Of course I will let you know later if the quality is really what it's claimed to be. It's weird preparing for a baby here cause there is just so much we can't get easily so we have to make do without some things. This shopping spree may have been a little over the top but it fulfilled some nesting I needed to do. Oh, and my due date is 4 months from today!

29

So today I turn 29. I have to admit that I don't like turning 29, I would much rather be turning 30. Not that I'm wishing a year of my life away. It just sounds so fake when someone asks me how old I'm turning and i reply...'29'. I get the look of is that true or is she just saying that? That is the age people always use when they are lying about there age, well that and 39. 'I'm 29 and holding' is one of the silliest things I've ever heard. I'm sorry if you are one that doesn't like to get older. I look at my parents and grandparents and the lives that they get to live and look forward to each stage that is ahead of me. To me age is just a number and youth is a mindset. My 80 year old grandparents may just have more of a social life than I do.

So I'm celebrating the blessing of yet another year and excited about reaching the big 30 milestone. I may just put up a ticker to count down the next year.

home sweet home

So this week has been filled with craziness. On Monday we got word that we would be able to move into a great place. It's not so much an apartment but more like a town home. It's two stories and has a small courtyard with in a gate out front and an inclosed patio and work area in the back. The best thing about this place is that it's an end unit so there is a door that leads from the patio to a small yard on the side. Having grass of any sort in the city is a HUGE thing. The boys (and mama) are so excited that outside time can now be supervised from inside at times and much extended. We are even hoping to get Kirby a big boy bike for his birthday in May. This week has been full of ups and downs, the details of which are not important but none the less have shown us more and more that things are done so differently here. Ultimately everything has worked out and we feel like we are paying a fair price and are building a good relationship with our landlord.

There have been a few disappointments this week. Again, some aren't worth mentioning but one that still blows my mind is that today we went to buy the new couches I've been looking at for over a month and the store is gone. There are several furniture 'markets' here which are basically big buildings that have many smaller shops all filled with furniture. A friend helped me find some couches that were very close to American style (some things here would really make you wonder who in the world would ever buy it for their home), in the color I was looking for and at a reasonable price. Now that everything was settled with where we would be living I was ready to buy. We went over there this afternoon and walked into the shop thinking the owner had done some rearranging. When we asked for the lady that we had previously dealt with we found out she no longer owned the shop, or sold furniture for that matter. She had gone out of business. We combed the entire market looking for something similar or at least something that I liked just as well. Nothing. So now I'm back at square one for my dream living room. This has happened to several restaurants that we liked, one week they are open and the next it's a completely different type place or even just a junk hole. Tis the nature of business here.

So we have a new home and we are hoping to move in the next couple of weeks. I have a lot to do and am praying for the energy to get it done. No matter how much 'trouble' moving can be we really feel blessed to have this new home. Most of all I am glad we will have time to settle before we head to Thailand for baby time!

high hopes

There is a lot going on around here lately. We got word Monday night that a wonderful house here in town could be ours! We are really excited about this but I don't want to write too much because there is a lot of negotiating to be done on the lease. Please keep this in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days. It would be a great place for the boys but we are not willing to pay an unfair price. We hope to get it resolved by the end of the weekend. This has consumed our week and we are just ready to know for sure yes or no. I will let you know how it ends up. I also will go to the doctor later this morning. We are going to try our second attempt at getting the measurements of the baby's organs and such and confirm that it's a little boy. God has worked on my heart so much on the issue of having another son that I'm almost scared to find out they were wrong before. We will see if GOD is done teaching me my full lesson. More to come later...

it's my anniversary

Today Stan and I celebrate five years of marriage. Sometimes I feel like it's flown by and then I start to think about all that we have done in five years and I'm blown away. We've been together since October of 2000 and when I think about that I really think about all that has happened to us each individually and as a couple since then. We started out pretty normal--me in college and him in sem. both not sure what the future looked like--and then he spent two years here, the second of which we were engaged. He got back January of 2004 and we were married two months later. 2005 welcomed the birth of Kirby and 2006 the birth of Bennett. Last year we didn't add another child but we did get rid of most our belongings and packed up the rest and moved about as far away from our home as we possibly could. This year we are adding child number 3. We have had wonderful times, hard times, times of growth and times of seeking the Lord with no clue what would come next. The best part about it is we have been through this journey together. This is the only picture we brought with us from our wedding day. It sits in a frame with the verse that was part of the closing prayer at our wedding ceremony...

The Lord bless you, and keep you, the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you. Numbers 6:24-25



The Lord has been all those things. I knew that when I married Stan I wouldn't have a choice but to follow where the Lord was leading. He is that kind of man. He will not say no to the Lord but allow HIM to be the leader of himself and in turn Stan is the leader of our family and home. So far we have felt lead in the same directions but I know there will be times when my selfish and impure heart will lag behind. I am thankful Stan is a man that will wait for me to catch up but without putting God on hold. I am truly blessed! I look forward to each year more we are given together.

my turn

So Kirby had a 24 hour stomach bug while we were gone (and a little after we got back) so we thought if anyone got it, it would be the family that kept them for us. But they didn't get sick and we had a week of feeling great so we assumed it was an isolated incident. Until Friday and Saturday. Stan got it. By Sunday he was feeling ok, which was good since we were the Sunday morning hosts this week. All was fine yesterday but last night I woke up and had horrible indigestion. Nothing too new. Common for me during pregnancy so I took a Zantac and tried to go back to sleep. My stomach was a little rumbly but eventually the meds kicked in and I was able to sleep again. But this morning I woke up and had to run to the bathroom. Without being too detailed let's just say it wasn't too pleasant. While I was using the bathroom I was afraid I wouldn't finish in time to turn around and throw up. Ok, so maybe that was detailed. Anyway, I won't be tutoring today, mostly because the place where I go on Tuesday and Thursday doesn't have a bathroom and I'm not about to go to a public one--squatties and intense smell so not gonna happen. So far Bennett has had a few gross diapers but no vomiting, let's hope the poor guy doesn't get it. After being sick for a month back in Jan/Feb I think he's had his fair share. Wait I threw up all Jan too! I should have gotten a pass on this.

The best part is that I'm already to the point where I'm hungry most of the day and have to eat regularly to keep off headaches and feeling kinda weak. I'm sick but also hungry.

so.completely.wrong.

So our trip to the doctor while in KM was exciting and surprising all at once. If I've never explained it to you before let me start out with this...It is against the law for doctors to let the parents know a baby's gender before birth. This comes from the implementation of the one child policy that started in 1978-1980. Each family is allowed to have one child with a few exceptions that allow a family to have two (living in a village, being in a minority group, etc). Traditionally boys are regarded as the favored sex for children, as has been in many cultures, so with this policy many couples would find out they were having a girl and abort their child in order to give themselves a chance for a son. With this the population of men was beginning to grow and of women to decline. This causes some serious society issues. So therefor to prevent aborting so many girl babies the government decided to not give the parents the option to find out. So now that I've given that history lesson you may understand why were were so uncertain yet hopeful we would be able to find out if we were having a girl or a boy.

We went to an International Hospital in KM that works with many foreigners and is rumored to tell foreign parents the gender of their child. This is also our best option for a thorough ultra sound. We wanted to take a trip anyway and this was the perfect time to have the check up and our Anniversary getaway. We had the normal things done (urinalysis and blood pressure both ok) and then on to the ultra sound. We had a nurse that helped us through the whole process to translate and take us to where we needed to go. She and the u/s tech both agreed to tell us the gender if we were able to see. Of course she started with the head and heart and all that. The baby was active and healthy and looked great. As she moved down the body we noticed that he was all curled up and being modest. So we didn't get a full on view but from looking up through the legs and bottom we were able to see what surely looked like little boy parts sticking out (knowing that if it was a girl nothing would be 'sticking out'). The nurse and the tech both gave us pretty strong affirmative for a little boy without being able to see the best view.

I have to admit that I was shocked and disappointed. Of course with the disappointment I felt guilty but I just couldn't help how I was feeling. We were all so certain it was a girl. Stan was in shock also but of course he was feeling like 'THE MAN' with producing yet another male offspring (apparently that male dominated mind set is not unique to the Chinese even now :). I went through the evening between thoughts of disbelief and amazement. I just couldn't wrap my brain around being the mother of three boys. I had trouble sleeping that night--a lot due to the bed being so hard that I could not get comfortable with my big belly and some to do with a mind running wild. I woke up early with a heavy heart. I knew my selfish thoughts were the cause. I laid there and talked to FATHER. I asked HIM to give me a heart of joy and happiness for being the mother of boys. I asked HIM to help me to feel thankful for healthy wonderful children. I asked HIM to prepare me to raise strong men that loved HIM more than anything. And I thanked HIM for knowing me better than I know myself and trusting me to raise HIS beautiful boys.

I have felt fine ever since then. I still feel amazed at times that I will have three boys but not in a disappointed way. For many reasons, some to do with the whole one child policy that I talked of before, we are not sure if we will have any more children. I've already been asked a couple of times if we will try again for a girl. The answer is I don't know if we will have another child. But my thoughts have been that we would not have another child for the purpose to have a girl but for the purpose that we felt FATHER was asking us to parent another of HIS creations. We have talked about adopting and that is still an option for us, knowing that if we do we could choose to adopt a little girl. We simply don't know what the future holds for our family.

Just now Kirby came and interrupted me so that I could have a sword fight with him. I'm happy to know that I have many years of sword fights, trains, cars and all the other fun things that boys love. I get to watch three (at least) boys grow into young men and eventually move on to begin families of their own. This is what being a mother is all about!

Sometimes it's not so bad to be so.completely.wrong.

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our wonderful trip

We had an absolutely fabulous time away. As much as we love spending time together as a family it's also really nice to have time for just Stan and I. I think sometimes we forget what it's like to just be together and have adult conversation, especially since we only had just over a year of marriage before Kirby was born and most of that year I was pregnant--which let's face it makes women a little off from their 'normal' selves. So we had 2 full days of adult time! Such a blessing.

Almost as soon as we arrived in KM (our Province capital) we took off for the hospital. Baby Pittman #3 is very healthy and almost for sure a boy. It was an interesting time at the doctor--more to come of that in the next post--but we were so thankful to get a thorough check up. We did a little shopping that night and then went to a newish restaurant that was pretty good and we got to eat some semi-decent Texmex. Then back to the hotel to hang out and watch some movies.

The next day we got up, ate our western breakfast (mmmmm) and then on to a Chicago Coffee for drinks and Internet. We saw some friends there and got to chat a little. We had lunch and spent the afternoon and evening with friends and had a great time laughing and sharing stories. Sadly I was so exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel that I fell asleep and didn't get to enjoy the movie that night. The downfall of the pregnant woman.

Sunday morning we finished up the shopping (I guess I should note that all this shopping was buying American food stuff to bring home. Seriously a lot of it.) and ate Pizza Hut for lunch. We caught a 1:00 bus back home and got here in time for dinner. I know it doesn't sound exciting but it was fun. We were able to take our time, do whatever we felt like and not have to worry about nap time or bed time--other than for me. :)

The boys had a fabulous time with our friends. It was a serious blessing to not have to worry about them at all. Kirby even had a little stomach bug starting Saturday morning with throwing up (1 time) and the big D (countless times) and they didn't even skip a beat. Kirby felt fine, other having to run to the bathroom often, so they still got to paint, play outside and do all the other fun things our friends had planned.

Fun times for all!

pregnancy stuff

Sorry, no Wordless Wednesday this week (or for the past couple of months), all my recent pictures are already posted so I thought I would just do a little pregnancy post. So here are a few recent things...

- I am 19 weeks tomorrow. This means that because I'm going to have a c-section at 39 weeks by the end of the weekend I am halfway through this pregnancy. Time has FLOWN by.

- The little baby thumps I've been feeling for a couple of weeks are now getting stronger and more regular. I think that is my favorite part of pregnancy. I've never been one of those women who claims to love being pregnant. I seem to get all the bad symptoms (especially this time with being so sick the entire third month) but feeling the baby move is so sweet.

- I am really showing. I look probably the same as many women do at 6 months or more. I know this is normal in many cases for a third pregnancy but sometimes it's still weird to me. The good thing is I have not gained any weight. I lost about 5-7 kg (11-15 lbs) in the four or five weeks I was sick but as soon as I was able to eat real food again it came right back. (side note: I always tell my weight in kg because that's the kind of scale I have there so that is more accurate than giving it just in pounds.)

- This weekend Stan and I are going to KM (the capital) for a short getaway to celebrate our 5 Year Anniversary that is coming up at the end of the month. While we are there we plan to go to a hospital that works a lot with foreigners. We will get a thorough sonogram to measure all the usual things. There is about a 20% chance they will tell us the baby's gender. It's against the law here to find out but rumor has it they may tell a foreigner. We are praying hard that everything will look good and that they will have pity on this momma and let me know pink or blue.

- We both (well I guess I should say the whole family) feel like this is a girl. Some facts: I have been more sick, hormonal, etc. with this pregnancy than with both of the boys--my symptoms with both of them were very similar. For the first time we have agreed on a girl name (and did so within a week of finding out I was pregnant) but don't have a for sure boy name--with the boys we had a boy name picked out as soon as we found out we were pregnant but never could agree on a girl name. Every baby thought I have includes pink--I've always been drawn to blue in the past and just adored the girl clothes from a far. And lastly, the pencil test is undoubtedly saying girl. All of these things could mean nothing but are still all true.

I will keep you updated on how this weekend goes and I'm sure I will have some stories from the weekend. If not from boring us, from the family that is so graciously keeping Kirby and Bennett while we are gone.

workation

So here I am. I woke up this morning wondering if there is ever a time when Blogger gets tired of an un-updated blog and just deletes it. Now I am fully aware that there are many blogs that go much longer without updating but it was still a thought. And with that thought came the thought that I am ready to start writing again. Nothing profound yet...have I ever been profound...hmmm. Anyway, I'll just start out with our Workation trip to Thailand.

So the week before our trip Bennett came down with some sort of stomach bug. We still aren't sure if it was a virus (hard to believe cause no one else got it), food poisoning (likely cause he eats off the floor/ground), or a parasite (again, likely--did I mention that even though our floor gets mopped everyday we still don't let the boys apply the 30 sec. rule, if you came here you would understand). The five days before we left Bennett had vomiting and diarrhea like I have never seen. My boy can eat, anyone who has shared a meal with our family can attest to that, and we had trouble keeping liquids in him that week. I PTL that our dear friend Amanda was here that week spending some time with us. I seriously believe without her we would not have made it through. She helped clean up vomit (yes, this is a really good friend) since I myself was still pukey, helped with the many loads of laundry and sacrificed a week that was supposed to be spent seeing our city to be nursemaid to me and Bennett. Bennett was so bad that he lost about 2 kg (almost 4.5 pounds) So we were to leave Saturday morning on a 4 hour bus ride to the capital city so we could fly to Bangkok on Sunday. I was pleading with Father for Bennett and I to both stop throwing up long enough to get through the traveling. I can PRAISE HIM cause he answered. Bennett threw up Friday afternoon and then began to ask to eat..and he kept it down, little bits at the time (the diarrhea continued for a few more days but not so bad and since we have not potty trained him yet it wasn't such a big traveling issue). I threw up Saturday morning and other than a few more small bouts of nausea I have felt fine since. Stan is positive that I was having traveling induced nausea on the days we had to travel. Any morning we had to get up and be somewhere was when I felt queasy. It was almost as if the anxiety upped the hormones, I think he was right. But my pregnancy will be another post.

So on to our Bangkok arrival on Sunday evening. We were taking a couple of days to have everyone have a check-up with a doctor. Since Bennett had been so sick I really wanted them to go ahead and see him on Sunday evening. So we check in to our hotel and walk on over to the Hospital to the pediatric area. Let me tell you this was an amazing pediatric office. There was a play area (I'm talking full on tunnel slides and climbing equipment) that also had a child's movie playing and a table for coloring. They are open all weekend, including Sunday till 8 PM (obviously since we were there about 6:30). We were seen within 10 minutes of arriving. They had no problem looking Bennett over and doing a full check up on both boys. They both checked out fine--I don't have their stats but they both were fine with weight and height. The doctor said that if Bennett was keeping down food and liquids he was definitely on the mend but gave him some probiotics to get his system back to normal.

The next morning it was my turn. I met with an OB--who came into the office just to see me after I sent a pleading email. I really liked her. She got my thorough history and did all the normal exam, blood work and had them do an ultra sound. The blood work all came back normal and the ultra sound was great. Of course being only 14 weeks along there was no way to tell the baby's gender. But I was very pleased with the facility and feel very confidant about having the baby there. After I was done it was Kirby's turn to have his allergy test done. She decided to add in shrimp and crab to the test to rule out shellfish allergies. After his arms were all pricked and our wait was over we were able to confirm that he is indeed allergy free! He had been drinking milk for a few months but I wanted to just make sure and have it in his medical records. So, another answer to prayer! Stan was supposed to have his check up on Tuesday morning but he got food poisoning and didn't want to deal with the appointment so we had to postpone.

Tuesday afternoon we headed to Pattaya on a bus and got there just in time for dinner. This is where we spent the bulk of our two weeks. Our time there was mostly meetings but we were also blessed with some great times of fellowship, worship and informative classes. The boys got to swim and play each day with their friends. The only draw back is that there was a stomach virus going through the conference as well as a bad cold. Bennett, not being fully recovered from the week before, ended up with more stomach issues and we all got the head cold. Bennett was by far the worst off and got a cough so bad that if he ate too close to bed time, when the cough was the worst, he would end up coughing till he threw up. The colds lasted through our meetings and to our few days of vacation time. We had some friends that stayed a few extra days as well so we did our best to enjoy it even while feeling kinda lousy. You can see pictures here. We left there and went back to Bangkok for Stan to do his check up (including a stress test, I wish I had a picture of him in the little outfit he had to wear), the boys got checked over again and a little shopping (we are now the proud owners of a Wii). We finally made it home and did our best to recover (the boys both went through a phase of having drainage from their eyes...I have never seen that before) and getting back to our normal schedule.

In reality normal schedule doesn't begin until tomorrow when we go back to class and studying but it's been nice to have a few weeks to get life back in order.