inconclusive and other news

So we had this grand plan to get an ultrasound at local hospital down the street. We're dying to know if we should keep all our hand-me-downs, or start buying blue.


Complicating the situation is the "one-child policy", which prevents hospitals and obstetricians from telling patients the gender of the baby, in hopes that they will decide to keep the baby regardless. I was banking on the fact that since I was a foreigner, the would understand that the one-child policy does not apply to me, and it was safe to tell me the sex of the baby.


We all loaded up into our friend's tiny blue car, hoping for good results. As before, we made it into the doctors office in about 5 minutes, and into the ultrasound room in about 7. It's amazing...


We were all on our best behavior for the ultrasound technician, trying to befriend her but she was cold and stern. I didn't think we'd make it very far, but I thought I'd ask anyway. After the ultrasound was over (the mothers are positioned away from the screen, so I was unable to see anything :( I asked her what she thought.


"It wasn't very clear, and it's too early to tell anyway," was all I got out of her. I was disappointed.


After my quick weight and blood pressure exam, I asked the doctor (who has always been so nice to me before). She told me, "Well, it wasn't very clear but we tried to see. We didn't see any obvious evidences, but it was inconclusive."


Hmmm. Inconclusive.


I talked to the friend who went with us, and she was convinced that we got a pretty direct answer by Asianese standards. She thought it was the most direct answer we'll get, and congratulated us on another sweet girl.


We are starting to lean that way, and a second ultrasound came up with conclusion - a vague statement of "inconclusive...but maybe...a girl".



We'll be sure and let you know should we ever find anything different.

In other news...


It seems our city is getting its very first drive-through restaurant! It's a stand-alone KFC that they've been building for a while. Even though it won't be a great benefit for us (we have no car), it's still pretty impressive. I'm eagerly awaiting the prospect of watching "drive-through culture" develop!


You've probably been unable to miss the news about the milk supply here...and boy, it has really been crazy! It turns out that the fresh milk we have been having delivered to our house every morning for over two years is one of the dairies that is under investigation! We have stopped our milk delivery and are staying up to date on what milk is ok to drink. Emma is bummed that her job of "getting the milk" in the morning is over, but she's looking for work elsewhere. :)

fun times and even a picture of me!

Train travel in this country is the way to go - if you can travel on the nice, fast trains. There's WAY more leg room than an airplane, and even though it's not as fast as a plane, it's really not bad.

The only downside is, of course, people who smoke in the bathrooms and pee on the floors and generally have different hygiene standards than Westerners. Arriving at a train station is also usually a fairly chaotic affair - people, luggage, cigarettes, no lines...I truly could go on and on.

Then, a few weeks ago, we traveled to a new train station we'd never been before. Granted, it was made with those "Big Games" in mind, so of course it should be impressive. And it did not disappoint - it looked like an airport! A nice, beautiful, clean airport. There were enough places for people to sit (a constant problem), no smoking sections, bright open spaces... I was like a kid in a candy store.

While we were waiting for our train, a bystander with a huge camera started snapping pictures of Emma. We were so enamored by the beauty of the train station that this usual pet peeve didn't bug us. After he was finished, we gave him our email address and asked him to send us the pictures! I've never done that before...


Anyway, here's the train station...
...and here's Emma, listening to his advice to give the "peace" sign or "victory" sign or whatever you want to call it.


One of the personal highlights of our trip was going to a new park and finding these cool bicycle buggies. After a big of haggling and lots of excited kids (and one excited, nameless grown-up) we ended up with two buggies that fit all 13 of us.

Here's emma and mantha safely strapped in the front of the bicycle... ...and a family pic before we started off. We had the bicycle for one hour. I originally thought that was not enough time, but after physically realizing what one hour on a bicycle meant, I decided that was enough time.
We stopped at a nice shady fountain about halfway through to let the kids play and to give the pedallers a rest. I asked rachel to take a picture of josh and I since I know everyone misses seeing what I look like.

Incidentally, this is also the park where the beach volleyball venue is located. We pedalled our little buggies over to see how much of it we could see, but unfortunately, so much of it was fenced off. We could see the stadium thing, but not much more than that. It was a great park, and riding the bicycle things was the perfect way to see it all. The kids had a great time, and I did too!

the very best of both worlds

Saturday night has arrived, marking the end of our team's Focus Week of spending time in the Word. The conclusions I'm drawing about the week so far are:

- I feel like spending my extra time digging into the Word (we were focusing this week on the Psalms) really renewed my hunger both for the Lord and the Bible....and that is a good thing, something I've been praying for for quite a while. I guess this week's extra push was just the nudge I needed. I'm thankful for new insights into His truths, and the extra moments just to delight in Him and to revel in His delight for me. It was a great week, and I look forward to doing it again.

- I cannot believe, truly cannot believe, how productive I was this week! I guess it really showed me how much of time time is wasted in small little increments - a few minutes on the internet here, reading this blog, reading that news article, mindless surfing facebook and foxnews, watching tv - all that really adds up to take away good hours that I could be doing other things...like playing with my kids, doing little things that josh has been wanting me to get done for a long time, and all sorts of other things. I felt like my time was maximized this week, and I was surprised at how little I missed the internet (though I do realize I'm behind on all my favorite blogs!)

Anyway, in other news...
I've been wanting to make an Apple Pie for a long time now. I've never made one, never even seen one made from scratch. I figured it couldnt' be hard, so I tried it this weekend. There's nothing quite as American as apple pie, right?

Well...I was amazed at how well they turned out! I read and re-read Joy of Cooking's suggestions on apple pies and used a classic recipe. The crust turned out perfectly crusty, full of flaky butterness...the middle turned nicely cinnamoned and chock full of apples. Thanks to Joy of Cooking, we avoided any spillage and avoided all manner of burned crusts. I was SO pleased, and thoroughly enjoyed ny very american apple pie. It didn't have chocolate in it, so emma and samantha weren't quite as keen on it, but I will keep trying. The best of Americana in one flaky bite. Yum.

then, later on this evening, we and some friends had dinner at a local restaurant. (This actually doesn't happen very often - the eating out part - but emma specifically asked us so eagerly this morning to go to dinner at a restaurant with her friends, so we obliged.) This restaurant's specialty? Peking duck.

We've been to this restaurant several times before, but tonight, maybe it was the company or just the best of this country, it was SO great! Our duck was so tender and crispy on the outside; I couldn't resist having helping after helping! Peking duck is served by rolling up slices of duck, garnished with sauce and onion, in a little tortilla-type thing. We ate until we were stuffed and then just couldn't keep from commenting how great it was. If you're ever in town, you're coming to eat Peking Duck with us! I think it's truly the best our city has to offer!

So apple pie at lunch, peking duck for dinner. That really is the best of both worlds!

signs of life

A week ago today, I was sitting on Amy's couch as we all listened to John P i p e r encouraging us via Hebrews to "stir up one another to love and good works". Apparantly, things were stirring - at that exact moment, I felt the first signs of kickage in my womb. Since then, I have felt the wee little two more times.

I guess it's true. I really am pregnant.

After our t e a m retreat this week where we all ate way too much good food, I am now officially and very obviously pregnant to the naked eye.

We're about to start a week of sp renewal, where our free time is spent in the Word instead of the usual activities (internet surfing, the latest book series, blog updates, etc). So for the next week, I likely will not be posting any new blogs. If you're so inclined to join us for our week of renewal, that would be great too! then you'll never know I didn't post anything...