more things we like about thailand

fun surprises for our kids - ice cream that looks like people:

and my personal favorite - chocolate croissants.  Thank heaven they don't have these where we're at now!  I'd be much heavier - and abby would probably be too!

all grown up...

When we first arrived in Thailand, before any of this baby business could get started, we joined lots of other friends for some great times of worship, teaching, and meetings.  The extra-fab part of this was...da-da-daaaaaah...childcare!  =) 

hahaha, just kidding.  I mean, the childcare WAS great, but I'm not really trying to bum my kids off on other people.  Emma and Samantha were really excited about going to their classes - they had teachers from America ("they don't speak asianese, mommy?" emma asked), lots of other american kids, and fun crafts, songs, and activities to keep them busy for 5 days!

They each had to have a little backpack of all their items - sunscreen, swimsuit, change of clothes, special items (blankets, etc).  Every night, we made sure our bags were packed and ready to go for the next day.  And each morning, they would (mostly) happily head to class.  Their teachers were all volunteers from the States - thank you to any teachers reading this!!! - and were so great to love on our kids for a few days.  

Anyway, here's my cute little ones on the first day of school, wearing their backpacks...

cute, huh?  =)

random things we like about thailand

well, even though it's been a few days, we're still here and only have two girls in our family!

We went to the doc today and he said everything is still looking good.  Officially, I am one week away from my due date, but who really keeps track of due dates?  As long as the baby doesn't come on Valentine's Day or Emma's birthday, I think I'll be ok.  

The doc did say today, "If you walk a lot, maybe baby will come early."  So I put josh on bedtime duty and went out this evening for a 40 minute walk.  (I did end up coming home with two new shirts and a present for a friend, but hey, that's half the fun of a walk, right?)

While we're waiting on Abby, I'm going to try to post some pictures of our fun times in t-land so far.  This installment will focus on the random things we like about coming to thailand.  (Perhaps in previous years I have said "love" thailand...maybe it is my old age, or my growing family, but I've downgraded to "like" thailand.  Dont' get me wrong - I still have a great time, but all things in moderation!  Two months doesn't feel like moderation and has me missing my own home right now!)

Anyway, on to a few cute pictures - 

Pink Taxis:  emma thinks they are the bomb.  They really only have them in bangkok, but still, that's enough for her.  When we get a pink taxi, her world lights up.  It's great.  

Sleeping in: or at least, not having someone knock on your door at 8:15 (even if that person is there to clean your house and cook all your meals).  There's something very pleasant about lounging around in bed in the morning...especially when you get to lounge next to things as cute as this:
Swimming: yeah!  what's not to love about warm water?!?  Our first 10 days in t-land were in places where the pool was warm and right by the ocean.  To get ready for abby's birth, we've relocated up more north where the water just doesn't get as warm...in fact, it's downright chilly!  But here's a few pics from the warm waters of southern thailand:

Reading: aaah, it's great.  Emma is reading Little House in the Big Woods, Josh is reading The Translator (a great memoir of a tribesman from Darfur who translated for reporters and other aid agencies doing work there) and mama (not pictured) is reading Sense and Sensibility (picked up at a used bookstore for a couple of bucks).  We've read hundreds of pages between us - and more, if you count all that I've read to my kids!
The internet is kind of slow, but I'll try to post more for you in the next few days.  My personal hope/guess/bet was that Abby would come on February 10...but since that has come and gone (even for those of you in USA), any guesses anyone???  February 14 and 21 are off limits - so don't guess those!

arrived and settling

hello from sunny thailand!

Just wanted to write a quick post and let everyone know that we have arrived in the location where abby will be born. We arrived last night and got our place all ready to live in, and now we're just waiting...

...and swimming...

...and eating....

...and watching movies...

...and generally just being unproductive. But what else is there to do in an apartment that's not yours and you don't know anyone? =)

Anyway, we'll meet with the doc on thursday to see if that's the hospital we'll end up using; there were a few curveballs thrown our way (the doc we were hoping to use might not work out).

We're all happy, healthy and settling in and just waiting!

More from us (as well as some really cute pictures) when I get better internet access!

how much is that doggie in the window?

One Saturday afternoon Josh had a meeting, so I did something a little unusual.

I took the girls to Pizza Hut for lunch.  (The unusual part is not eating at pizza hut, but doing it on a Saturday - the busiest day of the week!)

While we were munching on our pepperoni pizza (yum!) the girls spied a balloon seller outside the window.  Our pizza hut has big glass walls AND it's located in a busy area, so there's plenty to keep you entertained while you eat.  All during lunch, the girls commented on which balloons they saw.   They took turns making new discoveries:

"Emma, look, there's Mickey!"

"And look, mantha a yellow fish!"

"And hello kitty!"

"Mantha, do you see the dalmation?"

"I see a blue bird!"

And so on....

But two particular balloons kept being brought up - the black and white dalmation, and the pink puppy.  These two managed to stay in the conversation, and were asked for several times.  

I made a deal in my mind that if the Pizza Hut would give me the student discount (20%! No small amount!) then I would buy balloons for the girls with the savings.  (You think I'm cheap??!)  Amazingly, they gave me the discount with no problem.

After we paid our bill, we headed out in the cold for a closer look at the pups.  The cute thing about the balloons they wanted was that they stayed low to the floor and had legs that walked on the ground.  They were pretty cute, so I agreed.

Mantha chose the black and white one, Emma chose the pink one (no surprises there).  They've recently had puppy-infatuation due to a very cool Leapster game my parents bought them for Christmas, Pet Pals.  In the game, you have name your pup and feed him and love him and take him for walks and teach him tricks...you know, almost like having a real pup (without the poop). 

We got home, and Pet Pals became a reality in our home.  The pups immediately got names:  Mantha named her puppy Woofy, and Emma named hers BeeBee.  Extreme care and love has been given to them over the last few days.  They have their own blankets, their own place to "potty", and have to be walked, played with, and put to bed every night.

We've started preparing them for balloon-doggy-death, that inevitable day when the air will slowly start coming out of the pups.  But for now, there's just happiness all around...

boxes!!!

We have been so blessed and so happy and so excited with all the boxes that family and friends sent us and the girls this holiday season!  It's hard to express just how fun it is to open a package from America - even for Josh and I - but for the girls, it's like the highlight of the day!

 One of the most recent boxes we got was from josh's sister, and it was almost as tall as the girls!  Since I haven't sent her the pictures yet on CD (but I will...you believe me, right???) I'm going to post some of the good ones here.  Plus, this box-opening ceremony has my new favorite picture of the girls, but you'll have to wait til the end...

Waiting...waiting...the excitement is very clear, yeah?

And then, after opening the box, they discovered that inside was tons of wrapped presents!  Wow, they thought that was great!
What a stash!  (Those pepperonis at the bottom look beautiful to me!)
Samantha opens the first one...
These are pillowcases with "Big Sis" and "Lil Sis" on them...but they have been most recently used at our house as pretend towels.  Whenever our kids get a whim to take their day clothes off, they prance around the house with these wrapped around them!
These coke bottles were SO cute!  I loved looking at them...and loved drinking them even more!  Aaaaah, coke from America speaks love to my heart!
The next present was a box of beautiful looking handmade soap!  Bubble baths just got an upgrade...
...they smelled even better than they looked!
Everyone wanted in on the smelling action (except daddy)...
But, when you're three, even Daddy needs your help to open his present!
And the baby needs help opening her presents (one of the benefits of being big sisters to a baby, I guess!)
They loved looking through all the tiny clothes...

But the most popular present in this box is...
...these sleeping bags!  Oh my...what a fun thing for them!  They rolled around on the floor for a LONG time.
...and made silly faces...
...and basked in the glory of a new sleeping bag. 
And...ta-da...my new favorite picture:
Thanks, Aunt Kristen!  You made our day!!

family fun night: putting it all together

The choice for family fun night last weekend was: game or puzzle?

Perhaps seeking after the unknown, the girls chose PUZZLE and were a little overwhelmed when we opened a new puzzle that mimi and G bought them for christmas. It was a 100 peice Beauty and the Beast puzzle.  They were enthralled at the picture on the box and were anxious to open it.  

When we dumped all the pieces out on the table, Emma gave them a quick look and then asked josh:  "Where's the board?"

Oh yes, there's no board with these puzzles.  We jumped into Big Girl Puzzles. 

After a quick survey of the situation...

...and hearing Emma's thoughts on how to best go about it all...
...we decided to divide and conquer.  Daddy and Emma started to work on outside pieces with borders, and mantha got stuck with...you guessed it...looking for all the pieces with yellow.  
I was really impressed with Emma's problem-solving skills. Sure, she wouldn't be able to do it on her own yet, but josh let her do a lot of it by herself - including making her share of mistakes.  But she also proved daddy wrong more than a few times!  She did a great job!
It really was sufficient for a Family Fun Night activity, because we all had to work together and it actually took a long time.  But here's the hard workers, proud of their big accomplishment!

giving in

Emma is SO over nap time.  

Maybe once every two or three weeks, we'll require her to lay down in her bed at naptime to rest, but even then she doesn't sleep.

Recently, during naptime, she loves playing with her leapster, reading books, or taking her dollies on all sorts of adventures.  

One day, I went into our bedroom to check on her (that's where she has to have her "quiet afternoon time") and this is what I found:

I guess some days we all need a little break!

the baby's room is ready!!

I'm writing this one from thailand, but I wanted to post some pictures of the baby's room. I had mentioned before that I got on a painting kick one night while josh was doing something, but I hadn't taken pictures yet of everything.

Anyway, the girls have enjoyed helping me get things ready for baby's arrival...making welcome signs, pulling out baby toys and clothes, moving furniture around.  They're excited to see their baby sister!

So here's the grand tour:

Looking through the doorway, past the welcome sign emma and samantha made for her:

Fabulous brown chair, donated by john and rachel (thanks to their move)

Curtains, circa wedding present, 2000:

I bought that scroll stencil in America after being inspired by steve and misty's house and all her cool stenciling.  Can I hire you next time, misty???

Toys, all arranged by big sisters...
Come soon, baby Abby!  We're waiting for you!

dinner time

After having two kids, I started planning all my meals for the week on Sunday night.  This is particularly useful for me because  I have a fabulous house helper who will go to the store on Monday morning and buy whatever I need.  If I forget something, it usually means I will go to the store later in the week...so I really try to remember it all!

But sometimes I get in a rut.  We get tired of the same rotation of foods every few weeks.  Surely this happens to you all too?  So one night last week, I added a new addition.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes were on the menu for the first time ever in the eggroll house.   I'd never made them, never even ordered them at IHOP or anywhere else.  Joy of Cooking provided me with a recipe, so I thought I'd try it out.  

They were good - but loaded with chocolate chips inside, what's not good? Emma and Samantha were excited, and why not?  We even had sliced strawberries and whipped cream to go with it.  Dinner to be excited about, I tell you!

We also made some regular pancakes, because my deepest (yet unspoken) question was legitimate - do chocolate chip pancakes really count as dinner? 

Really?

free paint - Mantha

Samantha's turn for free paint came the next morning (she was otherwise occupied during emma's free paint).  She too, happily chose her colors, carefully looked over her brushes, and started painting away.  Yellow, a color missing from Emma's masterpeice, was all over mantha's!

We tried our best to keep the colors separate, but after a while...
Is this the look of a proud artist? I think so!