Christmas in hind-sight

We are back online, at long last! Our computer crashed this holiday season so our life froze sometime back in November. But here we are, back in touch with the world at large.

And though we are about to take it down and throw it in the compost pile, here is our beloved tree. Bright and Daniel went to the very outskirts of town in a three-wheeled, lime green vehicle to this landscaping nursery where they picked out this tree. It was delivered a few hours later, potted in a green plastic pot, and we squeezed it under our high ceiling. We trimmed a few stray fronds, wrapped it in colored lights, hung our ornaments, which we brought with us from America, and the result was more than comforting...it made our whole Christmas. The smell filled our living room as Daniel and I stayed up past midnight that first night, cutting and taping little pieces of paper to make a paper chain for our Christmas tree.

The funny thing is, there was a sack of spiders in that tree, unknown to us, which burst a few weeks later. We spent three days smashing baby spiders against our ceiling and walls.

Here, too, is a picture of our little family-away-from-family.
From the left: Daniel, Kayla, Bright, Zion, Anita (with her tongue out, holding baby Callie), her husband, Jeremy, behind her in the elf shirt, LeeAnn, Amy, and Cristina. We had a great Christmas, and thank you to everyone who sent goodies our way. We missed home, but felt your love across the miles.

Two-for-one Top Ten Lists

Top Ten foods we crave while living in Asia (not what we would have thought)
10. fresh Jalapeno peppers
9. cottage cheese
8. Chick-Fil-A
7. Cheesecake Factory
6. A good, medium-rare steak smothered in seasoned butter
5. CORN tortilla chips (not a lot of corn over here)
4. real butter
3. real milk
2. A turkey sandwich on wonder bread with a slice of Kraft Singles cheese, mayo, and crushed potato chips
1. Dutch pea soup (Kayla) and corn dogs (Daniel)

Bonus: Top Ten smells that throw me over the edge right now (I'm pregnant, remember)
10. My three-year-old's hind end, which gets washed every night
9. My gas range stove turning on
8. Everyone's breath
7. The inside of my refrigerator
6. onions
5. cereal that has been sitting in the milk too long
4. flowers
3. Zion's poopy diapers
2. Daniel's gas
1. pretty much everything except dryer sheets and airheads candy

We're having another baby!

We are 12 weeks pregnant today! We've been waiting to make the announce- ment until a healthy 12-week check-up. So here you are...a picture of our little trouble-maker. When I say trouble-maker, I mean TROUBLE. I've been sicker than a frat boy on Sunday morning.

This has been hard to keep off the blog. It's been our whole world for the past 6 weeks, mainly because of how sick I've been. The boys have eaten nothing but PB&Js and bananas, and Daniel has been eating...I don't even know what. Whatever he can find, poor guy. He's a champ, though. Where his wife once stood, he now has a haggard lump on the sofa under a blanket in her pajamas. We don't have heat and it is COLD so I rarely change my layers and layers of clothes except to shower (which doesn't happen very often because it makes me sick). My sister-in-law, Kerry, sent me a sweater for my birthday in October and I wear it almost every day. Last week I turned it inside-out, and for a split second Daniel thought I had put on something new.

And I must tell you about my ultrasound appointment today. Men and young children beware. First of all, getting dressed and out of the house is a big deal, so I didn't want to go far. I opted to walk around the corner to the neighborhood "hospital." Let's just say it was no St. Joseph's. After asking me how far along I thought I was, they asked (literally translated), "Want, yes or no?" It took my friend, Alisa, a few seconds to figure out that they were asking if I wanted the baby. "Want, want, want!!!," she said in their language, shocked. After the ultra sound, they handed me the pee cup. A nurse actually followed me into the bathroom, and stood over me while I squatted and peed in the "squatty" (a ceramic hole in the floor), taking my full cup before I was even finished peeing! Then it was time for the exam. I was ushered into a room where a woman was still pulling up her pants. I saw her entire backside in full-moon, and the nurse didn't even balk! The lady smiled broadly at me as she kicked her feet back into her shoes on the muddy floor and walked out. At least they wore gloves and took their instruments out of sealed packages. Yikes, people!

The due date is June 18. This one will be 25 months younger than Zion, who is 25 months younger than Bright. Can't wait to meet baby #3!