Bangkok at a glance

We ran into some visa issues, and had to leave the country to reissue our new visa. So in a way, it was a forced trip that we turned into a mini vacation. It was so nice to get out of cold dreary Hanoi and into some warm sunshine. We had 4 days to play and we tried to make the most of each one.

We decided a trip to the aquarium would be a great way to spend 1 of our 4 days. The kids loved it. Bella liked the glass bottom boat and seeing the shark swim under the boat. I on the other hand had flashbacks of being in a small boat in the Okavango Delta in Botswana and praying hippos didn't tip us over. I was 15 and spent the summer in Botswana. One night our guide took us out on a small boat with a huge search light. We were spotting baby crocs in the bush, but being careful to not wake sleeping hippos, apparently they like to tip over boats. At 15 that was the biggest adventure I had ever been on. That was then and this is now :) Of course sharks weren't going to tip our boat but I couldn't help the trip down memory lane.

 Preston met a friend. His name was Louis, and he was German. They were behind us in line when we bought the tickets. Preston at 1 point asked Louis if he was Korean. Tim and I were both confused at the question. Preston then told him that he spoke Korean. Of course we thought he meant to ask him if he was Vietnamese, but then Preston proceeded to sing Gangnam style complete with dance. SO FUNNY! The kid was obviously confused, but they played for the rest of the afternoon so I guess Preston's dancing and singing skills won him over.

After the aquarium Bella was tired so we thought we would try our luck and head to see a 2 pm movie hoping that Bella would sleep through it. We went and saw Wreck it Ralph. It was a cute movie and only the 2nd Preston had ever seen. It was a fun treat for all of us. Bella did sleep through the 2nd half of the movie so that was nice too.

 Of course we didn't just come to Bangkok to stay indoors, we spent 1 of our days at the park. When you live near a park, I'm fairly certain you take it for granted. It was so unbelievably nice to be in grass, and nice weather. Both of the kids went to Bangkok with a cold, and just the sun and warmth cleared them both up. For Tim, he said his highlight of the trip was playing frisbee as a family in the park. We were surprised at how quickly Preston picked up this skill.  It was a gorgeous week. My mom was also going to fly from Atlanta just to be with us for our few short days, but when she got to the airport, they didn't let any standby passengers on the flight because of weather and weight of plane already. That was the only bummer. I was so excited to see her even if it was for a few short days. The good news is mom and dad are planning on meeting us in June after our conference in Thailand. YAY!

our amazing family adventure part 1

Our adventure began on Tuesday morning. We had tickets on an 8 hour bus ride to the country side. We were invited by our Black Tai friend to stay with her family for a couple of days. The bus was a sleeping bus. Two reclining beds on either side of the aisle. We left at 9am and arrived at 5pm. We were tired, but excited to see and stay with our friends in their home. 

 About 3 hours into the trip they stopped for lunch. You are not allowed to wear your shoes on the bus, so when they stopped they took out a basket of plastic slippers to put on. It helped to speed up the process of getting on and off the bus.

 Lunch was cafeteria style food which we all enjoyed, well...not really but it filled our bellies :)

 2 hours from our destination a lot of people got off the bus and we were able to stretch out a little bit. We were anxious to get to our destination and the kids were getting a little bit restless although they traveled GREAT!

 The views from the bus on our way out of the city were breath taking, but it is so hard for me to capture their beauty from a window in the rain. Even the color is more dull in the picture. Everything was a luscious green. So if you really want to see the beauty of Gods creation in SE Asia then come and see for yourself.

 Upon arriving Hoa's (our friend) mom greeted us and the good times began.

 The baby below was just 2 months younger than Bella. They had fun crawling around together.

 Also upon our arrival the FEASTING began! We ate, and ate, and ate, and ate. apparently in Black Tai culture friendship is cultivated over food and drink. Below was our first of many meals. They filled fish with spices and put them between bamboo skewers and we roasted them. YUMMY! This was Preston's favorite.

 Hoa's older brother loved holding and playing with Bella. For the most part she did GREAT. As long as I wasn't in the room she would go to anyone. As time went on people realized if they wanted to hold and play with Bella they had to walk away from me otherwise she just wanted 'ma ma ma ma' I learned so much about the culture and how a whole village raises the kids. I felt loved in every way and felt like my kids met new family members.

 A must for ALL Black Tai meals is sticky rice. This also happens to be Preston's favorite type of rice. YUMMY!

 Below is the kitchen. The cats roamed around and Preston loved to chase them and watch the action in the kitchen.

 On our second day we did some site seeing. Below is a picture of Tim's 2 Black Tai teachers. They have become very close to us and after meeting their family they have become even closer.

 I must say though that I have never seen so many car sick people. I thought I got car sick easily, but not like these people. At one point on our drive I think we had 4 people puking in bags and tossing them out the window. Even though they live in the mountains, they don't usually travel far from home. When they do they go by foot or motor bike making them very nauseous when travelling through mountains via car.

After seeing some sites we stopped for snacks. Bella's baby friend from a previous picture joined us on the road trip, but baby's here don't usually wear diapers. That is usually not a problem, but on a road trip it made it much more difficult. On our stop for drinks I went to change Bella's diaper, and our friends asked if we had an extra for the other baby. Of course we gave her a diaper, but then I realized they had no idea how to put one on. So I took the baby and put on her very first diaper at 7 months old. SO PRECIOUS!

There are SO MANY more stories and I will keep blogging about them as I have time. For now this was just a teaser of our week. Thank you for the many prayers that went our way. We had a great time, but we're exhausted when we got home. We have 9 days until we leave for the USA so we have LOTS to do.

random June

 This is Isabella saying goodbye to Bac Ngyuet. She is the lady who watches Isabella while I am in Vietnamese study in the morning. It is always fun to watch Bella's face when she walks in the room. She loves her so much and it makes it easier to study knowing she is WELL taken care of. This picture was taken on our way to the airport to head to Chiang Mai on June 1st.

 Below is how I entertained Bella on our 3 hour layover in Bangkok before we got on our flight to Chiang Mai last month. She enjoyed the ride and Preston enjoyed walking her around as well.

Me and the kids playing in our hotel that we stayed at for our conference. We had  a great time. Even though  it was mostly work for Tim we did steal away a few family moments.

During our 2 weeks in Chiang Mai Isabella was going through some major separation anxiety. She would rarely let me put her down. Below was one of the rare moments I wasn't holding on to her. She is next to Eden who is 8 months older than Bella. The youngest of our dear friends in Chiang Mai

 While staying with them, Preston also got to show them his blue goo that grammie brought and they had fun playing in the pool for a LONG time.

We are so thankful for our friends who graciously open there house whenever we are in town. :)

Some of Isabellas favorite people

These are just a few people who get to love on Isabella through the week. The first two are Tim's language helpers. The bottom picture is my language teacher. 

finally some proof...

...that she really is the happiest baby

 The last 2 days have been warm and we have even seen the sun poke through. Here in Hanoi sun during the winter is a rare thing. Even though Isabella is so happy every day, she has been particularly happy to see some warm weather and sunshine.

                     She is also saying thank you Amers for the adidas onesie that she finally gets to wear.

On more Isabella happenings, she has finally started to get the OH SO CUTE chunky rolls in her legs. They are so cute, you just want to pinch them all day. So hurry up folks come and visit us and see for yourself the happiest baby in all of Vietnam!

I love rock and roll...

I love saying things like, "my kids"
I love giving hugs and kisses to two of the most adorable munchkins on the planet
I love having baby hands and feet to oooh and aaah over

Isabella is such a good baby...I love making her smile. Preston is the best big brother and is such a great helper. I am BLESSED!

taking inventory of my heart

A good thing about blogging, like journaling, you can look back and see where you have come from. Reading this post from Sept caused me to take some time to reflect on what a different place I am in today as opposed to 1 year ago. looking back

On Dec 21st of last year I wrote this post and at the end of it I wrote, " My prayer and HOPE for 2011 is that where I have sowed in tears I would reap with joy." That has never been more true for my year.

As you know In January of 2011 I wrote a few goals for myself. One of them was to stop focusing on the child I so dearly wanted and to really appreciate the child God had given me (Preston). I dug in full time to my Vietnamese study and really all around I knew it was time to pick myself up and move on with my life.

Little did I know that 1 month from that post I would be writing this post. I still remember the day I took a pregnancy test more out of a routine before I started my final fertility treatment. I remember getting a positive and just crying long sobs because I felt like it was some cruel joke. I remember feeling so forgotten by God for so long and then in the same breath so undeserving of such a gift.

It took me until about half way through my pregnancy to rejoice in the miracle. I felt so guilty that still so many friends were still praying for their miracle.

Now 1 year later Im staring at the face of my 2 month old daughter and tomorrow will be celebrating my sons 4th birthday and I am left with just one thought. THANK YOU GOD!

Thank you for my 2 kids...thank you for your unconditional love...thank you for this miracle!

So it is with a happy heart that I go into 2012 excited for all that the year holds. Excited to feel more and more at home in the culture we are living in.

My kiddos

This is Isabella's CUTE Christmas dress from my Aunt. Sometimes I feel like Im dressing a little doll. It still feels unreal to fully wrap my head around this miracle I get to hold and snuggle with daily. 

Preston and I have been up to fun as well. When we got back from Thailand we made wrapping paper to wrap his Christmas presents in.

The saddest part of Amy's visit

The worst part of Amy's visit was seeing her leave. She spent 11 days with us. It was so nice to have family come and see us. Preston LOVED having her as did Tim and I. We miss Amy and wish we could see her more often. We are thankful and blessed that she flew all the way out here by herself to spend time with us. 

GROUP HUG...and below is Isabella's way of saying, "COME BACK AMY I MISS YOU!"

1 month and so strong already

On November 17th Isabella Grace turned 1 month old and Nana Janis made 12 onesies to mark each monthly occasion. LOVE THEM!

1 month old already

Isabella turned 1 month old yesterday. I can not believe how fast time has gone.

Our miracle baby!!!!

She is still a good sleeper and a good eater. This week I can tell she is starting to recognize more and is becoming more aware of her surroundings. She still has a full head of red hair. We still can't tell what her eye color will be.

We are looking forward to getting back to our life in VN. Im excited to introduce her to all of our friends there.

Only 1 month old and Isabella Grace has already brought so much joy to our lives.

Our first week as a family of 4

So much to post about. So much to be thankful for. First let me say, as I opened up the blog to make a new post I saw my last post and all the maternity pictures. There was sort of a grieving in my heart...questions like, "Did I enjoy my pregnancy enough." "Will I remember what it feels like to have her move in my belly." Having had such a LONG and DIFFICULT journey to get pregnant I was grieved by the fact that I might never have this opportunity again. Then as I looked up from the pictures I saw my miracle baby girl snoozing away in her favorite chair. PURE BLISS!!! SHE IS PERFECT!

So I guess the grieving is more of a sense that a season has come to an end. 9 months is a long time to have a life growing inside you and then in a matter of hours that season has ended and a new season is just beginning. So I put the past behind and look to the future.

Isabella's first week on the outside has been GREAT! She eats like a champ, even gaining weight in her 1st week check up. She also sleeps ALL THE TIME! I know newborns are supposed to do that, but you forget how much they sleep. I almost always have to wake her up to eat.

Things that I have LOVED this week are:

  When Preston refers to Isabella as 'our' baby
  When Isabella cries as I give her a bath Preston comes to her side and says, "It's okay Im here."
  The smell  of her skin
  The feeling of all 7lbs of her snuggled close to my chest.


 Those are just a few small things. I LOVE being a mom to 2 amazing children. I pray for the grace and wisdom to raise both of my kids the way He wants. My kids belong to God alone and I am but a steward over their lives for a short time. I pray that I can cherish every moment.