Turkey Time

Mike and I hosted our first Thanksgiving this year, and I have to say it went pretty well. With a little help from friends in the states and a little creativity we were able to have a traditional meal with all the fixings. We had to utilize all our space (ie all the desserts were kept in the bedroom), but we fit twenty one people in our tiny apartment for an all day party.


Our tiny kitchen got a workout that day.


Apartments in China generally don't come with ovens - and our toaster ovens just wasn't going to cut it when it came to the turkey, so we had to outsource. Our friend bought and prepared the turkey and then paid a Mexican restaurant $15 bucks to cook it for us. He hailed a cab and brought it over in a big rubber maid container - it was delicious.


The weigh in. We had a contest to see who could gain the most weight during dinner. Mike came in a disappointing third place. The competition was pretty steep - the skinny guy gained like 4 pounds.


This is about half of our guests and about half of our table. The table was a little bit ghetto - and a little a bit awesome. It was composed of our table, a friend's table, our desk and the crib with a big piece of wood all covered with a table cloth - ok it was a curtain, but it totally worked. Who cares that some of our guests had to sit on the coffee table cause we ran out of chairs.


A little bit of wii - she makes it look really fun huh?

Dinosaur Turd?

Dino turd? Nope, just mixing cement in the hallway staircase. No big deal.

Mushy words

There are three kiddos that live in our building ages approximately 6, 4, and 3 that always play outside. When we first moved in they were shy. Whenever they saw us coming they would start whispering, then one of them would yell "hello" and then they'd all giggle and run away. Since then they've gotten a little more courageous, and we've gotten a little better at Chinese, so we've been shootin' the breeze with our "xiao peng yous" (little friends).

Tonight I was sitting in a restaurant on our street waiting for an order and they came in to say hi. The middle boy showed me his Toy Story stickers and then the sweetest thing happened. Mushy words like sweet and precious, kinda make me wanna throw up, but this really was all of those things. He got really close to my face and then very carefully reached out and touched my nose and my face and then my eye. He was so innocent and curious, that I couldn't even get annoyed when he told me I had a big nose.


This is the littlest dude - it was hard to get a good pic, he was really concentrated on that bike.

So there I was...

Every month we go our prenatal check-ups at Nine Dragon Hospital, and for the most part we have been pretty pleased. There are two English speaking OB doctors and both of them seem to know what they are talking about. But here are a few fun stories.

So there I was... laying on the table. Dr. was doing his thing, taking measurements poking around and he says to me "so I guess this is your fat." I didn't take it too hard cause in China it's not considered rude to comment on someone's weight, but still not really something you wanna hear when your 6 months preggo and your skinny jeans are but a distant memory.

So there I was... sitting in my Dr.'s office discussing the results of my most recent blood test. The doctor tells my my iron levels are little low. His suggestion? Eat more organs and blood. In China they like things like heart liver kidney etc, and they also sometimes serve a soup made with congealed blood. I'm sure these dishes are in fact high in iron, but really? "Eat more organs and blood" sounds like something zombies and vampires would say, not doctors.

Even though someone might have a western language and a western education, they will always have a Chinese culture. This doesn't mean we have a bad doctor. We would never expect our Chinese Dr. to act like and American, just like Mike and I will never be Chinese. Culture isn't a bad thing it's just different and interesting.


PS Aren't the nurses cute in their little hats?

Shower

There are times when I feel like China cheats me out of certain experiences, holidays, family birthdays, Mt. Dew etc. I know that I don't really need to feel this way because the Father never says I'm entitled to any of those things, but he does promise that we will find the most joy when we are living for him and doing what he wants. Sometimes it's a battle to live in this way. I thought that having a baby in China would bring out a lot of those feelings of being cheated, but it hasn't been too bad.

Ok, ok there have definitely been those times when I thought "this would be a lot easier if I was in America." For example in the 1st trimester when anything slightly pungent made me toss my cookies, I would often have thoughts about how lovely America smells as I was passing by a pile of garbage, the fish section of the supermarket, or a friend with particularly stanky breath. But the point of this is not to complain about struggles, but to share about some blessing.

My co-workers made me feel super blessed and right at home this weekend when they threw me a baby shower! (hopefully pics to come) Ladies from cities all over the area sacrificed a Saturday to travel to our city to come to a shower for me and a friend. And trust me, travel isn’t always easy – we’re talking about waiting in line to buy tickets, taking a bus from their house to the train station, pushing through the weekend crowds and navigating a new city just to fellowship and bless.

We ate awesome food (many of them filled with coveted import items and dairy products), played some sweet games, and got to open a mound of presents for our little one. It doesn’t stop there. Tomorrow a group from Mississippi is throwing a virtual shower over skype. We’ve never even met these people but they are all taking a night out of their week to bless us also.

So a big thanks A, LA, D, and K and all the ladies that traveled to our city thanks so much for a great day. To Faith and the folks in Mississippi thank you so much for being willing to bless a stranger and take an interest in our work, and to Kim and family thanks for being willing to haul a bunch of stuff all the way over here when you come to visit (and to mom and dad for filling up the suitcase they are bringing). So I wanted to give a shout out to these people that have made these past few days feel homey and fun, but also to say thanks to the Father who provides encouragement and comfort when we need it.

Baby Stats

OK, just a little update on baby Easton. We had another utrasound and with great UNcertainty our little one was once again declared a girl. Although, we don't have tons of certainty we are going with that. I am currently weeks along, and everything is going just fine. The Dr. said our baby was a little bit large, but I can't decide if that means that it's actually large, or just large in comparison to the 95 lb Chinese women that he's used to seeing. But I was a chunk so it could be actually large. I guess we'll just wait and see. (Sorry, no baby bump pics - I took some but they all seem so awkward). I recently heard a statistic that 80% of babies born in China are C-section, and that women often prefer it.

For this reason and others we will be having our kiddo in Thailand. The airline won't let us fly after week 36 so on Dec. 23rd we'll be leaving cold rainy China, and headed to sunny Thailand. Too bad I'll be way too preggo to enjoy it. Our due date is Jan. 17th, but like everyone we're hoping for sooner. My parents are going to be coming and I'm hoping for a little recovery time before they get there.

The only tricky thing is that we will be hosting a team of 10 volunteers around Christmas. The Father has blessed us with really capable team of students that have been here this past semester, so they will be running most of the show. Please pr@y for the Christmas season and all the volunteers that will be coming. Sorry this post is kinda boring, just wanted to give friends and fam. the low down on what's going on.

We are three

If you received our latest update you read a story about my friend Jessica. Here's a quick recap in case you missed it (PS - if you want to be added to our update list just let me know). A year and a half ago a student volunteer came to Jessica's campus and shared the Good News with her for the first time. A year later I ran into her, she started attending a Good Book study and heard the good news about six more times. Then her classmate invited her to come to his group where she accepted the Father. Woot. PS - Isn't it so great that the guy that really made it click for her was a young local brother?

Anyway... After a "delicious" meal at the school cafeteria Jessica suggested that the two of us go for a walk around the campus. We walked for a while and then she suggested we "have a sit." I said, sure and pointed to a cement bench and said how bout here? Then she looked at me and very seriously said. "That place is made for two and we are three." (Referring to the baby) Then she suggested an identical bench about 20 yards away from the first bench.

I started laughing and since she has a great sense of humor I accused her of calling me fat. She denied it and said I couldn't tell Mike that she called me fat "He is so tall, he will pick me up and yell at me." Oh what a funny girl.