KB and AB

Christmas Day

This is an unflattering picture of pretty much every person in my family, but it is Christmas morning and aren't all Christmas morning pictures supposed to be a little awkward and unflattering?  Its a memory.

 

What Has Been Going On?

So what has kept us so busy lately that I am too good to properly maintain our blog? 

 

Well here is reason #1.  If you cannot tell, that is a maternity top I am wearing in the picture below.  Yep I am super pregnant.  In fact I am 21 weeks along.  The first trimester whipped my tail, and a lot of things were neglected in my life - eating, laundry, my kids, cleaning...this blog, but I am good now.  I even started those pesky Braxton Hicks contractions last week.  For anyone who will happen to be in Bangkok early May through early July, we will see you there.  We even know what we are having.   

 

I am also happy to say this will be my last planned pregnancy for three reasons.  First, if we are meant to have another one, as far as I am concerned, there are plenty of precious children in this world who do not have parents, and if the Lord calls me to have 4, I am happy to be a mommy to one of them.  Second, this country is not made for families with more than one kid.  With three kids we will technically have to take 2 taxis everywhere we go (no one really enforces this "law" outside of the capital though).  With 4 kids I am afraid the taxi drivers will just blaze past us, laughing at our crazy decision to have 4 kids in a country where the average family has one.  Third, KB will have to fly me back to America before I do another first trimester in this country.  I lost 5 pounds in my first trimester, not because I threw-up but because I could not find anything I wanted to eat.  I was soooooo hungry.  I just wanted a turkey sandwich...in a country that does not have turkey sandwich meat.   No matter how much money I was willing to pay for it, turkey sandwich meat never materialized. 

 

As a funny side note, we asked AB what we should name the baby.  She said we should name him "Sneaky."  What does that say about how she feels about this baby?  If our past track record is any indication of how we will name this baby, we will probably not finalize his name until we meet him.

 

 

 

 Here are a couple cute pictures I wanted share.





 

 

 

Reason #2 for neglecting the blog - We were in Texas for almost a whole month!

 

Friends this is what jet lag does to little ones.  Not even Veggie Tales could keep them awake and it was 3:30 in the afternoon.   

 



The results were similar when we came back overseas but at least they stayed awake.   



 

 

Here are some things we did while in awesome America.  We went to the Disney store.  I discovered that place is like a trap.  Every inch of that place is designed to lure my kids further and further into the store.  It was crazy and fun, especially for them.  

 

 

 

 

AB, KB's mom, and I went to the Nutcracker in Houston.  At the time I was not sure how interested she was in it, but she still talks about it, tries to mimic what she saw from the dancers and asks when we can go again. 

 

 

We went to the Galveston beach.  AB has never seen a beach and said she wanted to go.  Hello.  It was so cold!  I knew it would not be warm enough to go swimming, but I at least thought we would stand outside for more than a minute, maybe even build a sand castle or something.  Wrong.  We literally ran out to the water, snapped this picture and ran back to the car.  It was so ridiculous that it was funny.

 

 

We caught up with some friends.  We also ate so much Chick-fil-A that we almost got tired of it, but really, who can truly get tired of Chick-fil-A? 

 

 

The kids got to enjoy some gingerbread cookie making time.  AB, DB and their cousins excitedly decorated them, but after I saw more than one kid lick the decorations, then put them on the cookie, I decided the whole point of making delicious gingerbread cookies was for the experience only.  I just ate the one I myself decorated.   

 

 

I realize this is a really cute picture of my son, but it also has another purpose.  See that fire in the fireplace behind DB?  I cannot express how much I enjoyed having a fire in it.  I am still trying to figure out how we can put a fake fireplace in our apartment.  

 

 

We (everyone but me) went horseback riding with who AB calls "Mr. Ed."  She also calls his wife, Joan, Mrs. Ed.   

 

He surprised me, but DB really enjoyed himself on the horse.  He has had limited up close exposure to animals thus far in his life, so I was afraid he would be scared of the horse.  

 

Yes. Yes. I should frame this one. 

 

 

What's that you say DB?  You want to know where all the people are?  You want to know why you are able to walk on the grass and not just look at it?

 

You want to know why the sky is so blue and the trees are so big?  I will tell you why.   You are in the countryside of beautiful wide open Texas - the perfect cure for Texans living in Asia. 

 

 

Getting up close and personal with some sweet donkeys.

 

DB was a bit more reluctant, and I hope this poor horse's neck was not hurt in his attempt to snag a carrot from him.



 

 

I do not know about you, but to me this looks like trouble.  Especially since she told me she wanted one like it.  Fortunately, I do not think they have those where we currently live.

 

 

DB liked the tractor.

 

 

Three days later we returned home this.  Can you guess what time of the day it was?  It was noon.  Not early in the morning or late in the evening - noon.  In this place's defense, this is really bad, like abnormally bad.  The pollution is always bad here, but this was record-breaking bad. 

 

Fortunately we cranked up our air purifiers and hoped they did exactly what Phillips claims they do.   

 

Although the pollution began to slowly lift after Monday, it took until today to look like this.  Here this is considered clean.  In Texas it would be considered an abomination, but we are totally grateful for these bluish skies.  I hope they stay for a while.

 

Anyways, for any of you who are still reading, thanks for looking at our blog.  While in the US it was nice to hear from people, some of whom I did not even know, say they read our blog.  It encourages me to update it a bit  more often.