Monthly Archives: August 2018

Ezra – Happy Week 1 & 2 Birthdays!

Photo taken when Ezra was 6 days old – on his due date.

Ezra (birth story will be coming sometime in the future) was born on Monday the 13th and we were at the hospital 3 nights. Thursday around lunch time we took a taxi back to the guesthouse we’re staying at while in Bangkok. The kids did great with Aunt Brooke – she spent one night with them and watched them while we were in the hospital and played with them for a few days afterwards. Brooke left to head back to Cambodia Saturday later afternoon. We’re thankful Brooke was able to come help us out.

Ezra’s first trip out was on his 1-week birthday – he got to go to his doctor’s appointment and to mine. Isaiah came along and was a big help. That night Ezra got out for the first time to see the big city. We celebrated his one week birthday by eating supper at  Sunrise Tacos (at a mall near us). Kids eat free on Monday!

During Ezra’s second week he/we went to church, the Free Children’s Museum, and rode the water taxi to go shopping. To celebrate Ezra’s 2-week birthday we had his Embassy appointment where he was granted his US citizenship! His passport will be read for pick-up on Friday. On the way to the Embassy we stopped and ate p&j sandwiches at a nearby park. That night we again took advantage of kids eating free at Sunrise Tacos.

  

By Ezra’s 2-week birthday his umbilical cord had fallen off and his circumcision wound was completely healed. So nice not to have to do extra cleaning or inspecting any more. This was the first time I was instructed at the hospital and by the pediatrician to do such extensive cleaning on an umbilical cord stub. The doctor had me pull it up and wash around it with alcohol and a cotton ball.

So our little man Ezra has done lots in his first two weeks! This boy is getting around. He usually shuts down when we’re out and about and then decides to stay up between 12-2am that night! Everyone continues to love holding Ezra…including Clara!

Baby #5 Update

I wrote this post about two weeks before Ezra’s due date and planned to post it on the 16th. But he came before that. 🙂

I haven’t posted many pictures of my baby belly. That’s mostly because I’ve been too busy to even take many pictures of this one. It’s been an interesting pregnancy, starting with the car accident and concussion recovery, which made 1st trimester much harder than normal. (These pictures were taken at 38 weeks.)

This pregnancy has seemed longer than the others. Maybe that’s because I’m past the “35” mark (I think that makes me an old pregnant lady). Maybe it’s because the concussion. Maybe it’s because the Braxton Hicks started way early (somewhere in the 20 week range). Maybe it’s because these last several weeks I’ve had lots of nerve related pain. All that to say – I’m ready for this little one to come on out!

I’ve had several people tell me that they are praying that I make it to the hospital this time. I’m not. I’m praying for a intervention, surgery-free birth. I’d be very happy to have a safe, home-birth like last time. It’s quite thrilling. I really don’t like hospitals and if I could have a bathroom baby again, I’d be thrilled. Actually, I don’t even feel like I know how to have a baby in the hospital, since none of our births have been normal.

So now we wait. We arrived in Thailand about three weeks ago, leaving several days earlier than planned due to the Cambodian election. It seems like the weeks leading up to our departure were over full, including a trip to Phnom Penh to take the 10-year driver’s license test. Then I spent hours preparing our house for our absence (putting away things to prevent mold and rat damage). When we finally arrived in Thailand, I felt like I’d done everything except prepared to have a baby. It actually felt like I’d left all that stuff at home! (Note – though I enjoy the break of coming to Thailand, I’ve struggled with not being grumpy about having to leave the country to have a baby – it’s a lot of work!). Lord-willing our little one will be born without complication and by then I’ll be ready. (Picture on the right is from May 27, 2018.)

Adding another child into the family is always an adjustment. I love children, but every time we do it I think, “what in the world was I thinking?!?” It’s not so much additional human being to take care of…it’s the responsibility of caring for another soul from birth. It’s the gift of training a child in the way he should go. Not an easy task. Thankful God does not leave us alone to do His work.

We recently went to IKEA in Bangkok. Bangkok is not known for families with multiple children, so we were quite a sight. People often stop and count our children and say “WOW!” And we’re thinking, this is normal, right? Guess Bangkok isn’t know who families with multiple (3+0 children)!

36 Years

Last month I celebrated my 36th birthday (note – this is second time I’ve been pregnant on my birthday. Most of our children have been born before my birthday). It was Friday and I had made plans to meet with my Jarai ladies at church to go over their lessons with them. It was the last time I would be meeting with them before heading to Thailand, and I told them I would try to get through as much of John 14, 15, and 16 as I could to leave them with enough material to cover their lessons while we were out of the country.

Ok, I’ll be honest…I did not want to spend my late afternoon teaching John in Khmer. I didn’t feel ready to tackle those chapters. I was still tired from our Phnom Penh trip. But I went. The kids were glad I was going, since it gave them a chance to decorate for my birthday meal. Josh dropped me off at church (I’m still not a good stick-shift driver, especially with a pregnant belly!) and I walked up to meet with the ladies. And there they were, preparing lots of different fruits for us to snack on. They had no idea it was my birthday, but they wanted something special for my last meeting with them before we headed to Thailand. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and kindness. Our friends don’t have much. But they had spent their money buying fruit at the market. After we finished the lessons, we enjoyed the fruit together. When Josh and the kids came to pick me up, they joined us, and we stayed an extra hour eating fruit.

The kids did a great job decorating the house with streamers a friend had just sent. We had a lovely meal of grilled chicken kabobs, salad (minus the lettuce), and potatoes. Becca made cherry bars for dessert. Then the kids all gave me cards and gifts they had made. Josh had a special wooden cross candle holder made for our Passion Week celebration. I’m looking forward to using it.

So now I’m 36. Is this where I imagined myself as 36? Can’t answer that, since I’ve never really been the kind of person who pictures the future. I’ve been married 10 years to my man. We have 4 – almost 5 – children (one preemie C-section, one regular C-section, one surprise VBAC, and one bathroom baby). I’ve been living in Cambodia 4 years. I feel way out of touch with life in America. I’m not a very cautious mommy (I figure our kids do all this dangerous stuff when I’m not watching them outside, so why should I restrain them when I’m watching them?). And currently I’m dealing with the aches of being close to having our 5th child. Wow, zow – this one is a mover and shaker and seems to always be trying to punch a hole so he/she can escape. This little one knows just the nerves to put pressure on to make his/her mommy yelp.

36 years. And still lots to learn. Yards to grow. Tons to be sanctified. 36 years and thankful for the many gifts God blesses me with each day.

We Made it to Thailand! (2018)

Last Thursday afternoon we left our home in Oyadao and headed for Ban Lung to begin our trip to Thailand. Our plan was to have a good part of Thursday to close up our house and then drive to our team leaders’ house (45 mins away) to spend the night.

Friday morning (6:10), we left Ban Lung, stopped for breakfast at friends, and arrived in Siem Real around 2.

Saturday morning we left Siem Reap at 5:40am and arrived at the Thai boarder a little after 8am. Thankfully a friend wanted to borrow our car, so he dropped us off at the boarder. The kids were troopers and there wasn’t much boarder traffic at the exit and entry buildings. We made it to the Thailand side of the boarder in about 1.5 hours. We had pre-arranged a taxi van and we’re soon on our way to Bangkok. We arrived at our guesthouse in Bangkok around 2.

We’re very thankful for the smooth trip God provided us. Thankful we made it. And now to start thinking about having a baby…I mean, I’ve been kinda busy lately.