Wow! What a week!
Friday, I was getting ready to hang a painting that we just had framed. As I was checking the latches on the back, a piece of glass broke off and fell onto my foot. Although we didn't know it at the time, the cut was VERY small but happened to pierce the exact wrong place. It cut an artery in my foot. I have never seen anything like it, except maybe on TV. Blood came pouring out and literally spraying everywhere (gross I know)! Philip came in the room to find me standing in a puddle of blood and blood still shooting from my foot. I wasn't in pain, I just remember feeling very confused and light headed. I told him that I thought I spilled paint (which I'm sure was very alarming for him since there was no paint). He certainly had his hands full trying to keep Bella (who is now terrified and screaming) out of the room and stop the bleeding. Philip managed to keep Bella safe, and put pressure on the wound. I don't remember much, except being very concerned that Philip was trying to use our nice towels to stop the bleeding and insistent that he find something else. Then I started passing out and throwing up. Our bedroom looked like a murder scene.
We were able to call a friend to come get Bella and off we headed to see a doctor. Our city has a clinic with an American doctor. We decided that was the best place to go. It took about an hour to get there. But I was able to eat a little something and re-hydrate in the cab. By the time we got there, the bleeding had stopped and my color was coming back. Especially since I am pregnant, we decided to have everything checked out anyways.
The doctor said that I was incredibly unlucky (because of where the glass hit) but perfectly fine. Blood levels seemed to be returning on their own and I did not need a transfusion or any other treatment. Emma was perfectly safe and protected in my tummy, completely unaware of what was going on.
Yesterday, we started our day with the apartment shaking. Sichuan (the province we live in) was hit by an 6.9 Earthquake. We live about 70 miles from the epicenter, so we felt the effects of the Earthquake but the damage did not effect us directly. Our family and our apartment are completely safe! PLT.
We had all just woken up. Philip and Bella were getting a head start on breakfast and I was still laying in bed waiting for some morning sickness to pass when the apartment started shaking. Sometimes we start 'silly Saturdays' with family time playing in bed. When things first started to shake, I thought maybe they had come back into bed to play. But a couple seconds in and a quick look around the room. I knew that we were indeed having an Earthquake.
I'm from the midwest so I feel pretty comfortable with the safety procedures of a tornado. My husband is from the East coast so when it comes to hurricanes, we can defer to his knowledge. But a serious Earthquake was a first for either of us. We were really caught off guard with the appropriate response. Philip scooped up Bella and we both quickly moved to find each other. We met in the hall and calibrated on what to do.
In a tornado, you look for a bathtub, sturdy doorway, or a room without windows or glass. That place does not exist in our chinese apartment. They love mirrors and glass, and most of our furniture is made of glass. We decided to wait it out in the hallway with the doors closed. It finished relatively quickly from that point. We looked outside and saw that people were flooding outside from the apartment complex. I'm really not sure how effective standing outside in a small courtyard between two 7 story buildings actually is compared to staying inside. But that seemed to be the thing to do and we joined them. Again, not completely connivence of the safety factor, but it was a good bonding experience with out neighbors as we all stood outside together in our pjs. As we cuddled our babies wrapped up in blankets, we got to have good conversations and deepen relationships. We waited outside for a little over an hour and then people began to trickle inside. We are so thankful for His protection and are lifting up those in the area around us effected by the quake! Thanks so much for those of you who asked about us and were lifting us up. Please continue to lift others in Sichuan.
Between the bleeding artery and the earthquake, its been a very eventful few days on top of a very busy week of settling in to our new apartment, errands, a flat tire, kidney stones, morning sickness, language, and on and on. We really could use a good-ole boring 'nothing to do' sort of day around here. But whatever comes, we plan to face the day with joyful hearts. We do have so much to be thankful for.
Irwin Christmas Photo
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Kidney Stone or Labor?
I am 28 weeks pregnant. Whew! Less than three months to go. As excited as I am to hold my sweet little Emma, I don't want that day to come a moment too soon. A couple nights ago I started experiencing a lot of back pain. The pain was enough to keep me up through the night, but I still figured that the pain was probably caused by gas, or maybe just soreness from a busy couple weeks. The morning came and the pain was getting worse. It also got worse when I stood and especially when I walked. After being awake a couple hours, it became obvious that something was not right.
So off to the hospital we went. My pain felt more and more like labor pain. My mind racing through all the possibilities and beginning to fear the worst. I feel prepared to have my baby in China. I do not however feel prepared to have my baby at 28 weeks in China. I do not feel prepared to have my baby at 28 weeks anywhere! I had to put thoughts of the worst aside and make it to the hospital.
We got a cab pretty easily. We showed him the address and asked him to drive quickly. Normally, our cab drivers race to the hospital! Not this guy. He took his sweet time, until we realized he didn't have clue where he was going. We called the doctor and asked him to help give our driver directions. Our driver said he now knew where to go, but he was lying. I also notice in the midst of all this that there is porn scattered all over the man's cab. My stress level was rising very quickly, but when the driver decided to light to cigarette and answer a personal call - that was my limit. "Get me out! Stop the car." Philip who was worried about his girls and very angry with the driver was happy to grant that request. We got out and walked away with out paying the man or saying a word.
We realized we were only about a block or two away from the hospital. We walked there and made it inside. When the doctor asked what was going on, I started to tell him about my pain and few other TMI details that may sometimes indicate early labor. The tears came pouring out. (Honestly I'm shocked they held out that long).
In our experience, Chinese culture has been very direct. I hardly go a day without someone asking, "Are you pregnant, or just fat?" But openness is another story. They don't seem to be all that comfortable sharing as intimately with others or sharing their feelings. The doctor seemed really uncomfortable with my crying and not really sure how to respond. He looked at Philip and in a very robotic voice pointed at my face and asked, "What is happening here? What is this?" "I am just very worried," I responded. Looking at my now blotchy checks he asked, "Do you have an allergy? I think maybe you have a reaction." No, this is my face when I cry. lol
After a very thorough exam and some tests, we found out that I was not in pre-term labor or experiencing any pregnancy related problems. Emma is doing great - a healthily growing baby! The ultrasound showed that I was experiencing kidney stones. I have never had those before, but I have to say that they feel a LOT like back labor pain (which is what I experienced with Bella). I was sent home with orders to rest and no lifting (even Bella). Still feeling pain, but SOOO relieved that Emma was alright.
As if our day needed just a touch more drama, the doctor had suggested using a heat compress. I actually brought a heating pad from America, and it felt so good! Now, I am not technological (if thats even the category). I really don't know, understand, or pay attention to the whole voltage thing. All I know, is that I plug things in and if they work they work. Sometimes, when I plug things in the voltage is wrong and it breaks them, like our baby monitor. However, usually if the voltage is wrong, the item just doesn't work. Well while using my heating pad, I started to notice a smell like burning chemicals. Philip didn't smell anything. A few minutes later, I asked again. "Wait, turn that off" he said. He came rushing over and after examining the heating pad, he found that it had already burned through the plastic and cloth cover. My back was fine. No burns. Only a close call. Not exactly the kind of fire I like in the bedroom if ya know what I mean ;)
20 Weeks. (4 months) 24 weeks. (5 months) 28 weeks. (6 months)
The kidney stones seem to have passed now. I am feeling much better! Just recovering from a couple nights of not being able to sleep through the pain. Philip is taking good care of me and still enforcing the doctors suggestion of bed rest and no lifting for several days. Its been hard not being able to play and hold my Bella Bella and has resulted in a little bit of acting out on her part. Although its been really nice to catch up on some things and have time to post pictures and blogs about our current events from the past couple weeks without internet. Bed rest ends tomorrow and we go back to unpacking and settling into the new apartment!
So off to the hospital we went. My pain felt more and more like labor pain. My mind racing through all the possibilities and beginning to fear the worst. I feel prepared to have my baby in China. I do not however feel prepared to have my baby at 28 weeks in China. I do not feel prepared to have my baby at 28 weeks anywhere! I had to put thoughts of the worst aside and make it to the hospital.
We got a cab pretty easily. We showed him the address and asked him to drive quickly. Normally, our cab drivers race to the hospital! Not this guy. He took his sweet time, until we realized he didn't have clue where he was going. We called the doctor and asked him to help give our driver directions. Our driver said he now knew where to go, but he was lying. I also notice in the midst of all this that there is porn scattered all over the man's cab. My stress level was rising very quickly, but when the driver decided to light to cigarette and answer a personal call - that was my limit. "Get me out! Stop the car." Philip who was worried about his girls and very angry with the driver was happy to grant that request. We got out and walked away with out paying the man or saying a word.
We realized we were only about a block or two away from the hospital. We walked there and made it inside. When the doctor asked what was going on, I started to tell him about my pain and few other TMI details that may sometimes indicate early labor. The tears came pouring out. (Honestly I'm shocked they held out that long).
In our experience, Chinese culture has been very direct. I hardly go a day without someone asking, "Are you pregnant, or just fat?" But openness is another story. They don't seem to be all that comfortable sharing as intimately with others or sharing their feelings. The doctor seemed really uncomfortable with my crying and not really sure how to respond. He looked at Philip and in a very robotic voice pointed at my face and asked, "What is happening here? What is this?" "I am just very worried," I responded. Looking at my now blotchy checks he asked, "Do you have an allergy? I think maybe you have a reaction." No, this is my face when I cry. lol
After a very thorough exam and some tests, we found out that I was not in pre-term labor or experiencing any pregnancy related problems. Emma is doing great - a healthily growing baby! The ultrasound showed that I was experiencing kidney stones. I have never had those before, but I have to say that they feel a LOT like back labor pain (which is what I experienced with Bella). I was sent home with orders to rest and no lifting (even Bella). Still feeling pain, but SOOO relieved that Emma was alright.
As if our day needed just a touch more drama, the doctor had suggested using a heat compress. I actually brought a heating pad from America, and it felt so good! Now, I am not technological (if thats even the category). I really don't know, understand, or pay attention to the whole voltage thing. All I know, is that I plug things in and if they work they work. Sometimes, when I plug things in the voltage is wrong and it breaks them, like our baby monitor. However, usually if the voltage is wrong, the item just doesn't work. Well while using my heating pad, I started to notice a smell like burning chemicals. Philip didn't smell anything. A few minutes later, I asked again. "Wait, turn that off" he said. He came rushing over and after examining the heating pad, he found that it had already burned through the plastic and cloth cover. My back was fine. No burns. Only a close call. Not exactly the kind of fire I like in the bedroom if ya know what I mean ;)
20 Weeks. (4 months) 24 weeks. (5 months) 28 weeks. (6 months)
The kidney stones seem to have passed now. I am feeling much better! Just recovering from a couple nights of not being able to sleep through the pain. Philip is taking good care of me and still enforcing the doctors suggestion of bed rest and no lifting for several days. Its been hard not being able to play and hold my Bella Bella and has resulted in a little bit of acting out on her part. Although its been really nice to catch up on some things and have time to post pictures and blogs about our current events from the past couple weeks without internet. Bed rest ends tomorrow and we go back to unpacking and settling into the new apartment!
Friday, April 12, 2013
To think of what Big Brother knows...
To think of what Big Brother knows.... Although its hard to care when he helps you find your wallet.
There are so many forms of public transportation in China. In addition to taxi services, its also common to find unmarked cars, vans, and even bikes offering rides for money. While the warning bells from our 'stranger danger' culture make this seem creepy, here its not.
We recently traveled out of town to visit some friends. And we rode in one of these unmarked vans. As wallet to pay the driver, I was juggling Bella and serval bags. I felt something drop and when I looked down at the floor, I saw Bella's toy. I picked it up, gathered my belongings, and got out. A few minutes later I looked in my purse and saw that my wallet was missing!! It was one of those hind sight moments where I knew exactly what had happened. What I felt falling in the van was not Bella's toy, but really my wallet. The problem with the unmarked van is that since the driver does not work for a company or give out a receipt, it was going to be nearly impossible to find him. Tracking this driver down in a city of about 5 million people seemed hopeless.
Since I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with things, I had a lot of important things in the wallet. About $150 cash, all our credit cards, debit cards, drivers licenses, and all of our social security cards. And as icing on the cake, I had put a special necklace that Philip gave me in the change compartment that morning (something I had never done before). I was so upset!
Philip went with a couple friends to give their best shot at tracking down the van. They went to the place where many of the vans hang out and try to get business. After a couple hours there was no luck. Then, they followed a friends suggestion and went to the local police station to ask for help. Many chinese cities have recently added street cameras like we have in America. The police officers were so helpful and kind!
Philip told them where he was at about what time. They took him back into what he describes as a bat cave with TV monitors everywhere. Sure enough, they were able to find our family getting into the van on the traffic camera. That particular shot did not include the license plate. They asked Philip to give them 30 minutes to work on it. When he came back, they had followed the van to a place where they could get a clear image of the plate, blew it up, and had a print off of the drivers information. A quick phone call later he was in touch with the driver.
I'm not sure if the driver was just a kind honest man or if getting a call from the police scared him a bit, but he said that he had the wallet and he would bring it in 8 minutes! He gave the wallet back to Philip with everything (even the cash) inside!!! We thanked the man and gave him a little something for all the trouble. We were so thankful to have the help of friends and also the protection of our father!
Finding a wallet in a city of 5 million was truly a needle in a hay stack!! I am still shocked. Its amazing and a little scary to think of the information that 'Big Brother' has available - being able to look up when and where you go! But in this case, we were grateful.
There are so many forms of public transportation in China. In addition to taxi services, its also common to find unmarked cars, vans, and even bikes offering rides for money. While the warning bells from our 'stranger danger' culture make this seem creepy, here its not.
We recently traveled out of town to visit some friends. And we rode in one of these unmarked vans. As wallet to pay the driver, I was juggling Bella and serval bags. I felt something drop and when I looked down at the floor, I saw Bella's toy. I picked it up, gathered my belongings, and got out. A few minutes later I looked in my purse and saw that my wallet was missing!! It was one of those hind sight moments where I knew exactly what had happened. What I felt falling in the van was not Bella's toy, but really my wallet. The problem with the unmarked van is that since the driver does not work for a company or give out a receipt, it was going to be nearly impossible to find him. Tracking this driver down in a city of about 5 million people seemed hopeless.
Since I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with things, I had a lot of important things in the wallet. About $150 cash, all our credit cards, debit cards, drivers licenses, and all of our social security cards. And as icing on the cake, I had put a special necklace that Philip gave me in the change compartment that morning (something I had never done before). I was so upset!
Philip went with a couple friends to give their best shot at tracking down the van. They went to the place where many of the vans hang out and try to get business. After a couple hours there was no luck. Then, they followed a friends suggestion and went to the local police station to ask for help. Many chinese cities have recently added street cameras like we have in America. The police officers were so helpful and kind!
Philip told them where he was at about what time. They took him back into what he describes as a bat cave with TV monitors everywhere. Sure enough, they were able to find our family getting into the van on the traffic camera. That particular shot did not include the license plate. They asked Philip to give them 30 minutes to work on it. When he came back, they had followed the van to a place where they could get a clear image of the plate, blew it up, and had a print off of the drivers information. A quick phone call later he was in touch with the driver.
I'm not sure if the driver was just a kind honest man or if getting a call from the police scared him a bit, but he said that he had the wallet and he would bring it in 8 minutes! He gave the wallet back to Philip with everything (even the cash) inside!!! We thanked the man and gave him a little something for all the trouble. We were so thankful to have the help of friends and also the protection of our father!
Finding a wallet in a city of 5 million was truly a needle in a hay stack!! I am still shocked. Its amazing and a little scary to think of the information that 'Big Brother' has available - being able to look up when and where you go! But in this case, we were grateful.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Our Chinese Mini-van
We bought a 'san lun che'!!!! Translated it means a three wheel car. Also translated as awesome! Really it is an three seater, electric moped.
Philip is the brave soul that dares the Chinese roads. Although in my personal opinion driving our car is actually less dangerous than a bicycle and only slightly more dangerous than walking lol. I've only driven in neighborhood. Philip says he's not comfortable with me on roads yet. Not sure if its because I regularly refer to it my race cart or if its because I often panic when only walking across the street haha. My other thoughts from the backseat: I don't get to snuggle husband close like a motorcycle, but it is more family friendly. We call it our chinese minivan.
Seriously, it has been WONDERFUL! One of the only reservations about our new apartment is that we were a bit further away from the main drag where we do shopping. When carrying babies and groceries, a little ways can make a big difference. We love having our sweet ride! And there is a storage area under the seat!
Also, finding taxis can be really difficult in our city! I have been feeling increasingly afraid that I will be roaming the streets in labor looking for a taxi. Now, worst case scenario, we will pull into the hospital on the bike! :) And my security blanket came at a real bargain. A family was moving away and sold it to us for only about $75! Now that is a deal!
Bella loves to go for rides! (Don't worry Mommy always holds her when in motion).
Bella NEVER liked to fall asleep in her car seat. But mommy's lap in the chinese minivan not bad.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Easter
Family Easter picture.
Thanks to friends in HK and resent packages from America we had awesome Easter baskets!
Bella just checking things out.
With a mouthful already, Bella showing us her treats! :)
This girl can seriously inhale Jelly Beans.
Having a little Easter egg hunt in the tunnel.
Found the eggs! Not sure what happened to the shirt.
The Biggest Poop-plosion Ever
A couple people asked about the very stressful, previous move (where the Mario Bros bet came into play) from my last post. I happened to have this story already mostly written, so I thought I'd share the story. This is the story of our worst move ever!
Our first move as a family was from NC to KY when Bella was six months old. This is one of those disastrous stories that I thought we'd never make it through, but now that it is all over and behind us, is quite funny. Bella was a wreck!! The selling of furniture and packing of boxes made her really nervous. She would let no one hold her except me, and occasionally Philip. She refused to sleep except in the arms of a standing Mommy, which meant that I had no sleep for days! Philip being the wonderful husband that he is tried everything he could to help and already had a lot on his plate taking care of the move, so he also had no sleep that week.
Moving day came and we were sooo far behind. We had no family in town and we happened to move a week when most of our neighbors and friends were not in town either, so we were mostly on our own. While we were moving to KY, we had to make several stops along the way to drop off boxes and furniture to be stored with family while we were overseas. So, we made stops in WV, IN, and OH. Deprived of sleep for days, we were totally exhausted, but finally finished loading. Our apartment had strict check out policies and we were responsible for a lot of cleaning. So, even though we had planned to start our journey that afternoon, we needed to stay until the cleaning was complete.
We were dillious. We bought some paint for touching up the walls. Philip was busy fixing something upstairs and assigned me the job of doing the touch ups. At 2am he came back downstairs to not only find me finished painting one entire wall, but half way through the next. "What are you doing?!?!" With tears streaming down my face, I was waving the brush around with a crazed look in my eye. I began to explain that I started the touch up, but the wet paint didn't look blended, so I continued to paint and it just never stopped. Not knowing weather to laugh or cry himself, he just said okay, gave me a hug, and moved on to his next job. Finally at 4am, we came to face the facts that we would not be moving that night/day whatever it was. Philip sent me to bed. What I mean by bed, is that Bella and I slept on the floor of our empty apartment on top of a sleeping bag. I woke about two hours later to our screaming insecure baby and Philip had just finished with the rest of the house. So, no sleep for him.
The housing office opened in one hour and we were supposed to be out before then. It was Philip's first time to drive a moving truck, or anything close to that size. And I would be following behind in our packed down Corolla with Bella. I should also mention that I cry really easily when I am tired. So, being more exhausted than ever before in my life, I was pretty much a walking zombie with a constant flow of tears. We were supposed to drive about 6 hours to my grandparents in WV that day. We made it a whole 15 minutes down the road before I needed to pull over. I was seeing double and not able to drive at the moment. My husbands agruement, that had been the debate of the morning, to stay in a hotel for awhile to get sleep before we left sounded more and more convinencing. BUT with Bella so out sorts I was even more confident that was a waste of money and she would still not allow me to sleep. So, I convinenced him and myself that I would be okay to drive after some cafffine (which I hadn't had in 15 months, from pregnancy and nursing).
We got back on the road, and our pit stop did help a lot. We were finally ready go!! We made safely to my Nanna's, got some rest and TLC. Everything was looking up and up. We got about an hour down the road the next day. I called Philip, again crying and now screaming, "There is poop EVERYWHERE!!" We pulled over at the next stop which was a lonely McDonalds in the middle of nowhere.
Bella began fussing in the back seat which usually meant she had lost her binky. This was before we had discovered the wonderful back seat mirror or the binky clip. As I had done so many times before, I reached back and felt for the binky in the bottom of her carseat. I found it and handed it to her, but as a brought my hand back around I realized it felt wet. I looked down to find that my hand was covered in poop! I adjusted the rear view mirror to find that the binky I had just handed Bella was also covered in poop. Yes, it was in her mouth. And now that she had discovered the mess, she rubbed it in her hair and everywhere. I had never seen so much poop!!!!
We took her into the McDonalds to get cleaned up. And by that I mean to give her a bath in the tiny sink in the bathroom. I should also mention that it was the only sink, so everyone coming in and out was not only disgusted but had to leave without a hand washing. As a overly concerned first time Mom, I was also freaking out calling the doctor and our mothers to find out what awful diseases she was now at risk for after putting the poop covered binky in her mouth. They all reassured me that she was fine. Next, we just needed to clean up the completely poop soaked car seat. There was no way around completely washing (and therefore getting it completely wet), which meant we couldn't put Bella back into the seat until it dried. We had to wait in that McDonalds for a couple hours until the seat was dry enough that we could make due.
After that, the trip was pretty uneventful. We made it finally, all in one piece with quite the story to tell.
Our first move as a family was from NC to KY when Bella was six months old. This is one of those disastrous stories that I thought we'd never make it through, but now that it is all over and behind us, is quite funny. Bella was a wreck!! The selling of furniture and packing of boxes made her really nervous. She would let no one hold her except me, and occasionally Philip. She refused to sleep except in the arms of a standing Mommy, which meant that I had no sleep for days! Philip being the wonderful husband that he is tried everything he could to help and already had a lot on his plate taking care of the move, so he also had no sleep that week.
Moving day came and we were sooo far behind. We had no family in town and we happened to move a week when most of our neighbors and friends were not in town either, so we were mostly on our own. While we were moving to KY, we had to make several stops along the way to drop off boxes and furniture to be stored with family while we were overseas. So, we made stops in WV, IN, and OH. Deprived of sleep for days, we were totally exhausted, but finally finished loading. Our apartment had strict check out policies and we were responsible for a lot of cleaning. So, even though we had planned to start our journey that afternoon, we needed to stay until the cleaning was complete.
We were dillious. We bought some paint for touching up the walls. Philip was busy fixing something upstairs and assigned me the job of doing the touch ups. At 2am he came back downstairs to not only find me finished painting one entire wall, but half way through the next. "What are you doing?!?!" With tears streaming down my face, I was waving the brush around with a crazed look in my eye. I began to explain that I started the touch up, but the wet paint didn't look blended, so I continued to paint and it just never stopped. Not knowing weather to laugh or cry himself, he just said okay, gave me a hug, and moved on to his next job. Finally at 4am, we came to face the facts that we would not be moving that night/day whatever it was. Philip sent me to bed. What I mean by bed, is that Bella and I slept on the floor of our empty apartment on top of a sleeping bag. I woke about two hours later to our screaming insecure baby and Philip had just finished with the rest of the house. So, no sleep for him.
The housing office opened in one hour and we were supposed to be out before then. It was Philip's first time to drive a moving truck, or anything close to that size. And I would be following behind in our packed down Corolla with Bella. I should also mention that I cry really easily when I am tired. So, being more exhausted than ever before in my life, I was pretty much a walking zombie with a constant flow of tears. We were supposed to drive about 6 hours to my grandparents in WV that day. We made it a whole 15 minutes down the road before I needed to pull over. I was seeing double and not able to drive at the moment. My husbands agruement, that had been the debate of the morning, to stay in a hotel for awhile to get sleep before we left sounded more and more convinencing. BUT with Bella so out sorts I was even more confident that was a waste of money and she would still not allow me to sleep. So, I convinenced him and myself that I would be okay to drive after some cafffine (which I hadn't had in 15 months, from pregnancy and nursing).
We got back on the road, and our pit stop did help a lot. We were finally ready go!! We made safely to my Nanna's, got some rest and TLC. Everything was looking up and up. We got about an hour down the road the next day. I called Philip, again crying and now screaming, "There is poop EVERYWHERE!!" We pulled over at the next stop which was a lonely McDonalds in the middle of nowhere.
Bella began fussing in the back seat which usually meant she had lost her binky. This was before we had discovered the wonderful back seat mirror or the binky clip. As I had done so many times before, I reached back and felt for the binky in the bottom of her carseat. I found it and handed it to her, but as a brought my hand back around I realized it felt wet. I looked down to find that my hand was covered in poop! I adjusted the rear view mirror to find that the binky I had just handed Bella was also covered in poop. Yes, it was in her mouth. And now that she had discovered the mess, she rubbed it in her hair and everywhere. I had never seen so much poop!!!!
We took her into the McDonalds to get cleaned up. And by that I mean to give her a bath in the tiny sink in the bathroom. I should also mention that it was the only sink, so everyone coming in and out was not only disgusted but had to leave without a hand washing. As a overly concerned first time Mom, I was also freaking out calling the doctor and our mothers to find out what awful diseases she was now at risk for after putting the poop covered binky in her mouth. They all reassured me that she was fine. Next, we just needed to clean up the completely poop soaked car seat. There was no way around completely washing (and therefore getting it completely wet), which meant we couldn't put Bella back into the seat until it dried. We had to wait in that McDonalds for a couple hours until the seat was dry enough that we could make due.
After that, the trip was pretty uneventful. We made it finally, all in one piece with quite the story to tell.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Moving Day!
During a previous and very stressful move, Philip and I took a break from the chaos and played Super Mario Brothers for a few minutes. It was a sweet 15 minutes that we shared together to be silly and smile during a very stressful few days. We had a very adult like argument ;) over who got to be Mario and who was stuck being Luigi. After play time was over, we went back to packing. We had been debating for several days over the size of the moving truck we would need. We would find out the next day as it was the big moving day. We decided that whoever was right about the size would be Mario. We found these T-shirts and decided they were a must for this move!
As far as moves go, the move this past week into our new apartment went pretty smooth. It helped a lot that we were only moving about 15 minutes down the street and had almost no furniture to move. We LOVE LOVE LOVE our new apartment. It is totally toddler friendly (specifically our mountain climber / gymnast Bella)! We even have a nice patio that over looks a little play ground out back. Most of all, we are so thankful to get rid of our make shift baby gate which was a wall of suitcases blocking off the stairs to the split level.
It is in an older and much smaller apartment complex. We have already met so many new neighbors and friends! Our first look at the new place we met a boy around 8 years old. He ran around like the town cryer announcing to everyone that there were foreigners! He was shocked to find out that we actually spoke some Chinese. When we told him that we were Americans. He then started yelling to everyone saying (in chinese of course) "We have Americans. Not English. Not Australian. They speak Chinese." He was very cute. Bella already charmed the head of the neighborhood grandmothers. They all keep a close eye on her. And we have many opportunities for play dates with other moms and new friends. We are thrilled about the possibilities of new relationships at our new place.
Pictures of the new apartment coming very soon! As soon as we get settled in, I will post!
We definitely have a long ways to go on getting completely settled. But we have most of the important things done. I was explaining Bella's closet to our AiYi. After I was finished, Philip walked into the room. "Aw man, husband you missed the tutorial on Bella's closet." To which he said, "Yea... I heard something about 'you put the colored socks here and the white socks there' and decided not to come in." :)
Bella was a little confused by the transition. We recently traveled out of town for our visa. We started moving the next week. But there was a problem with the bed in the new apartment and a delay in getting some necessary components for living, so for several days all of our belongings were at the new place but we needed to sleep at the old apartment. We got things worked out and slept at the new place for two nights before heading out of town again. Definitely potential for confusion. But she handled it wonderfully!
In fact, Bella has had quite the life on the move so far. In the past year, we have lived in two countries, three states, and a two month period where we were nomads traveling around to visit family and say good-byes. Its been a lot of transition. In the past, we have had people criticize us for not providing a stable home for Bella. I would be lying if I said there weren't moments where that that criticism is used to whisper thoughts of doubt to our hearts about following what we know is right. But we continue to find that His plans are sovereign and we are covered in grace. I have learned that the stability that we provide Bella is not four walls and a roof, but lots of love.
For us, lots of moving around means lots of extra hugs and kisses. It means taking time out of a very busy day for a tea party with Bella Bella, Big Bird, Elmo, and big puppy dog. It takes a little effort and "living and learning mistakes" to view things from her perspective. For example, in the middle of our move, I left our sleeping girl with a friend so I could make a trip to the new place. She woke up in a strange apartment with no mommy or daddy. Not my best move. And we paid with a sleepless and restless night that night. We also have decided to let her indulge in comfort items. Bella loves her binky! There have been some insecure moments during the changes where Bella wants one binky for her mouth and one binky for each hand. Overall, having been through so many changes Bella has become a very adaptable and well adjusted little girl. The latest move, was no exception. Emma also did great. I am one tired Mama - that is for sure! But we are both doing great and healthily growing.
Thank you for those of you who have been thinking of our family during these changes and our most recent move! Apartment pictures coming soon!
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| This is as far as a Chinese XL T-shirt goes on a 6 month pregnant American. |
As far as moves go, the move this past week into our new apartment went pretty smooth. It helped a lot that we were only moving about 15 minutes down the street and had almost no furniture to move. We LOVE LOVE LOVE our new apartment. It is totally toddler friendly (specifically our mountain climber / gymnast Bella)! We even have a nice patio that over looks a little play ground out back. Most of all, we are so thankful to get rid of our make shift baby gate which was a wall of suitcases blocking off the stairs to the split level.
It is in an older and much smaller apartment complex. We have already met so many new neighbors and friends! Our first look at the new place we met a boy around 8 years old. He ran around like the town cryer announcing to everyone that there were foreigners! He was shocked to find out that we actually spoke some Chinese. When we told him that we were Americans. He then started yelling to everyone saying (in chinese of course) "We have Americans. Not English. Not Australian. They speak Chinese." He was very cute. Bella already charmed the head of the neighborhood grandmothers. They all keep a close eye on her. And we have many opportunities for play dates with other moms and new friends. We are thrilled about the possibilities of new relationships at our new place.
Pictures of the new apartment coming very soon! As soon as we get settled in, I will post!
We definitely have a long ways to go on getting completely settled. But we have most of the important things done. I was explaining Bella's closet to our AiYi. After I was finished, Philip walked into the room. "Aw man, husband you missed the tutorial on Bella's closet." To which he said, "Yea... I heard something about 'you put the colored socks here and the white socks there' and decided not to come in." :)
Bella was a little confused by the transition. We recently traveled out of town for our visa. We started moving the next week. But there was a problem with the bed in the new apartment and a delay in getting some necessary components for living, so for several days all of our belongings were at the new place but we needed to sleep at the old apartment. We got things worked out and slept at the new place for two nights before heading out of town again. Definitely potential for confusion. But she handled it wonderfully!
In fact, Bella has had quite the life on the move so far. In the past year, we have lived in two countries, three states, and a two month period where we were nomads traveling around to visit family and say good-byes. Its been a lot of transition. In the past, we have had people criticize us for not providing a stable home for Bella. I would be lying if I said there weren't moments where that that criticism is used to whisper thoughts of doubt to our hearts about following what we know is right. But we continue to find that His plans are sovereign and we are covered in grace. I have learned that the stability that we provide Bella is not four walls and a roof, but lots of love.
For us, lots of moving around means lots of extra hugs and kisses. It means taking time out of a very busy day for a tea party with Bella Bella, Big Bird, Elmo, and big puppy dog. It takes a little effort and "living and learning mistakes" to view things from her perspective. For example, in the middle of our move, I left our sleeping girl with a friend so I could make a trip to the new place. She woke up in a strange apartment with no mommy or daddy. Not my best move. And we paid with a sleepless and restless night that night. We also have decided to let her indulge in comfort items. Bella loves her binky! There have been some insecure moments during the changes where Bella wants one binky for her mouth and one binky for each hand. Overall, having been through so many changes Bella has become a very adaptable and well adjusted little girl. The latest move, was no exception. Emma also did great. I am one tired Mama - that is for sure! But we are both doing great and healthily growing.
Thank you for those of you who have been thinking of our family during these changes and our most recent move! Apartment pictures coming soon!
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