Ghost of Christmas Past

I was thinking about all the different places and different ways Jeff and I have celebrated Christmas the last 8 years. We've had some unique experiences and some very traditional one's. But overall the theme has remained the same. We come together as a family to celebrate a glorious savior.

2009: Taipei, Taiwan- We had a large, traditional Christmas dinner with some friends in our new apartment in Taipei.

2008: Bangkok, Thailand- We awaited the arrival of Ava and had a very small Christmas celebration with Chloe and then ate at an American Food restaurant with some other friends who were also waiting for babies.

2007: Chiang Mai, Thailand- Our Christmas began by distributing medicine and blankets to poor rural hilltribe villagers. We decorated a small Charlie Brown Christmas tree and then went out to eat at a local restaurant.

2006: Tulsa, OK- We welcomed Chloe to the world on Sept. 1 of that year and spent our first Christmas with children with our families.

2005: Tulsa, OK- As I recovered from running the Dallas marathon (pregnant) Jeff was busy with the busy Christmas retail season at his job. We spent Christmas day with our families.

2004: Tulsa, OK- This was the first year in our very own home. We had a big Christmas party that year and spent Christmas day with family.

2003: Chicago, IL- This was before the digital camera age. We flew back to Oklahoma for a week during Christmas. It was 10 degrees in Chicago and 65 degrees in OKlahoma. We moved back to OK unexpectedly three weeks later during an icy Illinois Blizzard. You know it's cold when the snot freezes in your nose.

2002: Chicago, IL- We drove back to Oklahoma for Christmas Day and were very eager to be out of the big city. It was lovely to spend some time with our families. For Thanksgiving that year we had friends over for a multicultural feast which included a vegetarian, Indian rice dish, a Mexican soup, and some deep south chicken and dumplings- all compliments of our guests.

2001: Tulsa, OK- Jeff and I had been married less than 6 mos. Jeff had his first job out of college and had to work 8am-5pm Christmas Day. I spent Christmas day with my Grandparents and we had a family gathering later in the week.

However, you chose to celebrate this year, we hope you had a wonderful rememberance of the reason for the season.

Earthquakes and Cold Fronts

Jeff returned late Saturday night from two weeks in America. I was extremely eager for him to return and tried to wait up but alas two weeks with two rambunctious girls I was dozing off before 9pm. Chloe was also anxious for Daddy's return so I let her lay in bed with me. About 10 minutes later the bed began shaking. I scolded Chloe for not laying still and then realized that it was shaking much more than her tiny 30lb frame could possibly accomplish. It was an earthquake. And not just any earthquake. It was a 6.4 about 90 miles south of Taipei. After I jerked Chloe out of the bed and ran to get Ava the shaking began to subside. Quite shaken myself I was wide awake most of the night until Jeff returned. The next morning Chloe awoke and was excited to see Daddy. But when he asked her if she wanted to get on our bed, she said "no Daddy, no more shake. It scare me." The quake didn't do any damage and was considered quite small but it did shake me up a bit.

We are weathering the cool front and it seems to be getting warmer for the next few days. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy a New Year

We're Back

Special thanks goes out to our neighbor and friend for getting our internet working at our new apartment.

In other news- it's COLD. Today was about 50 degrees and raining. That doesn't sound too cold until you consider the fact that we have cement walls with no insulation, tile floors and lots of big beautiful glass doors and windows and NO heating. So, basically it is the same temp inside as it is outside. This cold spell hit just at the right time though because we had packed two oil radiator heaters and two electric blankets to keep us all snug and cozy through the cold nights.

Last night, I was tired from unpacking tons of boxes and decided against plugging in the electric blanket. I also only unpacked one heater and put it in the room for the girls on low. Around midnight I regretted both of those decisions. The girls woke up cold and my nose was frozen. I turned up their heater and they stayed cozy the rest of the evening and I slept with the blankets over my head in my new super-comfy king-size bed. Thank you T and J! Tonight I will use the electric blanket AND heater. :)

The apartment is waaayyy too embarrasing to post any pics of it just yet. We have stuff everywhere and I found one really old, dirty diaper in amongst a pile of boxes from some furniture we set up several weeks ago. I'll let you use your imagination but let's just say the beginnings of flies were all over it.

Jeff returns late tomorrow night to a new home and a new bed. The last two weeks have been very good for me because contrary to what I thought would have happened I actually really enjoyed the girls. It's been a little daunting at times to juggle both girls, moving stuff from one apartment to the other, unloading boxes and trying to keep elevator doors from closing on us in the process. But overall it's been really fun to just have some mommy and Chloe and Ava time. This morning we had a breakfast picnic in their new playroom under their old Dora tent. Partly because it was so cold in the apartment that the three of us in the tent with the heater on was nice and toasty.

I'll post pics of our new neighborhood whenever it stops raining.

On the road again...

Well, our crate arrived today- hooray!!

We have moved in to our new apartment buuuuutttt... our internet does not work over there. So this is just a real quick update until we get the bugs worked out on our internet.

If you try to call us or email me and I don't answer- don't be alarmed it's just bum internet. I'm sure we will be back up by the middle of next week.

Jeff returns late saturday night and I absolutely can't wait. The girls and I are unpacking all our stuff and it's like Christmas come early.

We'll talk soon.

One week down, one to go

This week has been busy to say the least acting as a single parent. Ava got over her icky illness and thankfully Chloe nor I became sick. Chloe helped me put up our Christmas tree (pics to come after Jeff returns and helps me stand it up straighter- it's leaning a bit to the left at the moment and I need help to fix it). It's a really pretty tree and I was very excited to have a nice tree again after the last two Charlie Brown trees.


Actually, it's hard to believe it's been a year now but this time last year we were in Bangkok awaiting the arrival of little Ava.


I received word that our crate has arrived in the port and now it is just going through customs and then will be delivered to our door sometime next week or the week after. The sooner, the better I say. Even though Jeff will be gone, it would really be nice to be moved in to our new place before he returns. Then, we could maybe even be unpacked before Christmas. I just can't wait to have a stable and permanent, comfortable apartment once again. We have been in transition for so long and I can't wait to unpack for good.


We got a lot done this week while Jeff was away. I finished putting together furniture and have started cleaning up the apartment in anticipation of moving.



Last Friday before Jeff left, we took a very short trip to the ocean. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful drive through the national park exploring around this great island. Here are some pics:



This is a hot spring coming out of the mountain side




And the gorgeous ocean

And the gorgeous children

And of course, their gorgeous mother. :)

And the gorgeous children with their handsome father. Everything was extra pretty that day.

All better now?

Well, Ava woke up from her nap today ready to play and HUNGRY. So I think she may be getting over this icky, icky flu. I was finally able to bring her temp down using only Ibuprofen and she seems like her normal self again. Exploring everything and eating it. Come to think of it- that is probably why she got sick in the first place- eating everything she finds.

Anyways, a friend of mine passed along the following link about trash and recycling in Taiwan. It's pretty amusing because it is so true. We have forced recycling here and it has taken a little while to get used to separating paper from plastic from plastic bottle from just regular garbage. And since we don't have garbage disposals it makes trash duty that much stinkier. We are fortunate to be one of those people who has a trash collector for the building that takes care of actually meeting the garbage man and recycling dudes on the street. If I could ever get a picture of the cardboard man, you'll love it. It's this little old man on a tiny little motorcycle piled 10feet high with cardboard boxes and random plastic bags. The motorcycle sounds like it can barely make it down the city streets. It was a jaw dropping experience the first time we saw him. Anyways, read the link- it's pretty funny (at least for us)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112901887.html

Jeff leaves for America- A day that will live in infamy

It's not everyday that you get to stay up all night with a sick child, spend three hours in a hospital emergency room with a baby with a fever of 103.5, see your husband off to the airport and star in a student film. It seems that even on the days that we try to relax and take it easy stuff just finds us to do.

Last night, Ava began running a fever. All night Jeff and I battled keeping it below 102. Despite our best attempts it spiked to almost 104 early this morning and so it was off to the emergency room for Chloe, Ava and I. The whole time on the way to the hospital I was having flashbacks from when Chloe was just slightly older and we had just arrived in Thailand. This pic is of Chloe almost two years ago after she had her first febrile seizure.

This was the first time Ava has ever been sick and it has hit her hard. The docs ruled out anything serious (swine flu, bird flu, meningitis, etc.) and sent us home with some medicine and instructions to return if she becomes dehydrated from vomiting/diarrhea. Her fever spiked again this afternoon to 103.2 but I had some super-powered medicine to knock it out. Thankfully she has not had any seizures depsite the high temps. Please remember her and ask that she will be feeling better very soon and that Chloe and I will remain healthy.

Jeff had to catch a shuttle to the airport at 8am while we were in the emergency room. He will be gone for the next two weeks for some training on his new research job. Unfortunately, we were not able to tell him goodbye with hugs and kisses and we love you's. But thanks to modern technology and the internet we can talk free of charge as long as wish while he is away. Please remember him as well.

Later this afternoon, Bubs was feeling better. (That's Ava's nickname. When she was born Chloe always called her "bubby sissy" for "baby sister" and the shortened form Bubby or Bubs has just stuck.) Anyways, we ventured out to the drug store for some more Children's Tylenol (which is non-existent) and stopped at McDonald's for something to eat. I had to stop for Tylenol because earlier today Chloe had poured all the remaining Children's Tylenol into a cup with all the remaining Children's Ibuprofen and mixed it with her remaining Apple Juice. I am so thankful that she did not decide to drink it. When it rains it pours, eh?

On our way back home from doing all of the above, I was stopped by some film students from the University across the street. It seems that they were doing a student film and needed a foreigner. Ava was feeling better and it was nice to be out of the sick apartment. So, the girls and I spent about 15 minutes asking various questions in English and then posing for the camera. It was pretty funny for the Chinese students to try to explain to me what to do in their broken English and my non-existent Chinese. Nevertheless they were very grateful for our help. And I think I'm a natural. If this whole overseas thing doesn't work out maybe Hollywood will.

That is a lot for one day and to think that it is only 5 pm. What else will this day find for us? Hopefully no more trips to the doctor.

Month In Review

Well, we have been in the great city of Taipei for almost one month. We have been living in a temporary apartment that seems to never stay clean thanks to the help of two little urchins. The littlest urchin has slept through the night twice in six weeks and the older urchin gets her kicks out of hearing the little one scream.

Every time we leave the apartment it is an adventure in patience as well as a risk that we may never make it back where we started from. Driving is not so bad as trying to get where you want to go due to the no-left turn rule. I challenge you to try for one day driving your normal routine without ANY left turns. Just try it and get back to me. For real!

Jeff leaves on Saturday for two weeks in America and there is a greater than 99% chance that our ocean freight will arrive before he gets back. Fortunately, we have some great friends who have offered to help me while I move in to our new and permanent apartment. We are moving into an awesome place that aches for visitors (hint, hint).

Learning Chinese is giving me a headache and all that seems to come out of my mouth is Thai. I can't use the correct tone to save my life. When I practice what I have learned on the street the people look at me like I just insulted their mother or dog and then called them fat. Then they laugh at me, say something unintelligible, take a picture of the girls and walk off continuing to laugh. Jeff is no better at it than I am.

Regardless, we have met some really great people. Chloe has already attended a birthday party and we have already made a great Taiwanese friend who has daughters close to the same ages as Chloe and Ava. Speaking of the little boogers. Here are some new pics:


Ava has decided that she is a puppy and walks around with this soccer ball in her mouth. I think she is teething. At least that is what I tell myself because the alternative is that my child is not normal. That thought is just too much to handle with everything else going on.

And here is sweet, independent, strong-willed, I'm not going to listen to you, how many times do you have to sit in time-out to stop hitting your sister, how did the terrible two's become the terrible three's, fiery little Chloe.

Making brownies. Aaaghh comfort food. Send more Pinto Beans and Malt-O-Meal!