Feats of Strength

Welll, it isn't quite Festivus time yet but Chloe and Ava did demonstrate their feats of strength this week. (watch "Seinfeld" episode "The Strike" to understand reference to Festivus)

First of all Chloe is potty-trained!! Yeah!!

And Ava learned to roll over and sit-up all in the same week and she isn't even 6 mos old yet. She's Gifted!! :)

Way to go girls!

Chloe and Ava's week with Grandma

Jeff and I had to take a trip to Richmond last week. Chloe and Ava spent the week with Heather's mom and grandmother. Aunt Melissa then watched them on Saturday before we got home. Here's how their week went:

Day 1: Arrive and receive LONG list of instruction from Heather that included 8 pages on Chloe with complete information on food allergies, daily medications, eczema, preschool, potty-training and what to do in case of seizure and 1 sentence for Ava- "Give pacifier and lay down to sleep."

Day 2: Having fun with the grandkids. I wish I could understand what Chloe was saying.

Day 3: Chloe sure does talk A LOT and goodness she is active. I may be getting too old for this.

Day 4: Uhh, ohh. We got a flat tire on the van, the girls are out of clean clothes and I'm not sure what Chloe has in her mouth. Is Ava still breathing!?

Day 5: I am so glad that Aunt Melissa is coming to stay with the girls today. I think I threw my back out and Chloe hasn't slept in two nights. Jeff and Heather come home soon.

Thank you Mom and Grandma for watching our precious children.

PTL

A little over a year ago, Chloe was a little behind in her development. She was close to 18mos. old and was still unable to roll over, crawl or move from a laying to a sitting to a standing position on her own. She also did not have any words and didn't even assign the title of "momma" and "dadda" to me or Jeff.

Obviously, we were concerned and on the advice of an American Pediatrician we took her to a developmental pediatrician in Bangkok. The pediatrician recommended we begin physical therapy a couple times per week in our city and then periodically do follow-up visits with a speech therapist in Bangkok.

Finding an English-speaking speech therapist in Asia is akin to finding a million dollars in a trashcan. It just isn't common. So every month Chloe and I would fly to bangkok, visit the speech therapist and then fly back all on the same day. Fortunately, we were able to work with our local hospital in Chiang Mai to provide physical and occupational therapy for Chloe twice per week.

We also explored the possibilities of Muscular Dystrophy, Austism and Cerebral Palsy. An MRI and CT scan were done to explore possibilities of epilepsy because of her febrile seizures and family history. All tests came back normal.

Last week, we had a developmental specialist and a speech therapist evaluate Chloe's progress. I am pleased to report that Chloe is on par in most all areas of development. She is still slightly behind in language but not enough to warrant continued speech therapy. Additionally, she no longer needs to continue physical or occupational therapy.

This is a huge blessing because if the therapist had recommended continued speech therapy we would have possibly had to reconsider our position with our company. English speech therapy resources are not available in most parts of Asia which would mean that we probably would not have been able to return overseas.

We have been so blessed with this news and are looking forward to not having to spend gobs of time visiting doctors and specialists in Taiwan.

Funny Friday

I know today is Saturday but I was really busy yesterday and I didn't want to wait another week before I introduced "funny friday". A friend of mine does this on her blog and I thought it was a great idea. Basically, when I don't have anything else new to share I will post a funny thought, picture or story.

This week's funny Friday is "Top 5 questions people who live overseas are asked" (with answers in parentheses)

1. Are you going to take your kids with you? (We were going to but if you are offering we would be happy to pick them up next stateside)

2. How close is Taiwan to the fighting in Iraq? (It's not. Not at all)

3. Will you live in a grass hut? (No, just no)

4. Was Taiwan damaged much by the 2004 Tsunami? (That's the wrong ocean, there is a continent in between.)

5. What will you do with all your stuff? (What stuff? We own 8 suitcases and a laptop- no home, no car, no TV)

Memorial Day Fun

We are trying to cram three years of family fun in the five months that we are back in the states. Of course one of the places everyone has to visit is the zoo. This memorial day we took Chloe and Ava and Heather's parents to see all the "strange" animals. Most kids are usually most impressed by the elephants but to Chloe an elephant is just another everyday animal. Seeing an elephant is a regular occurence on the streets in Thailand as a horse or cow is here in America. She liked the goats best. :)





Here is Ava and Granpa on the train...

And Aunt Melissa and Chloe...

as well as a little monkey business...

p.s. special thanks to our friends for the free passes! Thanks BJ and L.

Hello, Goodbye and a promise

Well many of you already know about our next steps but some may still be wondering where we are at, what we are going to do and when it will all take place. So here is a little update:

Several months ago, Jeff was exploring the idea of a career change. Not that accounting and finance aren't riveting and dynamic careers but he wanted something that better aligned with his passion for culture, geography and maps. As he explored, he discovered the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Upon further exploration it looked like he was going to have to go back to school to pursue this field.

Fortunately, just before returning to the states, he found a job doing the very thing he had considered going to school for. The best part is it would provide him with on-the-job training and did not require any extra schooling. However, the job is in Taiwan. To some, that would be a major downside but we are excited to be returning to Asia in October.

These summer months in the states will be filled with reconnecting with friends and family. We are fortunate to remain on salary and benefits during our time in transition between jobs.

I must apologize to those who read our blog regularly as I have been horrible at keeping it updated. (Here is where the promise comes in). I promise to update this blog at least once a week with at least just something funny or an update on our week.

We are so excited to be returning to Asia and hope that you will all visit us in Taiwan. In the meantime we really want to reconnect with our friends and would love to have you over for dinner or meet up for ice cream. If you are free to get together, send us an email at hjweathers@yahoo.com

Hope to see you all soon.

We comin' to America- Today!

Hey Everyone:

We board a plane to the US in just a few hours. We were so excited to get a flight plan that puts us landing in Tulsa in only 22 hours. That is crazy fast. Our trip to Thailand was more than 40 hours long. Yuck! This time we just have two stops (one in Seoul, Korea and the other in Dallas). The best part is that they should check our luggage the whole way. Yippee! So, Saturday at noon we will be landing at the Tulsa International Airport.

We are so excited to see our friends and catch up with our families. Let's get together for real.

See you Saturday at noon. And pray that the trip goes smoothly with two little kids.

Heather, Jeff, Chloe and Ava