love this one!!!
almost four months old....a big boy!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Clear skies mean...
HOT HOT! The rains have stopped for a bit and left us sticky hot, just like in the U.S. (from what we hear)...
the view from our window. We are thankful that we live in a city in China where skies are still blue, even though there is a ton of construction going on.
This is from the girls' bedroom window. Sophia loves to climb up on her table and quote Ps. 121:1-2
And even though it is 100 degrees literally, one morning the girls donned cute scarves and posed for the camera.
And Bella got in the bassinet to pretend she was a baby...
The bassinet is now stowed under our bed, so the girls often pull it out and play with it, either with themselves or with their dolls.
the view from our window. We are thankful that we live in a city in China where skies are still blue, even though there is a ton of construction going on.
This is from the girls' bedroom window. Sophia loves to climb up on her table and quote Ps. 121:1-2
And even though it is 100 degrees literally, one morning the girls donned cute scarves and posed for the camera.
And Bella got in the bassinet to pretend she was a baby...
The bassinet is now stowed under our bed, so the girls often pull it out and play with it, either with themselves or with their dolls.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
making biscuits together
This was the first time I let both girls help together. We were making biscuits for Sunday morning.
mainly they help with the dough part. Pat it down. Cut it out. Get more flour if necessary. Mainly what Bella wanted to do was play in the flour, or just wipe it on the floor.
anytime we say smile, Bella says 'cheese'.
Sophia is excellent at cutting out the biscuits
But Bella wasn't too bad either.
Although they never rise enough because I have trouble keeping my oven hot enough, they still turned out great. Thanks for the help girls.
(yes, entire outfits had to be changed)
mainly they help with the dough part. Pat it down. Cut it out. Get more flour if necessary. Mainly what Bella wanted to do was play in the flour, or just wipe it on the floor.
anytime we say smile, Bella says 'cheese'.
Sophia is excellent at cutting out the biscuits
But Bella wasn't too bad either.
Although they never rise enough because I have trouble keeping my oven hot enough, they still turned out great. Thanks for the help girls.
(yes, entire outfits had to be changed)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Our time in Thailand
July 10-17, 2011
We traveled with our friends which was helpful for entertaining each others children:
Bella, are you sucking your thumb? When I asked her to stop she smiled and pulled the cover over the stroller...that girl, I tell ya!
In our hotel, Sophia watches Tobin sleep while Bella does her own thing.
Sophia's first trip to the dentist. David took her and then I brought the other two up later for my own cleaning. Sophia did a great job, she did cry some, but it was a success, no cavities. This is Dr. Joy, the dentist. Sophia received a princess crown from the doctor for her first visit. The plan was for Sophia to watch a video in the room where David was getting his teeth cleaned and then I would come up there and he would watch the three and wait for me....But isn't God good that when Sophia walked out of her appointment, BIG CALEB was there with his family to see the dentist too. This was a great time of catching up! What a blessing, Sophia had a great time with Caleb's sister Anna who is five. Their whole family is incredible we love any chance we can get with them, dentist waiting room or not.
playing a game that the airline gave us, and donning the princess crown, of course.
The view from the room, there are mountains out there, we love Chiang Mai.
(notice Sophia's peace sign, such an Asian thing to do for a picture!)
poor Bella, she arrived with a high fever, we finally took her to the doc, she woke up multiple times in the night coughing. She is a trooper!
The crew that watched the kids had a NYC theme, now Sophia knows what the Statue of Liberty is, sort of.
playing a game on daddy's iphone while Bella cuddles.
Sophia shows her the ropes.
The childcare crew gave the parents a date night from 6:00-8:30 one night, SO Generous and helpful. What a blessing. I worked Tobin's schedule so that we could go. The kids had a blast.
back from the date. We went and ate at one of our favorite restaurants and then talked over coffee at Starbucks. I love this man, my very best friend.
One of Bella's teachers. These women were phenomenal in their endeavor to take care of all of our kids! Thank you!
We traveled with our friends which was helpful for entertaining each others children:
Bella, are you sucking your thumb? When I asked her to stop she smiled and pulled the cover over the stroller...that girl, I tell ya!
In our hotel, Sophia watches Tobin sleep while Bella does her own thing.
Sophia's first trip to the dentist. David took her and then I brought the other two up later for my own cleaning. Sophia did a great job, she did cry some, but it was a success, no cavities. This is Dr. Joy, the dentist. Sophia received a princess crown from the doctor for her first visit. The plan was for Sophia to watch a video in the room where David was getting his teeth cleaned and then I would come up there and he would watch the three and wait for me....But isn't God good that when Sophia walked out of her appointment, BIG CALEB was there with his family to see the dentist too. This was a great time of catching up! What a blessing, Sophia had a great time with Caleb's sister Anna who is five. Their whole family is incredible we love any chance we can get with them, dentist waiting room or not.
playing a game that the airline gave us, and donning the princess crown, of course.
The view from the room, there are mountains out there, we love Chiang Mai.
(notice Sophia's peace sign, such an Asian thing to do for a picture!)
poor Bella, she arrived with a high fever, we finally took her to the doc, she woke up multiple times in the night coughing. She is a trooper!
The crew that watched the kids had a NYC theme, now Sophia knows what the Statue of Liberty is, sort of.
playing a game on daddy's iphone while Bella cuddles.
Sophia shows her the ropes.
The childcare crew gave the parents a date night from 6:00-8:30 one night, SO Generous and helpful. What a blessing. I worked Tobin's schedule so that we could go. The kids had a blast.
back from the date. We went and ate at one of our favorite restaurants and then talked over coffee at Starbucks. I love this man, my very best friend.
One of Bella's teachers. These women were phenomenal in their endeavor to take care of all of our kids! Thank you!
more princesses
Poppy and CC got the Sophia some new princess dresses for her birthday (we did this via taobao, Chinese amazon, so easy)
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Bella speak
the only time she has let me put her hair up, now that she has some.
love this outfit Poppy and CC sent, we called her strawberry shortcake all day.
Bella definitely competes with Sophia on being chatty these days...she goes through life and narrates what is going on...it is quite hilarious. Will Tobin be able to get a word in? He did coo back at daddy the other day...
One night at dinner, David was instilling some discipline and said to Bella:
'do not say 'no' to mommy.'
Her reply? 'no, daddy.' (I smile and look the other way)
Changing her diaper, the sticky tape stuck to her leg:
'ouch. Mommy you got me...' and she giggles 'you got me momma, ha ha...hee.hee.'
She was standing there rocking her baby doll when I smelled a foul odor:
'Bella, do you have a poo poo?'
'no, it is my baby.....let me smell (turns baby over and smells her bottom)...(with a face of disgust and concern) Diarrhea!'
Another time of discipline:
she will say 'ouch, that hurts' but she will not cry, she is a tough cookie.
one time she said that same phrase to David and then as he continued talking to her he just tapped her lightly with the spoon and finished his lecture, she said: 'I like that spanking.'
Any time she hears fire crackers (which is almost daily, as the funeral processions go right by our house on the way to the cemetary and any time there is a new store opening they go off), she says: 'bian paos (firecracker in chinese), I'm scared' and she covers her ears.
She has a serious whiny voice, that is so pouty cute, but we are really trying now to get her to 'say it in a normal voice,' and 'use your words' She is catching on.
'Tobin smelled at me!!!" (Tobin smiled at me), she loves it when he smiles. So do we.
Sophia's birthday at school
June 30, 2011
Sophia's teachers took picture of her at school on her birthday. I thought this was very thoughtful, they also sang to her, of course. Right now her school is on summer break, so we are making a summer plan (this may just be to not really 'plan' much at all!), which started with a trip to Thailand, of course.
Sophia told me she had twins in her class and I didn't quite believe her because last semester she did not, but then I saw them (front right). I asked her if she could tell them apart, and she said no, they look almost exactly alike!
Sophia's teachers took picture of her at school on her birthday. I thought this was very thoughtful, they also sang to her, of course. Right now her school is on summer break, so we are making a summer plan (this may just be to not really 'plan' much at all!), which started with a trip to Thailand, of course.
Sophia told me she had twins in her class and I didn't quite believe her because last semester she did not, but then I saw them (front right). I asked her if she could tell them apart, and she said no, they look almost exactly alike!
Tobin at 3 months
Tobin Elias is smiling, cooing, and still growing well.
While we were in Thailand he got is 2 months shot (yes a month late, no worries), we brought back in his 4 and 6 month shots to be given here. He also came back with the gunk that Bella had when we arrived there. Now, just his cough lingers.
He also started waking up again in the middle of the night to eat sometimes. So his eating schedule is something like this:
6 or 6:30 a.m.
9:30
12:30
3:30
6:30
9:30
(and then sometimes in the night!)
He weighed in at 7.1 kg, which is just over 15 lbs. and that is into the 90th percentile, for height he was in the 50th percentile.
He is well loved by all and his nickname in both local langauges here is 'little fat guy'.
Oh, and did I mention he is a steady thumb sucker, no matter how hard we try....we actually saw him doing this when he was in my belly, so as we say in this land: mei banfa, (there is no way to stop it).
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Another link
My sis Julie wrote another good post about my Grandma and her funeral, Go here to read it.
Amazingly David and I got to watch the funeral streaming live while we were in Thailand, it was at 9 p.m. our time, it really was incredible. We were so thankful to be able to participate in a small way. Travis lead the service and did an incredible job, Julie spoke and made me cry, and Herschel spoke and made me laugh and remember such funny lessons from my Grandma, Julie wrote about them in her post, I may re-post them soon too...(thanks for the pics, Julie, they are making this reality for me...and needful tears came).
Amazingly David and I got to watch the funeral streaming live while we were in Thailand, it was at 9 p.m. our time, it really was incredible. We were so thankful to be able to participate in a small way. Travis lead the service and did an incredible job, Julie spoke and made me cry, and Herschel spoke and made me laugh and remember such funny lessons from my Grandma, Julie wrote about them in her post, I may re-post them soon too...(thanks for the pics, Julie, they are making this reality for me...and needful tears came).
Back to reality
In light of many things that have been going on (Grandma, other serious issues in the USA, other issues here, more and more sickness, travel), I really did not feel much like blogging, even if I did have the time. Even last night I had a few minutes, but couldn't muster the energy to pour out anything, not even a picture. Of course this is a life journal of sorts, and writing helps me process, but I am still sorting out the jumbled-ness of daily life right now. I know blogging will help, but sometimes the words seem so trite in the midst of such weighty things. But I am getting back into it. One of my best friends (who knows most all the details of these recent days) wrote and said:
"Well, your blog has been silent long enough. I have been going through Coker withdrawal...... Other than the obvious, everything okay on that end?"
Love this girl. She wrote me lots of encouraging words, but this made me chuckle.
Yes, all is okay, and the mundane tasks that keep me sane will return to Coke-lite soon and very soon.
"Well, your blog has been silent long enough. I have been going through Coker withdrawal...... Other than the obvious, everything okay on that end?"
Love this girl. She wrote me lots of encouraging words, but this made me chuckle.
Yes, all is okay, and the mundane tasks that keep me sane will return to Coke-lite soon and very soon.
forward motion
whether I want it to or not, life is moving forward. Sometimes I think a pause would be nice, to help process, catch my breath, take the blows better, enjoy the 'joys' more fully. But no. The grace-filled life is one that can take blows, enjoy 'joys', and REST in the goodness of the One who ordains it all, while the storms still pound the soul. So, that has been my struggle of late. Honestly though it is a good struggle. I am still trusting, still believing, still knowing where all hope lies, I am not despairing, though at times I thought I might. Grandma's death was just one major hurt in the midst of many that are weighing heavily here, and my faith grows through the pain. Yes, Jesus is my all in all. I reheard one of my favorite OLD hymns lately and it bids me trust in Him, wholly, and rest in His arms:
Come Ye sinners Poor and needy.
Weak and wounded Sick and sore.
Jesus ready Stands to save you.
Full of pity Love and power.
(Chorus)
I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms.
In the arms of my dear Saviour
O There are ten thousand charms.
Come Ye thirsty Come and welcome.
God's free bounty glorify.
True belief and true repentance.
Every grace that brings you nigh.
Come Ye weary Heavy-laden.
Lost and ruined by the fall.
If you tarry 'til you're better.
You will never come at all.
View Him prostrate in the garden.
On the ground your Maker lies.
On the bloody tree behold Him.
Sinner will this not suffice.
Lo! The incarnate God ascended.
Pleads the merit of His blood.
Venture on Him Venture wholly.
Let no other trust intrude.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Pinnie W. Oliver 1922-2011
Here is a link to my Grandma's obituary: CLICK HERE
Four weeks ago Grandma was in California on a trip to participate in the National Board Meeting of Boy Scouts, in which she has been involved since 1958. She returned quite sick, the doctors were not sure all that was wrong with her, except that she had pneumonia and some kind of virus. She spent the next three and a half weeks in the hospital, she was mentally sound but suffering. After she could no longer breathe on her own and her body seemed to be shutting down they decided to take her off of the ventilator. She lived for almost 24 hours after that and went peacefully to be with Jesus on the fourth of July.
The week has been quite trying and emotional for so many reasons and I have journalled about it, I may slowly post some of those reflections and details, but for now I want to repost this tribute to my Grandma that I wrote for her 87th birthday:
Four weeks ago Grandma was in California on a trip to participate in the National Board Meeting of Boy Scouts, in which she has been involved since 1958. She returned quite sick, the doctors were not sure all that was wrong with her, except that she had pneumonia and some kind of virus. She spent the next three and a half weeks in the hospital, she was mentally sound but suffering. After she could no longer breathe on her own and her body seemed to be shutting down they decided to take her off of the ventilator. She lived for almost 24 hours after that and went peacefully to be with Jesus on the fourth of July.
The week has been quite trying and emotional for so many reasons and I have journalled about it, I may slowly post some of those reflections and details, but for now I want to repost this tribute to my Grandma that I wrote for her 87th birthday:
Grandma Pinnie, 87 years old today
I had a fairly good childhood. Sounds vague and unimaginative , I know, but without making this some divulgent (I just made up that word) diary, this actually best describes it, for now. There are things I wish I could forget, things I wish I could remember better…and on and on. But what I do know to be true and what I am thankful that I remember clearly (in my own interpretation of events), is that my Grandma Pinnie.. .she was real, she was there, she was everything a Grandma should be and then some. She made our family seem real, and if you don’t understand what I mean here is a little background…
I grew up in a ‘broken’ home, whatever that means. You can have a very broken home with parents still married but what I mean here is that my parents divorced when I was very young, and my siblings and I went back and forth between our parent’s houses. This was normal for me because I was so young, I don’t remember it any other way. And everything turned out okay. My brother and sister are both people I love dearly and admire tremendously. I do know that their interpretation of events are certainly different from mine, simply because I was the baby, they experienced a lot before I ever existed. But, by the simple and profound grace of God we grew to adulthood without criminal records, with college degrees plus some, and as great friends. Grandma’s house may have had something to do with this. In a subtle way I think it is true.
You see, I remember coveting (being seriously jealous of) my friends who went on family vacations every summer to neat places and neat just because it was with their family. Wow. What would that be like? We went to my Grandma Pinnie’s. It included a beach, and great fishing, but it also included Grandma. She came to our birthdays, she came to our graduations, she came and went as a constant in our life. And those summers were a constant. And one of the coolest things? She gave us those ‘neat family vacations.’ I didn’t think about it at the time but now I know that is exactly what they were. Every summer for three to four years at least she took us (the three kids), on some pretty exciting adventures. One time she took us to New Mexico, my third grade year, my first time on an airplane. We camped out, made candles, saw bears in the wild (obviously not on purpose), and where I had my ‘most embarrassing moment’ when I peed in my pants on a long hike because I didn’t want to go in the woods. By the time we got back to the campground my Grandma had already found out about this and she didn’t laugh or make me feel small, she comforted me and was not embarrassed by her 8 year old granddaughter having an ‘accident.’ Whew. I will always remember Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. One summer she drove us all the way from Florida to New York City stopping along the way for another incredible adventure. In New York City we all four walked up to the top of the crown of the Statue of Liberty, where most of the steps are a spiral staircase. That was my 65+ year old Grandma Pinnie.
Today at 87, she remains the woman who, for me growing up, gave predictability, unhindered love, and countless hours to sharing in her grandchildren’s lives. And she may not have known (until now), how deeply, uniquely, and awesomely, her presence affected my childhood and certainly my adulthood. I am grateful to God for giving her to me. Happy 87th Birthday Grandma! I love you.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
My Grandma
Thank you everyone who has been praying and writing. My Grandma Pinnie went to be with the Lord July 4th at 1:40 p.m. EST.
I may post more details later, but please continue to keep my family in your prayers. Thank you, Thank you.
I may post more details later, but please continue to keep my family in your prayers. Thank you, Thank you.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Four going on...marriage???
"I am going to marry Caleb?"
"Little Caleb?' (I have to ask because 'Big Caleb' has been her 'best friend' for so long now, though she has only seen him once in the past year)
"yes, Caleb, from downstairs"
(I smile, and nod, she hasn't said this before so I ask her why she wants to marry Caleb)
"because I told him I would a long time ago"
(I laugh, I can think of many other reasons, like he is quite the gentleman, opening doors, helping her up onto the tuk tuk, getting her 'car' out for her, etc. but her reasoning was pretty good I suppose)
"Little Caleb?' (I have to ask because 'Big Caleb' has been her 'best friend' for so long now, though she has only seen him once in the past year)
"yes, Caleb, from downstairs"
(I smile, and nod, she hasn't said this before so I ask her why she wants to marry Caleb)
"because I told him I would a long time ago"
(I laugh, I can think of many other reasons, like he is quite the gentleman, opening doors, helping her up onto the tuk tuk, getting her 'car' out for her, etc. but her reasoning was pretty good I suppose)
Sophia is four: breakfast and cake unveiling
6.30.2011
Sophia turned four years old today....
The day started with her choice: chocolate chip pancakes. She was going to go with waffles because she knows those are daddy's favorite, we really had to convince her to go with what she wanted...but it was a sweet thought.
I let her wear the same dress two days in a row, this is her best 'twirling' dress.
All the chips were at the bottom of the batter, so she got some VERY chocolaty pancakes.
she doesn't wear bibs anymore but to protect the dress from what I knew would be chocolate smear central, she donned the hippo bib.
Then we told her she could see her cake that I decorated the night before
months ago Sophia told me she wanted a 'chocolate eclair cake with sprinkles on top' (this would be very easy). Then she paused and continued her sentence: 'with the three little pigs, and a big bad wolf on it too'. My reply: 'umm.......' long pause, laugh, 'we will have to see about that.'
But then I started thinking through ideas and came up with some. I had fun doing this, and laughed at myself quite a bit.
she was delighted, and wanted to show everyone. She said: 'I have such a funny cake.' and her phrase when she just can't quite describe something, she says with a smile: 'I just don't know what to think about it.' This made my heart smile.
each pig is sitting in front of their house. The straw house is a crumbled up oily puff thing that is a local product, the sticks are chocolate sticks, and the brick house is coconut wafers with icing as the mortar (it is actually not structurally sound at all). Notice the smartest pig happens to be the one with the soccer ball. The 'wolf' is a famous character out of a Chinese's children's cartoon 'xi yang yang' and other sheep that are always feuding with this wolf and one other. I don't love this cartoon, but our old helper gave the video to the girls and we have watched it some. Sophia loves it. And these characters are ALL over China, on clothes, on bikes, on toys. It was the only toy wolf I could find, and she loved it.
We continued the theme into her party. This year we stuck with an ex-pat party. Next year we hope to do one with friends from school. She does have a few friends she plays with a lot, but I figured I would give a little more time for those to develop (one day her friends are 'mean' the next day 'nice', according to her, sound fickle just like her).
We made all these pigs for the 'pin the pig on the brick house' game, but I decided to decorate with them first. while I spent the afternoon decorating, I gave Tobin some tummy time:
he usually spits up and it doesn't last long, but he did pretty well this time.
As expected, Sophia did not sleep during nap time (in fact, I think she is dropping this nap).
Sophia turned four years old today....
The day started with her choice: chocolate chip pancakes. She was going to go with waffles because she knows those are daddy's favorite, we really had to convince her to go with what she wanted...but it was a sweet thought.
I let her wear the same dress two days in a row, this is her best 'twirling' dress.
All the chips were at the bottom of the batter, so she got some VERY chocolaty pancakes.
she doesn't wear bibs anymore but to protect the dress from what I knew would be chocolate smear central, she donned the hippo bib.
Then we told her she could see her cake that I decorated the night before
months ago Sophia told me she wanted a 'chocolate eclair cake with sprinkles on top' (this would be very easy). Then she paused and continued her sentence: 'with the three little pigs, and a big bad wolf on it too'. My reply: 'umm.......' long pause, laugh, 'we will have to see about that.'
But then I started thinking through ideas and came up with some. I had fun doing this, and laughed at myself quite a bit.
she was delighted, and wanted to show everyone. She said: 'I have such a funny cake.' and her phrase when she just can't quite describe something, she says with a smile: 'I just don't know what to think about it.' This made my heart smile.
each pig is sitting in front of their house. The straw house is a crumbled up oily puff thing that is a local product, the sticks are chocolate sticks, and the brick house is coconut wafers with icing as the mortar (it is actually not structurally sound at all). Notice the smartest pig happens to be the one with the soccer ball. The 'wolf' is a famous character out of a Chinese's children's cartoon 'xi yang yang' and other sheep that are always feuding with this wolf and one other. I don't love this cartoon, but our old helper gave the video to the girls and we have watched it some. Sophia loves it. And these characters are ALL over China, on clothes, on bikes, on toys. It was the only toy wolf I could find, and she loved it.
We continued the theme into her party. This year we stuck with an ex-pat party. Next year we hope to do one with friends from school. She does have a few friends she plays with a lot, but I figured I would give a little more time for those to develop (one day her friends are 'mean' the next day 'nice', according to her, sound fickle just like her).
We made all these pigs for the 'pin the pig on the brick house' game, but I decided to decorate with them first. while I spent the afternoon decorating, I gave Tobin some tummy time:
he usually spits up and it doesn't last long, but he did pretty well this time.
As expected, Sophia did not sleep during nap time (in fact, I think she is dropping this nap).
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