a very different kind of birthday request

So have I ever mentioned that we have family members living in our city? Oh, I have? Yes, Jeff (Kevin's cousin), Amy, and 4 month-old baby Macy live here and we consider it a HUGE blessing to have them with us on this side of the ocean. And have I ever mentioned anything about the "baby swimming" cultural phenomenon that takes place here? Oh, I haven't? Well, let me fix that. First, let me explain how these two things are related. Yesterday was Jeff's birthday. And for his birthday, he had one request. Apparently since Amy was a few months pregnant, he's been excited about taking baby Macy to experience a swim-time just like the locals give to their babies. So, for his birthday he figured it would be a fun thing to do. And he invited Trinity and the rest of us to come along and experience baby swimming, Asian-style. Confused? Pictures will help. Welcome to the baby swim store! As you can see, each baby gets their own little pool. And it's hygienic: every baby gets a new plastic liner. Because there are no swim diapers and the baby will be, in fact, naked. This kind lady explained to us the thinking behind baby swimming. She said "little babies are usually being held or in their strollers and don't get much exercise, so this is good for them. Also, the swimming is good for their brain development." So there you have it. (BTW, you can see these little tubs sold in stores here for baby to swim at home as well.)

You can pay for a single trip, or if you want to buy a 10-time, 30-time, or 60-time card you can do that as well. The swim lady said coming every 2-3 days is best! As you can see from the little boy in the picture, the swim floaty is placed around their necks. There's nothing else to inhibit you in the water, so the baby can float around and kick and move to her heart's content.

But before we stripped the babies down to swim, they had a little warm-up exercise. Here's Macy loving her baby stretches. (This really made me smile! I mean, gotta warm up those muscles!) After this, she bathed Macy before she got in the little pool.

I was thinking Grace might want to get in a pool, too, and that I'd have to explain to her it was just for the babies, but she was totally fine with being a bystander on this one. She thought it was all pretty amusing.

Here's Macy's turn. At first she wasn't too sure about it...

but after a little reassurance from Mommy and Daddy,

and after a little playtime in the water without the cumbersome floaty ring around her neck,

she decided baby swimming was great! It was fun to watch her just hanging out and being cute in her pool.

Next up was Trinity's turn. She thought the warm-ups were great...

but when it came to swimming my normally go-with-the-flow 7 month-old was NOT happy about it! After we tried dangling her in there a few times to no avail, the lady told us that usually babies don't enjoy it after 6 months of age because they get scared. (I guess having a ring around your neck and being dangled in a pool is only fun for so long...) She didn't seem too surprised that Trinity didn't like it. So, word up, if you want to try this at home, start them early. The swim lady said its best to start them out swimming as newborns.

But even though Trinity didn't want to swim, the whole experience made us smile! Happy Birthday Jeff! This will definitely be a story for Macy's baby book.

because we definitely want to be fair

So it has been brought to my attention that, indeed, I've been neglecting my littlest child on the blog. So how 'bout a little Trinity update? At 6 months and 3 weeks old, Trinity: is still in that easygoing, happy-baby stage has been sitting like a pro for a month now,

but is probably still a ways off from crawling because her momma doesn't give her enough tummy time...

has 4 teeth that we worked hard for (as in some sleepless nights!)

and laughs for her big sister more than for any other family member

weighed in tonight at 9 kilograms (that's just under 20 pounds!!!) and is filling out her 6-9 month clothes

sometimes grinds her 4 teeth together (despite my pleas to stop!)

just started this past week to imitate us when we clap our hands

and simply brings us so much joy.

I love you, little one!

to the park

Going to "play" at the park is probably one of the biggest past-times people of all ages participate in here. On any given morning, night or weekend, you can find groups of people playing volleyball or badminton, older folks singing songs from "back in the day," others practicing their tai chi, or some playing instruments. It's actually a fun atmosphere, very communal. We have two huge parks near our home, one of which we've been frequenting a lot lately. This park has a playground with "real" swings (hard to come by) and also has some kiddie rides that we let Grace ride from time to time. Actually there are a few "big rides" too like in an amusement park but we're sticking with the smaller rides. Last week Kevin had a day off and we got to go as a family. Sometimes Kevin takes Grace there at night to play on the playground. And sometimes, if my helper is around, I will put Trinity down for her morning nap and take Grace for a little outing just the two of us. But if you ever happen to go, I should warn you that if you are a psychopath or just plain intemperant you should not board any of the kiddie rides in the park.

Seeing as how I am hoping the "intemperant" part doesn't include the occasional 3 year old meltdown, I let her get on the kiddie rides anyway. :)

I think Daddy had more fun on this one than Grace did since it involved shooting at things.

If you go on a weekday morning when not many people are there, you might have to wake up the ride attendant. This guy was out COLD with his ipod in his ear.

I need to get better at these self-portrait photos. I stink. But we were having fun on this ride. Since Grace is "small," they usually just let me get on the ride too without charging me for it. You know, so that I can supervise her and all.

On the carousel. Another off-center photo.

And this wasn't taken at the park but I thought it was cute anyway. Since it's still so HOT, like in the 90's in our city, Grace has her sun umbrella here. There is no sunscreen to be found here but most ladies carry umbrellas around to protect their skin. (In this culture, lighter skin is considered beautiful. They have no idea why we foreigners would want to sunbathe.) Grace has totally embraced her sun umbrella lately.

rice: it's what for dinner, and lunch, and maybe even breakfast

We have a local friend who lived in Europe for 3 months. One of the cultural differences he noted while he lived there was how SMALL the rice packages were in the grocery stores. It was fun to hear him describe how tiny the rice packages seemed to him. He had to buy so many, many packages at once! Because here, when rice is on the menu almost every day, you gotta sell it in these kinds of quantities... or in packages like this in case you need a few kilos worth... And there are aisles completely devoted to cooking oils to fry up all that yummy food to go with the rice.

That small package of Uncle Ben's you have in the pantry just won't do!

We heart HK

Because of the visa we currently have, we are required to leave the big country every 90 days. This works out well to combine the trip with medical appointments and a few days of vacation. So at the end of August we headed to Hong Kong for 6 days. Unfortunately, the few pictures I took did NOT do Hong Kong justice. I just simply didn't stop very often to take pictures because we always seemed to be in transit. It's such a beautiful place. Seriously, go there sometime in your lifetime. Kevin and I have been there a few times previously, so we didn't do much of the touristy things. And we've decided that Hong Kong, though fun, is anything but relaxing. It feels like you walk out the door and start running. But what a fun city! Next time we head there we hope to venture to Hong Kong Disneyland because we know Grace will love it, but we thought late August might be a bit hot so we are waiting it out for cooler weather. (Does this make us sound really old or what?) Trinity did not sleep much but both girls traveled so well. And Grace was excited that we got to ride a plane, 2 buses (to cross the border), and a taxi cab all in one day. Kevin is my directions man. I would wander around aimlessly lost if it wasn't for him.

HK does have a great subway system. We spend lots of time on the MTR...

and walking down busy streets where we need to go.

For us, HK is a chance to grab wonderful food. We enjoy the western food options, but this time we also found a great Thai restaurant in a mall while waiting for the bus of all places.

We ventured across town to find out that Hard Rock was closed (too bad for Kevin) but we did redeem the trip with a visit to Toys R Us for Grace. We told her she could pick out one item. She had first picked out a random toy, but when she found this kitchen food set she automatically knew she wanted to put the other toy back and stopped looking from there. She's all about playing kitchen right now. We told her she would have to wait until we got back to our flat to open it, since we had stopped for some coffee. So all the sudden I heard Grace say, "Ok Mom and Dad I have to go back now. But I'll see you later!" And she had headed for the nearest exit.

Except the nearest exit opened to the harbor, so she had to wait for us.

But she was a good sport about it!

my mom

I love my mother. Without a doubt, she's one of the most amazing people I know. So when my parents called a few weeks ago to tell us she had that dreaded word - cancer - I had a hard time even wrapping my brain around the idea. Cancer? To MY mom? No way. And then I found myself thinking about a lot of "what ifs..." But then I really had to catch myself, take those thoughts captive, and rest in the fact that God loves my momma even more than I do. And He's still good. And He still wants us to experience the sweetness of trusting Him, even in times of uncertainty. Mom had surgery a few weeks ago, and it looks like they got all of the cancer! She will eventually have some more surgery to establish better "margin" and is going to get the full work-up at MD Anderson in Houston. She'll most likely have radiation and some chemo. Here's a few things I'm thankful for about this situation:

• that my Dad has been walking with her right there through all of it. (You are amazing, Dad!)
• Kevin's mom and dad sent flowers to my mom before her surgery
• that there are bunches of folks in Lubbock who've wanted to love on my parents and many have brought meals, written, called, etc.
• for the body of Christ (on both sides of the ocean), friends who are praying
• for a cousin-in-law who works at MD Anderson and has called with lots of good information
• for the calm both my parents have had about this situation from the beginning
• for the great news that the cancer hasn't spread to the lymph nodes!

Ironically, my mom was undergoing surgery at the same exact time we discovered some dear friends of ours, who have waited and waited so long to have a child, have finally received their referral to adopt a sweet baby boy. Talk about your mix of emotions! I was so concerned for my momma and bouncing off the walls with joy for an answer to prayer that has literally been years in the making. When we found out Mom's surgery went well, I decided it was a good day all-around. Yes, in every season, He is good. Ps. 71:14-15 "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long." I love you, Mom. Wish I could be with you and Dad as you go to all these appointments. But I look forward to hugging your necks at Christmastime!

for the grandparents

My dad gave some not-so-subtle hints the other day about wanting to see more pictures. So, this one is probably mainly for Papa Jim, Granna, Pappaw, and Nana. This post has nothing to do with the fact that my girls are growing so fast and I want to document every single thing that they do in pictures so that one day I can look back and see how tiny and cute they were. Nope, not one bit. (insert sarcasm here)