Can you say octopus?

Backyard

With the spring weather we've enjoyed using our backyard more and more. It was completely finished last week - except for grass and flowers which we plan to work on next week. Reister's favorite things to do outside are scoop dirt and play in basins of water. He can get pretty dirty - but that's what backyards are for, right?

Here is the view of our private yard and then the larger complex yard. The planters outside the gate are full of tulips that are now starting to bloom.


This is view from one side of our yard. We plan to try our hand at planting flowers at the far end on the right. The stairs lead up to our back door.


This is the inside of our new "cellar"/storage room. This wasn't our idea, our landlord wanted it put in while they were working on the patio part. Turns out it might be quite a convenient storage space!

Ultrasound update

When we went to have the ultrasound today, the left kidney had grown. But it was most likely proportionate to our little guy's overall growth. It did move him up into the "moderate" classification. According to the kidney's size after 28 weeks, it can either be classified as mild, moderate or severe. The kidney measured 10.9 mm today. If it measures over 15 mm before he is born, it will be classified as severe. Mainly it means that if it's moderate or severe, there's more likely to be problem (like an obstruction in the ureter or urine reflux from bladder) that is causing the enlarged kidney. These problems can normally be fixed with some kind of procedure, possibly surgery at some point after birth (sometimes even at 9 months to one year old). But sometimes they can still resolve themselves (as in the bladder reflux). All of this was explained to us by the Swiss OB/Gyn - she is very helpful and kind and we are so grateful for her. Oh, also my amniotic fluid was still at normal levels and she looked over everything else briefly and said there are no problems at all besides the kidney. We even got to see a front on shot of his face and he was soooo cute!

So although we were of course hoping for the kidney to be back to normal size, we are not discouraged. We know Father is in control and will continue to trust Him and praise Him. Also, it was really comforting to talk with Dr. J (the Swiss OB/Gyn) and just hear more about the situation. Thanks so much for lifting up this situation with us. We'll keep you posted with any new news. We should be getting one last ultrasound in a month and then we'll leave for Thailand in the beginning of June.

Work-a-holic

A couple of weeks ago we went in to check on Reister during his nap and found him like this...


We had to catch this on camera - he must have fallen asleep while "working" on his computer! (For over a week, he HAD to have his laptop when he went down for a nap or to sleep at night.) But he was awake soon after we took the picture:

Oh and BTW, his blanket wasn't choking him like it looks like it is - it was just up around his chin. I was a little concerned when I first went in.

A Big Bed!

In anticipation of his little brother's arrival, we got a big boy bed for Reister. We ordered it about a month ago and it arrived yesterday. It's actually the top part of a bunk bed that we ordered by itself and asked for the legs to be a little shorter than the one in the store. I think it looks really nice and Reister enjoyed playing on it. He put his tool bench on the bed yesterday afternoon while playing. Hopefully he won't try to do that at night when he should be sleeping! We chose this bed because of the railings all the way around. Hopefully that will help as he adjusts to not being in his crib. Anyone who's made the transition with your kid(s) have any tips? We still need to get a mattress pad to make it a little softer. The mattress that came with the bed is very thin and very hard. I am pretty excited to finally be able to use the sheet and quilt set I bought when we went back to the states last August for this bed! Now we just need to fix up the rest of his big boy room - a couple of pictures on the wall, etc.

Baby Update

Well I thought I'd just give you a short update on our baby boy. I went to the hospital three times this week - once to get the order for a glucose tolerance test (Monday) and get the glucose which I drank Tuesday morning (while fasting) and then went back to the hospital to get my blood drawn. Then Thursday I went back to get the results and see the mid-wife and OB/Gyn for my monthly appointment. I passed the glucose test just fine, have normal blood pressure, did a ten-minute test where they listen to the baby's heartrate in relation to his movement (I click a button each time he moves), and then went to see the OB/Gyn. She had me get a hemoglobin test and urine test - both normal. I don't think I posted after I went last month so here's a short recap:

I went to see the American midwife that works here and offers her services to pregnant foreigners in need of prenatal care. (I saw her all through my first pregnancy) After seeing her last month she reminded me that there was a new Swiss doctor (OB/Gyn!) in town who was also willing to see foreigners. When I saw her, she helped to explain our baby's kidney issue and the potential complications. She also said she wanted to do ultrasounds each month until we left to check the kidney's growth (if any) and my amniotic fluid level. If my amniotic fluid level drops below normal, it's an indication that the kidney(s) is not functioning properly. I had my first ultrasound in the hospital here on March 17 (a month after our last one in Thailand). We were dissapointed to find out his left kidney had increased in size quite a bit. The right one was around normal size. But my amniotic fluid level was normal. So all we can do is wait until it's time for an ultrasound each month and see how things are then. I'm scheduled for another one on Monday (April 14) at 2:30pm and will try to post the results of that.
Please ask Father for Him to heal the kidney completely. That would be the best case scenario. But, if not, that the kidney would not get any larger and certainly that my amniotic fluid levels will stay good. Ask for us to TRUST Him through it all, regardless of what happens, and to KNOW that He will glorify Himself through this. I really hope our faith in Him through this and our response to whatever happens will be a testimony to those around us that our true and unwavering hope is in Him.

Felicity is getting married!

I had to make a post about this - I am so excited and so bummed at the same time! My precious friend from college, Felicity, is getting married on Saturday. The only problem is the wedding is in Dallas and I'm across the globe in the Shining City so I can't be there. She was my maid-of-honor at our wedding! She is marrying a wonderful guy named Avery that I haven't met but have heard a lot (of wonderful things) about. In Felicity's honor here are some pictures of us together over the past couple years - I don't have any from college because I didn't have a digital camera then!

This was at the Great Wall in January of 2002


This was on my wedding day - November 2003 (this picture was scanned so that's why it looks a little funny - plus I'm wearing way too much make-up!)


This was at our friend Monique's wedding in March 2004 (great expressions, huh?)


This was at our friend Kristin's bridal shower in May 2005



Lastly, here is Felicity with her soon-to-be husband, Avery. Think they're going to have fun together!? I know they will!

Congratulations Felicity & Avery! We love y'all and are so happy for you!

Barn Stuff

It's been a while since I posted pictures of my family's barn in Volente (Austin) Texas. They had a party for internationals over Spring Break - here's a picture of everyone inside the first floor getting food. Notice the new wood floors that have been varnished.


This structure, fondly called "Grapevine Lodge" used to sit in my parent's backyard but recently they moved it out to the lake property next to the barn. They had to disassemble the lodge, load it on a rented truck, take it out to Hao Di 好地 (the lake property's name), and reassemble it. They put on the new door and the corregated metal and wire screens to make it more secure because it will act as my dad's workshop when they move all his tools down from the second floor of the barn. The second floor will eventually be made into living quarters/bedrooms. It already has a elevated area in it where you can sit and look out over Lake Travis. Props to my dad and brother for all their hard work on the lodge and to mom for her work on the barn grounds and moral support!

random pic post

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while... they're just random pictures of Reister. By the way he is now 19 months old.

A friend gave him this outfit when he was just several months old. Of course it was way too big on him then and even now, it's still a little big. Actually, he got another outfit just like this in red and black - it was even bigger! It's kind of just for fun - even when local kids wear this kind of outfit, it's like wearing a costume of sorts - this was the typical wear a LONG time ago. :)


First - I need to apologize to Brian & SB (this is their bouncer) and promise that it will be in your home when you return with baby Glory. One day I found Reister relaxing in this and thought it was pretty cute.


Nothing special here, Reister was just playing on his truck :)

Easter

On Easter morning we gathered with some American friends here for a brunch. Here are some pictures from our morning.

Family picture (with baby #2 protruding very obviously!!)

Our spread of food (we all brought stuff)

2 breakfast casseroles

breakfast potatoes

fruit pizza (sugar cookie crust, cream cheese icing!)

biscuits & gravy

breakfast calzones

cinnamon rolls

Are you hungry yet? It was all delicious!

Here is Reister with his friend, Evangelia. They are getting along so well and really enjoy playing together. It took several shots to get this one with them both looking forward (not neccesarily at the camera)

Easter evening we had several local high school girls over for dinner and to decorate eggs. It was a fun and really fruitful time.