Diaper Days

This morning Reister's diaper was extra full. When we took off his pajamas, this is how it looked - sagging off his hips, it was soooo heavy! (He must have drank a lot of milk last night!)


Here he is before we let him take off his (new) diaper outside in our backyard this morning.

I had to add a couple more ...

34 weeks and loving on brother!

Reister really seems to know where "brother" is. He also knows his name is Mason. The last couple of days, he's been really taking an interest in "brother" and yesterday even wanted to kiss and hug him. How sweet! Hopefully he'll be equally as sweet once Mason enters the world!

Here's a 34 week prego shot in our back yard with our patio furniture. Notice naked Reister in the background. It's finally warm enough to let him wear little or no clothes outside. (It's still only high 70s or at the very highest, a little over 80)

Roseola 玫瑰疹

Have you heard of Roseola (Mei Gui Zhen - in the local language)? Well most likely that's what Reister had over the weekend. It's a virus that normally affects kids six months to three years old (but they can only get it once). It starts with a pretty high fever for about 3 days and then once the fever breaks, they get a rash. We were pretty freaked out Thursday night and Friday when Reister had such a high fever. Fortunately, we were able to consult with foreign doctors both here in the Shining City and via email. Father answered our requests to bring the temperature down through the Tylenol and Ibuprofen. We didn't know what it was until yesterday - although his fever broke Sunday, he started breaking out in the rash and hives Sunday night and we were again worried about what was going on. But the foreign doctor knew just what it was when I called her and told her how it was progressing! Today he still has a faint rash (like what you can see on his back below) but no more hives. Whew, it was quite an experience - thankfully Reister hasn't been sick all that much. I thought I'd post about it for all you parents of young ones in case your kid gets it, you might figure it out sooner than we did!

Baby Update

Well, first of all I should let you know that we have pretty much decided on the name Mason Turner. Why Mason? We like it! Why Turner? It's a family name on Micah's mom's side. So ... Mason Turner Webb!
We went for the monthly ultrasound Monday afternoon (that's why we were at the hospital). We were really happy to find out that his kidney had decreased in size this month. It was 9.6mm (last month it was 10.9mm). The doctor also did several of the other measurements for his overall size like head circumference, femur length and abdomen size. Everything measured about to where I am this week (around 32 weeks) except for his abdomen - it measured at 34 weeks. So she called him a fatty! She was a little concerned but because I passed my glucose tolerance test with no problems last month she said it shouldn't be an issue. We'll see what he actually looks like when he comes out - or if him being "fat" makes it harder for him to actually get out. Thanks so much for lifting up our family in this. Please continue to ask that he would be completely healed before he's born and for wisdom for us and any attending doctors if the problem still exists at birth.
We have our tickets to leave the Shining City June 2, spending some time in a coastal city to obtain our extended Thai visas and will arrive to Bangkok June 7. My mom gets there June 19!

Earthquake

I'm sure you've heard about the earthquake. Although we live quite far from the epicenter, we still felt it. We actually were on the ninth floor of a highrise building here and a door suddenly creaked like someone was trying to open it and then Micah and I both felt really dizzy because the building started swaying (very slightly). We looked up and noticed the signs hanging from the ceiling were swinging back and forth. It took us a couple seconds to realize what was going on. (I was thankful it wasn't some pregnancy symptom but that others were feeling it too) Quickly, we exited the building and waited outside for a while until we determined that there was no damage and then we returned inside. Just wanted to let you all know that we're okay. I don't believe there were any injuries or damages in our city but we are grieving the loss of life and injuries of thousands in other provinces. Please join us in petitioning our Father to meet the needs of those in trouble both physically but especially spiritually. What a time to hear the hope-filled message of The Good News.
The building we were in was actually the hospital, so I'll post soon about the results of our latest ultrasound.

So whatever happened with the big bed?

Well, I wanted to do two things before we tried out Reister sleeping in his new bed. The first was rearrange, putting the bed against the wall that would allow us to peek in easily. Got that done first - last weekend, I think (with our friend Todd's help!). The second thing was to get curtains put up that would do a good job of keeping out the light so Reister wouldn't wake up too early in the morning. I went Monday to a curtain market and found the best fabric I've ever found in our city (as far as matching the color scheme I was going for) and also asked the lady to put the reflective backing on the inside to keep out even more light. She did an excellent job, even incorporating some leftover fabric I had from old curtains at our previous apartment and had them finished by Thursday! The price included installation so a nice, capable guy came and installed the rod according to my liking yesterday afternoon. I am really pleased with the curtains! But I was even more pleased when Reister willingly got into his new bed and went to sleep quicker than he almost ever has in his crib. He slept all night long (with just a couple of normal little peeps) and woke up at ten till 7am (normal/late for Reister). When he woke up, he called for Micah who quickly went to get him. Micah and I were both a little shocked at how easily he went to sleep. We realize there may still be transitional issues to come, but it seemed like he had been sleeping in that room and that bed forever! Here are the pictures of the curtains and the new bed placement:

** I wrote this post this morning but wasn't able to post it till this afternoon. I'll give you an update as far as NAPPING in the big bed - I put him down at about 1:30pm and several minutes later I heard him playing. Then he opened the door and came out. He looked pretty sheepish like he knew he wasn't supposed to be up. I put him back down and told him to stay in bed. He got up again and opened the door again. Then I laid down with him for a little bit but he wasn't getting any closer to falling asleep and I figured I probably wasn't helping. So I left and told him to close his eyes and go to sleep. He thought that was funny. I heard him play a while longer and then it got quiet. About 2:30 I checked on him again and he was asleep in the bed. I half expected him to be laying on his slide or something. So we'll see how this continues!

First Haircut Outside the House

Yesterday I took Reister to get his first hair cut in a "salon" - not that the place we went was fancy at all. The last time I tried to cut it myself, it turned out pretty bad, so this time I thought I'd get someone with a little more experience to do it. But I was concerned about how Reister would do. So I spent 6 kuai (almost $1US) on some chips and a sweet drink to distract him during the cut. Then I found a small nearby place that wasn't busy and asked the lady if she could cut a toddler's hair. She said no problem and was very accomodating with the set-up (she let him sit on my lap - he didn't want to sit in a chair), was patient with him when he moved a lot, and took her time cutting first with scissors and then cleaning up the bottom parts with clippers. She really didn't want to take the 3 kuai (less than 50 cents US) that was the charge because she said she enjoyed doing it so much. Isn't it funny that the snacks to occupy him cost more than the haircut itself!? Reister actually did pretty good during the process. He wanted to get down a couple times but I kept him occupied with the chips and drink and little utensil they had that resembled a ball (I could never figure exactly what it was). I'm having trouble loading pictures to Blogger so I made a slideshow that will hopefully come up below:

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!