Kennedy's 7th Birthday

Kennedy's 7th Birthday was a great one. She had really been looking forward to showing off her baby brother to her class when we brought in cupcakes for her birthday, that was an easy request to fill. Check!

And yes, I find it ironic that Kennedy is one of the only Western kids in her class and she attends an "American" school. But thats a rant for another day...
Kenna's swimming section for P.E. started on her birthday as well and so her school day pretty much couldn't have been better. She was extremely excited to swim at school.
The one thing Kenna really wanted to do was to go back to Yu Kids Island and so after school that is where we headed. Nathan and I watched the kids play and totally wear themselves out for about an hour. With Nathan's help Aly figured out how to ride the coconuts rather than get pummeled by them. I might have been bitter he ended such a great source of entertainment.
I was making Kennedy's pinata and Nathan, trying to help, set the still damp balloon covered in paper mache' outside to speed the drying process. It wasn't a particularly hot day but apparently hot enough because the balloon inside expanded and literally exploded the whole thing. Thus the scramble started to come up with another pinata. I ended up wrapping a box like a present for the pinata and put it with the rest of her presents. She was surprised because she had seen the mangled pinata and had been bummed out and didn't suspect the camouflaged present pinata.
I could say the obvious, "feels like only yesterday" and "I can't believe she's already 7" but if you are a parent you already know how you feel each year on your child's birthday. Your heart is full and simultaneously heavy. Mostly full though.

Kennedy has many qualities that I admire, not the least of which is her ability to bounce awake at dawn's early light, casting off the remnants of sleep in the blink of her wide awake eyes. Maybe it's my lack of bounce in the morning these days that makes me think of this one.

She is also very thoughtful. A quick example: a girl in her class has a severe peanut allergy (Asia would be a scary place to have one I have to say) and so this little girl can't eat treats brought in so Kennedy wrote her a note and gave her a sheet of stickers instead.

She is a great big sister, always willing to read stories to her siblings- and a daughter that a mom and dad couldn't be more proud to have. Happy 7th Birthday Kennedy Jolee!

Workin On some "Blue Steel" Of Our Own

Children's Modeling is big business in Asia. They especially love the Westerners. We had some previous knowledge about this biz from some of Nathan's cousins who modeled overseas when they were little and their experience had been quite positive. I thought we'd eventually look into it when we moved here but I was in no hurry. The second week we were in Taiwan a friend from Church here forwarded an email from an agent desperately looking for a certain height of child for a photo shoot. Long story short that's how we kind of fell into trying out catalog modeling in Taiwan.

I took Aly to the shoot which was really kind of cool, it was a legit photo shoot (meaning the set was set up like what I'd seen that one time I watched ANTM) and they would show me pictures on the computer after they took them and they did a good job getting shots out of a 3 year old.

I am not sure how much of this Aly will do at her age. She really loved it but I don't know if she consistently would so we will play it by ear. Kennedy on the other hand is the perfect age. She was beyond excited when she got her first job, could hardly sleep the night before. We won't get her catalog until spring but Nathan was able to take some pics without the flash for me.

First you go to hair and make-up. I don't know if you can tell but Kenna is so excited ^she is biting her cheeks to keep from smiling.
Nathan said they were almost done with her hair before the message came through that they would be wearing wigs. The photo shoot was for a Betty Boop line and so these wigs are supposed to look like Betty Boop? Okay, maybe Betty Boop after a wild night of partying...

(Rachel, do I even need to say what these wigs remind us of? Hit the deck!)
This line was super heavy on the accessories which was fun for Kennedy, and I personally thought the shoes were all really cute.
Kennedy loved spending the day with Nathan and getting her hair and make-up done like a princess just to take pictures. They told Nathan she did awesome (parent-pride-o-meter shoots off charts) and would tell her to just keep doing what she was doing as they had to help the other little girls with poses and stuff. I am sure it's all the pics she's been forced to take for her blog obsessed mom that has improved her posing abilities. Not that every pic on my blog isn't 100% candid *blush*.

She and this little girl had a great time together, Nathan taught them how to play Paper, Scissors, Rock and they would play this during any down time.
When they got home it was clear Kenna had taken up permanent residence on cloud 9. It was only a little while later that we got a call asking if she could come back in, apparently one of the little girls didn't fit all of her outfits and now they were frantically trying to get the shoot done. So Nathan and Kenna hopped back in the car and went back to do a bit more. Nathan said it was just Kenna and they were throwing outfits on and off of her as fast as they could. They were really grateful that Kenna came back. Our friend whose kids have done tons of this (many ex-pats have at least tried it) said she'd never heard of someone getting called to come back in so I guess they really must've been in a pinch.
The big hub for modeling is Japan, you get paid a lot more there to do this. But Kennedy made nearly $200 U.S. for the shoot which will largely go into her college fund. I think I'd be fine with Kennedy doing a shoot every once in a while as long as she finds it as fun as she did this time.

As far as Aly goes, we just got her catalog- it is so professional. This Monnalisa line is a really high end Italian brand, the clothes were very cute and well made. The catalog is really nice, the pages are made of thick card stock. We couldn't scan them without ruining the binding so we took pictures of the pictures, but still, you get the idea.

Therapy

What? like we didn't all know my children would end up in therapy. Granted, 3 is a little younger than I had anticipated but Aly had her first Speech Therapy session last night and it went really well. Except for the part when the therapist told me that not only does Aly need to slow down when she speaks, but it would really help her if her parents slowed down too. Apparentlyshethinkswetalkreallyfastandneedtoslowdown. Idon'tseewhatshe'stalkingabout. Her issues aren't that bad but Aly's been asking us lately to help her to pronounce things properly so we figured it was a good time to get a little professional help. Hopefully she will improve quickly.

Secondly, I think Aly's face looks good with bangs. However her bangs never lay nicely because she has some wild cowlicks up front and that coupled with her curl doesn't bode well for obedient bangs. So for now we are going to try growing them out. I think I am starting to get used to it...we'll see. Thoughts???

As I mentioned before Ander thinks he is a thumb sucker. Luckily he struggles with coordination and often can't get his thumb in his mouth. He settles for his wrist or his fist no problem. In fact I just realized the little bruise I saw on his wrist for the second time and had been racking my brain trying to figure out when he might have been hurt- well it's actually a bruise from him sucking on his own arm. Anyway, I had been taking advantage of his weak and uncoordinated newborn muscles and when I see him trying to get his thumb in his mouth I shove his pacifier in there and smugly congratulate myself on the save. But now as you can see his skills are suddenly improving and I have discovered him with his thumb plugged in his mouth after having settled himself down several times now. It might be my imagination but I swear he is wearing that same smug look I had been before. Touche'.
I apologize in advance to post about children's artwork that perhaps only a parent could love, but Kohen's is just so consistently entertaining. I had to add this Jack-o-lantern he made at school. It makes me really happy, I think it's the teeth. Anyway, it's important to note that this wasn't a class project but something he came up with during his free time. Love it.
Kennedy had the quote of the week this week when we were putting up some Halloween decorations. I pulled out this small skeleton and Kennedy says excitedly, "Oh look at this little skeleton! It must be an Elf skeleton."

Poor Mr.Peeps

Belly Button Birthday

I'm always so glad when the ugly, stinky cord finally comes off and you can actually bathe your baby. Can I get an Amen! ??? I mean really, when they have a blowout sometimes a pansy little sponge bath just doesn't do the trick. This is Ander's first official bath and as you can see he was pretty chill about it, didn't cry until the very end when he was probably getting a little cold. And can we all look at my big, chubby, double chinned little boy and be proud of me please*?!

(*Author understands that in no way could her baby really be considered 'chubby' but as far as her babies go, this is pretty impressive.)

The other night we went to dinner at the best place Carrie showed me on our scooter tour around TianMu. It is called Sababa and it is all open air and this was such a beautiful, warm evening (my sweater is trying to make a liar out of me but I actually only have a few shirts that fit the chest 'er-eea' so I make do) and there was a nice cool breeze blowing through the restaurant, it was so fun. If you come to visit we will have to go here for sure, the ambiance alone is worth it. It's Mideastern Food, freshly made pitas that are to die for- and I'm not even a pita fan generally. They have other dishes too but so far we're lovin the pitas. And as ^ this picture just did to me, I am still having those Holy Smokes moments where I realize I am actually a mother of 4. Umm, who authorized this?

Getting Out A Bit

On Wednesday I over did it a bit but at least I enjoyed myself in the process! I went with two other girls to the Fabric Market and we took public transportation to get there so it took us a while to actually reach our destination. The Fabric Market is inside a big ol dirty building and there are different floors jam packed with row after row after row of hodge podge fabrics. I had a lot of fun looking at all of the different fabrics and the prices were pretty good too. I just got a couple of things for the projects that the kids are making each other for Christmas.

What will probably always stick out in my mind from this trip however, is the little adventure Ander and I took to the restroom when he blew out his diaper. By now I've dealt with many a blowout in Motherhood but this one has to be at the top of the Most Impressive Blowouts list. Seriously. There was literally nothing in the diaper, it was all in the leg of his outfit. In the grungiest bathroom ever there was only a slanting stainless steel slab coming out of the wall for me to change him on. With one hand I tried to clean off the slab with a disinfectant wipe while precariously holding a very soiled child with the other. All of the clean up had to be done with one hand as well since the slab was slanted and I couldn't let go of Ander. The whole scene was so absurd it was kind of amusing. Kind of. Anyway, I think I've learned you can never be too prepared here, BYOE (Bring Your Own Everything) seems to apply most places we go.

Our trip was cut short because I had to get to Mutual and by the end of the night I was absolutely exhausted and knew I had probably attempted too much. It is stressful going places and coordinating feedings etc. with a new babe, I had kind of forgotten all of that.

Yesterday I got my first ride on a scooter with Carrie- try not to panic Mom and Dad. She is the Bishop's wife and she is the coolest. Mother of 6 and Taiwan resident for 15 years- she knows her stuff. She reminds Nathan and I of a mix between Rosie and Tara which is fun. She took me on a 'drive about' to show me around TianMu and show me the Import stores, Dr.'s offices, good places to eat, where to get your hair cut, etc. We had an awesome time- plus I now understand why everyone drives scooters here. It's not even funny how convenient they are. Parking is a nightmare anywhere you go... that is unless you've got a scooter- then you can literally park anywhere, sidewalk, street, pretty much wherever. You get to go to the front of the line at red lights which is nice and the streets are so incredibly narrow for cars but we zipped in and out of them with no problem. It was glorious and I'm thinking I need one just to run errands. Don't start worrying yet though, riding with an experienced scooter driver and driving myself are two very different things. It was a really fun 3 hours and I feel like I know TianMu so much better now.

And finally we have this little guy. Overall he has been a great eater/sleeper and we've only had a few mornings where I've woken up feeling like a zombie. Something unique to Ander is his burps. I know, weird but seriously he has man burps. It is so strange to hear such a loud thing coming out of such a little guy. His siblings think it's fantastic and laugh their heads off when they hear him- right before they commence badgering me for who gets to hold him first. Between the children, Nathan and I it's a wonder he ever gets to lay down without being held. He doesn't seem to mind though.

We are looking forward to General Conference this weekend, they do it a week later because of the time difference. To watch it live we would have watched late Sunday night and Monday morning so they shift it to the following weekend and all of Taiwan will watch it together. Should be nice.

Rejecting Tradition

When it comes to post-partum there are a lot of Chinese traditions that go on. One is no cold anything- only warm water or tea to drink, warm food and clothes etc. It is traditional for the women to have one month of rest and usually their moms come to help take care of other responsibilities. They are not to wash their hair for 1 month, and they have special soups every day for 30 days as well. They are very serious about all of these things. Consequently I have been told all about them by many an Asian for instance when I was talking to a worker who came by, I was freshly showered though still sporting damp hair and bare feet, busted!

There is a really nice Taiwan guy who oversaw the workers who moved us in and then referred us to the carpenter who made us a bed (we brought our mattresses and figured we'd buy a frame here, however there are none that will fit our mattresses. They generally don't use box springs here, just a mattress so we were kind of stuck till this carpenter came along and whipped out a nice bed frame for us, turned out great).

Anyway, the nice guy came with when the carpenter delivered the bed and when he saw that Ander had been born he whipped out a traditional Red Envelope and insisted on giving our little babe his first hong bao- a sign of congratulations and good luck with the color red being to ward off evil spirits. He gave him 600 NT (about $20) but the 6 is important as they consider it a very lucky number. He insisted on giving it to Ander himself which was cute. (notice the Red Envelope in the pic above)

You may notice the pink seat Ander is in. Our dear friends gave it to us (they have two girls, hence the color) and though I planned on putting a blanket over the pink, after the way he rocked all that pink in the hospital I figured it wouldn't hurt for him to do it at home. He's always pretty content in the seat so I figure the pink ain't botherin him.
Now this second picture I feel super grossed out and equally guilty about. Our original realtor who we love and have become friends with here spent time and money to prepare some traditional soup for me. Blessedly she didn't make the other kind which has pig kidney in it, she figured that might be too much for my sensitive-to-all-things-Chinese palate. She figured right. However, this soup which is made with no water but some sort of alcohol as it's base (she says the alcohol cooks out, but I'm thinking, no wonder these Asian babies are so nice and sleepy their first month!) and then aged ginger, and boney chicken giblets and a few other things I couldn't understand. It was SO kind of her to make this for me, it is to help the mothers body heal and help with your milk supply (but so does water, I can't help but think) and it was just plain thoughtful. In spite of her generosity I could not bring myself to even try it. I know! I'm terrible right? I just couldn't do it! It smelled so strong and gross... I feel seriously guilty but I just couldn't do it. I'm not Chinese so they can't make me...right?

ZZZZZZZZZZZ...

You know what's not fair? That a week of pregnancy is not equal to a week in the life of a newborn. The former goes excruciatingly slow and the latter insanely fast. It is a sad reality. I've been doing my best to appreciate every moment with this sweet little guy, it's too hard to get them here to not ignore everything else for a little while and just snug. It's not been too hard as Ander has been sleeping like a champ as you can see.


Nathan found this big killer whale on clearance at a store called Carrefour (think Walmart meets a gas station or the dollar store). The kids have been loving it and I thought it was great too until the next morning when something big outside caught my eye and scared the crud outta me before I realized it was just Shamu floating harmlessly in the pool. The things I waste adrenaline on...
The children have been in the middle of the action since the moment we brought Ander home. No lie, when I nursed him the first time Kennedy's nose was about 4 inches away. First diaper change had all of the kids involved because it happened to be quite noisy and they all needed to see what was going on. They 'call' who gets to hold him first like my siblings and I used to call 'shot gun' so I think it's fair to say Ander has been welcomed into our home with open arms. Grateful doesn't begin to cover how I feel about having him here, but it's a good start.

Leading Up To...

Let me just disclaim now that I'm going to tell the whole story in detail, mainly because we are half a world away and there are lot's of grandparents, aunties and friends who would be getting the scoop in person if only that were possible. I am going to include more than I normally ever would both in writing and a pic or two because in this situation it is the easiest way. Every good story must have a disclaimer right?

Saturday night I was feeling pretty down and wondering how I could possibly go to church and face everyones pity filled looks and condolences/advice on how to kick start things. I was determined to go but not looking forward to it. Then at 12:30am Kohen comes up the stairs in the middle of an attack of the Croup. If I hadn't had an inhaler we would have been heading to the hospital as he was turning red and his lips were blue. After the episode and everything settled back down it hit me- someone had to stay home with our sick son, I selflessly volunteered.

Sunday I spent snuggled up with Kohen watching a movie. I thought the pic was cute, proof we are being influenced in Asia where everyone wears masks all of the time when sick. He showed up with his favorite stuffed seal wearing a mask made from his pirate eye patch. Clever boy. Sunday ended as labor-less as every other day.

Monday morning I woke with a start at 6 am to my water breaking. YES!!!!!!!! I was SO happy, proof positive I wasn't going to be pregnant forever! I jumped in the shower, humming to myself and cheery as could be. It wasn't long before I realized that though my water had broken there weren't any contractions suddenly happening... We took our time (6 hours) getting things gathered and kids ready -school was off Monday and Tuesday so we arranged a babysitter and dropped them off on our way to the hospital. That's where the weirdness began.

We arrived at what would be likened to what we call Triage in the states. Through hand gestures and simple English we tried to explain that the Dr. had told us to come in cuz my water had broken. Watching Nathan try to gesture 'water breaking'? priceless. The biggest difference was when they went to do a pelvic exam they whip out the Iodine and use it liberally. I experienced more Iodine on Monday than I have in my entire life, they were very generous with it each time. I was at 3cm, 30% effaced and the baby was a -3 station. Nothing impressive. No surprises.

We were shown to the one and only Labor and Delivery room and they left us alone to change. We both freaked out at first thinking the red on the chest of the gown was blood but thankfully it was just some symbol. Then we were just looking around and busting up in a kind of laugh or cry type of deal, at what a crazy situation we were in. Who woulda thought we'd be in a grimey Asian hospital having a baby?! If you dare you can enlarge the pics. PS.- I was still wearing shorts with the shot of me in the gown so I'm not quite as indecent as I may appear. No excuse for the pasty legs though.
Next the nurses came in ready to give me an IV with fluids, a shave and an enigma. I smiled and pointed to each thing and said "No. No. And No." They had the hardest time figuring out why I only wanted the IV line put in with a lock- I think it truly blew their mind that I wasn't getting an Epidural. They were nice about it all though.

Eventually Nathan went out and asked the nurses if we could go walk now as contractions weren't happening and the Dr. had already told me we could- there was a bit of an uproar from them with the best line being, "No! She's at a 3, the baby might come out!" Nathan insisted they call Dr.E and of course he confirmed it was fine. Then Nathan pushed his luck by joking that we wouldn't go too far, "just to the 101" -the skyscraper about a 20 min. drive away. There were shouts of "NO!" and "That's too far!" before he could explain to them he was joking.
So we went walking and I'd have contractions but I could walk and talk through them and when I stopped walking they nearly stopped as well. At 3pm Anna, the Doula showed up and we went walking laps again and this is when active labor finally started. It was weird though, they were never that consistent of contractions. Some would be extremely strong and I'd have to stop and breathe through, then the next one wouldn't be quite so bad. I was convinced I wasn't getting anywhere. When we stopped for a potty break Anna realized she had forgotten to tell us it is pretty much B.Y.O.E.- Bring Your Own Everything. You get a little TP and that's it. No paper towels for drying hands, no tissue, no disposable underwear etc. So she ran down to the little outdoor market that sells all the stuff that you'd need at the hospital and stocked up.

When she returned I was checked and making progress so we walked some more and by the time we went back to the room it wasn't long at all before I started transitioning and before I knew it there was the usual flurry of nurses (I always wonder, why the flurry? It's not like it's a surprise what we are there to do) and everyone was preparing for Ander's arrival.

L&D

Labor and Delivery are both so aptly named. There is no better word for what you must do to get that baby here, nor is there a better word for what happens to both Mom and baby when baby is born. In a previous conversation with Dr.E. Nathan had told him about how with Kohen and Aly our Dr. would deliver the head and then let Nathan do the rest and how cool it had been. He wasn't asking to the same here and hadn't expected anything so he was pretty surprised when Dr. E. showed up to deliver and pointed to a gown and told Nathan, "That's for you, you're gonna do this." Nathan was surprised and thrilled. Um, I was trying not to die at the moment so I wasn't paying that much attention. Very glad at this point to have Anna there, lol.

When the time came to deliver Ander, Dr. E. totally went into teaching mode and let Nathan do the entire delivery. I think it is incredibly cool now but in the moment I remember hearing the teaching going on and saying, "Please hurry!" thinking- two of us are extremely uncomfortable right now! But before I knew it Ander made his grand entrance into his father's arms. The cord was wrapped tightly around his neck twice so Dr. E. stepped in and undid the cord but otherwise it was a safe and completely natural delivery.

Dr. E. told us several times how Natural Births simply do not happen here, all the nurses had been really excited to see one, some nurses even peeked in the door to watch. Even Dr. E. had never delivered one completely natural until Ander. Everyone was giving me props and making me feel amazing. I did feel amazing.
Poor little guy, swollen face and nose make him look like he's been in the boxing ring

Proud, Proud Daddy

Dr. E, Nathan and the little man of the hour

Anna = The Best!

Little Ander chose a really great day to be born, he will share his birthday with his Auntie Natalie- if only I'd known that was what he was waiting for it would've been much easier to wait! It's really neat to think that both my mom and I went through the same huge life experience on the exact same day about 30 years apart (cue Circle of Life music). A special Happy Birth Day to both Natalie and Ander!!!!

Meet The Baby

For some reason Taiwan seems to think that the color pink shouts "BABY!" best. It was a little weird when they bought our strapping boy back to us that first night swaddled from head to toe in pink. I think Ander's workin it but still, the pink blankets had to go.
Life Test #1: Survived meeting 3 siblings

Kennedy is in heaven to finally have her new brother here and I can tell she's going to be a big help.
Kohen is equally excited though I fear he may experience some mild disappointment as he realizes what newborn babies are all about. Not quite up to everything Kohen has planned for the two of them I'm afraid. Yes, that's a mask of his own hanging from his ear, came in quite handy to try and keep the baby safe.
Please notice the pink piping on the little shirt they put on the babies. So becoming. This is a pic of Ander sucking his thumb. He really wants to be a thumb sucker but for me it is a question of convenience vs. control and so far I'm leaning towards control by using a pacifier what can I say.
I was having a 'mommy moment' as only a mother can have when her whole crew shows up in a small hospital room to meet their new sibling. It's always a little overwhelming because they are so excited to explore the baby but they are pulling toes apart, lifting eyelids and crawling all over the baby and I. I'm always super excited for them to come and about as equally excited for them to go, lol.

Introducing...

Ander Michael Jensen

Born September 21

8 lbs 2 oz

19 1/2 inches

*Details and more pics to come*