Thursday

Well, I had my appointment today...and I am dilated almost 3 cm! I am thankful to the Lord for a clear answer to my dilemma. So we will plan to be induced tomorrow morning- going in at 10 am- if she doesn't come tonight first. However, today the maternity ward beds were all full. Meaning that if they are full tomorrow I will have to wait for an "elective" induction. However they assure me if labor starts on its own, they will make a place for me. Good to know, huh?

Anyway, we are excited and ready to meet Mei Mei. Please pray she will come safely and be healthy, that they will have a bed if we need to induce and for all of us during this transition. Hopefully the next post you can meet her! Going to try and get a much needed night's sleep now.

Just waiting

I don't have a lot of news to post today, but I guess that is news itself at this stage of the game. Life is going on and we have fairly normal days, not knowing if tomorrow will look anything like I think it will. I guess all of life really is that way and I should have that open- handed expectancy more of the time. But certainly right now it is the only way to be. So, I got to be part of a meeting with Chris this morning, played with the boys and sent Austin off to school, got a nice rest time and a little computer time to myself. Tomorrow I go back to the doctor for my weekly check up and it will be decision time.

I hate making quick decisions, but I will probably have to decide on the spot- does it look like inducing on Thursday is the best plan? Or should we just wait it out? Should the upcoming holiday be factor in our decision- traffic will probably be much worse than normal Friday and maybe through the weekend, though probably lighter than normal next week. Should I just go with another doctor- though I do feel really comfortable with the one who is available Thursday. In so many ways it is nice to plan, but in other ways I would rather let God decide for me and not be the one deciding when is the best time for her to be born. But since Austin came in 4 hours and Bennett in 3, she might come in 2 if the trend continues. Not a lot of time.

Anyway, for now each day is passing and we have very loosely made plans for each following day, knowing she could come anytime. We are very excited about Nana (my mom)'s arrival Thursday! Pray for our decision tomorrow- that we would have wisdom (or she would just come before then and we won't have to decide).

Little more birthday

We had a low key family day today, celebrating Bennett's real birthday as a family. We did "church" at home, since we were all very tired, lots of sickness going around and we are trying to stay healthy if possible these days. We had lunch at McDonald's, let the boys jump around on a blow up bouncy thing and ended the evening with more cupcakes and one more present. Bennett continued to be so excited about his birthday and kept talking about the fact that he was three.

After the play place, we took a little afternoon family excursion to...Tony and Guy, a western style hair salon. But not for me (though i am sort of dying for a haircut, but think I will wait till after mei mei's arrival). Guess who?

Yep, after almost 3 years without a haircut (about Bennett's entire life!) Chris decided to take the plunge and cut his hair. Perhaps Mei Mei's imminent arrival was a motivating factor. He is going to donate his hair to Locks of Love, since he had over 10 inches!

Wow, what a hottie :) !

Three more hours left of September 25..hopefully Mei Mei will make it past Bennett's birthday at this point.

Bennett's 3rd Birthday party

Wow, I can't believe Bennett is turning three! We had a fun, simple party outside with gorgeous weather for it this morning. We did some Cars themes games (red light, green light and "knock over the tractors"), drew with chalk (Bennett's favorite activity of course), presents and cake and playing outside. By far Bennett's favorite part was the cake. Way before the party he talked about "singing happy birthday to you. I am going to sing too and will have candles and cake!!!". I did not do a big impressive cake this year, but a really cute, easy one after Bennett's "precious ice cream cone". You bake the cake in an ice cream cone and then frost it, and it looks like an ice cream cone. Bennett liked it a lot and it was easy and less messy to eat than a normal slice of
cake.

We are so thankful for Bennett's affectionate heart, love of drawing and making things, exuberance about the things he loves and energy for life! We love our little big guy.

Austin picked this present out for Bennett- I recently discovered a thrift store here and Austin immediately chose this Thomas toy...it was well received.

Bennett's face in front of the candles was precious...he sang along with the birthday song and loved every minute of it. Watch below to see how he did with the candles!

Yeah for cake! The only time everyone sat still together was while eating cake.

Family shot...still enjoying the cones.

Xiao Chen and her daughters came to the party and Bennett had fun playing with her after the festivities.

Austin and Bree on Miriam's bike together. At one point during the party they were playing house and I heard Bree call for "Pa"- I guess Austin was the Daddy though I don't know where they got Pa from.

Making plans in pencil

SO here I am at 38 weeks. Ready to pop.

Austin jumped in- he finally started talking to Mei Mei and seems more excited about her arrival.

I am definitely in the "making plans in pencil" stage of pregnancy now. I am 38 weeks along and Mei Mei could technically arrive at any time. However, my history is to be pretty close to the due date (2 days late with Austin, 2 days early with Bennett- I was induced but was having contractions anyway that day). I have had 2 days where my Braxton-Hicks (practice contractions) were sort of intense and I thought- maybe this is it- but then they calmed down and here I am still. We also have to decide at some point soon if I will be induced again or just wait it out and hope my labor is long enough to make it to the hospital (4 hour labor with Austin and 3 with Bennett. At that rate, mei mei will come in 2 hours and it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour plus, depending on traffic). Unfortunately, my due date falls in the middle of the October holiday (National holiday), a week long holiday for most. My doctor is off starting Friday September 30-October 6 or 7. So I either would need her to induce me pretty early, or just wait it out and let her come on her own or choose another doctor to induce me. Not sure who drew the unlucky straws to be on call during the holiday week. Or she could decide to come tomorrow...basically we are on the "wait and see" plan for now. So we are making plans in pencil.

Bennett's 3rd birthday is Sunday and we are (tentatively) planning a simple party on Saturday morning with a few friends. I am hoping to have it at a nearby park- the weather has been beautiful, the kids can run around and it makes clean up easy. I am really hoping mei mei does not come Sunday the 25th- so she and Bennett can have their own special birthday and not have to share. Please also pray with us we stay healthy. We all are at the moment, but hand, foot and mouth disease is going around again. While not a dangerous illness, it is quite contagious and annoying and NOT something I want to expose a newborn to. We are washing hands a LOT and staying away from anyone who has it, but ...would appreciate prayer!

Books and pumpkin

Today was a beautiful fall day. Two things got me in the mood for fall today. I just found out yesterday about this huge book fair put on by a consignment shop that supports various local charities, held at the British International School. Austin and I had already planned a date together to the nearby donut shop, so we decided to drop in. WOW, definitely a good decision. It was HUGE. I didn't know that many English books could be found in one place in this city. They were really cheap too- ranging from 1 rmb to 20 or 25 for nice, hardback ones. I ended up with 30 books for 200 rmb (about $30), averaging 6.6 rmb/book. I only bought children's books- there were so many to look at I really didn't have time to venture to the adult section, but I have a Kindle anyway. So I was pretty excited about that and so were the boys. We will have to spread out the books over time, savoring having so many new books!


This afternoon I stockpiled pumpkin. I love pumpkin and it is really cheap here. Xiao Chen picked me up a big one for about $2 today. She peeled, cut and steamed it for me. Then I mashed it up, used a 2 cups of it in pumpkin muffins and divided the rest in ziplocs for the freezer. Now when I need pumpkin puree for soup, pumpkin bread or scones, pie etc I can pull it out in 2 cup portions. I also wonder if I am starting to "nest"- that pregnant urge to bake, clean, organize or otherwise get things ready before the baby comes. I don't know if it is the hormonal kind, but I am realizing I have 2-3 weeks before Mei Mei is here and want to get things in order.



We finished the evening with a dance party- at least the boys danced. Actually half way through dinner they got up and started dancing to U2's "Get on your boots"- both boys laughing and running around like crazy (especially Bennett). See the craziness for yourself! They were having so much fun I actually just allowed them to keep going on despite the fact they left the dinner table before they were done.

Go Guardians

Chris has a new "routine" with the boys. One of them stands beside the couch and yells "Go Guardians!" (the name of Chris' football team here) and Chris moves from a three point stance to whisking them up in the air and then (gently) body slamming them on the couch. They LOVE it and could do it repeatedly for hours if Chris had the energy. The other night Chris was getting tired and needed a break, so Austin said he would do it to Bennett. So Bennett, who often gets things a little mixed up, wanted to do "go guardians" to Austin (meaning Austin would do it to him). So this is how it went down...they did it repeatedly after this time as well. Glad when they can both entertain each other without arguing!