Only you know what's best for your baby...

Today was just, crazy! I made an amazing discovery after a very frustrating, cross-cultural doctor visit. All I wanted her to do was check my baby's ears and she wouldn't because she didn't have a fever. I was pretty convinced that my little girl had an ear infection. Last night was better, but before that she was waking every hour four nights in a row! She had a runny nose but this didn't seem to be bothering her much when she slept. It was obvious that some sort of pain was waking her and she always wanted to go straight back to sleep. Rarely needing to be nursed back to sleep, just soothed and rocked a little.

Yesterday when she started pulling a bit at her ears I started to feel sure that it was an ear infection. We have an American pediatrician here, but she is in Europe right now so I needed to see a local doctor. I had no idea what an ordeal it would be. I thought since American doctors always check ears that they would too, but I guess you need to go to a specialist for that here and I wasn't allowed to because she didn't have a fever.

I was very upset. I felt stuck. I contacted my amazing lactation consultant/friend/confidant. I love her! I cannot tell you all enough how this woman has changed my life. She has helped to shape my views, but not in a demanding way, she is so gentle and peaceful and loving and supportive. I can't rave enough about her! She told me a simple way to tell if she might have an ear infection and a natural remedy.

When she woke up I was going to check until I noticed something in her mouth. I knew she had been getting her two bottom teeth and thought that if this all was still from teething it seemed crazy. UNTIL I noticed that her two top teeth were poking through!!! OH MY! I couldn't believe that my six month old had this many teeth already coming through! After checking her ears and realizing that there was no sign of infection according to what my LC told me. This really seemed to explain everything! My world seemed happy again! And all the sudden my baby did too! We did the happy dance to this song :)

General timeline of baby teeth eruption and falling out

I don't think she's completely in the clear, but I could tell from her general countenance that she was doing a whole lot better today. She may still be tired from waking up so much the past five nights. But she's been playing on her own practically all day! This hasn't happened since before all this extreme teething stuff.

I remember reading this blog entry from Sweet Madeleine about lies people will tell you about Infant Sleep. She's writing from her experience of breastfeeding her baby to sleep for the first year of life. I have always held onto one thing that she said in that article, she said that there is always, always a reason for babies waking in the night. I am beginning to notice this pattern with Ruth, when she has a bad night, there is ALWAYS a reason! 

Teething face

I do find myself thinking at times, maybe I am doing it all wrong, but don't we all mamas? These thoughts and feelings usually pass and I eventually figure out what was wrong with Ruth or she just naturally starts going back to sleeping good. She is not a perfect sleeper and I feel at peace with the fact that infants are erratic sleepers. A very interesting article in Psychology Today talks about this.

SO, once again, many people will tell you what to do Mama, and it won't always be what is right for your little one. The doctor I went to told me that I needed to start my baby on solids to help her immune system. Sometimes you need to just smile and nod even when you know better. To see what I'm talking about, read this article on introducing solids from Kelly Mom.

Everyone has ideas, some are good, some are bad. But what it really comes down to is you Mama! You know what is best for your little one and you need to decide on that confidently and stick to it. For now I have decided what is best for my little one, there are so many decisions that I will continue to need to make in raising her, but I am super satisfied with the decisions I have made so far with her as a baby which is why I am passionate about sharing the ideas behind many of them.

So do your research mamas and don't be satisfied till you find the way that is best for you and your little one!

Bangkok

How great and scary it is to step into the unknown. Into a completely strange and foreign land. We live in such a beautifully diverse world and though I knew that before, I am strongly reminded of it now. 

When I was younger I had no desire to travel. I was fine with just staying in my home town forever. It is a great place after all and I had no problems with the thought of never leaving. 

But our Papa had other plans. Plans I could never have imagined. Ones I didn’t even realize that I would like. He showed me the taste for adventure that I never knew I had. The hunger to meet new people and see the complexity of the world outside of the box I was living in. 

There is nothing wrong with staying put, but that was not what he had for me, and for that I am grateful, because through it I have learned so much about myself and about others. 

Stepping into Bangkok was that indeed, another world. It’s a city, like any other, with high rises and wealth, yet streets lined with poverty, beggars and people just trying to make a buck or a baht in their case. 

Chaos bustling all around, mopeds flying by, pink taxis, tuk-tuks, sweaty muggy heat, dark skies one direction sunny skies the other. Tourists caught up in the mix, short shorts, flowing dresses, sandals, backpacks, cameras dangling, iphones at the ready, backpackers, serious travelers. 

Vendors selling flowers in bunches, strands and rings for temple gods, smell of incense lingers in the air. Women carrying baskets of flowers on their heads into the temple. 

Stepping outside I become part of the chaos. Vendors selling ripoffs, good ones and bad ones. Everything is so cheap. Sweat. Always. On everyone who isn’t sitting in an air conditioned vehicle. 

Exotic fruits. Some I’ve only seen in photos before. Fresh squeezed juice, ice cold and refreshing. Coconut juice served fresh, watch the lady chop of the top in seconds when you order it. impressive. Not my favorite, but interesting. 

Hungry for lunch. Local lady leads us to some plastic tables and serves us a noodle dish. Air condition = fan blowing in your face. 

After lunch they offer a boat tour. Air condition = locals fanning us with plastic boating expedition advertisements. We take the tour. 

Cruising and sometimes roaring down the river sipping on fresh squeezed mango juice. 

Feels a bit like a tropical Venice with houses built on stilts lining the water, bunches of leaves gathered up along the edges of the canal, giant coconuts in the water looking like floating heads. Our driver grunting every so often to get our attention as he points out something interesting. 

Yeah, our time in Bangkok went something like that littered with trips to temples, amazing and exotic food, souvenir shopping and the occasional Starbucks run. Sometime soon I'll tell you about our surprising time in Dolphin Bay. 

Birthday, new job and a cupcake recipe

Since my last post I have been to Turkey and back. Not to mention the craziness of training for my new position and celebrating my birthday along with the biggest Holiday in the country, Nauryz! I have lots to catch up, but I will not do it all in one post. Istanbul deserves a post void of distractions such as talk of birthdays and so on.

I got back the 15^th and my birthday is the 16^th. I was just so excited to see Curtis again after seven days apart. That day marked 8 years since our first date! Sometimes I can’t believe it’s been that long, other times I can’t remember life before us. My life has changed so much in these years and I am blessed to have such a man, one who is passionate for his Sav!or and who loves me more than I ever imagined, it seems that he gets better at loving me as time goes on.

I came back to a whirlwind of events, including my first leadership meeting and several birthday greetings from students and friends. As usual, I was reminded of how much love surrounds me on this special day. Dad has really provided many people around me whom I love and who return that love. I am so thankful for the friendships that I have here. He has truly provided me with a second family. Not to undermine how much I miss and love my real family. I am just very blessed by my creator as the road he has put me on can be difficult, he knows what I need and has blessed me with people that I love very much here as well in America 

On my actual birthday we had a really special event at the Cafe! We stayed open a little late in order to do a Music Preview. One of our volunteers is very talented with the gift of song. It seemed like basically everyone who has ever set foot in the cafe showed up! There were about 130 people in the cafe, it was packed and it just seemed so right. People filling the chairs, faces with smiles and joy lighting up the room. 

I celebrated my birthday over the weekend with Curtis on Saturday and with some friends on Sunday. I decided to have friends over because it was snowing like crazy and I really wanted to try a new cupcake recipe. I fell in love with this recipe for Funfetti Cupcakes :) from Eat, Live, Run which really shouldn’t be a surprise since that was always the kind of cake I would request for my birthday. It felt like old times but better and less artificial than the kind you get in a box 

I didn’t have vanilla bean, so I just used more vanilla!

Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run 

makes about 12 cupcakes

1 stick butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

3 tsp pure vanilla

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

buttercream:

1 stick butter, softened

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 tablespoon milk

2 tsp pure vanilla

For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 350. Cream together the butter and sugar and add the eggs one by one, beating after each addition. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and in another bowl, mix together the milk and vanilla. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk/vanilla to the batter. Be careful not to overmix. Fold in rainbow sprinkles.

Pour batter into greased (or lined) cupcake tins. Bake for twenty five minutes. Let cool thoroughly before frosting.

For the buttercream, beat the butter and vanilla on high until soft. Add the confectioner’s sugar and beat well. Add milk and beat on high for about six minutes, until very light and fluffy. Pipe buttercream on cupcakes and top with more sprinkles.

We had a great time on Sunday laughing, talking and eating good food 

Monday was my first day as Cafe Manager.

It was a slow day, we were only open two days this week because of the holiday. But it was a great way for me to ease into the job. Because it was so slow I was able to get my office organized.

On Tuesday we celebrated Nauryz, the Persian New Year, with our Annual Nauryz Party at work. We work in a poor area and we invite all of our neighbors to come and enjoy a big party complete with dancing, singing and of course plov! Curtis even gave a last minute speech in Kazakh, you can see it here on facebook. Also spring finally came in our city and I think it’s here to stay this time 

On thursday we celebrated Nauryz by going to a big stadium and watching the National game Kokpar, aka “Goat Polo.” They basically play polo with a goat carcass. It’s pretty gruesome, but interesting. We also got invited to a small party (toy) and were given a small feast (dastarhan) for free.

It has been a blessed week jumping back into work and life here and then quickly jumping into vacation for the holiday. We were blessed with three days off, plus the weekend, so that gives us five days total to recover from the festivities and from my trip to Turkey. Can’t wait to tell you about Istanbul, but for now, I gotta get some sleep!

Graduation year 2

For the second year in a row, graduation has proven to be the culmination of a year of hard work. Although I don’t write about it that much, we put a lot into our teaching. At graduation we find out how much our students really appreciated the class and all of our hard work.

One of the things that really touched me this year, was these two young girls. I knew they had a lot of fun in the class, but I had no idea how much they actually loved us, until they wouldn’t let me go at the end of the graduation. They were both crying and saying how much they would miss us over the summer. These are the things that keep me going when I remember how far we are from family and friends.

Another touching thing that our classes did was present us with gifts. Each of them gave us something special to remember them by.

A student designed a t-shirt for Curtis’ birthday and he hasn’t taken it off since 

One amazing class really knew the way to my heart… They bought me an electric mixer

The funny thing about the mixer is that the student who decided to buy it for me was at my house the day before the graduation party helping me bake. I had her working on the chocolate chip cookies and when she got to the adding flour part she asked me why I didn’t have an electric mixer. I told her ours broke and she was on top of buying me one the next day  It is a really nice one with a blender attachment, so I am pretty excited.

In reality, these gifts don’t matter much. They were well appreciated and the gestures of love were felt. But what matters is what we have poured into these student’s lives. We hope to see fruit from what we have poured into their lives. And we hope that some of the connections that we have made will become lifelong friendships.

We have truly been blessed and could not have asked for a better second and last year teaching ESI. We will miss teaching ESI, but we are also excited about what G*d has in store for us next year! Please continue to pr*y, as we are not sure about who will teach alongside of us next year. Thank you all so much for your constant support, pr*yers and love!

Family Visit

The time with Curtis’ Family seemed to come and go so quickly! Last Saturday morning Curtis and his mother were sharing their first hug in almost two years and by Friday morning we were saying goodbye!

Curtis and his mother were so happy to be reunited! Our good friend also joined us on this joyous occasion to welcome his family into our “new” hometown. It was crazy to them that this “foreign” environment was our home, but we have lived here for almost two years now. I can imagine that it was a surreal experience to step into such a foreign place and find that your son & his wife are extremely comfortable with their surroundings 

Overall, the time with his family was even better than expected! They really seemed to enjoy being part of our lives for a week. Meeting our friends and just hanging out in our world! Here is the lowdown on our week together. Starting with a picture of our first meal together at the turkish restaurant across the street from our apartment.

After having lunch together and catching up a bit, we let them have some rest and then headed to a good friend’s home for dinner. After dinner it was difficult for them to stay awake, so we talked a bit and then took them back to their hotel conveniently located very close to our home, only a five minute walk!

Curtis’s mom stayed with us so we could have some more time alone with her. They were all amazed by how nice our apartment was compared to the surrounding areas, such as the staircase leading up and the condition of the building. But it is pretty normal to have rundown buildings here with really nice apartments inside of them. Usually the condition of the building does not determine what’s inside 

The next day Curtis took his mom to the local fellowship that we attend while I hung out with Grandma, Aunt Diana, Aunt Sabina and Uncle Allen. We had a nice pancake breakfast and then we went out to look at the tulips which were perfect by the time they arrived!

Tulips are the national flower here and wild tulips grow in the mountains, but I was told that this is the first time that they have planted such a large amount of tulips in our city. It is absolutely breathtaking!

The tulips are all located around this giant tulip fountain. It is not quite as beautiful as the real tulips, but it was a nice place to sit and relax for the morning.

When Curtis and his mom returned we walked out to the bazar and saw some more interesting sites together.

Then Curtis took half the group to walk around the bazar while the other half relaxed at a park nearby. After that we met up with some friends at an Uzbek Restaurant for dinner. Chris and Diana tried fermented mare’s milk for the first time. And Curtis gave a “traditional” toast to give the family a feel for the culture 

The next day we went to a local park that is quite charming.

There is a huge monument at this park in memory of those who died in World War II.

We also took some photos in front of the monument, in an attempt to get into the local newspaper in Curtis’ hometown. Hope it works grandma 

After that we went to a small local restaurant and ordered some Квас – a popular fermented drink that is served only in the spring and summer here.

The next day we had an open house at our apartment in order to introduce our closest friends to Curtis’s family. Many of them said that this was the highlight of their trip because they got to meet our friends and really get a feel for what the people here are like, that is my favorite part too 

I think Uncle Allen had a lot of fun too   We were laughing so hard about this picture.

It was such a great opportunity to introduce them to our friends and to introduce our friends to them 

The next day we headed out to the English Center to show them where we work!

After we had lunch with our team, we headed to the cafe to make them some coffee!!

They enjoyed their coffees. While I enjoyed making coffees 

After enjoying some down time in the cafe we headed out to do conversation club with the students. First they did it with the regular conversation club crew and then with our students

That evening we needed to relax, so we went out to one of our favorite restaurants Madlen.

We have a great mall in town with an indoor ice skating rink, so we decided to go there the next day to hang out. And to eat lunch in the food court.

The last thing we did was one of the best things. Aunt Sabina really wanted to eat horse meat and we were trying to find it at many different restaurants because I have never cooked it. But late wednesday night, the day before their last day here. These wonderful girls called and offered to give them a wonderful before they left!

They made us all the National Dish! It was a really wonderful meal and a great end to our time together.

Aunt Sabina was so happy!

It seemed like the time we had together really flew by! But it was so good and it seemed so complete. We were really able to show them a lot and spend a lot of good times together talking and laughing and just enjoying each other’s company and learning about each other’s lives. I really appreciate the fact that Curtis’s family came all the way out here to see us and I think that we will all remember this time for the rest of our lives. It was such a special time that we had together!

And now, only about two more months till we are home to see the rest of our family and friends!!