Rowan Coulter Heinrich

Well, three weeks into this newborn baby thing, and I am just now writing to say, "He's here!"  But, seriously, we're three weeks in, and life is just not even the same, and of all the things that I need or want to get done during the day (that don't have to do w/ Rowan), blogging is not in the top 10.

But, he's asleep, for now, and so let me quickly tell you that Rowan arrived on October 15, at 1:45 am.  He was 7 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches long.  It was a wild experience, giving birth....for all the normal reasons plus the fact that he came only about 4 hours after I finally acknowledged I might be in labor, and so 2 hours after we arrived at the hospital.  (Remember that blog post about the trouble we had w/ the airline not being too keen on me flying while 36 weeks pregnant?  And how I was sure that there was no way I could give birth on the flight down here b/c it was only an hour and a half long?  Well, turns out I maybe have to almost eat those words.)

We are all doing pretty good.  Two of us are sleep deprived, but I'll let you guess which two I'm talking about.  :)  Ro is pretty much growing like a weed.  Here's a picture from this past week.

So, that's it for now.  We probably get to head home to JH in 10 days or so.  We're looking forward to returning home!

--da

To Logan, w/ love

Its been a fairly easy pregnancy, and for that I have been thankful.  I have received lots of extra love and attention and support from numerous people, and I am grateful to you all for your love and wisdom shared and encouragement.  But I know that I could not have made it this far w/o Logan.  He has been constantly supportive, encouraging, loving, patient, quick to let me indulge in an extra chocolate chip cookie, willing to rub my legs when they ache, and the list could go on.

So this is my quick and feeble attempt to say thank you to my wonderful husband before he gets back from the dentist office and sees me writing this post.  I love you so much, and I look forward to seeing you hold our son.

December 2006, before our 2nd trip to Asia

May 2011, before heading back to TX from Louisville

--da

Just how Asian are you?

Although I will always be an American...and I will always prefer brisket over cabbage and tofu soup (however I do love a big bowl of cabbage and tofu soup), there have been a few situations in the past weeks that have proven to me that the Asian culture is rubbing off on me.  

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to FaceTime w/ my brother.  The first thing I said to him was, "Whoa, you've gained weight!"  (Disclaimer....he needed to!  He would even say that he needed to!)  Naturally what I meant was that I noticed that he looked healthier and not so sickly.  But instead of, "You look like you are feeling better," or "You look really good," or some other more neutral comment, I exclaimed rather bluntly that I could tell he had gained weight.  It was like I was some old Chinese woman with no qualms in yelling out, “你长胖了！” (ni zhang pang le) which is "You grew fat!"  

Last week we had to go find some cheap flip flops or sandals to wear as house shoes here.  You take your shoes off at the door and slip on a pair of sandals to wear around the house in most Asian countries, so when we went back to America in January, Logan couldn't stand it to walk around the house barefoot, and we both found ourselves wanting to take our shoes off at the door.  Bare feet in the house didn't bother me as much then, but once we arrived here in Thailand and I didn't have my trusty grey Crocs to wear around the house, I almost went crazy.   I'm rocking some awesome pink and white flip flops now, and life feels much more normal.  :)

This last incident is from a couple of months ago when we were in America, and I'm still trying to figure it out.  I think my reaction was a little personality, had a little to do w/ the fact that it involved my grandmother, and maybe also a little to do w/ me spending time in a country where sometimes you have to fight for what you want and you routinely stand in line at the post office or bus station w/ your hands on your hips and your feet spread out wide in order to block off anyone trying to get in front of you.  Basically all that happened was that I straight up told the doctor that what she was asking my grandmother to do was unacceptable and that there was surely some other option for her in retrieving some medical history/medical release that was needed for a procedure to be done.  Anyways, I'm pretty sure I got my way, and then a few days later my mom informed me that my grandmother was a little shocked at how aggressive and adamant I had been.  I just simply had no problem telling the doctor and the staff exactly how it was going to work, just like I usually don't have a problem telling the post office that I know I don't have a slip for the package that I am asking about, but I can see the big white USPS box that is on the back shelf, and I know its for me!  

Anyways, I am happy to hold onto my American identity, and I am happy to add some Asian influence to my life as well.  Sometimes its just shocking to see what attitude or preference I suddenly express that used to not be there!  

--da

Thailand!

Sorry for the quietness on the blog front.  I assure you we are well, its just been a busy few days, or weeks.

Last week we stayed pretty busy trying to wrap things up well before heading to Thailand, plus I naturally did what I do when things need to get done and I'm a little tired...get sick.  Only a cold/sinus infection this time around, but I still managed to whine and sleep a whole lot all of last week.  I do think we managed to accomplish just about everything we planned on doing before leaving, plus a few other things as well...like, you know, replace the batteries on our scooter that were stolen the night before we left.  It was a bit of a wild Monday....starting w/ Logan going out to get us breakfast and finding his shoes had been stolen that were muddy and sitting outside our door, and then at lunch going out for a quick bite, getting on the scooter, and finding out that it wouldn't respond at all..naturally b/c there were no batteries.  This was followed by us waiting a bit to get the batteries replaced, scarfing down a quick lunch, Logan dropping me off at the house to grab our stuff and bring it to the gate, and Logan taking off on the scooter to drop it off at a friend's house so he could use it while we are gone.  About a mile before Logan got there, though, he had a blow out on the back tire, and wound up pushing the scooter the rest of the way.  We made it to the airport on time, but just a bit more sweaty than we had planned.

The first flight wasn't a problem at all.  We got to our provincial capital city, but ran into a little bit of resistance there on me being 35 weeks pregnant and not having this official form from a local doctor that said I could fly, although I did have a note from another doctor in Thailand that okay'ed me for the flight.  I know that the airline has to do its job, and I'm not too put out (at this point) that they caused such a fuss, but at the time I was plenty irritated and worried that we would not be allowed to fly to Thailand, would have to go back home and then bus for two days to get here.  Thankfully they let me through, although admitting it was ultimately up to the pilot whether or not I actually got on the plane.  He obviously was okay w/ it, because we are here now!  The flight attendants were great though...I got a pillow AND a blanket, and they probably would have given me double helpings of the pork and noodles we were served if I had asked for it.  Truly, the most annoying thing about it all was that the flight was a whopping hour and a half...so even if I did go into labor, I don't think they would have had to deliver the baby on the plane.

Anyways, we are here now!  We promptly got Thai tea after we arrived, and really that made everything all better.  Chai yen, or Thai tea, is kind of the solution to any problem.  I think it will be something I send Logan out to get me after I have the baby.

So, now we are in a nice apartment in a great location here in Chiangmai.  We've attended three classes on baby related stuff, and tomorrow we go tour the hospital.  Monday night I have an appointment w/ the doctor I have chosen, and everything is really falling into place well.  I'll admit that I've been stressed and felt like there were too many decisions and things to do and it wouldn't get done, and I was never going to meet my doctor, etc....but God provides...both what I need, and the situation I need to experience in order to increase my faith in Him.

We've got a pretty chill weekend lined up, and hopefully some dear friends will be in town as well.  I probably won't blog a bit til next week, but I promise to get a post or two written next week after we rest a little and get a bit more settled here at the apartment.

Here are a couple of pics of the belly though before I go.  First two are last week...at 35 weeks.

And here we are at 36 weeks today!  And I'll just throw it out there that I love the v-neck maternity shirts from Motherhood.  Not an official endorsement or anything, but they are so comfortable, have held up to lots of washings, and I really like them!

Alright, well, that's enough for now.  I think I'm in need of some chicken and sticky rice tonight...or if not tonight, then at least in the next couple of days!

--da

找不到 (Can't Find)

For about 5 days now I have been looking for (and not finding) chicken breasts.  Its not like there isn't any chicken whatsoever....there are legs and thighs and quarters and whole chickens in abundance.  So where is all the white meat?  Surely the chickens they are cutting up for the legs, thighs, necks, heads, feet, etc, aren't anatomically deformed and missing the one piece of meat I desire to buy....surely not.

I have no idea.  The grocery stores and the markets are just not supplying what I'm demanding.  Of course, since I don't really live in a true supply and demand economy, I can't really complain.

However, when I went to the market near my house last Wednesday, had I so desired, I could have had my pick of both eel and dog meat.

--da

Aquaponics Update (or "Why do you keep judging me b/c I believe in science?")

Yay!  Another post....and its all scientific.  Okay, not really.  But kind of.  Our newest aquaponics (AP) system is doing really fantastic.  Last Friday I went out w/ Logan to check on it and plant a few things, and we are very pleased w/ how good everything looks.  To you, this picture may not be that impressive, but to us, it represents a lot of hope and plans for life here.  Go here if you want a great wikipedia article on AP.  I'm not going to define everything for you, b/c most of you reading have heard us talking about AP, but I'll at least explain what you see in the following pictures!

Below we've got basil in the foreground, and tomatoes in the background.  That basil is looking even better this week, and has grown a ton.  Looks like its about time to make some pesto!  Which makes me really happy.

Here are a few little plants that I'm praying not only survive, but thrive and do extraordinarily well...strawberries.  Its too hot here to grow strawberries all year, but in an AP environment where the plants are grown over water, the temperature around the plants is a few degrees cooler, therefore enabling us to extend the growing season.  Right now, the season usually lasts from maybe late November to February, but really it kind of just depends on when it starts to cool off, and if you are buying strawberries that are grown more locally, or strawberries that are shipped down from somewhere slightly north of us.  

Happy little fish.  Their poop gets pumped up along w/ the water into the beds, which naturally fertilizes the plants.  The water is cleaned by the plants, and pumped back down to the fish, who enjoy less toxic water.  Happy fish, happy plants, happy us!

Since this system is only a few weeks old, we've been checking on the ph pretty regularly.  It takes some time for the system to get regulated, but we're really happy that it is, at this point, somewhere between 7.0 and 7.5.  Ultimately we want the ph to be about 6.5.  

Not planted in this system, but doing well nonetheless, is okra.  We are harvesting a few...I don't know, 7 ish?...each week right now.  Bring it home, clean it, cut it up, and freeze it until we have a bag full enough to fry.  Yum!  For some reason the Chinese don't really grow or eat okra.  I mean, sometimes you find a plant, but I've never seen it in the market to buy.  So this is going to be an enjoyable treat as well.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.  See how committed I've been??  :)

--da

10 points to the first to know the movie quote in the title.

Belly Shots (or Do You Only Own Brown Shirts?)

Many of you have asked for more pictures of the belly, so here you go.  You get what you asked for.  I'm not really one to take a picture every week of the progress (although if you are one who likes to do that, that's cool!), but I get it that not being around us every week might make one more curious to see how much I've grown.  Anyways, these first two pictures are from last Friday (Aug 26...33 weeks pregnant).  I think I'm bigger than this...its not a straight on shot.  

And this last one is from sometime at the end of April, right before Logan had finals at school.

Still feeling really good.  God has been gracious to us, and it has been a mostly easy pregnancy.  I'm always hot, and sometimes its hard to sleep at night, but really, no other complaints!  We go to Thailand in 2 weeks!

--da

Kill the Rat (or A Good Video for the Weekend)

The following was taken a week or so ago at our temporary location for the aquaponics systems.  We had run into a problem w/ rats, and after setting some traps, we (Logan and AHN) caught one.  But then they had to decide what to do w/ it (how to dispose of it) after it was caught in the trap.  Here's Logan's solution.  Enjoy.







--da

A Trivial Post (or The Home and Garden Update)

For those of you who care about what we've done to the house (not really a remodel or addition..just some minor things that are updated), enjoy the following pictures and explanations.

Here's pretty much the kitchen before.  A little messy and unorganized, at least in appearance.  But let's all face it, if you didn't have cabinet doors, your kitchen would probably look similar.  (Although I know there are those of you out there that are way better organizers than I am.)

And below is the kitchen after.  Additions to the top are a shelf for my canisters (I have now freed up about a square foot of counter space), my spice rack mounted on the wall, and some bamboo curtains to help block out some sun.  Oh, and my chickens on a string hung from the ceiling, and the red and orange cord you see from beneath the cooking utensils is an extension cord that runs all the way down to the ground to charge our scooters b/c they have been tearing up and replacing the concrete in our underground parking garage, and we haven't been able to charge our scooters down there.

And here's the bottom half of the kitchen.  I wanted baskets that we designed and measured to fit perfectly into these spaces, but that was a major fail, so we went looking for baskets this past weekend, and I got these plus two others for about 15 dollars.  Not exactly what I wanted, but it looks better!!  You take what you can get and are thankful and happy about it!

Ah, my favorite.  A front loading washer that has a heating element.  It will seriously heat the water to boiling if I so desire.  It will be a huge help w/ cloth diapers (that I am going to try and succeed at!), baby clothes, our normally sweaty clothes, and its much more gentle on clothes when compared to the top loading washers here.  We had a 7.5 kg washer picked out (about the biggest you can buy here), but it wouldn't fit thru the bathroom door.  So the next day we exchanged it and had a 6 kg washer delivered, but it was broken, so finally that afternoon we were able to install the third washer delivered to our house.  I'm sure the guys who work for the store we bought it from were happy we had an elevator.

Rocking chair for Rowan's room!  There's other stuff in this room, but the rocking chair is probably my favorite right now.  His room isn't completely done, but I'm working on it.

Here's the gardening section of this house update.  There's an awkward empty space between where our tv is and the wall/door connecting to the patio, so Logan bought some orchids and hung them here, along w/ an ivy that we already had.  Also note our new curtains for the living room.  And...note the beautiful, new, brown paint!  Thanks to friends from Fort Worth who spent a day working on painting our living room and bedroom.  We couldn't have done it without them, especially since I had spent the previous day in bed w/...I don't know...a stomach virus or something.

And last but not least...a ceiling fan, new black curtains, and gray paint for our bedroom.  The fan is an immense help.  We also purchased and installed one in Rowan's room (it looks exactly the same as this one) and then when we realized how great these are, we bought another one to install in the office.

Well, that's it for now.  More blog posts to come soon..hopefully of more substance than house stuff.

--da

Back Home in JH (or A Re-entry to Blogging)

Well, we've been back here in JH for over a month now.  Its been good, and we've been busy.  Re-settling in here has taken a little longer than I expected and wanted, but I do think I forgot just how long it can take to do things here.  You plan on getting certain things bought/installed/accomplished, and then you can't find what you need, the store won't mix the paint color you really want, something breaks, you get sick, it rains and no one can deliver to your house, the washer won't go through the door to the bathroom, the person who agreed to make baskets for you never follows through, and for that matter never calls...well you get the idea.  Not that I'm complaining, but it can get annoying at times, and it does drag the whole process out a lot.

Anyways, all that to say, we're back and time is going by really fast.  We leave for Thailand in 3 weeks to hang out for about a month..waiting on the baby to come!  Then we will be there for 2-4 more weeks working on getting his passport and then visa so we can return home to JH and pick up where we left off here.  Although I am fully aware that we won't pick up life completely the same...it will be different.

We are immensely thankful to be back, and have picked up lots of our old relationships, and made a few new ones too.  The fact that we're having a baby, and staying for the foreseeable future, makes some people more open to talking to us.  We're slowly building relationships w/ more neighbors and people in our complex, and although the advice some of the women have to give about delivery and what to do afterwards is not actually the advice I want to follow, I just smile and nod and thank the Lord that we'll be in Thailand for at least a few weeks after Rowan is born, and they won't ever know that, Lord willing, I took a shower, ate hot food, washed my hair, walked around (or simply got out of bed) in the hours or days following delivery.

I know I'm pretty unreliable on the blog and the amount of posts that actually go up.  Logan said we should just delete it and move on w/ life.  But...I am back again w/ a new commitment to post.  (I know, I know, pretty empty promise.)  I won't blame you if you don't hold your breath, or if you've already deleted us from your blog roll.  I would have given up on us too a long time ago.  But I'm going to try.  You can just be pleasantly surprised when something new comes up on your reader.

--da