Answered Questions

1) My daughter has grown a huge appetite! The past few weeks she has only nursed about twice a week, the last time being 6 days ago! She is back to enjoying her scrambled eggs and her new faves are "puhtay and passta" (potatoes and pasta)! After spending a month in our new home, my kitchen is set up and I am able to control how often and what I can offer her. Please do pray that she continues to eat well, and that I learn how to buy all of my groceries in another language!

2) What does daily life look like? Hmmm, that question, which i got nearly a dozen times in my e-mail box is a little bit more difficult to answer. But, I'll do my best. I get up about 6:30 and take a shower. Sometimes, if I feeling extra energetic I make some muffins and have some cider. But for the most part after my shower I park it on the couch for some QT with the King of Kings. My husband is gone from 7:00-1:00 for his studies. My little one has been waking up somewhere between 7:15 and 8:30. Once she wakes up we get milk and cuddle on the couch for a little while. For the next hour or so we work on breakfast, getting baby dressed, diapered, and playing the whole time. Three times a week we have a house helper to clean. The environment here is much dirtier than what we were used to in the states, and it is difficult to keep the house clean. I'm very thankful for LJ, and my little one absolutely loves to play with her. She's even learning the language from her. She isn't a believer so we take every opportunity to practice our limited language saying, "God loves you. Jesus loves you." She typically just smiles and giggles a little bit. She knows almost zero English. On Sunday mornings we join our friends in the city for worship and then enjoy a meal together. Yesterday we had Mexican food! It was so exciting! We had soft tacos, chips and salsa, and my famous black bean and corn salad! YUMMY! On Monday mornings we have prayer time with a sister in the city, those of us with little ones aren't able to get out and about the city as much as our husbands and those here without kids, so we try to be like Aaron, holding up the arms of Moses. We spend that special time lifting up the team and work here. One morning a week I go prayer walking in a new part of the city. My little one loves to ride on my back in the Ergo Pack. The other mornings we may go to the grocery store, or take a bus downtown. The other day we took a bus all by ourselves, found an art store and purchased a canvas, a set of acrylic paints and 3 paint brushes! It was exciting. My little girl is starting to get used to all of the comments about how beautiful she is and how yellow her hair is. They don't have a word for blond in this language! Our favorite lunches to eat while at home are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, baked potatoes with salsa, and pasta. Our favorite lunches to eat out on the town are beef noodle soup and KFC. The sweet one naps after lunch for about 2 hours. While she naps I catch up on computer stuff, read, take a nap every once and while, run to the grocery store, or play wii with my hubbie. Once the baby wakes up the three of us take off to learn our way around the city. We've really enjoyed the bus system, it's inexpensive and everyone is really great about offering a seat to those with little ones. Our favorite dinner to eat in is roasted chicken, butternut squash and steamed broccoli. Our favorite dinners to eat out are the local steak house, actually modeled after Outback...it's delicious, we love all of the local foods as well, but its still difficult for us to order on our own! In the evenings we enjoy family time, time with friends, and keeping inside and away from the bitter cold! We're trying to meet lots of friends and begin building relationships, but with limited language it is difficult. Also pray that we will know where to find everyone when it is so cold outside! The baby goes to sleep at 7:30 and my hub and I enjoy playing cards, watching movies and studying language.

I hope this has helped everyone to see a bit more into daily life in ASIA! And answered some questions.

Stay tuned for a journal entry about "growing impatient versus growing patience."

With joy,
Kari