Christmas Eve In Korea

Being in Korea for the past two Christmases has certainly given Christmas a different feel. Last year, Andy's parents were visiting so it felt a little more "normal", but this year we found our selves sitting around waiting..... (for what I'm not sure). So after we got back from the Christmas Eve Service (see post below) we decided to take some pictures by the tree. That way you can see our tree and how pregnant I look these days! Next year I believe Christmas will feel more typical once again :) Andy and I posing on the couch. 35 Weeks and Counting! Andy has been saying for several weeks now that I look as though I am about to pop.

Our typical pregnancy photo, but this time with the tree as the backdrop.

Look at all those Christmas Cards and presents! Also, notice our stockings hanging from the ceiling. A few hours later they were stuffed with goodies and not able to be hanging as they were way too heavy!

We hope you and your family had a great holiday. We spent Christmas day eat, relaxing, and enjoying the gifts that we were blessed with!

Christmas Eve Service

On Christmas Eve we attended our chapel's Christmas Eve Service.

The Sunday before Christmas Andy was asked if the two of us would participate in the Chaplain's Christmas Story. Of course since we do not know how to say no, we were a part of it. Initially, he was suppose to be a Shepard and I was to be a prophet. However, when we arrived early to practice, Andy was asked to switch to a larger part because someone couldn't be there. He was drafted to be an Angel.....quite ironic if you ask me!?!?! He now likes to say that he was the voice of the Lord.

I had my hand bell debut in which I some how ended up with the most difficult harmony part despite the fact that I had never played them before. I found it to be quite easy though. Our Camp Carroll Hand Bell Choir

Some may ask when I started leading the children's choir. Well, you see, I was asked back in November if I would "help" with the children's choir. I said I would. Next thing I know I'm completely in charge of it! We only sang two song: Silent Night and Angels We Have Heard On High. The biggest problem was the lack of children. Secondly, the majority of the children are very small. Thank goodness for my friend Earlene's two older boys. I couldn't have done it without them!

Camp Carroll Children's Christmas Party

This huge event hosted by Camp Carroll included about 1,000 kids! There were crafts, food, inflatable play areas, and groups of children that performed. Of course, I got asked to HELP with the crafts. Little did I know that it was going to turn into me designing the crafts! Yikes! When I stopped by to see the lady I was "helping" on Tuesday, I was told that I needed to design the ornaments. She had an idea from which I came up with a practical way that kids could do this. We then went to get the supplies. The rest of the week was cutting out felt for the ornaments and cards. Thank goodness she did recruit some other help to cut out the thousands of small pieces! However, I think between Andy and myself we cut out over 1,000 pieces. This shows one of the groups of girls dancing!

In the background you can see the inflatable play areas. They were a definate hit. However, they had to be monitored because at one point a play area designed for 2 children at a time had about 50 kids on it. Needless to say they deflated it and then it had to be blown up again. After that adults monitored its use!

A group of Korean children performing Tae Kwon Do split boards among other things!

Helping the children make Christmas ornaments!

Andy posing with an elephant in a pink dress. The GUY inside the costume is from his unit. This was hard for Andy to imagine....a guy in a pink dress!

Santa Stopped By

This past week we received Christmas gifts from both of our families. Andy has imposed a rule for me....I am not allowed to touch the presents. Any of you that know me well (especially around Christmas time) know that I love to touch and try to determine the gift. Well apparently I am a little too good at it so I've been told that I'm not allowed to touch them. Having to ship Christmas gifts forces us to be ready for Christmas a little earlier than normal. Our tree is up, all gifts have been sent to our families, and we are eagerly awaiting Christmas morning! Did I mention this is my favorite time of the year?!?!Here is an updated picture of our little Korean Christmas Tree surrounded by gifts from the Ambrose's, Geesaman's, and each other!

Baby Shower!!!

Today some of the ladies at church had a baby shower for me. After church we all headed to a very good Korean resturant here in Waegwan. We had lunch and then they watched me open my gifts. I got some diapers, wipes, diper rash cream, clothes, blankets, clothes, a memory box for Caden with his name on it, a framed picture of the colored 4D ultra sound picture, and a handmade baby afghan. Then after that we had cake. After the shower we all headed back to the church for handbell practice. Of course I don't know how to say no so I am playing handbells for the first time ever. It should be interesting because I ended up with a more challenging part than some and I've only heard them played once!

This picture shows the memory box that was handmade for Caden by Mrs. Ray. In the box she had two blankets that she made for him with "Baby Geesaman" embroidered on them. So cute. Oh and you can also see how HUGE my belly is these days! It feels like its growing exponentially each day!

O' Christmas Tree!

We took advantage of my 4 days off for Thanksgiving to set up the Christmas tree. It was quite an ordeal. The box the tree was in was buried in our storage area. I ended up reorganizing the whole area til I found the ornament box! Notice there are no presents under the tree. I hope this changes soon!

Baby Update :)

Today I had my 31 week doctor's appointment. After my last appointment and being told that I was gaining too much weight naturally I was worried. I tried to make sure I was eating healthy (which I think I do a pretty good job at....but no one is perfect!) and I did try to walk more. Walking more was interesting. It caused my swelling to become a lot worse. It was so bad that it wouldn't go down for several days. Anyhow, today I was quite happy when I stepped on the scales. Well as happy as one could be stepping on the scales in the middle of the waiting room and having a bunch of Koreans stare at the rather larger number. I only gained 1 kilogram, which is about 2 pounds. Then when the doctor did the ultrasound and found that the baby gained approximately a pound! He also found the measurement of his head to be on target with my January 28th due date. However, the measurement of his legs showed a due date of December 29th! Sounds like he could be one long baby! The doctor told me that my blood pressure was excellent and my weight gain overall was acceptable. Much better news than last time. I had a bunch of questions for the doctor that he answered. A few weeks ago in our childbirth class we found out what shots are normally given to babies and today we found out that our hospital will give the same exact ones to our little one:) We also found out that he will be able to room in with me. The only exception to this is that they will take him to the nursery for observation for up to 8 hours after he is born. Our doctor had his fun with the ultrasound picture so the poor baby looks like an alien! He is head down though, which is good thing! After my next appointment on December 20th, we will be going on a tour of the hospital to see where I'll actually be having him.

An Early Christmas Present!

Last time we were in Osan, Kelli and I found this step chest at a Korean Antique Furniture Store. We have been looking at these since we got to Korea. This one struck both of us as our favorite. It was a little expensive but we decided we wanted to be able to bring a little bit of Korea home with us. It was delivered today! It is the same on the opposite side. You can open the cabinets and drawers from either side. The inside of the drawers and cabinets are all solid wood and finished.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Here in Korea, Kelli made a turkey dinner. I invited some people I work with to come over. We had a really nice time and a great meal!

Kelli standing by the Turkey. It is a 13 pound turkey that barely fits in the oven with the baked corn. It is tough cooking in the Korean oven. It is so small!
The Chef with the food before the feeding begins.The Wii makes a great warm up for dinner. Boxing and bowling really work up the appetite. In this picture are two of the guys from my office. The Korean is what we call a KATUSA, he is from the ROK (Republic of Korea) Army but attached to the U.S. Army. I invited him for a traditional American meal. He seemed to loved it. It was his first Thanksgiving.My friend's wife, she is Filipino, this was her first Thanksgiving meal too. I showed them both the tradition of the wishbone and let them have the honors. He was quite happy to end up with the larger part of the bone. I wonder what he wished for?

Time Flies when your Busy!

We have been busy the last couple weeks. Here is a picture of Kelli at 30.5 weeks. (I snuck in the picture too!) Kelli and I had a childbirth class in Yongsan(Seoul) and then did some Christmas shopping in Osan. Here is an updated picture. I haven't noticed a change since I see her everyday. She can tell more than me. I'm sure some of you will notice a difference. I certainly can going back and looking at the pictures.

For Halloween the church had a kids party called " Hallejuah Night". Somehow Kelli and I got roped into helping. We had a pin the nose on the pumpkin game, candy toss, and a candy relay, then the kids got to ice their own cupcakes.

For Veterans' Day my friend had a BBQ on his roof. It's another Korea thing. It was fun and the nicest day of the week to have it. We had ribs and chicken along with some korean side dishes. It was a nice day off work.

28 1/2 Weeks & A Haircut

It's hard to believe, but this week past week I offically entered the 3rd Trimester, which means only approximately 12 more weeks to go until we meet our lil guy :) Here is what seems to be our bimonthly photo shot. This picture seemed to turn out a little better than the last one. This picture lets you see my growing belly, which some of you back in the states seem to love to see. After several years of attempting the long hair thing, Saturday I reverted back to my standard length. I decided enough was enough! After my doctor's appointment we went to Camp Walker and I braved another Korean Haircut. I liked this lady much better than the lady who cut it last time at Camp Carroll. After my haircut we headed to the Commissary (grocery store) to pick up a few things. As we were shopping down one asile there was a little girl who was in one of the kiddie grocery carts that look like a car that is attached to the front of a regular grocery cart. As I was walking down the aisle she loudly said, "Move out of the way, woman." I must admit I was startled and so was her father. He apologized on her behalf and then went to talk to her while we continued. While in the next aisle the little girl came over and apologized. Then about 10 minutes later we saw her father again. He apologized yet again said that she probably got it from him. He said that when he is driving in Korea he often makes a comment about the woman Korean drivers and how they need to move out of the way. Once again I told him that it was okay! He certainly was very embarrassed about what his daughter had done.
Andy felt neglected with most of the pictures being of me and decided that we needed one together!

Back to the grainy pics.

Needless to say this picture was disappointing after the 4D ones from last time. Everything still looks good though according to the Doc. She is now 28 weeks and in the third trimester. Home stretch time. Apparently this is his face and the dark spot is the eye socket. Caden's dimensions are measuring a little larger than they should for his due date. Which means either he is going to be a big baby or come a little sooner than expected. The doctor is a little concerned about Kelli's weight gain. I guess two trips to the States have done their job. Her blood pressure is good though and her swelling is acceptable so far. Kelli was upset that she has gained so much weight, of course. I cheered her up by taking her to TGI Fridays after the appointment though! I don't think it helped the weight issue but it was fun!

After Church Picture

Kelli is currently 26 and a half weeks pregnant. Per the request of some family members here is a picture of Kelli's belly. It is pretty much in the same position as the last one for easy comparison. Taking pictures after church seem to work well. Since we are dressed decently. We tend to spend a lot of time hanging out in sweats. The color is off a little bit so the pic is not great. I think the light coming in the window behind us made the pic very dark.

Yes, We live in a Rice Paddy!

For anyone who doesn't know our apartment building is surrounded by rice paddies, as are most things in Korea. It is the time of year where they harvest that rice. Yesterday we saw this very interesting piece of equipment harvesting the rice by our building. It shears the rice stalks and sends them back along a conveyer where it shakes the rice off into bags (on the other side of the machine), then dumps the stalks out the back of the machine. Notice the man is standing up the whole time ( I guess they don't believe in seats on equipment over here). There is a saying over here in the military. OINK! Which means Only IN Korea! Apprently posting these interesting culture differences is going to be a new trend on the blog, so stay tuned for more OINK moments!

Just When You Think You've Seen It All...

Over the past year in Korea Andy and I have learned that there isn't too much that surprises us anymore. Koreans tend to go about doing things in a very different way that Americans would. They tend to be less worried about safety. For example, one of my Korean friends has a 2 daughters; one of them is 2 and the other is 4. Often the 4 year old is in a car seat (most likely unbuckled) and the 2 year old is roaming around the car. I am not sure if there is a law, but if so it definitely isn't adhered to very well. Anyhow, on Friday we were driving down the dirt path to our apartment building. We were talking about the colors they were painting the new building behind our apartment building. All of the sudden I noticed HOW they were painting the building. The man is sitting on what appears to be similar to a seat of a swing that has a rope attached to it. He is wearing no safety gear at all! He began at the top and was lowered down as he was painting the building with a paint roller. Then there was a man on the inside painting the outer window ledge. If you click on the picture it will enlarge it so you can see it better.

Mission Accomplished!

This weekend we traveled to some bases up North to see what of our "big" baby items we could find. We needed to do this early so if we needed to order them through the PX we had time to do so. We lucked out and found all three items that we needed that could not be shipped from the states. In addition to the stroller, infant carrier, and pack and play, we were able to find a few other smaller items! We got lucky to find matching patterns as we bought the stroller and infant carrier at one PX and the pack and play at a totally separate location. When we got home today we got everything put together to make sure all the parts were there and not broken. It is now just waiting til Caden arrives in January:)

The Stroller

The Infant Carrier, which snaps onto the stroller or into the car base.

The pack and play that came with a bassinet and diaper changing station. It also has music that can play and vibration mechanism to help soothe the baby to sleep.

What A Day!!

Today was quite an exciting day at the Hospital. Kelli is now 25 weeks and 2 days. She had her glucose test first. We should have the results in 2-3 days. Don't worry it gets better from there. Then we went for her Level II ultrasound. We also opted to have the 4D Ultrasound at the same time! The video shows Caden smiling and blinking his eye. Below are a ton of pictures from the ultrasound. I put them in a slideshow because there are sooooo many! He has all his fingers and toes and vital organs. He appears to be very healthy and quite energetic. The technician was laughing at how much he was moving around. While we were having the ultrasound the international clinic liason came in and said a local tv crew was there and wanted to interview and do a piece on international patients in the hospital. So after the real ultrasound, we staged one(where Kelli was a little more covered) for the camera. Then they followed us around the hospital as we went to the doctor to have the results reviewed. While we were waiting for the doctor they interviewed us. Too bad we don't know when or what channel it will be on!

P.S. The technician and the liason both think Caden looks like me!

24 1/2 Weeks

Since my belly seems to be growing a good bit these days, I thought I would update you with another picture! I have my next doctor's appointment on Friday for the Glucose Screening Test and a level 2 ultrasound. Hopefully we will get some better pictures of the little guy that we can post :) I know the ones from the regular ultrasound are sometimes a little hard to identify. Next weekend we are heading out to do some baby shopping. That should be fun!

Our "Beamer"

Well here are the pics of our recently purchased car in Korea. The best way to describe it is in a list:
Automatic Transmission - Yes
Power Brakes - Yes
Power Steering - No
Heat - Yes
A/C -Technically Yes(I think there's a leak.)
Power Windows - Yes
Power Doors - No
Tape deck -Yes Radio- No ( Antenna is broken)

Yes the bumper is sprayed painted(along with the hub caps). The interior is dark blue.(How this goes with silver and black outside not sure?) It has over 242,000 KMs on it. So far it has been a pretty reliable car though. The BMW sticker on the trunk was there when we bought it. (along with a BMW Steering Knob on the Inside.)

So there you go. Just as promised. Soon we will be adding a car seat to it! That's the only addition I have planned for customizing this beater.

23 Weeks

For all of you that don't get to see me on a daily basis, here are some pictures for you. I will have to admit I am not very fond of these preggo pictures, but I guess I will have to get used to them. I am very critical of pics of myself and these just aren't really doing anything for me.....but hopefully you will enjoy them. Since it is now obvious that I look pregnant (opposed to just looking like a gain 15 pounds) I will try and post pictures somewhat frequently. Enjoy!

Time To Celebrate!!!

I am very excited to share the good news that I'm FINALLY finished with my Master's Degree in Educational Administration and Leadership. Not only am I finished, but I finished with flying colors....a 4.0 GPA! I don't think that's too shabby, do you?

21 Week Check Up and More

WELCOME BACK! It's been a while since our last post. Much has happened! First, We got a car! Yes, I owe everyone a picture of our 1990 Hyundai Excel BMW. Kelli was also back to the States for a few weeks for family reasons. It was a tearful trip, but was good for Kelli and her family. Her Grandma is in a better place now after being diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. But, back to the goods news! Everything is going well with the pregnancy. The pictures are getting harder to see. I think cause the baby is getting too big for the machine. On the right you can make out an eye socket and what I think is part of a foot on the left. This doctor's appointment was the day after Kelli returned to Korea. She was still a little swollen in the ankles from traveling and had put on a little weight at home too. In fact, it is definitely easy to tell she is pregnant now! I owe a picture of that too, I know. Dates have been set and tickets bought for all grandparents to come visit in February after the baby is born at the end of January(hopefully!) Her next appointment includes a level 2 ultrasound so hopefully we will get some better pictures from that.