Tuesday, November 19, 2013

1 year old!


Can it be?!?!  My little baby is already 1 year old?!?!  I get teary-eyed every time I really stop and think about it.  This year has just been so up and down for us (high highs and low lows) and so in some ways it seems like it's been a really looooong year and in other ways it has just flown by!  I guess that's life, huh?

Anyway... I know all the moms out there can identify with me, but I fall more in love with our lil guy each and every day.  The more he discovers the world around him, the more interesting he becomes!  He's starting to really show a personality (quite quirky and calculated yet laid back and easy!) and he is learning and growing a ton.  He still eats A LOT (he seems so heavy now!) and can wave bye-bye, "walk", give kisses, clap and sometimes do the Thai greeting of putting your hands together and bowing.  It looks more like a clap than anything, but we're working on it.  He still doesn't say any words, but I'm wondering if he'll be delayed in this area since he hears two languages every day.  I mean, it's confusing for me so it's gotta be somewhat confusing for a 1 year old! :)  He still sucks his thumb a lot and is attached to his sleep sacks.  He likes to hold the tag and fall asleep with it in his hand and his thumb in his mouth.  He sleeps like a champ (always has...) and takes 2 two hour naps throughout the day.  Plus, he sleeps 12 hours at night!  He must get that from his momma :)  He is pretty attached to me, but loves goofing around and "throwing" the ball with dad.  He loves Pawn and can recognize my mom's voice on facetime.  All in all, he's the favorite part of our day and we couldn't love him more!  We praise God for his life and for allowing us the joy of being his parents.  What a blessing!

On to the celebrating...

William got spoiled the morning of his birthday when everyone called to sing him "Happy Birthday!"  He got to blow out a candle with Ama & Papa, join in on bath time with cousin Leila & Natey and enjoyed a nicely harmonized birthday song from Auntie Kelsey and Uncle Tony!  (Auntie Kara and Uncle Joshie were in Italy, but they sent their love and Uncle Doug & Auntie Kristi keep forgetting that they have another nephew... j/k Ishikawas!)

I was kind of against throwing a big party for William (party pooper, I know...), but I just felt funny making a big deal out it.  But Steven convinced me that this would be a good opportunity to hang out with our neighbors since we hardly see them.  So, we quickly threw together a birthday party (had a Thai friend cook all the food, ordered the cake and bought some kid-friendly "fireworks") and we called it a day!


William's birthday party invitation


 Our BIG MAN all ready for his party!

Our lil fam :)

 Pawn & Bpin helped make William's favorite food... potstickers!!! :)

 Auntie Kristi with Zion and JJ

 Waiting to eat!



 We had such great food!  Pot did a great job preparing everything... so easy for me!  We had sweet and sour chicken, fried chicken, khao soi, potstickers and fruit! :)


 Yum!

 William's happiest when he's eating!

 We invited our neighbors (some pictured above), but the majority of them couldn't come.  Between the big "Loi Kratong" festival and working late, most of them missed the party.  We were kinda bummed, but each of them stopped by to give William some hugs and kisses and a gift.  It was so nice and made us feel loved.

 A good party always has good food!
 Is it really my birthday, mom? :)

 Our dearest friends!

After we ate, we let the kids play with sparklers :)

They loved it!

Even William got in on the action!

 William doesn't yet know that his momma's kinda crazy...

The sparklers were so bright that he kept closing his eyes :)

William's best pal, Obie

Chocolate birthday cake

 One of our neighbors came over and lit some candles on our fence for William's birthday.  Even though it was done to keep the evil spirits away, we still thought it was sweet of her to do that for William.



 The chaos continued...

Singing Happy Birthday--William was more confused than scared!

You're really gonna put this big thing in front of me?!

Hmmm....

Finger lickin' good!


Happy Birthday, Bud!

He knows how much momma loves sweets, so he thought he'd share :)

We eventually gave him his own piece of cake...

And it was soooo good that he had to lick the plate, too!

The kids lighting and releasing lanterns just for fun!

 It really is like Tangled! :)



All in all, it was a great birthday.  I'm so glad we ended up throwing a party for William because it was fun to celebrate with friends.  It was a little sad being away from family (more so because I know how much they would've all loved to be celebrate with him...), but we are thankful that God has provided William with people who also love him here.  Thanks everyone for their help and for coming out to celebrate... here's to the next year!

After all was said and done, Mr. Birthday Boy slept in til 10:30 the next morning!  He must've partied too hard!  hahaha... love the little munchkin oh so much!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Walking!!! (well, kinda...)

Exactly a week before his 1 year birthday, my lil stinker decided to take some big steps... literally!

William has been standing and walking along furniture for awhile now, but I wasn't too sure when my cautious boy would venture out on his own... but yesterday he finally did it! I wouldn't necessarily call it "walking", but he kind of just picks up his feet and moves a few inches.  It's hard to catch on tape because if you pay too much attention to him, he gets scared and starts crawling.  So he has to be distracted (preferably playing with his balls--that sounds so awful, but I don't know how else to say it?!?!) or having food dangled in front of him.  What can I say, he takes after his dad! HA :)



In other news, we've been keeping busy around here lately.  It feels like we are starting everything at once (Expat Homes, Bliss, learning deeper spiritual language, parenting, etc), so some days feel really full and tiring!  But, we love it.  We feel like we're in an exciting and life-giving time!

Here's some shots of what's been happening...

No, this was not a Halloween set-up... this is what I encounter every time I go to buy meat.  I don't think I'll ever get used to it!

Mr. William man and his amazing techni-colored duster!

 The kid is obsessed with household items... (one of his many quirks!)


Whatta cutie!

William's learned how to give kisses, but sometimes he gets a little carried away.  What a flirt!

 I love my boys!!!!
 
I'm not sure if I've blogged about this yet, but our team leader (Kristi) is starting this business/ministry to house helpers in Chiang Mai.  It's really an awesome idea and it has really taken off in a short amount of time.  Since being a "Mae Baan" is looked down upon quite a bit, we are hoping that we can help change the way they feel about their work by providing them with some more training and better skills.  We are also trying to create a network where we can help them find good jobs.  It's been really neat to see God working through this.

We are official since we officially have business cards, right? :)

Not having a ton of time to devote to this, I just try to help Kristi where I can.  One of the things I have been able to do is do some cooking with mae-baans.   (How fun is that?!?!)  Below are some pics of a day I got to spend with a girl, Rosetta.  Isn't she adorable?



Healthy cooking!

We made honey glazed salmon with spicy corn salad

 And a Thai crunchy quinoa dish :)

Oh and William helped too :)

 To read more behind this, you can visit my personal blog :)  I got it made here and now it's hanging in our house.  AND I LOVE IT.

 I told Steven that he wasn't allowed to take William on the motorbike until he had a helmet (thinking this would buy me a couple of years...), but then he came home with this one day!  Littlest helmet for the cutest lil guy!

We threw a baby shower for our Thai teacher!  Baby Hugo will probably come this month!

Just a reminder to myself that it sometimes gets cool enough in Thailand to wear a jacket and drink hot chocolate!  It's the little things...

 Officially official with official Expat Homes shirts!


Sick baby.  William randomly woke up from his nap one day with a 101 temp and then cried for about two hours before we took him to the hospital (you go to the hospital for everything in Thailand).  Turns out nothing was wrong...?  Good thing those hospital visits are only $10 bucks!

I told Steven I wanted to go camping.  He was super excited until I told him I wanted to go camping in our bedroom.  But, because he let's me be weird, he agreed and we set up camp!  William loved it.

The perfect way to camp, if you ask me!

 These two just bless me heart.  More than they know.

 Grandma Sauder sent an awesome huge package for William's birthday!  Although, William wasn't too pleased when I wouldn't let him open it!  :)

 Steven had to work on the weekend, so we took the day on Friday to chill out by the pool!  
 We got complimentary girly drinks!

Up in the mountains

 Thailand.

You should probably come visit.  :)