Baby

I'm nearing 39 weeks and feel like I'm 42! Such is the end of a pregnancy. I'm at the point where I get many comments by strangers and friends alike, and I've recently enjoyed hearing such adjectives as "huge", "ready to pop", and, my personal favorite, "absurd" :). I had an appointment yesterday and nothing super exciting is happening, but I feel like things are moving in the right direction. For posterity and for our far-flung loved ones, here are some recent pictures that show off Baby in his or her final weeks before the big day...

The classic "line up in order of due date" picture at a baby shower...look at those cute little girls behind me!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Festivities

In spite of the wistful longing for our tropical Christmases of recent past expressed by a certain member of our family, and despite the fact that I am larger than life and having trouble mustering the energy to get through a normal day's activities, we are soaking up our Christmas here. It is a special treat to be surrounded by the sights and smells of Christmas. Festivities galore, loving being with family and friends, celebrating Advent, waiting again for the coming of our Savior. Joy and thankfulness. And some tired hard days, too. But isn't that always the case?...

Em and her Papa Jeff on the tractor on our annual "Chipper Day"- the day after Thanksgiving. I especially love this picture because our good old dog Bonsai is in the background, behind the farm gate.

We spent a fabulous, sugar high afternoon decorating gingerbread houses with some friends we've come to know and love during this time in Atlanta...

Emmy and her cousin were two little ballerinas after seeing The Nutcracker at the Fox Theatre...

We went to Atlantic Station, an Atlanta downtown commercial development, and enjoyed the "snow" they create every hour. For southerners, this is serious fun!

This picture cracks us up! Look at that nose!

And just this week we enjoyed an Atlanta tradition, the Pink Pig atop Macy's department store, with our beloved Thompson friends...

And to think the family festivities haven't even begun! Merry Christmas!

O Christmas Tree

Last night was Christmas tree night, a much anticipated event. We bundled up and walked down to our local tree farm (a.k.a. Pike Nursery), picked out the perfect tree, and hauled it home...

Special thanks to our Daddy Tim, who personally did the hauling...

There was much excitement surrounding the decorating, more than we've ever had before. This is the most traditionally lovely tree we've ever had, as our trees have always been either homespun and cut down from a field in Locust Grove (which I love) or artificial and somewhat Charlie Brown-ish in Thailand (which I also love because I'm grateful to have a tree!)


We let the kids do all the decorating, which was nice for us! We didn't bring many ornaments with us, so it wasn't a big job. Popcorn and cranberry strings to be added later...

While we stood in the Christmas aisle of a store yesterday, picking out tree lights, Emmy commented wistfully, "I was just thinking of all of our lovely Christmases in Thailand." It always surprises me when she says things like that, and makes me realize that we are, in fact, raising "Third Culture Kids" who are just as at home, if not more, in another place as here.

Wanting to explore her feelings a bit further, on the way home I asked, "Emmy, where is your home?" I was curious to hear whether she would say America or Thailand. She answered, "Heaven." She never ceases to amaze me.

Since we're on the subject of Emmy-isms, here are a few we've saved up in the last few months:
-To Asa, after he fell down and got right back up: "Goo-ood persevering!"
-On the subject of leaving her shoes on in the house (a no-no in Thailand): "Now that I'm in America, I'm going to leave my shoes on in the house. I'm going to start a new culture!"
-As it started to get dark one evening, with sadness: "I'm losing all hope of playing on the playground."
-One day when she was a bit out of sorts:
Mommy- "Emmy, how are you feeling?"
Emmy- "In what sense?"
-Upon the acquisition of sparkly new shoes for her Halloween costume: "Daddy, I'm gazing at my new shoes and I can't think of anything else."
-Just the other night, when she was particularly riled up before bed (thanks to Daddy's robot game that sends her into hysterics), "Daddy, I'd bite ya if I was allowed to!"

A Joyful Thanksgiving to You...

So much to be thankful for. We hope that your day is full of joy, and we praise our God, from whom all blessings flow...

guitar turkeys...they make their Daddy proud

a few leaves from our thankful tree

Recently

Happy Fall! Life here has been so full, and I'm really just getting to the place (I think) where I feel like I have some sort of handle on things and can begin to function in a way that feels more normal. For instance, today we went to the craft store and bought some things to begin some projects I want to work on in the coming months, and up until now such a thought would have been totally overwhelming to me. I remember when we first moved to Bangkok that it was months before it occurred to me that we had a mailbox or that I actually thought to check it- I was just too overwhelmed to look outside the "musts" of each day. I guess it's been a bit like that coming this way, too, which I wouldn't have anticipated, but there you have it.

We've had some chilly days (as illustrated by the adorable little gnomes above), and some gloriously warm and perfect days, and the leaves are changing, and it's good to have Fall here. There have been so many good things lately and I'm going to take just a minute to share them...

I had the opportunity to get away with my girlfriends from Berry to a cabin in North Carolina a couple of weeks ago, and what a privilege that was! The surroundings were beautiful, the leaves were breathtaking, and the fresh air and chilly weather were just perfect. The best thing, however, is these girls. Our friendships just keep getting sweeter, and I'm so grateful.

And it was fun to share Halloween with these friends- Brea the adorable pumpkin and Christy the crazily believable old lady, along with all of our beautiful children. Life is so much more fun when you have friends that will don jack-o-lantern shirts and gray wigs. My bumblebee costume is an old standard I've had since we were married, and I was happy this year to get to prove its mettle as maternity wear, as well. I added my "smart glasses" from language school as a finishing touch, which Tim declared made me a "spelling bee". :)

Here are our lovely butterfly princess and her charming frog prince...

The frog prince caught on quickly to the idea of trolling for treats. We only went to 4 houses or so, but he continued to ask, "more trick or treat? more candy?"

And finally, our sweet girl and me heading out to vote on election day. It was fun to share this privilege with Em, and even better that they let pregnant ladies go to the front of the line! I'm 31 weeks and counting, and it seems to me that this baby is very likely to follow in sister and brother's footsteps and come into the world at a hefty and happy weight!