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Inky Chic Pink Birth Announcement

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Info about China

Several people have asked about our China plans -- here's the skinny:

1. Brent got a Fulbright grant to do research for a novel he's writing that is set in China. It's about an American man going through a divorce who escapes his problems by teaching English in China. To find out the rest, you'll have to buy the book when it's published!

2. We will be in Hangzhou which is in the east near Shanghai.

3. The timeline is from February 22, 2010 to December 22, 2010.

4. I will be staying home with Anthony and running the household. We were very blessed to get the same visa as Brent so we won't have to leave the country to renew a tourist visa.

We're excited about this opportunity -- it will be quite an adventure for me to live there with a one year old!

Christmas, etc.

We had a great Christmas this year. It was fun to be the parent rather than the kid -- I think I like it better! We went to Brent's Uncle Wiley and Aunt Amy's house for Christmas Eve where we celebrated with the Pollards, Coxes, and Newsoms. Here is Anthony with his Mima and opening presents.


We returned to Tyler on Christmas Eve, and Brent, Anthony, and I had Christmas morning together before going to Granny and Poppy's. Anthony wore his Christmas pajamas and we looked at stockings, lit the Advent Wreath, read the Christmas story, and played with Veggie Tales nativity little dudes.

Then we went over to Granny and Poppy where we waited for the rest of the family to arrive. Here is Anthony with Granny and Poppy.

This is Becky, Kara, Katie, and Beth with Anthony. Thanks for all the babysitting help! I need to hire Katie to come live in Lubbock as a nanny. I don't think Becky would want her daughter so far away though!

Anthony had lots of attention from his cousins at Christmas. Everyone wanted to help him unwrap his gifts. We also had a great time bowling with all the Gressett and Robinson kids (unfortunately we forgot to bring the camera to the bowling alley!)

First time in snow! (Back in Lubbock)

He loves his music table toy thingie that we got from the Porchlight garage sale -- thanks whoever donated this!

Playing on or around the toy box is a favorite these days now that Anthony can stand (and that we have a toy box). Half the time he is headfirst inside it. This particular day he somehow got a monkey wrapped around his waist.

Entering the blogging world again?

Well, I haven't blogged in a year now. Turns out, I don't even like computers. However, a lot has happened in the last year that I should probably report on. AND, more than that, we're moving to China soon. This will be a way to let friends and family know what's going on in our world.

So, more to come...

Holidays, etc.

Once again I haven't blogged in ages! Here's the most recent picture of pregnant me:


This is at about 27-ish weeks. Tomorrow marks week 29 -- only 11 more weeks until my due date! We started our childbirth classes this past week. It makes it seem a bit more real when we have to do breathing and relaxation exercises and tour the facilities. I'm feel both ready and not-so-ready for Anthony to be here! Here's a pick with me and the excited daddy:

We had a great Christmas with the Newsoms this year. Lots of fun times hanging out with the family, eating, playing games, and praising God for salvation through Christ and also all the blessings He's given us this year.

This is a picture of Brent holding Jonah and Jason holding Noah while the boys were "chicken-fighting" a bit at the Nachitoches Christmas lights thing that we went to on our way to DeRidder. If you don't know, these are our nephews (Brent's sister and brother-in-law's kids). The picture below that is the family playing our new game "Would You Rather?" that Brent's aunt and uncle gave us. It is great game and reminds me of a book that Sara Drinkard and I wrote in college -- remember that, Sara?

We also got to see Andy and Kelly, which was a treat! Yahoo for friends in town!


Some wonderful ladies in DeRidder also threw us a lovely baby shower. The picture below shows Terri, Leslie, Ruth, Sarah, and JoLynn. It was such a blessing to spend time with them and also be showered with baby things!



One of the hits of the shower was a gift called a "Pee-pee Teepee". It is a little cloth teepee that you use while changing a little boy's diaper so that you don't get sprayed. I'm sure that will come in handy!!


After Christmas our friend Nate came to Lubbock for a visit. We had a wonderful time! Nate has the best laugh in the world because he opens his mouth so wide! We went to Caprock Canyons, played a little Settlers of Catan and Guitar Hero, and took this picture by the Buddy Holly glasses. Best of all we got to catch up with his life in Asia and have some time to fellowship and pr together before he left.

Ok, that's my update for now. Hopefully in the future I won't do so many events at once :) Back to work tomorrow, so who knows the next time I'll blog...

Long time no blog...

It was inevitable...my dislike for computers took over the novelty of the blog. But I'm back now and hopefully my blog will continue with a little more regularity.

In my defense, there is a main reason why I have not been blogging: sickness. I usually feel sick in the evenings (prime computer time) and felt really tired for several months also. Ok, you guessed it, we're expecting!

If you don't live nearby, here is a picture of my growing body at 16 weeks. The cute shirt is thanks to my awesome mother- and sister-in law!

Do you love the dumpsters in the background? The upside is that we can toss our garbage over the railing if they're open!

Here's a picture of our little peanut at 13 weeks:

I am now at 17 1/2 weeks. Don't you love how new moms speak in weeks and days? We had a doctor's appointment last week and got to hear the heartbeat. I told Brent it was like making contact with an alien in there. It doesn't seem real until you see it or hear it. I'm not sure if I feel the baby moving or not since I don't know what it is supposed to feel like. But I think I do...

We will find out if it is a boy or girl on November 19! Woohoo!

In other news, I started a new job a few weeks ago. I am teaching at the Intensive English Program at Tech now, and I love it! My students are great, and being back in the classroom has been a ton of fun. It is a really diverse program -- we have students from 20 countries this session. It does keep me busy though since I am still taking 2 classes as well.

The last picture is our very cute pumpkin we carved last night -- this is the first pumpkin I can remember carving (but my memory is pretty horrible). It was fun to carve but it is usually too darn windy in Lubbock to keep a candle going!

Chinese Food and Music

Last night we made some Chinese food for friends and watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing. It has been so fun to watch all the Chinese news coverage lately, and we thought that Zhang Yi Mo's artistry in the ceremony was awesome. The NBC cultural analyst was really good because we would have missed a lot of the symbolism without him. If you missed it, shame on you. Hopefully you can see the highlights on YouTube.

Speaking of YouTube, I was looking for Olympics videos and came across the first one about street food culture in Beijing. If you've got 10 minutes, it's worth a look. It made me hungry for some yummy street food (not the weird ones they mentioned...there are lots that aren't weird!)

While I'm at it, I wanted to share with you some videos of Jay Chou, the best Chinese pop star in my opinion. I have to admit I was disappointed that Jay did not make a appearance in the opening ceremony. It would have been a lot more fun with some Chinese rap, for sure! Below are two cool songs. The first is a love song, and I am proud to say that I can sing quite a bit of this song. The karaoke-style video helps. The second is a rap about domestic violence.

I hope you enjoyed the videos -- there are way more on YouTube. Enjoy!