Highlights from Pa Pa and Nei Nei's Visit

What a gift it was to host Emily's parents (Pa Pa and Nei Nei to our kids) for two weeks at the end of December!  Below are a few of the highlights from their fun filled visit.

After a brief weekend in Shanghai, Emily took her parents to Beijing.

One of the highlights was a trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. 

Back in Shanghai, Nei Nei helped celebrate Salome's 3rd birthday

by making tutus for all of Salome's friends who came.

Salome's Birthday Cake and Tea

It was so special to spend Christmas Day with family - especially when Pa Pa Santa visited!

Miriam was delighted to have her Samantha doll

Asa was ecstatic to get a Star Wars book - one of several Star Wars themed toys

Salome enjoyed her Merida dress (from the movie Brave)

Silas is the best Christmas present Em and Joab received this year!

After Christmas we were able to take Emily's parents to sites around Shanghai,

including an afternoon at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

Asa Becomes a "Little Sprout"

For Emily and I, part of making our home outside our home country is learning to let go of the expectation that your children will share the same childhood experiences you went through.  Case in point - Elementary School Pageants.  In central Nebraska (where I grew up) we had seasonal music pageants that included traditional Christmas songs and Disney theme songs. 

For Miriam and Asa, the big first grade event is the "Little Sprout" induction ceremony.  "Little Sprouts" are the first in a line of government sponsored student organizations that Chinese students join throughout their educational experience.  While we don't support some "Little Sprout" ideals (IE: The Party is the Sun and the "Little Sprouts" are flowers), there are many common values around learning and family that we whole-heartily support.

To the kids, it is largely just part of their life in this adopted second home where your elementary school years include group song and dance instead of choir concerts with Disney themes.  Below are some pictures to capture the experience.   

Asa stands ready for his performance to begin

Asa and his classmates pretend to study as part of their performance

Asa and Miriam show off their "Christmas Themed" Scarfs:

Asa's Green "Little Sprout" and Miriam's Red "Young Pioneers

Update with four kids!

Here we all are! After taking this picture Asa said " Mom I really tried". That means he really tried to be normal and not goofy! I so appreciate this!

Update on how we all are

Miriam- Doing just amazing at school. Her grades are higher than ever while her school work is harder than ever. Honestly, I have no idea how she can learn so much Chinese. She also just elected to her student council for the third year running. She was elected "head cleaner of the classroom", a duty she does not take lightly. Both she and Asa have a field trip this week to the Science and Technology Museum in town and they are thrilled. On Sunday afternoons Miriam and a few other girls in our neighborhood have started to study the Narnia books. We are so thankful for friends who included Miriam in this class.

Asa- He has recently learned how to slide like a baseball player all over the house. So, he slides from his room into the bathroom. So far he has ruined two pairs of pants (blew out the knees). I am trying to get him to just walk from place to place...we will see how that goes. He is loving school. That also amazes me. He learns at a very different pace and style than Miriam, but none the less is learning! One night Joab was helping him with a Chinese story. Asa then turns to Joab and says "Daddy look", he had used the Chinese characters he was suppose to be learning in the story into his own poem. He really likes art, which has helped him get into writing all the Chinese words!

Salome- When I was pregnant she was also "pregnant" with her own baby. I just assumed that when Silas came out hers would too. But, when Salome learned her baby was only pretend and a REAL baby would not come out until she was much older really made her sad! She wants a real baby, and tells me that all the time. She loves and I mean loves Silas. She will not keep her hands off of him! She is also really loving spending time with her friends and wants to know everyday "who are we doing to see today".

Silas - Is six weeks old this week! At two weeks he was 7.5 lbs and at four weeks was 10 lbs! The doctor was pretty shocked at this! Most of the time he is pretty calm and loves to just look around. He prefers to be in the middle of all the action asleep in his bouncy seat. This week at church we was dedicated - below is the certificate. We are just so thankful for his life!

Emily- Most days I just fall into bed exhausted (okay all nights).  Told Joab during the day I am busy physically caring for the two smallest. But then when the big ones come home from school I am busy emotionally caring for them. At this point in my life I am thankful to be busy with four kids. I know the days are long LONG but the years short. And trying to enjoy them!

Joab- He is doing just a great job trying to balance work (which is going well) with helping me at home. He has been able to work more from home so he can take the big kids to school each day. What a huge gift this is! He kisses me the kitchen and makes me laugh and not freak out when I am about the totally loose it with the kids!

Thanksgiving 2012: Shanghai Style

Thanksgiving is completely foreign to Chinese people, but as a family we are blessed to not only have developed our own unique way of celebrating in Shanghai, but also have many Chinese friends to celebrate it with.  Although most of them have never celebrated Thanksgiving before, enjoying food, friends and giving thanks is clearly universal.  It is also a gift to be able to introduce our friends to the faith heritage of the U.S. and the traditions our family has to give thanks to God for his many blessings.

Below are a few pictorial highlights from this year's celebration that took place earlier tonight (November 24).

The girls pose with the smoked turkey, which we once again picked up at Bubbah's Texas Style BBQ.  What a gift to NOT have to cook a turkey and too have it smoked Texas Style!

 



The boys also got in on the turkey action.  Carving the turkey is one of the few times that Joab puts on an apron each year!  Sorry I don't know how to orient the picture correctly:(

 

 

Miriam was delighted to show off the min-pie she had made as well as the fact that she had marked "M" on the top of the pie for Miriam.

 

 

But Miriam's min-pie was just one of many of the AMAZING baked goods that Emily created.  From left to right we enjoyed a cherry pie, Miriam's min-pie, homemade bread, min-apple pies and (Joab's personal favorite) pumpkin pie.

 

 

Amazing sides included: mash potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and roasted potatoes.

 

 

The meat section was a East meets West cornucopia; from right to left: braised pork , turkey, rice covered pork ribs and spicy roast duck.

 

 

Before starting the meal we asked the kids to join in our family tradition of putting something they were thankful for on our family "Thankful Tree."

 

 

 

Stocking Fun

Silas is my Grandma Tweedy's 12th great grandchild!! She sent this very cute stocking all the way from Iowa for his first Christmas! I could not resist capturing him inside of it- while he is still so little!

Sleep in heavenly peace little Silas.....

1 Month and Jack O Lanters

As you can see from the picture below, we are all excited that Silas is one month old! 

What a gift to have this little boy in your family. 

Never too late for Jack O Lanters! 

Our kids received pumpkins at a birthday party this weekend and we decided to carve them.  Pumpkins are more commonly used for soups in China than as Fall decorations,

so it was a bit of a challenge to properly carve them.

The kids also thought it was fun to pretend to be pumpkin heads!

It was also really cool to see one of the pumpkins in the dark. 

Joab's Jottings: Technology as a Tool

Since starting to work for a technology company (Cisco Systems) over two years ago my personal interest in how technology is actually used to improve our daily lives has grown.  Therefore, I trust our regular blog readers will indulge me in a few "jottings" on a topic that I see closely connected to my work and (hopefully) to our lives.

Two Examples of Using Technology in the Developing World

Over the past couple weeks I have ran across two very different examples about how technology is successfully applied in the developing world. The more I compared these two examples, the more I am convinced it is the people piece that makes the difference. 


#1 Lap Tops In Peru

The first case is about Peru’s One Child, One Laptop program, which according to this National Public Radio (NPR) story has largely been a failure. This is largely because while children in rural communities have laptops they lack basic infrastructure to support that lap tops (power, internet connectivity, etc).

#2 Cell Phones in India

The second case is automated call center run by OneWorld South Asia centre that allows farmers in rural India to use cell phones or telephone kiosks to access information that will benefit their crop production. As a result of this effort, which is supported by Cisco Systems technology and part of Cisco’s CSR program in India, the center has made information available to over 150K farmers in 1,000 villages and participating farmers are seeing a 20 to 30% increase in productivity.

What Does it Matter?

It strikes me that there are at least two major implications that we can draw from these very different cases:

1) Technology Solutions Must be in Context: Technology is not a solution in and of itself, but simply a tool. It is effective when used in a way that fits appropriately into the context of the economic and social limitations of the end users (IE: cell phones in rural India vs. lap tops in rural Peru).

2) The People Piece: Technology is most likely to be used if the people selling it understand the context of their customers and sell the value of their solution accordingly.  For example, offering audio services to farmers who are largely illiterate rather than asking non-tech savvy teachers to teach their students how to use laptops and not even providing a power source for those lap tops.

So, what is your take?  Where have you seen technology "over-sold" as a silver bullet and where have you experienced it appropriately applied?

ICS Carnival - 4th Anniversary Celebration

Today was memorable as I (Joab) took our three older kids to a special community party- a Carnival to celebrate the 4th anniversary of International Church of Shanghai (ICS). 

It has been a gift for our family to be part of this multi-cultural international church that today has over 600 people in attendance each Sunday that come from nations around the world.  As you can see from the pictures below, the kids had a grand time (and so did I)!   

Miriam enjoys a horse ride

Asa enjoys his first cotten candy

Salome and her good friend Ava enjoy some popcorn

 

 

A Chinese acroebat balances a large pot on his head

The street filled with booths where the kids played games and win prizes 

Halloween in Green Home - Oct 2012

Halloween is not widely celebrated in China, but our family is blessed to be part of a community that live in or near the Green Home apartment complex.  Below are some pictures of our kids from today’s community celebration.

Salome dressed up as Spiderman Princess and on the phone – she always loves to chat!

 

 

Asa and Salome show off their costumes – both decided on a Spiderman theme - and are displaying the treats they collected from the neighborhood party.

A close up on the treats - the hard work of the amazing moms who organized the community party.  I love the lolipops dressed up as ghosts and the apple wedges disguised as lips and teeth.

Though Miriam wasn't able to join the party, she did enjoy the apple wedges.

Day Ten

Silas is doing great! And I am feeling better too! Just needed a lot of sleep- so Joab took the kids this afternoon after church so Silas and I could take a nap. I woke up to find him in this ultra-cute pose. The guy loves to eat and sleep=he is growing!

Wish I could 'beam' you all over to hold him, he truly is a gift!

It's a Boy! One week later

Silas one week

 

 If you read Salome's birth story, Joab was not there to see her born. But with Silas, Joab was right there and was the one to say "It's a boy" with those three words I was so very happy...we both were. With Silas here the Meyer kids seem "complete" somehow and we rejoice!

He is doing great- is pretty laid back and loves to eat and sleep right now. It is taking longer for my body to "bounce back" perhaps it was weeks of high blood pressure or a birth that was a lot harder than I thought (more on that later). In any case thankful for friends to help out and a husband who can work from home more.

Silas is pretty much always being held! When the kids watch TV is a prime "holding time". Mostly this is the girls fighting over who gets to hold him now. Miriam gives him a kiss (and she is not really a kisser by nature) everyday before she leaves for school.

Salome was pregnant with her baby the whole time I was pregnant with Silas. She announced to me yesterday her baby has not come out yet! I will let you all know when it does! I thought she would want to nurse her baby dolls when I feed Silas. Instead she just likes to say how hungry he is and why does he not stop crying? She is very sensitive to his every need- indeed she is a natural when it comes to mothering.

Asa is happy too with Silas- but kind of bored that he just sits around and does nothing! He likes his "silky" hair. Miriam had the same black hair when she was born- then it all fell out and came in brown. Joab jokes we make two flavors of kids- chocolate (Silas and Mei) and strawberry (Asa and Salome).

So, bottom line. We are so blessed and so tired. And personally so glad NOT to be pregnant anymore!!!

Silas' Special First Visitor from the U.S. - "Ms. Mary"

This Saturday (Oct 20) we hosted a very special family friend from Arizona - Professor Mary Teagarden.  A bit of background on this amazing women who are children call "Ms. Mary" and her influencing on our global parenting is outlined below.  In addition, to the long-term ways that we appreciate her friendship and kindness to our family, it was very very special for Silas to have his first U.S. based visitor!

Mary meets Silas while Asa shows off one of his Star Wars lego toys from "Ms. Mary"

The older three kids show off some of their "Ms. Mary" gifts. 

They eagerly anticipate each time she visits - not only because of her gifts,

but because her childhood was not terribly different than theirs. 

Who is "Ms. Mary: Since I (Joab) was a MBA student at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, one of our family's good friends has been Thunderbird Professor Mary Teagarden.  Not only was she one of my favorite professors in the classroom, but we also had the opportunity to cooperate on several reasearch projects.  Through these projects I not only learned a tremdous amount about cool MBA topics like technology transfer, corporate social responsbility and intellectual property protection, but under Professor Teagarden's influence I have begun to develop a curiosity around global business topics that continues to serve me well today.

Third Culture Kids (TCKs): Personally one of the areas where this kind of curosity has served our family well is by seeking to understand how to effectively nuture our "third culture kids" (TCK).  There is a bunch of research on this, but basically TCKs are those children that live outside their home culture and therefore out of necessity create a "third culture" that doesn't matches the home culture of their parents (America in our case) or the host culture where they are currently living (China for us).  A key TCK skill we see our kids (especially Miriam) use with regularity is cultural "style switching" whereby she will communicate something differently to Chinese friends than to non-Chinese friends. 

What This Means for Our Family - Miriam at School: This "style switching" is not simply about language (what you say), but more importantly culture (how you say it).  For example, the way teachers communicate to a student the need for improvement may have the same intention (the child's improvement in class) as their U.S. counterparts, but the tone and demeanor in China often sounds much harsher than what we may be used to in the U.S.  Miriam has to navgate this and then turn around and communicate it to us - her U.S. parents, which is no small task.  However, Professor Teagarden has helped Emily and I understand just how critical it is to develop such skill.  

Tying It All Together: Today, "style switching" may make it easier for Miriam to communicate to her American parents the expectations of her Chinese school teachers, but the real value with this skill is in the future.  Professor Teagarden leads an institute at Thunderbird called the Najafi Global Mindset Institute.  This organization fundamentally helps business leaders develop the ability to "better influence those who are different from them".  Professor Tegarden has written more about why this matters to business leaders, but personally Emily and I are passionate that we nurture this ability in our children.  Regardless of what field of work they go into, we want them to be able to not only appreciate that different cultures see things differently, but also effectively communicate,  influence and lead people from different cultures. 

So our prayer is that the skills that make communicating about Chinese homework easier today will be used years from now to lead changes that can span across cultures.  

Welcome Silas Carl John Meyer!

We are proud to annouce that Silas Carl John was born at 11:47 pm on Oct 18 weighing 7.5 lb and measuring 19.8 inches long!

Below is a bit of background on this little boy's three names:

Silas- was a man in the Bible who was a leader and a servant in the early church. Our prayer is that our Silas would be a man who walks closely with God loves others deeply from the heart.

 

One our favorite songs that also talks about the story of Paul and Silas in the Bible can be found here

 

More about Silas in the Bible can be found here 
 

Carl-is Emily’s Dad. Carl is known as Papa to our kids. We hope Silas can have Papa’s same love for his family, love of learning and sense of humor.

 
 

John- John was Joab’s Paternal Grandfather and in Hebrew means graced by God. Indeed what a gift to have a new baby son! What an amazing gift!

 

Below are some pictures of the family welcoming Silas

 

Joab and Silas "chilling" at the hopital this morning.

 

Salome holds Silas for the first time

 

Miriam's wide smile and tears of joy greeted us at the door upon returning home this afternoon

 

Over a year ago Asa began praying for a baby brother.

What a joy to see the first meeting of the Meyer Brothers! 

 

 

 

 

Juliet’s Bananas

Maybe in 5^th grade a new girl came into our elementary school- her name was Juliet. That name to me sounded romantic, mysterious and like she was from a far away land. Her parents were indeed from a far away land- her Dad was from the country of India and her Mom from England.

 

We became friends and once when I went to her house I was served tea. I don’t remember drinking tea but we did have some sort of cakes. And then the bananas came out- and her Mom pulled them from the refrigerator! They were all brown from being kept in there but tasted fine. What has stuck with me all these years is that it was so normal for her Mom to keep bananas in the fridge. As a girl I just thought that if you lived in the USA bananas should be kept on the counter where they stay a perfect yellow. And when they get brown you make banana bread out of them.

 

As I sat there in her house (which did not have a TV- another amazing thing to my 11 year old mind) listening to classical music; eating cold, brown bananas from the fridge I was learning a new way to have a play date.

That Juliet banana memory comes to mind a lot to me. Often I am given things to eat, places to go, and experiences that make me wide-eyed in wonder of how does it all make sense. What I had at Juliet’s house was a new friend who was relaxed and happy in her cold banana eating, Indian/English, home. And that is the key- a friend who is like a tour guide into the cold banana culture.

My kids have these- people who make the cold bananas in their life feel…well…fun. Normal really. It is amazing to see them react to something I would find very overwhelming with just a sense of fun or excitement because their friends are with them. This mainly happens at school- where they are loved and feel love.

My kids still have days that are hard, but mostly they just love what life gives them. I am the one trying to catch up with them. Busy to organize school and life for them so that they have space to relax and eat the cold bananas. I could do better to relax to and enjoy some tea time with others who want to get to know me and introduce me to the thousands of cold banana cultural aspects of China.

Salome's Birth Adventure

***Note this contains a birth story! If you do not like blood etc. do not read*****

So, some of your know the story of how Salome was born. I have never posted this story because, well, it is kind of crazy.

We had picked out the hospital with Salome under the impression (and paid a VIP fee) to have a private room with Joab there. However, they lied to us and did not provide that. We learned later if we would of paid a bribe things probably would of been different. But we do not pay bribes and in the end Salome was healthy, I was fine and can actually laugh about it now.

I am thankful we are giving birth at a new hospital for #4. Paying a lot more, but in the end I think it will be private and Joab will be there!

________________________________________________________________________________




 Salome Grace Elaine

December 23, 2009 Shanghai China

 Birth Adventure

> > Salome’s whole pregnancy taught me so very much. I treasure those days- and
> > really thank God for a wonderful pregnancy. I was able to get through: the
> > few weeks of bleeding, Miriam’s pneumonia hospitalization, more days of
> > bleeding after that, food poisoning, climbing the Great Wall and a quick
> > trip to America! WOW! We did a lot and God’s peace was always close to my
> > heart- that is one reason we named her Salome it is Greek for- Peace.
> >
> >
> >
> > About midnight on December 23, 2009 I was in bed and rolled over to feel a
> > huge rush of water leave me. I looked at Joab who said “I think your water
> > just broke”. I was not sure, so I got up and went to the bathroom watching a
> > trail of water follow me the whole time. I spent a while in the shower
> > trying to relax through the first of the contractions.
> >
> >
> >
> > I got out of the tub to blow dry my hair and more and more water is coming
> > out! Yikes I had no idea how much water is in there (with my other two kids they had to break >>my water)! As I dried off I was
> > trying to come to terms that this baby was coming! Soon!
> >
> >
> >
> > After my shower Joab told me he thought we should head over to the hospital.
> > As we were not sure of the registration process and perhaps- just maybe we
> > could secure a VIP room. I had been told a month before that all the VIP rooms
> >were going to be under remodling so they would not be sure where I would give birth.
> >This, has caused me a lot of stress! As the "local" option to birth- was well, not
>>my first choice.
> >
> > Funny what you pray for. My whole pregnancy I had prayed for the taxi driver
> > who would take us to the hospital. So when Joab called for a cab I was
> > pretty amazed at who God gave us. One of the calmness, nicest taxi drivers
> > in Shanghai! He knew I was in labor but did not speed through the stop
> > lights- but drove fast but dropping me off right at the ER door. As Joab
> > checked me in I was starting to have to stop and really breathe through my
> > contractions. We checked in at the ER but had to take the elevator to the
> > third floor to labor there. At the door to the Labor unit Joab was not
> > allowed to come in before he put on this very uncomfortable plastic
> > disposable gown and strange looking blue plastic chefs hat! We get into the
> > labor room and the reality of what I am about to do hits me. As I am sharing
> > this room with two other Chinese women. But I don’t have long to think about
> > this because my contractions are coming hard and fast. I had to kneel on all
> > fours on this little tiny bed and rock back and forth to keep the pain under
> > control. They decide they need to “check me” which means they want to check
> > me WHILE I am having a contraction! What! I have never heard of this! On top
> > of that when they check you they put this really strange looking brown goop
> > (think poop) which is suppose to prevent infection. I have no choice, and
> > let them check me- which hurts like crazy. They announce I am at a ZERO and
> > the baby is high- so I can not walk around in fact they just want me to lay
> > on my back.
> >
> >
> >
> > Forget the laying on my back I am having such intense back labor I can
> > barely talk. Speaking of talking, Joab and I decided that I would not speak
> > any Chinese at the hospital so that it would make them think even more that
> > I needed him to stay with me. At this point I am not speaking much English
> > let alone Chinese.
> >
> >
> >
> > We get to the hospital about 1 AM- at 3AM they “check” me again and I am
> > only at a three. But again, contractions about three minutes a part with
> > basically no breaks for me to catch my breath or even talk to Joab about our
> > options. Here my memory gets a bit unclear. Time starts to stand still and I
> > can’t really think about much except the extreme pain this baby is causing
> > me. With both Mei and Asa I labored a lot in water the hot water directly on
> > my lower back really helped the pain. Now, I had no water, no privacy and
> > pretty soon no husband to help me. I was feeling desperate, scared and
> > alone. I knew I needed to “get it together” if this baby was going to come
> > out. But honestly, I did not think I could do this alone and was asking Joab
> > to give me drugs. In fact the lady on the other side of the curtain said to
> > me in English “I think you need some drugs for the pain”. I said back to her
> > “Do you have drugs? Can I have some of yours”? She said nothing back to me
> > and then they announced it was time for me to go down one floor to the
> > delivery room….and Joab could not come with.
> >
> >
> >
> > Joab really tried- bless his heart. He tried to talk to anyone in power to
> > get him into the delivery room. But in the end (I was at 5 cm) they put me
> > on a different metal bed and rolled me down the hall, through the waiting
> > room (cue all the Chinese starring at me) and down one floor by elevator. My
> > last words to Joab were- “If I die please get remarried”. Joab assured me I
> > was not going to die- but it sure felt like it. At this point I was
> > screaming- and trying to not lay on my back while getting wheeled down the
> > hallway. I am sure I was a sight to be seen!
> >
> >
> >
> > I was wheeled into the group delivery room. Think a room about 40 feet by 40
> > feet with three metal beds, three mid wives, three nurses and one cleaning
> > lady. The other two Chinese ladies in there were in the middle of giving
> > birth when I came in. There were no curtains- it was like walking into a TLC
> > birthing show LIVE! At this point I really do not care that other people are
> > with me. I want DRUGS I want JOAB. I was screaming- screaming at them-
> > screaming at myself- I was loosing it.
> >
> >
> >
> > The midwife’s job is to catch the baby (note- this is not like the earthy
> > midwives who love natural birth like in the USA). They do not help you with
> > breathing or positions. They want the baby to come out their way and their
> > timing. The first thing the Midwife does is take me feet and put them into
> > stirrups- I started to scream louder and plead with her to NOT do this. With
> > the amount of back labor I was having I could not have more pressure on my
> > back. In my anger I kick off the stirrup from the bed. So the midwife looks
> > at me and tells me to just breathe. Just breathe! Right. So then she gives
> > me the “puffer”. She could have given my cocaine and I would have probably
> > taken it. As last time them checked my 15 min ago I was 5 and now I am a 9
> > or 10 they tell me. She puts her hand up me and touches the babies head. She
> > tells me take the “puffer” and then start pushing. Well, the puffer must
> > have been some type of laughing gas? Not sure- it was two huge tanks of gas
> > and one gas mask that were made of a little Chinese mouth. I had a hard time
> > just figuring out how to breathe in it. Not sure if it was the fact I was
> > thinking more about the “puffer” and less about my back labor or that the
> > puffer actually worked- but somehow I got to 10 cm!
> >
> >
> >
> > They put my legs back in the stirrups. Actually the bed they had me on was
> > not wide enough for my hips and my legs to be on there together. I just
> > resigned myself that their plan was the stirrups and my plan was a baby. So
> > I guess I needed to do it their way. In fact I did think about just getting
> > up and leaving- but since the baby was basically falling out of me- decided
> > against this. The midwife also told me to grip on to these metal handles
> > which somehow were attached to the stirrups. I kind of felt like I was in a
> > space ship in a very awkward position holding on to metal bar that was going
> > to get me no where!
> >
> >
> >
> > My dear friend Laura reminded me the week before not to push until I felt
> > like it. I took this to heart and actually waited (screaming through the
> > pain of the back labor while my legs are in stirrups while holding on to the
> > metal bar) until I felt the urge to push. Which was kind of the diamond in
> > the rough- with Asa the midwife  basically forced me to push
> > before I was ready- and I always regretted that. So with Salome I waited and
> > it went a lot better. It took maybe five minutes and she was born. They told
> > me to slow down after her head came out- which was really hard to do! But
> > she came out- they said (in Chinese) you have a girl! And then they took her
> > vagina and basically shoved it into my face! Because they thought I did not
> > speak Chinese- I guess they wanted me to know for sure!
> >
> >
> >
> > They took Salome away to the other side of the room (I could see her the
> > whole time) and then proceeded to get the placenta out. The midwife did not
> > want me to push the placenta out- she said it would come out on its own.
> > Perhaps in a safer spot when I could actually hold my baby it would come out
> > on its own! But I wanted that baby- so I just said forget it and pushed it
> > out! Placenta was a-okay and they asked me for the third time if I wanted it
> > boxed up and taken home. No thanks but can I have my baby?! At this point I
> > start speaking Chinese and all in the room are shocked I can speak it! I
> > said – when I am not pushing a baby out I can speak Chinese- they laughed.
> >
> >
> >
> > So baby out- time for me to eat?! They give me a Chinese dumpling thing, a
> > bowl of rice porridge and a hard boiled egg. I am covered in goop and now I
> > want to eat? No thanks.
> >
> >
> >
> > At this point they bring out the tea pot. Not filled with tea but some type
> > of Chinese medicine mixture which they pour all over my birth canal and
> > area. It actually felt pretty good- then she took this Q-tip style thing and
> > started to “clean me out”. At this point I lay back down (I can only see
> > Salome if I am sitting up) and just try to relax and eat my dumpling! I was
> > actually hungry and it tasted really good!
> >
> >
> >
> > I keep asking if I can hold Salome and when can I get out of here and see
> > Joab? They inform me that I need to wait two hours in this room before I can
> > see Joab. Two hours!!!!!!! Yikes.
> >
> >
> >
> > They then take a small plastic pan to “catch” all the blood coming out of
> > me. They want to see a certain amount and keep on checking me (and kneading
> > my uterus- it really hurt). About 45 after giving birth they give me Salome!
> > She is wrapped in this paper towel looking thing- naked except for a diaper
> > (which they had to go back to the waiting room and get from Joab)
>> and she has had no bath! They then tell me I
> > need to nurse her the whole two hours while I wait to “recover”. At this
> > point I had totally resigned myself to whatever they asked of me- because
> > they let me see Salome. She was so pretty! And with red hair! Miriam is
> > going to be sooo happy!
> >
> >
> >
> > So Salome and I nursed – ate some more Chinese dumplings both of us half
> > naked on this horrible small plastic bed alone without Joab. However, we did
> > enjoy watching all the other babies being born around us while we waited
> > those two hours. I love the TLC birthing shows and I was in a live one!
> > Amazing the gift of birth!
> >
> >
> >
> > After about 1 ½ hours they took Salome from me (I thought for her bath) and
> > put some clothes on her. By this time I was READY to see Joab, get out of
> > the TLC birthing show and take a shower! I asked if we could be moved into a
> > VIP recovery room- to which the midwife said all the VIP rooms were full and
> > I needed to go into group recovery. FINE I thought- just get me out of here!
> >
> >
> >
> > So a super long 30 minutes past when finally they got another metal cart for
> > me and a smaller one for Salome. They put a new fresh gown on me and wheeled
> > us down the hall to finally see Joab! Joab met us at the door and I think
> > was pretty happy to see me alive. I was pretty happy to see he had not remarried!!
> >
> >
> >
> > We got wheeled up to the group recovery room- I was in the middle bed
> > separated by curtains from one woman on my right who just had a c-section
> > (did not look fun) and a woman on my left who had given birth a few days
> > before hand. Thankfully when I got into the room the head Doctor was making
> > rounds. She told us we could leave basically when we wanted to. Next to
> > having Salome this was the best present I got at Christmas! So as soon as
> > they could process the Birth Certificate Salome, Joab and I were out of
> > there!
> >
> >
> >
> > Born at 5:45 AM- left hospital at 3:00 PM on December, 23 2009.

Thoughts on a Fourth

People (this would be non Chinese people) ask me "so, how do you feel about having a fourth kid?". I really do not know what to say.

 Excited, blessed, nervous, tired, calm, all at the same time?

How do I feel when Asa asks if Silas (he only calls the baby Silas- he is 100% it is a boy) needs a plate at dinner? How do I feel when Salome whines when anything besides her cuteness sits on my lap? How do I feel when Miriam says, "Mom, how in the world are you going to have time to do it all when the baby comes?"(and that is Miriam direct and to the point!)

When Joab and I saw kids in our family we always saw four. Well, that is not true. When we were dating we took this "marriage test" to see if we were compatible. One of the questions was - how many kids do you want to have? I looked at the answer, scared that if we did not have the right answer we would "fail". I actually went over to Joab to try and sneak what he put (he did not let me see). He put four kids...and I put two kids. In the end we did not fail, actually the person who administered the test said we scored higher than most for compatibility!

So here we are on the brink of four kids. My house is probably going to get a bit crazier (sorry Miriam). But in most ways I feel like our family will finally be "complete". And that is the best feeling of all.

Asa's 7th Birthday

It is hard to believe, but 7 years ago Asa David Lawrence Meyer made his debut and today we celebrated his 7th birthday!

Asa loves to create almost anything - including his own birthday cake.  I don't know which he liked more - helping Emily make the cake or licking the batter!

One of Asa's birthday requests was to go to the Shanghai Zoo with his good friend Elijiah Bowman.  Here are Elijiah and Asa under the green archway of an Elephant sculpture.  The weather was gorgeous today - a rare blue sky day!

The coming arrival of the fourth Meyer means that Emily has consolidated the birthday celebrations.  As a result, Asa and Miriam celebrated the birthdays together.  Here they are enjoying their birthday treats with our good friends the Bowmans.  What a joy to see them enjoying their own creations as Asa not only made his choclate cake, but Miriam made her cherry pie as well.

Happy Birthday, Asa!  We are so thankful that seven years ago the Lord gave you to us!  We love you!