Bobby & Helen's space

Ok. sorry. it's been over 4 months since we last updated this. We've had a crazy past few months, with Bobby's parents visiting for 6 weeks, conference in Thailand, school starting up again, figuring out our plans for next year, and well, Ben starting to be extremely mobile, we're just glad to be alive and still somewhat kicking.

Bobby's parents arrived on Bobby's 30th birthday and stayed for 6 weeks. They brought with them a ton of goodies for us including a Diaper Champ for Ben's diapers. If you don't know what that is, you should check it out. It's been so nice to have a more odor controlled way of disposing his diapers. Anyway, a week later, we took a 4 hour train ride to the northeast city of Harbin, a place we "lovingly" refer to us the "Frozen Tundra." We were there for a few days, during which the temperature never reached above -15! It was ridiculously cold. We actually were there for a reason. Every year, Harbin has a Ice Sculpture festival, well, without going into details, you can just check out the pictures.

After Harbin, we left for Thailand... oh man, it was BEAUTIFUL! We've been cold since October and so it was so refreshing to be out in the sun and wear flip flops again! It was, however, totally different to travel with a child. Your entire mindset changes when you have a kid and every aspect of your life is affected. We planned differently, packed differently, ate differently, and of course, slept differently. Although the trip was "different," it was still a wonderful vacation.

Since we've been back, Bobby's back into the swing of things with school and tutoring. We can't believe that this is his last semester at language school. Our time here has flown by SO quickly. It's been awesome to see his progress with this very difficult language and the reward of being able to share the good news with our friends in their mother tongue. At times when we don't have the words, our Father gives them to us. His strength is definitely shown through in our weakness.

As of yesterday, Ben's 10 month birthday, he has 7 teeth (3 of which came in within a month), is crawling, cruising, and taking a few steps. He's also had chicken 'n dumplings, bbq pulled pork, beef stronganoff, mac 'n cheese... and yogurt through a straw. He's decided that sippy cups are frustrating and not a life skill that he needs, so he drinks through a straw, like the big people do. He can also give high fives and thinks that when a small stuffed animal come flying at him like an airplane and crash lands onto his tummy is the funniest thing in the world. Ben's at a super fun age and we get a kick out of playing with him. He makes us laugh all the time and we are overwhelmed by the joy he brings to our lives. Although at time we find ourselves at a lost as to how to be faithful parents, we feel so blessed to be entrusted by our Father in heaven with Ben's precious life. We can't wait for you to meet him. =)

Discovered a week ago! So cute! Now he's eating sweet potatoes. Next week, spinach!

It's been a few weeks since we came back from our whirlwind of a trip to CA, and we're finally back to somewhat of a schedule with Ben. The trip was lots of fun. Helen's family got to meet Ben, including her grand parents, uncles and aunties and cousins. Ben's a people-baby so he smiled at everybody, so everybody felt special. =) He also got to hang out with his cousin, Ally, from Helen's side of the family, and then his other cousin Allie, from Bobby's side of the family. He was really intrigued by "people" that were more his own size. Since we stayed in China during the summer for Ben's birth, it had been over a year since we went home, so it was so good to spend some time with family and friends, enjoy nice CA weather, and savor In-N-Out burgers and fries (multiple times). We've uploaded some pictures, so enjoy!

We're back in California for 2 weeks for Helen's brother's wedding. It was really weird to be at SFO and we both wanted to say to Ben "we're home!" but then realized that he's never been in the States before. Home as he knows it is in China! anyway, he's been enjoying time with his cousin Ally who LOVES to kiss him. so cute.

a few days ago I was doing something on the computer with one hand and holding Ben in the other. He was wearing one of his two "I Love Mommy" onesies. He started out really calm and then started to fuss and eventually got angry and started screaming. He wasn't hungry, wasn't dirty, wasn't tired, wasn't in pain... but he was screaming and didn't want me to hold him or comfort him. I stared down at my little baby, with his "I Love Mommy" onesie, and thought how his actions most definitely did not match the sweet message on his shirt. Then I started to think about myself. I don't own any "I Love Dad" shirts, but it would be safe to say that I tend to make sure that my exterior (onesie) conveys that message... but sometimes in reality, I fight and scream and fuss and don't want to be in the bosom of my Savior. I'm may not be hungry, dirty, tired, or in pain, but I have such a hard time of just resting and being with Him. I try to come up with reasons to be doing something, and not wanting to sit at his feet. Even as I'm writing this, I know that I can be reading the Word instead. So I should go now. Rest, my friends, rest in the arms of our father.