Road Trip!

I had a great time in Baltimore visiting with my dear dear friend Carmen, her hubster and son! She and I have been friends since college and were roomies for a semester. She's a wonderful woman of God who has loved me so faithfully even though I've been so far away all these years. She's great to keep in touch through emails and calls and is one of my prayer warriors-a woman I know I can count on to get down on her knees for me when I need prayer! Check out this photo of us with our babes! I took Jack with me but left my eldest at home with her Dad.

It was a 6 hour drive and Jack slept the whole way there and back, just eating once along the way. Carmen's son, Emmanuel is such a cutie. He and JAck are about the same height, though he's 5 months older! I make tall babies I guess. I also had the pleasure of going with Carmen to the high school girls Bible study she leads. It was so fun to get to meet these girls and see Carmen's world up close and personal! Carmen, thanks for a great time. I just love you so much and I am so grateful for your faithful friendship. Being around you makes me want to love Jesus more. Thank You!

After Baltimore, Jack and I hopped over to DC for the day to get some paperwork done and apply for a visa for him to go back to China! I must say I am one bad driver. It's truly God's grace that I did not cause a wreck. Maybe it's because I don't drive for years at a time coupled with the fact that I got a teeny tiny bit lost in a city I don't know, but I was so thankful to make it out of that city with my car still in tact!

Another evidence of God's work in my day yesterday came at the Chinese Office where we got the visa. I had several different offices to go to and I had to get his passport in by 12:30 in order to get it back the same day. Since I got a little lost (I did enjoy my detour to Arlington Cemetery) my time was ticking. I got to the office at about 11:45 so I still had 45 minutes to turn in the application. Unfortunately there was a very long line-about 30 people in front of me. So at 12:15 there were still 20ish people ahead of me and I was convinced I wasn't going to make it. But God was so kind to take care of us. His provision for us came through the Chinese people's love for pregnant women and babies. Here's what I mean-did you know that in China, women who are pregnant are treated like very special and very fragile princesses? Did you know that after a Chinese woman has a baby she takes an entire month to "Zuo Yue Zi "? That means to sit or rest for a month. It's not like our 6 week maternity leave where you're out at Target shopping with your newborn by week 2. This is intense mandatory resting and recovery and gorging of foods good for you and the new babe. There will always be things in the Chinese culture that are hard for me but this is one aspect of the culture that I love. I feel like they really understand how tough it can be to be pregnant or have a newborn.

So because of there care and concern for this portion of the populous, the Chinese office where we were has a "not wait" policy for preggos and moms with babes in tote! Yipee! Because my little man was with me, we zipped on up to the front of the line and got the application in right before 12:30! I was thrilled to speak a little Chinese with the agent and see so many Chinese people there. China is in our blood and we miss that place.

On a related side note-my Chinese mother, Mrs. Wen, who was also our Chinese teacher for a year is among the millions of people who dote on pregnant women. She was very very concerned that I would wear uncomfortable maternity jeans rather than the moo moo looking outfits all the Chinese preggos wear. Honestly, after two pregnancies and about 10 pairs of jeans that didn't fit me well, I've started to think maternity jeans are a BAD idea and want to start wearing the moos moos as well!

While pregnant with EG, I was terribly sick but still trying to take Chinese classes. We would have class at our house and I had to lie down because of the nausea. This often led to me falling asleep during the lessons. Mrs Wen was so gracious and would come over and cover me up with a blanket and keep teaching Andy. (That at least in part explains why his Chinese is so much better than mine!) She thought it was silly that I was trying to take class anyway! According to her, pregnant women need to be wearing a moo moo, resting most of the time, eating big pots of meat and exposing their unborn child to the zoo, flowers, and music in order to develop their character and intelligence! She brought me one of these big pots of meat one day because she was very concerned with how little weight I was gaining. Unfortunately the smell of the meat made me lose weight rather than gain it! But it really was the thought that counted!

So I don't totally buy into all the Chinese traditions regarding pregnancy and mothering but I am soooo thankful for their care and concern for women like me. God really used that aspect of the Chinese culture to take care of us yesterday-all the way on the other side of the world in Washington D.C.!

We are so happy to be home and Jack has been giggling all day today! We both really missed Andy and EG!