A Really Good Laugh

Here's a funny story to distract you from the fact that none of us have posted our Christmas pictures yet! :)

This is from the blog of a friend of my moms. She is a really funny lady and this story is just hilarious. Enjoy!

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The first year of my marriage it would have been an understatement to say I had not mastered the culinary arts. I actually burned myself almost daily on our stove. Concerned friends would inquire about my new wounds and were sadly entertained by how I recieved them. It came to the point that a couple from church invited us over so I could amuse their guests with my crazy kitchen encounters. They would simply have to ask “Oh, is that a new burn” and leave the room for host duties while I would tell my ill fated stories.

A dinner favorite was when I almost set my house on fire. We had invited our first guest, a couple for dinner and thought fondue would be fun to make. My husband made a quick trip to the store while I was left making final preparations for our guest. I filled the fondue pot with oil and I thought maybe I should heat it up on the stove first. In a matter of minutes of putting it on the stove flames shot up from the pot (not knowing there was a hole near the top). I didn’t panic right away because the fire was contained on top of the stove. I opened all the windows to let the smoke out. I then decided to try and put it out myself. We didn’t own a fire extinguisher so I decided to call the non-emergency number to the fire department and ask for advice.

A Fireman answered my call and I asked, “How would you extinguish flames shooting out of a pot of oil on a stove?” He asked, “Lady, do you have flames shooting out of a pot on the stove because that could get serious quick?” Avoiding the question I added, “Well, I was just wondering what you would do?” He suggested that I smother it out with a bigger pot. After we talked I found a much larger pot and placed it over the fondue pot. After thinking a sufficient amount of time had gone by to snuff-out something, I cautiously took the larger pot off. To my surprise the flames shot up even higher. I decided to call back the Fire Department and said, “Yes, I called earlier about a pot on the stove scenario”. He said, “Yes, I was the Fireman you spoke with.” “Well, what if the large pot didn’t work?” I asked. He said, “What’s your address? We need to come to your house, if you have a fire, lady!” Thinking about my guest arriving with the embarrassment of a fire truck outside my door, I asked if he could please have someone bring a fire extinguisher in a car. He demanded the address and I gave it to him.

I waited by the garage door from inside the kitchen. But just as I feared, there soon was a parade of flashing lights roaring up our street with my husband following the band of emergency vehicles to our home. The first to arrive was a fireman. I pointed to the pot of burning oil and he examined it for a second. He then turned off the electric burner. “Maybe I should have checked that first”, I said shamefully. By now our guest had wandered in, curious about all the commotion. Our home looked like Grand Central Station. After the pot was disposed of, the fireman had a paper for me to sign. I told him, “I hope it wasn’t a bill, because I only ordered a car and extinguisher.” He looked at me and shook his head and said, “No, Lady, we don’t charge but I do believe we will be talking about this for sometime.”

Needless to say, we now have a fire extinguisher on hand. Think of me when you’re buying a wedding gift. A fire extinguisher just might make a great gift for a young couple.

Merry Christmas!!

Just wanted to leave a quick note to check in with everyone. I think we're going to take the rewind week off too. :) I haven't had a single moment to get those scheduled. We're really wanting to spend every moment we can this week with our family. Some are here from Colorado and some are here for a few more weeks before a big move to India. We were at the beach this past weekend for 3 days and that was so fun! I hardly touched a computer - it was a nice break.

I know the other POH gals are super busy too. Will you all pray for Leah? She had the third surgery for her colitis today. She's hoping things will go smoothly and she'll be home on Christmas.

If you want to see any past REWINDS - you can check them all out here. Remember, rewinds are some of our most popular (and sometimes controversial :) posts.

In the meantime, keep posting topic suggestions on the post below. We'd love to get a few more.

Stay tuned next week - we will be having the Christmas Tour of Homes. Take pictures of your homes as well before you take down those decorations! We'd love to see them! (Ok, maybe I can speak for everyone, but I know that I'd love to see them. :)

Merry Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Card Edition

Topic Suggestions!

It's that time of year again...we're making our new schedule for the winter/spring! We want your input. Please let us know the kinds of topics you'd love to see discussed on Prayer of Hannah. We'll do our best to incorporate them into our next lineup!

We'd also love any ideas/comments/suggestions you all have for improving Prayer of Hannah. It will help us as we evaluate our goals and the direction we'd like to head as we continue into our third year of POH. To refresh your memory, this is our current "purpose" statement:

This blog started as a group of friends slowly moved miles away from each other. The nearly constant emails eventually turned into an idea for a blog! The purpose of our blog is to share all sorts of information with each other as we strive together to raise godly children. The topics of the posts will vary widely - from nursing, to diapers, to products we love or don't love so much - but all of it is meant to be built on our foundation of Jesus Christ.


Get thinking and don't be shy! Even if we've covered the topic before, there is always more to share. We welcome all suggestions. You can see previous topic lineups here.

Amby Bed Recall

Just wanted to let everyone know that we're going to postpone this week's topic (book reviews) until the first of our next schedule. So, we're sort of taking this week off aside from a few unrelated posts. Next week is a "rewind" week and the following week is the Christmas Tour of Homes! Come back and see our decorations and be ready to share yours with us as well!



In the meantime, we wanted to share a recall with you. This product has been recommended on Prayer of Hannah before, so we felt it was a good idea to let you know of the recall.


The Amby Baby Motion Bed has been recalled. I first learned of the recall at the Baby Bargains Blog. The CPSC reports two infant suffocation deaths while using this product. You can find more information on the recall HERE.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments and Reindeer

These are two Christmas crafts we made this week. The first are cinnamon applesauce ornaments.

Recipe

1 c. ground cinnamon

3/4 - 1 c. applesauce

2 t. Elmer's glue

(could also add 1 t. each of other spices such as cloves, nutmeg, etc.)

Roll out with rolling pin to 1/4"; cut with cookie cutters, poke hole for ribbon with straw, leave to dry for 3-5 days; tie ribbon and hang on tree. If I had had some pretty green and red plaid ribbon that's what I would have liked to have used. The smell is wonderful and it's a fun activity for kids.


The next craft idea is making reindeer with your child's foot and hand prints. The "body" is Lydia's foot and the "antlers" are her hands. Ideally, you would use brown paper for the body, black for the antlers, eyes like the picture on the right, and glue on a big, fluffy red nose. I didn't have any red noses and let Lydia pick the paper and color the picture (I tried using glitter on the one on the left). Since we live overseas, I think the grandparents will especially enjoy receiving these gifts since it's made with Lydia's hand and footprints.

Simple Christmas

(please excuse the photos being out of order, I don't know if it is some setting on our european computer or not, but I can't drag photos into place.)

I love to craft! I love to make things, but this Christmas I'm learning to make things simple! We just moved to a very small (but famous) town in Scotland for my husband to finish his education. We are slowly adjusting to life in a new culture, and the Christmas season brings more adjustments. We came here with our two children and our six bags of luggage. Needless to say, there wasn't any room to pack Christmas decorations or craft supplies. There also isn't a craft supply store nearby (the closest big city is 40 minutes away, but gas is about $6.50 per mile. It isn't feesible to drive that far to pick up some glitter and popsicle sticks). So, I'm starting from scratch and it isn't easy. We picked up a tree at a local charity shop (the UK's version of Goodwill) and are slowly dressing it up with homemade ornaments. I think I'm having the hardest time with this. I keep remembering all the cute ornaments that I have packed away in my inlaw's attic and the other things I've made that I had hoped to use every year for our children to remember (advent calendars, etc.). But the fact is my kids don't miss these things one bit! In fact, my three year old daughter is currently having a blast cutting up construction paper to make our paper chain and thinks our tree is perfect (even adding her tiara and other dress up jewelry to the branches). We also made a paper plate angel for the tree topper and are working on these birds, some salt dough creations, and other very simple crafts that use nothing more than construction paper and glue (which is the extent of my craft supplies). We also printed off nativity pictures and glued them to paper towel rolls to make a simple nativity set. Hopefully in a week or two, our tree and home will be full of lovely, yet very simple decorations. I'll try to do a photo update when we get there! I know this post isn't exactly what it was meant to be, and didn't have a ton of great examples of lovely things to make for the holidays, but I wanted to encourage you that it is okay to simplify! There are seasons in life, and in the year when just being together is enough.

We Interupt this program...

We interupt "How to make your own..." to bring you one more birthing overseas post. We had an entry out overseas birthing experience arrive to us a little late. I can't imagine why??? This incredible mom has SIX BOYS and she birthed four of them overseas. So, we didn't want to leave her story(ies) out because of her great insight.

In the last 11 years, I've been under the care of eight different OB/GYNs in three different countries and three different states while being pregnant for almost five years (Yih!) and giving birth six times. Baby boy number six was born in September and was our first baby to be delivered by the same doctor as one of his brothers.

They say every pregnancy and every birth is different, but in my wildest dreams, I never expected to have such a wide range of experiences. Looking back now, I clearly see God's hand in the pregnancy and birth of each of our boys.

Zachariah - 24 June 1998, Limassol, Cyprus

Dr. L had a "one man show." Most Cypriot women don't go to hospitals to give birth, but private clinics, usually owned and operated by one doctor and a team of nurses. I asked other expatriate friends which doctor they would recommend and several said Dr. L was the one to see. He was the only one they knew of who didn't perform abortions, had four children himself and a wonderful bedside manner.

There were no appointments but he saw patients starting at 8:30am on a first-come-first-served basis. I quickly figured out I could avoid a long wait if I came first thing in the morning. He spoke English and did an ultrasound at nearly every appointment. He had studied in Germany, so some of his practices were a little different. During the last few weeks of pregnancy, when he did internal exams to check my cervix, there was a nurse present during the exam but no customary sheet draped over my legs and belly. After the first one, I wore one of my husband's long shirts to each exam.

At about 8 weeks, I had some spotting and he was very reassuring. I was a nervous wreck. It had taken us two and a half years to become pregnant and I didn't want to lose this baby. I was admitted to the clinic for observation for one night and then, as a precaution, I had progesterone shots through the rest of the first trimester. The shots were nauseating beyond belief, but I had never been pregnant before and I didn't have any pregnancy experience in the States to compare it to.

Two days after my due date, I was huge, hot, swelling and so ready to have this baby! We went in for a routine exam and since I was at 2cm and had felt a few contractions, the doctor decided to break my water to speed things up. I wish now that I had done more research - I probably would have waited a few more days - but my research resources were limited and I trusted my doctor. After 5-6 hours without much progress, I received pitocin. At around 11pm, when I got to about 5cm, Zach's heartbeat dropped off the monitor. Within minutes, the doctor stopped the pitocin, called the anesthesiologist and pediatrician to come to the clinic and started prep for an emergency c-section. Thirty minutes later, Zach was born and it was discovered that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.

Dr. L was meticulous in stitching me back up, taking an hour to do so. My husband had called everyone on our list before I even woke up from the anesthesia. Because of his great attention to detail, I have been able to have all my other boys VBAC.

I stayed at the clinic for five nights. This was routine for a c-section at that time. And, I think Dr. L was just more cautious with his expatriate patients.

Noah - 3 April 2000, Atlanta, Georgia

Noah started out under the care of Dr. L, who was disappointed to learn he wouldn't be born in Cyprus. I was also feeling apprehensive about having a baby in the US. My sister-in-law had a 36 hour labor, complete with conflicting meds given by the doctor and a resident and ultimately she ended up having a c-section. Hearing about her experience was so awful I didn't want to have a baby in America! And, I had heard of women who weren't allowed to even try VBAC because doctors were so afraid of being sued. We were going to be in Atlanta (not my hometown or my husband's) and I didn't know what to expect.

To make a long story short, I again asked around and found a wonderful Christian woman doctor, Dr. R, who was willing to try VBAC with me. I had one bout of false labor and after that, it was decided to try to induce about four days early. Zach had been 8.5 pounds at birth. Noah ended up being 9.5 pounds at birth and there was some concern over his size and the uncertainty about my ability to deliver VBAC. The induction and epidural both went smoothly. I waited until I was about 6cm before I got the epidural. I wanted to be dilated at least as much as I had been with Zach before any intervention. My husband now tells people I slept through labor with Noah. (He also wanted to find the inventor of the epidural and kiss him.) Noah was born without any problems or complications!

The recovery was so completely different! Pain now or pain later? Given a choice I'll take the pain of childbirth over the recovery from a c-section any day. When Noah was four days old, we all went to the mall and I bought a pair of shoes! Ten days after Zach's birth, I could hardly bend over to put shoes on my still swollen feet.

I held on to Dr. R's contact information and actually used it a few times to get advice from her during future pregnancies.

Simon - 19 November 2002, Loerrach, Germany

Simon was supposed to be a girl. Well, the doctor told us he was 90% sure but then changed his story about 8 weeks later when another ultrasound revealed his mistake. My Mom ended up donating the pink sweater she knitted to a charity auction.

Since I had already had one successful VBAC, the doctor said he would treat me as any other patient who had not had a c-section at all. There were lots of things different about Germany - no pre-natal vitamins were prescribed, but I called Dr. R and got a friend to bring some to me in her luggage. The doctor I saw for all my prenatal check-ups told me from the beginning that he would not be at the hospital for labor and delivery. The hospital had an OB/GYN on staff, along with a midwife and nurses.

We toured the hospital's labor and delivery ward about 8 weeks before Simon was due. There were four labor rooms - two with twin sized beds, birthing balls and other kinds of options for alternative birth positions; one with a queen sized bed and a sort of rope looking thing hanging from the ceiling; and one with a giant pink jacuzzi type bath tub for a water birth. There were also two regular bath tubs and several showers to use during labor. I thought those might be worth a try - I had heard they were relaxing especially during long labors. In America, I was told I could never get into a bath or shower during labor since I had had a c-section.

Simon's due date came and went. I knew I was getting huge, but the doctor said they would not induce or intervene until I was at least two weeks overdue. Six days past my due date, I had an appointment and was dilated about 3cm. I expressed my concern that Simon might be getting too big. The doctor gave me three homeopathic tablets and said I would go into labor within 24 hours. Not having had much exposure to homeopathic medicine, I was skeptical that three tiny sugar pills would do much. That was around noon.

At 2am, my water broke. By the time we got to the hospital an hour later, I was dilated to 6cm. I had planned to have a walking epidural, but the midwife said it was too late. The anesthesiologist couldn't get there fast enough - it was raining and snowing that night. Being a labor wimp, I took any and all pain relief the midwife suggested. To this day, my husband still can't believe I said yes to acupuncture in the top of my head, to a muscle relaxant suppository, to homeopathic tablets and finally, to a bath. The contractions were coming faster now, but I thought I had many hours ahead of me and a bath sounded relaxing. (The acupuncture did relieve some pain. After the needle was put in, the monitor for my contractions would get 20-30 points higher before I squeezed my husband's hand.)

Between contractions I walked ever so slowly the 30 feet or so to where the bathtubs were. When I rounded the corner to the toilet, we discovered that there was a bit of a language mistake. The midwife was filling up the giant pink birthing tub. Still thinking it would be hours, I thought, "Why not? More water to relax in should be better." I got undressed and got in. (Watching me get into the tub, my husband realized I wasn't getting out until the baby was born.) It took two hours to get to 10cm and the midwife never left my side, except to phone the doctor when delivery was close. I pushed only three or four times and at 5:32am, weighing 10.5 pounds Simon was born... under water. They cleaned him a bit and laid him on my chest and he let out the sweetest sigh that made us all laugh.

My husband had stood in the only space available during the birth, directly under the heat lamp that was pre-heating the bed for the baby. The nurse sent him back to the other labor room to sit down on the bed and then took Simon to him. They were afraid to let him carry him since he had become queasy. In the mean time, my blood pressure had dropped so I didn't have the strength to get out of the tub by myself. The doctor, midwife and another nurse picked me up and put me on the bed and started an IV.

After a few minutes, I was taken to where Simon was, transfered to the bed and then stitched up while a nurse gave Simon a bath. I had torn in five places! The hospital provided clothes for all the babies and Simon was dressed in purple - not my first choice for a boy. We stayed in the hospital for two nights.

Back to the doctor who did all my prenatal check-ups... his wife was a midwife. She came to our house to check on us for a full month, starting three times a week. I never took him out of the house the first five weeks! I learned lots about homeopathic medicines, baby massage, essential oils and could call her day or night if I had any questions. Though it was strange to me to have a totally unknown doctor attend the birth, the midwife at home after made my German birth experience so much better.

Gabriel - 16 September 2004, Orlando, Florida

I had a wonderful woman doctor whose last name I couldn't ever pronounce in Florida. She did an extra ultrasound at about seven and a half months since Dr. L (We were living in Cyprus again when we learned Gabriel was on the way.) had done the last one at 17 weeks and told us it was a boy. She said it was definitely a boy, but I couldn't see it clearly on the monitor. She pointed and said, "Leg. Leg. Not a leg."

She was willing to induce and go for VBAC number three, but the hospital policies were very strict, in spite of now having a history of two VBACs. I checked in at 5am, did all the paperwork, started an IV, but couldn't start the induction until the doctor would be there full time. She had appointments in the building across the street, and hospital rounds to do in the morning and hospital policy dictated that since it was a VBAC, the doctor had to be present. She didn't know this until late the night before. So, we just waited around until about 1 o'clock before the pitocin was started.

While waiting, I started to have contractions on my own. Everything went smoothly once again and, weighing "just" 8 pounds 6 ounces, Gabriel was born VBAC. He spent a day in the semi-ICU due to low blood sugar and jaundice, but I was allowed to nurse him and visit as often as I wanted. Once he was out of there, he stayed in the room with us most of the time. We had an incident with a nurse who thought he was choking. Without any explanation, she just grabbed him and left the room. This did not endear us to the hospital any more even after the head nurse explained their procedures for when the nurses think a baby may be in trouble. I guess since we were in our own country where we speak the language fluently, we expected better communication.

Hope - 30 July 2006, Amman, Jordan

My pregnancy with Hope ended at 13 weeks. I am including it because even miscarriages may not be handled the same way in different countries. Then again, I never had one in the US or any other country, so maybe it's not so different.

I had some spotting and the Dr. K told us to come to the hospital that afternoon. We needed time to find someone to stay with the boys anyway. He did an ultrasound and told us the baby's heart wasn't beating any more. After I got dressed again, he talked with us in his office and gently told us some of the statistics - as if to say, we are not alone in this experience. He must have conversations like this quite often, yet he spoke with us as if it were the first time. He left us for a few minutes so we could talk and cry together. When he came back, he said he had made arrangements for the D&C to be done that evening and that sooner would be better, given my age (35) and that the baby's size suggested she had died around nine weeks.

I was quickly checked-in to my room. Being a middle eastern country, there were no Gideon Bibles in the rooms. My husband called his boss to tell him what was going on and help us find someone to stay overnight with the boys and ask him to bring us a Bible. I was given medicine in preparation for the surgery which eventually gave me chills. That was around 5:30pm. By 8 o'clock, I was wheeled into the surgery area where a very nice anesthesiologist met us, along with the doctor who would do the surgery and everything was explained to us (in English).

My husband had asked what would happen to the baby. We had no idea what to expect. They said because it was so early, they would first run some tests on the tissue and then dispose of it properly. While I was just waking up from the anesthesia, a nurse came by with a small jar with the remains in it, but I never really saw it. I just said, "Bye bye, baby." Later my husband told me there was nothing recognizable. I feel pretty sure that would never have happened in the States.

They brought a second bed to our room for my husband that night, and I think they brought some dinner, but I really don't remember. I didn't sleep much. In the morning, we had breakfast, made to order omelets and it was brought in on a table with a cloth and our plates were covered with silver domes. It was a beautiful breakfast, really. We met with Dr. K and the doctor who did the surgery and they very patiently answered our questions. Shortly after that, we checked out.

About two months later, I had some continuing bleeding - spotting really. I ended up going in for another D&C as some of the placental tissue had become embedded in my uterus during the four weeks I carried Hope after she died. This time, they got all of it. I missed about two weeks of language classes. The procedure was just an overnight stay, but they put me on a super strong antibiotic for 10 days that made me dizzy and nauseated.

Jacob - 8 October 2007, Amman, Jordan

Dr. K was absolutely overjoyed when we returned to his office about six months after losing Hope. He was, of course, cautiously optimistic, until the end of the first trimester. I was prescribed folic acid, a prenatal vitamin and baby aspirin; the latter, to help prevent possible blood clotting issues since I had miscarried.

I carried Jacob with relatively few problems, but we did learn at about 32 weeks that I had developed Gestational Diabetes. Dr K's associate, Dr. Lamia, whom I came to trust as much as Dr. K, kind of scolded him for not testing me sooner. With careful attention to diet, I was able to control my blood sugar without medicine or insulin shots. I met with the hospital's nutritional consultant. It was helpful, but I had to extract the dietary principles from the one week menu she gave me, and I looked up some information on the internet, too. I also visited an American trained endocrinologist, who gave me good advice, as well.

I think I had a few extra appointments during the first trimester. And, Dr. K did an ultrasound at every visit throughout the pregnancy. I also had two in depth ultrasounds with a specialist - routine for women over 35.

About a week before my due date, I had an appointment scheduled for late afternoon, but there was a mix up and it took about an hour to sort it out before I could see the doctor. While waiting, I realized I was starting to have regular contractions. So, after a quick exam in the doctor's office I was admitted and taken to my room. After about two hours there, they moved me to the labor and delivery floor. It was newly remodeled with the most modern medical equipment, florescent "highlighter yellow" floors and a great view of the city. There was a nurse and a midwife present the entire time. Dr. K came and checked on me and another OB/GYN also checked on me at various times.

Jacob was born during the month of Ramadan (fasting month for Muslims) so Dr. K offered to have the hospital chef make Donald something to eat after sundown. (Since I had an IV, I wasn't offered anything.) Eventually he got a sandwich which he took to the waiting room next door to eat since we hadn't eaten anything since lunch at 12. The waiting room was actually a "family room" with leather couches, wood floors and a flat panel TV. It was so nice I wouldn't have felt comfortable having our boys wait in there for fear they'd leave permanent marks.

Around 11pm labor stalled a bit, so I got an epidural and they started pitocin, too. I had brought my own music to listen to and so I was able to relax a bit. Dr. K liked it, too. Jacob was born at 2:22am. I got to hold him for just a minute or two before they took him to the nursery and a full pediatric exam. It took nearly an hour to deliver the placenta. So there I was, half naked, with two male doctors, a male anesthesiologist and my husband, in the wee hours of the morning, listening to them chat about "guy stuff." That was a strange feeling!

Jacob had jaundice and our pediatrician was concerned. He has my very fair skin so he looked extremely yellow compared to the other middle eastern babies in the nursery. We ended up staying an extra night so they could observe him and put him under the bili-lights.

How to Make...Silhouette Pictures

Step 1. Start with two ridiculously cute children. Turn on the television so they will stand very still while you capture a good profile shot.

Ok, seriously. I recently made these silhouette pictures for a Christmas gift. (I don't think this person reads POH, so hopefully I'm safe. Although, if they do I feel certain they will know right away the gift is for them as they have an entire collection of antique silhouette portraits.)

A while ago on POH, I posted the directions from Design Sponge. You can find those here.
But, I didn't really follow those directions. Like always, I made it up as I went and I think they turned out pretty well!!

Here are a few (very rough) steps you can take:

1. I used Picasa to print 3.5x5 size prints of my pictures above. I wanted that size so the sillhouettes would almost fill the 3.5x5 frames I had gotten. I printed them on regular copy paper.

2. I cut out the picture (not the silhouette shape). Then I taped it to my black cardstock. I then used tiny scissors (really for embroidery, guess they're ruined now!) and an exacto knife to cut around the kids' silhouettes. I did my son's first and it took two tries to get it right. I made one cut too quickly and his nose was quite pointy. :)

3. I glued the black silhouettes to off white card stock that was cut to fit my frames. I wrote each child's name and the year in the bottom right corner. Voila!

A few other notes:

-The Design Sponge directions use tracing paper and I can see how this would be very helpful, but I was trying to not spend any additional money!

-The Design Sponge directions also suggest that you follow detailing in the hair for an authentic look. I decided to disregard my daughter's mullet wisps (you can see them in her picture). However, if your daughter actually had hair, I could imagine this would be cute!

-This project only took me about an hour, with my kids awake!

How to Make...an Advent Paper Chain

Obviously, this is not an expert level craft! But, this is the first year we've made one and it has been fun. I'm holding out to purchase the Noel Piper Advent Calendar, but it still is not available again. (This is a picture of it, from my sister in law. It's super simple, but I just love it.)

Instead of purchasing or making something else more expensive, I decided to do a paper chain. I think the "how-to's" of cutting and gluing the paper is pretty easy.


But, I will give you some resources for verses to include on each link. Each night my kids remove one link and we read the verses together. To help my son stay focused we've been giving him words to listen for in the scripture. He raises his hand when he hears the word and then talk about what that words means after we read the scripture.

You visit this site for some printable links with verses for your advent chain (you can start today - you've still got 18 days left, right?). Also, the Girl Talk bloggers linked this resource as a list of verses they have used for an advent paper chain.

(You can see our paper chain first hung on our mantle until it was short enough to hand vertically!)

Card Table Playhouse

I just finished this little project to give as a Christmas present. I copied the idea from Jen. You can see the inspiration piece here.

I love this playhouse because it is cute and fun and can easily be stored away when it's not being used. This is a great alternative to one of the hard plastic playhouses. I'm planning on making another one for my guys for Christmas.

Jen made her playhouse out of felt (you can buy it by the yard at the fabric store). I decided to make mine out of bedsheets that I bought at the Salvation Army. I used a Salvation Army tablecloth for the top. I did buy felt to make the windows and door because I wanted a fabric I could cut and not hem.

Here's a peak at the inside:

I don't think the project takes a lot of explaining. Please ask for more detailed "how to" instructions if you are interested. I just measured and cut each side and top and then sewed them together. I know Jen used fusible web to make hers. And she sewed pockets on the inside to store toys.

If you want even more inspiration, check out Jen's Bunk Bed Playhouse. A-dorable!!

Overseas Birth Story

Here is another overseas birth story from Courtney. She and her husband have lived in Southeast Asia for the past few years. They are currently in Vancouver, but plan to return to SE Asia in February. Their son, Asher, is 14 months old and was born in Southeast Asia. You can see their family blog here. In addition, she has another blog where she wrote about her pregnancy. Thanks for sharing, Courtney!


My husband, Roger, and I had been living in Southeast Asia for about a year when we found out we were expecting our first child, we were super excited and immediately started figuring out what we needed to do to have a baby in another country. We decided to stay in the city we lived in to have the baby even though we had the option of going to a bigger city. Some of our co-workers had just had a baby at a hospital very close to our house and had a good experience, so we decided that we would deliver there also.

From the beginning I learned that healthcare was much different overseas. I had to be very proactive with my pre-natal care. If I wanted to have any tests or blood work done I had to ask for them. My monthly check up was basically just checking my weight, my blood pressure and having an ultrasound. I got to have an ultrasound each time I went to the doctor, I loved getting to see the baby every month. I also learned not to always trust my doctor. I started having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions around 25 weeks and when I mentioned them to my doctor he immediately wrote me a prescription for medicine. Before taking the medicine we did some research and found out it was some pretty serious medicine to stop pre-term labor. I checked with an American doctor and decided it was not what I needed to be taking. Later in my pregnancy I had a really bad cold and my doctor again wrote me a prescription, it turns out that medicine could not be taken while pregnant.

I also learned a lot about pregnancy in the country we were living in. Roger and I originally estimated the due date for our son to be September 15, but after our first visit to our doctor it was changed to September 9 because the doctor thought 09/09 would be a great date to have a baby. We learned that local people thought pineapple would cause me to have a miscarriage, that ice water would make me fat and that ginger tea would cure morning sickness. Near the end of my pregnancy we also learned that the local people did not understand a due date the way we did. When we told them my due date was September 9 they assumed he would be born that day. When that day came and went (and went and went and went, Asher was 11 days late) they started to panic. We received text messages all day long asking if "I had borned Roger's baby" and we even had several people offer to take us to new doctors to help the baby be born.

Overall I had a wonderful experience (you can read Asher's birth story here). I had a friend come into the delivery room with us to help us out, she took charge when the doctor wanted to do an unnecessary C Section and kept me going the whole time. We both spoke the language, but quickly forgot it in the midst of dealing with pain and were very glad we had someone there to translate for us. There were of course strange things happening the whole time. I text messaged with my doctor about when to go to the hospital, the doctor stopped by to check on me and to make me eat french fries while I was in labor and after Asher was born the nurse took one look at me and announced I was unfit to breastfeed. There were challenges in communicating in another language and across cultures, but thanks to our wonderful friends everything worked out perfectly.

Wordless Wednesday....

What to do when a car is parked behind you in our city: