Name Story

The last night I ever spoke with my Grandma was from the hospital the day Annette was born. I called to share our news with her and she said, “Annette, that is lovely, it reminds me of my mother’s name, Annabelle.” It was just the following week that my Grandma went to be with Jesus. Ever since that time I always thought it would be sweet to have an Annette and Annabelle. Jason also loved the name and found in his family tree that he had a great Aunt named Annabelle Paine. We liked that the name had a connection to both sides of our families. Anna means grace and Belle means beauty. We pray that her life would be full of both.

We were a little more stuck on the middle name. Both Josiah Michael and Annette Marie have middle names that start with “m” (quite by accident) so we decided to go with that. One day the name Mei came to me and I liked how it flowed with Annabelle. I’ve always loved May (my birth month) but decided to use the Chinese spelling because Annabelle is our third child born in China. Mei means beautiful and also “youngest of sisters” in Chinese. Often little sisters are called “Mei Mei”.

Birth Story

Annabelle Mei Paine~ March 30, 2013

There were a lot of unknown factors leading up to Annabelle’s birth. Until just a few days before she was born we thought she was breech, then we got the news that our private maternity ward was closing for Easter and our doctor was heading to Beijing (good bye support network).  Next came the word that the hospital charges were being increased 50% starting April 1. I kept rolling all of the these factors around in my head. Adding to the equation was my mom’s upcoming visit, coming half way around the world and leaving, before my due date.  I was starting to get a little cranky analyzing when the “right” time would be for baby to come and of course reconciling with the reality that I had no control in the matter.  I felt the Lord urging me just to trust so throughout the day I would pray and remind myself that He had it under control. 

Jason’s spring break began on Thursday, March 28. In a distraction from the waiting we decided to stay busy. Friday we went down to the Air and Space Museum, had lunch by the harbor, took the ferry to the Maritime Museum, then saw an imax movie. Whew! Once at home I made and cleaned up dinner, walked to the store and prepared food for a party we were going to the next day. In hindsight I should have just gone to bed. . . 

Looking huge taking the Star Ferry across the harbor

Contractions started at 2 am the next morning and were strong and consistent enough to keep me from going back to sleep, along with adrenaline that this could be “it”. When the kids woke up we started packing and at 9am  took them over to our friends the Rosses. It felt a little early to go the hospital but we had been warned the 3rd one can come fast. We parked the car near the hospital and decided to walk around a park before checking in. At the park I suddenly asked Jason “am I peeing on myself?” as we watched water dribble to the ground. We both laughed and decided that maybe we should get to the hospital. That was about 10:30 

My water just broke in the park!

Despite all of the changes in wards and hospital staff, this experience actually provided the nicest and most helpful doctors and nurses. Jason was able to be with me the whole time (that is not the typical scenario in the public hospitals here) and he helped me through the 1st stage of labor contractions in a pre labor ward. I was only 2 cm dilated when I got to the hospital and then 2 hours later was disappointed to have only progressed to 3. But they were growing stronger and by 2:30 I was 4 cm and they decided to transfer me to the labor ward. 

Still smiling (between contractions) while laboring on the birthing ball in the lovely pink ward

That is when everything got crazy. For the next 20 minutes it felt like there was no break in my contractions. I began making strange noises and in an attempt not to scream (while on a stretcher in a public elevator) I bit my hand so hard I broke the skin. By the time we got to the delivery suite I was now screaming loudly that I needed to push. Jason was gowning up and heard me across the ward. As soon as he got in the room I started pushing and 6 minutes at 2:52 later Annabelle was out! I can’t really explain what happened in those 20 minutes but it was super intense. 

2.9 kg= 6.4 lbs Our biggest baby yet!

Getting her hearing tested

Little baby in a Big City

The next day was Easter Sunday! Jason and the kids picked my mom up from the airport that evening, then brought Annabelle and I home for our first time united as a family of five. 

It was such a great picture of the New Life that Jesus brings on Easter!  Now it is 3:30 am Annabelle just finished eating and my story will stop here for now . . .

Happy Moments

It is not always happy around here. The kids have off days and need to be sent to time- out.  I have grumpy mommy moments and probably sometimes need a time out too. But who wants to blog about that? (:  I have a journal where I write down little quotes from the kids during the day. In case you need a happy boost today, I thought I'd share some with you. . .

Annette: Yay, my favorite!  Smooth- mes for breakfast!

Josiah: Ikea was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. . . later he tried again this time singing "Tortillas was a wee little man"(Zaccaehus is just so hard to remember!)

Josiah: Mommy works for me but I don't pay her money

As I was reading a story getting very sleepy and speeding up to the end Josiah said: "Your'e not using your mommy voice anymore."

Josiah: Mommy, you look beautiful in that chopstick (he meant lipstick)

Jason was explaining to Josiah how many years he will be in school to which Josiah replied, "But daddy, I don't need all that school because I already have fancy skills"

Josiah: Mommy, your elbows are getting old

Me: Josiah there is no one like you
Josiah (dismayed): no one likes me?

Full Term

I am officially full term (37 weeks) which means this baby can show up anytime now.  Josiah and Annette were both early so baby is certainly on our mind. 

This weekend Jason snapped some photos of the bump. It is sweet how much Josiah and Annette feel connected to their sister already. 

And for the sake of documentation here is the 9 month photo, the last one (there will not be a 10 month shot!)  Feel free to leave a comment with your prediction of when baby will arrive.  We still don't know if her head is up or down but would appreciate your prayers for a safe and natural delivery. Thanks!

Christmas and my kid's birthdays are some of my favorite days of the year to be a parent. We celebrated Annette's birthday Sunday a couple days early (shh don't tell her) and we all had such a good time doing it! Her request was for a "pink princess party."  I seriously don't know where she gets these ideas since she's never seen a Disney movie and we don't have any princess "influences" in her life. But, as you know there is not changing a princess' mind. (:

We started the morning with a princess tea party breakfast where we ate pink crepes and all wore crowns

Then we opened presents. We gave Annette a trampoline which she was very excited about. Hopefully it will burn off a lot of three and four year old energy!

Then onto the happiest place on earth! We gave Annette her first octopus card and she went through the  station gates all by herself. You can see she is tall enough to pay for the train now(especially with her added crown)

The Disneyland train is fun!

Annette kept insisting that she was not three until she ate her cake. So after Disneyland we went home and made it official!  We love you so much Annette!! Thanks for bringing so much joy to our lives!

Chinese Tea Party

One of Annette's greatest joys in life is tea parties. Next time you are in the neighborhood you should really stop by for a cuppa. 

So when I made plans to  go toYum Cha (dim sum and tea) with Po Po and her sweet helper Idah I decided to spin it as a "tea party" to Annette. You may remember Annette has a bumpy history with Po Pos. But, that all changed once she got to go a real tea party with pretty dim sum presented in steaming bamboo baskets. In true Annette fashion she gobbled most of them down and even nibbled on a chicken foot, much to Po Po's pleasure.

I was not as successful at making Josiah enthusiastic about sitting around a Chinese restaurant for an hour being offered mysterious looking dumplings. Still working on how to spin that one (:

Hospitality

Hong Kong recently hit the top of two research findings. In good news, the city now boasts the longest life expectancy in the world (I guess I can worry a little less about the air pollution and MSG). Along with that, we are now the most expensive housing market in the world. The prices have always been crazy here and now they are crazier than ever. 

20,000- 30,000 people in the city live in “cage houses”, unable to rent even an entire room for themselves. While I’ve always known crazy housing situations like this exist, I’ve personally never seen them first hand because, well, most of my friends are like me. However yesterday we were invited to dinner at our friend’s house in an impacted, colorful part of the city called Jordan. To protect their identity we will call them S and Y.  S is from Iran and Y is from upper- cast India. After meeting online they risked their very lives to met and get married, forsaking all for love. What a journey they’ve had since that point. Eventually they ended up as Asylum Seekers in Hong Kong. S and Y found themselves at our church because it is one of the major support networks for refugees. At our church this Muslim and Hindu couple both found Jesus! Since then they have grown so much in their faith and depend on God daily to sustain and encourage them through their hard times. 

Back to their house. They apologized 100 times in advance for how small it was, even again yesterday as they led us through the busy streets and alleys lined with noodle stalls and massage parlors that wound to their tower. We passed smokey gambling dens and dry cleaners as we traipsed up four flights of stairs to their home. Even with all the warnings of how small it was I was still surprised when we stepped inside. I could only take about two steps! There were bunk beds, a fridge, a gas burner, small shelf, and stools wedged into a space smaller than many American closets.  They pay $400 a month for this space, which they told us was a really good deal! The windows were blacked out, but if opened could let in some light along with the cigarette smoke and noise from the busy market stalls below. But the hospitality was beautiful. 

They had prepared a feast of delicious food from their home countries and served us with the best they had to offer. We shared plates with the kids and Jason ate off of a lid. They did everything to make us as comfortable as possible and tried again and again to heap more food on our plates. We had lively conversation and they even gave the kids little toys they had thoughtful bought for them.  

So often I hold back because I don’t think I have enough or wait until I am more “together” to open up to other people. Yet it seems that often those who have the least give the most. This experience reminded me of lavish hospitality we had likewise experienced in a Mozambican village and refugee camp in Burma. That hospitality is not about what you have, but what you give.