Happy Birthday Sweet Adela

Adela celebrated her second birthday this past weekend, an event she has been looking forward to for some time!

We really had a wonderful weekend together as a family.

We were able to get out of the city for the day on Saturday (her actual birthday) and take a trip to Kending. Adela and I spent the morning at the Aquarium, while Jonathan snuck a dive in with our friend Andrew. We all met for lunch together and then went to the beach in the afternoon. Unfortunately the weather had just turned cool last week, and while it wasn't too cold to get in the water, it wasn't warm enough to stay in for any length of time either. But we still relaxed on the beach and built sandcastles and sand-birthday cakes, and had a very nice time!

On Sunday we had a little "party" with Paul and his family and Andy and his family. I made some cupcakes and we all gave Adela her birthday presents. We sang Happy Birthday to her in English and Chinese, and let her eat a little bit more that we probably should have. But she had a great time and so did we!

December 16

My c-section has been scheduled for December 16th!

This probably isn't news to many of you reading this, but I thought I should put it up there anyway!

In just a little over two weeks we will be welcoming another sweet baby girl into the world. I am so excited for this fourth member of our family to finally meet us, and Jonathan and Adela are equally anxious for her arrival. We spend a lot of time talking to her, Adela especially, who loves to rub my big belly and tell the baby how she can't wait for her to come out. It's really sweet, and I know she is going to be such a loving and gentle big sister!

Of course there is always the possibility that she will want to come out before the 16th, but in either case we are ready for her! We have her bassinet all put together and waiting for her to sleep in, a pack of newborn sized diapers, and all of Adela's little blankets and clothes ready to snuggle her up in. Did I mention three sets of arms ready and waiting to hold and cuddle her? What else could a baby need?!

Happy Thanksgiving from Taiwan!

Ok, it isn't a turkey feast, but we must make do! 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 

Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy

He who continually goes forth weeping

bearing seed for sowing

shall doubtless come again rejoicing,

bringing his sheaves with him.

Psalm 126: 5,6

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked,

for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,

but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

And let us not grow weary in doing good,  

for in due season we shall reap if we do not loose heart.

Galatians 6:7-9

"The bike's not scary, no, it's fun!"

Children are funny. They get themselves all excited about something that they've never done before, and then when the time comes to actually do it their excitement is replaced with fear and tears.

In Adela's case, it was riding on the bike with Jonathan.

Adela had only ridden in a bike seat once, when she was a little baby. But at home, before we left, she found this little bike helmet and began wearing it all the time. She loved wearing that helmet and constantly talked about riding on a bike. We told her that when we got to Taiwan we would get her a seat to go on the back of her Papa's bike. She couldn't wait.

When we got here we pointed out children riding with their parents. We showed her Jonathan's bike. She was so excited about getting a bike seat to ride in, until Jonathan actually took her to get it. In fact, she was so upset by the bike seat the first time he tried to take her to get one, that she had a huge meltdown at the bike shop, and Jonathan ended up having to leave the bike parked somewhere because she wouldn't even walk back next to it.

A couple weeks later Jonathan was out on his bike and had stopped to get something on it fixed. The shop had a nice baby bike seat so he bought it and had them put it on. He went to my work, where he was picking Adela up, and tried again to let her ride in it. She again would not, and so they walked together to go get some dinner. They waited for me to finish work, and we tried again. Jonathan had explained her behavior to me, but I was shocked to witness it myself! The screaming and tears were very unlike her and unnecessarily dramatic!

We decided not to give in this time, and instead we compromised that if she rode in the seat, I would walk next to her holding her hand. This, apparently, was an acceptable solution. Jonathan walked the bike and I walked next to her holding her hand. The next block he got on and rode slowly while I held her hand. And as she felt the warm evening breeze blowing in her hair, she suddenly relaxed. All on her own, she let go of my hand, so she could hold on to the little bar in front of her seat.

By the time I caught up with the at the end of the block, it was as if she had never been afraid of the bike. She loved it! And the whole rest of the way home she kept saying, "It's not scary, no, it's fun!"

No. 99 Ming Hua First Rd. 4F Zuo Ying District Kaoshiung, Taiwan ROC

We are finally moved in enough to our place to share pictures of it on the internet. It took almost a week after securing the keys to get it this way, but sometimes that's how it goes.

After meeting the money-crazy landlady from our last potential apartment, May decided to take action, and the next day we had an appointment to see an apartment in the same building complex where her parents live. Her father had negotiated with the landlord and was able to secure us a rent price that included both a parking space in the basement garage and the security/maintenance fee. Considering the location of this apartment and it's size, it was a really good deal.

We went and looked at the apartment with Paul and May. It was big, nicely furnished, with hardwood floors, and nice wooden trim and cabinets. From our quick inspection it had everything that we needed, and it's location was ideal. We could walk to Paul and May's house in just one minute, to my work in 5 minutes, and was really in the heart of our favorite neighborhood, where we lived in the past. With the rent we were getting, we couldn't pass it up, and so we put a deposit down and two days later signed the lease.

The biggest mistake we made when looking at this apartment, was going to see it at night. Perhaps we were tired or perhaps the lighting was not favorable, but we somehow overlooked all of the dust and dirt that covered this apartment. Had we noticed how much cleaning was going to need to be done, we could have probably asked the landlord to send in a cleaning company to do it, but now it was too late. The lease was signed, he had his money, and he didn't really seem to care about all of the cleaning that needed to be done. I think it was probably better we did it ourselves, because a cleaning crew would not have meticulously cleaned every inch of that place until it shone like new. But Jonathan Cutillo did.


The poor man spent hour after hour, day after day, scrubbing and mopping and dusting. I helped with what I could, but all of the hard work had to be done by him. The landlord was quite apologetic, but not enough to send help. Although I do think that all the grief Jonathan gave him about the state of the place helped us get the bigger refrigerator we were asking for. The funny thing was that this guy mentioned multiple times how important it was to him to have clean tenants. I kept thinking to myself as we were cleaning that he must not know what the real meaning of clean is.

But now that it is clean, we are happy and comfortable living here. It really did clean up nicely, and the addition of Paul and May's old living room furniture certainly brought more character and hominess than the plastic-y blue couches that were previously residing in the living room. There are two big balconies and lots of large windows for good sunlight and nice cool breezes in the evening. The work we had to put into this place, although difficult and irritating, did pay off, and we are blessed to have a nice place to begin calling home.

Proverbs 21:9 - Jonathan Finally Experiences His Favorite Bible Verse in Real Life

The search for an apartment is finally over. It was an exhausting experience to say the least. Of course, when you don't have a car and must therefore walk around in 90 degree weather, anything would be exhausting.

unwakeable

We used a Chinese website to search for apartments. We were looking for a three bedroom apartment in North Kaohsiung, for about $300-500 a month. We also preferred a location that was in walking distance to the school I am working for and Jonathan's uncle Paul and his family. However, most everything we found in our price range and desired neighborhood was no where near big enough for us, the new baby, and the many visitors we are expecting from home!

On about the second or third day we came across a nice place that we were ready to rent. It was a very big three bedroom apartment, on a quiet street, across from a nice park. It was not in walking distance from my school, but it was a lovely neighborhood and a beautiful walk away from the Lotus Pond. The landlord was a kind and friendly older man, who kept a garden on the roof that we were welcome to enjoy. But that wasn't the only thing he kept on the roof.

He showed us this little room he had on the roof. It was furnished with a bed, some chairs, a desk, a bathroom, and a nice AC unit. A place where he could rest. Hmmm. I didn't think much of it at the time though. It wasn't until later that night when we met his wife did we realize why he had that room on the corner of the roof.

His wife was not so kind and gentle. She wanted money.

Luckily, we didn't bring any with us, or we may be out a few hundred dollars right now. She wanted us to put a deposit down on the place that night with the intention of signing the lease two days later. When we said we hadn't brought any money, she was upset, and then convinced Jonathan's Aunt May to put down NT $2,000 (US $60). She then wanted my passport number and May's ID number. I don't think so...

Finally after reasoning with her, she dropped the passport and ID numbers, and began writing down some things in Chinese about the appointed date and time we were to meet to sign the lease, and the NT $2,000 May had given her. That seemed normal, until she started writing about how if we didn't come at exactly the time we had agreed upon that she would be able to keep our deposit. May, of course, was not having any of it, and gave her a mouthful (I think by this time May's patience with this woman had worn out!). The two of them started arguing in Chinese, Jonathan started shouting over them about it all being too complicated, and finally the husband comes in to fix the situation. He takes the money and gives it back to May, crumples up the paper his wife had been writing, and proceeds to tell her how ridiculous she was being. He told us we could go home and get back to him. I think it was understood by everyone at that point that we weren't going to be renting this place.

"No wonder he has a room on the roof of the house!" May exclaimed when we got in the car, "His wife is crazy!" "Well, you know," Jonathan responded, "there is a proverb: It is better to live of the corner of the roof, than share a house with a quarrelsome wife." And how true.

More on the place we did move in to later...