Second Week in Malaysia!

Our second week in Malaysia was also wonderful and full of memories: Celebrating Christmas; reuniting with family and old school friends; eating loads of different and delicious foods; sweating a lot (it's been extra hot and humid the last few days) and enjoying seeing Daniel change by the day and also enjoy meeting our loved ones.

Check out the slide show for photos of the second week (to download, click on the slide show and you will be taken to Picassa):

Unfortunately, we will be returning home this coming Friday night and should be arriving back home around lunchtime on Saturday, the 3rd (because of the 13 hours time difference, we'll actually be gaining a day on the way back). We've so enjoyed being here that we are feeling sad to be leaving soon. But, we are frequently reminding ourselves of how blessed we have been to be able to come here and experience all that we have for almost 3 weeks. We still have 3 more days to enjoy!

In the meantime, we are wishing our loved ones a Happy New Year!! Will blog again next year!

First Week in Malaysia!

We've been in Kuala Lumpur for one week and are having a wonderful time! Thank God, we are all now completely adjusted to the time zone and Daniel is back on his schedule and sleeping through the night again. It was exhausting the first 4 days for us all but definitely worth it! We are so happy to be here and still have almost 2 weeks before we return home.

We are so enjoying being in the tropics and our daily swim with Daniel is such a treat! The first day we decided to take Daniel to the pool, I told Jonny: "Let's go slowly, let's dip his feet in first and see how he reacts." I honestly thought that it would take a few days for him to get used to it. But, Daniel just loves the pool and after only dipping his feet in for a couple of seconds, he loved being thrown up and into the water with lots of laughter and excitement! He didn't show any fear or hesitation whatsoever! Check out the photos and you will see exactly what I mean!

We have also discovered that Daniel loves dogs - Jonny's mother has two - and he really enjoys going for a walk in his stroller and seeing all the different trees and surroundings - Jonny's parents live close to a tropical jungle; it's just beautiful! On the downside, Daniel has been bitten by mosquitoes for the first time ever but thank God, he has not had any bad reactions. It's also a new experience that he gets to sleep under a mosquito net which he loves to touch before going to sleep.

It's also been so lovely spending time with Jonny's parents and seeing their love for Daniel. Yesterday, we got to introduce Daniel to several of his grandfather's golf friends and they each got to hold him and it was so sweet to see their happiness in finally meeting their friend's grandson.

Anyway, check out the two slideshows below for photos of our travel and our first week here! (To download photos, click on the slideshows and it will take you to Picasa)

Slideshow #1: Travel from US to Malaysia via Korea



Slideshow #2: First week in Malaysia

Greetings From Kuala Lumpur!

We arrived safely and well in Kuala Lumpur late on Sunday night local time; more than 48 hours after leaving our home. Thank God, considering how far away we have come, the trip went very well. Thank you for your prayers! Daniel did great on the flights and is now adjusting to the 13 hour time difference. During the first 15 hour flight to Korea, he didn't sleep much but was happy playing in the baby bassinet Korean Air provided and enjoyed being held by different passengers who thought he was cute (by the way, we highly recommend Korean Air, the service was great!). The next day, we flew to Malaysia and Daniel slept most of the flight and did well despite us getting home at about 1 am. So far, nights have been the biggest struggle with him waking up frequently and by the end of each day he has been so tired that he hasn't wanted to have dinner; but each day we have seen improvements and tonight he ate well again and was less tired.

We are now here staying with Jonny's Dad who has more framed photos of Daniel than we do - how wonderful to see how loved Daniel is by many! The weather is hot and humid and we are loving it! We've been thoroughly enjoying the foods that we had been eagerly waiting to eat and are planning to hit the pool with Daniel soon.

Will post pictures and write more once we too have adjusted to being on the other side of the world!

Daniel Gets the Giggles!

A couple of days ago during dinner, Daniel got the giggles and we captured it on video! He laughed and laughed with our dear friend Maria Helena; here are a couple of minutes for you to share in our joy!

Boy Wonder Now 9 Months Old!

Our precious baby boy officially became 9 months yesterday! It's been 9 months since we were at Mercy Hospital meeting him for the first time... Wow, we didn't realize then just how much he would change our lives. And it's just not in the sense of less sleep and him getting most of our attention; having him has completely changed the way we think about ourselves, our roles, our family, our future, our relationship with God... everything. And we know that, God willing, in the months and years ahead, the privilege of being Daniel's parents will just continue to change us. Parenthood is transforming... I didn't realize 9 months ago it would be this much.

We've had some special times over the past week: Thanksgiving with the Staggers and Ritchies; party for Daniel at Maria Helena's so that he could meet her closest friends and Maria Helena spending time with us on my day off. Check out the slideshow for our favorite photos - if you click on the slideshow, you can download the photos through Picassa (unfortunately our old camera broke on Thanksgiving so we haven't got any photos of that special day).

We now need to start preparing for our upcoming trip to Malaysia! We are leaving one week from tomorrow and will be away for 3 weeks. We are really looking forward to going but kind of dreading the flights there. We will first be taking a 15 hour flight to South Korea, sleeping over in Seoul and then making our way to Kuala Lumpur. We ask for your prayers for the flights over; Daniel is so active now and we're just not sure how we will manage to entertain him for so long in a confined space... oh well, we'll manage somehow! The time difference is also huge - 13 hours ahead from here - so that too will take some adjusting to... Please do keep us in your prayers! But once we are there, God willing, we will get to enjoy spending time with Jonny's family, introducing Daniel to family and friends, being outdoors in hot weather, swimming pool, wonderful food, etc... it's going to be worth it!