we're prego!

We are pregnant!  

Though, I'm pretty sure most everyone who reads this blog knows this news already. We just wanted to make it "blog official". :)

17 weeks

And then today we found out that Nate will finally have a little man to help even out the hormones flying through our house.

When the ultrasound tech told us that we were having a boy, Nate was grinning from ear to ear.  I, however, was just on the verge of tears.  Not the "Oh, I'm so happy" tears (sorry, buddy) but the "Oh my gosh, I'm suddenly so scared to be a mother to this baby!" tears.  I know girls and how to be a mom to them.  But boys? I am completely clueless!  Our very first ultrasound he was moving like crazy, waving his arms. And then we had this ultrasound and he was moving around so much and was so stubborn!  And I just thought, "oh no".  But after some retail therapy and getting our little guy some clothes, I started to feel much better. :)

In all seriousness... Right after we had Ruby, I just had this strong feeling like there was another baby that was waiting for our family.  It was just a "we are not done" sort of feeling that came out of nowhere.  I had just had Ruby so it wasn't like I was going to try any time soon. Then a little less than two years passed we were sitting in church waiting for everything to start.  Our girls were playing in the pew and out of nowhere, without even thinking about it before, I had that same feeling again that our family was not complete.  It was so strong and I was so confused why I got that feeling at that exact moment.  Then a week later, I was diagnosed with MS.  And when my fears about that diseased turned to me not wanting to have anymore children, I was quickly reminded of those two very significant promptings that I had had before.  That was a moment where I realized just how well Heavenly Father knows me.  He knew the fears I would have with that particular disease.  He gave me those promptings when I needed them the most and to remind me that He knows me more than I know myself.  We waited until we felt it was right to try and now here we are.  We feel so very blessed to have this little guy in my belly and know without a doubt that he will help make our family a little more complete.  We love him already and Nate is beyond thrilled to have a little boy to play around with!

wish me luck...

Now that I have finally finished blogging about Thailand (took 5 posts!), I can move on with my blogging.  Hallelujah! I started a book club out here and I'm reading ahead on our list.  Our next book is It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan For Living A Richer Life With Less Stuff. I have an audible account and have been listening to this book as I get housework done. 

Listening to this book has seriously motivated me to get rid of our clutter! Our garage is still full of boxes, our mudroom is a mess, and our guest bedroom/toy room is just embarrassing.  Our other areas of the home aren't too bad, but we will still go through everything.  However, I am just so tired of all the stuff we have that we have been saving, just in case.  Peter Walsh first encourages you to imagine the home you want to live in.  To imagine just how you want each and every room. And then work from there to achieve that goal.  He has you get rid of trash and the obvious clutter, but also things that you haven't used in the last year. And you get rid of anything that stands in the way of your goal for your home.  So, that is what our weekend will be dedicated to and we are going to have to be ruthless.  Hopefully, we will come out of this feeling better and more organized in our home, rather than argue why throwing out X, Y, and Z is a bad idea.  Wish us luck!

Thailand: Bangkok & Getting Home

After we left Railay, we headed back to Bangkok.  We only had about two half days to work with so we packed in as much as we could.  What we didn't realize was how HUGE Bangkok was.  So we decided to see The Grand Palace, Asiatique (per recommendation of our friends from the elephant ride), and Lumphini Park.  

So we were off on yet another airplane. I am so glad we only packed carry-on's for this trip! It made life a whole lot easier!

As we arrived in Bangkok, we were on this shuttle to the baggage claim and I saw this girl.  I thought she was really pretty, had great style and did her make-up well.  And then I saw her adam's apple.  She was indeed a he. There are quite a few cross-dresser's in Thailand and it was always shocking when we went to ask a question to some worker we thought was a girl, and she (he?) spoke back with a deep, manly voice.  But this girl/guy was the most convincing one.  He/She is the the blurry one with the heels.  Wish I had a better picture.

We were a little concerned when we got there because none of the taxi driver's knew where our hotel was.  So we were sent to drive around with a guy who didn't know any English, and didn't know where on earth our hotel was.  We tried calling the place but they weren't picking up.  So, we were just driving with this man and no idea if we would be driven off to be murdered on our very last part of our trip.  Luckily, he was able to find it and we made it safely.  

Our hotel (which was more of an apartment) was within walking distance to the Skytrain (BTS). Nate brought out his inner-explorer and figured out their public transport and felt so please with himself and his navigation skills in a foreign country.  

We decided to make our first stop to Lumphini Park. It is this huge and beautiful park, and may I say sanctuary, to crazy busy Bangkok.  People go there to walk, exercise, eat, play, and enjoy the scenery. There was a gym, several aerobics classes, huge monitor lizards swimming and walking around, a massive walking/running trail, and it was just beautiful!

A bird guy just outside the park.

The gym.

Walking/Running trail.

This exercise class was huge with music and an instructor in front. It was pure entertainment. 

We saw these monitor lizards swimming and this one came out of the water and stopped, just long enough for us to get a pic, and then he got back in the water. Nate felt totally comfortable but I was a little nervous getting so close. Anyway, he looks small but he is about 7-8 feet behind us.

Before we left, I was on the hunt for a specific souvenir and a woman directed us to Asiatique to try and find it.  We had heard great things about this place so we decided to go there.  We had to get on the Skytrain and hop on a ferry to get there, but it was worth it.  Asiatique is a huge mall-like area with several warehouses according to category of merchandise.  Each warehouse was packed with as many booths as possible and it really was the ultimate shopping experience.  Unfortunately I did not find what I was looking for, but it was still worth the trip and we had one of the best mango smoothies we have ever had. :) 

Waiting for the Skytrain.

After Asiatique, we grabbed dinner and then headed back to the hotel and passed out.  When we woke up, we had this breakfast waiting for us: Crinkle-cut fruit, a fried egg, fried rice with pork and veggies, a slice of ham and what I think was sausage.  They also gave us coffee and we felt bad asking for water instead. The chef looked at us like we weren't very appreciative.  

Then we were off to our last attraction, The Grand Palace. But first, I don't want to forget that there were a lot of pink cars and taxi's. :)

And the fact that there are pictures of the King and Queen everywhere. 

The Grand Palace was busy.  You have to wear pants or a long skirt and you must wear sleeves.  The only pants Nate brought were his pajama pants, so that is what he wore.  And I wore a really light, long skirt and a light shirt.  Despite our lightweight clothes, it was still so hot! I felt like I was going to pass out by the end.  

Anyway, The Grand Palace was beautiful and it was really touching to see the culture of it all. Our favorite part was going in the temple of the Emerald Buddha. There was absolute silence as we went in there and many were praying, including several monks. It was really touching to see. 

Our only complaint about this place was there weren't really any clear explanations in English about each building and what was represented.  We saw some cool things and the ornate details of the buildings were just stunning. But we really wish we understood what we were seeing. 

After we left, it was time to go back to the hotel to get showered and ready for our long journey home. 

Waiting for our taxi.

 I don't want to forget the Thai Bhat.

And the fact that even the airport is plastered with pictures of the King and Queen.

One last pic of us before leaving Thailand. 

And we can't forget our airport waiting room in Taiwan.

Side story: Our big hiccup heading home was Nate. We were on our last leg home in the Chicago airport and suddenly Nate had an excruciating pain in his leg and it hurt to even walk.  His vericose veins had a huge bulge behind his knee and it was hurting him so badly! I was nervous to even fly with it. After coming home, he went in to Urgent care and it turned out that he had a huge blood clot in his leg.  They did an ultrasound to ensure it wasn't a deep vein (luckily it wasn't) and he just had to elevate it and take care of it.  Now he flies with compression tights and that seems to help. :)

We absolutely LOVED being in Thailand but we loved being home with our girls even more.  We were and still are so thankful for Pat for coming out to watch our girls with us. They had so much fun going on so many walks, looking at nature, doing arts and crafts, reading stories, and much, much more! As we were about to take Pat back to the airport, Lyla became really quiet and sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was going to miss her grandma so much! So, to make her feel better, we took one last picture of them. And boy it turned out to be a cute one!  Thank you to Pat for taking such great care of our girls! We love you!!!

Lyla and Grandma Wright, May 2013.

Thailand: Railay Beach

Railay Beach:

When picking a place to vacation, we wanted to go somewhere we could see some really cool things and also a place where we could just relax.  Our friends recommended Railay Beach to us and it turned out to be the perfect spot.

It was a secluded, our hotel was right on the beach, and we had no plans but to relax.  And we did just that.  We laid around, swam in the ocean and pool, read a few books, got another Thai massage, and took in the absolute beauty of this place. It was heaven and everything we hoped it would be. :)

In getting to Railay Beach, you have to fly into Krabi, then take a shuttle to a beach, where you will get on a boat that will take you to Railay.  This place is only accessible by boat.  The surrounding areas are gorgeous with massive limestone cliffs that are just breathtaking! 

We stayed at Railay Bay Resort & Spa. Our room was beautiful but the cleanliness of the bathroom was a little nasty.  Anyway, it didn't matter too much because we were outside most of the time and the bed was super comfortable.  

As we arrived, we thought we recognized the pool of our resort so we walked in a ways and saw this sign welcoming us in.

The grounds were absolutely beautiful and our room was just a short walk from the beach. 

Our room

Inside

Pathway to our room.

The pool was right off the beach and so as you can imagine, the scenery was just gorgeous! 

I spy, Nate!

The lounge chairs were lined up right at the sand, making this the perfect spot.  And since it was low-season, it wasn't crowded at all and we never had to reserve our chairs.

Railay Beach is just this secluded little place and only about 6 hotels on the beach.  It felt like we had this little place to ourselves.  Like I said: Heaven!

Panoramic from our lounge chairs.

The hotel restaurant was even located right off the sand.

And when it stormed, they brought down the plastic to protect the restaurant.  There was one point we went out to lounge around, and then a huge storm hit. So we went back to our rooms and read books in our robes.  We felt like such a luxurious couple! 

I couldn't get over how beautiful these limestone cliffs were! 

Even the kitties relaxed. We found this little cat on our patio table one morning. :)

One funny story...

We were walking to go grab some food when all of a sudden this thing fell in front of us from the palm tree.  At first we thought it was part of a tree and it was very still, but then I realized it was a snake!  And then out of nowhere, it just shot out straight into the bushes.  I cannot say how glad I am that this thing did not fall on my head! 

The only dinner pic we had.  Blurry, phone pic. :)

Last pic w/ the beautiful cliffs before we had to leave.

And this was the guy who took us back. Just as we arrived at the dock, it started to pour rain, so we made it just in time!

Railay Bay was like a dream and the perfect place to relax. Can we go back?