Love from Jeon Ha Church...

Our new church here in Ulsan, Jeon Ha English Worship wanted to love on us in a special way during this time and throw us a baby shower.  Since we have only been here a couple of weeks we were very touched and blessed by the gesture but asked for no gifts.  I did say that it would be really kind if everyone wrote a prayer for Asher on an index card so we could use them to pray over Asher when he arrives.  My dear friends back in Texas did this for us when Pierce was born and I still remember countless sleepless nights as I would rock him to sleep or try to get him settled and I would grab the cards and read them over him and I am so excited that we get to do this for Asher as well.

Here is our gang... during the fellowship time at church (aka Baby shower)... we even had a delicious really cute cake.

This next picture is all I got of the pastor (who is on the left) and Karen (the hostess)

 

 

The Jeon Ha English Worship Gang...a great group of people and so very kind.

 

 

Pierce and his buddy JC enjoying some cake.

We had said no gifts... but they did not listen... we are truly blessed.... and do you see all the prayer cards... can't wait to pray them over Asher.  Thank you Jeon Ha Church for everything and your special way of loving on us during this time and really helping us transition here in Ulsan, Korea.

 

1st Hash...

Have you ever heard of the Hash Harriers?  Well I had not until my sweet husband sent me this email and said we needed to check this out.  A family outing with hiking, fun, drinking and BBQ afterwards. We got the invite to the 630th hike, the Hash House Harriers of Ulsan was established in 1988 and there have been a lot of hikes since then... we are excited to join the group.

We showed up and there were t-shirts to wear and as soon as we all got changed we got in our cars to find the destination.  The first picture is the start of the hike with the whole gang.  They make it a lot of fun during the hike, they use flour to mark the trail and there are different symbols along the way like short cut, wrong way, dead end, runners, walkers, etc.

This group meets every 2 weeks and we missed the last one but I hear I would have died so it was a good one to miss.

Here we are at a pit stop along the way... we can make this...

Pierce did a great job but was a little tired here... his legs were working over time but he was excited to be with the big boys... and everytime you spot flour along the path you are to yell "ON ON" to inform people behind you that we are on the right trail... Pierce loved to do this.

A view at the top...

We made it... all the way... the very end Pierce and I took the short cut and daddy took the long way (hence his sweat)... it was a great first hash.... and if we do two more we get Hash Names... that should be interesting... 

The Hash's are world wide I hear... if you are interested you should google them in your area to see if you find anything... a lot of fun and great people... and our first one the food was outstanding... homemade burgers (even veggie burgers).

34 Weeks... almost there!

Age: 34 Weeks

Size: Cantaloupe

Gender:  Boy

Name:  Asher John Denton

Mom's Cravings: Well at 30 weeks I reported I could not get enough spice... well now I have some acid reflux going on so I need to stay away from the spice... but I sure am craving ice/popsicles... anything cold and crunchy.

Changes:  The biggest change is the size of me and baby.  Asher is growing so well that at our 32 weeks scan (see pics below) he was measuring 34 weeks in the head and belly and 32 weeks in the thigh.  The Doctor told me that she had her baby last year at the size that Asher is at 32 weeks... She told me that I need to start walking an hour a day to get ready for this big baby.

Pierce's comments: Pierce had many exciting dates coming up on the calendar (and Asher's arrival being one) so we made a chain with blue and green paper and on these special days we used RED with a drawing on the link of what was happening.  Our special days include(d) 1)  Daddy's back home, 2)  End of School/Summer Begins, 3) ViVi and GD arrival, and 4) Asher's Arrival... we tear off a chain everyday with much anticipation to get to those red links... so fun.

Movement: Yes tons... and there are many hours in the day where I am totally out of breath... his feet must be in my lungs bc I can not seem to catch my breath or get comfortable (and we have one more month to go).  I asked the doctor about this and she said it was totally normal (with a smile).

Sweet Moment #1:  Asher has his first official nickname and here is the story on how he got his nickname.  Pierce has a new friend here in Korea with the last name Caver and Pierce loves Capers so much that he has to put them on practically every food.  Since this love exist he really thinks his friends last name is Caper and not Caver.  One day Pierce told me that we should name Asher, Caper.  Then I said he already has a name and it is Asher.  Then we discussed turning his middle name into Caper and since that would not work Pierce suggested that we call him Caper as a nickname... and within 10 min. Asher went from Asher to Caper to Little Caper... so now in our house we refer to Asher as Little Caper and everyone smiles when we say it... So glad that Pierce got to nickname his little brother.

Sweet Moment #2:  When we got all our stuff from Houston which consisted of all of Pierce's old baby stuff... we sure had a lot of fun going through everything, sorting, cleaning and organizing.  Pierce would find something that he remembered and with a sweet voice say "I will let Asher borrow this and play with it".  I would then show him some of his old clothes and we all just smile when we think about our new addition that is coming and how small he will be compared to our big 5 year old.

Date of Arrival:  August 4th 2012 (we know have an official date and all the doctors and rooms are booked)... we are ready!

Here are some more cute pics...

Our little one... all squished up but healthy.  I love this first picture bc if you read the stats... it shows that he is measuring on average at 34 weeks (and he was only 32 weeks).

 

Here are a bunch of hands, arms and knees all balled up... he looks cozy.

 

First cookout in Ulsan with friends...

We had our first cook-out here in Ulsan with new friends and it was so much fun.  The previous weekend there was a yard sale at the compound and there are a lot of people leaving so there were a lot of good finds... and here is one.  I had wanted one of these kid bike attachments in Singapore but they were too expensive so we never got one and we never really had the space to ride like we do now.  I had always thought this would be the perfect contraption for Pierce... and it has been a huge hit for our whole family... I think daddy likes it just as much.  Pierce can now stay up with us while riding bikes and can even take a break on the long rides.  So daddy had the great idea to bike to the cookout... I can't bike right now so I took the car.  Here are my boys ready for their ride.

We all finally made it to the compound safe and sound and the kids were off playing, the men were cooking and the ladies were chatting...and it was a bit chilly see all the pants and later we brought out the jackets.

Pierce of course found a gun that belonged to one of the big boys... 

 

Here are some of our new friends... they are all so sweet.... this by the way is a terrible SIDE pic of me and Blake was squatting when taking the pic (which is never that flattering) but I wanted you to see our new girl friends...

Annie's got a gun...

Pierce playing ball with the kids... but he kind of blends into the brick behind him.

Pierce after a couple of hours of playing wanted to go for another spin... so they took a joy ride around the block.

 

 

 

 

We have since then taken the bikes to the river and the boys rode for an hour and I walked... so much fun and good purchase for sure. 

Our new home...final stage!

Ok you have seen our new home in 2 different stages 1)  Our walk through and 2) When we first got here with tons of boxes... now take a look after all the shipments, unpacking, sweat, lots of love, a sweet handyman, weeks of labor and making our new condo a home.

Hope you enjoy... and there is plenty of room for you... so come and visit... check out the guest room (screaming your name?).

Our family room...
 

 

 

Asher's Room... still needs some love... working on something for the wall... but this room definetly turned out smaller than we thought... but how much room does a baby need?

Master Bedroom... we are so pleased the Indian rug finally made it into the bedroom and not under our dining table... no more sleepless nights wondering if anyone is going to spill something on it
(HE HE HE).  

We really did not have anywhere to put our desk... and it is not ideal to have the desk in the bedroom but with the baby coming and the space... it turned out to the only place we had for it... so it is tucked away in the corner and seems to work fine... we just have to make sure everything is silenced before we turn out the lights... no alarms, bells, whistles, dings and honks please...

 

I have never had a vanity area... and I love it... I love to sit here in the morning and get ready... where has this been my whole life...

 

Prince Pierce's quarters... we brought the blue curtains from Singapore and they worked out great... and they make his room like a caccoon at night just like he likes it.

 

This outdoor (enclosed) space runs the length of Pierce's room and the guest room next door... it is a great place to store more toys and play.  And these buckets you see at the bottom of the picture catch the water drippings from the aircon unit that is run every night... oh the joys... this place was not built to have aircon units so this is how we get around that.

The entrance way...

The guest room... screaming your name....

 

 

 

 

 

This wall is my favorite bc it has tons of storage space... we got it all filled don't worry with all kinds of goodies... Pierce loves going in the gift closet part and seeing what "gift" he needs for the day...

Hope you enjoyed our virtual tour... wish you could be here in person.