You Farted!!!!

"You Farted!"

That is Sarah's favorite thing to say right now. Taylor has been going crazy with his "woopy cushion" he got last year and they think it is the funniest thing. Taylor loves to sneak up on her with it and she does a great big belly laugh as she says "you farted" and runs away. She is realy picking up the English as you can tell!

Taylor is sick. Fever, coughing, tight chest. We have been doing breathing treatments with him and I sure hope it wont turn to pneumonia again this time. He is being a trooper but having problemss at night. Speaking of that it's midnight and as I was typing Taylor came out unable to complete a sentance. Ok another treatment.

We'll have a great week. Thank you for your prayers. Sarah is realy adjusting well and I am so thankful the Lord prepared her for this. That was my fervet prayer for her before we went to bring her home. She loves the family and is great with other people. No stranger anxiety yet but maybe it will come later a little dose of it would help me feel better about her being safe. Ok got to go make sure Taylor is getting his treatment all right. -Becky

Back to work!

Back into the grove of things (or trying to get there!)

Thad has been back to work for 2 days now! He said it felt like he was never gone. I think the early wake up isn't great in his mind but I think he enjoys knowing that he is doing what he is called to do. I think him being at work is helping me to just get a routine down and start to think about helping the kids with "kid stuff".

Sarah is a little helper. She tells Sydney (the dog) what to do all the time. Normal for a youngest child who gets told what to do by everyone. Poor girl needs/wants some control and someone to boss. She is a great helper. She knows that when mom is cooking dinner it is her time to empty the dishwasher. She loves me tying her little apron on her. She tells me, in Chinese, about the things she is unloading. It is a very animated conversation and sometimes she will just turn to look at me like "mom don't you get it" I say, "yes Sarah oh yeah that's right" and she starts it all over again: putting dishes away and talking up a storm. I have to remind myself daily that she has only been home a month and 1/2.

Taylor is getting better and joking with Sarah with her mocking. It drives him nuts that she says everything that he says. So we have started trying to give him phrases that make him laugh when she says it back. Do you have any good phrases for him; I'm running out of ideas!

We went to the beach for 4 days. It was hard to be gone from home after felling like we just got home but it was good for the kids. They slept in the same queen bed and did it really well. They would go to bed together and wake up in good moods; what a blessing. They both loved the pool and we made it a daily affair. One day we went twice. Both of them love the water and really like to horse around. Taylor is a great swimmer.

Taylor and I started reading "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" book from the Narnia books. It's his first chapter book and he is doing well at listening to the story and asking questions. Thad's cousin Jessie let us borrow it and it's been fun. I didn't realize he would sit to listen like this yet.

Well I better get to bed. Please keep our niece Abby in your prayers. She is almost 18 months old and having cognitive and motor skill issues. There have been lots of tests and even a muscle biopsy but we still don't know the cause of everything. She may now be having seizures we don't know yet. She is just the sweetest thing and is such a content little girl. Please keep their family in your prayers. They have been through this with their little one and so much more.

Have a great week -Becky

Oh what a week (or 2) can do!

Hello from the Routsons
SO we have been home for over 2 weeks and it seems we have been home for a month! Sarah is doing great but still adjusting. She is trying more and more with the English. She picks up the silly words or phrases the fastest. Oh and she is like a parrot, she copies every word if she is interested.

She is so outgoing and so full of life. She wakes up with a smile on her face and a big hug for mom or dad. We went to a birthday party for a little girl her age this week and that was the quietest I have seen her. I knew it would be good for her but it was hard to see her back in her shell. She now recognizes the little girls and tries to give them hugs when she sees them. She went to Cubbies (Wed. night church activities) and said the verse this week (with some help) candy is a good incentive too. She likes being in the room with the kids and playing. It's great since it is the room she will play in for the different activities we do at church. Taylor and her are in the same class too so that is fun to see.

I almost forgot she has Dr appointments on Feb 1st and March 3rd. March 3rd is in Portland and will be an all day affair! This will be a good appointment with the cleft lip and palate team at OHSU.

Taylor is doing good in school. It is crazy how having a little sister is inspiring him to reach to achieve more. He reminds me when he makes a choice not to whine or do something only "little kids" do. Oh we still have lots of those "little kids" moments but it is joy for a moms heart to hear: "I took a deep breath mom and just did it". Sarah sleeps late and Taylor asks every morning about 10 times if he can get her up yet.

I took Taylor to a Dr in White Salmon today to talk about his asthma and food allergies. It was good for him to hear that he needed to eat better and stay away from certain things that are bad for his body (cat, milk, etc). Tonight at dinner her took all the fruits and veggies out of the drawer and said in a matter of fact way, "Mom, this is what we should have for dinner". I loved it! He still didn't gobble up the carrots but he did eat them. Dad and him talked about no more candy, pop and some other things that his body is just not doing well with. Thanks Dad!

Thad is working on the main bathroom. He is busy and he likes to be "at work" with something. I'm thankful that he likes to do the remodel stuff (like me). This project has been fun for the both of us and is the last BIG project we PLAN to do. (ok we still need to paint the house too).

Hope you have a great week and I will try to keep things up to date.

6 days home of "work". The 7th is the day of rest right?

6 days home!

It feels like it has been longer. Maybe it's because life has been full these 6 days.

Friday: home. unpack. Dinner at Canton Wok to see auntie Kelly. Aunt "I E" in Chinese.

Saturday: finish unpacking. Turned pictures in to develop. Grocery shopping with the 4 of us; ran into lots of people. Went to Kelly's to pick up food for Sarah.

Sunday: Thought we would go to church; nope not enough sleep. Talked to family and friends. Took Taylor to Mc D's just him and me. Had Bob and Jessie over for dinner.

Monday: (big day) went to the great grandparents Taylor's (saw Corin and Neils (cousins) and kids; went to Parkdale to see Thad's mom, dad, and other great grandma and grandpa. Played in the snow. Home to my family (mom, dad, sister Ida and their family) at our house for New Years. Stayed up way to late and couldn't sleep until 4:30 or 5 but got to sleep in a bit. Did take 2 different sleep meds nothing worked!

Tues: Aunt and uncle took kids to the park for a bit. Everyone left. Went to Kelly's house as a family for dinner. They are Chinese and her parents live with them. Sarah calls them grandma and grandpa.

Wed: Taylor went to school. Took down "Christmas". Taylor, Sarah and I went to Awanas at church and I hung out with Sarah there. Sarah said her verse at the end of class! (with help of course). Sarah met 2 girls her own age.

Tomorrow Thad and Taylor are going bird hunting.. Taylor is so excited he has been talking about it all evening. Thanks to the Marksman's for letting the boys have some boy time on your property! Sarah and I will hang out at home. Knowing her she will have me reorganizing her room!

Sarah is specific about how to do things; I love it so far. She has been such a good goofy girl. She loves to dance and be tickled. She loves to yell back at people when they say something loud to her; she thinks it's funny and laughs allot. She is out going; maybe too much sometimes?

Taylor seems to have gotten used to her so quick and he seems spurred on to not let her show him up on some things: getting dressed, bath time clean up etc. (some things not). He is doing better with not so much acting out. I think we are trying more to share the praise with both of them. They love to kiss good night and tonight Taylor started talking about how he was not marrying mommy when he got big but how he would marry Sarah.

She will be the firecracker and he will be the sensitive one I think for now.

Hope you all had a great New Year! We are so thankful that she/we are home. -Becky

Time to make Dr appointments and get a US passport to make everything real official.

We are home and Sarah is a US citizen!

Hi there everyone!
We are home and it is 3am! We just had breakfast. We tried to get the kids to sleep but after trying from midnight to 3am we finally gave it up and just decided that they will stay up all day again today and try to figure out this day night thing. At midnight here it was 4pm there. It is 7pm in China now.

The flights went good. The flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo was 4hrs and packed but the flight from Tokyo to Portland was pretty empty and we claimed 2 rows so that the kids could sleep. Taylor slept 3hrs and Sarah on 1 1/2 (too much noise). Boy it was nice to have all that room, thank you Lord!

Sarah was overwhelmed at first. She rubs her feet together when she is having a hard time. She did good on the 1 1/2 hr ride home. She fell asleep about 30minutes in to it (so did Taylor). She doesn't like Sydney (dog) yet and tries to hit Sydney and Hunter (cat) and yells at them. She was really excited when she saw the snow! She squealed for a couple minutes about it. We took her on a tour and she knows where everything is and is starting to get comfortable with where things are. She did not want to sleep in her room and nap but she slept in her bed for a couple hrs this evening (with me). I'm glad we took a couple toys from here; I think they are her comfort toys here.

She is not sure what to think about all the new people. We went to Chinese to see our friend Kelly and also because I didn't want to cook. Sarah held tight and didn't want to look at anyone. We had to go to the store for groceries and she finally got down then and ran around a bit. The language should be the hard part. I am going to really try to get Taylor involved in that one to teach her. We have Dr appointments to make and several other things to do. Lets hope the time change thing happens soon. Sarah has those spots on her tongue again. Taylor and I don't feel that well. He has a cough and a sore throat and I have a sore throat and some body aches. All is well we are home and we made it through China without health issues! Thank you Lord!

OK I think we are going to try the bed thing again soon. Lets hope it works. Have a great day. -Becky

Merry Christmas!

Hi everyone!

It is Christmas here so Merry Christmas! We don't feel like it is Christmas though. I think it is because we wold rather be with you all. they do decorate here and it's funny that the Chinese people come to the hotel to take pictures because it is decorated. The restaurants were so busy last night that we couldn't get dinner! the TV had Christmas songs on and they even left in "Christ the Lord" that has been nice. Every devotion of mine has been about contentment and enjoying the blessings of struggle; can you tell that I needed it.

Here are things we are glad we brought or wish we would have. When I get back I'll add this to our elements and update it as I think of new things!
1) Little detergent packets. We washed 1/2 a load and that was 36 dollars US!
2) love the picnic stuff we brought for her to play with.
3) DVD player with TV attachment the kids and us love to watch movies that we like.
4) WISH I HAD BROUGHT MY OWN LAPTOP!!!

OK got to go. Merry Christmas- Becky

Yeah I am getting another chance to blog via our friends computer. It is about 15 dollars for 20minutes with the hotel computer. So thanks to the Mears for letting me invade their room to write to you!

So today was a good day. We went to Shaman (spelling?) island today and shopped. We went to the White Swan Hotel and took red couch pictures. The kids did farly well with no naps. It was just nice to get out and walk around and hang out with a few adults. We also had fun going to eat at Lucy's and I found spaghetti here! I have had as much slimy chicken with the head attached as I can handle right now and although we brought about 30 snack bars we are running short already.

Sarah is doing well. You can pray she sleeps better tonight. The last 3 nights she has been waking up for 1-2 hours crying; it's hard to figure out what she needs last night it was socks, a drink, and she didn't like her pull up. She calls us mama and baba (Chinese mom and dad). She talks very soft so it's hard to understand her. She says hi and bye very well and is learning thank you. She loves to color and play with the kitchen stuff that I brought with me. Taylor and Sarah play picnic. Taylor has been a great big brother for the most part. the only times that are hard are when he wants to touch her and hug her; she doesn't like him to touch her.

Sarah seems healthy. Her tounge was gross when we got here. Even the pediatrican that is in the group said she didn't know what it was. It was yellow and white and bumpy. It didn't look or smell like yeast but it was gross. She had bumps on her arms and ears that she would scratch and everything is better and almost gone. She weighed 24-25lbs per the scale here. Her 2t and 3t pants fall to the ground. I found some pants here that have drawstrings that fit. Kim, that blue flower dress that is a small 2t fits her! I alomost didn't bring it because it was so small. She is tall though. Everyone here says she is tall for a southern Chinese girl.

Thad and I are trying to not count the days to come home. It's ruff being here with 2 toddlers. We feel blessed that Sarah is doing so well. Oh here is a funny one. Everyone says to layer the kids. This is their winter. So we keep Sarah in long sleeves. Taylor loves the pool. It's 70 degrees and feels really cold. It takes me 10 minutes to get in. So I got in with Taylor and Sarah wanted in. I thought she would freak out but she loved it! The Chinese people got mad at us I think but she loved it I hated to her her cry that she wanted in and not let her try. She laughed so hard when we put her in. She even snorted!

So tomorrow is a paper work day again. Monday is Sarah's health inspection. Tues is Christmas and we don't know what we will do. Maybe I will have another break down cry day ( the first one was yesterday) just home sick! Wed we have consulate appointments and Thurs is our swearing in ceremony. Friday we come home! can you tell I am excited to come home?
Not sure what else to write. I have to get going since I left Thad alone with the kids in the hotel room. I'll post some pictures too.
See you in a week. -Becky