Which country am I in?

One of the things about being a missionary and also married to someone from another country is that we have THREE countries in the mix. This can make it a little confusing sometimes when we swap between countries as to where we are and what the cultural do's and dont's are. Right now we are in Australia and yet I feel bad about throwing my toilet paper in the toilet because I think I am still in Mexico! Other things that are different are greetings. Sometimes I actually forget how I'm "supposed" to greet people. In Texas, guys and girls do the side hug thing, in Australia we do the big full on bear hug and sometimes the kiss on the cheek at the same time. In Mexico it's the shake hands and then kiss on the cheek. My grandma caught my brother and sister in law off guard a few years back because she likes to kiss people on the lips. They thought that this was how everyone in Australia greeted people!! HA!

Boy or girl?

What an amazing experience it was to see our baby so clearly on the ultrasound. We were pretty nervous as we knew we would find out if we were having a boy or girl. Brad and I have said all along that we would be happy with either. You should know that all of our doctor visits here are in Spanish and our doctor doesn't know ANY English. So I have been feeling very comfortable with our lady but she didn't have the equipment for us to be able to see everything so she referred us to a guy. We arrived and he was very business like (unlike our usual friendly lady doctor), but he was very professional and I told him we were there to find out what we were having. 30 minutes into the appointment he showed us something down below and I didn't understand the word he said...I looked at Brad and he was nodding his head like he understand and I said in English to Brad "what did he say" and he said "I dont know" so I asked the doctor in Spanish to explain and he said it was just the baby's bladder and it's healthy...it was amazing as we could see all of the fingers, hands, toes, feet - everything. It was such a blessing to be able to see our baby and see him healthy.

After about 45 minutes he finally showed us the information we wanted to know...and he said "and there you have it" and I was like "what is it" and he said "you cant see" and I said "please just tell me"..anyways I think he thought it was a fun game and we went back and forth until finally he said it was a boy. It was a great feeling. Just knowing what we have and being able to talk to HIM and pray for HIM. All along Brad and I have been praying for HIM and when we talk about or to him it's always been a boy. They say the maternal instinct is never wrong (but I'm sure it is) but it was amazing how sure I felt that we were having a little boy from about week 7. Praise God our baby was moving around like crazy and the doctor said he is healthy.

And now some photos.......

Let's make a sheep!

On the last team we did a bible craft from Psalms 23. We traced around their hands and from the hand cut out used cotton balls, glue and ribbon to make little sheep! The children really enjoyed it. We had a table with 8 seats and took 8 children at a time so it would be organised and personal. I think we did the activity 4 or 5 times by the end.

Enjoy!

About to start showing

I'm now 14 weeks pregnant and haven't put on any weight yet. It's a funny feeling going to the scales and hoping that the numbers go up because I want to start showing!! hehe
I starting wearing my first pair of maternity jeans yesterday, mainly just for comfort. I don't understand why people don't wear them all the time, no zipper or buttons to worry about just pull them up and down!! We are going to find out what flavour we are having in 3 weeks and our cot (crib) and pack and play are going to be arriving in 2 weeks. It's all exciting! Also we started our registry and someone already bought something (no idea who). It's www.amazingregistry.com/hewittbub This registry is for people in the States, we have 3 countries involved here so most of the bigger items will be bought here in Mexico or in Australia.


Here's the 12 weeks photo - nothing to show though...

Pregnancy : everyday brings something different

From what I have heard every phase of pregnancy brings with it something new and different. The first week after we found out I was pregnant was so amazing. We did three pregnancy tests just to make sure (all your women who have had babies will know the lines on those things are sooo dim and skinny). Then if that wasn't enough we went down and had a blood test. The joy on both our faces when we opened the envelope and it said "POSITIVO" was something we won't forget. Then we started reading a bunch of stuff and looking online into eating etc. Brad wrote a plan of what I should be eating each day and I had such an appetite and joy I was eating everything and thinking "this is a breeze."

I guess after a week or two the HORMONES started going and then the crazy reaction to smells. The worst smells for me have been cheese, eggs (but I'm allergic to them so that makes sense), smoking, the smell of our dog Luna when she's dirty and the worst one - dirty hand towels and rags in the kitchen. A number of times I have walked into the kitchen and walked straight back out to the bathroom. One side effect I guess is that Brad did all the cooking for a few weeks cause I couldn't stand to be near the kitchen. For a few weeks I ate the most boring foods - rice cakes, vegemite toast, plain pasta, bananas and for some reason I have been craving MILK - which is really strange cause before I was pregnant I would never drink a glass of plain milk.

After that came the phase of crying for no reason and thinking that I was a bad mother already because I was so emotional and crazy over nothing. Luckily that passed relatively quickly and I had a good talk to my sister in law in Australia. Although she tells me those feeling will come back throughout the pregnancy!

I thought most of the morning sickness was over until the last two teams we had we were travelling back late at night and if you have been to Mexico you will have heard of TOPES. These aren't normal speed bumps, in Mexico we put them every 100 metres and they are super giant ones that make your body shake when you go over them (ok slight exaggeration). Anyways baby does NOT like Topes so we pulled the van over and I threw up on the side of the road. Not really the most glamorous pregnancy experience but hey as everyone tells me "I've been there" (people who have kids)...

This week has been another first. My appetite has returned as well as the desire to exercise. Last night I went to my pilates class and I'm going again on Wednesday. It felt great. I'm looking forward to the rest of the pregnancy and all the other "firsts" that are to come!

The news is out

It feels good to have "the news" out there. We are pregnant! Today we are 10 weeks. It has been a fun rollercoaster journey so far. We found out when I was 5 weeks pregnant and the last 5 weeks has felt like an eternity waiting to tell people and some people wondering why I have been sick and then the next day I'm fine and then I'm sick again! ha!

We have decided to go to Australia to have the baby and will leave on Thanksgiving when I'm 7 months pregnant. After we found out we went around to hospitals here and COULD NOT find anyone who spoke English. This was pretty much the deciding factor as even though our Spanish is progressing I didn't fancy having a baby and the Doctor speaking to me and not understanding. I'm also excited about being in Australia over Christmas, New Years and summer!! Also I think it will be amazing to be around my family during this time...AND one of my best friends is due 8 days before me so we have already been talking about all the fun pregnancy stuff together.

Our next Doc's appointment is in 2 weeks so we are excited about that!

Celebrating One Year in Mexico

It's hard to believe that we have been in Mexico for a year. We celebrated by going out to a restaurant called "El Mirador." It was a great night, the restaurant has a really pretty view of the city of Oaxaca and the food was good too!

Standby

Seems like there has been alot happening this past month. Brad and I decided to move and were planning on moving tomorrow. Then the swine flu thing hit and we were told to stay indoors and all government buildings, schools, cinemas etc shutdown for nearly two weeks. It was a crazy time and there was alot of fear around here (and in the world). Anyways Brad and I were sitting around and we decided to move our move forward (seeing as we weren't doing much). We moved a few weeks ago into our OWN place (still renting of course). But...we have our own space and it's a beautiful place. It's about 10 minutes walk to the "base house" (where we used to live). We will now move the Spanish Lending Library (another ministry of Mission to Mexico) there and it will also continue to house our teams.

Last week we flew to Texas to help out with a few things. Brad & I booked separately as I wasn't going to go in the beginning, therefore we were on separate flights from Houston to Corpus. We rang and tried to get my flight changed to his and he only had 40 minutes in Houston and I had 2.5 hours. They told us that wasn't possible and told Brad it would be impossible for him to go through customs, get his bag and check in to his next flight in 40 minutes but the next flight that I was on was sold out.......so anyways we landed in Houston and we ran off the plane all the way to customs...we were the first ones there and there were no queues. We went through customs and I didn't check a bag so the one bag that we shared came out first. We ran upstairs and dropped off our bag and then ran to the gate. We were nearly at the gate with 12 minutes to spare when Brad said "let's just walk" and I said "let's keep going cause I might get on standby." We started running again to the gate and they told us there was a gate change, all the way across the other side and then we would have to walk outside to the plane. She told us to run because we wouldn't make it. So we started running again and Brad just went ahead of me (seeing as it wasn't my flight). He got to the gate with a few minutes to spare and they said there was room for me if I got there in time. I made it and got on standby. No problema hey!

What a birthday

My 28th Birthday went over 3 days and it was my first birthday in Mexico. Saturday we celebrated with friends at a beautiful trout restaurant up in the mountains (only about 30 minutes away) called Linda Vista (which means pretty/nice view). The weather was perfect and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the view and good fellowship. Sunday Brad and I went downtown to a nice Italian restaurant & had a great time. Monday morning I opened all my pressies from Australia & from Brad! Monday arvo our close friends Alma & Ismael and their family dropped by and gave me some beautiful earrings & flowers. Monday night, I thought the b'day was over but at 7:30pm a family from a nearby village came by with ANOTHER cake & beautiful handmade presents!! 8:30pm we enjoyed meatballs for dinner with the family of 6 that was staying with us for a week. The best present I received was the news that my parents are coming to Oaxaca in September!!! How exciting :) Today I am trying to recover from the flu as we gear up for our first intern of the season to arrive - Tammy.

Getting rid of rubbish

Rather than trying to explain exactly how we get rid of our rubbish here in Mexico, we thought we would try and capture it on a short video. Hope you enjoy it. I always love getting rid of rubbish, so do our friends Peter & Teresa. We always say what a good feeling it is when we get rid of it!!

Yesterday at church, Ismael preached on Nehemiah, and how God gave him a desire to rebuild the city walls & also a vision for the work (Neh 4). The job of rebuilding the walls was HUGE and the first thing he needed to do was clear the garbage away. God does not want any 'rubbish' in our lives to separate us from him. Our lives should be built upon the foundation of God, The Rock - not rubbish.

Hope you enjoy this short video - please leave a funny comment :P

P.S. Please note I did not use the word that American's use for rubbish/garbage...

Mexico Adventures

Wow, I really haven't been keeping up with this blog!! My Mum is teaching blogs for her school and I enjoy reading Gini's and Lisa's so I guess I might start writing again (we will see...). Today is Valentine's Day and I woke up to a Reese's chocolate heart with Reese's pieces inside - YUM. It's gone now. Brad also gave me a bunch of flowers. I was VERY impressed that he bought them the day before when I was at school and kept them out the back in water and then suprised me on Valentine's morning. What a hubby :) We have had a relaxing day and am looking forward to going to a charity dinner put on by the missionary children here. They are going to serve us a three course meal!

On another note...I thought I would use this blog to write about random things that happen here in Mexico that most of you wouldn't realise...I'll start by just writing some random things that have happened here in the last 8 months.

1) At around 9pm every night in our quiet street a Mexican man walks with his little cart of corn and yells and the top of his loungs - ELOTTTTTESSSSSSSSS! (corn in Spanish). Even after being here 8 months I still think it's awesome (the yelling) and it brings a smile to my face. Also because back in June when Ben & Becky where here we couldn't figure out what he was saying...and one day Ben walked out and yelled "AHHH AHH eeee" (because that's what it sounded like at the time)...It brought loads of laughter and we still tell alot of people the story. ... One day I will buy some corn from him

2) Pretty much everytime we get in our car to go somewhere there is some sort of road blockage...sometimes it's the teachers striking. This means they just all stand in the middle of the street and block main roads and even access to the aiport and the gvt lead you to back roads. One time we were going to our friend's house, which is only 5 minutes away, and the main road to their house was blocked with a FERRIS WHEEL...there were about 50 people just setting up for that night to have a little fiesta!!



3) On a lighter note, we buy containers of fruit for about 70c...fresh tasty pineapple :) OH YEAHH!


Well that's all for today.