New Years in July
For those of you who may have been wondering, I haven't really dropped off the face of the earth, it only seems like it! (Though sometimes I wonder myself because Indonesia is pretty much the edge, in more ways than one.)
Yes, the rumors are true that we have a baby girl on the way! We affectionately refer to her as Bug, and if we don't manage to come up with a real name, which is a serious concern at this point, we might call her that for the rest of her life. She is due on the 25th of January. I'll be "moving" to Singapore the day after Christmas to wait out the last 4 weeks or so. (No one will let me get on an airplane after that and if she does decide to arrive a little early, we'll be glad to be there.) Jason will come on weekends until the baby is born and then stay for a few weeks thereafter. Once Bug has a clean bill of health and a passport, probably about a month after she is born, we can bring her home to Jakarta. (For anyone a little rusty on his/her Southeast Asian geography, Singapore is about an hour and a half by plane from Jakarta.)
The good news is that we know a good Constitutional lawyer who will help us convince the Supreme Court that Bug is eligible to be President someday even though she was born abroad.
So, I would propose Singapore for NYE, but it's admittedly not very close to Kansas. Dan is correct, that I've secretly been scheming to move our New Year's Eve tradition to the summer time. For this year, it gives us Greenwalds a fighting chance of being able to attend and will give everyone the chance to meet the several next generation BLDers who are arriving between January and April of 09. Plus, you all saw each other this past June and I know everyone needs a bit longer of a break from Lincoln.
I will follow Dan's orders and begin sorting something out for July - residency, rookie draft and international flight considerations included.
One last poll before I sign off: Do Xingang, China and Jakarta, Indonesia look or sound anything alike on paper? I don't think so either. But somehow all of our worldly possessions got unloaded in Xingang a few weeks ago. Now they must clear Chinese customs before they can continue on their journey to Jakarta. This is only slightly better than if the MSC Lucy had sunk somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Our well-weathered container has been on it's way here in one way or another since we called for it in July. I can't tell you how unprepared we are to bring a baby home in 8 weeks. I'm thinking about going out and buying a box of diapers just so I don't feel completely helpless. Those of you who know me should compliment Jason for managing to stay sane despite living with me through this.
Miss you guys like crazy. This is the hardest time of the year to be so far from home.
7 comments:
Given some of the nicknames already in use in the Nelson family (Muffin, Burn, etc.), I'm not sure Bug is totally out of the realm of possibility.
If it makes you feel any better, Devon calls Jaya "Bug" every once in a while. I prefer Sweet Pea, Punker Doodles, or Pooper Doopers myself, but to each his own. :-)
Here's to a totally safe and uneventful delivery in all the right ways!!
We're looking forward to meeting Bug soon...
So good to hear from you, Amanda! Diapers, a few infant gowns, and a place to sleep and you're good. Babies are much less demanding of stuff than they are of mama those first few weeks.
We picked Caleb's name at the hospital after he was born. Just pack your list of potential names and see which one seems to match her face.
You'll be in our prayers.
Praying for you guys!! Can't wait to meet Bug, Pooper Doopers (?), et al. :)
Amanda,
Joe was named in the O.R. at the insistence of our doctor. Jay's Aunts and Mom were brought home without names, his Aunt Leslie was Baby X for three weeks. I don't recommend that, but you are not alone. The only reason Joe was actually named is that Jay and I were having a stand-off (between Joe and Quatro--JWP IV), the doctor insisted we settle it and Jay gave up when he saw them cut me open...a highly effective negotiating tool, by the by.
If we need someone to volunteer for summer BLD extravaganza, I would like to tentatively volunteer B'ham depending on March 19 (Match day). If I match B'ham for intern year, I would love to have a celebration and I would ABSOLUTELY love the opportunity to show you B'ham...it really is wonderful (trust this transplanted Yankee). Plus, the bonus is that we have three houses at our disposal and my parents live at a resort (with an acutal hotel and awesome pool (with a fake mountain and slide))...
The other nice thing is that we have an "International" airport and if that doesn't work, Atlanta is 2 hours away...which if you're coming from Jakarta may actually work!
Best of luck. I would lose my mind if my stuff were in China. I do have to agree with KM, though...I'm a high maintenance person (very high) and really all you need in the beginning is a boob and diapers...and, frankly, that's about all I could coordinate in the beginning anyway :)
A few thoughts:
(1) Ain't no ham like Birmingham.
(2) It may be the case that you only need so much for baby to be settled in wherever she pops out. After all, the transition from womb to world is so traumatic, that the difference between world(U.S.) and world(Singapaore) seems trivial. All that said, however, I understand where you're coming from in focusing on Singapore (though I don't know where your things have been, as I've never heard of Xingang).
(3) January 25 is a great birthday.
(4) If you do not have a name picked out, then do not say that you do when the nurses ask in the delivery room as the video camera is running and you bluff your way into naming a child on the spot. (I know of what I speak, and someday, too, will Christian, when he watches the video. Poor guy. He'll get over it. And Christian is a fine name anyhow.)
So sorry to hear about your things, Amanda! I'll pray they find you soon!
I must say that Birmingham would work well for us, although something more central (driveable from Ohio) would also work well. My in-laws live less than an hour from Birmingham.
Hi, Amanda. And you thought coordinating a game of BLD Taboo was complicated.
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