week 40 – and now, we w a i t . . .

we were told first-time moms usually deliver before their due date… well, i guess that’s not us.
so now we just wait and viv will do some jumping jacks…

week 39+ reflections…

we were hoping we would have enough time to take a few more pics before our daughter arrived, so we headed off to some picturesque seattle locales.
and the above pic is by FAR my favorite of the pics we took, as the weight of carrying a human life (literally) inside of you is worn clearly on viv’s face. 🙂
through the day, she was (and continues to be) an AWESOME sport! i learn so much from her on how to enjoy the journey of life (not only arriving at self-designated checkpoints) and i look forward growing old and decrepit together with her.
anyway, if you don’t see or hear from us for a bit, “K.I.T.“, “have a great summer” and “stay cool and don’t change for anyone“.  class of 2010 ROCKS!  😉

FYI: useful tip #27 for a pregnant belly:

worship setlist @ NCC – 2010.04.25…

this is a week late in posting… but last sunday was asked by my bro (the person who introduced all things ‘worship leading’ to me) to help him out at his church. since april seemed to have been the  month of worship and him being family, i accepted. actually, vivien + i accepted. she helped out with vocals and i helped out on the drums.
another brutally early morning to arise and practice…
a “songs from song” family kind of sunday.
thanks to northwest community church (ncc) for allowing us to worship alongside them + to the elder “song” family for the fun times after!
time to enjoy sleeping in again in the month of may!  😉

===========================================
prelude:

• hosanna (praise is rising) [key of G] by brenton brown & paul baloche

opening set:

• You’re worthy of my praise [key of G] by david ruis
• awesome is the Lord most high [key of E] by cary pierce, chris tomlin, jesse reeves & jon abel
• revelation song [key of E] by jennie lee riddle

– hiya hiya (cast your burden) [key of E] by isaac g.w. balinda

drumroll please! the sex of our baby is…

"just a few more months 'til i meet you world!"

according to the ultrasound technician, and our baby being 22+ weeks along (2nd trimester) she’s 90+% sure it’s

merry Christmas (from “down under)…

though viv + i have had an amazing opportunity to share a Christmas breakfast in new zealand and a Christmas dinner in australia, we’re also reminded how much we miss our family + friends!
wishing all a merry Christmas + kick-A 2010!
and for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video (my bro recorded/sent) of my niece killing “hapy birthday, Jesus“!
i almost cried watching this… she’s going to be famous!  🙂

wasting resources…?

[*this was to be posted last week, but discovered that wordpress + twitter were still being unreachable while in china.]

viv and i got a chance to vist union church this past sunday (an english-speaking church where we attend whenever we’re in hk). it was a good sunday for us to be there. much was heard and digested (spiritually and physically) and still gestating in me (mainly the spiritual things now).
being away from seattle/home and our normal day-to-day routines we’ve sort of lost track of time… we’re no longer looking at clocks, outlook calendars, etc. and it’s weird but equally good for our soul! we find ourselves unsure of the day of the week or even the time of the month. that’s why it was both serendipitous and a bit sad when the welcoming pastor announced a thanksgiving feast/meal after service.
thanksgiving time already?!?!
has that much time passed?
my stomach was like: turkey, cranberries, sweet potato and pumpkin pie… YES!

BUT… it also meant the first time i’d be away from my immediate/extended family for the holidays and our time abroad will be coming to a close soon… 😦

welcome, baby sophie yae-eun ramborger…

i can see it already... daddy's little girl! 🙂

dob: 10/23/2009 (post is delayed b/c i was in nepal…)
time: 09:04pm
weight: 8lbs 1.7oz
height: 19.5in (will probably be super tall, look at her dad)
to: proud 1st time parents… papa jim + mama esther

can’t wait to see you when we return!
love,
auntie viv + uncle george

farewell party + cousins gathering…

hard to believe 2 mos have passed since i last posted anything. i think i’ll resolve to write more and not care how polished my entries are  (not like they were stellar to begin with) since many things have happened. i’ll write out of order and post some things from may and june.
besides, i’d rather capture things when they happen, so i can look back at all the amazing blessings i have been given in my life and give thanks to the One who deserves.

back to this post, though it always seems a logistical challenge to get everyone together, it’s great when the cousins are finally able to gather and share in meal/fellowship. last week we celebrated a few things:

• my birthday
• tony’s upcoming birthday
• esther + jim’s pregnancy
• tony’s work assignment in new york

and seeing this cousins portrait, i laughted for about a good 5 minutes and as i looked in amazement at how tall jim really was!
as you can see from this picture, he’s so tall that tyler could do nothing else but crawl into a fetal position and look away cause he couldn’t take it anymore.  i don’t blame the little guy…  maybe i should submit this picture to http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com! 🙂

cousins family photo

anyway, though it happen too infrequently, i enjoy family  get togethers.  looking at how much every one has grown makes me get all nostalgic and wandering down memory lane… (continue on if you want to hear me gush AND to see jim’s face).

welcome, lil’ ian park… KEEP FIGHTING!

 

my cousin sung tae and his wife, sara welcomed into this world their first child, ian park…

now, let me go back a bit.  my life seems filled with many people who have kid(s), others who are expecting, and those trying to have kids.  kids convey such a sense of hope, innocence, goodness (not all the time, i know!).  there’s a couple at our church who recently had a scare and they thought they were going to have to deliver 5+ mos. into the pregnancy.  praise God, the baby is okay, safe and still inside.  mom’s doing good too!

back to my cousin and his wife.  saw them over the thanksgiving holiday and several of cousins were trying to guess the expected birth weight for ian when he would arrive next year.  i guessed 7lb. 6oz.

then, just like that… got a call from my cousin telling me i was way off of the real birth weight.