PHFR – New Baby Edition

Thursdays come around and I think, “I don’t have any photos for PHFR.”

Today I actually looked at the photos taken this week and it turns out I have plenty.

PRETTY

Flowers from a friend who dropped by to see us just after Dek was born.

The Girl playing in the rain.

HAPPY

Waking up to see these 2 guys snuggled up together.

The girls make breakfast almost every day now. This was French Toast and Aaron’s homemade bacon.

Meet Elvis

We got a dog. I know! A dog and a baby in the same month! But we had already been planning to get one, and when we saw the ad for someone looking for a good home for this little guy Aaron wasn’t going to let the opportunity slide. He’s a purebred Jack Russell Terrier. Aaron’s parents have had one for 13 years now. They are great little dogs, smart, hard working, and they are bred for hunting things that live in holes, like snakes and rats.

Honestly, I’m not an animal person. I grew up around farm people, and animals are functional. They serve a purpose, or you don’t keep them around.  Well, one could argue that here a dog like this is useful. He’ll keep the snake and rodent population down, and be a good alarm system. Plus he’s little, so he won’t eat much.

But the real reason I was even prepared to consider a dog is that Girl there. Some people can take or leave animals. She’s not one of them. That girl needs animals. Something about her connects with them way more deeply than even makes sense to me. She’s the kind of girl who gets on a horse for the first time and I’m told by the trainer that she’s never seen anyone with a more natural seat, she should be riding all the time. (Well, we can’t afford riding lessons, or a horse. Though that’s cheaper here than in the US.)

When she was very little she thought she was a dog, and whenever I wasn’t able to stop her, she ate their food and lapped water out of puddles on the ground just like her Beema’s 3 English Shepherds did. All that to say, I have known, since she was very little, that this day was coming, that we needed to give her an animal to care for. She’s very happy now.

Elvis has been here 2 days. He’s a very good little guy, very eager to learn and easy to train. The Girl has watched all of the very long training videos we have and Elvis has already decided he’s her dog. She went inside to play today, for a little while, and he just sat at the front door waiting for her to come out. (He’s already learned not to whine or bark.) The Boy tried to get him to play fetch, but he just sat and waited for her. I was out hanging laundry and keeping him company, but he sat and waited for her. You should have seen how joyful he was when she came out to play with him.

So now we are dog owners. Goodie.

Just look at him. How could you not be happy around this little guy.

FUNNY

I think he looks like an old man making gang signs in this photo.

Look mommy, the baby hold my hand!

This one makes me laugh every time. Bam Bam is so thrilled to be holding the baby. Dek is so not happy to be held. “Feed me already. This kid doesn’t have anything I need.”

REAL

These bugs like to batter themselves against the windows and doors whenever it rains. It seems their sole purpose it to get inside and then die. If we don’t sweep them up right away then hordes of red ants also come in and carry off their dead carcasses to eat.

This is what real bananas look like. They’re actually quite firm and good under those brown skins though. And much nicer tasting that the bananas in US supermarkets.

The Boy coming out of anesthesia, post op.

The Boy survived surgery. All went well. He’s recovering nicely, even went for a walk around the neighborhood today. It was probably bad timing to have one of my most competent helper children go under the knife a week after giving birth, but it’s kind of Dek’s fault for being 2 whole weeks behind schedule. Let’s just say that I’ve gotten used to having someone who can take out the trash and sweep the floors and get a basic meal together when needed at my beck and call. He’s sitting around reading his kindle, while I sweep after dinner, and I’m just putting the trash bags outside and trying to remember to specifically ask someone else to take them to the street for me. I may have mixed motives for being excited that he’s on the mend and things soon will be able to go back to normal around here.

Aside from waiting for our truck to be fixed, and getting Dek a Thai birth certificate so we can get him his US stuff shortly after, we are almost done with reasons to stay in Chiang Mai. Aaron’s going to try again next week to find us a house in the town we plan to move to. And then we’ll see how long it takes to actually move and set up house on our own. Everything takes longer here, so I refuse to speculate.