What, you can't see the family resemblance?
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Baby's First Christmas
You'll find this a marked improvement over our first (exhausted) family picture!Sunday, December 17, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Lead Up to an Eruption
Lest you all think his life is a bed of roses, we present to you a developing tragedy in the life of Joseph ThoutenhoofdSunday, December 03, 2006
Getting Chubby!
Ami thinks Joseph has inherited a dimple from me. Should come in handy for his dream of Korean-Canadian Cabbage Patch doll modeling!Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Back to Normal
Ami and Joseph at Joseph's first visit to grandma and grandpa's house. It is so good to have my healthy and happy wife back, in addition to having a healthy baby. Praise God for his goodness to us!
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Like Father, Like Son
At this point Joseph seems to have inherited many traits from his mom, but there is one obvious way he is like daddy...Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
The Adventures of Ami, Chris and Joseph
Ami's asked me to be the one to do the recounting of the story of Joseph's birth. Obviously that limits the perspective somewhat, as I can only say what's was going through my head, but I'll do my best to give you all a sense of the experience. (Hey, just be thankful we don't have a video.)
We were scheduled to have Ami induced the morning of the 9th, but Joseph had already started on his way the day before. The nurses advised us not to come in until the contractions were at least 3-4 minutes apart, so we arrived 4am on the 9th. Let me tell ya, besides the act of actually giving birth, there are few more painful experiences than watching your wife go through birth. She was a trooper though. Her older sister had told her not to waste energy screaming, so being the tough woman and obedient little sister that she is, she barely made a sound the whole time. She wanted to do this naturally, but even when she did take some stuff for pain all it did was make her unable to keep track of what was going on. The contractions kept coming closer and closer together and with greater intensity. There was a little graph there to let me know just how intense they were and you just wish you could take it away. I didn't go to the washroom for about 10 hours because was terrified of leaving her alone with this. In addition to this she was having chills and throwing up from what we mistakenly thought was the flu. Even in the midst of all this Ami was giving me advice. When I was eating my meal she reminded me to wash my hands etc.
After fifteen hours though, the doctors and nurses came to the conclusion that the baby wasn't going to fit through. They were trying to make the choice whether to do an epidural to allow Ami to relax so the baby could come through or go straight to a C-section. Unfortunately for both of these procedures a person needs an anesthesiologist and in the wonderful world of Canadian medicine they have declared that after 5 in the evening there is to be only of those on call. That guy was already in the midst of another surgery, so they told us that Ami had the privilege of going through an hour of useless contractions until he came. In the meantime, unbeknown to me, that little electronic chart that was graphing the contractions was turned off at the exact moment that Ami was going through a contraction, leaving me with impression that she was in a state of constant contraction and I was silently freaking out. He came earlier than an hour, but by the time the anesthesiologist came the baby's heart rate was occasionally dipping, so a C-section was the only option. Both Ami and I were a wreck by this point, having not slept for about 30-35 hours, but Ami came through the surgery well, and after a little recovery time, we were presented with our beautiful baby boy.
Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. After two or three days of recovery from the surgery the doctor felt Ami was okay to go home and took her off the antibiotics she had been on for her "flu." A few hours before we were due to check out Ami got seriously sick, prompting the doctors to do a few more checks. It turned out that what she had was not the flu, but a uterus infection. So as result we had to stay in the hospital five more days while the doctors tried different kinds of antibiotics to battle her infection. We were finally able to come home Friday afternoon.
In the midst of all this Ami and the Joseph were awesome. Ami was very strong emotionally after the C-section and Joseph was as perfect and healthy a little baby as we could ever wish for. He recovered amazingly well, given he had gone though such a traumatic experience. We were also able to take advantage of being in the hospital that long, pestering the nurses with questions about what to do in this or that situation and, I'm sure, making the nurses very happy to see the back of us. Ami actually said she was happy to finally get her money's worth from the all the money she's been putting into the BC Medical system in the form of insurance premiums. :) I can't speak for Ami, but for me that was an intensive training course in learning to both take responsibility for my family and also trust God for their ultimate welfare. Both were extremely valuable lessons for me and I pray I learned them well.
We were scheduled to have Ami induced the morning of the 9th, but Joseph had already started on his way the day before. The nurses advised us not to come in until the contractions were at least 3-4 minutes apart, so we arrived 4am on the 9th. Let me tell ya, besides the act of actually giving birth, there are few more painful experiences than watching your wife go through birth. She was a trooper though. Her older sister had told her not to waste energy screaming, so being the tough woman and obedient little sister that she is, she barely made a sound the whole time. She wanted to do this naturally, but even when she did take some stuff for pain all it did was make her unable to keep track of what was going on. The contractions kept coming closer and closer together and with greater intensity. There was a little graph there to let me know just how intense they were and you just wish you could take it away. I didn't go to the washroom for about 10 hours because was terrified of leaving her alone with this. In addition to this she was having chills and throwing up from what we mistakenly thought was the flu. Even in the midst of all this Ami was giving me advice. When I was eating my meal she reminded me to wash my hands etc.
After fifteen hours though, the doctors and nurses came to the conclusion that the baby wasn't going to fit through. They were trying to make the choice whether to do an epidural to allow Ami to relax so the baby could come through or go straight to a C-section. Unfortunately for both of these procedures a person needs an anesthesiologist and in the wonderful world of Canadian medicine they have declared that after 5 in the evening there is to be only of those on call. That guy was already in the midst of another surgery, so they told us that Ami had the privilege of going through an hour of useless contractions until he came. In the meantime, unbeknown to me, that little electronic chart that was graphing the contractions was turned off at the exact moment that Ami was going through a contraction, leaving me with impression that she was in a state of constant contraction and I was silently freaking out. He came earlier than an hour, but by the time the anesthesiologist came the baby's heart rate was occasionally dipping, so a C-section was the only option. Both Ami and I were a wreck by this point, having not slept for about 30-35 hours, but Ami came through the surgery well, and after a little recovery time, we were presented with our beautiful baby boy.
Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. After two or three days of recovery from the surgery the doctor felt Ami was okay to go home and took her off the antibiotics she had been on for her "flu." A few hours before we were due to check out Ami got seriously sick, prompting the doctors to do a few more checks. It turned out that what she had was not the flu, but a uterus infection. So as result we had to stay in the hospital five more days while the doctors tried different kinds of antibiotics to battle her infection. We were finally able to come home Friday afternoon.
In the midst of all this Ami and the Joseph were awesome. Ami was very strong emotionally after the C-section and Joseph was as perfect and healthy a little baby as we could ever wish for. He recovered amazingly well, given he had gone though such a traumatic experience. We were also able to take advantage of being in the hospital that long, pestering the nurses with questions about what to do in this or that situation and, I'm sure, making the nurses very happy to see the back of us. Ami actually said she was happy to finally get her money's worth from the all the money she's been putting into the BC Medical system in the form of insurance premiums. :) I can't speak for Ami, but for me that was an intensive training course in learning to both take responsibility for my family and also trust God for their ultimate welfare. Both were extremely valuable lessons for me and I pray I learned them well.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Going Home!
Finally, after nine anxious and exhausting days our newest addition is able to come home. Both baby and mom are healthy, though perhaps with a bit more recovery to go. Thank you all for your prayers!
First Family Photo
This is the very first picture of the newest Thoutenhoofd family and its newest addition. Joseph is doing his best impression of one of those Russian dolls!
With grandma & grandpa
Grandma and Grandpa Thoutenhoofd have been waiting a long time to have a grandchild close in near proximy. For the next few years at least, they should be able to see this one as much as their little hearts desire!
Welcome to the World: Joseph Hyun Thoutenhoofd
Nov. 9, 2006This is about what he looked like when he first came out. Fifteen hours of trying to push through a small opening gave him quite the little cone head! And here are what his absolutely exhausted parents looked like!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
2nd Anniversary!
We decided the best place to come to celebrate our second year of marriage was the site of one of our first dates, Westminster Abbey in Mission. It is truly beautiful there in the Fall and we enjoyed sharing this place with Ami's mom, sister-in-law and niece. It was a really nice day! (Incidently, Oct 30 was also the baby's due date, but apparently it's going to be a little late! Any day now! Keep checking here!)
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Happy Little Princess
Meet Na El, our only neice on either side of the family!She'll be staying with us for a few weeks, along with her mom,
Ami's brother's wife. Should be good practice! Ami's mom will be
with us for the next two months to help Ami.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Gifts from Auntie Courtney
Long Distance Baby Shower sponsored by Courtney!Thank you very much, Courtney! It was more than I expected!
Only a month to go~~
Friday, September 01, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Annual Sunburn and Treatment
Koreans have a tried and true method for treating sunburnt skin - sliced potatoes or cucumbers! They're supposed to draw the heat out of the skin and into the potato. I had to lie still for 30 minutes but it was worth it. It worked!
Meeting with a Canadian friend in Korea
We had some fun with Dani's family on Wednesday. They came to Busan and took us to Beomeosa Temple (one of the biggest and oldest temples in Korea). And we had another experience of eating live creatures. In this case eels that were alive a second before we ate them.
Busan Aquarium
It's been a long time since we've been to an aquarium, but this was worth coming to. A lot of wierd and interesting creatures.
Busan
This is the view of Busan city from above. Busan is like a sea of humanity that washes over everything leaving just a few islands of nature sticking out. You can see the Pacific Ocean in the background.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Life in Korea so far #2
Well we've been quite the tourists this week! Three trips to various nature areas around Busan. We went up to a mountain where we could see the whole city. Man, it's huge! We also went to Tae Jong Dae ( Don't worry mom, the "suicide rock" is blocked off, so no danger:) and to place called Five and Six Islands. I could only see three islands because we were in wrong angle. Really beautiful areas. I had no idea that Korea has so much nature. In reality it's quite tropical. Really, really muggy, but air conditioning is pretty much everywhere, so we only suffer in short spurts.
We've done some more advertising for the children's program, but I think we need a new marketing strategy in terms of my involvement. Having me simply say, "Hello", "Hi" and "How are you doing," to random kids no longer thrills many of them. One thing I did bring away with the experience was my annual sun burn. So, like two years ago, I got the "potatoe slices on the burnt skin treatment" and it really seemed to work this time.
I'm actually cementing a little Korean in my brain now, but its amazing how often my Sudanese words pop into my mind. My brain seems to have this category of "words to be used when you are stuck in a context where you understand nothing." But, tragicly, words like jihanne, dishan and niskana mean little to this context so I may need some new categories.
I'm now done tutoring! Freedom! I really like those little girls but they are absolutely exhausting, so I don't mind a little extra time to relax now. Life continues to go well. It's been good to have this time with few pressures.
We've done some more advertising for the children's program, but I think we need a new marketing strategy in terms of my involvement. Having me simply say, "Hello", "Hi" and "How are you doing," to random kids no longer thrills many of them. One thing I did bring away with the experience was my annual sun burn. So, like two years ago, I got the "potatoe slices on the burnt skin treatment" and it really seemed to work this time.
I'm actually cementing a little Korean in my brain now, but its amazing how often my Sudanese words pop into my mind. My brain seems to have this category of "words to be used when you are stuck in a context where you understand nothing." But, tragicly, words like jihanne, dishan and niskana mean little to this context so I may need some new categories.
I'm now done tutoring! Freedom! I really like those little girls but they are absolutely exhausting, so I don't mind a little extra time to relax now. Life continues to go well. It's been good to have this time with few pressures.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Tae-jong-dae
Ami's parents brought Chris to Ami's favorite place in Busan, Tae-jong-dae. It's truly beautiful area on the Korean coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. You can see dinosaurs' footprints in the rock.
My First Typoon
We had quite a torrential downpour yesterday. Enough so that it actually started leaking through the windows. It was quite a sight!
Chris and the Munchkins
This past Sunday I helped out with the Sunday School class at Ami's dad's church. On the left is me doing a lesson on the armor of God (with my perfect drawing? :) I had about 5 seconds warning that I suppose to do this, so I did my best! (ps. Ami's comment: He was perfect though!). On the right is me playing "Simon says". The kids seemed enjoy it, so I had to keep going and going.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Korean Nephews
These are our incredibly active nephews Bon and Joon. They've gone to Israel now, so life is both more peaceful and a little less interesting.
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