It's been over a month since my last post and this month has been an interesting one to say the least. Well, with so much happening, where do I begin? Hmm . . . how about with the fact that we're going to have another baby! After being late and feeling lousy for a while Kristen thought she might be pregnant and so took a pregnancy test. The test was negative. When taking Trea to see the doctor she asked about it and he said that it's probably just hormones (new environment, stress, etc.). About a week later she wanted to check again so we got yet another pregnancy test (this time the $5 imported from the US model instead of the $1.25 one). This too, had negative results. By this point Kristen is really starting to feel lousy (similar to her morning sickness with Chantrea) and is pretty sure that she's pregnant regardless of the what the tests say. In fact, she asked her mom to send her some medications for morning sickness the before we got a positive test. Anyway, we are excited. Giving birth in a foreign country will be an interesting experience but I know that if anyone can do it Kristen can. I'm really hoping that it's a boy.
I think our house has kind of been the sick ward for the last month. We all had a real nasty cold about five weeks ago. Then nearly two weeks ago Kristen gets throwing up and can't stop and has to go the hospital and get an IV. She spent the night. I did all right with Trea. The next day I start getting a really bad toothache in a tooth that had had a root canal two years ago. Anyway, the toothache was so bad that it kept me up half of the night. This on top of Trea fighting us to go to sleep for two hours. Her sleeping habits went out the window when we all got sick and Kristen and I didn't have the energy to fight her and just let her sleep with us -- BIG MISTAKE. Anyway, after a lot of hassle trying to find a place that can get me in and will actually do something while I'm in pain (apparently it's pretty common practice for dentists to give you an antibiotic and say they can't do anything until the pain goes away) I just get the dang thing pulled for a grand total of $12 (with five days of painkillers and antibiotics). Another root canal would've been about $200 plus another $100 for a new crown and the doctor said that the outcome is questionable so I just went for the extraction. That was a really bad week for us. Kristen was ready to go home. She said she would have if she wasn't so sick and could've handled the flight.
So, when Kristen and Trea first arrived Trea was really attached to both of us but particularly Kristen. Anytime Kristen left the room she would cry. I understood why. Daddy had left for six weeks and now Grandma and Grandpa were gone and Mommy was the constant in her life and she didn't want to lose her mom. Anyway, this lasted for about three weeks or so and then she really started getting back to normal and would be okay if we left the room. About two weeks ago she decided that Daddy is the coolest and now she won't let me go anywhere without being at my side or crying. It's kind of flattering for about two days and then it starts driving you crazy. I know it's aweful to talk about your child like this but lately she's like a leech. Weekends aren't a break. It's hard to get anything done. If I'm doing something she doesn't want me to do (typing on the computer, reading, giving attention to Kristen, or anything other than giving her my undivided attention) she fusses. I realize that a lot of this is typical toddler behavior but I'm just venting that I'm going crazy here. Kristen isn't able to help due to being sick but I honestly believe that even if she wasn't Trea wouldn't give me a break.
School is going all right. I had my first parent-teacher conference last month. It was all right I guess. I feel like I'm making progress as far as what I'm doing. I feel like I have a better idea of what I want to teach, how I want to teach it, etc. If only the kid would give me some time to prepare. I've got four kids in fourth grade who are always getting in trouble and getting detentions. I'm getting pretty sick of it but I'm not sure what I should do.
Chantrea has pretty much fully adjusted to nursery. She doesn't cry at all when I drop her off. In fact, she seems somewhat excited to be there. She knows all her teachers names and I'm told the names of all her classmates. She's picking up a lot of Thai. It's so cute to hear her speak Thai. She's really good at wai-ing (putting your palms together in front of you) and all the locals eat it up when she wais.
Hopefully my next post will be more exciting and less whining.
PS -- Anyone reading this who wants to talk: we got our webcam hooked up and a microphone so we can now talk on the internet (Yahoo MSGR with voice or Windows MSGR). The quality is about the same or better than the intl. phone calls and much cheaper.
