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Celebrate Summer Camp

Thursday, July 3, 2014

These two….couldn’t be more proud of my sweet big girls…..

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Last week, of their own initiative, they planned, prepared and hosted a day camp for 11 busy, energetic little girls!  It was no small undertaking….these girls worked hard, but they loved their little charges and had so much fun.  Abi got a pinterest account and the girls got busy.  Art projects, cooking creations, kid crafts, games, activities.  They organized a theme for each day taking stories like Esther and teaching the girls a value like “inward beauty”.

Cant imagine where they get the embroidery obsession (…ahem), but they designed some cute camp T’s and we found a place to have them stitched up for the campers.  They earned some good pocket money, and Abi even landed a permanent babysitting job out of it.

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It certainly kept them from being bored their first few weeks off of school….these girls stayed BUSY!! Don’t know that Ive ever seen my girls so willingly going to bed at night after a full day of keeping up with this busy bunch and then planning for the next day.

We went out this weekend to celebrate surviving camp and to get them to a little pampering.  They used their earnings to treat me to a Thai foot massages and a coffee date.  When did this happen!!  Love the little ladies they are becoming!

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Taking Tea with Patti-cake

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Grandma came for tea!!

Well….not exactly, but we managed to squeeze in an afternoon at a ritzy hotel tea lounge during her visit to Bangkok after her trip to India.  Being so far from most of our family, it really is a gift that C’s parents have such frequent trips to our corner of the globe.  Love that my kids get to make memories on a regular basis with their grandparents!

Aside from Gigi developing a fever, dry heaving in the restroom, and then getting a call that I needed to rush to go attend a birth, it was an otherwise relatively relaxing afternoon 🙂

Scones and Devonshire cream and my little ladies….bliss!

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Doula Bangkok – Delivering in a foreign country – Whitney

Sunday, June 1, 2014
My husband and I had lived in Cambodia almost three years before becoming pregnant with our first child. We decided to deliver in Bangkok. We wanted a natural birth but didn’t have the support we knew that would entail, as our families live in America. We found Mandy through the Doulas of Bangkok Facebook page. She helped us understand the birth process and to know what to expect from the hospital and physician we had chosen.
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Our labor was much faster than we expected, and after six hours, we arrived at the hospital ready to push. Mandy met us at the hospital and was a huge help in the most difficult part of labor for us. She provided the strength and calming presence I needed to stay focused on bringing our son into the world. And after his birth, she stayed with me, helping me recover from the overwhelming emotional and physical shock of having given birth. She also visited us in the hospital and kept in touch via text messages in the following week. This gave me a way to debrief from the most incredible and difficult experience of my life.
I think a doula is so important, especially if you are giving birth the first time in a country without family support, as we did. I can’t imagine not having our doula present, as my husband and I had no idea how challenging giving birth would be. Even for us, with a seven-hour labor and only thirty minutes of pushing, we needed someone experienced to prepare us and guide us through the experience. We’re so thankful for her support!