Things are warming up nicely.

Ahh... a few moments of blissful alone time. Grandma, Grandpa, and Chloe have gone for a walk to the dry cleaners, and Maple Anne is sound asleep. This leaves me with at least half an hour of quiet on this breezy afternoon.

One of the things I have come to appreciate about living here is fresh air. Korean homes are built with very large windows in every room, and ours is no exception. I complained quite a bit during our first warm-weather week here because our air conditioning units had not been turned on yet. But I soon learned a few tricks about which windows to open and which shades to close throughout the day to keep our home a pleasant, breezy temperature. The down side: lots of dust. The up side: a feeling of always being outside. I love the oft cool breeze that comes through our windows, and the sound of the fans oscillating in each room. There are still some afternoons when I imagine how nice it would be to turn on the A/C, but by the cool evening, I'm so happy to have had fresh air in my house all day.

In other news, I believe we have had a couple breakthroughs today. First, hormonally speaking, I am feeling so much better. Maple was up every three hours last night (which, for a nine-day-old baby, is nothing to complain about). But somehow my sleep deprivation has caught up with me today. Thank the Lord for grandparents who have all but temporarily adopted Chloe so that I can sleep when Maple sleeps (or at least retire to my room with a good book). So even though I have been extra sleepy today - needing no less than three naps - I'm happy to report that we have had no emotional breakdowns and none that I can see on the horizon. *whew* I'm praying that this storm has passed for good.

The second breakthrough has been with the Samonims. I have noticed that many of their children freely run in and out of the different apartments, playing games and eating snacks with each other. But with the language barrier and the uncertainty of the "hierarchy" I haven't known how to include Chloe in those visits. Thanks to Brandon's and Grandma's persistence in taking Chloe to the playground when the other Samonims are out there, Chloe has been building steady, healthy relationships with some of their children. As I wrote a few days ago, one of the Samonims came and took Chloe to her apartment to play with her children. Then today, another little girl(from a couple stories up) showed up at our door to come in and play with Chloe. My mom did the proper Korean custom and gave the little girl a snack, then they played games on the computer until it was time for her to go home. We may be breaking the ice, people! Things are definitely warming up!

This is such an answer to prayer. I have really felt burdened over the last couple weeks to build better relationships with the Samonims. I have to admit that, with the pregnancy and all the "newness" we were already experiencing here, the thought of putting so much effort into so many new relationships has felt overwhelming. But over the past couple weeks, I have felt my heart begin to change in that area, and I have begun to pray for the Lord to open the door there so that I could begin to build those friendships.

This is a great first step, my friends, a great first step.

Ok. I suppose that's it for today. I have a few notes on "grace" that I plan to post soon.

Toodle pip.