Ian is out of surgery

Ian's surgery lasted longer than than expected (almost 2x as long) because his hernia was bigger than they expected or had gotten bigger since the surgical consultation, so I was very glad we had the surgery done sooner rather than later! The doctors and nurses were wonderful. They let me go into the operating room and put Ian under with gas before starting the IV, so there was no fighting over that (he hates needles). The anesthesiologist gave him a very small amount of an extra sedative before waking him up so he didn't get all adjitated from the anesthesia as he was with his other surgeries. I had to sneak a picture of him in his hair covering when he was still asleep because he wouldn't let me take one when he was awake.

Adventist Hospital HK

We made it to the hospital this morning right on time. All going smoothly - all the staff speaks English, the is very clean and friendly. Our room is huge and we have a big TV with lots of movies and games to choose from (we are not in China that is for sure!). I will take some pictures soon. Ian is really not liking the hospital gown, so we will have to take some when he is still under anesthesia :)
I forgot 7th Day Adventists are vegetarians, so we will let you know how the veggie chicken nuggets are later...

Bye for now

gegemen qu yiyuan (big brothers go to the hospital) - can you tell I am taking Chinese lessons again?

The older 2 boys have been bugging me to go to the hospital, but I usually go when they are in school. And, to be honest, I am freaked out about them catching something there and since my eye got infected while visiting Samuel, these fears have only been worse. Anyway, it seemed like it wasn't good for me to stifle their desire to be concerned about the little guy, so I agreed to take them today (Saturday) which then gave Shane some time at home when he could get some things done as well. So, with very specific rules given about being friendly when the throngs of people descend on us, do not touch the floor, do not put your shoes on the babies' beds, and do NOT take off your shoes (we have had to do this when we have gone into hospital rooms in Korea), and go to the bathroom before we leave, because you can not go at the hospital - we were off. They were so great, I just can't tell you. Eric spoke to everyone in Chinese, they were both friendly, Ian even asked for us to stay longer!

While we were there we saw that Samuel is following people around with his eyes more than he was the last few weeks he was home, his left eye isn't sunset (pointed down) as much as it was, and he was smilier.

He seemed really happy to see the boys and kept an eye on them even when he was eating.

Cuter every day!

I noticed he was chewing on his hand a lot, which he never did at home. Then I looked in his mouth and there was a little tooth!

now don't worry, it isn't your eyes, you really can't see the tooth. I found that if I used the flash it was too bright, if I didn't, he was moving too much to get a clear picture, so I tried from further away with the flash, but then you couldn't see the tooth! After 15 pictures I just felt the need to post one of them to show you I TRIED!

So, he is 3 weeks younger than Aaron, but managed to get a tooth before him.

That bump in the curtain is Eric yelling, "Ni May You Wo" (forgive my bad pin ying - there are so many levels that you can be bad at Chinese)

He is more alert every day, too!

This is Joseph and his ayi. Eric was so happy to finally meet Joseph. When Samuel came, his name is the same as Aaron's middle name. Then Eric asked for a baby with his name. The next baby was named Joseph (not by us), which is his middle name! Ian is patiently waiting for a baby with his middle name (Nicholas).

Believe it or not, Joseph is 6 weeks younger than Aaron, but 1 lb heavier!

This is baby Andy. He was sleeping the whole time we were there.

This is a picture Carol took of us right after surgery on Wednesday.