One month on

Today our newest Nahla Mae turns one month old. O happy day of birth!

I’m all too aware of the fact that sometimes baby milestones and photos can mean more to the people sending them through, than the people receiving. But Nath did promise you this particular update, so for those who care, here she is.

 

So this little person of ours seems to be doing all the normal things – that is, drinking plenty, crying much, excreting hourly, & keeping her Mummy & Daddy tired! But we are enormously grateful to be a family all in one piece; and as we slowly learn and patiently transition into this new life – we remain completely overjoyed by this gift of life.

With a speedy three and a half hour entrance into this world, we were just so chuffed to meet her. So as the 27th day of the month rolls around again, we look beyond to the many more of these to come.

Welcome to our world little Nahla Mae! We love you.

xo

A note of thanks!

Hello friends and family in blog land! This is Nath.

It has been an eventful few months of which we will probably never experience again. It has included our family spending large chunks of time a part; moving house; giving birth to a new baby in a city we were visiting; and of course the usual craziness of what happens in Asia!

Nomes left Jakarta and ventured back to Adelaide just before school finished. This was due to airline regulations about flying pregnant. She flew out heavily pregnant from the beautiful Indonesian climate straight back into a cold Adelaide winter. We were supported by a number of people during our time in Adelaide. The support of these folk was crucial in allowing us to cope - & to give birth.

Many people helped us during this time and we are truly grateful. So, we would like to take the time to thank a few individually by name, for their geneorosity.

Thank you firstly to Bec and Hamilton for their constant support, their tasty meals, and for housing Nomes when she first arrived back.

Thank you to Sarah for allowing Nomes and I to stay in your place both whilst you were away, and also briefly whilst you were there.

Thank you to Ben and Megan for giving us your house during the last week of pregnancy. You purposely went on a holiday to avail your house to us during this tricky phase of the pregnancy journey. This was incredibly generous and thoughtful of you. Which to people who know you well, doesn’t come as a surprise!

To Neil and Lea - thank you for allowing us to float in and out of your house as we needed to. Your flexibility with us was much appreciated and your willingness to work around us, post baby, was incredibly helpful.

And to Nick and Robyn, who are and have been a constant support to us near and far.

We also really needed to be able to move around the city on our return and three key groups of people came to our rescue with their generous gift of a car.

This thanks goes firstly to Sarah for allowing us to use your little sky blue bug whilst you were away. Sam and Matt - your little black Mazda was vitally important to us coping with an otherwise tricky time. And finally to Bec Secombe’s mum Susan. Your white station wagon was a God send towards the end of our time in Adelaide. It competently drove us to the hospital in the later stages of labour, and was the car that brought our little one home from hospital again.

We won’t lie to you – this time has been tough - especially being in a place that we have come from, but  presently do not consider home. However, the people mentioned above made a rather difficult time, more easier; so to these greatly generous guys, we are truly thankful!

To brighten up this space, I’ll end with a sneak preview of our next blog.

Please be introduced to our Nahla Mae Berry.

Happy ten years!

Tomorrow on the tenth day of July, Nath and I celebrate ten years of marriage - TEN SOLID YEARS! That may seem long to some, & short to others. To me .. I deem it worthy of this blog.

I'm not writing in this space to espouse all my wordy marital wisdom as if I have we've got it all sorted and there's nothing left to learn. In fact, it's quite the opposite. But if there's one thing I know, it's that this specific date is not worth remembering due to my ivory dress or the pretty bonbonnieres. It's more so a proud personal celebration because of the seasons of joy, and moments of sadness and madness we've ventured through together, hand in hand. It's about the gradual, continuous journey that we are on, trying (unsuccessfully at times) to put each other first as we slowly become more like Him.

So, I'm purposely avoiding showing you captures of my straight-ironed fringe and pretty pointy shoes that walked me down the aisle. Instead, here is a glimpse of moments of our life and living together .... since the day we said "I do".

Happy ten years to my precious friend and my greatest earthly treasure. To my God for this man, I say thank you!

Love Nomes xo

Oh baby Oh baby!!

So we’re havin a baby! 30+ years of living and nearly ten years of marriage ... we thought it was about time! 

I am presently 26 weeks ... so well over half way. Of course we feel especially thrilled at the prospect of our very first baby-Berry - but, in all honesty, I'm finding this pregnancy thing not a whole lot of fun. I feel this body of mine now has a mind of its own. It grows in any direction it wants; frowns at usually-consumed foods; and decides to cry, laugh or anger itself at a drop of a hat. Anyone would think it has been taken over by someone else ;)

For Nath, well up until recently, it’s been business as usual. He found it slightly difficult to appreciate what was going on in my bod - except to suggest, at one point, that maybe (just maybe) the ‘morning sickness’ affair was a part of a “world wide female’ conspiracy”! However, after realising that the tummy fluttering and stirring was not solely a bad case of diarrhoea .... he was able to 'feel' a little more connected to the wriggling one.   

In recent days, we’ve seen our little person moving and grooving on the Doc’s scanning screen, showing up a four-dimensional smile, hiccup and yawn.  Needless to say, the expecting father's interest reached a new height at this point, and we were delivered the unforseen news that this little berry-baby is in fact a pink one.

So, for those who care and want to know more - we’ve a plan to come home to Oz to birth this little bub. I’ll be flying back early June; driving out this baby late July; and hopefully returning to Jak-city, all babied-up, a few weeks later. Nath has to dash off to start his new role at a slightly different school early August, so we’re sincerely praying that my genes are nothing to go by, and this baby delivers within good time.

I apologise to those who have been fervently requesting baby bump pics. I feel I should send one through due to being an overseas dweller ... so here it is ... all “glowing” and growing:

Thanks for those who have supported and shown interest close and far. We look forward to telling you more about our bubbling Berry baby in weeks and months to come.

Bye for now,

Nomes xo 

The sequel tale of the many helpers

It was only a matter of time before the prequel deserved a sequel. If you’re not familiar with the original comical hunt for a helper, you should go ahead and visit this blog. 

 

It was certainly an unexpected story that took us on a very memorable adventure. In last review of this tale, I concluded with Tri - who, at the time, seemed quite the catch.  But this sequel would not be necessary if there wasn’t forthcoming detail worthy to be shared. So, I funnily enough feel the urge to present to you the sequential tale that continues to lead us on in this incessant and treacherous fight for a home-helper!

Here it is.

Helper No 4: Tri. I think I described her as “ ... the young yet capable”. She certainly hung around for a while - a while defined in this context as 8 or so months. She was a passionate lass who was eager to learn from us clay faces. But then one fateful evening, the lasagne fiasco changed everything! Her desire to learn more about western food teamed her up with Mums-helper Sumi, who taught her through written and practical note, the art of lasagna making and baking. We watched the exchange of information from a distance and noted a particularly casual approach to learning coming from Tri. We were convinced that she had not paid attention; however, she confidently declared she was ready to cook the layering master piece for us. Let’s just say the meat-mince was significantly missing the tomato based sauce, and therefore becoming burnt beefy-gravel in addition to the blackened crispy pasta sheets. Nath managed to somewhat rescue the endevour but Tri’s confidence plummeted. So on one eventful morning, Tri declared herself incapacitated and practically bed ridden from a “minor” cold. This then lead to urgent attention involving a must-needed trip home to her nursing mother which in helper-code means a one way trip with no return. So we despondently waved her good bye, and moved ourselves on!

Helper No 5: Shella. She came to us through a friend of a friend of a friend. After marrying her man, she was looking for daily work; and although not fond of wet-nosed-black-furry-pugs, she accepted the 5 day a week job with us. With experience and age as her backbone, she presently still works for us. Coming and going at her leisure, Shella gets the job done! Her efficiency has earned our respect and we are content and appreciative to her for her skillful work ethic. But although this story takes us to the present day, there are still helpers along the track who are surely still worth a mention.  So let’s wind it back a bit.

Helper No. 6: Fera. Fera came to us through a neighbouring helper who delights in nothing more than to walk and dress her white woolly poodle in shoes and frilly dresses (I kid you not). Having asked her if she knew someone, she declared she did ... and on the arrival of Fera, we felt delighted. She was not just a dog-walking lover, she was also a self-proclaimed ‘Christian’ who requested Sunday nights off to go to church. However, this is where it became complicated. Fera went from new kid on the block to the talk of town in one short week. From flirting with the security guards resulting in lewd rumours around the district; to cat-fighting with her friends on the street - and an unexplained husband announcement and disappearance - we thought things should come to an end. So after two weeks, they did! The decision was mutual.

Helper No. 7: Jenny. Jenny who had an unexplained Indonesian name was pleasant enough. She rocked up at our door step declaring (between giggles) that she was going to run away from her current employee simply because she wanted to learn English. We were not quite sure what to make of it so we offered for her to come again for a more formal chat. I’d like to suggest at this point, after such a long helper-hunting-journey, you start to work out straight away if someone is right for the job ... and we just knew ... she wasn’t right for the job.

So, now we’re back to the transient Shella who happily keeps the house sparkling; the clothes crisply ironed; and our watermelon freshly cut. She was a part of training up these girls whilst working for our neighbouring American friends; and was humble and happy to return in between failed helpers. And still, with a few helpers still knockin at the door, we’ve decided to wait until we move into the big smoke next year to find a “more practiced” helper who is the right fit for us. 

Although this adventure has seen my Indonesian language pushed to new limits, we continue to enjoy the good work of Shella during the week, but on the weekend, we appreciate the reliable influence of Sumi (Mum’s trusty helper). With a high skill set in cooking, baking and English speaking – Sumi’s determination sees her juggle full time work and study in tourism. We are great admirers of this.

Shella

Sumi

It’s funny how far emotionally this journey has taken me. I used to take it all too personal when things helper-related just didn’t work out. But now, I just smile, laugh, and sketch it down in the memo for the next instalment of the tale of the helpers!!!

Thanks for listening.

Nomes

Water come! Water Go!

Hiya folks! Yes it has been a long time between drinks. Three months has passed and we’ve been on blog-drought-land! I’d hope that our eventful excuse of vacating to Malaysia; tripping to Australia; & distributing baby-bump news, would indeed suffice ;)

But enough about that self-indulgent stuff, here is something most of us can relate to. Whilst our home-town of Adelaide was reaching rave reviews for being the hottest place in the world ... we in Jak-city conversely watched up to 39,000 homes affected by a steady down-flow of rain. So at the same time you guys were sweating out the fluid, we were mopping it up. It astounds me that two countries in relatively close proximity to each other can be so vastly dissimilar.

It makes me think about how easy it is to serve up the ‘greener on the other side’ commentary when things get tough. Over here, we're all praying for a break from the water; whereas, all you fellow Ozzies rejoice when that same water comes. And without dismissing anyone’s right to feel frustration at the rain that causes damaging floods in Jakarta, or the newly planted greens that shrivel up in the baking Australian sun, my personal goal is to try to look on the brighter side of things - where the “the grass is always greener where it’s watered”. Because what I'm starting to notice, is that despite the grey clouds that seems to press us down, God can still use it to make something beautiful!

A view from Nath's classroom

Nomes xo

Memory or Scar (A note from Nath)

Hey Friends.

I have only shouldered the load of this blog once and so I thought it was about time that I expressed myself in this way.

  Life moves on here at a rapid pace. The weeks seem to fly past and we now realise that Christmas is approaching. This signals our chance to return back to Australia and once again enjoy hot chips with extra chicken salt, and BBQ meat. It's funny the things we look forward to.     

Occasionally we miss places. For example, walking Missy on the Brown Hill Creek loop walk ending up in Carrick Hill for a coffee. This is a genuinely a beautiful way to spend 4 hours. The ever changing scenery; the wild flowers at this time of the year; and of course stunning views of Adelaide - make this something that we miss.    

Occasionally we miss people. Family and friends are missed at times. Events such as birthdays and special occasions are when we notice the distance. Technology is a great improvement to the lives of people living and working away from their usual support systems. Text message apps allow solid ongoing communication and we find ourselves texting mundane useless information to people just like we did when we were living in the same city. We find that this sort of technology minimises the feeling of distance. Our American and Canadian friends whose loved ones are living a full day behind Indonesia, feel the distance more than us Aussies who are living only a couple of hours behind Australian time zones.

Always we miss food! Does that mean I love chicken-in-a-biscuit and semi-sun-dried tomatoes more than my Mum?! No, but getting a quick text from Mum feels like she is around the corner where as no amount of texts or images can make up for those numb lips that come from the salt overload after punishing a box of Nabisco’s finest.

Anyway, I wanna' share with you a funny little Indonesian experience that occurred recently. These are the differences that create memories daily for us living over here. Admittedly, this may be more a scar than a memory ;)

A week or so ago, we took our grade 5 and 6 students into ‘Old Jakarta’ to visit many of the original Dutch buildings built in the early 17^th century. The history is interesting and Jakarta was designed and built as a mini Venice. The canal network was structured in such a way that boats, barges etc., could move from the ocean straight into the canals to distribute tradeable goods easily. See some of my pics below:

So we are visiting these sites and buildings and the students stick their head over a fence - and there thirty metres away from our group of fifty students - is a man, balanced precariously on a length of bamboo, squatting down, facing away from us, depositing a fully digested load of last night’s Nasi Goreng into the canal below. Our students spotted him immediately and began frantically pointing and giggling. The poor guy had the self control to finish what he had started, splash the area clean with some canal water below and stride confidently away from his open air latrine. He was a truly proud Indonesian and this brings a new richness to our goal of holistic education, hehe.

Ahhh Indonesia. Memory or Scar? I’ll let you decide.

From Nath B