Baby Brown is a BOY!!!

Josh and I are so excited to share that we are having a baby BOY! We found out yesterday and it was an amazing moment I'm sure we won't ever forget. We went to a Korean clinic in Seoul to find out the gender of baby. We had no idea how to get there by car so we took the subway. When we got there we were surprised to see that one Americsn midwife worked at the clinic and she was really helpful in helping us with out paperwork. The clinic is actually a natural birthing clinic and she said that lots of Americans choose to have their babies there as opposed to on base. Anyways, it was nice to have someone to communicate with and was so helpful! We waited about 20 minutes and went in for the ultrasound with a sweet Korean woman who spoke very limited English. She measured baby and looked at the brain saying that everything was growing correctly and is the size it should be at this stage. It was hard to get a good picture through, because baby was face down with its head down low and toes up by my belly button. She asked if we wanted to know the gender and said, very anti- climatically, "baby is boy." I was crying, of course, and asked her if she was sure. I was just so excited and wanted confirmation. This confused her. I said "100% boy or maybe girl?" This confused her also. Anyways, we couldn't see any boy parts because of baby's position, so we weren't entirely convinced. We were SO happy, but didn't want to text any family yet in case we could be wrong. So, I ate a small snack and walked around the clinic for about 30 minutes, hoping to get baby moving around a bit. We had a consultation with Dr Park and I told her that I wasn't confident in what the ultrasound technician told us and she kindly offered to give us another quick ultrasound in her office. The screen on the wall was HUGE. Well, all my walking around and Chex Mix eating worked because baby was laying lengthwise and was no longer face down. Immediately he spread his legs as if to say "There is NO way I'm a girl.... See? All boy!!" This was particularly hilarious because the screen was so big!! So, now I can confidently say that baby is 100% boy and we are thrilled!!! I have been saying baby was a boy since the beginning. In fact, about two days before our apointment I said to Josh, " What if baby is a Girl? I've been so convinced that baby was a boy that I haven't even considered having a girl!" Josh was saying baby was a girl but on the way to the apointment he said, "I really hope baby is a boy. I just want a little buddy." It is such a special feeling to know that baby is not just "it" anymore. Josh and I have been looking at Coug gear online and I've been planning things for the nursery all morning. I also started working on a baby registry. It's such a special and exciting time for us. I would post pictures from this ultrasound, but they are pretty horrible. We have lots of baby's backbone and a nice large picture of baby's man parts- ha! We also have a 3D photo but baby needs to get some body fat before those pictures look good. He's not even one pound yet. I have another doctor apointment in 3 weeks for a fetal growth scan and I'm hoping to get a precious little side profile picture of baby boy. Oh, and in other great news I've been feeling baby move around. I've felt that I was feeling kicks and movement for a while now, but wasn't entirely sure. Last night I was watching the Bachelorette (don't judge!) and definitely felt babys strong kick!!! Incredibly exciting!! Sending lots of love and hoping you're all doing well. Thanks for sharing this great journey with us!! :)

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing well. Josh and I have been been great. Josh continues to work all the time, but thankfully enjoys his job. The weather in Seoul has been hot and the humidity will appear soon (yuck!) We've been busy doing fun activities with friend and enjoying the last months we have as just a family of 2. I've been feeling great and we both feel so blessed that this pregnancy, thus far, has been problem-free.
Next Tuesday (the 29th) we are heading to a Korean clinic to find out if baby is a boy or girl. The Army clinic scheduled baby's fetal growth scan and gender ultrasound for mid-June (I would be almost 21 weeks then) but the Korean clinic will tell you baby's gender as early as 15 weeks for just 70,000won (about $65 US dollars.) When we have the appointment I will be 18.5 weeks along and the doctors said there should be no problems in seeing baby's gender. Let's just hope baby's not shy and we can see boy or girl parts! We are both so anxious and excited and I am sure it will bring us to another exciting part of pregnancy! I am so excited to start shopping for nursery decor and sweet little baby clothes once we know babys sex.
Here are the photos we've taken over the last few weeks:

16 weeks pregnant- Happy Mothers Day

17 weeks pregnant- that belly is growing!

Baby Brown Photos

I am now 16 weeks pregnant! Tomorrow I have another doctors appointment and we should find out baby's gender in 2-3 weeks. We are both so excited to know the gender. I'm excited to start buying baby clothes and planning a nursery as well. I've been feeling good and, for the most part, the morning sickness has subsided. I still feel nausious at times, but not nearly as often.
We've been taking some photos and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post them. Our lives sure get busy quickly around here. Here are the photos we have so far. My belly is growing a bit, but I feel that in the last 2 weeks or so it's stayed the same size. I am sure that soon I will really start showing a "baby belly" and not just look like I had a big lunch! :)

9 weeks pregnant- on my birthday

Josh's first baby purchase- sweet baby socks

11 weeks pregnant - on my way to a party with friends. It was so hard to not tell anyone I was pregnant, as almost all of the women there were moms and good friends!

On my way to Josh and my anniversary dinner on April 10. This morning we had an ultrasound and heard baby's heartbeat for the first time. What an amazing moment. It was truly one I'll remember forever. Seeing baby do a sumersault and hear the heartbeat was so wonderful. We celebrated our second anniversaryt that night at a delicious restaurant in Jeonga, South Kore!

14 weeks pregnant

14 weeks pregnant- on our way to a birthday party

15 weeks- going to the Army Aviation Birthday Ball in Seoul

15 weeks pregnant- Celebrating Stephanies birthday

15.5 weeks pregnant

And baby makes 3!

Yes... I'm pregnant! Josh and I are so thrilled and excited. I'm 13 weeks along right now and I'm feeling great. I've had a few bouts with morning sickness, but nothing unmanageable. Overall I feel like I'm having a great pregnancy so far!
Josh and I found out I was pregnant at the end of February, but chose to keep it private until our anniversary in April, when I would be 12 weeks along. It was hard to not tell anyone, but it wss a really wonderful time In our marriage to have such wonderful news just between the to of us.
We scheduled an ultrasound and appointment to hear the baby's heartbeat for the morning of ou anniversary. Seeing baby and hearing that heartbeat for the first time was just amazing. Baby was incredible active and the doctor said I must be the exercising and Zumba classes I've been taking (ha!)
After the appointment we called and texted all our family members to share the great news before posting it on facebook to share with our friends. What a memorable anniversary!
Next week we have another ultrasound scheduled to look at baby more closely. The doctor wants to be sure that the due date is correct. As of now the due date is October 26th. Then we have another apointment the middle of May. We should know baby's gender at the end of May or beginning of June. So far I really like my doctor here, but baby will not be born here in Korea.
Baby is due the end of October but we are set to leave Korea in the middle of September. So, baby will be born in Alabama. We will be moving back there for Josh to take some aviation classes then start his new position as an instructor for the BlackHawk course. He will be teaching new aviators how to fly- a fantastic opportunity!
Well, I think that's about all for now. I will upload photos soon. Have a great day!! :)

Big Changes

It has been way too long since I've posted a blog, so I will try as best I can to include everything. At the end of February I finished my time at BIS. Leaving was bittersweet and I miss the kids and my coworkers. However, I don't miss the workload and stress. I love being home when Josh comes home from work and having the evenings together. I love having time to clean the house and not be rushed, relax and make dinner every night. Ive been having fun trying new recipes, spending time with friends, exploring Seoul and walking around our neighborhood now that the weather has been getting nicer. Not having the stress of that crazy job is wonderful!!
To keep myself busy I've been taking a Zumba class twice a week which has been really fun. I'm also teaching kids four days a week. I teach one kindergartener named Jun who is very advanced. His spoken English is really impressive and be learns quickly. I also teach two middle school girls, not together but in separate classes. Both girls are just learning English so it was a bit rough at first, but they are developing reading and speaking skills quickly. It's a fun process seeing them learn so quickly and gain confidence. I also teach a class of four kindergarteners. Two kids are four and the other two kids are five. This class is super fun because the kids are a bit crazy and their English is so minimal. So, with a mixture of English and Korean we manage to have a fun time. So far they know their ABC's, the happy birthday song, can count to 11 and know all the primary colors. It's fun but I always feel like I need a nap after teaching that class! Ha!
Teaching these classes has been fun and a great way to keep busy and not get bored at home all the time. I'm also really thankful for the extra income. Only in Korea would parents pay crazy amounts of money for private English lessons!
Josh has been working a ton, like normal. We are planning a trip to Thailand next month which I know will be a much needed break for him. He's overworked, for sure. :( We plan on going to Phuket, Thailand for about a week in May, so I've been busy learning about the area and planning our trip as well. Can't wait!
A few weeks ago Josh and I celebrated our to year wedding anniversary. Such a wonderful day! We had a delicious dinner at the same restaurant we went to on Valentines Day. How blessed we are to have each other. It was a great day!!
And.... The biggest news of all is that I'm 13 weeks pregnant! Surprise!! :) I will write a new blog post all about it and I will add some photos later as well. We are so thrilled and can't wait to be parents to our little one! :)

Last Days at BIS

It's crazy to think that my time at BIS is over. My contract was a total of 15 months and at times that felt like forever! But, I am happy to say that things ended well and I enjoyed some fun times with my kids before leaving. I think leaving was easy because I'm not leaving the country yet. When most teachers leave a school like BIS they leave the country (their Visa only allows them to be in the country as long as they are teaching.) But, Josh and I will be here another 7 months. So, I know I will be able to see the kids and I am even tutoring some of them, so it wasn't as sad as I expected.

On Friday the kindergarteners graduated. We all got into the shuttle busses and traveled into Seoul. Of course I was biased, but I think our students were better than the other two campuses that also participated in graduation. It was obvious we had spent more time developing and practicing their graduation speeches and song and dance. The other kids were also pretty wild and our kids were much more disciplined and well behaved.
The kids had lots of fun at graduation and it was really special to see them get their kindergarten diplomas after teaching them for so long. (In Korea kindergarten lasts two years).

I worked on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday teaching the older kids, as the kindergarteners had a week vacation. I had already finished giving all my students their end of the year exams so we played games and had lots of fun. Wednesday was my last day. After school Josh and I went to my favorite Korean BBQ restaurant with Joe and Stephanie.
I am just so thankful that I was able to have this job. Yes, the hours were long and the days were stressful. I struggled working for people from a different culture who had different ideas about work standards and expectation. But, I learned a lot about myeslf, Korean culture and was so happy to make some money in the process. Working at a hagwon was an interesting experience, as it is NOTHING like an American school.
Here are some fun pictures from my last few days:

Matthew's Birthday Party

My sweet "flowers" made from the kids handprints

I got so many sweet cards from the kids. This one was from Sarah. I loved how detailed it was. She even drew her purple wheeling backpack!

The most important thing Joshua learned from me over 15 months is that my favorite color is pink. Oh boy!

With Jun

With Erin Jo

With Dorothy (and her diploma)

Matthew not wanting to take a picture

"Ms Leah, only take picture is picture is CRAZY!"

Clara is just so precious!

Another picture with Clara

Ms Kristal also left BIS the same time as me. She is off to University in March. Here we are with the kindergarteners who will have their second year at BIS starting in March.

Claire from first grade

The kindergarteners have uniforms now. Stephanie texted me this photo today and I can't get over how cute Jun, Matthew and Clara look. Adorable!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken

I found a recipe for rosemary ranch chicken online com and tweaked it a little. This recipe is truly delicious and we love it in our house! It's also easy to make because you should have most of the ingredients already at home. The chicken is very moist and delicious. I like to serve this with rice and add peppers, onions, mushrooms and pineapple to the skewers before barbequing. Enjoy!

(The last time I made this I forgot to take a picture, but I will add one the next time I make this recipe.)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup ranch dressing (I use the low fat ranch)
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon rosemary (fresh or dried)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice 
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Skinless, boneless chicken breasts- cut into 1 inch cubes


Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. 
2.  Reserve a small amount of the marinade in a separate bowl.
3. Place chicken in the medium bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 6 hours. (The longer you leave the chicken in the marinate the better it will be.) 
4. Preheat the barbeque for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.(On the skewers I like to add cut up onion, green/red peppers, mushrooms and pineapple.)
5. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear. 
6. While you are grilling you can add extra marinade to the skewers if you want. 
7. Serve kabobs with rice. Delicious!