jonathan’s blog

Happy 3rd Birthday Sarah!

Here she is, getting ready to manhandle this pinata!

Sarah got a couple of good hits in…but it took the combined efforts of her siblings and friends to take this cupcake down.  In the end (not surprisingly so), it was Samuel how took it down!

Then, with the sugar buzz of the cupcakes, as well as the candy from the pinata…a wrestling match started up.

This would be…the two Maas boys, the two Yap boys, the Young boy, my boy…and Rebekah!?

Meghan…surveying the damaged pinata, hoping to come across some unclaimed candy.

We also had the two youngest Maas kids over for a sleepover.  Here are the girls in matching ‘hot chocolate’ pj’s…drinking hot chocolate!  How perfect is that?

The boys drinking and making funny faces.  What you don’t see here is Noah spilling his entire hot chocolate on Perazim, ruining his comfortable looking pj’s.

Noah got his first nerf gun.  Here’s the range…including guns, ammo, targets, score card, and boundary lines.

Em also made Rice Crispy Treats with some of the kids.

And finally SPEED.  We taught the Maas kids how to play speed.  Here they are, squaring off.

admin Life In The Midwest

Some people LOVE to to ice skate.  I actually, am not very fond of it.  Ever since the first time I went in Junior High…I disliked it, and have since dread it every time it comes up. My kids have never gone…and I fear the day they find out it actually exists and that they might like it.  It’s cold.  I have to wear a stranger’s shoe, that hurts.  It hurts when you fall.  I have NO balance for it…and apparently EVERY other person has great balance for it…because they are wizzing and whirling past me!  I’m the ONLY person on the rink that has trouble going straight and stopping…and I hold onto the side the ENTIRE time.

And so in our home…we have carpet skating.  Warm.  No painful gross shoes.  Doesn’t hurt when you fall!  Here’s Noah in the same position as his snowboarding moose in his pajamas.  We bought some furniture slides to help us move furniture around more easily.  They are foam padded on one side, and a super slick plastic on the other.  You put them under the four legs of a dresser or table and you can effortlessly slide around the heaviest piece of furniture.  Incredible!  I’m not sure which of our kids found this out…but with the right amount of balance, you can stand on them and they make great ‘carpet skates’!

What’s this?  This is funny placement for a cushioned chair.  It almost looks like a climbing apparatus to get INTO bed…an ingenious way for Meghan to climb herself in.  If that’s what you were thinking…wrong.

It’s actually quite the opposite.  It’s so she doesn’t break her face (or something else) on her way out!  About a week ago, we left Meghan to put herself to sleep.  A little bit of crying…and then a loud ‘thump’.  The crying changed a little in pitch, and the next thing we knew…the little rascal was walking around her room!  She had climbed up and fallen out of her crib!  So sad.  Well…at least she’ll learn that isn’t the way to get out.  Nothing like experiential learning…right?

If only it were that easy.  The last few days have shown a side of Meghan that is a bit scary to look into!  She has since ‘fallen’ out of her crib several times.  We’ve found her in our room.  One time, Emily caught her in the act, climbing, scaling, swinging one leg over.  And you know what?…she’s not falling by accident.  She’s calculating…assessing risk, doing cost/benefit analysis.  She is looking at the fall, gauging the distance, remember her freedom…if she can just endure the fall, steel herself for the impact, and then gather herself back up…she’s free.  Crazy!  What kind of 1 year old stares pain, injury, and fear of falling in the face…and then heads right into it!  Hands down…crazier than her brother at this age.

I put this cushioned chair here to ‘break’ her fall!  Hopefully she’ll just launch herself onto this and ‘tumble’ down.  Yeah…not the best solution.  There is still so much that can go wrong.  Busted nose on the changing table.  Split lip on the crib.  Bruised eye on one of her toys.  OK!…fine, she wins.  At 15 months old, Meghan has forced the issue and won.  She officially graduated herself out of the confines of a crib, and into the freedom of a toddler bed.

Look at this freedom!  Getting in and out whenever she wants?!

Let’s try this…

…or maybe this…

…finally…asleep.

admin Life In The Midwest

December 2011.  What a crazy month!?  It was JAM PACKED.  Starting with Meghan’s birthmark removal surgery.  Then a return trip to LA for my Grandma’s funeral.  My mom’s hospitalization, and subsequent prolonged stay in Los Angeles.  And finally home again to KC AFTER the new year.  We’ve been back in KC for more than a week now.  My mom is out of the hospital.  The kids have started school.  And I have a few seconds to post some pics from this crazy month.

For starters…here is Emily with a sleepy Meghan in her baby carrier getting a full on search at Kansas City International Airport.  You know…Emily just looks so dangerous!

In Los Angeles, we happened to catch Ben speaking for the first time at his church.  As you can see from the sign, he is giving pointers to new moms about how to nurse their infants.

Totally NOT true!  Ben spoke about WORSHIP…and it was POWERFUL!  Here he is, getting some last second prayer.

And he’s off!…to an awesome start, teaching, and finish.  Ben…you did an awesome job, both weeks.  Way to go.  You were natural, funny, informative, and authoritative.  Great job in encouraging us to worship God with ALL of our hearts.

Three, two, one…everyone suck it in and smile!  Click!

These are my old time friends…I’ve known John since elementary school.  Tony since junior high.  Richard and Leonard from high school.  Wow…these years just fly by!  I’m glad we somehow managed to find a couple of hours where all of our schedules fit to see each other!

And here are our kids!

While in LA…why not throw in an operation!?  Meghan, our fourth kid, caused an umbilical hernia in Emily’s abdomen during pregnancy.  It was good to finally get that fixed!

Meghan making new friends.  Here she is sharing her Asian pear with Anna.

One bite for you, one bite for me.

Eileen turned 24!

Our girls became addicted to playing Monopoly Deal.  I still have no idea how to play…but it uses monopoly money and property to play a card game?

Here’s Meghan pretending her toothpaste is a phone.  In the background, you can see Livie’s car seat.  Somehow, Meghan figured out where Livie’s pacifier was stored.  EVERY time she saw Livie, Meghan would go looking for the car seat to find the pacifier.  Not sure what was her motivation for this…but she was always so determined to find it!

A-kong and Livie.  Not sure who put who to sleep?!

Fingernail painting!  Our girls are growing up way too fast!

A princess party with Lina and the Chang girls.

Manicures and princess dresses.  Noah was DESPERATE to do something else.  Hotwheels!  Thanks Dennis for setting that whole thing racetrack up with Noah.

Meghan also had some great bonding time with her cousin Shiloh.

A little kiss!

A-kong had this idea about putting together a Christmas production with just our family members.  I think…I think Kay is Mary, mother of Jesus, getting a message from Lina the angel?

A-kong is a shepherd, with a toy dog for a sheep.  Bekah would be an angel announcing the birth of Jesus.  Merry Christmas!

admin Life In The Midwest

Happy New Year!  2012!!!

Definitely a different New Year’s Eve…a ‘good’ trip to the hospital to see my mom, and a ‘dying’ with the Exodus.  Weird…right?  Let me explain.

How is a hospital visit to see your mom ever ‘good’?  It’s good because we got to see her transferred from General Care to Transitional Care.  For as long as I can remember, my mom had had a horribly painful nerve condition, called Trigeminal Neuralgia.  The pain recently has been so intense, she’s been unable to eat or drink anything…which led to her being admitted to the ER last Sunday.  She was given a REALLY strong dose of drugs to help her deal with the pain…which led to several days of some pretty intense hallucinations!

It’s been a long week of watching her slowly get her mind and body back.  It has been a tricky task for the doctor to get the right mix and dosage of drugs.  Not enough…and the pain kicks in.  Too much…and she’s ‘high’.  But there has been some real progress, especially with her eating, drinking, and strength levels.  Moving to Transitional Care means she is one more step closer to coming home.  It means physical therapists will be working with her each day.  It means no more IV.  It means she can eat, drink, and do things on her own.

So…it was actually a ‘good’ visit!  New Year’s Eve…they loaded her up on a mobile gurney and wheeled her to the TCU and her new room.  Here we are in tow.

Welcome to the TCU!  Here we are, happy that we are one step closer to coming home.

Then we were off to the New Year’s Eve celebration with the Exodus.  Time to die.  I know!?  What an interesting way to celebrate a new year?

2012 - We are hoping and feeling like this is going to be a year of God showing us what TRUE LIFE is.  What is the life abundant that he wants us to have?  What does it mean to ABIDE and bear FRUIT?  What does life look like, when we have the fullness of his Holy Spirit living in us, leading us, and flowing through us?

2011 - Was really hard!  Across the board, people see this year as one of many trials and pressures.  Everything from finances, to jobs, to relationships, to even personal identity!  What a year!?  But it has been a time for God to bring us into the wilderness, to stretch us, to show us how and where we really need to cling to him.

And in ORDER to get to the breakthrough of True Life in 2012…we need to DIE!  We need to die to the idea that we can save ourselves.  We can’t save ourselves!  We can’t fix our finances!  We can’t unfold our destinies!  Yes…God gives us an intellect, people skills, and other great natural abilities…but really, do we want to depend on these things and ourselves?…or do we want to live a life where we look to God?  We use our gifts, talents, and skills as God directs…but in our hearts we can NEVER depend on those things.  We depend on God.  A subtle difference with HUGE ramifications.

So we worshiped God, and set our hearts to take communion.  What other more perfect way to die?…than to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Just as we CANNOT do a thing to make ourselves holy and righteous…and it is a total work of God and his magnificent grace.  We CANNOT do a thing about life, dreams, and destiny…other than cry out for God to help save us, lead us, and empower us.  For every part of life where we trust in ourselves and depend on our own strength, we are telling God that he doesn’t have it covered, that we don’t trust him entirely, and depend only partially on him.  That…is not a good equation!

Communion.  A moment to reflect.  More worship.  The countdown!  And more worship!  Happy New Year!  Good by 2011…hello 2012 and True LIFE!!

The Chang and Lee girls…WAY past midnight.
Me:  Aren’t you girls tired?!
Nicole:  NO!  We aren’t tired.  We are HYPER!!

Meghan lasted…or fussed…until 11:59.  Which means Emily had 1 minute to take communion, reflect, and make her transaction with God.  Here is Meghan sleeping into the New Year.  Yup.  That’s a toothbrush she is clutching.  One of 4 that she has.  I’m not sure why…but she LOVES her toothbrush(es).  They comfort her.  They make her feel big and grown up like her siblings, who brush their own teeth.  They entertain her.  And she sleeps with them!  That’s why we bought a few extra…just to be prepared.

admin Life In The Midwest, Personal Reflections

Grandma Joy

November 14, 1914 – December 12, 2011

98 years old!  I had the opportunity to share at her funeral…what an amazing person she was!

–

Ever since news of Grandma’s passing went out, there have been a slew of people sending their condolences, telling me how sorry they are for my loss, ” I’m so sorry about your grandma.” To which my immediate reply is…”I’m not!” I know this is not the usual response, and can definitely be taken the wrong way! But for those of us that knew Grandma, and more importantly, for those of us that know her God…this really is a very appropriate response.

Grandma is in heaven with Jesus, her lord and savior. Of this I have no doubt. I mean, sometimes people die and you aren’t sure whether they knew Jesus or had a relationship with him…and you just hope with all your heart that these people did believe and will find a place in God’s eternal kingdom. But Grandma?…there is no doubt whatsoever. She is right now with her Lord in a very perfect place. A place that we know she has been longing for, for some time already. This was well before she was confined to a bed…years ago, Grandma had already been telling us she was ready to go ‘home’…her real home in heaven. And this wasn’t one of those sad fatalistic things sometimes old people say. No…this was something she talked about and waited for with great anticipation. She was excited about this day!

Let’s just stop and think about what the Bible promises for us that believe. At that moment where Grandma’s body here on earth stopped working, she was instantly taken out of this time and place. Before Jesus, God’s only son, she gets a brand new body. She gets a body that might loosely resemble the one she had here…but this new body is so much better! For starters, this new body never gets tired. Her feet won’t ever get sore. She will never suffer from that facial nerve and pain condition. But maybe most importantly, she’ll have a body that will allow her to eat anything she wants and not have any adverse weight gaining consequences!  (Grandma LOVED to eat!)

Family and friends…Grandma was 100% committed to loving and taking care of us. But in spite of this commitment to us…she was LONGING, absolutely longing to be with her savior in heaven, years and years ago. She has been anticipating this day for a LONG time! And I guarantee it is surpassing even her wildest dreams. God is so good…and she’s getting to see the fullness of that right now.

Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

This is Grandma. She knew she was a foreigner here on earth. What we see around us in this world, she somehow knew this was not her home or final destination. She looked forward, to a heavenly country, a better place, a heavenly homeland. And she was so sure of it! She was so confident in her God, in her prayers, in the power of Jesus’ blood.

We are going to miss Grandma. We already miss her! Last night family members had the chance to share some of their fondest memories of her. What an amazing person Grandma was. And in the weeks, months, and years to come…we will certainly feel her absence. She was our family’s strongest and most important anchor in God. We won’t have that warm never ending smile she always wore. We won’t have her singing over us and our sicknesses…the wonder working power of the blood of Jesus. We won’t have her diligent and faithful prayers over each one of us. We won’t have her come and secretly give us gifts.

Grandma’s life is such a powerful testimony to us. She lived with a joy, peace, and confidence that can’t be found in this world. She lived a life that was somehow not affected by her outward situation and circumstances. Through her faith and lifestyle of prayer, Grandma lived her life with one foot already in heaven. The Lord’s Prayer, which was a favorite of Grandma’s, asks God to move on the earth (Let your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven), to establish here on earth, what is already done in heaven, to bring all of the amazing aspects of God’s perfect future kingdom…his truth, his love, his peace, his healing…to be released here and now in power. It’s actually not a very easy concept to grasp, this connection between God’s future kingdom and the seemingly less than perfect world we live in. But this is the reality that Grandma chose to live in. Her relationship with God and her perspective on reality was so much more accurate than our own.

Grandma let God shape her entire life. She’s gone now…and we miss her dearly. There will be a day, when we see her again and are forever reunited. But for now, here on earth, she is gone. We can however see her still with us as we embrace this same God and the lifestyle of faith and prayer that Grandma showed us. Her memory lives in us if we choose to live rightly. As we remember Grandma’s life …let’s make it a point to think about our own lives. Let’s spend a few minutes asking God to help us reevaluate how we are living. Let’s remember Grandma’s example and let it inspire and encourage us to live for God, like she did.

admin Personal Reflections

It’s really hard to imagine Christmas being right around the corner, but here we are, less than 2 weeks away.  Life has been quite the blur after getting back from LA.  Re-adjusting to life in KC, Meghan and her operation, renewing the job hunt…but last Saturday we found some time for us to get our house set up for Christmas!

The kids have been bugging us multiple times a day for a time to set up the tree.  They finally got their wish!

And it becomes quickly evident that we did NOT have to think about Meghan last Christmas.  She just lay around!  But not so now.  It doesn’t help that she has a current fascination with “balls” and all things round.  She pronounces “ball” very well…but also refers to 75% of everything she sees as “ball”…and she gets into EVERYTHING.

“Ball”.

“Ball”.

Besides “ball”…she has taken a liking to Sesame Street.  Here she is, with a bag of her own Fritos (I have no idea where she got these), chilling with her big brother.

Stitches are out.  The doctor says the scar has not ’set’ yet…and over the next couple of months we can expect it to change color and raise a little.

But even as Meghan heals…Rebekah goes and scrapes her face on the blacktop at school!  OUCH!  A bit too excited for recess.  But I heard she was a trooper and cried very little.  Tough girl…now she really looks tough!

admin Life In The Midwest

So it’s time to take off the pressure bandage.  Kind of gruesome, since you can see the dried blood around the edges.  Is this going to hurt her?  Is it going to stick to her scabbed stitches?  What does it look like underneath?

She cries.  But the nurses insisted that she would cry out of irritation, not out of pain…that the bandage actually comes off without pain.  I can’t tell…all I know is that she’s crying and I’m cringing, hoping I don’t mess up the stitching.

And now the ointment and re-bandaging.  Band aides were not the right size…or had the wrong angle, so we used some cotton as gauze and skin tape to hold it all together.  I know…WAY OVERKILL!

admin Life In The Midwest

We are back in KC and there are a ton of things I want to post about our trip to LA… but I’m going to have to get to that later…

Meghan had a “Same Day Surgery” at Children’s Mercy Hospital, to remove her birthmark on her cheek.  These are the events surrounding the experience.

Hello?  Meghan loves to pick up things, put them up to her ear and say “Hello?”  It could be a TV remote control, a dry erase eraser, or in this case, Noah’s toy phone.  This is Meghan last night, goofing around, glad to be home.

It’s just Noah and Meghan.  The surgery is scheduled for 7:30am, which means we have to get there at 6:00am for check-in, which means we have to get up at 5:00am to get ready and out of the house.  The only way we could think of making this work was to have the girls spend the night elsewhere, and hitch a ride to school.  Thanks Young’s for taking them in!

Snacking away with Noah, Meghan can’t have anything to eat or drink once she wakes up in the morning.  Hey…how come Noah’s cookies look yummier than mine!?

Here we are, checked in…WAY early in the morning.  Let me just make this clear…we are NOT a morning family, and this is a truly painful and unnatural event for us.  Meghan is dressed up and ready to go.  The staff at Children’s Mercy are amazing, from the security check point, doctors and nurses…they were all so happy and supportive.  To help time pass as the OR was prepped, they gave Meghan stickers and toys to play with.

They even gave Noah a box of toys to keep him busy!  Dinosaurs or trucks?…you can guess what he choose.  For the record…this little guy did awesome.  Not that he was the one getting the surgery…but we did have to wake him up at 5:00am and bring him with us to the hospital.  I promised him we’d bring the iPad to keep him busy…but I left it at home!  Anyway, he stuck it through, tired, but with zero-complaining.  Good job big brother!

Just about ready…

Here we are in the waiting room.  She was away from us in the Operating Room for a little more than an hour.  The doctor came out and told us everything went well, and that Meghan would be in Recovery 1 until the anesthesia wears off and she starts to wake up.  At that point, a nurse will notify us immediately so that we can meet in Recovery 2…just seconds after Meghan comes around, minimizing that “Where in the world am I?” period.

And here she is!…literally ’seconds’ after waking up.  We met in Recovery 2, also known as Reunion Avenue.  She was wheeled in holding a full cup of apple juice.  She’s only had apple juice twice in her life, and at this point still doesn’t know what’s in the cup!  She’s too busy checking out her IV band-aid.

A set of stitches ‘inside’ and a set of stitches ‘outside’, all held together under a pressure bandage.  This whole day has been a terrifying time of helping her not pick at or bump this area!  This has actually been the most exhausting part!  Wow.  Meghan is kid number 4…and I’ve had very little anxiety over her and small bumps and bruises.  Today was totally different!  Every little wobble and close call had me freaking out!  It didn’t help that she walked around like a drunken sailor all day and night!…after effects of the anesthesia.

When she finally figured out it was apple juice…her very own cup of apple juice, she went to town.

She drank so much, paused only to throw it all back up, and went right on drinking again.  She actually threw up her lunch later in the day…also after effects of the anesthesia.  But she was able to hold down dinner!  Thank God for that…not just that she’s holding down food, but wow, cleaning up barf gets old REALLY fast.  We did have to take the apple juice away to get her cleaned up.  Wow.  You should have seen that tantrum.  No fussing about being up too early, being groggy, or being in pain…but take away her juice!?  Look out!

Ready to go home!  Thanks everyone for your support and prayers throughout the day!  Now…if she can just get through the next few days without bumping or agitating her cheek!

admin Life In The Midwest

Life has been an even faster blur than usual…and it’s been hard to post!  Last Friday, the two older girls and I left KC to join Emily and the two younger kids in LA.  Here we are on a fairly empty flight getting ready to eat some Sour Fruit Punch strips.

The purpose of this LA trip?…other than it’s just been a LONG time since being back…we wanted to visit Leonard, Liz, and Lina as they welcomed their newest addition, Livie.  Olivia Mika Chen, Born 11/11/2011 at 11am.  She looks a lot like her big sis, and is cuter than cute with some serious cheeks.  I’m borrowing photos from Eileen Liu Photography…thanks Leener!

With Leonard and Liz in that crazy newborn phase AND needing to take Livie back to the doctor multiple times to get her jaundice looked into…we’ve had Lina with us throughout different parts of the day.  Here we are with A-Gong and A-Ma at the LA County Arboretum.

These were the show stealers, at least for the kids…peacocks!

Timmy and Judy gave their old digital camera to Kay, and Bekah has A-Ma’s old one…they were busy snapping pics of EVERYTHING.

Kay had brought a purse for her camera.  Bekah had to borrow one from A-Ma.  Lina didn’t want to be left out…so she carried this empty bag ALL over the Arboretum, the entire time.  No purse for Noah…but he really did like his one page map.

He REALLY liked his map…

Taking a closer look at the ducks in the water…but not TOO CLOSE!!

Noah and Lina have been having a blast together.  Playing, talking, arguing, shouting, and laughing together.

Family pic!

Me and my not so baby girl.  She’s had some major attitude on this trip!

Lina testing out the ‘pricklyness’ of the cactus.

The next few pics are of a total different caliber and quality.  Obviously I did NOT take them.  Thanks again Leener!

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Movie star posing…

This past Sunday, in the blur of getting the entire family ready for church, we had to leave Meghan ‘unattended’ for a few minutes.  We checked in on her…and found her standing on Bekah’s stool, at the sink, with her toothbrush in her mouth.  Not bad Meghan!

And then we were off again, getting kids changed and fed and all that good stuff.  Where’s Meghan?…better check in on her!  Oh My Goodness!  She had moved from the stool and sink to the toilet…and was using her toothbrush to scrub the inside of the toilet bowl!!!!  I ran to get a picture (why not?)…and in the picture taking moment…she put the now toilet toothbrush BACK in her mouth!!!  You can see Emily’s horrified hands reaching for her in the picture!  Eww…yuck!  In case you are wondering…that toothbrush is no longer in service.

This past Friday we had a family game night…lots of great food, great company, and great games.

Meghan had her own idea and rules for Taboo…

Besides the main attractions of Spoons and Taboo…sometimes all you need is a good old fashion game of War.

After game time came S’mores time!  The kids had an absolute blast roasting marshmallows and eating S’mores.  The adults had a terrifying time of making sure no ones got burned or poked in the eye by a S’mores stick!…I’m pretty sure angels were looking out, as the adults were severely outnumbered.

Perazim doing a double roast…looks like a fencing technique!

Samuel likes his WELL DONE and slightly burned.

This is talent…eating a S’mores WHILE roasting for the next one!

Wow!  Sarah’s got a double roast going too!

The next day Kay had a sleepover at the Maas house.  When we arrived to pick her up…she was WAY dressed up and bouncing on the trampoline.

Bekah getting in on the bouncing action.

Noah taking his turn.

Even Meghan gave it a try!

admin Life In The Midwest