Welcome to My World!

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Thanks for stopping by! My name is Suzan Mayumi Turner. I'm a happy stay at home (expat) mom who does photography and theatre every time I get a chance. Here you'll find some glimpses of my life (now in Spain), my art, and my work. Feel free to drop me a line or two. I'd love to hear from you and make new friends!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

La Familia Ibarra...

We planned to take some photos of the family, but unfortunately the weather wasn't our friend...
but here are some that turned out good.


They are such a beautiful family!

My gorgeous sister-in-law...
She need some headshots for her blog profile...
I think she should get some wallet photos so her hubby can keep them in his wallet and show off the beautiful wife he has!!!!


Let's play ABC game....

Things to be thankful for...

A-Angelica
B-Baby
C-our Child....

...we went around the thanksgiving table saying the things we were thankful for that started with the letter of the alphabet... we got God's Grace, the Universe, future Papa, Fun time with Family, Snow... until we were done with the whole alphabet.
Many things to be grateful for... Here are some snapshots...

(Minha familia em Ohio comemorando o dia de Acao de Gracas)

Angelica with Tio Keith

I love this one. Angelica enjoying Grandma's reading.
 

Uncle Reed dramatizing the story.
 

La Familia
 

Uncle Mark, Uncle Reed, and Mom Turner.

Grandpa...Baby...
 

We had a visitor.... well, he wasn't invited though! :-)
 

The charming "XX" Melissa and I couldn't resist him!hehehe...
 


Monday, November 23, 2009

Where is my head...

...ache. That was my question after a fun rehearsal with the kids. I'm directing a Christmas skit with the kids and the teens from my church and every rehearsal is a blast! Tonight I had this strong headache that almost made me puke so I told them to "keep it down" (meaning, please don't yell at my ears!) because my head was about to explode. They were so supportive. After many "places", "action", "call for line", "quite back stage", and many laughs (I think even my baby was laughing with us), I totally forgot that my head was hurting. Not that it went away, because it's a constant pain, but I had so much fun with the kids that made me forget it for while. It is wonderful when we do something that we're so passionate about it! It makes us forget all the worries and pain at least for a moment. And I got say they are fabulous kids. At the beginning I thought it'd be very challenging, especially because that group had some discipline issues and mixing with my pregnancy mood, you might know the results. But after few strict rules and rehearsals they started getting engaged to the plot and learning to have fun and be respectful at the same time! That is why I believe in Arts! God gave us Art to change people's life for a better world, and I'm so grateful that I'm part of this plan!

So, for my fabulous young little actors, thank you for making me laugh so hard tonight!
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Cade minha dor de cabeca? Essa foi minha pergunta depois de um ensaio tao legal com as criancas. Estou dirigindo uma peca de natal com as criancas e os adolescentes da minha igreja e cada ensaio e incrivel! Hoje, eu tive uma dor de cabeca forte que cause me fez vomitar, entao eu lhes disse pra ficarem quietos (que quer dizer, por favor nao grite no meu ouvido!) porque minha cabeca estava pra explodir, e eles foram bem compreensivos. Depois de muitos “tome seus lugares”, “acao”, “me da a fala”, “silencio atras do palco”, e muitas risadas (Eu acho que ate meu bebe estava rindo conosco) eu totalmente esqueci que minha cabeca estava doendo. Nao que foi embora, porque e uma dor constante, mas me diverti tanto com eles que me fez esquecer por alguns momentos. E tenho que dizer que elas sao criancas excelentes. No comeco achei que seria um desafio, especialmente porque eles eram um grupo com problema de disciplina e misturando com o meu genio de gravida, voce imagina o resultado. Mas depois  de algumas regras restritas e ensaios, eles comecaram  engajar na estoria e aprender a se divertir se respeitando! Por isso que acredito nas artes! Deus nos deu pra mudar vidas para um mundo melhor, e sou muito grata que posso fazer parte disso!
Entao, para meus pequenos jovens atores, obrigada por me fazer rir tanto essa noite!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Big decision to make... Grande decisao pra fazer...

Today we went to our ob's appointment and he took forever to attend us. My doctor takes time with his patients, which is very good, and I can't complain, but it sucks when you're the one waiting in the next room. As I was waiting, butt naked wearing a white paper vest and a paper sheet to cover my legs, Keith said: "You look cute! You look like you're wearing a prom dress!" I looked at myself trying to understand where he saw a prom dress. I guess it's his goofy way to calm me down, since he knows I hate waiting, specially when I know the uncomfortable exam that I had to go through.
So, when the doctor finally came, very nice as always (I really like my doc, so i "forgive" him for making us wait :-) he started talking about swine vaccine. Man, I felt like a bomb has been dropped over my head. My first thought was, "no way I'm getting this shot". Not because I'm scared of needles, cause that's not my problem at all, but I hate drugs in my body. I grew up in antibiotics cause of all the respiratory problems I had. Now, I avoid drugs as much as I can. But, then the doc told us cases of the flu that happened in our future hospital with kids and a pregnant woman, and how bad it can get if you're prego! That wasn't fun hearing. And giving my bronchitis and pneumonia history, I don't trust my immune system; however, I don't trust the vaccine either! He said there is no side effects on the fetus, but that's what they always say, right? I don't think there is enough test done in pregnant women since it's still a new disease.
Gosh, it's frustrating! I wish I didn't have to make a decision! I pray God leads us to the right choice!

Well, the good side of the appointment today was we were able to hear the baby's heart beat again! That took all the worries away at least for couple seconds! It's strong and seems to be healthy! Also, we scheduled our next ultra to know the sex of the baby! It's in four weeks! I can't wait to know!

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Hj nos fomos para consulta com o nosso medico e demorou pra kramba pra nos atender. Meu doc gasta o tempo devido com os pacientes e isso e algo muito bom, nao tenho o que reclamar, mas nao e nada legal quando voce e aquele que fica no outro quarto esperando. Enquanto esperava, de bunda pra fora vestida num colete de papel branco e um papel pra cobrir minhas pernas, Keith disse: " Oh, Vc esta bonitinha! Parece que esta vestida num vestido de baile" (E dificil traduzir exatamente oq ele disse, mas so pra vcs terem uma ideia). Eu olhei pra mim, tentando ver aonde ele viu vestido de baile. Acho que o jeitinho dele de me acalmar ja que ele sabe que detesto esperar, especialmente quando sei o exame inconfortavel que tinha que passar.
Quando o medico finalmente chegou, simpatico como sempre (eu gosto do meu doc, entao eu o "perdoo" pela espera :-) ele comecou a falar sobre a vacine da gripe suina. Eu senti como se uma bomba estava sendo jogada na minha cabeca. Meu primeiro pensamente foi, "nem pensar eu vou ser vacinada" Nao e pq tenho medo de injecao, pq isso nao um problema pra mim, mas pq detesto drogas no meu corpo. Eu cresci em antibioticos por causa dos problemas respiratorios que tive. Agora, eu evito drogas sempre quando posso. Mas, dai o medico comecou a contar casos que aconteceram na nossa futura maternidade de criancas e gravidas com a gripe, e o quanto que e arriscado pra gravidas! Isso nao foi muito divertido ouvir. E vendo minha historia com bronquite e pneumonia, eu nao confio no meu sistema imurologico! Mas tbm nao confio na vacina! Ele disse que nao tem nenhum effeito colateral no fetus, mas isso q oq eles sempre falam, nao e? Nao acho que tem pesquisas  suficiente em gravidas ja que ainda e uma doenca nova.
E tao frustrante! Gostaria que eu nao precisasse fazer uma decisao! Oro pra que Deus nos mostre a escolha certa!

Bom, o lado bom da consulta hoje foi que pudemos ouvir o coracao do bb novamente! Isso tirou toda preocupacao pelo menos por alguns segundos! Esta forte e parece ser saudavel! Alem disso, marcamos nossa proxima ultra pra saber o sexo do bb! Sera em quatro semanas! Nao posso esperar!



Saturday, November 7, 2009

Bye bye first trimester! Tchau primeiro trimestre!

Yeah, 13 weeks and saying good-bye to my first trimester. It went by so fast, I can't believe it! Every mom tells me to enjoy my pregnancy cause it flies and now I know what they mean.
I got say it hasn't been so bad. I guess I was expecting all the famous morning sickness symptoms. Besides the migraine part, some couple days with heartburn, and getting car sickness (never had it before, now I get in the car and have to have an orange with me.) I'm doing fine! No puking, no nausea, no smells sensitivity... And even though I had tough times with migraines, I learned a good trick to deal with it. My sister-in-law's friend, Lilian, taught me to use peppermint oil on my forehead. Let me tell you, that little bottle is my best friend now! Lilian, thank you, thank you, thank you!

So, every friday I get an email from baby center telling me about my baby. He or she is now around three inches long, like the size of a medium shrimp(I like when they use fruits comparison better) and already has his/her unique fingerprints. It's so magical!

Speaking in shrimp, lately I'm craving sushi! It drives me crazy cause my doctor said NO! No raw food, so no sashimi, sushi, and all the yummy japanese food that I grew up eating! Man, that's some thing very hard about pregnancy, specially if you are like me that LOOOOOOOOOVES all type of food!

Yeah, 13 semanas e dando tchau pro meu primeiro trimestre. Passou tao rapido, nao da nem pra acreditar! Toda mae me diz que tenho que aproveitar minha gravidez porque voa e agora entendo exatamente o que elas querem dizer.
Na verdade nao tem sido tao ruim. Acho que esperava todos os famosos simtomas de gravidez. Alem das enxaquecas, alguns dias com asia, e passando mal no carro (nunca tive isso antes, agora quando entro no carro, tenho sempre que ter uma laranja comigo) estou bem! Nada de vomitos, nausea, aversao a cheiros... e mesmo tendo enxaquecas, aprendi um truque pra lidar com ela. A amiga da minha cunhada, Lilian, me ensinou usar oleo de menta na testa. Essa garrafinha tem sido meu melhor amigo! Lilian, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Entao, toda sexta recebo um email do baby center dizendo como esta o desenvolvimento do meu bebe. Ele ou ela esta +ou-  7.5 cm , como do tamanho de um camarao medio (eu gosto mais quando eles fazem comparacao com frutas) e ja tem sua propria impressao digital. Eh magico!

Falando em camarao, eu toh morrendo de vontade de comer sushi! Mas me deixa louca porque meu medico disse que nao! Nada de comida crua, entao nada de sashimi, sushi, e as comidas japonesas deliciosas que cresci comendo! Isso, e algo dificil da gravidez, especialmente se voce e como eu que adora  comida!