Happy Holidays from Bangkok!

"That boy's a runnin' fool." Kaya is always running and trying to race me. This photo was taken outside the Grand Palace the day before Kiran was born. We missed going in by five minutes. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this made us come back the next day and turned into quite a birth story! (Which I will tell sometime in the near future.)

Quality family time on the rooftop.

Kaya can swim!!!! (well sort of)

Being a father and husband are the two greatest things in my life. Needless to say, I immediately fell in love with Kiran.

I would probably have to say that this Christmas will be one of the most meaningful ones I have experienced in quite some time. Before my family objects, let me clarify.... We have just made an addition to our family. We only need the dog and a house and we are living the American dream, abroad. Not that *I* have ever strived to achieve the "dream," but for some reason it just feels right. We were very happy with just Kaya (and Bunte), but I think we always knew there was going to be another person in our lives at some point . Therefore, in some strange way, our family hasn't been complete. That sounds weird, so let's just say, a great thing got even better!

In addition to addition, the next reason this Christmas is so meaningful is because Kaya is at an age where he is so excited! Today, we made more cookies, since the first batch somehow disappeared. We also read, The Night Before Christmas, ate oyster stew, a Hesse tradition, (don't worry, I used oyster mushrooms instead of oysters!), put out the stockings, listened to Christmas music and watched Rudolph before bed. Kaya loved it all. He was bouncing all over the place. During the story, he ran out to check and see if we put milk out for Santa. It was so cute. The endless enthusiasm evokes memories and emotions I won't soon forget. I love you little Kaya. Thank you....

Sheela and I are gearing up for an early morning. If Kaya's instincts are honed, he will wake at around 3am to check things out. He may just wake anyhow, who knows!? In any event, we will keep you posted as to how Christmas on this side of the world works.

Siobhan, Sheela and Kiran. More to come on how Siobhan saved us!!

twins?!

Which one is Kaya and which one is Kiran?

Kaya, living la vida loca...

It's not all about Kiran these days. Big brother Kaya has been up to his usual tomfoolery. His days consist of legos, working out, reading and racing.

Kaya got a big brother gift when Kiran came home. He was very excited to receive his big brother tee-shirt and book.

Kaya works out every day. In fact, he motivates me to get up there and get moving. He now wants to be a muscle man when he grows up. According to Kaya, he is the strongest person in the family.

We "made" Christmas cookies. (We bought the cookies and made the frosting. As mentioned in an earlier post, Kaya picked the colors.)
Kaya was very helpful in giving his brother a quick bath.

Kaya loves his brother!

More Team Hesse pics:

Mamma with two Nurses and Kiran's Pediatrician. Finally, after four days we got to come home.

It doesn't get any better than this! Daddy and Kiran snoozin'.

Kiran wrapped up, probably dreaming about baseball or trees. Oh those redwoods...

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

Kiran, deep in thought.

This carving is from the weekend market. Pretty amazing huh!

Santa came to the library to say hello and hand out small gifts! (last week)

Here's how you calm him down Daddy...

with a kiss!

Mamma and Kiran

Kaya and I made frosting tonight. We don't have an oven so we couldn't bake sugar cookies. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find sugar cookies in the stores, so we bought some packaged cookies and will frost them tomorrow! Kaya's choices for colors were, pea green, sky blue, strawberry red and orange. Santa will be quite impressed I am sure.

Old blue eyes himself...

Kaya was very excited to be holding his brother. Especially since he wasn't crying!

Finally, a picture with open eyes. Yes, they are blue....for now.
Blue steel or is this Magnum? (Zoolander)

Day 2: Mamma and Kiran

Falling in love....
I had to check to see if this was Kiran or a picture from when Kaya was three days old!

Day 3: Nothing exciting to report, Kiran and the gang are all doing well in Bangkok. The Doctor wanted Sheela and Kiran to stay in the hospital for three nights. She couldn't turn down 24 hour care. It's amazing how much you forget about these little guys after being only four years removed from having the first. I couldn't for the life of me remember some pretty simple things.... For example: when changing a BOY'S diaper, make sure his thingy is pointed down!! Near miss today.

Kaya and I have been reading the Magic Tree House books that my Mom sent. He loves them and would sit down to read an entire book if I was willing to read that long. It would appear as if his major league baseball training will have to wait for another few weeks. Perhaps by spring training he will be motivated to commence batting practice. Maybe I will get him a book on how awesome it is to play baseball and that will inspire him.

The whole passport thing is going to be more of a process than we had originally anticipated. Apparently, you have to schedule appointments for this and the next available appointment is on January 6th, a week after we are supposed to have left Thailand! Fortunately, I have asked Santa for a time machine and I will make everything all better. Wish us luck on that front!!!!

Happy Holidays from snowy Bangkok!
Team Hesse
Cool Papa, Sheela, Kaya and Kiran

Just another day of sightseeing in Bangkok, oh wait...

Kiran Virgil Hesse (9:00 pm)

The nurses with Mamma and Daddy. About to move out of birthing unit to a more comfortable room! (4:00)

Mamma and Kiran soon after birth. Isn't it amazing how incredible she looks!! (1:35pm)Mamma at Grand Palace in Bangkok. (11:00 am) About an hour taxi ride away from the hospital!! She started to have contractions as we entered the palace, but chose to go on. Needless to say, it was a short visit....

Kiran Virgil Hesse was born at 1:24 pm on December 17th, 2009. He came quick, that's for sure. Sheela started having contractions at around 11:00 am and he was out and about sooner than we had ever anticipated (Kaya was 19 hours of labor).

Sheela showed tremendous strength and calm throughout the entire process. She really wanted to do this without any interventions and she did! (She did admit that for a brief moment she had reconsidered.) What an empowering experience, for all of us. I am so impressed with her attitude and courage. She had said time and time again that an epidural was the way to go, but then had a change of heart about a month ago. Sheela really wanted to do this completely natural and let me tell you.....She certainly did it. I teared up and fell in love with her all over again. What a woman!

Kiran is doing well thus far and is sleeping with his mother in the hospital. Kaya and I decided to come back to the apartment to catch some zzzz's. (I'm too excited and can't sleep though....)

When we named Kaya, we chose the name Kaya because it is a Turkish name and we wanted Kaya to have a connection with his Turkish roots and to also honor Sheela's mother. We chose Kiran for the exact same reasons, except this time to honor Sheela's father with an Indian name. Both boys have my last name and so they will be connected with my side as well!

The name Virgil is after my Father's Father. I have always been very fond of Grandpa and love him very much. He means an awful lot to me and we wanted to honor he and my family by giving Kiran his name for the middle name. (Sheela didn't want to go with any more baseball player middle names!)

Now the fun begins.....Oh, you thought I was talking about raising two boys?! Actually, we have to get his Thai birth certificate, then have it translated to English, get passport pictures, apply for a passport, apply for a Bangladeshi Visa and fly back to Dhaka. All by the 30th of December.

We are both very excited about everything and appreciate all the emails we have received so far. Please don't be offended if we don't get back to you right away. We promise more pictures though....

Happy Holidays....and much love.....
Chris, Sheela, Kaya and Kiran (or little foot, as Kaya has named him)

Kaya's first contact with Kiran.

Moments after being born

Are you serious?!

Thanksgiving Ramblings: Probably a waste of your time to read this… therapy for me!

People
The trouble with people is they need to get over themselves. Myself included.

Bangladeshis
Are you serious? Are you really walking down the middle of the road in Dhaka and you are actually surprised when I ring my bell at you when I am about to hit you with my bike?

Facebook
I think the trouble I have with facebook is, who the hell cares? I find it quite comical to see how people post everything. I find it disturbing that I read it! I should quit, but for some odd reason I feel compelled to stay onboard. What a waste of time. Yet, I am quite comfortable wasting it. (oh and I am posting this on the blog, what a hypocrite!)

Wanderlust
I am feeling inspired, but can’t really be bothered. I can’t really pinpoint why I am, or what inspires me? I am feeling like getting out of here, but can’t figure out where to go next? Why I ask you, and who are you? Why am I asking you? Life can’t really be that simple can it? Then why does it always seem so fricken hard? Man it’s a big world out there and you would think that, well, there I go again. I don’t really know what to think? It’s a big world out there and sometimes I seem so insignificant, even to myself. All I know is, that I always feel like I need to go.

Bangladeshis, Part 2
Stop staring at me!

The evolution of me
Thinking back ten years ago, man times have changed. I was so silly back then. What an idiot! The best thing I have done for myself was to leave the country and join PC. This of course led to some other pretty significant changes in my life, including finally starting to use my brain. Awareness, variety, marriage, family, independence….

My Family
Keeps me going. It is the most important thing in my life. They give me stability, support, hope, direction and a reason. I am so thankful for them. Can’t wait to see number two.