America Update

So on day 7 of being here the unbelievable happened... Ev finally slept until 7:30am!!!!! Until today both she and Elijah have remained on the time at home. We (actually just Todd) got to get a full nights sleep. The first time in over a week. YEAH for sleep. Just as Ev looks like she is getting adjusted to the 14 hour time difference we will leave and go back home.

Ev's English has really been improving since being here. She is using a lot more words and phrases and short sentences and she isn't speaking as much Chinese as she usually does.

Yesterday it got up to almost 60 degrees so we played outside in the leaves. My mom had bought bubbles so Ev enjoyed bubbles and the outdoors. One of the first days we were here it was also 60 degrees and my mom, Todd and Ev played outside in my grandparents backyard. But Ev wouldn't walk in the grass until Todd showed her it was okay. Back home there is not much grass and what little grass there is it is off limits to walk on. It was really funny to see Ev walk around the grass until she was told it was okay. We didn't realize she hadn't walked in grass before nor that she had picked up on the cultural thing from home. Too funny.

Trip to America

On Christmas Eve we left our home at 6:30am to fly home to America. After 30 plus hours of traveling, 4 planes, about 5 hours of lay overs, after Elijah leaking on Todd's coat, Ev throwing up on me, her lambie blanket and our coats, and a toddler who didn't sleep we made it to Kansas. :)
We've been here for a couple of days right now and are still trying to adjust to the 14hour time difference. We are HOPING that the kids will sleep longer than 3am so we can get some rest! But we are around family so that is a wonderful blessing. It is all worth it in the end.

An Early Christmas

We decided our Sunday afternoon that we will be making a short trip back to America to see my grandma. We talked about it and then started looking for flights and by the evening we had purchased our tickets. We had tried to leave our early Tuesday morning but when we went to buy the tickets the site we were on wouldn't let you purchase tickets less than 3 days in advance. So we are now leaving Wednesday morning our time. So yesterday I was scrambling trying to pack us up and get the house ready for us being gone. We decided to have Christmas early. So we read our story and opened our stockings. That took longer than expected, then we ate dinner, and then we spent the rest of the night opening our presents. So we are having a different Christmas for sure. We'll be flying for 24 hours plus to get to the States of Christmas Eve. We may be in for major culture shock with coming home during the holidays. Oh well! I am curious how Ev is going to respond to America. Actually I am hoping she does well on our long 14 hour flight. Hopefully the plane won't be very full so she won't bother people. A friend of mine offered her home for us to stay in and some people are looking for car seats. Here they don't use them. I am actually use to this so it is going to be weird for all 4 of us to strap both kids in seats. Actually I guess we will have to wear seat belts too. I am hoping Ev thinks it is cool and won't scream the whole time we are in the car.
The middle of next month was the start of our traveling until the end of February... so I guess we are just getting an early start on it. We will fly to America on Christmas Eve and stay there until January 6th. We'll return home until we leave again for Thailand on January 14th. We will be in 5 different cities until the middle of February where we will visit some friends in another city on our way back home. So busy times and lots of airports, planes, buses, subways, and all kinds of transportation. I know by the end of our travels we will be wanting our beds and home.

Nativity Scenes

So if you read my post from the last day in November you remember that we have been telling Ev the story of Jesus' birth gradually every day as we celebrate Advent. It is a very basic story and it has been a slow process gradually telling it over the month but she is getting it. As we pull out visual aids from my Advent calendar they either go up on the top of the calendar or in our manger scene. I wanted her to be able to play with them so I laminated the pieces and today Ev spent a good part of the morning playing with all the characters. I thought it was funny when she lined them up in the doorway. Todd had gone out to get some juice and as he was opening the door I was yelling so he wouldn't step and crush all of the little people. Then today in a care package friends of ours sent us a few great books on Jesus' birth and a nativity scene that is kid friendly. These items really go along well with everything. Ev played with the nativity characters all evening. After carrying them around in her play pot and in an spice container turned into jewelry holder I got her to put them in the manger. This is how she put them. I love how the Joseph is in front of the sheep and how baby Jesus is on the outside corner. When we first pulled the set out of the care package we asked her who each character was... in her sweet voice she said "baby Moses" instead of baby Jesus. She has a book about baby Moses and well yes the straw surrounding Jesus kind of looks like the basket Moses was in.

Family Christmas Picture 2008

We went to a friend's party on Thursday and took our family picture in front of their Christmas tree like we did last year. We tried to take one in front of our tree but the kids were not smiling at the same time and Todd was distracted by the Cowboys game. I decided to post both pictures to see how we have changed (Todd's hair, Elijah was in my tummy and now is a happy little 7 month old -even though he doesn't look so happy in the picture and Ev's hair is longer!!)

What Have I Been Up To????

So a friend asked me if I had fallen off the planet or something. (Not really but she noticed I hadn't emailed or posted in about a week.) Thanks Trin for caring! :) I thought maybe these last 3 post would update those of you who like to read this blog... :)

We are making presents to give to the families here this year. Actually I AM MAKING the presents. This is what I have been up to lately... in no specific order...

I made 2 little crayon/marker holders for the kids. I experimented with one for Ev first. We are going to be traveling a lot and so I thought this would hold her crayons, markers and a little pad of paper and I can just pull it out, untie it and give it to her on the airplanes. I made another one for one of our little friends. I need to make one for her brother now.

I made a Christmas tree skirt for this couple. The wife loves snowflakes so I hand beaded 3 on the skirt.

I'm in the process of crushing one of those inch thick candy canes to make homemade peppermint cocoa for another family.

Ev and I worked on Xmas cookies... we still need to ice them. I may have to make another batch - the ones we made are half gone already!

I made some bagels for another family. Making 2 batches from scratch took me a total of 4 hours.

I made a sun dress for Ev and then decided to make a matching one for her baby doll. (To be worn in Thailand.)

I made a bib for our friends here who have a little boy 6 weeks older than Elijah. One side I use a wash cloth that matches the material on the other side. It is reversible and turned out pretty cute.

I made a tablecloth for Ev and Elijah's kid table from IKEA we got them for Christmas.

I still have to make a few other things. I keep thinking of other things to make as I am in the process of working on others.
I'll post pictures tomorrow hopefully! Oh and I got most of these ideas off other blogs.

'Tis the Season to Get Pick Pocketed

So last week on the way to class Todd took this little bus that was way over crowded. (Think bodies on bodies where you can't move yourself it is so crowded. People are standing up in the middle of the bus, they are hovering over the people in seats ,people are slammed up against the door it is so full. ) So Todd was on this overcrowded bus and had his school bag with him. Then he realized what was happening. The guy less than a couple of inches from his face is reaching his hand into Todd's pocket of his bag. Todd then proceeds to go off on the guy in English really loudly. Everyone on the bus figures out what is going on... the guy loses face and gets off of the bus on the next stop.

I am suppose to take this bus a few days later but decided to opt out and take a taxi. I get more brave and take the bus and it is overcrowded yet again so I hold my bag as close as I can to my body.

Then comes Saturday. Ev and I make Christmas cookies in the morning and then I go out to quickly run some errands to get back in time for Todd to leave and go play baseball at 1:15pm. I walk as quickly as I can to the grocery store. I had in my mind everything I wanted and exactly where they were located. My first stop was on the first floor... bought a couple of things and headed for the escalator to go to the next floor. I was walking towards to escalator while putting my wallet back in my bag. The people here don't have any sense of personal space nor common courtesy... they will walk right in front of you and cut you off to get on the escalator. So some people did that to me and I just let them... not what I wanted to get upset about today. But then as I was on the escalator this teenage guy rudely shoves his way around me and cuts me off on my step. Weird I thought... I then rearranged my bag so that the attendant that was standing at the entrance of the 2nd floor wouldn't make me check what I had just purchased. I then looked at 2 items before deciding on an iron. I then realized I didn't have my wallet. My heart sunk and I quickly retraced my steps, went to the people I had bought stuff from on the first floor and then called Todd. Todd ended up packing up the kids and coming to where I was to talk to the manager.... but after about an hour I knew that my wallet was long gone. I lost my bus pass, my keys and 500 kuai. (A little under $100.) The whole incident set me back a bit... Todd ended up not being able to go play baseball and I still am frustrated that this happened. We think the kid on the escalator stole my wallet. Today Todd told me he witnessed a robbery... if only he knew what was going on before he did or he would have tackled the guy who was stealing.

2 yr old and Pilates

So today I decided to try to do my pilates work out while both kids were awake..... BAD IDEA! Elijah was fussy so after a couple of minutes I put him down for his afternoon nap. Ev on the other hand was with me. This is what my work out looked like. I turned the t.v. on and Ev was in awe of what was going on. I was laying on my back getting ready to lift up my legs and Ev decides to body slam me on my stomach. I manage to get her off and the next exercise you have your legs in an 90 degree position while your back in on the ground. The whole purpose is to strengthen your abs with your legs suspended but Ev kept trying to put my legs down. Then on to the next thing she jumped on top of my legs as they are in the air and ended up body slamming me on my stomach again. (this was not working!) Then I thought I had a break and I look over to see her on her back raising her leg up trying to do the stretch. HILARIOUS!!!

The 20 minute video was cut short when my 2 yr old had a pen taken from her that she had picked up and well she doesn't like to be told no. So on came the temper tantrum and she was sent to bed early. I didn't get to finish my video because I was too worn out from the kids. Elijah was crying the whole time because he decided a couple of days ago that he wants to revert back to being a 2 month old and wants to be put to be rocked to sleep. Even though he has learned how to do it himself... he will scream for 2 hours or more to be put to sleep. (We experienced this our early Sunday morning!)

Kid Carriers

Right now I own 4 baby/kid carriers. I have a Infantio baby sling, a Snugli front and back carrier, a Playtex hip hammock and now a Moby wrap. I got the last one this week when I took Elijah to our midwife to get his shots. She saw that I was using my hip hammock (meant for older kids) because I could actually fit him in it since he was wearing his big snowsuit. He's too big for the sling now and he doesn't fit in the Snugli with his gear on. She told me about a lady here who had the Moby wrap made locally and VERY cheaply. She had a few so she gave me one. When I got home I looked up the instructions on the Internet. Elijah was sleeping so I used Ev's doll.... she thought that was the greatest thing and now thinks I am suppose to carry her doll around. Then I tried it out on Elijah and I have to say that I am really liking the Moby. My friend told me that it was the most comfortable way to carry your kid and I believe it. I love the variety of holds, I like that you can carry a sleeping baby in it, it feels the most comfortable and it also feels secure. Ev even wanted me to put her in it and so I did. Even with her in it it was comfortable. It didn't feel like I was carrying 25 lbs! As I was looking up the directions I looked at the price. Almost $40... you've got to be kidding. The one I have is simply a very large piece of t-shirt material. It is stretchy fabric - that's it. Granted mine doesn't have the brand name and it isn't a fun color... but still. Someone is making a killing off of them. I'm wishing I had this way back with Ev and even when Elijah was smaller. There is this one way called the "hug hold" and if your baby falls asleep ( like Elijah did on Wednesday when we were leaving our friends house and walking to a taxi) you can just pull up this one part and it covers the head and holds it close to your body. It was awesome. I am too excited about it right now. We will be traveling a lot next month so I am hoping that the Moby will come handy. I am not sure how it will do in hot weather though. It also is so small compared to the other carries when you are not using it. Have I sold you on it? Go check out the website for yourself. http://www.mobywrap.com/

VERY cold weather

The harsh part of winter has hit us finally. Last year this came so much sooner. I am very surprised that it is mid December and it is just now getting bitter BITTER cold. We have a widget on our computer that tells us the temperature. A whopping 5 degrees this morning! The wind has been picking up too, making it even colder. Last year my normal dress included wearing wool socks and long underwear everyday - even inside! And going outside you have to have a hat, gloves, scarf to cover your face and a heavy coat and good warm shoes. (Since you most likely spend at least 15-20 minutes if not more walking.) We went out to dinner a couple of nights ago and the only part of my skin that was showing was the skin around my eyes. People here wear masks over their nose and mouth. Think SARS masks!!
I went to put money on our gas card last week. I had to get our 500 units in before it turned December. We can only buy 500 units a month so you have to store them up so you have enough to last you the month. If you run out, it's too bad for you. No hot water, no gas, no heat! Crazy huh? We have the luxury of using our floor heating when ever we want. Most apartments don't have control of their heat. Heat isn't turned on city wide until mid October and it is turned off at a certain time. This is just one of the reasons we look forward to leaving the country and going down south. :)

Teeth and Bath Time

I finally got a picture of Elijah's first 2 teeth. With a little help from daddy distracting him I was able to capture this shot.

We also moved Elijah into the duck tub for bath times. He doesn't like to be on his back very much any more. At dinner time he sits in the high chair and likes being up with us. He is still not sitting up completely on his own yet but hopefully that will happen soon. Elijah loved his bath in the duck tub. He figured out that he could use his hands to splash. That was all he did the rest of the bath. He is so different from Ev. She isn't into splashing.

Another fun thing that Elijah does is growl. He likes to do it to get attention or just do it for fun. We think it is hilarious.

Ahh, the differences between boys and girls!

Decorations

Here are some pictures of our Christmas tree. We want to be intentional with what we put on it. Last year we made these picture people group oraments. Last year these as well as other ornaments made our friends curious and ask us what they were. Tonight we will have one of Todd's friends over and between our Advent decorations and our tree we are hoping to be able to share some of the story with him.