Art Show

So I realized today, that not only had I not blogged in a long while, I had completely forgotten that I had a blog! That's pregnancy brain for you...

Today was the school's Middle School and High School Fine Arts Show, and it is really nice to have it behind me! Actually, it was a great, but busy day, and I had not one, but two pieces of cheesecake! (Cheesecake, especially good cheesecake is particularly rare here.) That alone makes for a good day.

In all seriousness, it was fantastic to have examples of all of my students' work out all together. It gave a nice sense of accomplishment, and the other students were so impressed they told me they're planning on taking art next semester! I took my camera to school, but completely forgot to take even a single picture! (Again, I blame the pregnancy brain.) However, my middle school photojournalism students were assigned to "document" the event, so if I get any good pictures out of them I'll do my best to post them.

On another note, this weekend we are taking Jillian to Xi'an to see the Terracotta soldiers. I'm excited to go on one last trip before she leaves, and of course to stay in a western hotel again! Ah, to have a bath tub...and a soft bed...what more does a pregnant woman want in the world?

Hard to believe there's only three and half more weeks of school before we head home to AMERICA! Hurray! Sorry, Texas friends, for this 10 day trip we'll only be able to make it to Oregon. But we promise to be back this summer! Hope to see you all then.

Baby Bump

From Pregnancy

From Pregnancy

So I finally have a real baby bump! Of course to me my body has felt different for ages, but last week I wore an outfit that happened to highlight the bump and nobody can deny it from these pics. Most days I can still hide it pretty well depending on what I wear (you can see from the pictures how much even angles make a difference), but I'm definitely growing out of most of my clothes! Especially my pants. I can't wait to get back to the US for Christmas to buy some "in between" outfits.

My old work blessed me with quite a few items of maternity clothes when my sister came over in early October, but I think it will be awhile before I fit into either of the pants. And unfortunately almost everyone here has had a summer or fall baby, so no one has winter clothes to lend. I did get a wool skirt tailor made which turned out really well, but is a little big so will be awhile before I can wear it too. However, I was really impressed with it so I can't wait to go back and get some more clothes made! I also want to get a good winter maternity jacket made. The cool thing is that it is so much cheaper here to have it made than to buy it in the States! My skirt came out to about 15 USD, and I looked at equivalent ones for more than 50-100 USD online! Definitely a benefit of living outside the States.

A downside is that Chinese pregnancy clothes look a lot like US pregnancy clothes from the 80's. You know, overalls, huge overshirts, and baggy pants. So I haven't been able to find anything in the stores that I like. Actually, I haven't found any maternity shops since I've been pregnant at all...oh well.

By the way, we now have our tickets and we'll be back in Portland on December 22! Can't wait to see anyone who is around!