Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Ways My Daughter Is A Little Bit Chinglish

When she pretends to talk on the phone, she says "Wei? Wei?" (this is how a Chinese person answers the phone).

Purses are called "Bao" (bag in Chinese).

All children of Asian descent are referred to by her as "Meimei" (Little sister in Chinese).

One night I was particularly proud of myself for managing to cook lassagna for dinner (a difficult and expensive meal to make over here). Lizbeth would barely taste it. We finally resulted in giving her left over Chinese food my helper had made.

Dogs are called "Doudou". It is a combination of "dog" and the Chinese word for dog, "gou".

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Independent

I've been wanting to post this for awhile, it was taken back on November 8th. Our little one is becoming more and more independent. One day I came around the corner to find this:

From Nov 2011


She had carried her stool, to help her get onto the bathroom stool, to wash her hands by herself. Clever, but a bit risky, crazy kid.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Snow

About a week ago we were blessed with a light dusting of snow. Just enough to play in, not enough to cause any real problems.

Even though it's not Lizbeth's first snow, she definitely had no memory of it. She was quite befuddled by this white coating, and for the most part had fun walking around in it.

Eventually she did slip on the concrete, which scared her enough she was done with snow for the day. No matter what I did, she insisted on me carrying her home. Still, overall it was a fun little morning outing.

What is all this white stuff?
From Snow


How do I get up without putting my hands in it? (we don't have any gloves for her right now. I hope to remedy that soon)
From Snow


Where are all the big kids going? (to school) Why can't I go with them? (because pregnant mama can't keep up on this ice!)
From Snow


Our back gate guard house with the ocean in the background.
From Snow


A little bit hazy of a sunrise, but pretty none the less.
From Snow


Come on mama, I'm not ready to go home yet.
From Snow


I love pictures of snow on the beach.
From Snow

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Tree Decorating

From Christmas


Last night we finally got around to decorating our tree.

We were amazed at how quickly Lizbeth caught on. When we brought out the box of ornaments, she was at first excited to just have a new box of stuff to explore. But once we convinced her to let us show her how to put them on the tree, she took off. Here I am showing her the first two ornaments.

From Christmas


Can you tell which was her favorite color to hang?

From Christmas


We had to convince her to add some red ones.

From Christmas


And to go higher. Although she got the stool on her own.

From Christmas


Sometimes Daddy helped.

From Christmas


From Christmas


This is one of my favorite ornaments.

From Christmas


It's nice to have the house a little more festive! We're getting excited for Christmas :-)

Friday, December 9, 2011

Just Like Mommy

Lately, Lizbeth wants to be just like mommy. If mommy wears it, holds it, or eats it, she wants to too.

Necklaces, bows, purses, shoes, hats, our girl is definitely a girly one.

The other day I left my makeup where she could reach it. I was distracted on the phone, hung up, and turned around to see Lizbeth putting my eyeliner into my eye shadow, then drawing on her eye :-)

From Dec 2011


Wearing my shoes is another one of her favorite things. I have a rack of shoes I pretty much haven't worn since before I was pregnant with her, being that high heals, China streets, and pregnancy/carrying infant don't particularly go together. Well she loves to get them all out one by one and tromp around the house in them. She actually does quite a good job wearing high heals! I just feel sorry for our downstairs neighbors who have to hear clomp clomp clomp all day long! (you'll also notice mommy's necklace in this picture!)

From Dec 2011


One day she found my hat drawer and came out wearing one by one to show me, as if she were in a fashion show. Unfortunately she was not in a particularly camera cooperative mood.

What a cutie, if I do say so myself :-)

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Winter Ball 2011

Last night was our city's annual Expat Charity Winter Ball. This is our third year attending, and my second year volunteering on the decorating committee. I love a good excuse to get all dressed up and eat a five course western meal, and of course getting a new dress is a perk as well. :-)

I have to say though, this was the first year we weren't able to go with the Carmans, and I missed them the entire time! Last year Jacquelyn, our friend Valerie, and I got ready together, such a girlie fun time of good memories. This year neither of them were going, and I missed them both.

Valerie did do my hair, which was AWESOME :-) The theme this year was 1930's Hollywood. It was the first year to have a theme you could really dress up to, and it was fun to see what small touches people came up with. I decided to not try and do a themed dress, as it already had to be maternity. But Val did a fantastic job with my hair, and many people complimented me on it, as well with the authenticity of it. Yes, we did use a Youtube video for inspiration...

Anyways, on to pictures. (These are for you JK!)

In the foyer for hor d'ouvres in front of the ice sculpture
From Winter Ball


Nathan performing with our school's Jazz Band for the pre dinner entertainment
From Winter Ball


The table. Lots of black, white, and glass.
From Winter Ball


Bread and wine for when we first sat down.
From Winter Ball


I forgot to photograph the appetizer! It was probably the most unusual looking one too...bummer.

Chestnut Soup
From Winter Ball


Palate Cleanser (A candy shell on top of a small bowl of mango sorbet, all on top of a large ice cube with a light inside)
From Winter Ball


Main Course
From Winter Ball


Dessert
From Winter Ball


My totally cool hair :-)
From Winter Ball


From Winter Ball


The three of us :-)
From Winter Ball


Full length shot of my dress after we got home
From Winter Ball


My Dashing '30s Husband
From Winter Ball


A fun night out for all :0)
From Winter Ball



Last note, if you're wondering about Nathan's almost clean shaven face, our school this month had a No Shave November men bonding thing, and they all grew quite hairy. For fun, Nathan decided to get a haircut and shave completely (something that has only happened once since he graduated high school over 10 years ago!) We've been laughing at all of the different reactions, and the different famous people people say he looks similar to. Who do you think of?