GirlTravelOR

Jetlag

2012-01-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

It's six thirty AM. I've been up since 3:00. Well, really since two, when Lizbeth woke up crying and I moved her to our bed hoping for a little more sleep to no avail.

I've baked bread, made and fed her breakfast, washed dishes, and played with her. This jet lag thing stinks. I would love for a little more sleep.

We had a good trip back to the States, though all of the time changes wore on us a bit. I'm ready for life to return a little bit to normal, but it doesn't sound like it will for several more days. It took her the better part of two weeks just to adjust to American time.

I'll try and post highlights of our trip over the next few days. For now, I thought I'd just get these up while I was thinking of them. I happened to get up to take Lizbeth for a walk on the plane just as we were flying over some part of Alaska (I think). Nathan captured these pictures. It was an incredible view.

From USA

Ways My Daughter Is A Little Bit Chinglish

2011-12-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

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".

Independent

2011-12-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

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.

Snow

2011-12-16T18:22:00.000-08:00

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

Who Could Not Love This Face?

2011-12-15T18:17:00.000-08:00

From Dec 2011

Tree Decorating

2011-12-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

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

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 :-)

Just Like Mommy

2011-12-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

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 :-)

Winter Ball 2011

2011-12-04T04:21:00.000-08:00

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

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?

A Month Away, and a Small Celebration

2011-11-20T03:12:00.001-08:00

One month and I haven't been able to get on here to see what anyone is doing or update people either! Yesterday, my dear husband was finally able to get my internet connection going again, so I'm back!

This is old news to probably most of you, but can you guess what we were celebrating after my doctor's appointment last month?

From Oct 2011

Sorry I can't update you more, but will try to do so soon depending on my future ability to connect to blogspot. Miss you all!

Cheese Face

2011-10-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the last pic, it's nearly impossible to get a picture of Lizbeth (or video for that matter) without her cheese face. We think it's pretty cute though...

As soon as she spots the camera, this is what she gives us.

From Sept 2011

From Oct 2011

Pony Tail

2011-10-19T02:27:00.000-07:00

Lizbeth has the sweetest hair. I've tried to catch the back of it on camera several times and just keep failing...she moves too fast.

It's very straight on top. So straight that in the front it often sticks off her forehead. In the back, it is straight and then twists into these tight little curls right at the base of her neck. Because it always looks so cute, I hardly every try and do anything to it.

The other day though, I just couldn't resist. I gave her a pony tail. She was surprisingly patient with me, even as I didn't have a rubber band on me and made her walk with me as I held her hair in position all the way across the house. She immediately wanted to see herself in the mirror and smiled widely at "Lelah", what she calls her reflection in the mirror :-)

From Oct 2011

Her current "cheese" face--it's hard to get a picture these days without it!

From Oct 2011

Hello Second Trimester!

2011-10-17T02:06:00.000-07:00

My biggest symptom this pregnancy has been exhaustion. Almost every day I've been able to take a nap while Lizbeth does (or at least 3 out of 4 days) and I still nearly pass out around 8:30 at night. Mornings have me dragging around for the first several hours, and at one point I had an actual mini meltdown.

Suddenly last week, I woke up and decided I had enough energy to tackle the kitchen. My drawers had been driving me crazy, the top of the fridge was about to start climbing down the sides, and Lizbeth's dish shelf was a hodgepodge of every random item someone didn't know where to put. I started with the drawers...

From Oct 2011

Unfortunately I wasn't thinking to have before pictures, but I did snap one of the top drawer mid progress. 4 hours later, the counter was cleared, the pantry was completely organized (shelves, drawer, and top) and the "drop everything" shelf by the outside door were also sorted, cleaned, and re-organized.

Here are a few "after" pics.

From Oct 2011

As cleared as our counter ever gets.

From Oct 2011

Top Shelf-->Snacks
Middle Shelf-->Drink fixings
Bottom Shelf-->Canned goods and baking supplies

From Oct 2011

Lizbeth helping to "unorganize" the pantry :-)

From Oct 2011

This wonderful, though psycho, burst of energy has thankfully hung around the past week. It's wonderful to not feel as though I'm dragging behind Lizbeth constantly. My bedroom, Nathan's desk/dvd area, and a few other areas have also benefited since. I'm hoping it will stick around for awhile so I can finally get things taken care of before new baby comes along!

Observant

2011-10-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

My child is incredibly observant. She has been showing me in many different ways lately, but this one stuck out to me as it was never anything we said or did.

On our last trip to America, Korean Air gave Lizbeth a small cloth bag of stickers and things. When we got off the plane, I quickly crammed several miscellaneous items into the bag and carried it off with everything else. When we returned home, after unpacking, somehow this little bag of stickers and cards and things never really got emptied. Instead, someone at some point decided to hang it on her doornob. It was never intentional, and actually kind of annoyed me as it seemed very out of place.

This last week I was given a psycho second trimester burst of energy and decided I couldn't put up with the house any longer (more on that in my next post). Of the many things I took care of that day, this bag was finally (four months later) emptied of it's belongings. I considered throwing the bag out but thought Lizbeth might actually want to play with it. I called her over, handed the bag into her delighted hands, and went back to work.

A few minutes I heard her struggling with something and found her trying to re-hang the bag on the door nob! I didn't even realize she knew it had been there, but somehow she thought that was where it belonged! Instead of playing with it as I had thought she would, she decided to "put it away".

The bag continues to hang on the door nob.

From Oct 2011

13 1/2 Weeks

2011-10-05T01:15:00.000-07:00

While we were up in Beijing these past couple days for a conference, I went ahead and had a sonogram. More on the actual experience later (great!), thought some of you would want to see a pic of our new little bean :-)

From 2011-10-05

Adorable As Always

2011-09-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

A few cute shots of Lizbeth lately.

Our little teenager:

From Sept 2011

Has ever there been a sweeter face?

From Sept 2011

This is her sign language for "brush teeth". She made it up, and yes, she gets this excited about it every time!

From Sept 2011

Shhh!!!

From Sept 2011

Loving to feed herself:

From Sept 2011

15 Kuai

2011-09-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

The other day, Nathan went to get his hair cut, by his usual haircutter who charges 15 kuai (about 2.50 USD)

Nathan has gone to him for about two years ago, and we really like the hair stylist and are usually fairly pleased with the product (and especially with the price). It's walk in style, and this guy is always busy, but we don't mind waiting a little while.

Sometimes Nathan goes on his own, but this day I was feeling a little antsy so we took off together on our bikes. I just figured that I would hang out with Lizzy until he was done and hoped for a short line. Unfortunately, there were two people ahead of Nathan so we had to wait about 40 minutes. Even more unfortunately, by the time he was done, it was pouring! I'm talking torrential downpour.

So we waited for a little while to see if it would ease up. It poured harder. I was cranky by now, hungry (we hadn't eaten dinner and it was getting close to 7:00 PM), and tired. Of course we hadn't brought umbrellas since we were on bikes, and even a short walk to a nearby restaurant a block away would soak us to the bone. Nathan wanted to just ride through it and go home, but this seemed like a terrible idea to me.

Finally, I thought, maybe the haircutter has an umbrella we could use? I asked him, and immediately he went to find us one. Another lady there, I'm not sure if she was a customer or staff, quickly offered us hers too. I explained I didn't know how long we'd be since we were going to go to dinner, maybe an hour, and they said it was no problem. He kindly let us leave our bikes there too. Thrilled with my idea, we went off to eat a yummy dinner of hamburgers and pasta at a nearby western restaurant.

An hour later, tummies full and rain stopped, we wandered back to the hair salon to trade the umbrellas for our bikes. They were safely waiting for us, and he had even covered them with an extra hair cutting cover to keep off most the rain, then gave us tissues to dry off the rest.

I thought, in America I would never be so presumptuous to ask to use someone's umbrellas, and I also wouldn't feel safe leaving my bikes at the hair salon! I would never expect them to use their own things to cover my bikes, or help us dry them off! I love the kind and generous spirit of the Chinese. I love feeling like the haircutter is my friend, even though I see him twice a year. I love being able to bike everywhere, and I love having Nathan's hair cut for 15 kuai!

Happy Moon Festival!

2011-09-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Monday was the Chinese Moon Festival, also known as the Mid Autumn Festival. It is celebrated with family returning from all over China, eating, fireworks (of course), and the sharing of moon cakes.

Moon cakes have the equivalent status as fruit cake in the States. Although there are many varieties, they are usually a sweet bread with a chewy center, often made of red bean paste, fruit, or egg yolk. Everyone hands them around but I'm not sure how many people eat them! Foreigners in particular are generally not the most fond of them.

Much to my surprise, when I was up at school yesterday, the local school we share a campus with said they had a gift for us. Nathan and I had taught a three week drama class over the summer, and I have helped out in some other classes.

Because they know that foreigners often don't care for Moon Cakes, they were very considerate and came up with their own idea of a gift, staying in the genera of food. Cheese! Five pounds of Cheddar.

From Sept 2011

One might think this is a strange gift, but at nearly 14 USD a pound for your normal grocery cheese, I was very excited about this gift! It was very thoughtful of them (actually most Chinese don't particularly care for cheese, especially strong flavoured ones) and we are very thankful. We now have a freezer full of yummy goodness for months to come!

Shanghai Aquarium

2011-09-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

From Sept 2011

This past weekend Lizzy and I went with Nathan on a trip to Shanghai. Nathan had a tech conference there, and rather than do another weekend alone (we'll still have two in September alone), I decided we would go with.

As it turned out, we didn't get to do much sightseeing. The location of the conference was so far out of Shanghai it was 48 kuai (6.5 USD) just to get to the closest Subway station. (This is a ridiculous amount. My average trip in Qingdao by taxi costs about 2.5 USD.) Not to mention the time factor, with good traffic and taking a taxi the whole way, it was still nearly an hour to just get downtown. Not particularly worth it for just a couple hours.

The one thing we did do (tourist wise) was go to the Shanghai Aquarium. Lizbeth has been obsessed with fish lately so we figured it would be a fun activity to do as a family before Nathan had to check into the conference. At more than 20 USD a ticket it was a little bit of a disappointment but still a lot of fun. I only wish they had a little hands on area like the ones in Oregon are apt to have and maybe a dolphin show or something (or at least some dolphins!)

Funny thing was, as besotted as Lizzy is with fish, she was quite terrified of anything larger than her, especially the fake plastic penguins. But she still enjoyed the trip a lot.

Unfortunately the whole thing was very dark and hard to get any clear pictures. Here are a few of the better ones.

From Sept 2011

We returned about 5PM, then Nathan had to run off the conference so L and I wandered around a mall. Afterwards we had a late dinner at a Chinese restaurant about 9PM. Lizbeth passed out on the walk home. This picture was taken after the diaper changing she slept through. Other than a two hour nap we had been going since about 5AM that morning to catch our flight. Unfortunately, she woke up shortly after this was taken and had a really hard time going to bed not at home. Poor baby.

From Sept 2011

If You're Wondering Why...

2011-09-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in forever, it's because I just haven't had any energy! I'm napping almost every day.

And if you're wondering why I'm so tired, the answer is in the picture below!

From Sept 2011

And if you're wondering when Greene Baby 2 is going to greet the world, my due date is around April 7th. This makes me about 9 1/2 weeks along.

I had hoped to post my sonogram picture here, but it was such a fuzzy image, it just wasn't worth the effort.

Regardless, we're very excited about our new little addition!

Just Because She's So Pretty

2011-08-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

From Aug 2011

I absolutely love this picture. It's hard to get good pictures of Lizbeth these days. She would much rather come see what you are photographing than be in the picture itself. This is such a good picture of where she is right now. Sweet smile, her hair with a touch of curl, so many pearly white teeth poking through. The only thing not evident in this picture is just how busy she is!

Lizbeth is into everything these days, running, climbing, dancing, spinning. She's super cute, and has a sweet personality. Generally feels really bad when she does something wrong (if I don't catch her throwing food off her plate, I'm usually alerted to it by her telling herself "no, no!"). She's still not much one for cuddling, but she loves to sit in your lap to play with toys or read a book. For 30 seconds, that is. :-) Everyone exclaims about just how smart and good-natured she is, Chinese and foreigners alike! She loves the ocean, and going places. She loves wrestling with her daddy and going for bikerides. She sleeps great (takes 1 minute to put down at night), though she is an early riser! Somewhere between 5:15 and 6:00 we can count on hearing her cries for us. She also loves to eat, but is starting to be a bit of a picky eater.

Overall she is a delight, and we feel so blessed to have her in our lives.

Exploring

2011-08-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got brave and decided to take Lizbeth on a biking/photographing trip. Last Saturday Nathan and I had gone for a 5 1/2 hour trip down to the older sections of Qingdao but we had only taken the older camera and the battery died three pictures in. Kicking myself for not taking my super awesome Canon camera, I was itching to go back. We didn't go nearly as far (Nathan usually has Lizbeth on his bike and her plus her seat weigh a lot!), but it was a good first run.

Lizbeth loves rocks

From Badaguan

An old, unmatched door

From Badaguan

I just liked the way this picture lined up

From Badaguan

Lizbeth also loves the ocean

From Badaguan

These little shacks might not look like much but they have an ocean view!

From Badaguan

An old street

From Badaguan

Old German houses from the Badaguan area

From Badaguan

A quiet Qingdao street on our way home

From Badaguan

Ayi Trip

2011-08-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, while my sister was here, my Ayi arranged to take us on a trip. As with all things that are discussed and planned in Chinese, I wasn't too clear on exactly what we were going to be doing.

First, we took a bus to a place where we could meet up with our other friends who were going and our Ayi.

Then we walked to another bus, which thankfully was air conditioned since we were on it for an hour and a half.

We arrived at a large park named the "2008 Olympic Sculpture Park". It had a large man-made lake in the center where you could take paddle boats, a small carnival area with bumper cars and a few other things, and life size bronze statues of all of the Chinese 1st place winners.

We had a nice time wandering around and took paddle boats and ate icecream, but it was incredibly hot and sticky!

Lizbeth and her Ayi

From Aug 2011

The locusts were again everywhere and incredibly loud!

From Aug 2011

Friends

From Aug 2011

A Statue

From Aug 2011

Hot and Sweaty for all

From Aug 2011

Bubbles!

From Aug 2011

Pretty girl

From Aug 2011

Lizbeth fell in love with her Shu Shu (Ayi's husband). She had met him once before but they really hit it off this time. He carried her everywhere and she even took a nap in his arms. Ayi told me last Wednesday that he misses her already.

From Aug 2011

Paddle Boats

From Aug 2011

Lizbeth wasn't so keen on sitting still

From Aug 2011

After lunch we all went to have lunch together

From Aug 2011

Some of the group went home after lunch but Ayi had planned for us to go to an indoor amusement park. We were actually quite impressed with it, although it was quite expensive for the rides, between $1.50 and $4.50 per ride. They might have an all day special but we're not sure.

Double Decker Carousel

From Aug 2011

Pirate Ship (we all went on this one and it was quite fun)

From Aug 2011

Lizbeth had conked out by the time we got to the amusement park. Poor baby. All day was too long for her.

From Aug 2011

After she woke up we took her to the bounce house before leaving the park.

From Aug 2011

By 4:00 we were all exhausted and ready to be home. Unfortunately, the trip home was where the adventure really began. We waited for a long time for the bus, paid the 4.5 kuai fare (most buses are 1-2 kuai) and got on ready to relax-only to have it break down...TWICE! My ayi argued for a long time with the bus attendant to get our fares back (even calling the supervisor), then we had to take another two buses and a taxi to get home...totaling nearly four hours! Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we arrived after 8:00 PM. Thankfully Lizbeth was amazing through the whole ordeal.

It was a fun day, but was definitely a "Chinese" experience. We never really understood what exactly we were doing, had a lot of standing around and waiting time, and a LOT of time on the public bus. These days are always great in that we actually feel as though we are living in China, but we are so thankful to come home to our air conditioned and comfortable apartment!

Typhoon

2011-08-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well, more of a tropical storm by the time it got to us, thankfully. But it still created some impressive waves.

From Aug 2011

Check out the size of the people with the umbrellas at the corners of the photo for size approximation.

From Aug 2011

These pictures were taken from my friend's apartment, one building closer to the ocean than us. We live three buildings and a grassy area away from the ocean.

Check out the size of the swells.

From Aug 2011

And the giant crashes.

From Aug 2011

You can't see it, but about thirty feet out from that wall where the people are standing is a sea break. This made the waves break far enough out that you might be able to feel the spray but were in no danger of really being hit. It made for a great show.

This morning the waves are much smaller, but the ground is torn up. Must have been some powerful winds to tear granite tiles up from the ground. Not even sure how that works. Lizbeth and I were out there earlier, but I forgot my camera so no pictures :-(

Thank Him for wearing down the intensity of the storm and keeping us safe so all we had was a wonderful display of His power.

Visitor

2011-08-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

If you've been wondering where we've been (since it's been forever since I've posted), we've had a visitor! Lizbeth's Aunt Elizabeth (say that three times fast) came to visit us for a week and we were busy. Here are a few pics of them together. I hope to post more soon.

From Aug 2011

Picking Peaches

2011-07-23T00:41:00.000-07:00

For the last day of our intensive Chinese class, our teachers took us to the countryside to pick peaches! While it was swelteringly hot and humid, it was a great experience and I hope to do so again on a much cooler day.

First we had to walk/hike out to the peach orchard

From July 2011

A little plot we passed along the way:

From July 2011

The locusts were so loud it hurt our ears!

From July 2011

Lizzy didn't quite know what to make of what we were doing at first.

From July 2011

But she got into it.

From July 2011

Oh, wait, we're here to pick peaches. That's right.

From July 2011

Then we headed back to a restaurant for lunch, where we had to prepare a lot of the ingredients.
Mantou (steamed bread)

From July 2011

Bean curd?

From July 2011

Corn:

From July 2011

And Corn Meal:

From July 2011

A hot but fun day for all!

From July 2011

What Teething Looks Like

2011-07-19T04:36:00.000-07:00

Lizzy has one molar breaking through and her four eye teeth moving in. On top of that, we're dealing with a stomach bug. My poor baby.

From July 2011

(forgive the dirty face, these were taken at dinner time *s*)

The Answer Is...

2011-07-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

Ice Cubes. In China, Yogurt is a much thinner dairy product that people often drink. Since the other two items are also drinks, "ice cubes" is the one that doesn't belong.

The funniest answer I got was "Yogurt, because it is a suspension and the others are all solutions." When I laughed he told me he seriously thinks that way. Crazy scientists :-)

I also liked the "Yogurt, because it is the only dairy item" response.

Just thought this was such a great example of cultural bias. Good job Denise for thinking with such an Asian mind! :-)

Belated Squeakly Addition

2011-07-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

Our Community here has a small newsletter called The Squeakly that one of the staff puts out each week to keep everyone abreast on current events, birthdays, school stuff, ect. They had an extra one this spring for all of the leaving staff, a collection of tributes to each family. Because of different situations, we had a record amount of leaving staff, I think upwards of 10 (to put this in perspective, last year we had zero, just one staff member who was transferring within company). While all of these people are our friends and we will miss them much there is one family that it breaks our hearts to say good-bye to. Unfortunately, this Squeakly Tribute Edition came out while I was in the States and while I knew about it, I just did not have the time to put anything together. I decided this would be the place to pay tribute to these wonderful friends for which China will just not be the same to us without them.

The Carmans were our host family three years ago when we arrived in Qingdao. We were a late addition (if you might remember we weren't accepted and assigned to Qingdao until we were actually at training). While we were busy packing up our house and saying last good-byes, Jacquelyn was in Sichuan with earthquake relief. She arrived back in Qingdao just a few days before we did. Jeremy had stayed behind to watch their two year old daughter, Anna and to prepare for us to arrive. Despite the busy summer they were having, they were a great support to us in those first few days.

At first our relationship was just as it was assigned. They were hosts and we were the new staff. Jacquelyn took me shopping to a few different places to get our apartment set up, Jeremy helped us with translation as we set up water delivery, internet service, ect. The had us over for dinner several times, and we began to reciprocate. I remember those first few weeks, as our relationship shifted from host/newbie to just friends. Being as insecure as I am, it took months for me to realize they were no longer just "helping us out" but had become dear friends.

Being our first Christmas in China, we were unable to return home and were not sure what it would look like. A little homesick, we were reminiscing about the previous Christmas when my sister had just moved in with us and we had a huge "sleepover" in the living room with her, the dog, and the cat. Jacquelyn said, "well, why don't we do that here? You guys can crash on the living room floor and we'll celebrate together." We did so, and I still remember little Anna's face as she came out of her bedroom that Christmas morning to find strange people on her floor! We had planned a trip to Beijing for just after Christmas to meet our friends who were having a baby up there, and we decided to invite the Carmans along. It was a great trip, and I will treasure our squished trip to the Great Wall forever. Anna and I really bonded that trip, and it was strange to return to our little apartment after spending over a week together between Christmas and Beijing!

That fall and spring we saw each other several times a week. We settled into a routine of Sunday night dinners and TV making it through the entire season of Firefly and some of Arrested Development. They became pregnant with their second child and Jacquelyn and I traveled to Beijing together for a doctor appointment. That summer I went to Beijing to care for Anna as they welcomed little Lucas into the world. We didn't see each other much that fall as Jacquelyn's father passed away and they returned to the States, I was just pregnant and not up to being out most evenings, and then they returned home for furlough the six weeks between Christmas and Chinese New Year. Our relationship withstood though, and they were a huge support to us as Lizzy was born here in Qingdao-the first company baby to be born in our city in many years! Then Jacquelyn became pregnant with Surprise Micah, and he was also born here in Qingdao. In fact, Lizbeth was the 1st of 10 babies born to our company within a year.

We knew long ago that they would not be signing a new contract. This year has one of saying good-bye and trying to adjust to not having them around all the time. Unfortunately, it has also been one of sickness-everything from strep to pneumonia. And of course there was Jeremy's appendectomy and numerous colds and viruses! Through it all, we have grown closer to them. It has been so fun to watch the interaction between Lizbeth and Lucas (we may have an arranged marriage in the works), and see Anna grow into a wonderful big sister. I'm so happy we were able to spend even just a few short months with baby Micah. Here is my prayer and thanks to each of you.

Anna, I love you dearly. You are a wonderful friend and I hope I can raise my daughter to be as dear as you. You are a great big sister, and very intelligent. I love to watch you with each of your parents individually and together. I love how you included me in your life, from playing the Wii to taking naps on the couch together! Thank you for letting me hold you when you were small and I didn't have a daughter of my own. Thank you for telling me how much you will miss me-I will miss you so much too! I hope you will remember us, even though I know as you grow we will be a distant memory of your childhood. I hope we can meet up again over the years and we can still be a part of your life.

Lucas, I am so glad I got to know you from the first day of your life. Your parents were so excited to have you, and I remember how nervous your dad was about having a boy! He has looked forward to playing ball with you and teaching you "boy" things since you were the size of a fist. I love your relationship with your mom and your little brother. You are such a tender young man, and I hope you will keep your sensitive heart and thoughtful spirit.

Micah, sweet Micah, oh how I love your smile! I love how you love to interact with people even at such a young age. I love how you are so calm and happy, how you make everyone feel better with just a small smile. I grieve the fact that we only had you near us for three short months, but I hope we can meet again over the coming years.

Jeremy, you are a wonderful father, co-worker, and friend. I love your quiet spirit that calms each of us down, even when you are inwardly panicking yourself! (Think-missed train to Beijing!) I love how you love your wife and children, and you are a great example to those around you. I love how much we think alike and what a great team we make when playing games. Thank you for being our friend and helping us so much over the years as we needed you to translate this or that! (You might think we don't need you anymore but we do!) You have been a great inspiration to me in Chinese language learning. I hope one day I can be as cool as you :-)

Jacquelyn, my dear friend, to you I have no words. I know whatever I write is so inadequate to what I feel. You have been an incredible friend from baking me special gluten free treats to listening to my many tears. You are a great wife and mother, and I know the Father has great plans for your family. Thank you for letting us be a part of your family. Thank you for loving my daughter so much. Thank you for your patience as I moaned just one more time about our housing, my job, or how much I wanted a baby! Thank you for being a great model in mothering and living in China. Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful food. Thank you for including me in Anna's birthday cakes and Lucas's birth. I love you dearly and pray we can continue our relationship while apart. It breaks my heart to say good-bye to you. I am honest when I say I just don't know what living in China looks like without you.

Carman family, we will miss you dearly, but know you are following His path. Our prayers and support are with you always.

Which of these does not belong?

2011-07-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Chinese homework question of the day:

Which of these does not belong?

1. Ice 冰块
2. Coke 可乐
3. Sprite 雪碧
4. Yogurt 酸奶

Any ideas? Please comment and let me know why you chose what you did :-)

Answer will follow in a future post, along with best and funniest answers.

The Obligatory Spaghetti Shot

2011-06-28T04:56:00.000-07:00

From June 2011

Why use utensils when hands are just so much more efficient?

Cocoa

2011-06-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing Lizzy is finally getting over her pneumonia because we added a fun addition to our household for the summer! A very sweet dog named Cocoa.

From June 2011

Cocoa's owners are on home leave for the summer, and we offered to watch her until they get back in August. The offer was two fold--number 1, to help them out. The second reason is because Lizzy Ann LOVES dogs. And cats. And anything else with four legs. Her favorite thing to do is to play to the "Animal Sounds" app on Daddy's phone. All she has to do is touch the screen and the current animal will say its respective sound. It has arrows for her to switch between animals. It entertains her endlessly.

Well, the sad part is that while there are many dogs around us all the time, I am slightly leery of letting her play with just any dog in the park. Vaccines are less common around here, and a bite usually requires a rabbis shot and maybe a flight to Hong Kong...not something I want to inflict on my toddler. We will probably get her the rabbis vaccination in August just in case, as recommended by our doctor.

So I'm very excited to have a furry little one for her to chase around of whom we know the history! Cocoa is still warming up to Lizbeth, but Lizzy is all for Cocoa...and Cocoa's food...and water...and bed...luckily Cocoa is very patient.

Living in a Cloud

2011-06-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

Although the weather here has in general been very nice, the other day I looked out the window and saw this.

From June 2011

Luckily it only lasted a few hours. The strange thing is that it was only over our apartment complex. Separately Nathan and I took walks in opposite directions and it only lasted as far as the edges of our complex. Weird?

Ingredients for health

2011-06-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

Our daily routine for treating Lizzy's pneumonia.

One doctor visit to hear Lizzy's lungs.
One hospital breathing treatment.
Three doses of two pills each, diluted in water and dropper fed (only way she'll take it since she's sworn off any predictable eating and drinking), evenly spaced throughout the day, including a midnight course.
Three doses of Robitussin.
One at home breathing treatment broken up into two sessions since the at home nebulizer takes three times as long (about 45 mins)

Can I say we're tired? Hoping this is over soon. Thankfully Lizzy is back to her sweet and energetic personality and has started eating and drinking a little this afternoon! And no fever since last Saturday!

A Fun Camera and An Interesting Fruit

2011-06-21T04:47:00.000-07:00

One of the more interesting fruits we have here (that I had never seen in the US but I'm sure it's around) is pictured below. For the life of me I can't remember the Chinese name, but I think Nathan calls it "litchee" in English. It has a hard bumpy shell, and inside a translucent, very sweet, very wet fruit similar to the texture of a grape. The very center is a pit about the size of an almond.

Well, I just got a fancy new SLR and I've been playing around with it. I'm very excited about it, my only regret is not getting it years ago! I'm totally a novice, so have patience with me as I put up my silly experiments over the next few months!

From June 2011

Rooming In

2011-06-19T04:29:00.000-07:00

Although we declined to admit Lizbeth to the hospital, we wanted to take her pneumonia seriously. Her room is about as far as you can get from ours, and I was a bit afraid of her having trouble in the middle of the night and not being able to hear her. In fact, the first night, before she was diagnosed pneumonia and we knew she was seriously sick, we put her to bed with Iburprofen and went to bed ourselves thinking we would hear her if she needed us. Well, I didn't wake up until she was screaming at 6 AM with a 104.7 or higher fever.

Unfortunately, we don't have a pack'n'play to easily put her in our room. We borrowed a friend's when she was small, and returned it to them when they had their newborn boy. However, one of the caveats of renting our apartment is using Landlord furniture, for better or for worse (a bit for worse since she has SO MUCH furniture, but most of it is actually pretty nice). Included in this is a futon in her room.

From June 2011

Yep, it's a strange brown zebra print. It's normally covered in a blanket, but for this picture I wanted you to have the full effect. Thankfully, it's actually REALLY comfortable (more comfortable than our guest bed, actually). And it's been kinda fun rooming in with Lizbeth. Certainly has made our every three hour fever check and medicine doses a lot easier!

By the way, she is doing a LOT better. Her high fevers are almost non-existent, and today she has been relatively comfortable and happy. We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow but we expect to have only good news.

Doctor, Doctor

2011-06-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

One of the things I hate most, perhaps the thing I hate THE most, is when we have to go to the doctor.

Chinese modern medicine is about the level of the 50's in the States. Which means, antibiotics for everything (even viral), IV's whenever possible, and no gloves when they take blood...

Even when I do go, I find I always second guess them, often choosing not to use the medicine they prescribe (not appropriate for babies, doesn't work on viruses, ect).

Luckily, we have an International Clinic which hosts two American doctors, a western taught Cantonese doctor, and a semi western trained Chinese pediatrician. The two American doctors I LOVE (but only work a few half days), the Cantonese doctor is pretty good, and the Chinese pediatrician...well, the verdict is still out, but she tends to be more traditional (over prescribing) than I would like. She's also a little hard to communicate with since English is her second language.

So when Lizbeth woke up from a nap with an out of the blue 104.4 fever on Tuesday afternoon, I didn't know what to do. The two American doctors only have morning hours, and couldn't it just be viral? We decided to wait it out.

Our friend, an RN, gave us suggestions for things to look out for and ways to keep her fever down, but by Thursday, it was still raging (101 half hour after Iburprofen or Tylenol were given and 103-104 three hours later). I decided to go ahead and take her in, though the only available doctor was the pediatrician. I was happy with her though, she ran a blood test to determine it was bacterial before prescribing antibiotics and overall was very helpful.

But when Lizbeth deteriorated the next day (still raging fevers, clingy, and a terrible cough), I was really hoping to get in to see the American doctor in office. If nothing else, just to get answers to my questions. What kind of bacterial infection? How long before she should show improvement? What do I do about her not eating or drinking? No luck, he was booked solid.

And when the Chinese doctor diagnosed pneumonia and immediate admittance to the hospital, how do we know what is best? On the one hand, we completely do not trust this hospital. What if she got something worse while there? In the past year, there have been so many problems of mistreatment with our friends, we knew we REALLY didn't want to do that. Not to mention hooking my very active and hates to be held daughter up to an IV would no doubt be traumatizing. On the other hand, what if it is really needed? Wouldn't I hate myself forever if something worse happened and we chose not to?

After consulting with our friend the nurse again (who also has had extensive experience with this hospital) we decided not to admit. The X-ray showed only slight pneumonia, her blood tests were actually showing improvement, and we only live 3 blocks away if we have to return. Two hours later, with a limp and miserable toddler fitfully sleeping on my lap, I was questioning my decision.

PTL, just a couple hours after that, her fever miraculously broke, she woke up, wanted to eat and drink for the first time that day, and got down to play. Her fever has been gone since then and she seems to be improving! We're still monitoring her closely (we slept in her room on the futon last night), but praying that in this case, we are able to avoid the hospital.

What's most frustrating about this, is the decisions we have to make with a very limited medicine background (and by that, I mean none). If we were in the states and they wanted to admit, almost without fail I would trust them. If nothing else, it's common practice to ask for a second opinion if we really questioned them. Here I'm trying to balance cultural tolerance (not offending the attending doctor), with common sense and my own medical values. The thought has actually occurred to me to carry rubber gloves with me to request them to use before drawing my daughter's blood. Can you imagine what they would think? On the other hand, I'm risking my daughter's health here, with possible lifelong consequences.

Like I said, my least favorite part of living abroad.

Korea

2011-06-15T01:51:00.000-07:00

A few days before returning to China, I was lamenting the idea of having to spend an overnight in Korea by myself with Lizzy. I knew that there wouldn't be enough time to do any touring, and also that I would have to uncheck my huge 50+ pound monstrosities. My first idea was to just stay at the hotel in the airport, but at $140 that just seemed too expensive for a single night.

Then I remembered my tickets were flexible return. And I had a brilliant idea. Could I extend my stay in Korea a few nights, and how much would a ticket for Nathan to fly over cost? While it took a little convincing of him (how much fun would I really have touring Seoul while jetlagging, anyways?), a few phone calls, and an hour on the internet trying to choose a hotel, only a few hundred dollars later we had ourselves a mini vacation in a country we had wanted to see while we are here in East Asia. His ticket only cost $275 round trip (we can't even fly Texas to Oregon for that much!), and it only cost me $18 dollars to change my ticket (not really a fee, just a departure tax from Korea since I was staying longer than 24 hours).

I hate posting links instead of embedding the pictures for you all, but there are just too many to share. We had a really nice time, although I was tired. My only regret is that we didn't have enough time to contact any of our students to see them, but there's always next time! We'll have to see what other countries we can arrange a free layover in :-)

Spoiled

2011-05-25T00:02:00.001-07:00

It's been a bit quiet here since Lizbeth and I traveled the world together to spend some quality time with her extended family. It's late here (after midnight) and I really need to get to bed but I just wanted to get up a quick post to let you all know we're still here.

Lizzy is having a wonderful time showing off for all of her relatives. They in turn are having a wonderful time spoiling her...as evidenced below. This was courtesy of her nainai (paternal grandmother). Don't worry, Nainai ate off all the nuts and chocolate...like I said. Spoiled :-)

From USA

One Year Old Photos

2011-05-15T14:37:00.000-07:00

We have a sweet friend here who is also an amazing photographer! She offered awhile ago to take Lizzy's pictures to add to her portfolio and we were happy to oblige. The timing of the pictures worked out to one week before her birthday, so it's fun to have some semi-professional pictures to mark the occasion.

My favorites are embedded here, but you can also look at the full album below! Every shot is just beautiful.

From Lizzy1yrOld

Thank you Kiley!

1st Birthday, Take One

2011-05-14T04:33:00.001-07:00

While Lizbeth doesn't officially turn one until next Friday, she and I are about to get on a plane to America in two days. Nathan will also take off on his spring trip with the 10th grade class, so we decided to have a small china party before we all go separate ways.

There were already two parties planned for today and I am exhausted with preparations for leaving, so we decided to keep it small. Just a play date in the park with some cupcakes and sunscreen! Fun was had by all, and it was a beautiful day!

A Few Easter Pics...

2011-05-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

I know they're a little late, but thought you still might enjoy. I wish they had turned out better, but oh, well. We were dealing with a bunch of kids and a few hungry adults...guess things definitely could have been worse! As it was, we were last to the fellowship Sunday lunch and had to be seated outside of the restaurant in the hotel hallway! Haha!

My Beautiful Baby Girl

From Easter

Content With Her Egg

From Easter

"Mommy, it's coming apart!"

From Easter

Our Family

From Easter

Sweet Anna

From Easter

Baby Micah

From Easter

Just because I love this picture...

From Easter

Beautiful Carmans

From Easter

mommy's little helper

2011-05-01T20:02:00.001-07:00

In this house we are learning patience (both her's and mine) and that everything takes 10 times longer with an almost-one-year-old. But everything is also 100 times cuter. Proof below.

From May 2011

(making daddy bread with mommy)

This Week I'm...

2011-04-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

planning a memorial.

Can one say exhausting? I volunteered after someone recommended me. It makes sense, I'm not working full time, and I don't have older children to help grieve themselves.

Never did I imagine all the emotional and mental work this takes. I've done okay recently in the grieving process. Still heartbroken, but controlled. Able to separate it from my daily tasks. But planning, writing, organizing, e-mailing, coordinating...so many details...today there were many tears.

We're working to translate as much as possible into Chinese and some into Korean. Of course, I don't do the actual translating. Just have to get the right pieces to the right people, recollect, format, and put it all together.

Many of the songs and translations will be on slides. Have to get all of that organized and off to the person putting together the slide show.

Things have to be printed, folded, cut. Not at school to do it, so once again delegating and organizing.

Buses have to be organized. People have to be informed. I think I have over fifty e-mails in my inbox just from today, just about this event.

And then I've been doing my own searching. Looking for pictures, typing out thoughts, want to get it together to give to them, to share just a few more memories with them.

Remembering. Remembering the first time I met them. Attending Pre-field Orientation with them. Finding out we would be sent to the same city. Visiting Niagra Falls together. Taking pictures together with them, of them...

Scattered memories, scattered thoughts. So many little pieces...

I'm Exhausted

2011-04-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Last week Nathan had the flu. It was for the second half of his spring break, so rather than be concerned for him, I was more frustrated about losing his spring break to sickness.

Sunday, it hit me. Wow. This thing is terrible! Fever, chills, pain every part of your body, so dizzy you can barely stand up...uhg. Only Nathan had to go back to work on Monday, leaving me terribly sick with a very busy infant (did I mention she's walking now?)

Then, yesterday and today, I'm FINALLY starting to feel a little better...and Lizbeth decides to start getting up at 4:30 AM (and I mean AWAKE) and swearing off naps. All of yesterday she slept for about one hour and twenty minutes, then 10 minutes in the afternoon! Are you kidding me?

To top it off, I was up late doing taxes last night (don't judge me, I actually did them weeks ago but the program crapped out on me), today I have to take her to get her shots, have a two hour Chinese class at my house, clean house, and host a baby shower tomorrow...we're praying for better naps today.

On the up side...I have never felt so cared for by my community! I have had four people go shopping for me, one take Lizbeth for awhile, one make me soup, one buy me lunch...and many more offers of whatever I need.

Even better than that, my chinese helper has come early and left late both days this week so she can take Lizbeth out in the afternoon and still wash the dishes and cook dinner. Did I mention she's AMAZING?

Now if only I could get some sleep...nope, got to start on the laundry.

Daddy and Baby

2011-04-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about having a baby is watching her with her daddy. They play, they sing, they wrestle. They play musical instruments, they tell stories. Every evening, her daddy comes home and she lights up with the biggest smile you've ever seen. Her daddy plays the guitar for her, takes her for bike rides, sings her to sleep. Never has there been anything sweeter to me than watching them together.

From March 2011

Can You Say Bedhead?

2011-04-04T20:12:00.001-07:00

From March 2011

Window

2011-03-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have a window in my kitchen. It has always made me happy.

On clear days, I marvel about how far I can see. On dreary days, the fog is so thick I can't see the next building. When I'm cooking too many things and the kitchen gets thick with heat and steam, I can open the window and feel a cool breeze. When I don't leave the apartment for days at a time, it may be all I see of the outside.

Best of all, through that window I can hear the children laughing. Below it merges three apartment complexes, and the lives of young children. Their laughter and shouts rise on the wind and enter my apartment making me smile as I prepare dinner, pick up dishes, or bake. Lizbeth sits on the floor by the fridge with her magnets and I wonder of the days ahead when she will be laughing and running and playing with her friends.

This week my window makes me sad. There is no laughter, no shouts, no cries of delight. This week, when I look out my window, I see a place where a child lost their life. The grave of so many innocent hopes and dreams and childish pursuits. This week my window is silent.

I have hope. I know that one day soon I will hear the laughter again. One day soon I will look out my window and marvel again at the beauty of my city. One day soon...but that day is not today.

Our God is still big, and our God is still good.

***Our dear student and friend went home to be with the Lord yesterday. Please be in Prayer for his family and all of us grieving.

Some things that break my heart

2011-03-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

Seeing a child's bike that will never again be ridden by its owner.
Watching my dearest friends, grown men, cry.
Hearing the heroic tale of a mother who performed CPR on her dying son until the ambulance could arrive.
Listening to my close friends ask if there was more they could do.
Picturing a boy beside his best friend who will never wake up.

This weekend we are heartbroken, but still know that our God is big, and our God is good. It seems He is choosing to take Home a fifth grade boy, our student, our friend, our neighbor, after he went into a coma following a significant fall through a skylight into a parking garage. We are trusting Him to know the bigger picture, and to care for us as we weep for the one we love and those he is leaving behind. Please be in prayer for our entire community here.

**Edited to Add: Please be aware he is still on life support as final decisions are being made. We are still praying for a miracle despite being against all odds. Please join us in this earnest prayer.

Retreat

2011-03-21T03:00:00.000-07:00

Part of the reason I've been so behind posting is because I've been at two retreats. Last weekend we had our company Women's retreat in Tianjin, and this weekend there was a smaller one here in Qingdao. I know it sounds funny to do both, but the first was so wonderful and relaxing, I was excited to do some more soul searching at the more serious one this weekend.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera to both. Lizbeth and I had a great time catching up with our friends from other cities, despite her terrible cold. However, Emily from Tianjin posted a few, so I thought I would include the link. Click here to view pics of Little Maddy and Lizbeth together!

Even more unfortunately, Lizbeth had a terrible cold (though she had plenty of energy and loved all the people) so this is as close as we let them get.

We also were able to spend an afternoon with our dear friends the Smiths and catch up with them. Everyone's kids are growing so fast! I wish we all lived closer and we could get together more than once or twice a year...

Always a Downside

2011-03-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we have a Chinese helper (yes, sort of like a maid). Now before you get excited, remember that you have a car (prob at least one), can speak your native tongue when shopping, and unblocked internet. :-) I'm not saying one way is better than another, just that they are different.

We love our "Ayi". She adores Lizbeth, even comes early so she can play with her more, is a great cook, and truly has a servant heart.

But there are always downsides. For instance:

Where is my black t-shirt? Did I leave it in America, or did she put it in Nathan's clothes, or did she put it in one of the FOUR places she puts my t-shirts? (Still haven't found it...)

Why doesn't she understand that these toys go here, and those ones there? (Because I haven't told her...)

Why did she WASH my leather hat? (I guess they don't understand that leather shouldn't get wet? And I did leave it on the floor...)

The latest event involves the pressure cooker. Last week I had the great idea to make refried beans. Well, I can't figure out why, but my chinese pressure cooker doesn't work that great. I have to double or even triple the time, and last time (even though I added additional water after checking to find them not done) it completely burnt them. So, I gave up, put the pot in the sink, and waited for Ayi to wash it.

I returned home that afternoon (Wed) and saw that she had washed all the dishes and placed the pressure cooker on the back of the stove. Thinking that she just didn't know where I store it (I've only had it since Christmas and used it a few times) I left it there.

Now on to Sunday. I returned home in the afternoon to find Nathan with all the windows open. When I commented, he said the house had "stank" when he came home. Sewer lines in China often stink from the sinks, so I didn't think much about it. Later we were cooking and I needed the back burner. When I lifted the pot, a retched stench was emitted and I realized that the beans had never been cleaned...and now were beyond moldy. Ew.

Now I have to clean it myself, and talk to her about why she didn't clean it last week. Fun.

I am not complaining at all. Well, maybe just a little. But I also realize, most of our issues come from my lack of communication, and her non-english ability. I know I should tell her when I don't like something, but my non confrontational personality cringes at having to tell someone they did something wrong. Especially someone as loving and caring, who will feel awful if she realizes she ruined something (such as my hat). I guess every good thing has its downsides.

Over all, we are incredibly blessed. She is wonderful and Lizbeth adores her (of course, so do we!) The smile Lizbeth gives every time she opens the front door is worth every hard part. Of course, almost never having to wash dishes does a bit too.

Lizbeth Sings a Song

2011-03-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

Today Lizbeth found Daddy's guitar and started playing it. I picked up the camera just in time to catch this short clip. Unfortunately, the SD card was not in the camera, so this is about all it would record. Who's the cutest baby ever?

And by the way, Joanne, Lizbeth is a tough contender for World's Greatest Baby. I have it on good authority.

Just Another Day

2011-03-08T01:49:00.000-08:00

So my husband is working until 8:30ish, the baby was just diagnosed bronchitis, there's a leak in my kitchen they can't fix until tomorrow, and bacon just "popped" into my eyeball. Yes, directly in. Should I be concerned that it doesn't actually hurt?

I'm consoling myself with breakfast for dinner. Bacon, eggs, and pancakes. With lots and lots of syrup.

2011-02-21T00:39:00.000-08:00

So in High School, my little brother got a car. My little sister got a horse. Me?

Actually, I can't complain. I had a boy to drive me around everywhere :-).

But on to my little sister's horse...

From Rachel Photos - Zach thru Chinese New Year

She's a beauty, isn't she? Lizbeth really seemed to like her too, and we were able to snag a few pics of them together both last summer and at Chinese New Year.

From Rachel Photos - Zach thru Chinese New Year

The Hat Game

2011-02-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

What is it about hats that make kids want to take them off? I remember when I was young always knocking off my friends' hats (I'm sure it was more than a little annoying). And every time I wear a hat my little friends want to steal it themselves.

Apparently this game is attractive to even the very young. Below is a photo series of Lizbeth playing this game with her grandpa, and even daddy later on. She was laughing so hard, and we were all laughing along with. I thought it was so cute I'd share it with all.

The Hat has been spotted...

From The Hat Game

Who took it?

From The Hat Game

Lizzy did!

From The Hat Game

Put it back...

From The Hat Game

Got it again!

From The Hat Game

And again!

From The Hat Game

Who has it now?

From The Hat Game

Over there...

From The Hat Game

Dada!

From The Hat Game

Gonna get it...

From The Hat Game

Haha!

From The Hat Game

Wait a minute...I didn't ACTUALLY want it...

From The Hat Game

Chinese New Year

2011-02-15T16:15:00.001-08:00

You may have wondered why I suddenly dropped off the face of the planet for three weeks. Or maybe not, since it doesn't seem to be unusual for me. :-) In any case, with Lizbeth growing so quickly, we decided to spend our two week Chinese New Year holiday in the States catching up with her grandparents.

Once we returned, Lizbeth came down with a 103 fever and stomach flu leaving her miserable and not wanting me five feet away. Even daytime naps took place on my lap.

Finally she woke up today, fever gone and eyes a little clearer. As I speak she is taking a little nap in her crib, finally giving me a few minutes to get up a few pictures.

We had a great trip. Lizbeth was a trooper other than refusing to change time zones. Most nights she was up til between 2:30 and 3:00 AM, which is between 6:30 and 7:00 China time, only an hour off her normal bedtime. This led to a bit of exhaustion, but still plenty of time to enjoy sharing her with the family. She loved all of the attention and I actually think will miss them all. I know I will.

Well, hope you enjoy the pics. To see them full size with comments, click here.

Meant to Be Friends

2011-01-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

I have a very weird habit. I eat syrup on my eggs.

The story goes that when I was young, just learning to talk, my mom asked what I wanted for breakfast. Not sure how to say it, I went to the fridge and pointed to eggs and syrup. Even though my mom thought it was strange, she scrambled some eggs and put syrup on top. Somehow I communicated that what I really wanted was french toast, but I ate it anyways.

I have eaten my scrambled eggs this way ever since.

Now before you yell about how gross this is, think about it. Eggs are really just a base, without much flavor. They are a part of all sorts of sweet flavored recipes such as cakes, pudding, and cookies. Somewhere along the line someone decided salt and pepper, or even tabasco or ketchup, sounded good, and now that is how the majority eat their eggs. (both of the latter of which I find disgusting, I might add)

Never in the world have I met someone else who eats their eggs this way. Until now.

My best friend over here, Jacquelyn, and I just discovered that we both eat our eggs this way. In almost every other way we are completely opposite, but in the ones that really matter (haha) it turns out we are exactly the same!

Next time you have some eggs, try it :-)

From January 2010

Tired of Bodily Fluids

2011-01-21T01:26:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, I came home tired after spending much of the day at school. Listening in on Nathan's class's script reading, lunch with the hubby, Chinese character writing activity, Chinese class, caught the student bus home at three.

So forgive me if after changing my daughter's poopy diaper, I decided to let her play on the floor naked-bottomed to air out for a few minutes while I rinsed her cloth diaper.

Less than two minutes later, she had peed on the floor.

So I cleaned her up. After that, I thought, well she just pooped and peed, what better time to let her play and air out her little bottom? Her room is fairly safe, so I settled down on the couch while she was content playing by herself.

Five minutes later, she's a little quiet, so I decide to check on her. Surprisingly she has just decided to find me too, so she's smiling brightly from the doorway where she crawled to find me. How cute, I think, as I walk over to pick up my cooing daughter.

And then I see it.

The poop. Obviously kneeled in, played with, and drug across the floor to her doorway. Oh, boy, I think. Your father is going to love me for this one.

I decided to do my best wiping her down with baby wipes and strip her of her clothes, before putting her directly into the bath. I was hoping her daddy would walk through the door any minute.

So now I have a half clean baby, poop all over the floor, and I need to draw her a bath. I decide the safest place to put her is in the bathroom with me, so I set her on the floor while I set her baby bathtub on the counter and start the water.

She starts peeing.

Are you stinking kidding me? Really!???

I turn off the water, move her away from the puddle, run to the other end of the house for a towel, wipe her off once again, and put the towel over the pee. Start the water again, fill it, put her in, and let her play until her daddy comes home, about five minutes later. He takes over on bath duty, and I start scrubbing the floor.

30 mins later and she's dressed, dry, and fed. Ah, time to relax and put her down for a nap.

Instead she just puked on the floor. Probably from the poop she ate. Just great.

Cloth Diapers

2011-01-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

I would not consider myself an Earth activist. I use plastic grocery bags (although I am switching to cloth), I love paper towels and other disposable items, and I enjoy takeout. However, I really do believe in cloth diapers. And not actually because they cost less. I figure by all the energy and time I put into washing and drying them, I'm really not saving much.

But I can't stand the thought of thousands of her diapers rotting forever in a trash dump.

However, washing them here is sometimes a pain. See, we don't have a hot water option on our washing machine, and apparently you're supposed to use one to sterilize them every wash. So I heat water on our gas stove to make the wash water hot.

From 2010November

Three of my largest pots, then carry them one by one 32 steps through the kitchen, across the dining area, over the living area, and into the drying room (where our washer is located). This involves skirting around Lizbeth's play area, going through two doorways, and up one step, then down another, all the while carrying a pot full of boiling water.

(view from the kitchen entry way to the patio where the washer is)

From Apartment JinHai

In other ways though, doing cloth diapers is a little easier here. The covers of all the diapers have to be line dried, and any time she poops, the poop stain has to be bleached out by the sun (sounds weird but amazingly it works!) Since dryers are kind of a new concept in China, line drying is down to an art. Nearly all apartments have a special sun room for drying, complete with a double hanger rod pulley system and large windows facing the east. They sell all sorts of hanger contraptions, such as the one pictured below, which makes hanging up individual diapers so much easier.

From January 2010

Another amazing thing, is that one of our friends found GroBaby diapers at a local export market. Apparently GroBaby has been discontinued for GroVia, and so this place is selling the discontinued diapers for an incredibly affordable rate of five dollars a piece! (They normally sell for $25 a piece) I have also found $52 dollar baking dishes for seven dollars, and many great clothes as well! I am in love with this market...

So, I guess while not having hot water in my washing machine is a pain, not everything has to be hard.

Warm Enough?

2011-01-07T01:33:00.000-08:00

Chinese people over here never think your baby is dressed warmly enough, and they have no qualms about telling you about it. I've even had our vegetable lady loan me her personal blanket since I had forgotten Lizbeth's at home! Foreigners will complain that no matter how warmly you dress them, it is never enough. I think that this is mainly because they just want a reason to talk to you and look at your baby.

It can get quite old though, and some of them are not as nice about how they tell you their feelings. One of my friends said she was actually hit by a stranger who was so emphatic!

So, rather than combat it (and because sometimes they're right), I decided the best way is to go along. I purchased a Chinese style coverall for Lizbeth, and she wears it almost whenever we go out. Pleased with myself, I was relieved to have no one telling me she did not have enough clothes.

Until last week. After eating at a restaurant I bundled her up in her suit to go, and a gentleman asked me, "You're going to go outside? Isn't it too cold? Her face is exposed!" I wanted to laugh out loud, but calmly explained we were only going as far as our friends car which was parked right across from the door, and that I would close her stroller up so that the wind wouldn't bother her.

But honestly, what more does he want? She does have to breathe, doesn't she?

From December 2010

New Friends

2011-01-05T01:18:00.000-08:00

Lizbeth loves people. And people love her.

She has made it incredibly easy to meet new friends. Everywhere we go people love to smile and talk to her, Chinese and foreign alike. What's great is that she loves to smile and talk back.

Last Sunday at Starbucks, we met a college aged Chinese girl. She brought out her camera to show me pictures of her niece. My Chinese is to the level I can converse fairly easily about surface level things so I enjoy talking to new people. Eventually, she asked if she could take pictures of Lizbeth. Afterwards I gave her my e-mail address so she could e-mail them to me, and I hope to stay in touch. In America, I would be surprised if a stranger actually followed through, but Chinese are true to their word! Two days later, these showed up in my mail box. She also included her contact info so I can get back in touch with her. What a great new friend!

From December 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-01-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

From Christmas

Anniversary

2010-12-29T05:59:00.000-08:00

For our Anniversary this year, we didn't go to the hotel we have for the past few years. With an infant that is currently refusing a bottle, we decided it wasn't worth taking her along and we couldn't leave her with anyone.

So instead I decided to remodel our bedroom as a gift to Nathan. Last summer when we returned from the US I swore that I was going to make our bedroom a nice place to relax. Well, after looking at Ikea and having a heart attack from their prices, (Nathan told me, no, I could not spend three hundred and fifty dollars on a mattress pad), I was discouraged.

So a few weeks ago, I was re-energized to start again, this time with a due date. Our bed before was a queen, and this land lord one is a king, so the first thing I looked for was a king sized duvet. Two weeks, and nada (at least that I liked). They were either too cheap of material or too ugly. Finally I found it. And fell in love with it. It was not just a duvet, but a set with a bottom sheet and pillow covers as well. Totally more than I wanted to pay for it, but after leaving, thinking, justifying, and looking again, I decided to splurge.

Next I needed curtains. Our previous ones were landlord curtains, deep maroon with transparent flowers that let in WAY too much light. I had also been looking for these as ready made (thinking I didn't have time to get them made) in the markets, but had had no luck. Finally two days before my deadline, I broke down and went to curtain street, where there are thirty+ stores with hundreds of types of curtains but all have to be tailor made. Luckily I had remembered to take measurements before I went, and after begging and paying five extra dollars for expediting, I had my curtains ordered.

Third, there was the issue of lamps. I had bought some a couple years ago, but the frosted glass was not thick enough and they are nearly too blinding to use at night. The landlord had left a bunch of lamps in our apartment, so Nathan was using those for the time being but they didn't match my new decor. :-) A sudden inspiration made me think to cover them with a textured paper. Perfect.

Lastly, I had to clean and set up. Since I was rushing the tailors I figured they probably wouldn't be delivered until late afternoon, so I sent Nathan on a shopping trip after our lunch and appointment. While he was gone, I removed everything unnecessary from our room, cleared off our dresser tops, put on the new bedding, and finished the lamps. The curtain people even installed the curtains for me! I finished about 30 minutes before Nathan replied.

Needless to say, he was a bit surprised :-)

Here are the before and after pics.
Before

From Apartment JinHai

After

From Random

Grated Butter

2010-12-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

The other day my Chinese helper took me to a new baking store she had found. Among many other things, they sell butter and mozzarella cheese by the jin (a half kilo or a little more than a lb). Unfortunately, since the portions are chopped off of bulk blocks and repackaged, and the packages of cheese and butter look remarkably similar. Same clear plastic cover, same white label with black chinese characters.

When I went to drop off a jin of mozzarella to a friend who had asked me to pick it up for her, in my hurry, I didn't look very closely. It wasn't until I got home and unpacked my own that I realized I may have given her the wrong one. But I couldn't remember how many I had bought of each, so I asked her husband to check, and later sent her a text to ask her.

By this time, it was a couple days later, and she was out of the house. She said she had asked her Chinese helper to grate it, and that her helper had mentioned over the phone that it was "mushy".

Sure enough, when she got home, she found two large piles of grated butter...

Since I felt bad about giving her the wrong one, I switched with her. Now I'm trying to decide what to do with more than a pound of grated butter.

Nathan is actually fairly excited about the concept. He's amusing me by coming up with ways I could potentially use it. He thinks it will melt much faster on toast, pancakes, and anything else you usually spread butter on. Me, on the other hand, is not sure how to measure it out properly. I guess I could just melt it down and start over...not sure what that would do to the composition of it though :-P I guess this is a lesson in buying ingredients with labels you can't read.

From Random

Grandparent's Christmas Gift

2010-12-25T00:05:00.000-08:00

We made these for the relatives as gifts on Shutterfly, and they have the option of sharing it on your blog. Who knew? Hope you enjoy!

Lizbeth's 1st Six Months

Click here to view this photo book larger

2010-12-23T04:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I cried. And not even for a good reason.

My mission was simple. Three days before Christmas and I needed to find wrapping paper. Due to past experiences I know that it is hard to find, and not even the same as American paper. In America, you buy it in rolls. In China, when you can find it, it is in 2'x2' square sheets. And Christmas wrapping paper is nearly nonexistant.

I found some in a market a few weeks ago, but the market is a $7 round trip taxi ride away, they are still thirty cents a sheet, and they only had three designs. I should have bought more when I was there, but the sheets were rolled up and I didn't realize they were individual package sized.

So we were in the Japanese shopping center today, and they surprisingly had a huge kiosk with Christmas decorations and presents, and they were even gift wrapping what you bought with wrapping paper. I thought, maybe they sell Christmas wrapping paper! I asked, and they said no, but to check a store on the second level of the shopping center.

So up I went. I found a store with beautiful decorations, and the most beautiful wrapped boxes underneath their Christmas Tree. I thought, surely they have wrapping paper, and cheerfully went in to ask. They said no. So I asked her where I could buy some. She said I couldn't. So I asked, where did they buy theirs? She said the company makes it themselves. Grr... Completely unhelpful and seemed irritated at my questions to boot.

So out I went, on to the next store. The shopping center has a large department-like store, so I thought I could check the stationary and gift bag section. Looked around, didn't see any. Looked for someone to help me. No one around, so I went to another section. They told me the stationary section had some. I went back, looked again, found an attendant, she said yes, they have some (by this time I would be happy to have any wrapping paper, even if not Christmas), but another attendant came up and said no, in fact they don't. Grr again.

This is the point I cried. Nathan met up with me from his shopping and asked what was wrong. He suggested that I just ask the original place if they could give me some of their wrapping paper they use to wrap what people buy. I thought this was unlikely (Chinese are very unlikely to go outside of what they are expected to do), but worth a shot. Down we headed. There was a line, and obviously these gift wrappers had never wrapped presents before (I guess Chinese always give gifts in bags?) Two people in front of us, and after five minutes of waiting I decided to finish my grocery shopping while Nathan asked.

Sure enough, 15 minutes later he shows up proudly with five and a half sheets of "Jusco Wishes You A Merry Christmas" wrapping paper. Apparently the cute baby he was holding helped. And because they lady couldn't sell us the paper, she just gave it to him.

Now one might ask why I cried over such a little thing as wrapping paper. I don't know, but weirdly I feel as though it is delayed culture shock. As Nathan pointed out, last year we were in America and they year before we had just arrived and had too many other things to worry about than having an American Christmas. On top of the failed Live Christmas Tree project, and the desperate shopping for a baby Christmas dress, I guess I'm missing home more than I thought. I miss our families, the excitement built up over weeks of anticipation, the smells of pine, the individualized ornaments, decorative candles, real wreaths, and so many other things. I didn't realize how much I love Christmas, and how deeply ingrained my ideas of what Christmas "should" be are.

Christmas here is different. The first year we were here, even simple decorations were hard to find. Since it is not traditionally a Chinese holiday, few celebrated it or even knew what it was. Every year they have more things to sell, but everything is generic and chintzy. Fake trees often have oodles of fake snow spray painted on them, or pink flashing pine needles. The only options for ornaments are balls, and they come in silver, gold, red, and blue. Without the rich cultural background that is ingrained in nearly every American, Christmas is nothing more than another holiday to sell and buy "stuff".

On the one hand, it is a good thing. It's a good discussion topic, and Chinese love to ask you how you celebrate it. They equate it with their Lunar New Year, when they all travel across the country to their hometowns, sit around together, play games, and eat nuts.

But on the other, it lacks meaning and depth. I'm realizing how hollow Christmas is without what makes it so important to us.

A Chinese "Live Christmas Tree"

2010-12-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

Last week Nathan and I were putting up the fake Christmas tree and we were discussing how much we miss the smell of a live Christmas Tree. I got the idea to look online, on a website called taobao that is similar to Amazon. Sure enough, they had advertisements for 生命圣诞树, which literally means "Live Christmas Tree". Well, I knew it would be a flop, but by this time Nathan was excited about the prospect and it was only $30 including shipping, so I thought how bad can it be? At least it will make it smell like Christmas.

Well, Friday we learned just how bad it could be. Remember "Charlie Brown's Christmas"? Well we found his tree. It even has the roots attached and the top even bent over when we put on an ornament.

From December 2010

And the worst part is, it doesn't even smell good.

Although it does look a little better with the ornaments on.

An Addendum

2010-12-22T05:52:00.000-08:00

I've gotten so much ribbing over taking pictures of Lizbeth crying, I thought I would post this one of me rescuing her as a follow up :-) And by they way, her daddy was the one with the camera.

From December 2010

Eye Color

2010-12-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

A lot of people back home, and even here, ask me what her eye color is. Well, we haven't exactly figured it out. As Nathan says, it's almost undefinable. Some have called it brown, some green, others said it's the color of a precious metal. What do you think?

From December 2010

Sunday Morning

2010-12-12T05:52:00.000-08:00

This morning, we thought Lizbeth was so cute, and the sunlight was just right, we just had to take a photo shoot.

From December 2010

After the first few pics though, Lizbeth wasn't so thrilled.

From December 2010

Aren't these pics just so stinking cute though? That little trembling lip can break even the toughest heart.

Travels

2010-12-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

Last week Lizbeth and I took our first trip on our own. Our good friends up in Tianjin hadn't met Lizbeth yet, and suddenly I realized that with them only a five hour train ride away there was nothing stopping me from jetting up there overnight to hang out. (Nothing except busy schedules, I mean)

So after securing a train up there and a flight back, off we went.

Lizbeth sitting on the train

From November 2010

Kim and Patrick are friends from home in Austin. They first told us about the company way back in 2006. They were home for awhile, and decided to help us move into our house. We thought it was so cool that they lived in China...I guess it wore off on us!

Now they have two kids, and we have one, and we all live in China. A couple of times a year Patrick has a business trip down here, and we get to catch up a little, but it's never enough. We're trying to convince them to move down to beautiful Qingdao, although secretly I think Tianjin is pretty cool (and so much cheaper than Qingdao!)

Here Kim is reading a book to all three kids. I really like this book, it's called Where's Baby's Belly Button and it was interesting to all three ages. Lizbeth 6mths, Keturah almost 2yrs, Moyer 3 1/2yrs.

From November 2010

You can catch more pics of our visit on their blog here

Our Apartment

2010-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

Months ago I promised pictures of our beautiful new apartment. We are very blessed by this upgrade to a spacious three bedroom, two bath apartment. The area we live in is very beautiful, and we can even see a little of the ocean off of our balcony/drying room! The one downside is that it is at least a five minute walk out to the road to get a taxi or bus, but this walk is along the ocean, so who can complain? I also love living so much closer to the Carmans!

Six Months

2010-11-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

From 2010November

Hard to believe I'm actually writing this post.

Lizzy An turned six months last Saturday. I haven't ever posted her stats, so I thought I would take the occasion to give you all a little update.

Weight: 7 kilos (15lbs 6 ounces)
35-40th Percentile, WHO charts

Length: 66.25 cm (26 in)
60th percentile

Sleep: Usually from 8:00 PM to 5:00 AM, but lately has been waking up again between two and four AM to nurse, then getting up again at 6:00AM

Naps: Usually a morning one, a noon one, a 3:00 one, and occasionally a 5:00 one. She seems to prefer more short (45 min) naps than less long naps.
All this aside, her "schedule" can be completely unpredictable. One day she may go back to sleep after nursing at 5 and sleep until around 9, and the next she can nurse at six and then only take one or two short naps the whole rest of the day. But since she is famous for being so happy, I've decided not to worry about it.

Favorite Sound to say: Nununununu
Though she can be heard making any number of sounds from "Mamama" to "Da di!" and "ba ba"

Personality: Extremely extroverted. This kid LOVES people, and people love her! However, while she will still smile at anyone, if mommy is in the room she will cry for her to hold her.

Food: Still nursing exclusively, except for the occasional apple she likes to suck on. We tried a few solids like homemade mashed potatoes, but they didn't seem to digest well, so we are waiting a little longer. I did buy rice cereal yesterday, so we might try again later this week.

Physical Ability: So close to crawling! She is on her hands and knees all day now, rocking back and forth, but can't quite figure out the next part. She's starting to get the knees down but doesn't know how to make the hands work at the same time.
She is also almost sitting unassisted.

Teeth: Still only the same two!

Overall, she is my sweet angel. Last week she was at school with me 7:00AM to 5:00PM Mon-Wed and Fri because of the play, and she was amazing. She mostly hung out with our Chinese staff so I could get a lot of painting done. (Pics of the play to come!) She was such a trooper, though she did pic up a little bug on Wednesday and still has a runny nose. I am so incredibly blessed by such an angelic child, and I thank God every day for her. Nathan and I love being parents. Maybe because we've been married so long, but it has been completely natural to us. Nathan is an amazing daddy and loves playing with her in the evenings and on weekends. Here are a few pics from their romp last weekend. By the way, her onsie was not my choice :-P (Thank you, Nainai)

From 2010November

And lastly, she loves to hear music of any kind, especially her daddy singing or playing his guitar. I just think this pic is so sweet. She really will watch him forever.

From 2010November

Daddies are special too

2010-11-19T19:33:00.000-08:00

This morning our schedule has been off. Actually, we don't really have a set "schedule" for Lizbeth, but usually she wakes up between five and six to feed, sometimes goes right back to sleep, and sometimes plays for an hour or so, and then goes back to sleep. But last night we had the high school drama production, so little one didn't really go to bed until after 10:30, instead of around 7:30. Amazingly, she (and therefore we) slept in until 9:00 AM!

However, my delight was shortlived once I realized how out of sorts this made her. Although she awoke cheerful, since then she's been fussing on and off, and refusing to go back down for a nap. When I changed her diaper, she melted down, then putting her in her crib while I washed my hands elicited the type of cries we rarely hear. Nathan went to get her, and walked her, talked to her, and played with her to calm her down.

But she still wouldn't take a nap, and began to cry again.

I was in the living room folding and sorting diapers, and realized the cries had tempered down to a soft wimper. Tiptoeing over, I peaked into her room.

From 2010November

He was able to get her to go to sleep next to him on the floor! I could never do that! If I even tried, she would want to nurse, and if I refused, she would melt down into a full tizzy. Then I would be frustrated, she would be frustrated, and eventually I would either get up and give up, or give in and nurse her to sleep even though she didn't need it.

10 minutes later he was able to get her to transfer to her crib, no problem.

There is a special bond between a mommy and her baby, but I'm realizing there is also one between a daddy and his baby. Last night at the play, Nathan was in the tech booth and I was in the back row in case Lizzy Ann got fussy (which she did). I had her over my shoulder, looking behind me towards the booth. All of a sudden there was a squeal of delight as she spotted her daddy. Actually, it even sounded like "Daddy!", though it's a little early for her to be calling us by name. Still, it was fun to see how happy she was.

And how special her daddy is to her.

Halloween

2010-11-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

From 2010Oct

Halloween over here is a bit different, since it is mainly an American tradition. I'm not sure most Chinese even know what it is. But the American families over here decided to make it fun anyways and there was a huge party in our housing complex, complete with carnival games like fishing for candy and picking the duck with the star on it. Later that night friends had set up a trick or treating route, and we checked out a few of the apartments (I had a fever and wasn't up to more than a couple homes, plus I really just wanted to show off my cute baby!)

Lizbeth's costume has a story behind it. Right now we are in the midst of a baby boom here in Qingdao, with four of the expat families in our company giving birth to babies in the year of the Tiger. Lizbeth was the first, and the last was born at the end of September. Well, one of our friends found Tiger outfits and gave them to all of us at my baby shower. Immediately, I thought, Halloween! What's better than orange and black? So I added black tights and a black onesie, making it season appropriate, and tada! So cute, right?

Unfortunately, it seemed a little lacking without a hat, but I still think it's great.

Playing with Daddy

From 2010Oct

Our wonderful friend who gifted the costume

From 2010Oct

Playing the games

From 2010Oct

Trick or Treating!

From 2010Oct

Mimi says Lizbeth is cuter than both of us, I have to say I agree :-)

From 2010Oct

No event would be complete without our friends the Carmans!

From 2010Oct

Of course, Lizbeth kept wanting to eat her wings

From 2010Oct

Anna loves to make Lizbeth laugh, and Lizbeth loves Anna!

From 2010Oct

All four Expat Tiger Babies, taken September 25th, the day after baby Maya, the youngest was born

From 2010September

At least a few pictures

2010-10-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

We have been super busy, giving me lots to blog about but no time! I have so much to write, but I know it's not happening right now so I wanted to at least get a few pics up...click on the links below to see a few albums.

Miss you all!

Our trip to Beijing (Oct 1-4)

Our trip to Laoshan, outside of Qingdao (Oct 6-8)

Random pics from October.

Puzzle Solved

2010-09-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

From 2010Sept

Finally, I have figured out how to share pictures...turns out, the pics were too big for the proxy to handle. And now I have two solutions. The first is simply to shrink every picture individually. Pain in the rear end! But when I was searching Picasa's options for a mass shrink all, I thought, hm, what would happen if I loaded them directly from the Picasa program to Picasa web...boom, instant success. Picasa automatically shrinks them to a manageable size and within thirty seconds they're up. Awesome.

And now, finally, for some pics...

Our friends finally received their Chinese daughter after a five year wait! She is four months older than Lizbeth. This is the proud big sister.

From 2010Sept

Lizbeth in her activity chair helping me cook dinner.

From 2010Sept

Naked time!

From 2010Sept

Pretty girl :-)

From 2010Sept

Favorite Toys

From 2010Sept

Look at me I rolled off my blanket!

From 2010Sept

Kissy face (actually she's sucking on her bottom lip-a teething thing)

From 2010Sept

Finger Sucker

From 2010Sept

Cutie

From 2010Sept

Playing with Daddy

From 2010September

Pretty Presents

From 2010September

Day at the Park

From 2010September

Exploding Water

2010-09-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

Last night I exploded water. Luckily my burns were VERY insignificant, but it was scary/interesting just the same.

Last night I was heating water to warm Lizbeth's milk in. After heating it for two minutes (which looking back was way too much), I took out the mug and set the bag of milk into the mug. Instantly the water exploded, shooting up my arms and across my face. Luckily I was wearing my glasses (covered with water droplets) and not holding Lizbeth. The exploded water covered at least a three foot diameter. So weird!

Apparently, there is an interesting phenomenon when you microwave water. If the mug/glass you microwave it in is very new and has no imperfections, the surface tension is so perfect that it can get way above boiling temperature without beginning to boil. So when something does finally interrupt the perfect balance, the pressure is so high that it "explodes".

Of course my husband, after finding that I was okay and making me splash cold water on my face for awhile, stated he wished he had been in the kitchen to observe this strange occurrence!

He then looked up the science on snopes. Click on the link to learn more if you're interested.

http://www.snopes.com/science/microwave.asp

Doctor Doctor

2010-09-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

So I have decided I really dislike going to the doctor in China.

1st of all, there's the translation issues.

My conversation on Friday (by phone, in English)
Me: "Hi, I need to make an appointment for my baby's four month check up and vaccinations."
Them: "Okay, do you have her vaccination record?"
Me: "Yes"
Them: "Okay, be sure to bring it to your appointment on Sunday at 2" (another reason I dislike them, appointments on Sundays?)

Sunday:
Me: "Hi, I'm here for my daughter's appointment"
Them: "Hi Ruth! So you're doing her vaccinations by yourself at the municipal hospital?"
Me: "What? No, that's why I'm here."
Them: "Oh, we can't do them here."
Me: "What? Then why am I here?"
Them: "To see the pediatrician. But if you want, we can take you to have them done on Tuesday at the hospital."

So now I have to head back on Tuesday, to have them take me to the hospital, to get her vaccinations...which I could do by myself, if I think I can speak enough Chinese. I'm going to go with them this time and see how it goes, and probably skip out the middle man next time.

Reason number two: Scare tactics

Since she was not getting her vaccinations, all she had done yesterday was weighed, measured, and the doctor looked at her stuffy nose (which I had already had looked at by a different doctor on Friday, but that doctor can't do the vaccinations-of course, neither apparently can this one.)

After being weighed, the doctor informed me she is way too small, and wants me to supplement with formula (which I'm not about to do after the Chinese melamine issue and babies died). I went home and looked at her stats, and she's still in the 45-55 percentile range, while she was born at 55%. If she weighed as much as they wanted she would be in the 82% range! (according to some websites) But Chinese doctors are formula crazy (much like the states a few years ago) and the doctor is going off the old adage that a baby should double her weight by three months (and Lizbeth is already four months). Never mind that my baby is active, chubby, alert, and super strong (rolling over from back to front already!)

What makes me really mad is for all the poor women who don't have access to good information or wise friends to encourage them, and therefore stress out needlessly about their perfectly healthy baby's weight. I do have these things, and still scoured the internet and books for hours last night comparing charts and websites, stressing myself into a tizzy.

She also said that her height is only "barely" enough (also maintaining her 55-60%), that she should have medicine for her runny nose (which the other doctor said was no problem) and that her losing her long baby hair is early "rickets". Everything online says that losing any baby hair before 6 months is no problem, and nothing mentions it having to do with rickets. Now I don't know what to think.

Not As Good As I'd Hoped

2010-09-05T16:23:00.000-07:00

So looks like that one pic will have to hold you over for awhile, or you can head over to Facebook where I've been able to upload a few. Last night I spent 20 minutes writing a post only to find out the pictures wouldn't upload. I've been trying again this morning with no success. Bummer.

My Beautiful Daughter with the Asian Eyes

2010-09-03T02:10:00.000-07:00

From July and August 2010

(And yes, this means my computer-internet connection is now working for pictures again!)

The Internet Hates Me

2010-09-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

Please accept my apologies for going off grid for so long. It's not that I haven't tried, it's just that every attempt has been thwarted.

I've tried many strategies for facing my lack of blogger and facebook access. One of them involved continuing to write, with the intent of uploading at a later date. Well after eight blognotes and three attempts to upload them, I lost momentum. I even hesitate to post them, they are so out of date! But, after all, I did write them, so I might as well put them out there (see below).

We are now considering other options, mainly paid ones, so that we can stay in touch with all of you. I'm also working to create a newsletter to send out once a month to at least give a few regular updates and pictures. If you would like to make sure you are on my mailing list, please send an e-mail to me at girltravelor@gmail.com.

Also feel free to find us on skype and see little Lizzy and me there. We are listed under Nathan's name. (You may also find my account, but I don't remember the password and never use it!)

Of course, e-mail is also a great way to contact us. Please know we haven't forgotten you all.

On a happier note, we are doing quite well. Nathan seems to finally be over his 2+ week illness, Lizbeth only had it for two days, and I think I am in the clear! Lizbeth surprised us all this week with proving the bazillion mothers across the world correct in popping out a tooth with another one on the way! This has led to a rough week of slight fevers and some fussiness, but overall she is a trooper.

I am adjusting into motherhood quite well. I'm busy already, attending a wives' meeting on Mondays and traveling to school twice a week for Chinese lessons. Amazing how a 45 min lesson requires three to four hours! But it's good for me to get out of the house several times a week. The other two weekdays I get shopping, some cleaning and some cooking done. I'm also trying to survive on 11 cloth diapers and washing, drying, and folding them nearly every day. I miss working with Nathan and seeing him so much, but it is always fun in the evenings when he does finally walk through that door :-)

It is great to be in a small community of several other families. I've taken a few walks with another young mother about to have her first baby this month. Jacquelyn and I have been able to do our shopping together a few times, and it's fun to see who I will run in to every time I leave the apartment.

Being home all day has also given me the opportunity to speak more Chinese and meet more locals. The vegetable lady at our gate and I are on a first name basis, and I'm starting to master any vocabulary relating to a baby! Everywhere I go people stop to look, smile, and "click" at my baby, giving me plenty of opportunity to practice my Chinese.

Well, as promised, I will try and to continue to blog and post as I can. Be prepared for several posts all at once as I store them up for the rare access I do get to blogger. For your first mass upload, see below :-)

Miss you all friends!

(After several more attempts to add pictures, I'm posting this picture less as every attempt has been blocked. Please know I will post pics asap)

A Whole Slew of Notes
August 12, 2010 (Note, this was my first attempt at loading a bunch all together, and it failed.)

So, I have not been able to access my blog or Facebook since returning to China through my computer, and yet have had more time to blog than ever before. So to keep my mind occupied, I decided to continue blogging anyways and post them when I got the chance. So, here you go...don't worry, if you get bored before the end I promise not to be offended :-)

Bugs
Thursday, August 12th

We had heard horror stories of returning to China after an extended time away from your apartment and finding all sorts of things. Mold covering entire walls and furniture, water knee high from a broken pipe. With the company doing construction on our apartment, I was a bit scared to see what we would find. They were putting in a bathtub in our master bath, painting all our walls, and removing some of the landlord furniture.

Well, I was quite relieved to walk in the door and find things relatively in order. In fact, due to our fantastic Chinese helper, even our furniture and belongings had been returned to their previous places! We did find several splatters of paint, and I don't particularly care for the color in our living room (my fault, not theirs), but overall, no horrors.

And then I noticed the moths. One here, two there, a few more over there.

To put a long story short, I had to get rid of 90% of our American candy. I also had to throw out 7 pounds of chocolate chips :-(, a small thing of gluten free flour, and a few other miscellaneous things. All of this took about three hours (split over two mornings) to sort through and clean up after. The small thing of gluten free flour was so ridden with a moth nest, I considered taking a picture to post, but then decided I never wanted to see it again, even in picture form. It turns my stomach just thinking about it.

We still spot a moth or two here and there, but I haven't figured out where they are coming from. Regardless, I am now spending my time purchasing, cleaning, and filling glass and tupperware like containers to store EVERYTHING in. Which leads me to my next discovery.

Tiny, black beetles. Not sure what these are, but they apparently like corn kernals and maybe wheat flour (the wheat flour container had been emptied and washed so I think our chinese helper had thrown it out over the summer).

yuck. Did I mention I hate bugs?

On a happier note, for some reason they had not discovered my MEGA stash of gluten free mixes, which are now my first priority for storing in bug proof tins and the freezer to prevent future infestations. For this I am forever grateful! While it killed me to throw out the candy and chocolate chips, fifty pounds (or thereabouts) of gluten free is a much worse sacrifice!

I'm also glad our apartment is not filled with mold or water.

Heat
Wednesday, August 11th

It is really hot here. I have no idea what the temperature is, but combined with incredible humidity, I went through four shirts today!

Thankfully we have an airconditioning unit. Actually, two, but one is in the guest bedroom, not sure what good it does there (but if you want to come visit us, it's yours!). Nathan has set up a fan to try and blow the cool air back into our bedroom (a full "U" turn from the living room airconditioning unit). Everytime I get crabby about the heat, I remember there are so many people here who don't have any airconditioning! I honestly don't know how they do it.

Meanwhile, we're in as little clothing as possible and drinking lots of fluids.

Schedules
Tuesday, August 10

With traveling so much and switching time zones repeatedly on our little one, it has been impossible to tell if she has any real schedule. Although I will tell you, in every time zone she was in for the first 9 weeks of her life she would settle on a 1:00AM bedtime-way later than I liked! Finally, the last week we were home she started going down for the night around 10:00 PM, a very welcome change. And then we flipped her days and nights again, poor thing.

So far this is what it has looked like (note: inconsequential night feedings have been omitted-she does not sleep through the night :-) )

Wednesday:
2:00 PM fall asleep hard as we land in Qingdao
5:30 PM mom and dad wake her up so maybe she'll sleep that night
7:30 PM fall back asleep hard for the night

Thursday
1:45 AM wake up hungry but happy. Would love to be up to play after eating but mom puts her back down
4:30 AM awake for the day
naps throughout the rest of the day
7:00 fall asleep for the night on the way back from our all staff dinner

Friday
2:30 AM wake up cheerful, mom puts her back down after eating
5:30 AM AWAKE!
7:00 AM down for a LONG nap. Mom naps with her until 11:00, she gets up at almost noon
cat naps throughout the day
7:30 PM down for the night

Saturday
5:30 AM AWAKE!
7:30 AM, down for a long nap
cat naps throughout the day, very fussy for daddy in the afternoon
7:30 PM down for the night

Sunday
5:30 AM AWAKE!
10:00 AM falls asleep on the way to fellowship
10:45 wake back up
12:00 goes down for a long nap as we go out to lunch
cat naps throughout the rest of the day
8:00 PM down for the night

Monday
3:30 AM AWAKE! (and diaper falling off- ah!! -blast buying used bum genius!)
in and out of small naps since mommy is ignoring her and put her down in her own room
6:00 AM AWAKE!
7:30 AM down for a long nap
sleeps all afternoon (12:30-4:30?)
7:15 PM falls asleep in her stroller
8:00 PM wakes up!
Doesn't go down for the night until 9:45 PM!

Tuesday (today)
Doesn't really wake up until mommy changes her diaper at 7:00 AM
Falls back asleep at 7:45 AM

If you're still reading and I haven't bored you to death yet, the point is I was really starting to enjoy this new schedule of hers. Go to bed early, get up with Daddy for work (not so thrilled with the 3:30 AM stuff, but otherwise), then take a long nap so I can get stuff done in the morning. But now she's changing it on me again...I guess we'll just have to wait and see. It has, after all, only been a week. Poor thing.

As an aside, she has in general been really happy the times she has been awake, and even self entertains with her baby einsteins arches and music some of the time. Her fussy times she just wants to be held. Probably missing the bazillion relatives and friends in the States who held her all the time!

Toys and Laughs
Tuesday, August 10

Lizbeth laughed last night! A full chuckle, several times! Her daddy had just gotten home from work and was playing with her in the air, and all of a sudden, out came a laugh! She continued doing it for a little while, but of course by the time I found the camera, she was over it :-(

She seems to be a very smart cookie. When first learning to "talk" she would watch my mouth very closely to see how I move my tongue. Then she would start moving her tongue and a few seconds later would add sound! The same has been true with laughing. I had noticed she had been watching my mouth very closely when I laughed for the past few days. I was wondering if she was trying to figure out how to do it, and then she did! Study, and then apply!

On another note, we purchased a wonderful Baby Einsteins floor mat with some of the money people gave us for her. It has all sorts of dangly things and she loves it. Well, we've recently added the music component to it, a sound box thing with lights that go along with the songs. It has a function that only turns on the music when she kicks it, or changes the song if one already is playing. She seems to really be getting it down, though sometimes if she can't quite coordinate her feet well enough, she scolds it for not talking to her.

Over all she is growing like crazy and a joy to be around! (most of the time... :-) )

Back in China
Monday, August 9

It's been great to be back in our home here in China. While it was wonderful to see everyone in the states, eight beds in seven weeks is a bit much! I had also missed my friends a lot.

Some things I missed about China:
my own kitchen!
walking everywhere
cheap taxis
the beach outside my window
my friends
familiar places
friendly strangers always wanting to talk to you
massages!
My Chinese helper (Ayi)

Some things I did NOT miss about China
smelly garbage everywhere
walking everywhere :-)
people parking on the sidewalk so I have to step into the road with my infant in the stroller
friendly strangers ALWAYS wanting to talk to you
missing family back home

Overall it is great to be back. We're still trying to get over jetlag and figuring out baby's schedule, but it hasn't been too terrible, especially since I'm not going back to work!

Work
Friday, August 6th

Today I did not go to work. Not because I am sick, or have an appointment, but because I am no longer a teacher at QMIS. And that reality hit hard today.

Of course any mom will tell you that you trade working at the office for working at home, and this is very true. But right now I'm trying to figure out what exactly that looks like, and right now I miss my familiar office and people and responsibilities.

Of course my two hour nap this morning with baby was definitely a perk of my new job. :-)

She Loves Her Feet
Saturday, July 31st

Little Lizzy An has recently become fixated on her feet. She touches everything with them, and if she can't find something to touch, she touches them together.

Well, tonight, she discovered she could see them. At dinner after we landed in LA, I looked over and she was very quiet, just staring directly at her feet! Barely moving, just thinking, and looking. What a big world it is out here!

What more can I say?

2010-07-25T01:12:00.000-07:00

Separation

2010-07-25T00:57:00.000-07:00

Today was a wonderful day with friends and family. Our mothers decided to throw us a BBQ/Baby shower for everyone to get to see us again and meet the baby before we head off again for two years. It was great to see so many people and feel so loved, even by so many we'd never even met.

However, in less than one week we head off from Oregon and it also suddenly hit me that for many of these people it is the last time we will see them for a long time. This didn't used to bother me much, but suddenly, two years, or even six months, is so much longer when I look at all the changes that will happen in my daughter's life during that time. It breaks my heart to realize everything our parents will miss. Just thinking about it makes me cry, and let's not even talk about saying good-bye to my sister last week in Texas.

I read in a book one time that everything that we experience on earth is to help us understand the Father more clearly. For instance, anger isn't sin when aimed at the right target, and we can better understand how God feels when people go against his will. Tonight I thought about the great depth of sadness he must feel to be separated from his children. He has asked us to take a path far away from our families and it hurts. At times it hurts more than I think I can bear. But how much more he must feel this sadness when separated for eternity from the ones He loves so dearly.

Home

2010-07-02T10:11:00.000-07:00

Where is home? This is something that every TCK (Third Culture Kid) family has trouble figuring this out, and now that we have a child of our own I'm struggling with this more. Granted, I realize our little one has awhile before she realizes the oddity of our lives but I know that it will start earlier than I think.

We're currently in Molalla, Oregon. Nathan and I both grew up in this small town and much of our family still lives in or around our childhood homes. It is wonderful to see our parents, many of our sibblings (all but my little brother currently stationed in Hawaii), the pastor who married us, and many good friends from our past.

Next week we head to Texas, where my sister lives and the house we own is located. We are looking forward to seeing our main support from before we moved to China. We will also make a quick stop in Dallas and hopefully Houston to see college friends. It will be weird to be back in the place we had settled, see our house, our cat, maybe even our dog.

And yet currently I am missing my home in China too. I miss our dear friends the Carmans and many others, the restaurants I'm used to eating at, the apartment we've recently made our home, even the school and all of our students. I miss the Qingdao beach and buying things on the street.

So where is our home? What does "home" mean? How do I teach my daughter and give her a place she can call home? How do I support her and give her security when our lives are so transient?

I remember talking with some of our Chinese friends. They both moved to the United States before their children were born (maybe even before they met), had children, raised them in the American schools, and then felt called to move back to China. They told their daughters they were moving "home". One of the daughters looked their parents in the eye and said, "Mom, China is not our (the daughters) home. We grew up here. We support your decision, but just remember we are not moving BACK to China, we are just moving TO." I realized listening to their story that it will be important to listen to my children and occasionally try and look through their eyes. Just as I can't define what my "home" is at this point of time, it will be important that I understand their struggle as well.

3 Weeks

2010-06-10T23:44:00.001-07:00

Amazing how the time flies. Yesterday our little angel was three weeks old. She's gained 1 1/2 lbs and grown two inches! The other day I was copying pictures to a disk for my mom and couldn't believe how different she already looks!

I remember when she was two days old and we were still in the hospital I was crying to Nathan about how fast time was going and that we would never have those first two days again. I'm adjusting a little and accepting that it is a good thing she is growing. However, I treasured every moment of my pregnancy and I am enjoying doing the same thing with her life outside the womb too. I don't want to wish away the next 18 years and then wonder where our lives went :-)

We're all adjusting to having a little one. She loves to sleep and eat, but hates pooping and cries a bit through that. She takes after her daddy and would love to go to bed at 2 AM and get up at 2 PM. From late afternoon to midnight she catnaps and we are lucky when she crashes before midnight-but at least she lets us sleep in! She sleeps four to five hours at a time during the night, which I know I am very blessed with :-)

At the same time I am adjusting to life as a stay at home mother. It is strange being at home all of the time. The first two weeks I felt so disconnected as life at school was going on without me. We made it up three times to see the students and fellow staff. It was good to see everyone and I miss them all so much.

We are also adjusting to our new apartment! It is beautiful and big and an amazing upgrade from our last place! Of course, we've already had one leak-and while we were in the hospital no less! It was a good thing my mom was staying in the house. She caught it early and we were able to contact our general manager who was happy to come help her out even though it was past midnight.

Wow, still so much to blog about...it will have to wait for another time. Meanwhile, here are some pictures!

She's Arrived!

2010-05-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

From Lizbeth An

Wow, how time flies once the little one appears. We are happy to announce our little Lizbeth An Greene arrived on May 20, 2010 at 7:56 PM. She was 50 cms long (19.5 inches) and weighed 3480 grams (7lbs 11oz). She has been a delightful addition to our family and we are all settling in well.

More pictures and updates to come!

Is Still Alive!

2010-05-16T07:01:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to post a note that I'm still here. From a move and disconnected internet, to just plain pregnancy busy-ness, to a proxy that never wants to work-I haven't had access to my blog since my last post!

Today was my due date, and baby is still inside. We're waiting patiently (mostly). My mom arrived last week, we successfully moved into a new apartment, and I'm officially on maternity leave. Other than that no new updates!

I have new pics-I promise! But as it is already late and I REALLY need to get to bed, they'll have to come another day-hopefully I'll continue to have better access to Facebook and blogger until I get the chance!

A Few Things I Learned Today

2010-05-03T02:23:00.000-07:00

1. When you finally have access through your proxy, take advantage. Just because it works right now doesn't mean it will tomorrow (or even in 30 minutes).

2. When a Chinese doctor tells you everything is normal, they just don't want you to worry. They may actually be concerned and surprise you two months later when they wan to run a bunch of tests. (Don't worry, everything looks like it's okay. This new doctor just seems to be more conservative.)

3. Every Chinese doctor is different. What one tells you the other might directly disagree with. However, it seems they all agree I'm about to have a big baby.

4. My baby girl is estimated to be well over 8 lbs already. I'm only 38 weeks.

5. Plane ticket prices change every 5 minutes.

6. Moving, trying to buy plane tickets to America, finishing work and grading, and having a baby makes a very complicated and busy few weeks. Jia you!

7. Just because someone is due well after you doesn't mean you'll have the baby first. Congrats Emily and Nathan!

8. Even at 25 years old, you sometimes just need your mommy. Only four more days!

And again...

2010-04-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today I'm home sick...again. I can't believe how many times I've gotten sick this year! I know they say pregnancy lowers your immune system, but what always surprises me is how quickly and out of the blue it comes over me. I had a rather calm week last week with no students, I got lots of rest over the weekend, there's not a rash of illnesses going through the school that I know of, and nobody else close to me is sick either. Where did this come from? I feel so healthy the rest of the time, and overall I've had a great pregnancy.

My husband is sweet though. I got up at the normal time (okay, a few minutes late) and began getting ready as I tried to decide the best course of action to take for the day. As it became clear I would not be making it to work today, and I had made the necessary phone calls to inform pertinent people, I gave up on looking presentable. Instead, I stayed in my bathrobe, pulled my hair back, and worked to help Nathan get out the door on time.

Nothing fancy today for breakfast, I just reheated some pancakes I had cooked over the weekend and spread them with butter and jam. But as I handed them to Nathan at the door, he smiled and said, "I know you're sick, but you just look so cute. Bathrobe, belly sticking out the front, handing me my breakfast. Just add a toddler on the hip and this is from three years down the road." I looked down at my white socked feet and laughed. Let me tell you, only one in love could think this sick body was anywhere close to cute. I love my husband.

Chinese Earthquake

2010-04-15T05:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a quick note to everyone that both Nathan and I are fine. Many people in the states are hearing about the most recent Chinese earthquake that took place in Qing Hai province. Qing Hai is VERY far away from Qing Dao, however Nathan is currently traveling on a school trip to a small city just 400 miles away from the epicenter. Thankfully the shocks must have gone in a different direction as they did not feel even a tremor of the 6.9 earthquake.

Please think of the victims and survivors of the earthquake. The closest town (and hardest hit) estimates that 85% of its buildings were destroyed. Around 70,000 people live in the village and so there are now many homeless. The death toll continues to rise and there are still many buried in the debris. As the town is so remote at 13,000 feet above sea level, they are having difficulty getting help and supplies into the region.

Praise Him that the school trip did not feel a thing and is having a great time hiking and seeing the beautiful views of the Tibetan plateau!

A few more pics

2010-03-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

Back when we first were accepted to the company (actually, we were still waiting for the final acceptance) and we traveled to NY for training, we were told we were slated for Shenyang. Also on the new team for Shenyang was Nathan and Emily Forrest. We had fun that week getting mixed up (the Forrests and the Greenes, the two Nathans). In fact, one person still calls me Emily by accident when he comes to visit Qingdao.

Anyways, we immediately hit it off and had fun hanging out together for the couple of weeks. I can't really remember why, but Emily and I began to joke about the possibility of being baby buddies one day. I thought it was hilarious that we could both have boys, we could name ours "Forrest Greene" and they could name theirs "Gruene Forrest" (Gruene is a German name pronounced 'green') While I was thrilled to be switched to the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao, I was sad to leave these two new friends behind. Luckily our company has lots of company wide activities and Emily and I have had the chance to meet up a couple of times a year.

So when I became pregnant at the beginning of this year, I began wondering how Emily was doing. We had drifted apart in communication and nothing on Facebook said much new-so I was surprised when a mutual friend of ours came back from a trip in Shenyang and told me Emily was pregnant-and only two weeks behind us!

We finally were able to meet up and swap pregnancy stories a few weeks ago at the company Women's Retreat. Here's the pics!

From Pregnancy

Also, here's a few more pics for your enjoyment in case you don't have Facebook. We recently purchased our crib-and got a great deal from a family that's moving out of country! I am so excited to have been able to "nest" even a little bit.

From Pregnancy

Yellow Watermelon

2010-03-28T22:04:00.000-07:00

Our Ayi has been buying, washing, and cutting up fruit for us since I got pregnant, which has been a huge blessing! It is so much easier to get your vitamins when they're all prepared for you!

Sometimes she brings home new fruits we've never heard of or seen, and a couple of weeks ago, this was it. The name is literally, "yellow melon from the west" (regular watermelon is called "western melon"), but I've never seen it in the west! I was a little worried to try it out. It is so florescent I was wondering what kind of hormones/chemicals/biohazards they created it with :-) However, the taste is nearly identical to a regular watermelon, maybe just a little sweeter. The texture is the same too, the only annoying part is that it is riddled with about twice as many and smaller black seeds than a regular watermelon. Regardless, we love it as a treat to snack on after a long day at work.

Sick...

2010-03-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

Being sick stinks. Being sick and pregnant stinks even more. Being sick while pregnant, with grades due and missing your favorite little person's b-day is truly awful. I'm not feeling so cheery about life right now I guess.

I've run a slight fever pretty much all day. I've spent the day alternating between watching Nathan play Wii Mario Kart and trying to grade. Even being on Facebook has been too exhausting. (I recently took some tylenol though and thought I found enough energy to make a quick post--it's waning quickly). Unfortunately sleep has generally alluded me. Could be the whole body pain. I've even been waking up early in the morning from it. Yuck.

Go away flu!

Laugh of the Day

2010-03-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

So I'm home sick today, and while not sleeping I've been catching up on what my little 30 1/2 week bun in the oven is up to. Along the way I came across this cartoon and it made me smile :-)

To find more amusing comics the website is here:
http://pregnancy.baby-gaga.com/cartoons/cartoon32

My 厉害 Husband

2010-02-27T06:10:00.000-08:00

As anyone who has studied language knows, some words do not easily translate back and forth between languages. Sometimes, though they have similar meanings, societal connotations do not carry the same weight. For instance, when Koreans translate translate "kimchi" they often refer to it as "fermented cabbage". Wow...that makes me want to try it...(note the sarcasm). In English, the word fermented makes us think of something that has gone rotten (except in cases of wine or other alcohols). In Korean, I believe they think of something that has aged or intensified in flavor. (By the way, though Kim Chi is not my favorite, I know many foreigners who greatly enjoy it.)

"厉害", pronounced "li hai", in Chinese is one of those words that just doesn't translate well. Literally, it means "fierce", but can carry many different connotations. Most favorably, it means someone who is clever beyond belief.

Right before Chinese New Year our school staff had a party to celebrate the new year, and a significant portion of the party was a show of entertaining acts for the rest of us to enjoy. My husband, ever the performer, shocked us all by telling us a story completely in Chinese! Even I did not know he could do something like this, and he kept the whole thing a secret until he walked on stage. The story was highly entertaining and contained a bunch of puns that make the Chinese laugh even if we foreigners don't quite understand them all.

If you listen closely to the Chinese people near the camera, you can hear them talking about how "li hai" he is--needless to say his Chinese teachers are bursting with pride-and so am I!

Hope you enjoy. Oh, and by the way, it comes with subtitles. :-)

And now for some pics...

2010-02-22T01:27:00.000-08:00

From Philippines!

Sorry these have taken so long-I never can believe how long it takes to upload pictures onto the internet. If you have Facebook you may have already seen most of these, but there are a few more and a few variations. Hope you enjoy!

We have been safely back in Qingdao since Thursday after a few travel issues (and a lot of money!) :-), and today we started back at work. It's good to be home!

Philippines!

2010-02-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

We are so incredibly excited to be spending our Chinese New Year in the Philippines! No more freezing weather, endless beaches and ocean, and yummy mango smoothies at every turn. Nathan is becoming scuba certified, and I am relaxing with nothing to do but read and lay in the sun. Ooh, and snorkeling.

Baby Greene is getting stronger, and often tickles me on both sides at the same time. She's getting less shy of people touching my belly, and has even performed for someone other than Nathan and me. It's really wonderful to have a break from work and just relax. I'm ending my second trimester now, so starting to feel the extra weight and a little more tired again, but over all still feeling good.

Well totally exhausted from an entire day on the boat and a couple good swims. Signing off for now. Pictures to come.

A Glimpse of Our Little Angel

2010-01-31T04:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our 25 week appointment, and everything is 正好(zhenghao), as they say in Chinese. She's already in a head down position, the right size, and everything else is great. Apparently she also has a 高的鼻子， or "high nose". The doctor and technicians were very excited about this, and informed us she is very very beautiful. I'm not sure what the exact meaning of a high nose is, but apparently it's good :-)

Here's a few pics and a short video of the sono. The first part of the video isn't that great, but afterwards you can see her open her mouth and move around a little. Amazing how far technology has come.

She played shy most of the 4D sono part and kept hiding her face with her hand.

From Pregnancy

Finally, a glimpse of her sweet face!

From Pregnancy

And look at those long legs!

From Pregnancy

And last but not least, me a week ago at 24 weeks.

From Pregnancy

By the way, yes I said 'she'! :-)

Art Show

2009-11-25T04:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-11T01:04:00.000-08:00

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!