Pictures

At a wedding we went to recently. Sophia was home with the sitter.
Sophia's first attempt at fixing her own hair.
Disneyland!
Before and after.

Just to prove that Eden was there. There's her arm.





Crazy hair day at school.





Lots of smiles.



Despite what it looks like, Eden did not down this beer and pass out.
Picture from June.


A delightful dish from a wedding of a coworker and his Chinese wife.
Um...I'll have the dried rape.
A packet of tissues we received at dinner. You always get tissues, but not quite like this.
Careful of your reputation.

A Hong Kong Overnight and Pictures!

We decided to make our first trip to Hong Kong Disneyland this weekend. We also decided to stay overnight so we could do some shopping the next day. Needless to say, Sophia loved Disney. She was crying when we got there after she put a sticker on the arm of a stranger next to her on the metro. She cried all the way to Disney. We finally got her to stop when she went on the flying Dumbo ride. We spent all day only in Fantasyland. She loved it, but it was stimulation overload! In retrospect, I should not have taken her to the 3-D show.

Things have been going along well in China. We've committed to another year, so this will be our first place that we will stay longer than two years. I think it is just easy to live here, and there are still many places to visit around here.

We are very busy with school. I feel like there's not enough of me to go around. We are both doing a new program, so we have to learn a lot before we teach. It's enjoyable, though.

We are getting geared up for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Next weekend, at school, we have the Autumn Fair which is essentially a Halloween fair. Sophia will be the Little Mermaid and Eden will be a freshly hatched chicken if I can get her to fit into the outfit I brought for her. Thanksgiving so far will be at school, too. For Christmas, we've been invited to Slovakia by friends. We'll stay at their house. We will probably also travel to Vienna, Budapest, and Venice from there. We're starting to look forward to that.

Eden is growing and growing. At her four month checkup, she was 7.26 kilos and 62 cm, so about 16 pounds and 24.5 inches. The doctor reminded me that she's very fat. Not too much I can do about that. I feed her when she's hungry. I'm not giving her any double cheeseburger value meals or anything. She is such a happy baby. Her newest developments - rolling over, pushing herself in early stages of crawling/scooting, and spitting. She's been doing nothing but blowing raspberries for the past few days. She thinks Sophia is great and Sophia gets her giggling. Sophia's great, too. She loves school this year, and she is constantly coloring or doing puzzles.

I'm going to post lots of pictures now!

Bangkok

It's been awhile! China is still blocking Blogger, facebook, twitter, and YouTube. I'm in Bangkok this weekend for an IB training, so I'm taking advantage of a break to use the computer lab. Oh, sweet internet freedom. To think, I can post my thoughts online without restriction.

I'm at this conference for three days, and I've drug our little Eden along. A hotel housekeeper has been watching her these three days. I am trying to shut my mind to it, and not think too much about it. At least I was until a fellow workshop participant actually told me he thought it was kind of "reckless." Thanks, Buddy. What am I supposed to do? The school forbid Joe to come along, and I don't just have a bunch of people I know in Thailand. It is funny, though, how I often find myself in these somewhat stressful situations, and I wonder how did I get here. There are two things that I'm really doing to please my boss - #1 - working full time #2 - coming to this conference with no one I know to watch Eden. I guess in the end, it will all work out fine. I can't say I'm working full-time entirely because of my boss either.

But, I digress - Thailand. I was telling Joe last night how Thailand has been on my list of places to go, but the funny thing is, I don't think this counts. It's really quite like being at work. The workshop takes all day long. Also, I want to go to the beaches of Thailand. I'm sure we'll make our way there before too long.

Bangkok is a busy, bustling place. My first impressions when I arrived to my hotel at three in the morning were not so good. The nightlife was out, and I'm in a touristy area, so there were prostitutes and creatures of the night out and about. My sweet, innocent Iowan sensibilities are always intimidated by these kinds of things. Here are some observations about Thailand -
You can get lots of meat grilled and on skewers.
There are little street food carts about every five feet.
There are many sweaty, fat white men with petite, young Thai women.
They love children and call out to Eden as I carry her along in her front carrier.
There are tons of little street stalls selling various items - colorful clothing, jewelry, hairbands, cheap shoes, etc.
There's a mix of cultures - Indian, Muslim, etc.
There are motorcycles and tuk-tuks (motorcycle like mini-trucks) zipping along everywhere.
There are shopping emporiums and lots of different foods to try.
Plenty of little bars and night spots.

Those are the things all around me. I'm not doing much, ordering room service in my room because it's easier to eat there with Eden than out. I don't mind. There's nothing wrong with a little hotel vacation.

I head back tomorrow and get in around midnight. Then, one week until our fall break. Not too shabby. I think we'll head over to Lamma Island near Hong Kong for a night. Maybe I'll get to post again then. I'll make sure to plan ahead and bring pictures of the girls to upload. I didn't even bring a camera with me on this trip - too much to carry!

As for Eden, she is getting so big! She is chubby! 6.8 kilos the other day which is roughly 15 pounds. I'm going to get it from her pediatrician, but I just feed her when she's hungry. She is the most alert baby and loves to be looking out at everyone and everything from her carrier. She won't sleep if there's something to see. She has been a fabulous sleeper at night, but rarely sleeps past an hour in the day time. Poor Aling, our ayi (nanny), and lucky me! You would think I would go to bed earlier, though, to take advantage of this. She does wake up about 3 am to eat, though.

She's a little bundle of love, although she frustrates us by wanting to be held all the time. Sophia is still loving her sister, and thinks she's so great. The other day I was telling her all the things Eden would say to her when she could talk. Sophia just got this content little smile on her face. She especially liked it when I suggested they could share a room and Eden would ask her to show her how to paint and color.

So that's about it. Back to the workshop. I hope there aren't too many misspellings and mistakes in my hurried ramblings.

Summer Pictures

Finger painting - so fun and oh, so messy.


We attempted a homemade castle cake for Sophia's birthday. Let's just say, we learned a lot about how not to make a cake. Andy and Mattie were able to join us for a little cake.
Eden loves to check everything out. She's always watching and listening with those wide eyes. She enjoyed her day at the zoo with Aunt Jill, Lance and Grandma.
Eden, sporting her Chinese outfit given to her by a friend. You can't tell in the picture, but it just ties on like an apron. The back is totally open. I saw a baby boy wearing one of these a few days after we received it. Let's just say he was totally exposed.
Sophia and I got our first pedicures. What a bonding, girly experience. The first of many, I'm sure.
Sophia had character day at her summer school. She was adamant that I not take her picture. I did anyway. Hence the mean face.
Sophia will have Eden saying her ABC's in no time.
Summer at the beach in Iowa.
Picking our own sweet corn, straight from the field. Sophia is still a sweet corn addict.

A monarch from our "adventure hike" in Hartman Reserve.
Sophia made me take her picture in her watermelon pajamas with her rainbow/heart shirt. She really likes the sparkles.
Feeding Eden for the first time.
Snuggles.

Eden is getting so big! She won't use the pacifier by the way.

Such a busy month here in Iowa. We leave Tuesday, and I figure I better get all these pictures loaded before then. Who knows if we'll ever get to post again in China!

Corn and more corn!

Another trip home to Iowa, and once again, it proves to be lots of summer fun. So far, Sophia has picked her own sweet corn straight from the field, caught lightening bugs, and gone to a good old-fashioned small town festival. We have seen lots of family and friends which is also great.

As always, I've done tons of shopping. In some ways I love shopping for clothes for the whole year. On the other hand, it's a lot of pressure to make sure I don't forget anything. This week has been great because we are at our Panora timeshare, and we can't do any errands or shopping. Panora's a small town. So small, that shops close on any ol' day they want. We were surprised when the lumberyard closed at five, until we remembered that's how things are in a small town. We had forgotten what that is like. So different from 24-hour Walmarts.

We have had fun hanging out with Joe's sister and her family who live here. We've also had lots of visitors. We've been to the beach, walked on the trails and grilled out. Gotta satisfy all those summer activities.

We've also been lucky enough to stay in Polk City at my sister's house and in Cedar Falls. Joe had a great time at a good friend's wedding. He gets to go back in time it seems and have fun with his friends. It always blows my mind how he's still friends with people from grade school. Those are his best friends.

Sophia has had an absolutely great time seeing her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I'm worried she's going to be totally spoiled. It seems every time we meet someone new, she gets a gift. I think she's going to like that about her summer birthday. Lots of presents when we get back.

I'm so glad that we've been able to come back and see everyone. It's been fun introducing Eden to everyone. She's been really good-natured and a great traveler. I don't remember Sophia cooing and talking as much as Eden does. She's a sweet pea.

Only about one week left in Iowa, and then it's back to China and work. I have been talking to Sophia about returning to school, but Joe and I are trying our hardest not to think about it. We'll just deal with that when we get there!

We'll Get Around These Blocks!

Just when I find a proxy to get around the block on Blogger, China shuts it down. I've found another way to post, though, through another proxy. I really haven't had time to post anyway. I think I've got about two minutes before Eden wakes up again! I don't think I can post any pictures, either.

It's hard to believe that we'll be home to Iowa on Saturday. One week away. Sophia is excited, and we are excited to introduce Eden to everyone. She is a very good baby so far. She doesn't cry much and she's quite alert. She smiled at me yesterday which was a thrill. Nothing better than those first smiles.

It seems that everyone feels the need to tell me that in China no one takes their baby out of the house until after a month has passed. I am an evil-doer! She is okay, though, even with all of our outings. The other day some Chinese grandmas at our playground informed me that the wind was going to hurt her. Maybe so. I don't know! I've just started saying she's a month old.

Sophia, as I think I mentioned, has been a great big sister. She gives lots of kisses to Eden. She has started referring to her as "that baby," though, especially when she wants Mommy to put the baby down. She says, "Mama, can you feed that baby?" or "Dada, can you take that baby?" She also has her own Cabbage Patch baby doll which she takes care of like I do with Eden. It was a little disturbing this morning when she pulled up her shirt to feed her baby! I guess she is just learning where babies get milk.

We've been celebrating a postponed Father's Day this weekend. Today we went to a new pool which was great. Joe and I got to go out to eat and get foot massages, too. Tomorrow, I hope to give him a little alone time and a present from the girls. We'll see how long I can manage alone.

That's about it for us. One more week of summer school for Joe and Sophia. Then, it's real vacation time!

Eden Josephine

Her passport photo. Nice double chin!


r




My hospital viewS.

Swine flu precautions.


Choosing Eden's name proved very difficult.We wavered back and forth for so long. Even as Joe sat waiting to register for her burth certificate, we weren't sure. No going back now! I
wish we had found a longer name for her, but I think Eden is a pretty name. It has less chance of being shortened than Josephine. At the end, we asked Sophia and she chose Eden, so Eden it is.