emschinajourney

Brave Girl.. Big Girl

2011-11-17T05:13:00.000-08:00

Olivia and I haven't been to Adventure Zone in a while... we heard that several of the schools were closed due to an outbreak of Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease! Also, were warned that many of the kids with the outbreak were going to local play-places! Those two bits of info were enough to keep this mamma and baby under lock and key for a few days. Call me paranoid! Just do it!

We made it out yesterday.. had a great time! Olivia surprised me with her new display of independence by climbing to the second level of the kids area, and going ALL BY HERSELF across the tightrope!!!!!

She's saying several new words lately!

Here are some favorites:

- Hiiee (in a super sweet tone)

- Bye Bye

- Mommy, Daddy, Baby

- Ya Ya (Olivia - she got this because Owen calls her Ya Ya for short)

- Poo Poo

- Please (most often while doing the baby sign for please)

- Up, Down

- Book

- Apple; Nana (banana); Gape (grape)

- Dee Dee (DVD); Nemo (for Finding Nemo); Bop ( for Bob on Veggie Tales)

- Ball

- Cup

- Eat; Nummie (for Num Num = good food, or give me food!)

- Aiye

- booos (Spoon)

- Shay Shay You (or) Day Day - (both combos of Xie Xie (shay shay) which is Thank You in Chinese, and Thank You)

- Woof Woof (for doggie); Eeee Eeee (for monkey); Meeee (for cat); Teeeet (for bird); Raaar (for lion)

Several other cute things lately...

- If she sees a kleenex, she will scrunch up her nose and blow in and out really fast!

- Loves to get her plastic 'kid' food and 'feed' the baby dolls and animals while saying Nummie

- Plays with mom's pony tail really gently with her arm wrapped around my neck

- Always points to Justin's glasses and asks, 'What's that?"

- If she wants a kiss, she wants in ON the lips. If your head is turned she will grab your face and turn it so she can give a proper kiss! I think Daddy taught her this! ha :)

- If we get a text message, and the phone dings.. she immediately says, "UH OH!" and runs to the phone

- When she plays "cooking with mom" aka when I give her pots and bowls to play with in the kitchen on the floor, she'll get toys and act like she's pouring in spices, etc and stir it up!

- MY FAVORITE CUTE THING - she goes to bed by 7:15pm and doesn't get up til 7:30am-8am.. and today slept in until 8:40am! She loves her sleep just like her mom!

Celebrating Another WIN for OSU!!!!

2011-11-06T04:13:00.000-08:00

During color time today, we used our favorite ORANGE and BLACK crayons!!!!!!

This is Olivia's first effort at drawing Pistol Pete! Pretty good :)

Good thing we are using washable crayons.. in all the excitement, she decided to color on her tray!!
The fun ended, when I looked up and saw this: (And she said, "Yummy")
We took a family outing to stroll around town... Olivia's "bath time baby" was stripped and ready for a bath!
Another family was walking a dog.. so we chased it for a while (come on, it wasn't even on a leash) and practiced our doggy noises.. Olivia's sound like "ruh, ruh" :)
Fun Fall Day!

My Girl..

2011-10-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

I have someone in my life who always keeps me on my toes... she's ready, "YEP," to run and jump... to make sure that the baby gate isn't going to come loose... she wants to read and color and watch DVD's... put on our shoes and socks and pick leaves and flower petals...

I have someone in my life who always brings a smile to my face... when life is hard to understand, she reminds me I don't have to find all the answers, but rest in knowing I can't ... and enjoy this moment... the most unexpected kisses... the hugs I never want to end... and the giggles, even the fake ones ... the things she does that I realize later are imitations of myself... she makes me strive to be a better mom, person, wife, friend... the shoes of Mom are big..

Someone who always reminds me that I have more capacity to love than I'd ever imagined..

And here she is, my girl.. Waiting on Mom to take her to play at Adventure Zone...

That photo captures her personality... perfectly. She knows what she wants.. and knows how to get it!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Beautiful Day

2011-09-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

We have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather by getting outside to play at the park!

Olivia LOVES bubbles :)

I love the sweet smile on the lady's face in the background watching the little 'foreign' kids play!
This is my favorite pic from the week - Olivia has decided that she is a BIG girl and can go down the slide all by herself! So I planted myself at the bottom and snapped this look of complete happiness! Don't you love her shirt!!! And her crazy static hair!
More fun at the park with buddy, Owen..

I'm trying to decide whether or not to trim her hair~ she's sort of becoming a crazy haired mullet head, with long straggles in the back and not much on top! Any suggestions??!

Rainy Day..

2011-08-25T04:39:00.001-07:00

I ventured out alone to get some groceries... Tom (our driver) was with Justin at a meeting out of town, so I took a chu zu che (taxi)! FUN times in the rain! I'm not sure which is more exciting - trying to find one in the rain or riding in one while it's raining! At least one I stay dry.. and least one I stay alive!

Starting to clear up outside!
I got to come home to this sweet angel...
We had fun editing some photos!
Olivia with the gang! Boss those boys... you go girl :)
PS - the last pic is at Adventure Zone - yea, we got her a membership!

Adventure Zone!!

2011-08-18T04:44:00.000-07:00

This Wednesday, we beat jet-lag by running, climbing, sliding, scootering, pulling, and playing at ADVENTURE ZONE!!! It's the most amazing indoor play area I've ever seen - inside a new luxury hotel only 15 minutes from our house!!!!! Olivia's pal Remi had some guest passes, so we (along with Owen and Henry and Jack) were invited along for a morning of FUN!

Here is a pic of the 'baby' play area:

What Adventure would be complete without a scenic car drive!?
Bigger kids area, but we had fun exploring here too!! It's hard to capture with a camera, but the entire area is filled with places to climb and maneuver through.. fully padded, and netted for safety since it was at least 2.5 stories high!!!
Ball pit at the bottom of the big kids slide!
Here is Hannah (Remi's big sis) about to do the big kids slide!! We climbed out of the ball pit since it's the landing zone for the slide!! (And technically, we weren't supposed to be in it!!)
The little kiddos!! Owen, Henry, Olivia, and Remi! ~Olivia likes being the only little gal!
Thanks for the invite, sweet Remi!
Here we are going down the slide!! Heidi and Owen on the left - me and Olivia in the middle! It was much MUCH faster than I had anticipated!
We decided to go again!!
Scooter ride!
The place was just slightly too big for the little ones to explore alone, since once they got to the summit, they were too little for the slides.... so it's a good thing the mommas were all in decent shape and could fit through behind the babes! It was a SUPER good workout for me - and gave us great laughs watching one another crawl up and over and through the gym! Olivia needed several boosts and held my hand a few times to reach things that were too far, but otherwise was showing her mommy what a BIG girl she has become~

Let's go again!!! (yes, this is where I had to being following her!! I did get slightly claustrophobic a couple times :)
We had such a fun time!! We're considering getting the full details on the cost of a membership!! So hopefully, more photos to come from this cool play place!

To Daddy, From Olivia

2011-08-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

You are there... We are here.. and missing you!

Really soon, we'll be doing this again:

(Aren't we cute in our coordinating colors!)

Until then, I'll be swimming :)

Have a safe business trip! We love you!

VACATION!!!

2011-05-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Olivia went on her first family vacation with Mommy and Daddy to Sanya! A beautiful beach ... just a 3 hour flight from Shanghai!

This little whitey LOVES... LOVES.. LOVES the beach.. and the pool..and the sand!!!!

She was such a good girl.. made lots of sweet friends at each meal... the waitresses were drooling over her! We had the BEST surf and turf!! And enjoyed a YUMMY Mojito! or two! :)

Is that the cutest little wedgie you've ever seen!? I thought so!

A Beautiful Weekend

2011-05-02T04:41:00.000-07:00

Fun in the backyard!!

Let's do some watering!

Afternoon at Century Park!

Cutie Pie

2011-04-28T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yay... my Daddy is home from his business trip.. I'm happy!

Wait a second.... Sometimes he brings me a present.... hmmmm..
A present for me!!?? I'm really excited!!
Not sure what it is, but I like the box!! (And I'm excited for new smelling shampoo and lotions :)
I better go downstairs and show off my new skill!!

I'm a funny girl :) Haaaaa Haaaaa

Happy EASTER!!!

2011-04-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

Olivia's Best Buddy

2011-04-23T00:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Olivia's best bud, Owen, came over to play in our basement! What a precious and adorable boy he is!

Owen, say "CHEESE!!"

"Uh, Oh - Olivia nabbed my monster truck!!"

Olivia's pretty proud of herself! Cool truck, Owen!

Triple threat stance!! She's ready to protect her loot!

Owen points out some animals, while Olivia chews on the truck tires!

"I'll just ride this car while she has my truck :)"

Olivia is ALWAYS super interested in whatever Owen is doing...

She spots him playing with the mini-kitchen! Off to join!

Owen is off to find his monster truck!

Again!

These two play so well together!!

A trip down memory lane:

An Afternoon at DongTai Lu

2011-04-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went with a friend to help her bargain for some treasures on one of my favorite streets - DongTai Lu. I found an accurate description at Time.com: "A chockablock stretch of antiques and curio shops." Of course, I wouldn't bet all my money that all the treasures are true 'antiques,' but it's one of my favorite picture-taking spots. Here are a few shots I captured!

Two bike repair men playing games while waiting on customers..

I enjoyed chatting with this cuties mom... and finally got him to crack a smile :)

These old lights hanging above reminded me of my Mimi and Pop :)

It's crazy that now having a baby, all the 'kids things' catch my eye!

Tea, anyone?!

Had a nice time practicing my Chinese with this woman.. she had the nicest smile, and was flattered when I asked to take her picture, but each time I put the camera up, she lost her ear-to-ear grin. The best part of my day was her smile when I told her she was pretty... I think the local people find me amusing when I hang out and chat with them :) Then she told me to come back and she'd offer me her best 'friend prices!' Can't beat that!

Time To Eat

2011-04-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

For now I'll blame my lack of blogging on the fact that my mind has been in overdrive trying to figure out what Olivia will eat! She is practically the PERFECT child with the exception of her eating stress - or I should say "my stress of her NOT eating!" She's fully transitioned to whole milk -which wasn't at all an issue! However, the transition from baby food to 'real' food is a current hurdle we (I) am ready to jump! Olivia doesn't want much to do with any food other than fruit! She likes banana, mango, kiwi, strawberry, apple, pear, blueberry, etc... She'll try 1-2 bites of almost anything, and then spit it out!

Last night I made a delicious vegetable pasta - totally homemade! I put some of the sauce in the food processor to minimize the massive chunks and she did eat that for lunch today! (I might add that she spit out each bite until I mixed it with her #1 favorite food = pear yogurt) Gross, you might think? She loved it... But, really?! I don't want to mix all her meals with pear yogurt... This is the only trick that really works! We've tried cut up bites, letting her feed herself (she loves this, but just plays), pureed people food, mashed food, dancing, different forks/spoons... If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!

I'm finding some comfort and a LOT of humor in a book that a friend let me borrow ...

-From the chapter entitled "Let's Get Real:"

"Having been through my own drama of one disastrous breastfeeding experience and one baby whose lips clamped down like a clam shell at the sight of a spoon of food coming, I am only too aware of the pitfalls that await conscientious mothers. I know what it's like to cook and freeze a zillion little ice cubes of nutritious food only to have it completely refused. And to have a chile react hysterically to anything green until someone (not me) finally persuaded her to try avocado at the age of 21."

"The reason why some babies take to food and make their mothers' lives easy, while others are difficult and highly selective, remains one of life's great mysteries. The notion that mothers can turn reluctant eaters into good eaters by cooking up special little recipes or having access to some secret knowledge is simply not true. Nothing is worse than carefully cooking nutritious meals and having them continually rejected. If this happens it's best to keep simple, easily prepared items even if, for a time in your toddler's life, it's the same old thing day after day."

So for now, we are focusing on the reality that she's healthy, growing, walking, babbling, laughing, and pretty close to perfect... and this is just a phase.... If she turns into a banana I'll post pictures :)

Updated Photos of the LoveBug..

2011-04-16T00:49:00.000-07:00

"Peek-A-Boo"

I'm walking!!!!!!

"I still appreciate help when I want to go FAST!"

Squats do a body good :)

"Let's go to the beach!" My new swimsuit fits!

"I'd like to go upstairs now :)"

I'm a good girl!!

PJ Time

2011-02-21T00:15:00.000-08:00

Goofy/snarly/sweet/scrunchy/toothy/up-to-something face! Wanted to show off the teeth!

Daddy time... big smiles :)
Mom, please give me the camera... I'm so cute...
Oh, you said something...??
I'm so mesmerized by Veggie Tales, I might just stand here a few minutes ...

Thankful...

2011-02-13T23:38:00.000-08:00

After my previous rant on my frustration with workers around here... I wanted to express my thanks (although she can't read English.. or speak it for that matter!) to Yang! She is one of the hardest workers we know, and thankfully my Ayi! Ayi in China literally means Auntie.. and is the common term for housekeeper/nanny. Yang Ayi works hard to help keep our house clean and in order and most importantly she's WONDERFUL when I need a helping hand with Olivia! For anyone reading this thinking that I'm totally spoiled - I am :) BUT - I'd invite you to come on over to China and take a peek at the TINEST washing machine in the WORLD, and also enjoy what I like to call the Daily Dust/soot/pollution that blows in through the poorly sealed windows and doors in our house :) I do have to admit though - I might try and smuggle Yang with us when we move back stateside - oh how I dream!!

Today, Olivia and Violet (her purple puppy) took a few minutes to say Hi to Yang..

Olivia wanted to help 'carry' some laundry!

After such hard work, Olivia enjoyed some afternoon tea...
And, last but not least, here is Little Miss wearing the blue sweater that Yang Ayi knit for her while we were in the US for Christmas! A tiny bit big, but such a sweet gift :)

Playdate!

2011-02-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

Olivia invited a few new friends, Toby and Kailin, over this week for a play date! Both of these little angels have been adopted by two different families we've met here.. so blessed to know them! They enjoyed coming over and munchin' on some of Olivia's toys!

I love how crazy Olivia's hair is :) This was just after I 'asked' her to share Violet (her puppy) with Kailin! She was thinking about how to grab Violet back!

This was about the best pic I was able to capture of the three of them together!

Always Excitement ...

2011-02-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

It's never easy to decide when to tell your wife that she might be going back to no hot water (I repeat - NO HOT WATER) at her house in a foreign country in the middle of WINTER! I have no idea if that is even a proper sentence ... but ... I do know that my wonderful husband found out this bit of good news around 10pm the night before we flew to China (when we had to wake Olivia up at 4am, after she was awake til 2am with a cold)... the day we traveled 23 hours.. the day our AA flight was delayed to Chicago and we had to fly UNITED - disclaimer - I DO NOT LIKE UNITED AIRLINES!!!! I should stop there!!..

It was a VERY LONG 24 hours... about 6 hours before we landed in Shanghai (9 hours after we boarded that lovely plane), Justin leans over and says, "Our hot water might be out again (yes we had this issue last year too).. just wanted you to know to be prepared.." "WHAT?!?!" Ok, he's just the messenger.. "WHAT!?!?!"

I did get a lukewarm shower that night.. and THANKFULLY, our wonderful landlord provided the money for a new hot water boiler to be installed the next day.. and f...i..n..a...l...l...y to the point of this blog post!

The workers here in China spend half their time working, and the other half just making a huge mess! Had I been half awake, I would've taken a "BEFORE Emily and Olivia cleaned the backyard photo" when the workers finished.. But, here is an AFTER photo! The new boiler is attached in that closet area, and the old one, yeah - it's right there in the yard. It's heavy .. sure just leave it there for us! Thanks! Oh - and that box of 'stuff' - that's what I picked up all over the yard!

Olivia thinks Mom is super funny!!!

She wanted me to take this picture so she could take credit for the clean up!! :)
I asked Olivia if she could help translate the instructions printed on the new boiler...

She laughed and started eating her shoe!

Time Flies

2011-01-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

As I look at my baby getting bigger by the minute... I can't imagine how my mom feels looking at me! I found this old photo of me and my sister...

I wish I had that tan now... and yes, that's a real kitten... he had big dreams of playing basketball one day..

First Snow!

2011-01-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Olivia LOVED the snow! She pointed and tried to grab the flakes coming down.. She asked if she could join the Polar Bear Club (Mommy said no :) Here are a few pics of her just before she had a mug of hot coffee...

A few Christmas Memories 2010!!

2011-01-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day! I'm TOO cute in my Scottie Dog Dress...

and really concentrated on standing up!

Christmas Eve... Who needs a bath?!

Try and catch me!!

Is this for ME???!!

That's a cute little bum you've got...

Aunt Audrey Adores oliviA :)

Chubby Cheeks..

Duh - it's a hat!

I love new toys!!

I really really love when Uncle Jeff builds towers!!

I have a present for you! In my diaper...! j/k :)

Aunt Tara got me this awesome bear suit!!

Aunt Casey!!

Aunt Audrey!!

Uncle Jack.. you make me smile so big!

Uncle Jeff... We make each other smile so big!!

Uncle Anthony, I think I see some chocolate :)

I'm so loved...

Scrub a Dub Dub

2010-12-13T18:54:00.000-08:00

I.. have... no ... words... this is melting my heart...
My girl LOVES LOVES the water!! If it didn't break my back, I'd bathe her everyday for an hour.. we sure have enough bath toys!

Her cute little tummy makes me wanna set a tripod up in the bathroom...

As of last week (a few weeks shy of 9 months).. Olivia weighs 18.2 pounds and is 30 inches long! Tall (100th percentile) and skinny (50th percentile)!

A Message to You Sooner Fans...

2010-11-23T00:31:00.000-08:00

"Listen here!"

"Really, Mom?! Why would anyone cheer for OU? That's silly!!!"

"We're going after the WIN!!!"

GOOOOOOOOOOOO
POKES
!!!

I'm 8 Month's Old!!!!

2010-11-21T03:13:00.000-08:00

I'm a HAPPY HAPPY GIRL! I love to stand and bounce... I crawl so fast and giggle as mommy and daddy chase me and scoop me up :) My second tooth will probably make an appearance any day now... I hope it's as razor sharp as my first one! I have a new 'laugh' that mommy and daddy say sounds like a little lamb.. I'm so cute! I still love bath time - I can't wait 'til I'm bigger so I can swim in the pool. I'm getting a little bit more hair, but not too much. I can wave bye-bye!! Sometimes, mom tries to get me to show off too much, and I just giggle :) I giggle a LOT!! I'm learning to clap my hands... Well, enough about me! Oh wait - here are a few pics!

Standing!!!

2010-11-05T20:09:00.000-07:00

We went over to play at Owen's house this morning so mom could have a cup of coffee with Heidi... and look who decided to stand up all on her own in the pack-n-play!!!!

She was proud of herself!!! And I love her Patagonia top - thanks Heather!!!! I can't believe she's big enough to wear it!

Spoon!

2010-10-24T02:42:00.001-07:00

During dinner tonight, Olivia wanted to use the spoon to soothe her gums! What a little stinker :) We couldn't resist taking a pic! Of course, just after the flash went off, she smiled and the spoon (with all the food) fell on her lap!

A Few Recent Pics!

2010-10-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Haven't posted in a while, so thought I would catch up with a few of my favorite photos from the past few weeks!
Nothing is cuter than a sweet baby in a full pa-jammie suit! Cuddle bear!
I wanted to see if Olivia was ready for her new car seat - so we tested it in the living room.. She apparently thought that was a fun time...
This was two weeks ago just before we left for church!
Playing in her new walker!
What a cutie pie! I think half the reason she likes the walker is so that she can pull on the baby fence!
Dad - don't let me fall!! I really want to practice pulling up to my knees!
Olivia loves Daddy.. he's had a few days off work lately, and they've had a fun time hanging out!

She's growing toooo fast -- not quite 7 months, and already pulling herself up to standing!

As of this morning - - Olivia's first tooth has appeared!!!!! She's almost ready for a chile relleno - oh wait - maybe I'm ready for that... OH HOW I MISS MY MEXICAN FOOD!!!!!!

Highchair Time!

2010-09-27T04:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pics of Olivia and her start with solid foods!

(This was her first time with rice cereal! She looks a little out of it!!)
This one, I think she's saying, "Who... me??"

I realized when trying to decide which pics to post, that I really need to take more fun pictures of her with food on her face :) What can I say?! We're pretty clean! AND - it's challenging to feed her and take pics!

We started rice cereal about a month or so ago. So far, we've tried rice and oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, bananas, and applesauce. She hasn't had much of an appetite the past week (I'm guessing that we might be seeing a tooth soon!!) but tonight we had sweet potatoes and some banana for dessert and she looovveed it!

I can't believe my girl is SO big! Where have the past 6 months gone!?

Side note - at her 6 month check-up last week, Olivia weighed 17 pounds and was 27.5 inches tall! (She's off the chart in height .. in the 102nd percentile! and close to the 55th percentile for weight.)

More Crawling Practice!

2010-09-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

"Oh, hi Mommy... You wanna see my new tricks again??"

"Here I go!" "Are you ready?"

"Woaaahh, I'm a bit wobbly!"

"That was close!!"

"Here I go again!" "Are you getting this on film??"

"Not too sure where to go from here!?"

"That's it for now!"

"Come play :)"

"What's in here?" "I better look quick - I usually don't sit up too long before I tip!"

TV ..

2010-09-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

She was bouncin'.. playin'.. oblivious that the TV was directly behind her. It wasn't even possible for her to see the TV (or so I thought!!) Not two seconds after I turned it on, this happened :
She's a little stinker...

No TV for Olivia = No TV for Mom. Duh!

Oh - and just FYI - it was even on MUTE.. and she still wanted to watch! Guess I'll wait 'til nap time :)

She's A Rockin!

2010-09-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

Olivia is up on her hands and knees... rocking back and forth!! My baby, my tiny baby.. she's getting so big... Wow - almost 6 months old?! I remember when she started smiling, grabbing, reaching, giggling, rolling... All these 'firsts' and she's not quite half a year old yet. These snapshots in my mind are wonderful - I can't journal enough to save all the memories and milestones!

Almost crawling!!? I can't hardly believe it! For now, we are enjoying watching her learn this new skill of rocking. I hope it lasts a while. I'm don't know if I'm ready to chase her around everywhere - but once she starts something, she goes all for it!

She's so proud of herself as she scoots all around to grab a toy. Rolling, scooting, and now rocking! And, oh, the sweet little beaming smile as she realizes how proud of her we are. Even this small, she knows. She's gonna be a little performer.. And it makes my heart melt..

Lazy Day

2010-09-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today we spent lots of time playing on the floor with the shape puzzle bucket...
The lid is her favorite!

She is scooting all over the floor!

This cute face cracks me up! Mom, really? More pictures?

I was laughing as I posted these pics! She's one busy girl with all her activity centers - floor mat with hanging toys, bouncing jumparoo, etc! As you can see in the background, we installed the safety fence around the stairs.. Hard to believe that she's soon to be full out crawling. She worked really hard to scoot over and knock down the tower of shapes I built!

Happy First Birthday, Owen!!

2010-08-28T20:45:00.000-07:00

Owen loved his carrot cake!
Olivia was really interested in that cake!

Emily and Olivia and Emily and Henry :) Poor Henry, with that terrible outfit! We won't hold it against him though!

Heidi and Josh hosted a great celebration for Owen. Steaks on the grill, good friends, and carrot cake! Happy One Year Owen - we love you!!

You Are Special

2010-08-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

I really miss my sister! She has so many things coming up that make it hard to be so far away! Most notably, her wedding !! Audrey, I love you SO much and think about you everyday!!

I wanted to share a few of my very favorite sister pics...

This is at the farm, we look like big nerds with these hats on, but I've always loved this pic!
At an OSU Football game when Aud was in college!! Love her and our school!!
This is when Audrey won first place at the State Track meet when she was in highschool.. She is way cool!!

Audrey, you're very special.. and I just wanted to say I LOVE YOU! (I just noticed in the last two pics, I'm squeezing you so tight!! I'm sending you a virtual squeeze RIGHT NOW!!)

Bouncin!

2010-08-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves her new bouncing jumparoo! Thanks Gma Linda and Gpa Brent :)

The first few times, she sat with a confused look on her face.. but she's really getting the hang of it now!! She loves to bounce and blow bubbles and smile (of course)!

My Cutie Pie

2010-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a few pictures that I've edited! Aren't they cute!?

Olivia's first time wearing 'shoes'.... tasty :)

Ahhh .. I LOVE this jumping gym :)

What A Trip!

2010-08-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

- 18 Pieces of Luggage weighing in close to 1000 pounds!!!!

- 5 Carry-on Suitcases

- 4 kids

- 3 families

- 3 diaper bags

- 25 hours of travel

= 1 LONG TRIP!

We've been back in Shanghai almost a week and just now catching up on rest!! Here are some pic's of our journey back!

LOVE this face - it says it ALL!!
Jack and Owen in the Chicago airport....

Olivia 4 Month Photos

2010-08-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

As busy as the trip home was, we were able to squeeze in an evening with Charity, a good friend and pledge sister of mine, who is ramping up a photography business! She is SO talented...and we couldn't be more pleased with the photos!! Here are a few of the shots... I wanted to post them all, but figured 75 might be too many!!

If anyone is interested in hiring Charity, her contact info can be found at http://catphotography.zenfolio.com/

I highly recommend her, and she's using the proceeds toward an upcoming adoption!

Special thanks to Aunt Casey for the adorable wings and tutu!!!

I can't believe my baby is 4 MONTHS OLD!!!

Why Haven't We Been Writing?

2010-07-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

We are pooped!!

It has been wonderful being back in the USA! Wonderfully exhausting!! Living away for two and a half years now, I'm normally quite busy during my trips home... re-connecting with family, visiting friends, shopping, endless doctor check-up's, frequent visit's to Taco Bueno and Chick-fil-A :) Prior to this trip, I had NO IDEA how NOT busy I was before!! The calendar was pretty much full several weeks before we even touched ground in Tulsa. Olivia has been one popular girl.

She's been such a trooper. She's smiled and flirted as she's been passed from person to person, stared with curiosity at puppy licks on her toes, performed all her new tricks time and time again (watching her grab her feet and blow raspberries provides endless entertainment) and fussed for mom only when she's been super hungry/sleepy.

We've done our very best to spend time with everyone... saying it's been hectic is an understatement! I suppose this will always be a challenge while we live so far away and have such a wonderful, beautiful daughter who's so popular. And wonderful family and friends who we want her to build relationships with :)

The trip back to Shanghai looms ahead.. Although we feel that we're called to be there longer, it's always a tough trip back. (I've already packed 2 suitcases and 2 boxes.. the packing gets old fast.)

Enough about that! I'm looking forward to the last part of the trip here.. trying to make as few plans as possible so that I can have some personal relaxing time.. I'll be posting more pic's of our recent activities as soon as I find time to get them on the computer!

Olivia's First .....

2010-07-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

TRIP TO THE MALL!!!

Yesterday, we ventured out to Woodland Hill's Mall in Tulsa with Olivia's friends: Owen, Ben, and Lucy.... and their moms: Heidi, Jessie, and Sarah Ann (all sisters!). "Nana-Ann" (Owen, Ben, and Lucy's Gma) also joined us!

We were quite a site! Olivia - 3.5 months; Owen - 10.5 months; Ben - 3 months; and Lucy - 7 weeks!

What a group!

Olivia and me! She's a drooling Queen :)

Heidi and Owen! He's having a great nap!

Jessie and Ben! He's chillin' in the pack!

Sarah Ann and Lucy! Beautiful girl and such a sweet dress!

The babies were SOOO good...

Olivia hung out most of the time awake in her seat.. Ben took a great snooze on his tummy.. Owen hung out playing with toys.. and Lucy passed out and lost her pacifier :)

At Christmas time, we all laughed and talked about how fun (and crazy) it would be all going to the mall together once all the babies were born! You'd think that an outing with four babies might be stressful, but it wasn't at all. I loved it! Lot's of laughs and pictures! We were even able to sit and eat in the food court and all the kids were in their strollers!! Happy or asleep!! I'm not sure what the odds are of that happening again .. but I'm sure we'll find out!

One more pic of my sweetie pie.. she loves playing with her rattle bugs on her car seat bar!

FUN IN THE SUN

2010-06-28T21:38:00.001-07:00

Today was a great day! Olivia hosted her very first pool party! She was so excited to meet several of Mommy's Kappa Delta Pledge Sisters and their kiddos!

"The Ryan Family Resort" as I call it!

What a wonderful group of friends!!

Katie (w/ Lilly), Christi, Abbie, me, Kristy, Ilena, Amanda (with Maddy), Charity

So cute - Brody and Jack in background..

Katie's daughter Claire, and also our honorary pledge sister, Heidi (and Owen) didn't make the group photo! Oh - and Olivia and Kenzie were in napping!!

Mary Katherine and Meg - we missed you two sweet babies!!

We had a wonderful time.. hanging out.. swimming.. trying to figure out Katie's secret trick of having all three beautiful children behave so well... watching Brody jump off the dive rock... catching up... laughing... It was a fantastic day with some great friends.. What a blessing you all are to my heart!

When everyone had to say Bye Bye... Miss Olivia was sad!

Only for about two seconds though... and then she was a big cheese for the camera!!!

Olivia and her Mommy want to say a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to Olivia's Nonna and Grandaddy for letting her host the swim party at their house :)

We Made It!

2010-06-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

We made it to the USA! I will say that traveling around the world with a baby is d0-able... Olivia was an angel. She smiled and slept a lot and even made her first razzing sounds with bubble blowing to go along with it!

After traveling for 26 hours and being so happy, I thought we could finally get some sleep at 2am once we got to the house. Olivia started crying - actually she was screaming her head off - and nothing I did helped (which is extremely unusual = it NEVER happens). After almost an hour of this, I was worried. Typically, my mom is one of the first people I turn to to for baby advice, and she was also concerned. This is when it's handy to have a pediatrician in a time zone around the world. It was 3pm for her, so I was able to call her. After she heard that scream, and confirmed it had been going on so long, she said to go immediately to the ER. Without going into all the details, Olivia's right ear hadn't equalized after flying for so long and she was in a lot of pain. The Dr. gave her some ear numbing drops and by 4:30 am she was much better! Talk about pain - for her and for me! Hearing your own baby cry and not being able to comfort her is terrible. I'm just so glad it wasn't something more serious. That was our first night here. Welcome to the US!

Fortunately, since then she's been back to her wonderful happy self!! I was thinking it might take her a week or more to get back her previous sleeping schedule, but last night she slept from 10:30pm -8:45am!!! I hope that continues! I woke up every few hours to check on her, but she was snoozin :)

We are so excited to be here and Olivia is enjoying meeting all her family and friends.. there are so many to see!! We are blessed that my parents have so much extra room at their house and my mom has set up a beautiful nursery for Olivia, complete with a crib and rocking chair! I'll post some pics soon!

This weekend, Olivia get's to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Forth and also her Grandma Shelly and Great Grandma Doris! She can't wait!

It Was Bound To Happen

2010-06-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

The first few "baths" of Olivia's sweet life had me worried (what didn't at that point!?) that she was going to be a bath time screamer.. Looking back now, if I could actually remember much from that sleep-deprived state, I don't think I'd even consider those first few times "real" baths. No matter how much I tried to hurry, she was probably cold during the sponging sessions and annoyed that I couldn't get her arms in and out of sleeves very quickly.

But now... my girl LOVES bath time!! Just a whisper of "It's Olivia's Bath Time" song and she's smiling from ear to ear. I'm so impressed that she lets me rinse her head and body at the end with the shower nozzle!

Sooner or later.. it was bound to happen... at least that's what I keep telling myself! Today, Olivia pooped in the bathtub! Yuck! Needless to say, I think this added to her enjoyment of bath time. She had some super big smiles after that. Here's a pre-poop (literally 30 seconds before) photo I took today:

The look on her face gave me the first hint as to what was about to happen and just as I removed the washcloth... SURPRISE... ewwww.. I hesitated for a minute thinking .. great, now what!?

If you find yourself in this predicament, here's what parenting.com says to do:

"If your baby goes to the bathroom in the tub, remove him, then the poop, drain the water, rinse the tub, and start over. It's important to use fresh water for the rest of the bath so that you're not washing your baby with bits of fecal matter, which contain bacteria. While it's obviously not ideal, don't panic if your baby takes a sip of the water before you can remove him from the bath."

That gave me a good laugh! Who would look that up online anyway!? And, really, use fresh water?? I should've thought of that.. HA HA. I would've passed out if she drank that water!

Back to Blogging!!

2010-06-09T00:43:00.000-07:00

I must confess - a few months ago, I purchased a new VPN that allows me to check blogsites.. and uh, BLOG on emschinajourney :) I'll be quick to follow that up with a reminder of the fact that I just had a baby, and have had little time to read blogs, much less write anything myself! (How do all you other mom's do it?!)

I am going to try and start posting on occasion! And to celebrate the "back to blogging" I hope you all enjoy the video I made!!

I can't believe my baby is 11 weeks old!!!! She's the sweetest thing ever!

Blogger Ban SIlences EMSChinaJourney

2009-07-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, my cousin Emily hasn't been the most frequent blogger, in spite of her wildly interesting new life in China and great demand on the part of her family.

I, her cousin and guest blogger, am here to assure you that her silence is not voluntary. She would be enthusiastically and hilariously (if sporadically) sharing the best bits of her life in China, if only the Chinese government would let her.

They recently banned access to all blogger sites, leaving this blog quiet and other good ones (ahem) inaccessible.

Stay tuned, though, because when the ban lifts, Em will surely have a whole pile of stockpiled stories to share!

(Oh, and Mei, she received your message!)

New Apartment Pic's

2009-03-28T21:49:00.001-07:00

We finally broke down and bought new couches... When I say "broke down," I mean our butts were literally breaking on our old couches - they were ROCK hard!! I found a factory here that makes excellent Pottery Barn-ish furniture for about half the cost. Here are some pictures!!

In the past few weeks, I've found some excellent new antiques - three old 'lunch boxes', two beggar's chairs (they are a matching pair), and one painted bucket.

I found this info on Antique Chairs online at www.bohoco.co.uk/origins.html :

Generally chairs were made in pairs, (unlike contemporary European sets of eight, ten and twelve) and reflects the Chinese desire for balance and symmetry in room settings. Chairs were reserved for the most important members of a wealthy family and for receiving esteemed guests. Women, due to their subordinate status in Chinese society rarely sat on chairs and were confined to low platforms and stools. Chairs of the 18^th and 19^th centuries were not upholstered, unlike their western contemporaries. In the homes of high-ranking officials, chairs may have been draped with extravagant and brightly coloured silks. There were several styles established in the Ming period, which were copied throughout the Qing dynasty: There are basically two major families or styles of chair, based on their appearance: square backed chairs and round backed chairs.

Round backed chairs

These are generally much more comfortable than the straight backed chairs. The square seat remains the same but the back rail offers a continuous support, which slopes downwards supporting the sitter’s back and arms. The finer pieces from the south were exquisitely made by craftsmen as the rounded rear support involved three to five ‘invisibly’ jointed segments of hard wood. These chairs were reserved for important members of the household and for ceremonial occasions. The round curving arms gave the sitter an air of imperial dignity and so it came to be that these chairs were considered as the perfect position for posing for one's portrait! Due to their shape they became known by westerners in China at that period as ‘Horse shoe backed arm chairs’. Vernacular versions of the round-backed chair were larger, more ‘rustic’ in design and were made of willow. The rounded back was made of one piece of willow which was steamed and then bowed to form the horse shoe shape. Due to their rather humble back ground, these more rustic chairs were sometimes referred to as ‘beggars chairs’

'Normal' ?

2009-03-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

OK - by this point, I think we can all admit (especially me) that I’m not the most consistent blogger. I honestly have the hardest time trying to decide what to write about because I’m actually getting used to living here! Sometimes, I miss the feeling of looking out the taxi window and witnessing a bizarre situation for the first time. Now, it’s bizarre that these things feel ‘normal’! For example:

- Trucks stacked so high with bundles of who-knows-what that I’m scared to pass them in case the load topples over. Only to pass by and realize that amid the bundles there are Chinese men sitting between the bundles holding them in place.

- Entire families riding on a motorbike. Typically, a man driving with the woman sitting behind him, side-saddle. She’s holding an infant (of course, that’s totally safe!!) and standing in front of the man, is a toddler holding onto the handle bars. I used to constantly point this out to whomever I was with ... along with a comment or two about how unsafe it was. Now, it seems like an affordable means of transportation (NOT :)

- The seas of brown faces around every corner that shove, push, and crowd my personal space.. the spitting, hacking, and nose picking.. Although, I’ll always find it annoying and often down right disgusting, it doesn’t stand out like it used to.

- A day of grocery shopping. Yes, it often takes an entire day to get all the ingredients to make a meal. No wonder we eat out a lot!

- Walking out my front door to see a long rope hanging from the top of the building with a man latched onto it cleaning windows and gutters. Other men standing on the top of the building peering below, yelling to the hanging men. I just hope they don’t fall - I wouldn’t bet my life on the safety equipment.

- The one thing that DOES still stand out to me are the Chinese babies and kids... can’t get over them... not sure I want to...

I Skipped A Week!

2009-02-22T23:11:00.001-08:00

No major stories! So here are some random (TOTALLY random) things:

- - Ordering Dinner: The other night we were ordering dinner from a Thai restaurant. The girl who answered the phone was a very sweet Chinese girl who spoke pretty good English. It's always amusing to call and order food (typically Thai or Indian food) speaking to a native Chinese speaker. My pronunciation of Thai cuisine is far from correct... you can imagine how interesting the conversational mix of English and Chinese is. Long story short - I wanted to order the "Snow Peas with Basil and Shrimp" but it's normally a very spicy dish. I asked for "No Spicy." The girl had a difficult time understanding - so she said "Yes, Please hold - I will ask the chicken.." (girl giggling) "Oh sorry.. sorry.. I mean, I ask the kitchen." I LOVED IT..

- - Heidi had her second Dr. appointment. The baby is only the size of a PLUM and on the ultrasound you can see so many many details! Even the nose! Amazing Miracle! I've been busy helping her brainstorm design ideas for the nursery and learn baby-related Chinese terms :)

If anyone has any suggestions on a good infant stroller/car seat, please pass along the info!! The items here are limited.. Also - I'm trying to help research info regarding what types of baby seats an airline will allow on an international flight!

- - Justin and I are considering a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia! Don't have all the details lined out yet, but I'm researching that as well! We're going to try and fit that in before coming back to the US in May.

- - We have these horrible bug/moth things in our apartment! Justin gets to smash most of them.. basically because going near them really grosses me out. He thinks I should call the service center to come spray, but I'm fearful that whatever they spray might not be safe for us to be living in here! (My mom tells a story about when I was little -- apparently I refused to go outdoors for several weeks because I didn't like the bugs.. Yep, I bet that was true!!) I did get a sample of a few of the pests in a ziplock and I plan on doing some investigating on how to get rid of them!

- - I still haven't driven yet, but just having my license makes me really miss having a personal car!!

Driving in Shanghai

2009-02-10T05:06:00.000-08:00

I’ve searched online for the official number of licensed drivers in Shanghai and can’t find one! Granted, my search only lasted about two minutes total. Let’s just say that the number of licensed drivers in Shanghai just went from “A GA-Zillion” to “A GA-Zillion + ME". Yes, I now have an official Shanghai Driver’s License!!

The process took two trips to the Police Headquarters on two different days and another trip to the Police Translation Building on a third day!

The first day, we basically just had to prove we had all the required documents and register for a time to take the exam. The documents included: passport, valid foreign driver’s license, etc. Oh - and also included another health check! I even took my paperwork from the health check I had when we first moved here and that wasn’t acceptable! I wasn’t surprised, but thought I would try at least! This one wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the health check last year - “are you pregnant... are you sure?!” ha ha

One interesting thing to note during the health check though... The lady at the eye-check station asked if I was learning Chinese. So, I replied (in Chinese) “Yes, I study Chinese.” She then asked if I had a teacher and what the rate was. (This is very typical here - asking questions about rates and even salaries is quite common.) After I told her I had a very affordable teacher, she quickly opened up a drawer at her desk and started copying something off of my health form onto a scrap of paper hidden in her drawer - my TELEPHONE NUMBER! Then she looked at me with a huge smile and said, “My son will be your new teacher!” I’m anticipating an interesting call soon!

The next day, I had to have my Oklahoma license translated into Chinese by an official translator. Uneventful.

Yesterday, drove back to the police station to take the 100 question exam! They did provide us with the exam and answers to study, so the only difficult aspect was trying to make sense of the Chinglish (Chinese and English combo)! Some of my favorite questions were:

1 Before driving motor vehicles, drivers..

a. may drink a little alcoholic drinks

b. must not drink alcoholic drinks

c. are only allowed to drink beer

2 What obligation do the persons involved in a traffic accident undertake when the accident is being investigated?

a. Making up a story about the accident

b. complaining of the fault of the other party

c. making a true statement of the accident without concealing truth

3 When entering a tunnel, the vehicle should:

a. sound the horn and drive fast

b. slow down and turn on the headlight

c. maintain speed and sound the horn many times

4 When there are puddles on the road ahead, the driver

a. should accelerate and pass

b. should drive slowly lest the water be splashed on pedestrians

c. drive at normal speed without need to slow down

Needless to say, I passed!!

Now, we are just hoping that sometime this year we get our own car!

Shanghai - look out!

Xin Nian Quai Le - Happy New Year!

2009-02-02T19:22:00.000-08:00

For anyone who has been worried... Yes, I’m still alive! AND, No, my mom isn’t still in China! I’m amazed you’re still checking the Blog! One of my resolutions for this year is to blog more than I did last year. So, at this rate, if I create ten entries, I’ll feel successful!!! (My actual goal is to write once a week - - but we’ll see how that goes.)

I’ve been back in Shanghai for almost three weeks after going home for Christmas. It’s nice to be back! I’m embracing life here and counting myself as blessed. Justin’s job is steady and the time here is passing so quickly - I’ve committed to enjoying everyday (or trying to at least) and I’m starting to remember why I loved coming here to visit over the past three years. I know when the time to move home is ‘right’ then I’ll be home - until then, I’m trying to let go of controlling the unknown! We are so fortunate - many families are being sent home or to other locations and expat packages are being minimized. All that to say - I want to share this experience.. and will try to blog more!!

This week was Chinese New Year!! Everyone takes an entire week off work to celebrate! Locals shoot off fireworks every night of the week. On the actual day of the New Year, we were invited to a get-together for dinner and fireworks! At midnight, we shot off fireworks in the street near our apartment and watched as the sky lit up. This is, by far, the most fireworks I’ve ever seen. The sky was booming in every direction and the streets were flooded with confetti and paper. (Some of the pictures were taken from inside the warm car!! It was below freezing out and I do NOT like the cold :) I was both amused and scared to see cars and taxis driving super close to fireworks being shot off in the streets. I moved the car backward twice to avoid becoming part of the booming display!

Chinese New Year is also THE time of gift giving in China. The drivers and Aiyes get a bonus and the week off work. Jen, my aiye, has worked for Heidi for three years - and we decided to go in together and get her two children rollerblades for Chinese New Year! The kids (little boy 6yrs old and girl 14yrs old) were soo excited to see their gifts! Mei Fei (the little boy) looked so cute all strapped in the protective gear and wanted to go outside right away and try out the rollerblades. He was also very inquisitive about my computer when we showed him the pictures we took of him in his new gear!

Middle Days.. Mom's Visit

2008-11-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

The exact details day by day escape me... but the ‘middle day’s we spent together were wonderful.

Taiking Road and Lane 248, as noted in one of my four Shanghai Travel Guide Books, is described as “Shanghai’s latest secret. A narrow, gritty street now inhabited by artsy cafes and intimate boutiques.” Oh yes, we knew the secret! We explored the area, and discussed the mixed emotions of the locals. Some were happy shopkeepers, welcoming the foreigner invasion into the area that was previously a local ‘neighborhood.’ Others hid inside behind the bamboo curtains and sheets that shrouded their doors and windows. We didn’t purchase much, but enjoyed peeking in and out of the shops. Mom found some fabulous antique pieces of furniture that were quite over priced... aren’t all the things we really drool over!?

On Saturday, Mom and I met up with Heidi and Rachel Ann to head over to Renmin Park a.k.a. People’s Square. Mom took some fun photos of three men practicing some kind of sword-tai chi-exercise thing! They giggled as I asked them in Chinese if we could take some pictures. The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center has a remarkable model of the entire city and surrounding areas. The model is so large it would take an apartment four times the size of mine to set it up!! Later that evening, we met up with the guys for dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant, 1221: xiao long bao (dumplings), sichuan pork, clay pot eggplant, sweet and sour fish, kung pao chicken, sauvignon blanc, fried rice, broccoli, chinese tea = delicious.

FIRST VISITOR!!!

2008-10-29T03:57:00.000-07:00

Mom came to visit for a week! Of course I had all intentions of writing a blog entry each day... way too busy for that! What a fantastic week..

Day 1 - Mom and Rachel Ann (Heidi's mom) arrived at the Pudong Airport after the long trip over. Mom experienced her first Chinese massage before she even touched ground in China - the person sitting behind her on the airplane provided that for free! I ensured her that I would take her for a more relaxing experience later in the week. After getting her things unpacked, we took a walk around the block to keep her awake. Dinner outside at Slice was nice.. sandwich melts and pizza.

Day 2 - Shanghai is the perfect place to acquire an entirely new, custom-made wardrobe. Yes, the fabric market is a MUST on the itinerary (I think we went three times in total). The market is three floors jam-packed with vendors begging and bartering with each passing customer. We had a beautiful, black cashmere coat made for mom at about a fifth the average price in the US. Audrey (my sister) was with us in spirit - we had two light jackets made for her. I had some pants altered. etc... etc... Mandarin Chinese comes in extremely handy here. As with most places in Shanghai, bargaining is customary.. and I've finally managed to remember all the numbers and key phrases. AND people are starting to understand my tones!!! Mom enjoyed listening to me show off my bargaining skills. My favorite phrases: 1. "Duoshao qian" (how much is it?) 2. "Zheige taigui le!" (that's too expensive!) 3. "Wo zhu si Shanghai, wo yao pianyi yidian" (I live in Shanghai, I want a lower price). The key is to remain relaxed and friendly without backing down. This often ends up with me walking away and the shop keeper running out dragging us back saying "Ok lady, Ok.. you speak Chinese very well." My reply, "Wo da Jongwen bu hao. Ni tai keche la" (My mandarin is very bad, you are too nice)

After the Fabric Market, we headed over to Xintiandi (area near the former French Concession) to stroll around and have lunch at Simply Thai. YUM! Lemon Chicken, Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Green Curry, Broccoli..

Walked down Dongai Road - a local street lined with outdoor stalls exploding with antiques (from long, long ago... or fabricated to appear as such??) Either way, it's a street worth exploring.

Mom purchased two unique items - an old water bucket and a Chinese shoe box 'thing'.. (took us a few days and a few conversations with Chinese friends to determine what it was!) Unfortunately for her, both items were too large to pack! I convinced her that after such hard bargaining, it would be a shame to pay an arm and a leg to Fed-Ex them back to the US.... After some arm twisting, I decided to let her leave them here - they only match my apartment perfectly :)

Stay tuned...

Toilet Update.. Long Overdue

2008-09-18T20:57:00.001-07:00

So for all of you who are still in suspense about the toilet mystery....

A few days after the failed attempts to plunge, two more workers came with a wrench and a long metal thing that looked something like a jumbo metal nail file. I watched as they unscrewed the toilet from the floor and ran as quickly as I could to get some old towels as they lifted the toilet up and all the water poured out the bottom. As they tipped the entire toilet on its side, I anxiously dreaded to see what was stuck in the base of the toilet. Turns out it was three q-tips that had grid-locked themselves together. One of the workers started to inform me in Chinese that these 'things' cannot be flushed... VERY BAD... VERY BAD, he tells me. Of course, I couldn't let him think I didn't know that..

The next day, I had to do a quick teaching lesson to our aiye, Jen. (Ok, secret's out.. we have a lady who comes and cleans the floors, toilets, plates - hopefully not in that order with the same cloth - - we've gone over that one already!! She was seeking work and it's almost expected that as an expat you'll hire an aiye.) Apparently, Jen was wanting to save on trash bags and rather than emptying the bathroom trash, decided it would be more cost and time efficient to flush all the contents of the trash down the toilet. Ah! I'm glad there wasn't anything more substantial than a few q-tips in the trash that day!

Exciting Morning

2008-08-29T20:39:00.001-07:00

What an exciting morning! Woke up to realize that the toilet isn’t working properly - the water fills the bowl and ssssslllllllooooooowwwwwlllllyyyyyy drains. We’ve resolved to quit trying to figure out ‘who did it’ and get it fixed. Plumbing is quite and issue in China. (Has everyone heard my story about trying to use the dishwasher? To make a long story short - the open ended pipe that’s under the kitchen cabinets shoots out dirt and leaves as the dishwasher drains! Needless to say, we wash dishes by hand.)

I do have a plunger! After spending twenty minutes splashing around I thought Justin might like a turn.. His solution was to call the service center! Calling and trying to explain a problem in half English/half Chinese is usually as frustrating as trying to fix the problem myself! As he left to go play basketball, I decided to give it one more try. There is something about plunging a toilet, even when it’s just water you’re dealing with, that is SO disgusting! I won’t be going into the plumbing business anytime soon. I gave up and called the front desk.

About ten minutes later, a nice little man showed up at the front door with a plunger. He wasn’t quite as concerned with keeping the water in the toilet as I had been. Actually, he didn’t even mind sticking his hands down the toilet drain! As he plunged and splashed away, I realized that the drain in the shower was making a terrible noise. I can’t imagine what kind of pipe maze hides under the bathroom floor! Using hand motions, I asked if he wanted me to turn the shower water on to fill the pipe. Great idea! Didn’t help!

When I came back to check on him, he was taking my trash can to the shower, filling it with water and dumping it with full force into the toilet. Over.. and over.. again. My bathroom is quickly becoming a miniature water theme park! I suppose the water in theme parks here might not be much cleaner!

He appears to have tried everything he can think of, starts to get a bit frustrated, calling on his radio for help. The few words I can understand are: not good, two meters, something, house, her, water, i don’t know. Then, he looks at me and talks so fast in Chinese I have no clue what he’s saying. I respond with, “I hear you, but don’t understand you.” He smiles, and then just leaves the apartment. I’m assuming he’ll be back with something that’s two meters long to stick down the pipe?? Who knows!

Chinese Name

2008-08-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting to report over these past few weeks. I did however get a new “Chinese name” from my friend at Head to Toe. (Head to Toe is a massage place not to far from our apartment - great pedicures, massages, and even hair cuts! You can get a hair cut and one hour massage for less than $20!! I have learned that I prefer getting my hair cut twice a year while in the US, but that’s another story.) Anyway - the friend I referred to earlier gives a great massage, and she even speaks decent English. Her English name is Dani, taken from her Chinese name of Dan Dan. Last week, she asked me if I had a Chinese name. I’ve actually tried several, but am always up for being given a new one - mainly due to the fact that Emily, in Chinese, translates to Mae Li (which means beautiful.) Quite awkward when people ask what my name is, and I’m supposed to respond with, “beautiful.” Yes, call me beautiful! Weird! Ok, so Heidi and I are getting a massage and joking with the girls about Chinese names. (Side note - they normally tell Heidi that her name doesn’t need to change because in China, they can just call her Hei Di!) I always get the, “you are SO tall” comments, so Heidi jokes that my name should be Gao Mei - meaning Tall Beautiful... ha ha ha.. After several attempts, Dani says she has the perfect name for me - “Shuang Shuang.” Our first question, “What does that mean??”

Dan Dan has a pondering expression on her face. “How to explain this?” She says that it is a VERY good name and has a good meaning.. but can’t quite explain what the meaning is! She starts by saying that Dan Dan means number 1 and says that Shuang Shuang is number 2. After about ten minutes of trying to understand what she’s saying I conclude that it must have something to do with birth order? Maybe this isn’t the best new name for me. After all, I’m the oldest!

The next day, we took Heidi’s driver, Annie, out to lunch. She speaks a bit of English but we mostly communicate with her in Chinese. We told her about this new name I had been given and she laughed and laughed and said, “Oh no.. this name not too good for you Mae Li.” Turns out that in Chinese, odd numbers are called Dan Dan.. and even numbers are referred to as Shuang Shuang! Go figure :)

Back in Shanghai

2008-08-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

I arrived back in Shanghai on Saturday after spending the month of July in "The States." It seems appropriate to call 'them' 'that' now that I live eight ba-zillion miles away! SO thankful to have the opportunity to travel back and forth and stay in close touch with family and friends.. I've had so many comments regarding my lack of writing on this blog, that I'm going to make an effort to keep everyone updated more regularly - so here goes!

Jet Lag .. oh how wonderful! Heidi and I arrived in Shanghai at 2pm and were met by my wonderful driver, Steven. He's a very nice man so he quickly grabbed some of our luggage (between the 2 of us we had 6 bags and a backpack!) and we headed for the van. Justin was excited to see all the goodies I brought back - even excited to have new deodrant and hair gel from "The States."

This first week back hasn’t been too eventful - most of the women here travel back to the US for the entire months of July and August - so it’s a quiet neighborhood here in Jinqiao! The weather is HOT HOT HOT and HUMID!

The four of us (me, Justin, Heidi and Josh) purchased tickets to the USA vs Australia Olympic Exhibition game on August 5th. After finding out that both Justin and Josh needed to be out of town on business, Heidi and I invited a Chinese friend, Willie (her chosen English name). She was super excited at the opportunity to see her first basketball game! Since we still had one extra ticket, we let Willie know she could bring a friend. Heidi was on the telephone with Willie, as I overheard Heidi’s half of the conversation.. It went something like this.. “Willie, you know - basketball. .. and you can bring any friend you want.” “Oh Sure!” “What, your friend is a boxer??” laughing.. “He works where??” “At a hostel?” (This shows how interesting a simple telephone call can become with someone who’s native language is foreign to ours. Willie speaks good English, but on the telephone understanding it can be challenging!) We later found out that her friend is a doctor who works at a hospital!

The game was really fun! I was able to get some good use out of my new camera taking shots of Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd, etc... Also quite entertaining listening to the game being announced in Chinese. Oh the joys!

Plants!!

2008-06-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Heidi and I visited the "Plant Market!" I purchased three wonderful new additions to my apartment! In Shanghai, there is a "market" for everything... Fabric market, wet (seafood) market, fruit market, copy market - all those knock off items have to come from somewhere! etc..etc..

At the plant market, we came to a quick realization that we needed to purchase from someone who spoke English! (Picture a Lowes-type green room, except there are 50 different shopkeepers all competing for your business.) I wasn't about to pay for a big plant that was going to die because I didn't know how often to water it or even whether to put in indoors or out! Of course, we did try to use our Chinese speaking skills... but I haven't learned how to say inside/outside or "is this an annual/perennial?" One of the shopkeepers looked at me with a blank stare as I told her (in Chinese) that "I did not want a plant with many flowers" because (with hand motions) the bees and wasps... (in Chinese) "I do not like!" Ok, moving on to the next stall.. we enter and a girl walks up asking, "Do you want to buy an outdoor plant?" YES, yes I do!

After much deliberation, I ended up purchasing three tree/plants (the pics are above in the new slide show).. and they were delivered today! The two delivery guys weren't so happy when I asked them to carry two of them to the back porch, but they look great out there! Now I just need to find a small table and chairs.. and a mosquito tent!!

Top Ten List

2008-06-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

... Favorite Things about Shanghai in June...

10. Hot Muggy Weather - makes for wonderful hair-do's!

9. Beautiful flowers and well maintained shrubs ... in the city you learn to notice these things!

8. The aromas that grow stronger and stronger with the higher temperatures..

7. Hoping that the smell is 'stinky tofu' rather than 'stinky poopoo'

6. Mosquitos - no lie, at this moment, I have 28 bites between my toes and knees!!!

5. Pedicures! I even have a flower design on my big toe!! (Had to have some distraction from all the mosquito bites!!)

4. Beautiful evenings and dinners on outdoor patios!

3. I've been here 3 months and a few days ago at dinner (at an American restaurant) I thought "chopsticks would be much easier" as I was digging onions out of a burrito with a fork!!

2. Looking forward to a trip home to see family and friends in July!

1. Being involved in a non-profit orphan care organization!!

SCC in China 2008

2008-05-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

I find myself hesitant to believe most 'famous' people when they share with the world the things they believe in. So many people out there will say anything ... anything for money.. for a fan club.. for fame.. And we become numb to allowing ourselves to think there might be depth in words from anyone, much less a famous individual that we don't even know! OK OK.. where am I going with this?! I had the opportunity last week to spend three days with SCC (can't share details via blog), his wife, and the team that travelled with them to China. He came to share his heart through music - he visited three small cities around Shanghai where students and local people flocked through the doors eager to hear his message (and for free!) He has a passion for helping orphans and has founded an organization that aides people in the adoption process. Not only that, he has three adopted little girls of his own.

SCC has a personal friendship with a lady here in Shanghai that Heidi has become friends with. She asked if we could help hand out information and sell t-shirts at the concerts in Hangzhou and Nanjing on Thursday and Friday! What a fabulous time! We met some amazing people. The people are thirsty for hope and truth to believe in. Amazing to speak to them... half in Chinese and half in English (I'm learning .. slowly). These events were truly touching people's hearts... many of them haven't EVER heard this message... as the concert ended they raced to our little table to grab the information packets. (We struggled to avoid being smashed unintentionally into the wall behind the table as 300 people shoved toward us!!)

On Friday, we all rode a bus for five hours to Nanjing. When we FINALLY reached the destination for lunch, Heidi and I were the second and third people off the bus. Tons of people greeted us with cameras, video cameras, banners, signs, hugs.. Oh yeah, we are with a famous person!? By this point, we had forgotten he was famous! That morning he came over and personally thanked us for volunteering our time and then sat around and chatted with us for a half hour. This really all was no big deal, but it made my heart happy to know that there are people out there who really are who they say they are... with real, genuine hearts to serve and help and be a light in the darkness to people in need. So many hurting people.. It inspired me to use my hands, my time, and my heart to help precious little orphan babies.. I can't think of anything more important. More to come..

IKEA and May Holiday

2008-05-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

On May 1st, the Chinese celebrate the May Holiday. As with all proper holidays, this is a country-wide day off of work! Justin wanted to take part in some shopping so we decided to spend the morning at the local Shanghai IKEA. Our driver, JJ, picked us up at 9am to take us 45 minutes across the city. Good plan - we would get there before the 10am opening. With little traffic, we arrived at 9:45 and concluded that IKEA must have opened early. There were no less than a hundred people just inside the front doors! Oh - IKEA has a cafe - the cafe opens early (great...let's feed the mob and give them more energy and stamina to swarm through the store). ALL the people ALL over is something I'm trying to get used to! I've decided that when I'm back in Tulsa, I'll be one of those 'rude' people who shoves my way through crowds and fights to get as far to the front of lines as humanly possible no matter how many innocent bystanders I knock over!! In China, this skill is necessary for survival!! I will admit, I have already come to the point where saying "sorry" when I bump into someone is no longer my subconscious reaction. Saying "sorry" get's you weird looks and marks you as an obvious foreigner!

OK OK back to IKEA....We went inside, and up the escalator where we joined about 50 more eager shoppers. I took pictures of everyone as they (we!) waited behind barriers guarded by four employees until the clock struck 10am!!! At 9:58am the room was so full I realized that everyone in Shanghai had the same great idea - to visit IKEA on vacation day.

'The Running of the Bulls is a practice that involves running in front of bulls that have been let loose on a course of a sectioned-off subset of a town's streets. Unlike bull fights, which are performed by professionals, anyone may participate. Injuries are common, both to the participants who may be gored or trampled, and to the bulls, whose hooves grip poorly on the paved or cobbled street surfaces.'

Pamplona?? Shanghai?? Where are we??!

Ready, set, GO!! Hurry... run for your life... there are only 4 more pairs of slippers in all of Shanghai!! j/k (Here, the custom is to remove your shoes when you enter a home and put on slippers.) I climbed up onto a display table to avoid being trampled by the bulls.. ha ha..

All in all, it was a good day. We purchased two lamps for the living room, a set of five pictures for the guest room, a flower vase, and a few other random things.. The crowds make shopping a true athletic event, but my heart has a special place for the people here... Seeing one smiling Chinese baby makes the frustration all worth while!

THE "Health Check"

2008-04-19T01:24:00.000-07:00

In order for foreigners to be allowed to stay in China for more than sixty days at a time, the government requires a residence visa. The residence visa permits a one year stay. Although, I think I could deal with a trip to Hong Kong every two months to renew our visa's - shopping at stores that actually have sizes to fit "big" people like me, great food, beautiful scenery - it isn't too practical! SO, we are in the midst of applying for the one year visa's. One major step in the process is acquiring a Health Certificate.

The Health Check process is one to write about!! Upon arrival we were told to take a number and fill out a few forms - seemed pretty normal. Justin had number 35 and I had number 36. Good - he could go first and let me know what to do! (Most of our communicating at this point is done through hand motions and I've unfortunately gotten over the brief period where this was amusing and enjoyable! I MUST learn Chinese ASAP!!) By the time number 36 was called, Justin was out of sight - so I was on my own!

Health Check - Station #1:

I sat in front of a lady and her computer... with a web camera in my face. I smiled. The lady looked unhappy. I didn't smile... she finally was pleased with my photo. She looked over the forms I had filled out... asked me "Are you pregnant?" YES! She spoke English! NO! I'm not pregnant! Hello!? I checked NO on the form. She looks at me again and asked, "Are you pregnant?" Ok - maybe she didn't hear me... "NO". She takes my form, scans down to the "Are you pregnant question"... which I had checked a BIG FAT NO... she takes her pen, underlines the question and then hands me the paper! (NOT KIDDING) So I get the pen.. and pointed to my NO. Then, she motions me to a room where I change into a gown and put booties over my shoes... this is going to be fun....

Station #2:

Blood work! OH GREAT. Now they are going to take my blood, I'm praying that I don't pass out.. wait - if I'm pregnant, can I skip the blood work?! J/k! I made it through the blood work - probably because there was a lady next to me (also having her blood taken) and the nurse couldn't find the vein. This poor lady was gasping in pain as we both watched the needle go in and be twisted in her arm.. my nurse instructed her in Chinese..WOW

Station #3:

X-Ray. No speaking. The man pressed my face into a metal bar and motioned for me to be still as he took the x-ray. I hope this didn't fry any of my organs. The machine looked like it was from the 1800's. Well, if they would've had xrays in the 1800's.

Station #4:

Ultrasound. Not to exciting.. The cute old Chinese lady put cold gel on my stomach and pressed the instrument into my stomach and ribs VERY hard! Then looked at me, smiled, and said "GOOD.. Very Good!"

Station #5

I have NO idea what this 'check' was. I was asked to lay on a table and open my shirt. Not off to a good start! China is NOT the place for the modest. The lady had three clamps in her hand - she placed one on each of my ankles and on around my wrist. Then covered my chest in sticky electrode things and started punching on another VERY old machine sitting near my head. At this point, I just don't want to be electrocuted! After a few minutes, she turned the machine off and I was unclamped! No Clue??!

Station #6

Old man who spoke NO English had me sit in front of him while he looked up my nose.. no actually he must've been inspecting my brain - it was the longest anyone has ever looked in my nose.. Then he motioned for me to put a big metal spoon over my right eye to perform a sight test. I failed. He would point to number and after my response, he would shout, "NOOOOO" I had three tries on each eye. All NOOOO's - I must be blind?

We paid 1400RMB (about 200USD) and that was it. Very Interesting!!

Week #1 - check!

2008-03-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

Well.. I've been in Shanghai for a week now! This is going to be a short entry - consider it a test due to the the incredibly SLOW upload speed for the internet here in Chinaland.. I wanted to share some pics of the apartment as we get settled - I'm working on finding furniture but here it is as of today!! If you are wondering what is on the guest bed - it is an 'official' Beijing Olympics stuffed animal. AND - we are in desperate need of a dresser (piles of clothes all over the bedroom) and new curtains for the entire apartment (I am thankful we convinced the complex to give us curtains, but I'm not sure I can get used to the 'foil look' of the lining :). I found the silk rug at an enormous market while shopping for a couch... bargaining with the 15 Chinese words in my vocabulary. Enjoy the pics! I will work on making these updates a bit more exciting :)

FIRST ENTRY

2007-11-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well.. here you go.. I have a BLOG! Thought it might be a good idea with all the upcoming changes in my life.. So many I need a blog to keep caught up on myself. Here's the plan - craziness.. getting married March 8th.. Jamaica for a week.. Moving to Shanghai..

I'll keep you posted...