just a simple picture (nothing fancy, but it made me smile) to get this blog going again. any good caption suggestions?
random things to note:
matching jogging suits courtesy of grandma – i think that finding coordinating outfits is one of those joys of having two kids now.
photo taken during our recent trip back to michigan – i realize now it takes a good week (at least) before and after across-the-world-trips for life to quiet down but that’s ok. i am also happy to report i managed to fly smoothly back to china by myself with the 2 girls on a 15.5 hr flight after a 22 hour delay at the airport (good thing hannah really likes airports, planes and hotels).
hope you are having a joy-filled very merry christmas wherever you are!
with Christmas just a few days away, i thought it’d be fitting to post a few newborn photos i took during Kaylah’s first month (and only just very recently got around to processing)
quite incredible to think that He was willing to come into this world as a tiny babe like this, completely vulnerable and dependent on others.
for unto us a Child is born…
Christmas is definitely not a big ordeal in these parts. i think we may be the only ones in our apartment complex with a Christmas tree and lights on each night (at least from what i can see from our windows). there is no hustle and bustle of christmas gift shopping…although there are random santa claus and christmas tree decorations in some storefronts. no christmas music playing 24 hours a day. it is not a standard holiday, so everyone is still working. business as usual. in some ways, it feels strange to me.
but then i realized… i guess that is how things were on the first Christmas Eve. everyone just going about their usual day-to-day things, business as usual. not knowing that in a small town, in a manger, under the most humble circumstances, a too-wonderful-for-words thing was happening.
When september/october came around this year, one thing i missed was the fall weather of Michigan and Boston. Cool, crisp air; tons of colors and falling leaves, cider and donuts, apple-picking, mittens and scarves, kicking-through-fallen-crunchy-leaves-weather. Fall time here is generally warmer and greener, but driving around the city these past couple weeks, i was excited to spot some trees changing colors. So last Friday, i took the girls on an outing to a nearby park in search of some fall leaves and colors. I think we missed the peak time already, but we were still able to find some nice spots.
Hannah has always loved falling leaves, and will pick up random ones she sees on the ground. Kaylah seemed pretty content to play in the leaves too. Maybe it’s hereditary. We have to be fast about finding those fallen leaves and nice leaf piles, though… because they are quick to sweep them up and take them away. Sad.
can’t get enough of her big brown eyes…
it’s been a week now since Thanksgiving, and I just finished the last of the leftover turkey soup today. one of the highlights of our new apartment here in Jiaxing is that it has a BUILT-IN OVEN. this is a rare commodity in China, as I have commented on before.
with a full-size oven, i was excited and inspired to go all out for Thanksgiving. I bought one of 4 frozen turkeys being sold at Metro – probably the only 4 frozen turkeys available in all of Jiaxing (city population = 3.3 million). It was 6.9 kg (15+ lbs) – the smallest one they had.
Thankfully, we had about 12 people over who could help demolish the 15 lb turkey. None of them had ever seen a turkey before, or celebrated Thanksgiving. It was a great time, with relatively little turkey left over. Amusingly, a couple people were surprised the head and feet were already removed from the turkey. But it makes sense that they would wonder, as most whole chickens here are sold in their entirety.
And then in addition to roasting a 15 lb turkey for 5+ hrs, I proceeded to cook the most traditional American Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever made. In the past, I’ve made a mix of American and Chinese, with possible random Korean or Middle Eastern or something else thrown in there. But I decided to go traditional for my first-time Thanksgiving guests. So this year it was sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole, cranberry apple stuffing (first time i’ve made american stuffing!), and pumpkin pie. And since there are very little to none pre-made/ prepackaged/ canned items here, everything was made from SCRATCH. I had to scour the recipes that used only fresh ingredients. =) Despite the extra effort required, it was all very satisfying (and probably more healthy because it was fresh?) And I could not have pulled it all off without my wonderful oven. =b
had a nice quiet weekend that gave a sense of “normalcy” that we feel like we’ve been missing for a while. hannah was in need of some new shoes, so we went shopping… and ended up getting a little something for all the girls. =)
we’ve done minimal clothing shopping for any of us while living in China, so it felt like a small accomplishment (and enjoyment) to venture out and get some new goods.
somewhere along the way, in between moving around and having a second baby, my first baby seems to have transformed into a grown up little girl without warning me. we were on our way out the door one day and i glanced at her and thought she looked so grown up and wondered when did this happen? (I subsequently snapped some pictures before she suddenly turned into a teenager) i hope kaylah is more considerate in giving me some forewarning… though unlikely
so yesterday was a big milestone in this grown-up girl’s life as she started her first day of school! she was so excited and did wonderfully.
it’s also a big step for us as we start to enter the world of formal schooling. and trying to better understand the school system here – which is different in a lot of ways compared to the US. In general, everyone seems to say there is “great pressure” here when it comes to schooling. It is making me think hard about what is better or worse versus just different, and what are our primary goals and purposes in sending our kids to school, what do we hope they get out of it, etc… Perhaps you may think i am over thinking things when my kid is just starting preschool. But these are things you consider when you’re warned that your kid may fall behind and be unprepared for elementary school if you choose to only send her to preschool part time.
Any thoughts as to what is important to gain from school at different ages? And what is important to gain outside of school or at home?
hello? anybody still checking this blog? sorry for the loooong silence. amongst other things, we’ve had our hands full packing and unpacking…
(and trying not to lose kaylah among the boxes)
and now we’ve moved to our new home in jiaxing – arriving here *exactly* a year from the date we arrived in ningbo. that totals to 2 major moves, 1 new baby, and 1 new country in 1 year. whew. i am tired. =)
while any move involves a good amount of stress, i was thankful that our actual moving date went about as smooth as it could. our movers were capable, fast, and didn’t break anything — and even better, they were more than happy to pose for the camera. haha. quite the characters, and i love being able to capture people and their personalities. can you guess which mover could carry the heaviest loads?
and now, hopefully, maybe, things will quiet down a bit and we can settle into our new home and my poor blog will not be as neglected… maybe…
by anita
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