Scarlett at 7 months

 Guess what happens when you wait to do a 6 month post about your baby? It becomes a 7 month post. I feel like this perfectly illustrates how quickly this precious time is going. There are lots of different ways to measure speed. Speed of sound, speed of light; I think Speed an Infant Changes should be in there too. It seems to beat out any others.

 Scarlett is growing and thriving and a happy little girl. She has struggled to take a bottle and for the same reason, struggled to start solids but I think we finally can report success on the solids. The bottle? We are still working on it. I'd love to have longer than a 3 hour window during the day but I also try and remember it's really such a short time she needs me, I shouldn't be too quick to wish it away.

 She has just begun to sit up on her own and she also has figured out how to clap. My favorite thing she does is scrunch up her nose and breathe in and out real noisily. She does it on purpose and maybe even to be silly. I can make the same noise back to her and we will do it back and forth, she thinks this is extra funny... I do too.

A young mother in the ward recently asked me if Scarlett was "hitting all of her benchmarks". I know I probably cared about those with Kennedy, maybe even Kohen. But by now, and especially here where we don't have well baby check ups (and all of their stats would be in a foreign language called the metric system) I definitely don't think much about it. She's got rolls on her thighs so I know she is eating well. She fits in her clothes when she is supposed to. She does things around when I remember her siblings doing them. I feel grateful to have enough experience under my belt to know she is doing well with or without getting to go in to the Dr.
She is healthy and happy.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for our Mei Mei.

*Gush is now over.
(well, that's a lie. I maybe never stop gushing over her in real life. I'll just stop doing it here :)

A.S.I.A. Conference 2012

 Truth be told, this year, I really felt like I just didn't have the energy to go. Scarlett is not the most amazing traveler and bringing her with would be a handful. I tried to back out a couple of times and -here is where Nathan gets major husband-props- he wouldn't let me. He continued to encourage me to go until I was headed to the airport with my friends.

 Of course, in hind sight, I am so grateful I went. Thursday before the conference started a bunch of us girls met and went to the famous Stanley Market.

 It had a beautiful view and you could smell the ocean in the air...

But truth be told, I am starting to feel kind of "meh" about night markets and markets in general. I'm feeling a little bit like, if you've seen one you've seen em all. However, I remain committed to continuing to check them all out just to make sure. :)

 Anyway, that night the conference started and we met up with many friends who have moved to other places in Asia but we were able to meet back up in HK. I love that about the conference.
This years service project was for a local Boy Scout's Eagle Project- crocheting leper bandages to donate to a leper colony in Nepal (a throw back for me to my YW's project back in the day, remember doing these Heather H?). It was a fun project to do while listening to speakers or visiting with friends in between classes. Thank you hand model Matina for this pic ;)

 I was teasing Lori that I was going to put this pic in the conference slideshow, to which Lori replied, "Oh yeah, well those cookies were the ones I brought to you with your lunch." Touche' my friend, touché'.

 Scarlett was a good girl all things considered. And the girls all took turns taking her during classes for me or holding her when she was fussy, or so I could eat. I was so grateful for their service and help.

 And getting to see my girls, Lori and Nicole, made the whole trip worth while. Last year Nicole moved to HK and Lori moved to Chengdu China. I was not a fan of either of those moves, FOR THE RECORD. I love them both and miss them terribly. It was so awesome to have some time with them.  

 It was an incredibly spiritually uplifting weekend. When you are a mom with little ones at church you don't always get much out of it week to week. So I feel like I really get to recharge at conference.

 Annnd I get to go out to eat and shop in HK with my friends... that is a winning combination.

At Mask, a yummy restaurant that serves Sichuan food. Never thought I would put "yummy" and "sichuan food" in the same sentence. Boy I have come a long way over the last few years...

PingXi Lantern Festival 2012

2 years ago we went to PingXi for the Lantern Festival and had an amazing time and made some great memories. We did not have the same experience this year.

We went with 3 other couples, one of which brought their 2 boys and we also had Ms. Scarlett with us. We left home around 4pm. 

We got to the zoo to jump on one of the buses shuttling people up to the Festival and the line of people waiting was further than we could see. We waited an hour to get on the shuttle. Then we rode 45min on the narrow, windy road to PingXi. 

We all unloaded off of the bus, it was dark out now, and we headed with hundreds of other people up towards the lantern lift offs. 

 Next thing you know as we were walking with crushes of people, the crowd just slowly grinds to a halt.

Now, before I go on let's take a sec and discuss the fact that Chinese people have a very distinct difference in what is considered personal space. Um yeah... no, they don't know what that is.
Picture yourself in the U.S. getting on an average sized elevator. Picture the 4 other people who could comfortably fit with you on the elevator. Now picture the same scenario with Asians. After you and 4 others get on, 6 more will squeeze on in until you're spooning a stranger and resisting the urge to cry "UNCLE!".
K, now back to the crowd that suddenly stopped. Lot's of people were holding their lanterns up over their heads because we were crushed so close together that there was only room above. We were all so close together, wow, I'm not claustrophobic but boy I considered converting. The frustrating part was not knowing why we weren't moving. And there was no where to go. We were stuck. For an hour. A very long hour... with a now fussy baby.

 We made the best of it though. We tried to enjoy our company... even though we didn't know 99% of them.

 And every 20 minutes or so we would see a big group lantern lift off (the red squiggles above) which was beautiful to watch. Eventually the crowd opened up inexplicably and we headed to the area where they do the group lift offs. It was different though this time and we weren't allowed to let ours off there. So we just watched others and then went and found a spot to send off our own wishes for the year.

Those few minutes were wonderful.
I should leave it at that but I'm sorry, I just can't.

So after our lift offs we hurried back down the hill and quickly by passed the crazy long line for a seat on a shuttle home and joined the line to stand on the way home. We waited in line for another hour, now with hungry tummy's, fussy and exhausted baby, tired backs and feet... we finally got on a bus and Scarlett was hungry and I'm thinking, I guess I'm going to have to feed her standing up (again) this time on a moving bus. Thankfully- seriously, thanked him specifically in my prayers that late night- some young guy who had stood in the line for a seat, insisted that I have his seat. I was SO grateful. I was able to feed Scarlett and not get as motion sick as another in our party did.
We got home at ONE am. That my friends, is a lot of hassle to let off a lantern!!!! Good thing we were with good friends. (all 10,000 of em!)

To see one of the beautiful group lift offs I taped, click the video below.

CNY, Year of the Dragon

Guess where we went over Chinese New Year Break this year? Guess what we did?!

NOWHERE and NOTHING.

It was wonderful. 

Because everything shuts down and no business goes on, Nathan was home and the kids were out of school. We had no plans. Un.heard.of. 

 It rained 95% of the break. So... we did stuff indoors. We have a Wii but the menus are all in Chinese so Nathan is the only one who can navigate us to the games. Works out super conveniently because we hardly ever play it but when we do it ends up being a special family activity. Above, I am kicking everyone's trash in Just Dance. And yes, I took great pleasure in it, even if my biggest competition is only 9.

 We stayed in our pajamas more than usual and spent a lot of time snuggling. The children still always want to hold Scarlett. It surprises me a little bit that even Ander requests to hold her daily. Some kids argue and call "Shotgun!"; Our kids argue and call "Scarlett!". Someone is always claiming it's their turn to hold her.

Our favorite babysitter Cecily was competing in basketball and since the Lower, Middle, and Upper schools of TAS are all under the same roof, we definitely felt it was our duty to go and cheer on our Tigers! You can barely see Scarlett on my lap next to Ander but we had the whole crew and we were quite the cheering section. I was somewhat surprised how much Ander enjoyed the game. He loved cheering for the team and had his eye on the basketball the whole time. Made us miss our days in VA cheering on our Bell girls!

 I'm never inspired to take pics when it's dreary and rainy but as soon as the sun comes out for it's five minute tease, I grab the camera. It makes for a deceptive representation of things but I'd rather highlight the nice weather anyway. We had it for one day. It was so incredibly lovely. The kids even jumped into the frigid pool.

 When we were getting cabin fever from being inside too long we searched online and found this thing called Baby Boss where you go and your kids get to try out all sorts of different jobs. They wear costumes, have lessons about the jobs and even earn baby boss $ after they "work" each job. The $ can be spent in the Baby Boss store. Sounds amazing right?

Reality: Kids under 3 are listed as "free", but in actuality are not allowed to participate in anything. Would have been nice to know. There are about 25 different jobs but they have it scheduled and you have to go wait in line to get a spot for the job. The popular jobs where you actually make pizza, ice cream, or doughnuts were always filled with people waiting in line forever before hand. Worse than Disney lines. 

Our kids really wanted to try the Captain and flight attendant job. They had a huge plane replica they got to work in and everything. We waited in line for an hour. The place was absolutely swarming with Chinese people on CNY break. Oh, and did I mention all of the Job lessons were in Chinese? 

Lastly, the $ they earned bought absolutely nothing in the store. Our kids did 3 jobs and earned enough for a sticker. That would be fine if they didn't pimp out the store with all sorts of toys utterly out of reach for the kids to earn. Epic fail. 

One morning during break Nathan gave in to the older 3's request to make a volcano. We got a classic Kohen moment at the end of the 30 second clip. Enjoy.

I loved our dreary, rainy CNY. Bring it on Dragon.

Happy Birthday Woody!!!

Nathan and I were able to have lunch together a few Fridays ago. He bought me an ice cream cone for dessert. When the wrapper fell off of the bottom of the cone I picked it up and looked at it and thought out loud that it would make the perfect birthday hat for a doll. Nathan said, "It looks like it would fit Woody." And suddenly I knew what we were doing that evening, a Birthday party for Woody. Why not?

We had a Cowboy Camp Birthday party, circa Toy Story 2, and the kids were so into it. The most fun for me was watching them all help each other get ready. They shared all of their best Cowboy stuff amongst one another and gave opinions on what was more "cowboy-ish".  They even shared some of their best gear with Nathan and I. 

As soon as Nathan got home he and Kohen started getting things set up outside. Nathan later told me that as they worked to get things moved and set up and the fire going, that Kohen was his shadow and referred to Nathan as "Sheriff", so stinkin cute! 

Any stuffed pony on the premises was relocated outdoors. The guest of honor, Woody, rarely left Kohen's side. 

We put a candle in a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and sang Happy Birthday to Woody in three different languages. I think it was Woody's best birthday yet. 

We had borrowed a fire pit from our neighbor and we'd been warned about the wood here; to say it was smokey would be a gross understatement. It was chokingly so. Plus it happened to be really windy out when we were cooking so that wasn't exactly idyllic. Luckily Nathan had located some Weinhardts Rootbeer at an import store (I didn't dare ask how much they cost) and that was the treat of the night.

We kept having to move the kids further back from the fire because of the wind but again, with soda in hand they didn't seem to mind much else. Nathan and I risked life and limb cooking hot dogs for everyone. And since there were no graham crackers to be found, even at the import stores, we improvised for the s'mores ("delicious hot shmoes!"), using the local "Digestive" cookies that can be found.

SMOKING.... HOT

The fire that is. ;)

As the festivities were dying down, at one point I turned around to find Kohen had shared his bottle of soda with the birthday boy. I kid you not, that Woody can drink his weight in Rootbeer, sheesh!

It was a windy but fun party. And the kids have already penciled in Woody's birthday for next year.

January-ness

One of my least favorite things happens every January. The 4th Grade Flea Market. The market that the 4th graders put on using collected and donated junk toys is for a worthy cause, but I cringe every time I get the flyer that it's coming up. 

My unbelievably excited children will got to school with a very small sum of money and come home with backpacks overflowing with broken and trashed toys (that I will ironically spend the next year trying to sneak out of rotation and into a donation box) that they proudly reveal to me claiming each to be their new best toy EVER. 

My favorite from last year: 

Aly found this awesome role model at the market. She didn't seem to notice the wardrobe malfunction. And trust me, I checked, that is how the dress was made to fit, so I'm not sure what's missing but let's just hope something is.  

So this year I was so proud of Kennedy when she came home with the nicest pair of rollerblades! They were her size -though they adjust to 4 different sizes- practically new; and she has been wanting a pair for at least a year. She was sent with 100NT (about $3 U.S.) and these cost 88NT- they were certainly the best deal at the flea market, in my opinion.

 So far she has worn them around the house a lot because it is the smoothest surface around. Pretty uneven and rocky outside. But she has complied with my rules and even wears her helmet in the house.

 Scarlett is teething like crazy. There is nothing to show for it yet besides a lot of drool and and redness on her fists from her gnawing on them. She is still sleeping like a champ though, so no complaints there.

 It has been "cold" (Like 15* which sounds frigid until I admit thats in Celsius) and rainy and gloomy for weeks. We have had a rare sunny and warm day every three weeks or so and we make good use of it. On this day we did homework and snacks outside to soak up every drop of the fleetingly beautiful weather.

 It's orange season here and you can buy fresh squeezed orange juice from street vendors. You may have to trade your first born child for a pint of it but hey, I needs me Vitamin C so I don't get scurrrrvy! Solution? Buy the oranges and squeeze them ourselves. The whole family gets involved taking turns juicing, which makes everyone enjoy it so much more. YUM.

 There has been lot's of time for indoor play this month... And that's the best I can think to write about that.

And we celebrated the Chinese New Year. Before CNY break Aly had the Kindergarten Red Market where there are all sorts of fun activities, games and food. If you can't tell by Aly's face paint, it's the year of the DRAGON!
Hold that thought, more on that later...

Jensen Spa

I love to try and come up with easy activities to do with the kids, usually on Friday nights. Something to look forward to that we can all do together that isn't just pizza and a movie... though there are still plenty of those pizza/movie nights too. 

Anyway, one night I got the idea to have a spa night. The best part is that Nathan will play along and help me. He was in charge of finding spa music online, among other things. I happened to have a pair of new fleece pajama pants for each of the kids that I'd found at Costco so I rolled those up and put them in a basket. My mom had sent a Christmas package full of contraband, aka: treats, so we got those set up along with warm water basins for the kids to soak their feet in.

Playing the part, Nathan and I stood at the bottom of the stairs all professional and called the kids down. We welcomed them to the Jensen Spa and out of the basket handed them each a pair of pj pants to go change into. Then, speaking in near whispers, we led them into the "spa" where we had the lights off, candles lit, and relaxing music playing. As we led them to their seats the kids were all giggly and excited but seemed to sense the mood and stayed surprisingly calm. 

 We told them their treats were provided by Pixie and Papa John this evening, and they all dug in while they soaked their feet. Nathan and I then sat on a stool at their feet and after each child picked out what lotion or balm they wanted, we gave them each a foot massage. Nathan got off easy though cuz Ander didn't want to be distracted from his treats by having his feet tickled. Fair enough.

Quote of the night was by Aly as she sat eating her treats and soaking her feet: "*sigh* This is the life... by the way, do you actually know how to do foot rubs?" As if she was only now questioning Nathan and I's credentials, half way through her spa experience.
It was so much fun and came together in about 15 minutes. That is the best kind of activity. Low stress and preparation, but great memories.

Politiking in Taiwan

All of this crazy political nonsense going on in the States right now (read: all things Newt Gingrich) has left me eager to write this post. At the beginning of January Taiwan had it's own Presidential Elections. Things are sticky politically because Taiwan is actually known as the Republic of China, and so China likes to have it's slippery fingers wrapped around as many necks as possible in the good 'ol R.O.C. 

The current leader, President Ma, is at the head of a party that seems to want to play nice in it's on-again-off -again relationship with China; possibly considering getting back together. At the head of the opposition party was a woman, Tsai, who seemed to stand for letting Taiwan be on it's own two feet.

But before I show you ads for them, let's start with a local yocal.

Vegetables anyone? A bowl full of veggies comes with every vote this candidate's way. That's what the sign says. Well, it might say that. If either of us read Chinese characters we might be more sure. At first I didn't even believe this joker was running for office, but the number in the circle at the top of the pic is the number you would vote for him with! Crazy? Um, yeah. But nutritious.

Now we get to the good stuff. Current President on the left... engaged in a Hand Huddle with another political hopeful in the middle and Vice President Wu on the right.

A HAND HUDDLE, people.

But it only got better when I discovered these billboards all over with: hand holding, bookended with mighty fist pumps. Let that sink in. Then, take another look; their fingers are interlaced. It's like Awkward Family Photos, Politicians Edition. 

They were so proud of this pose that they just exchanged the middle guy for another government hopeful, slapped the requisite matching shirt on him and confidently intertwined their fingers before he even knew what happened to him. Though, the guy doesn't seem too upset about being at first base with the President in such a public forum.  I heard a rumor or two that the President is the type to actually enjoy um... male bonding. Just rumors though. Certainly an idea not discouraged by giant billboards like those.

Okay, I had to wait until Nathan was driving before I could manage to snag this awesome bus ad. I pretty much risked life and limb as it was trying to gather these pictures, a lot of the gems were discovered while I was driving. There were buses everywhere with what I like to call "The Infinity Fist Pump", where wrapped all around the length of the bus are a line of the politicians from the Presidents party engaged in powerful/hopeful fist pumps. Fist pumps for miles.
I died laughing every time I saw it.

Leading everyone in the obviously catchy gesture was Ma and VP Wu. I so wish I could have been a fly on the wall of these political photo shoots. Can you even imagine? Better yet, can you imagine American candidates participating in such tomfoolery? I sincerely hope I live to see the day. 

This is that first candidate, with the veggies, remember? with the other Presidential candidate, Tsai. She had a different take on ads. She kept things classy. Basically they took a picture of her in the above pose and photoshopped it into pretty much any and every ad. I felt like she was keeping a certain level of decorum. She wasn't going to stoop to fist pumping in varying degrees of fervor, no, she keeps her arms folded and in control. Maybe representing how she would lead this country.

At the end of the day Tsai lost. And I have to wonder if it was because she shunned the fist pump. 

It appears that the key to victory in Asian politics is very simple: Engage in constant, energetic, fist pumping.