A birthday party, kind of

Ian turned 2 and we had a kind of birthday party. Nothing big, just some cake, candles, and birthday presents.


Ian didn't really know what to do with the lit candles. Neither did Leah or Isaac when we finally asked them to blow out the candles for Ian. I finally blew them out myself. Seriously, has anyone even been to a birthday party?


Ian wasn't even really getting opening presents. His late late afternoon nap didn't seem to help. At least he's got some awesome new toys to play with.


He's becoming more and more like MB everyday.

happy birthday deeds

Dear Ian -

How did this little sweet thing go from a small red baby with huge feet to a big boy with a humongous head in only two years?  You are my little boy, and I love you so much.  I love how much you have brought into our little family.  You and your sister Leah are good buddies and sometimes frenemies.  You are both still learning to share, but you love to laugh and run and play together.  You love cars and balls.  And you can't get enough of playing outside.

You are learning Chinese as quickly as you are learning English and we couldn't be prouder.  Your daddy is especially proud to hear you help him count to 10 in Chinese.  You are a happy little guy and although you have a seemingly insatiable need for sleep (hmm, remind you of anyone else??), you usually wake up happy.  You often have a smile and a hug for me when I go in to check on you before I go to bed and you're asleep in your crib. 

I'm so happy to be your mom and I can't wait to watch you get even older.



Dear Ian -

New York, New York take 2

Ok, we met our dear friends, the Arthur's in NYC a few weeks ago. No time this year for a cruise, so we settled for a long weekend in the big apple.


Lots of laughs. (no surprise there)


We spent some time in Chinatown, where I was able to practice my Mandarin. I need more practice, safe to say.


Apparently we were boring MB.


I love these two. We will still be vacationing together when we're in our 80's.


Can you see the lady liberty behind us?

new york, new york

 Some of my closest DC friends and I decided to take a trip before we all embark on our international adventures (mine is taking us to Beijing).  We tried to go to the Bahamas to visit another good friend, but it just wouldn't work out.  New York was our second (and perhaps better because I didn't have to put a swimsuit on in the winter!) choice.  We had such fun.  Including being right next to the taping of "Real Housewives of NYC".  We were at the table directly behind this family, who apparently is a character on the show.  Keep your TVs on to see if we make the show.

Here's a photo of us outside standing in line for tickets to SNL.  We didn't get any and ended up getting far too little sleep for the privilege of standing outside in the rain/snow for absolutely nothing.  Lesson learned.  SNL tickets are not easily gotten.

We saw our fair share of 30 Rock.  Here's a snapshot of my boyfriend, Jimmy Fallon.  So cute.

It was such a fun trip.  I love these ladies and I'm so happy we got to have our girls weekend, as they are already gone (miss you Shelagh!) or getting ready to head out soon.  

i turned 30...about 6 months ago

Seriously, I am the worst.  But about 6 months ago I turned the big 3-0.  And I'm still living, albeit with an older, achier body.  I'm glad I'll never catch up with my old man. Now that's old...

snow white

 The second installment of our Halloween in June update.  Yep, we've been pretty busy around here since about last fall.

 

 Leah (read: me) decided she wanted to be Snow White for Halloween.  With Mom's help, we put together a snow white dress.  It was one of those works in progress where I didn't really know what I was doing along the way.  I guess it works though.  She still asks to where it with one of her princess crowns.

This girl loves her balloons.  We went to trunk or treat with Keyla and Isaac.  The kids didn't really know how to act.  I think they will "get" Halloween a little better next year, er, this year.

my little lion

 I know I've got a lot of nerve posting these pictures from Halloween in May.  Don't act like you're not impressed.  So obviously Ian was a lion for Halloween.  A lion who loves lollipops.  

 Double fisting it - nice technique Ian.  Apparently we let our kids do whatever they want when they look this cute.  Don't judge.

 I'm pretty sure this is the cutest lion I've ever seen.

picture dump

 I was looking at some of our old pictures today and realized there are so many that haven't been put on the blog.  Here's a couple.  I posted back last year about our first (and almost only!) snowfall of the season.  That was a fun day.

 Ian was loving life.  The kids still love going outside, and in fact when I do take them outside I normally regret it.  Because of the painful process of getting them back into the house when naptime or dinnertime hits.  I wonder how they will handle living in a high rise apartment in downtown Beijing?  Not that that's for certain, just more likely.

A lazy afternoon

We finally got medically cleared to move to Beijing. I'm hoping orders will soon be arriving so we can work out all the details of our move. Unfortunately, along with our medical clearance appointment, we all also had to get some immunizations. Everyone handled them pretty well, except for Leah, who decided she couldn't walk on her right leg. So, she sat right where she's pictured above and we played catch.



It was a nice afternoon. I ended up canceling my afternoon Chinese class so I could nurse her and Ian back to health. It makes me happy for the days when I'll be able to be home with them everyday.



I'm happy to report that Leah regained the use of her right leg the next day. It took weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth ("no Leah, I won't carry you to the living room or the kitchen". If you want to go there, you have to walk yourself...."). Pretty much a modern day miracle.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sightseeing at home

I love living so close to DC but I never feel like we have enough time to go see all the sights. Darn you Chinese lessons!



It's always fun when family come to town and we can get out a little more. When Sarah and her family came we went downtown. Leah loved the water around the Vietnam War Memorial. I think she wanted to take a little dip.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone