What we were up to in January

Looking through these pictures, it definitely doesn't seem like January was as hard as I was making it out to be ;), but keep in mind I only take pictures of the good stuff.  We managed to fit in some fun things amongst the jet lag, work, sickness and more work.

  

^ heading back to Chengdu always causes mixed emotions.  we miss our family so much, but it is also nice to get back to our version of 'normal'. which I realized is completely not normal to most people. ^

^ Elena and Lambie pretending like they didn't wake us up at 3am, snuggled up and read to watch some TV. ^

^ those are four pairs of tired eyes that got out of the house just so we wouldn't take naps at 11am. ^

^ January 1st and we feasted on some dumplings. ^

^ pretending to take a nap and requesting that I take her picture. ^

^ they worked on crafts nearly every day. ^

^ on Saturday, Everly had been on her antibiotics for more than 24 hours after being diagnosed with strep/scarlet fever so we kept our play date at the indoor playground (she had been looking forward to it for a week!). given everything that she had gone through, she was feeling pretty chipper. ^

^ sweet girls. ^

^ the four kiddos played for hours. ^

^ Evsie's and I built a city. ^

^ the play date moved to an apartment that was full of toys so our two were more than happy to continue the play date. ^

^ first day back at gymnastics plus new leotard plus she let me put her hair in a top knot (my absolute favorite on her!) calls for a few pictures before class. ^

^ Ev's wanted to sit out because she wasn't feeling well so we said no big deal, but as soon as we got there she wanted to go! ^

^ this girl loves a pattern (flowers on flowers or stripes on stripes). ^

^ they worked on back bends. ^

^ these magnatiles have provided the girls hours of entertainment. ^

^ our neighborhood Starbucks opened! this is the photo of what it looks like on the inside. ^

^ we went down to check it out! ^

^ one Saturday, we went and checked out the place we are going to hold Emma's birthday party this coming weekend! she is pumped!! ^

^ we had arrived for our play date a bit early so it was Starbucks for us and ice cream for them :). ^

^ I could not resist taking their picture in front of the flower wall - neither could the other 20 people that suddenly swarmed us ;). ^

^ we found a spot that was a little bit out of the way... ^

^ I am so glad that she was feeling so much better! a week had passed at this point. ^

^ Emma or Everly? I will let you decide ;). ^

^ how in the world is she getting so big?? but can also fit into size three jeans ;), that she insisted on wearing... ^

^ we went to a science class at the Chengdu Museum of Technology and Science (the class was in Chinese, but the girls still had fun). ^

^ afterwards we explored the Museum, it was so neat! but it was Saturday afternoon so it was extremely crowded!! ^

^ so we got some orange juice and decided that we will have to come back on a week day. ^

^ I think she looks adorable when she puts her hat on! ^

^ we stopped to have bar-b-que for dinner.  this girly loves her some ribs! ^

^ Saturday night play date complete with noodles ;). ^

^ Sunday morning shenanigans waiting for our Uber driver. ^

^ more gymnastics class. ^

^ ending with a craft. ^

^ and some time at the foam sand table. ^

^ so proud of her skills! ^

^ they always request to dress like twins on Sundays... ^

^ their walks to the bus stop have been in the dark most mornings... ^

^ Wes is back at it again with his lunch bags :). ^

^ not sure if this is in the right order, but I love when I find them snuggling! ^

^ me on Saturday morning heading to work.  I sent Emma this picture because I didn't get to give her a hug and kiss before I left and you guys, she left the sweetest message I have ever heard.  She hoped that I was not in trouble (for having to go to work on a Saturday), that I was beautiful because I was her mommy (which was so nice because I felt and looked so tired!) and that she loved me very much.  I listened to that message at least 10 times. ^

^ after I was done working, I picked Wes and the girls up and we headed to eat Tex Mex (the girls particularly like this one restaurant because there is a place for them to play!). ^

^ Wes took the girls to gymnastics on Sunday so I could work (tired of me complaining yet?) and I was so so sad, because this was the class where the parents got to come in and watch and the children 'graduated'. ^

^ Wes is great though, he sent lots of video's and made me feel like I was included.  just wish I could have been there to see these little nuggets put on their 'performance' in person. ^

^ when they got home, the weather was nice so I took a break and we took the girls on a bike ride. we love this little street of ours. ^

^ Wes made more lunch bags - Ev's really loved that rainbow unicorn! ^

^ and I got more bus stop pictures!! ^

^ and just like that my meeting was over and life returned to normal - we baked banana bread one night (can anyone else's family devour a loaf of banana bread in less than 12 hours - 10.5 of those hours are spend sleeping for the girls :)). ^

^ Wes and I had an immigration date - the good news was the process changed and we no longer needed to take the girls with us so our friend picked them up from the bus stop and we got to go out to dinner after renewing our residence permits! ^

^ this past Saturday there was snow in Chengdu! I was hoping you would be able to see it when I was taking this picture of Everly, but at this point it was more like sleet than snow, but still - we couldn't believe it! ^

^ we decided that the best cold weather activity would be taking the girls to the indoor playground. ^

^ so we headed there and the girls played for the morning and early afternoon. ^

^ as we were headed out, we stopped by KFC to grab the girls some nuggets to tide them over until dinner (we had to run an errand to pick up stuff for Emma's birthday) and we ran into this Chinese New Year Dog and had to grab a picture! ^

^ this is the only picture I have from our play date on Sunday - Wes cooked a delicious meal (mini chicken drumsticks, mushrooms and corn on the cob).  it was yummy! and fun to get to know another family. ^

^ the girls put their slinkies together to create a mouth and of course wanted a picture ;). ^

^ there has been so much talk about Emma's birthday around our house lately that we nearly forgot that our baby turned four and a half yesterday! I cut her half a brownie, we sang her happy half birthday and we told her to make half a wish.  I wish you could have seen how happy she was!! girly has been wanting to be four and a half ever since Emma started announcing that she was five and a half. ^

Looking at all of this, I guess January wasn't so bad afterall ;).

2018 Goals

Hello! How have you been lately? I feel like we haven’t caught up in ages ;).  We just survived a very rocky first 24 days of January! Jet lag, Scarlet Fever and tons and tons of work ruled our first few weeks of the new year, but we also got to fit in a trip to the playground, the Science and Technology Museum, gymnastics class and even a date! Will be back to share those pictures with you very soon :).  But before we have new pictures from 2018, here are a few of my goals for 2018.  They are not big and grand, but just little things I want to accomplish along the way.

One. Learn how to edit movies in iMovie.  Have you seen those cool video montages that have lots of little clips pieced together? I want to learn that and do that! I think the girls (and us, of course!) would have so much fun looking at a little video whether it is just our ordinary days together or a video of our vacation – I am going to try to do at least five this year.

Two. Invite people over more frequently. Building a community is the most essential part to enjoying an expat assignment (in my opinion).  This was admittedly more difficult and challenging than I initially thought it would be.  I have realized that no one that we know here is incredibly busy, they are mostly in the same position as us and looking for friends and when you invite people over or out for a play date, they say yes.  This year, I want to do more of this. Yes, it is more expensive and we have to deep clean our house more frequently, but it is also so much fun! Every time we have people over, we always feel energized and have a great time.  My goal is loosely once a month we will have people over (hosting a birthday party would count!).  We are having our first family over on Sunday and then next weekend we are hosting Emma’s birthday party so I think we are off to a great start on this goal. 

Three. Floss every day. I came back armed with my favorite flossing sticks (they are life changing by the way).  I am set and ready to go.

Four. Find a skincare routine that is doable.  I am not getting any younger (I turned 34 while we were in Texas!) and I have realized that I need to take better care of my skin. I ordered a few test products while we were in the US and I am trying to figure out what I can realistically maintain long term (just to give you an idea where I am coming from – I washed my face about every other day…disgusting, I know).  I am now starting (most) mornings with a gentle cleanser.  Any product that you love that you feel I should know about?

Five. Travel. Did I mention to you that we extended our assignment in Chengdu?  Probably not ;).  We are staying through June of 2019 (for a variety of reasons) and we are trying to firm up our travel plans for the next 17 months.  Up immediately are Xi’an (March) and Australia (April) and we are so so excited about these trips! There are a handful of other places that we want to go to before we leave, so we are looking at our schedule and mapping it out. 

Six. Embrace a year of little shopping. You guys, I cleaned house when we went home for Christmas.  We all have new clothes, new shoes, new pajamas, new snacks, new everything (oh and 25 pounds of flavored coffee ;)).  We should be set for a long while.  During the next 17 months, I am not saying we won’t buy anything, but I will buy significantly less. And this will be good for us.

In case you are wondering why this list does not contain any financial goals (I am an accountant after all!), I keep a very targeted list of financial goals for us as well.  Wes and I will typically talk about it at the beginning of the year, set our goals and work on execution.  I keep a spreadsheet (hello, I can be a nerd!) and check in on a weekly basis to make sure we are enabling a strong financial future, not only for us, but for the girls too!

Ahhh, it feels good to be back to blogging. And to put my goals out there to the universe internet.  

Four Random Things

One. This is the first picture I took of life in 2018. And I think it sums up life pretty accurately.  Wes and I were just chatting about how we are going to look back on this period of our lives of dress up and make believe so fondly.  I think we only have one or two more years of this so we are embracing it :).

Two. Everly is doing so much better! I am not sure I have ever been more worried about in her in my life (how easily I forget the fact that she was horrible at taking a bottle and sleeping for the first 21 months of her life ;)), but I am so relieved that she is 100% on the mend (in case you missed my first post of the year, she had a spider bite, strep and scarlet fever over the last three weeks).  We had a play date at the Science and Technology museum on Saturday and she had the best time playing with all of her friends!

Three. Emma is in full on birthday mode.  On Saturday, we went to take a look at the trampoline park where we will have her party and she was describing the exact Moana theme she has been envisioning along with the rainbow cake she wants me to make (wish me luck!). After gymnastics on Sunday, we let the girls do a craft and she immediately picked out the birthday cake (because she is almost six!, duh!!).  All she can think about/talk about has been her birthday lately :).  We are so excited to celebrate her soon!!

Four. Craft kits are the best. And these are the worst pictures, trust me, I know ;).  My mom asked me what she could get the girls for Christmas and we decided that craft kits might be the best - it allows for a lot of free form crafting and it really has been so fun for the girls.  She filled the kits with all kinds of supplies and various mediums and every day during the rest of their holiday break, they made all kinds of creations. I am going to blame the jet lag on the fact that I don't have better/more pictures.

Happy New Year!

Does anyone else need to push the reset button on 2018?

For the last three years, we have been a hot New Year's mess of jetlag plus year end close.  This year was even more of a doozy because we flew for 24 hours (so hello jetlag), I still had year end close and poor Evsie's got strep plus scarlet fever (and had a spider bite back in the U.S. that she is still healing from).  We were not a bag full of fun the first week of 2018 - to say the least.

However this weekend we pressed the reset button.

I got myself a tea kettle (only my family will understand this reference ;)).

We made plans with friends and had the best time at our indoor playground (the playground date turned into lunch and afternoon plans), we went back to gymnastics class (so cute to see the girls reunite with their friends), we got pizza and our Starbucks is nearly open. We snuggled, cuddled, kissed and reset for a week full of school or work. 

I took an unintentional break over the last six weeks. We had the best time exploring Cambodia and Thailand, flew back to China for two weeks and celebrated Christmas with friends here before leaving for the U.S. for three weeks where reuniting with our family and friends was the best of the best. I cant wait to share so many more details with you, but just want to give you a heads up that January is mybusiest month of the year so I will try to pop in from time to time, but most likely I will see you on a regular basis in February :).

Happy New Year!!