Tunnel of Love

In our city there are four moms including me that basically rotate clothes and baby items between all of us. We joke how every time we see each other one of us has a bag of something to give to another. Today the item I received was this baby tunnel. Although, this tunnel was meant for Zeb, Kayleigh thought it was something new and fun for her! Even after I put Zeb in the tunnel she thought she would join him. John and I frequently wonder if Zeb will survive to see his 1st birthday!

Night Out

Since things are starting to slow down here as summer approaches, Alisa and I were able to spend the night out by ourselves (sort of...) at a nice hotel here in town. Some of our friends, Danielle and Josh, watched Kayleigh last night as we stayed the night away form home. IT was very relaxing and very well needed for Alisa and me. We were able to sit down and do some planning and evaluating of our marriage's current reality. It was a blessed time for us and we really appreciated Danielle and Josh for their sacrifice of watching Kayleigh for a night so Alisa and I could be together. We did take Zeb with us as he cannot be without Alisa for more than 3 hours or so. Another friend of ours, EA, came into the city to watch Zeb for a few hours so we could go to dinner just the two of us! It was awesome. We are truly thankful for all of the wonderful friends he have here in the city who want to support us and encourage us!

Wrapped Up

One of the things Kayleigh sometimes begs me to do is wrap her up in a blanket just like I do with Zeb. This time, I used her blanket that she sleeps with during nap times and at night. It was big enough to wrap her up completely! She loved being Daddy's little baby again. Here are a few pictures to go along with the video:

Going to the Police Station

This morning started out as a typical morning, no real incidences or mishaps. It was only 10:00 in the morning and someone already had 2 spankings though. We needed to go to the police station near our house to register Zeb so he could get a new visa from the government. In China, you must register with the police every time you move houses, enter or leave the country, or add new members to your family. The later option is the one we had to obey, so we made an appointment for Friday morning around 10. As it had rained the entire night before, Kayleigh wanted to wear her new boots borrowed from Erin Ashley (pictured above and below).



As we headed towards the police station to register, we decided to take a taxi instead of taking the stroller as it looked like it would start to rain any minute. Turns out that it didn't rain one bit while we were out the entire morning, we guessed wrong. We finally arrived at the police station with no real incidents.






The police man that helped us loved Kayleigh because he has a little boy about 3 and a half years old. I took a picture of him and Kayleigh (below) and he wanted to download it onto his computer. After searching the entire police building for a USB cable, he finally downloaded the picture for himself.



It was getting to be lunch time and we decided to eat out around the police station so we walked to a restaurant nearby. On the way, Kayleigh tripped and fell onto the wet, muddy, sidewalk. She did not get hurt, but her clothes, hands, and torso were destroyed! She hated the fact that she was dirty and let us know exactly how she felt with her facial expressions.






So after the trauma of being dirty was over, we arrived at "the corner" restaurant to eat lunch. We finished off a great morning with some iron skillet sizzling beef, stir fried corn and broccoli, and Kung Pao chicken.






Zeb did not want to be left out so he decided he needed to eat too! This is an example of one of the many odd places in China I have had to nurse!



After getting home I decided to give Kayleigh a bath. I was really glad I did because her shirt had moved up when she fell so she her belly was covered in mud!

Baby Wrap

Kayleigh loves to imitate mommy many ways during the course of a day. This day, she decided to wrap her baby doll up just like mommy wraps up Zeb. This wrap, however, came complete with bib, just in case her baby got hungry and there was no time to take the wrap off to feed him. This wrap is also a very special wrap made of the left over burp cloths lying around the house.

Because We Love You......

I went to a birthday party last night for a friend of mine and as we were talking all my fellow bloggers commented on how often I have been blogging lately. I will be honest most of my motivation for blogging has come from the fact that both John's parents and my parents have just visited us recently and I realized how much they miss of our everyday lives. So in response I am trying my best to keep family updated on what is going on with my kids. In light of this let me tell you how my day has gone so far. In case you are wondering I am still trying to figure out this mom of two thing especially since all the grandparents are gone now. I got up this morning with Kayleigh but I was so tired that I fell back to sleep on the couch as she played in the living room. Occasionally, she would wake me up to ask me what color crayon she was holding. Even though I told her it was orange or red she would always say blue. Because she can say the word blue everything is that color whether it is or not! Then Zeb woke up and it was really time to start my day because he needed to eat. After feeding and diaper changes for both of my children. Which by the way both of my kids have this unbelievable ability to blow their diapers out in the morning! Good thing I have a hard rock stomach! Then on to breakfast. After that I grabbed a shower and what do you know but it was time for Zeb to eat again. During this time Kayleigh began to break down and start crying because she wanted to go outside so bad. I finally gave in and told her we could go outside for a little while. I put Zeb down and tried to put the walkie talkies on him but low and behold they were out of batteries so it was a very quick trip outside for Kayleigh and I. Don't worry Grandparents Zeb survived the 15 mins I was away. During the melt down of wanting to go outside Kayleigh proceeded to tell me that she didn't want me to brush my teeth because she was ready to go. While I was in the bathroom I realized our hose from our washing machine had been removed from the drain pipe which meant that most of my bathroom floor was full of soapy water! I wonder who removed that hose?! To be fair to Kayleigh it could have been that John and I kicked it by accident. Who knows?! All this happened and it is only 1:45! So here I am sitting at the computer blogging while my house looks like a hurricane hit it all because I love my family and want them to know what is happening in our lives. So there you go! Just so you know some mornings go a lot smoother than this one has!

I Love My Sisiter....But Help Me Mommy!

These two pictures are a perfect example of interaction between Kayleigh and Zeb. It starts out with Kayleigh loving on him and being really sweet and then she thinks that she can do things to Zeb like she does with her baby doll. She begins to kiss on him or get on top of him so much that he tries to get away. She doesn't quite understand yet that she can't sling him around like she does her baby doll. However, John frequently tells Kayleigh that one day Zeb is going to get her back!

Zeb's Bed

Kayleigh loves to take care of her baby doll like I take care of Zeb. One day she decided to put her baby doll down to sleep in Zeb's bed. Then she thought she would go "night night" too. As you can see it is a little small for her!

Kayleigh's New Table

For Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday she got this table from us and John's parents. She loves it! Her Grammy taught her how to play "tea" with her new tea set. Also, she loves to cook on her table. Her favorite thing to cook is rice! How appropriate since we live in Asia! As you can see in the picture she is having tea with her dolls and animals. She frequently will stand up around them and want to say a prayer before they "eat". Also, she loves to pretend that one of the animals has a birthday and sing or try to sing Happy Birthday to them.

Morning Out and Giant Grasshoppers!

I have decided to start blogging more about our daily experiences in China. After seeing China through "fresh" eyes ( John's parents) I realized how the craziest things have become some what normal to us. So here goes.....This morning we decided to pack of the kids and have a morning out. We thought it would help keep our minds off of John's parents leaving and the sadness that we feel. So we headed out to McDonald's for breakfast and then decided just to take a walk from downtown. We ended up at Green Lake Park. For those of you who have never been privileged to go to this place you have to understand that there is never a dull moment at this park. John and I realized this morning that we should never leave our house without our camera esp. when going to this park. As we were walking along Zeb started to cry. It was time for him to eat. So I proceeded to stop and feed him on some steps in the park. It took hardly no time at all before we were totally surrounded by Chinese people. After Zeb ate John was burping him and well he spit up quite a bit on the ground. For those of you who know Zeb this is not abnormal. I frequently change his and my clothes daily! An older women walked up to give us her advice on the situation. She began telling John that if he would burp Zeb then he wouldn't spit up. John proceeded to tell her that he had burped him and that was why he spit up. For some reason John's response did not register with the lady because she still explained a proper way to burp Zeb. Her explanation included pulling gently on his ear as that would also help him burp! We eventually moved on from all the advice and begin to walk again. The next thing we see is a Giant Grasshopper on wheels riding through the park. As we come closer there is not only a Giant Grasshopper, but a boat, Elephant and I think a panda. All of which you can ride for only 5 kuai each! So of course, Kayleigh and I hop in the Giant Grasshopper and proceed to ride around Green Lake. ( This is where John and I were beating ourselves up for not bringing the camera!) It had a steering wheel and gas pedal. I let Kayleigh steer while I pushed the gas pedal. Of course I helped steer a little. As we rode, the grasshopper played Christmas music! Only in China! It was a lot of fun and ended up in a melt down from Kayleigh when we wouldn't let her ride the Giant Elephant. Don't worry we plan to go back next Sat. for another day of adventure and this time we will take our camera!

Parents Leaving

Above is a picture of us with John's parents. They have been here for three weeks and left today. We are so sad to see them go. We had a great time with them and will miss them dearly. We are so glad they got to see our life here and get to know our friends.

John Zebulon Greene V

Hi! My name is John Zebulon Greene V but you can just call me Zeb. My daily activities include eating, sleeping and pooping. Sometimes if Mommy does what Nanna says I have some tummy time. By the way Nanna, Mommy gave me tummy time today you would be proud of her. I also love to close my eyes and brace myself when my big sister comes around. Sometimes she likes to try to catapult me out of my bouncy seat or jump in my small bed with me. What she doesn't realize is that she is lying on top of me! When I am tired and want to go to sleep my big sister cries and tells Mommy "baby no night night"! I feel loved that she wants me around all the time. My latest thing is that I have started to coo at my Grammy. I really like it when she talks to me. Well, I will write more later when I have some more updates on my life. Love you all!

Kayleigh and Baby Doll

Kayleigh loves to imitate mommy, especially when it comes to taking care of Zeb! Here, she tries to feed her baby just like mommy feeds Zeb.

Pee Pee?!

My dad made it a tradition to give Kayleigh a Hershey's kiss everyday while we were in Thailand. One day she looked at him and said "Pa-Pa pee pee". Of course we had no idea what she was asking for. Eventually after asking many questions we finally figured out that she was referring to the kisses that my dad gave her everyday. I wondered if she would ever really refer to pee pee as the right thing. Yesterday our helper was in the bathroom and Kayleigh came up to me and said "Mommy A yi pee pee"! She finally understands that it using the bathroom. However, right after she said it she did refer back to her Pa-Pa giving her kisses! Above is a picture of my dad with her in Thailand. They are at a swing set that she loved to play on everyday.

Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday

On Sunday we had Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday Party. All of her friends and team mates were able to come. Kayleigh had a blast and was exhausted after the day was done. Above are all of her friends that came to her birthday party. Kayleigh's Grammy made hats for all of her friends and as you can see we never successfully got a picture of them all wearing it. Some wanted to play with their hat while the others wanted to eat it!


I think this is a perfect example of one of Kayleigh's amazing facial expressions. She has just opened a princess dress with pink high heels from her Uncle Henry and Alana. As you can see she thought they were pretty great!

I had mentioned to a friend that I wanted to find Kayleigh a small broom for her to play with since she takes our helpers broom out of her hands all the time and tries to sweep the house. She even tries to sweep other things like the couch sometimes. Our friend Erin Ashley got her this broom, dustpan, and apron. The dust pan has her name on it. Ever since her party she has been sweeping every morning. This afternoon she decided to make a mess on the floor so that she would have something to sweep up. Clever! I think she looks like a little house wife in this picture.

Kayleigh and her friend Julianna were having a little fun before the party began. As you can see they were having a little trouble with their sunglasses!

Dragon Hat

Zeb received a Dragon hat and shoes from one of my teachers last week. Kayleigh wanted to try it on and have some fun with it.

Icee Shop

Kayleigh loves to get Icees from the store down the road from our house. This is her and her Granddy at the Juice Shop.

Zeb's present

John's teachers wanted to come over to see Zeb and bring him a gift. In Chinese culture you never open a gift given to you in front of the giver unless they tell you to open it. So after they were gone we (Kayleigh) opened Zeb's present to find this awesome dragon hat and shoes. Above you can see Kayleigh modeling the hat. It is quite interesting. She wanted to wear the shoes but they were a little small!