Writer's Block

I am sure most of you have been wondering why there has been so few posts in the month of March. It is not because I have been too busy or because I haven't even thought about the blog. On the contrary I have thought about it a lot but haven't felt like there has been anything going on in our lives worth blogging about. John reminded me that at least for our parents they just want to know the day in and day out things that happen with their grandchildren. So I'm back hopefully for good with some consistency to finish off the month. I thought I would give you an update on our family.

John has been really working hard this semester and we hardly see him these days. We leave for America May 8th so he wants to finish out his semester and time here well. I am so excited about going to America and it consumes my thoughts a lot as I think about all the things I need to do before we leave. By the time we set foot on American soil again it will have been a year and 8 months since we have been there. I am so ready. Mine and John's parents are the only ones that have ever met Zeb so I am mostly excited for my family to meet him. By then he will be a year old!
Kayleigh is doing great and is getting more and more talkative everyday. My sister and brother-law are coming May 1st and flying back with us to America. Most of our conversation has been consumed with what we will do with them while they are here. Her plan at least for now is to take them on the paddle boats at Green Lake. She also talks about riding on the "big sucker" to go home to see her Nanna, Poppa, Grandy and Grammy. This term refers to the big plane we will be flying on. John and Kayleigh sometimes watch You-Tube videos of planes and John refers to some of them as a "big sucker". She has picked up the term and uses it often.

Zeb is 10 months now almost 11 and I can't believe it. It feels like yesterday that he was born. It is so true that the days can sometimes be long but the years are short. He is in the process of trying to crawl which means that I can't leave him alone for even a second. He usually finds something to get into that he is not supposed to be in. Despite that he is ALL boy he is still likes to cuddle which I love.

Well that is basically the update of our family. Hopefully you will see more of the Greenes soon.

Afternoon Play Time

There are those moments in the day where I look over to see my kids playing together without someone getting hurt or mad. This happened to be one of those moments. I am so glad that Kayleigh has a brother to share life with. As I watch Zeb react to her every move I am so glad that he has a sister that makes him laugh. I know there are going to be plenty fights and moments of learning to share but I hope one day they will be really close friends. Below Kayleigh is trying to read a book to Zeb. Unfortunately, Zeb interprets it as "keep the book away from me" game. He happens to be smiling in this picture but he got really mad after a while because she wouldn't let him have the book.

Below is Kayleigh's version of the "peek a boo" game. She throws a blanket over Zeb's head and laughs until he figures out how to get it off.

A Tar Heel Prayer

John and I are of course huge Carolina fans but living in another country I wasn't sure if I could teach my kids the love of the Heels like we have. I think I might be wrong. The other day we were having Bible time and I asked Kayleigh to pray. John told her she could talk to God just likes she talks to her mommy and daddy. So this is how the prayer went: "Dear God, thank you for David and Marianne, their house and GO HEELS! ( jumping up with her fist in the air). John and I just busted out laughing. John told her the Heels needed a little praying for since we had just lost to Maryland. I think the thought process from this prayer went back to when we went to David and Marianne's house to watch the game. I guess we are teaching our little girl to love the Heels as much as we do.

Ting Dian!

Yesterday we had ting dian which means that we had no power. The direct translation is "stop electricity". Around 8am the power just went off and usually that means it is not going to come back on until 5pm or later. Most of the country is warned of this event because they put it in the newspaper. Since I can't read the paper, all no power days are a complete surprise to me. Because of the warnings most businesses are prepared with a generator to run business as usual. That morning I was on the phone with a friend asking her if she had power since they usually cut the power to the whole block when Kayleigh asked me who I was talking to. I was joking and told her that I was talking to the shu shu's ( a polite name that kids call older men which means uncle) about cutting on the power. I had no idea that she would really take this to heart. Later that morning she wanted to listen to some music so I had to explain to her that since we had no power there was going to be no music. Kayleigh's reply: "Mommy lets go tell the Shu Shus to turn the power back on." The Shu Shus she is referring to are the guards at the entrance to our complex. I told her that it probably wouldn't work since they have no control over this power situation but she was determined to tell them. So we go outside and of course she walks over to the guard gate and asks me what the guards said about the power. I preceeded to tell her that they said it would come back on at 4pm. I took this piece of information lightly because they rarely know the actually time. Their answer seemed to satisfy her at the time. So we headed down to buy juice at a local store which had a generator running. She asked me what it was and I told her that it helped them to have power. Kayleigh's response " Mommy ask them if we can take it home so we can watch a movie". I told her I was pretty convinced they were not going to give up their generator so we could watch a movie. So to Kayleigh's disappointment we headed home to wait until 5:30pm until the power came back on.

Bath Time!

Zeb is just now getting to the age where I can give him a bath with Kayleigh. They have a blast together. This particular night I had not planned to do a bath together, as you can see by the small baby bathtub, but Kayleigh had other plans. I am pretty convinced that Kayleigh would have him under the water in a second if I didn't keep an eye on them. She thinks that Zeb can "swim" like her.

I had just turned on the shower head right before this picture. As you can see Kayleigh is not a fan but Zeb finds it quite interesting!

Kunming Airport Fun

Kayleigh and Daddy went to the airport today to watch the airplanes land. There is a good spot to watch the planes as they are quite close to landing. I posted a little video below for your viewing pleasure.

Zeb can Stand!

Zeb is 9 months now and loves to stand up all the time! For those of you that knew Kayleigh at this age she would not stand at all she would stick her legs out straight! So for me this is a whole new world. I go to sit him on the floor and he stands up. Right now, he doesn't crawl but he is not afraid to dive for something out of his reach. I am pretty sure he is going to crawl or walk way before Kayleigh ever did. I think I am in for a lot of trouble!

Go Heels!!!

Our beloved Heels beat Duke! We all got together on Thursday morning to watch the game. We went to David and Marianne's house even though they are away having a baby in Thailand. We chose their house because we could watch the game on the big screen because they have a projector. I actually spent most of the game outside playing with the kids. They would have been really bored watching the game but I was so happy that the Heels won!

My Sweet Precious Gifts!

My sweet precious gifts love to be outside. I am starting to think that they would eat, sleep, and live outside if I let them. Every morning when Zeb wakes up from his nap we all go outside to play. Zeb has picked up on this routine because as soon as I get his jacket on and get near the door he starts squealing and jumping in my arms with excitement. Sometimes when it is almost time for dinner we let them sit and look out the window since we don't have time to go outside. They love watching the people and since there are 4 million people in our city they don't really lack in entertainment. John and I have already started to wonder what they are going to think in America when we go for a walk in his parents neighborhood. I'm sure they are going to wonder where all the people are?!

Hot Springs Hotel

Last week we spent a week away at a conference in a nearby hotel. Even though it can be hard to travel and be away from home with little ones we had a blast. It was a lot of fun to be able to hang out with people we don't get to see very often. It was really nice to see my friend Laura who lives in the same city as we do but far enough away that we see each other only about twice a month. Kayleigh had a blast and did not want to leave. It was a constant play time for her which is her dream. I would have to say John's favorite time was shooting off fireworks at night. When I say fireworks I mean the kind you see when you go to a fireworks show in America. However, here you can buy them on the street for about $20. Crazy huh?! My highlight was the hot spring pools that you could swim in. The kids and I went swimming everyday even though it was only 70 degrees outside. It was like swimming in bath water. Below are some pictures to highlight our week.

Laura with Lydia, Julianna and Kayleigh swinging at the pool.

Check out this bath tub! It was huge and pretty much like a swimming pool to Kayleigh. She had a great time taking a bath with her friends Bright and Zion. Zeb slept in our bathroom so she couldn't take a bath in our room after he went to bed.

John with his friends Daniel, Big D, and Teddy "playing" with the fireworks.

They had to build a fire pit for this huge firework box that contained 36 fireworks all in one. All you had to do was light one big fuse.

John, Kayleigh and Zeb enjoying the nice hot spring pool.