Life is getting back to normal...I think

I am finally starting to feel like we are getting back into a routine around here. When I walked into my new home two and half weeks ago and there were boxes everywhere and new responsibilities to take on I admit I was a little overwhelmed. I have almost finished unpacking all the boxes in all of our bed rooms but John's office looks pretty sad right now. It is becoming the "I'm not sure what to do with this yet" place to put things. I'm sure it doesn't create a very good work environment.

Kayleigh is doing well. She is doing well in pre-school. She doesn't cry when we drop her off but cries when we pick her up. We think that she really likes going and wants to go but by the three hour mark her little brain is fried from hearing a second language. Also, she doesn't like the soup that they made her eat! Her class spends time everyday singing as their teacher plays the piano. This is perfect for her since she LOVES music. We feel like it was a really sweet thing for the Lord to place her in a school that has lots of music. She also is constantly saying funny things which I should write down so I can tell her when she is older. For instance today she told me "Momma I like chocolate today". This was her way of asking for a donut. The thing is she loves chocolate everyday!

Today I took Zeb to buy shoes. I brought shoes from America but his feet seemed to grow two sizes in the last two weeks we have been here so the shoes I brought were too small. During that time he crawled all over me and knocked me on the floor while I was trying to listen in a second language about which shoes would be best for him. He of course was not going to sit quietly while I looked for shoes and even tore some part of the cardboard off a box which contained a car that I was trying to use to distract him. I think it is safe to say he is a true boy and is not a fan of shoe shopping. We did end up with a pair of shoes after the lady told me his foot was too fat for the pair I liked and he needed the other pair I picked out.

So life is just passing along here and we are doing great.

Discussions about PaPa

Now that we are back in Asia we talk to my parents and John's parents about once a week on the web cam. My computer sits near our kitchen table so recently when Zeb sees it during meal times he points to it and says "PaPa". That is what he calls my dad. He apparently thinks that my dad "lives" in there and if I open it up he will suddenly appear. Kayleigh then suggests we call him. This starts a discussion on what Papa is doing at the time. I usually have to explain that he is sleeping and that we can not call him at 12am at night or that he is driving to work and he won't be home. It is a lot to grasp for a three year old to think that when she is getting up her grandparents are preparing for bed. We had a lot of discussions about the time difference when we were apart. Now when we call our parents Kayleigh insists on seeing their windows to see if it is dark outside or not. So every meal time I am prepared to go through the Papa discussion just one more time.

Zeb's Helmet Graduation Party

Here is a little video during Zeb's Helmet Graduation Party. Hope you enjoy it!

Zeb's Graduation Day!

Tuesday was a busy day for us. Not only did Kayleigh start school but it was the final day that Zeb could wear his helmet. We decided to have a little graduation party for him to celebrate God's goodness in healing his head and the fact that Zeb had such a good spirit through the whole process. We invited Kayleigh and Zeb's friends over to have cupcakes. We sang Happy Graduation to the tune of Happy Birthday and then the kids devoured the cupcakes. It was a fun little party. We are still getting used to him without the helmet. Just this morning he said "momma" and then pointed to his head. I think he actually misses it a little. On a funny note, since we took off the helmet he has started to walk around the house by himself. Did the helmet effect his balance??? Who knows??!

Here is a before pictures just in case you forgot what he looked like with it on. He loves to use this bear as a recliner!

Digging into his cupcake! Notice the icing is all gone!

Kayleigh's First Day of School

Kayleigh went to school for the first time today! We have been talking to her about starting Chinese preschool for a while. We were able to go and visit her school and see some of the classrooms before she started. She woke up this morning and asked me if today was the day she went to school. She was so excited! She loves to wear flip flops but I had explained to her that she needed to wear tennis shoes because she was going to play on the playground each morning. Well, of course on her first day it was pouring down rain and they didn't get to go outside. She is hoping for a chance to play outside on Thursday. When John dropped her off she didn't cry. He said that she seemed a little shocked not to see any white faces in the room but walked on in anyways. When I went to pick her up from school they were still eating lunch. She asked John if she could come back again! The teachers said she did great. She talked about the teachers playing the piano and singing Chinese songs. She also said that they had little sinks that she could reach and wash her hands. This must have made an impression on her. We feel like she is growing up so fast. We are so excited that she is enjoying her school and will hopefully learn the language so she can communicate with her friends.

Reunited!

After two weeks and five days to be exact our little family of four was reunited. It was a hard two weeks apart but God was good and sustained us. John had plenty of people helping him with Kayleigh and plenty of meals. I am pretty sure they did not go hungry. Zeb and I had a good trip back to China. When I first landed in Atlanta and found out that the seat that John and I reserved for me, which had a nice space to lie Zeb down in, was changed to bulkhead I got really nervous. I promptly showed the attendants that my 26 pound son was not going to fit in one of their bassinets! They agreed and found me a seat with an empty seat next to it on the plane! God is so good. I had so many people praying that the trip would go smooth and it did. Zeb ended up sleeping the last 6 hours of the flight! He did well and only cried a little. I was so thankful. Zeb was so excited to see his daddy at the airport. Security let me stroll him out to John while I got the luggage. The next morning when Kayleigh woke up she was so surprised to see me. She was dying to wake up Zeb. I have a awesome video of her waking him up in the morning but I can't get it to upload on our stone age internet! You will have to trust me that it was a very sweet reunion. I think Zeb and I are finally over jet lag and getting settled back into our way of life here. I'm excited to be back and to be in a new place but most importantly I'm glad to be reunited with John and Kayleigh.

The First 16 days of August

The first 16 days of August we......

hung out with our good friend Chad

got to see Emmarie and have one last fun time at the lake

said goodbye to our good friend Ellie as she leaves for Boston

said goodbye to Poppa and Nanna ( at least Kayleigh did)

said goodbye to Grandy and Grammie

spent some quality time with Colby and Graylyn

said goodbye to Uncle Johnathan

and....said goodbye to each other. Zeb and I are missing John and Kayleigh so much. We can't wait to be reunited as a family on September 4th. Zeb loves to see his sister on the webcam. She gives us hugs and kisses. He "talks" to her like she understands all he has to say. We are counting down the days!

Family Beach Trip

We just finished an awesome week at the beach with my family. My parents, grandparents, sisters, brother, aunts, uncles and all my cousins went to Ocean Lakes Campground at Myrtle Beach. We had a wonderful time. The campground is huge and once you get inside you ride golf carts around. Kayleigh and Zeb thought that was a lot of fun. The first day that we were there we went to the beach only to discover that Kayleigh did not really like it at all! She didn't want to walk in the sand and she didn't like the ocean either. She told me "Mommy "they" (whoever they is) put salt in it!" ( referring to the ocean). So we spent a lot of time at the pool for the first part of the week and so did the other one million people that were at the camp ground. It was the only time in America that I have felt like I was back in China with all the people around. We kept trying the beach though and by the end of the week Kayleigh enjoyed the ocean a lot. Of course you had to hold her the whole time but at least she liked it. She never got used to the sand and had to have her own chair to sit in at the beach. She was hilarious. Zeb on the other hand thought the beach was amazing and even tasted the sand! He loved getting dirty and just crawled everywhere. We had a wonderful time and I am so glad that we got to spend it with my extended family since we don't see them very often.

Kayleigh with the water gun at the pool.

Kayleigh relaxing in her beach chair.

Since golf carts where the main mode of transportation they had some for sale. We found this Carolina Tarheels one that was for sale for about $12,ooo! Can you believe that?! That is crazy!

Cow Apperiation Day!

I have a confession to make. I might be a little obsessed with Chick-fil-a. The fact that this is my second blog of the summer about this restaurant and the events that have gone on there might be an indication or could it be that we have been so much that I can't even count how many times. Should I dare say that Kayleigh has even mentioned Chick-fil-a in her prayers. She says:
"Dear God, thank you for my friends and Chick-fil-a." I do really love the restaurant especially as a mom with two kids. It is the most kid friendly restaurant I have ever been too. Once I was there alone with both kids. After I ordered they brought me my food to the table and continued to asked me if they could bring me anything else. That was very helpful since I didn't feel like I could leave my kids alone. So when we found out it was Cow Appreciation Day and that whoever was dressed up like a cow got a free meal, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. We had spent the morning with Kelsey John's sister. We got white garbage bags and put black spots all over them. Chick-fil-a provided the hats and the signs which the kids decorated. We had such a good time. They had real cows you could pet once we got there. The free meal was worth all the fun we had dressing up!

The whole gang!

Zeb checking out the cows.

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July! We spent the afternoon and evening with John's family for a good old fashioned American cookout. The kids played outside with some "snappers". Those are the things that you throw on the ground and they make a really loud popping noise. I used to play with them a lot when I was little. Once it was dark, Jay, my brother-in-law, taped all his fireworks to one box and rigged them together to make one big fireworks show. It was quite impressive especially at the end when the box caught on fire! We had to get the water hose to put it out. It was a great day and I was glad to be in America for once to celebrate!

Kayleigh's reaction after throwing her first "snapper".

This pink guitar plays music when you push a button. Kayleigh put on a concert for us while we waited for the fireworks to start.