Just chillin

We have been here one full week now. The boys seems to be totally over jetlag...I, on the other hand, am still waking up at 3 or 4 am. Does this get worse with age I wonder? We have had a good time just taking it easy mostly with Chris' parents and brother. I took a 3 day trip to Richmond. I got to see my Dad for the first time since his surgery. I was so encouraged by how well he is doing, though he still tires easily and is working really hard at his rehab. I also saw a doctor for some of my recent tingling and numbness issues, but no big news there. I will have some more tests and maybe know more in mid-June. We are enjoying the clean air and blue skies, time with family and good food. Things will get busier this weekend and next week as we meet up with friends.

We went to the newest restaurant in Sanford last weekend...Cracker Barrel. Austin had fun with the peg game, though i don't think he ever quite got it. Here he is getting a little help from Grandpa.

The boys loved the rocking chairs...they were just the right size. They are having lots of fun exploring the backyard and seeing new places. Since we have been here we have seen a snapping turtle, a dead snake, little hopping toads, a centipede, lots of birds and the neighbors cats and dogs, all in and around the yard. Wow, I am realizing how much the big city lacks in wildlife- but the boys are enjoying it.

Xiao Ji

Xiao Ji is our house helper, otherwise known as "ayi" (auntie) and a person I cannot begin to describe how thankful I am for! She is a believer, great cleaner, makes our weekly granola, yummy Chinese food and is great with the boys. Both boys prefer her to anyone else other than me and Chris and she has been around since Bennett's birth. When her key turns in the door the mornings she comes, Bennett always runs to her and puts his arms out to be held. Austin likes to try out his "Chinglish" on her all the time and she is a pretty good interpreterSadly, we will be starting with a new ayi in the fall when we return...however our new ayi is also wonderful and has helped another family we know (who had 5 kids) for years. But still, we will miss Xiao Ji a lot. I could not have moved last week without her. She also works for our good friends the Shaffars and will continue with them full time in the fall, as they are having a fourth baby (and we moved to another part of town). So we will still get to see her, but she will be missed!

more new house visuals

The kitchen ...I am so excited my big fridge fit!

There were baby ducks in the water out front the second night we were there..the boys loved them, Austin even picked one up and barely managed not to squeeze it to death. I didn't dare let Bennett get a hold of one.

"But i WANT to eat dirt, Mommy, please?"

More fun in the dirt...there is definitely something about little boys and dirt. I am so thankful to have a yard for my little dirt-diggers.

Austin's newest trick before we left...peeing off the wall into the bushes. "Mommy, I am watering the bushes...they need water to grow" me "They need water, not pee pee". Several times Austin said he had to go potty and I assumed he was in the bathroom...only to look out and see this. Sometimes I just don't get boys.

Amer-ica

Well, it is 4 am and I have been awake since 1:30 am...hello, jetlag. Amazingly, the boys are both asleep or else very quiet. At 1:30 I did hear Bennett talking but he apparently went back to sleep. Where to begin? I am so behind on blogging and a lot has happened. Here is the short recap...we moved last Friday, successfully. It was a hard week of settling in with ac units installed, boxes somewhat unpacked, bathrooms flooding water and sewage and Bennett taking a short tumble down the stairs (he is fine though) and Chris out of town through all of that. However, we got at least partially settled in our new home and made it back to the USA safely. Despite both flights leaving late, we made our connection and the boys slept about 7-8 hours each on the long flight. We all slept five hours the first night and while Chris and I are up now enjoying cereal with fresh blueberries, the boys are somehow still in bed. Not bad.

Here are some promised pictures of our new place.

The "front yard" as Austin calls it. This is the area outside our entrance door- really green and this very shallow little water area. Austin waded in the first day and loves playing out near the water- throwing rocks, washing off his excavators climbing rocks.

The living room- the stairs to the basement are to the right, the kitchen is behind and the balcony to the yard is straight ahead.

The boys room- I put the bookshelf from the office in their new room, since our office here has shelves and they were outgrowing their old one.

The yard...Angie's side is dirt and will have sod put down. our side will remain tile but I am having a semi-circle of grass put in the far corner.

The basement...still needs a lot of work. This room will be a playroom and maybe eventual school room if we go the homeschool route. To the right is the office. The whole place will be painted while we are gone- I am going out on a limb with the playroom and picked orange- sort of burnt orange. We will see!

Well, sounds like the boys are making noise now...gotta go.

Here we go

Well, I am rather brain-dead, so I hope this post makes sense. We are mostly packed...always those last minute things left. We probably will not really have internet starting tomorrow until we get to the US..including our Vonage phone. We don't want to pay to have it set up and pay 3 months that we will not be using internet service, so we will wait till August. I am sure at some point we will run to a neighbor's and check email. But don't expect many new posts, sorry!

The boys are starting to feel the stress of transition and especially the suddenness of this big move. They both seem a bit more clingy and prone to tears than normal. They have really done great though- been playing at different friends' houses and done well. They will go to our friends the Shaffars for most of the day tomorrow (and Xiao Ji will be there to0).

They are having fun exploring our house with random empty places and boxes to climb...check them out in their empty wardrobe today.


Austin said this was his bunk bed and he was on the top. Bennett did not want to stay in very long, so a little later Blue Puppy was sleeping on the bottom "bunk" of the wardrobe.

Moving Day

Well, moving day is actually going to happen the day after tomorrow (Friday). I think. If we can actually get everything packed, get our current landlord to handle paperwork needed to move out (if she doesn't sign that the furniture is ours, the apartment complex won't let us leave with it) and keep our sanity! WE signed our contract last night...and after 4 hours of some silly negotiations (she is taking the big jacuzzi bathtub and wouldn't agree to a 3 year contract, which is what we wanted) the place is ours (and the Hunemullers...our new neighbors and friends, aka Bree's family).

That's about it for now...here is what it looks like around here today.

Share

Bennett's newest word as of today is "share". He first said it several times when Austin had something he wanted and he was hoping Austin would share it with him. He would walk up to Austin and say "share share" as he tried to grab the item from Austin (which was not well received, as you can imagine). But then later in the day he also was playing with certain things that Austin wanted and if Austin asked him for it, he would quickly relinquish it to his ge ge and say "share" with a big smile. He is actually quite willing to share with Austin if asked- maybe this is a short phase, but it is nice for now.

In other news, we are 95% sure we are moving this week! We are excited that we hope tomorrow we will have signed a contract- along with our friends Jason and Angie (and Bree and Jesh) next door. I say "hope" because you just never know what might come up at the last minute, especially in China. Tonight our real estate agent called and said the landlady might not be able to get all the furniture out of the place like she had promised earlier and wants to take the nice, big bathtub in the master bath. Sigh. I am praying she will stick to her verbal agreement of removing their (very large and pretty ugly) furniture out of the apartment and will leave the bathtub and (more importantly I know) can establish a good relationship with her. Bad landlords can make lots of trouble. I also want to be a good witness and deep down care about that more than the temporal things like furniture and a bathtub...but I do care about those things too and hope it will all work out. If so, we are very excited to be able to live next door to good friends, have a little yard with our first floor apartment and be able to do move before we return to the US. Pray for us these next 9 days though...it is a LOT to do in a short amount of time.