Shanghai

Although it's been some time since we announced that we were relocating to Shanghai for Chris' next project, up to this point it has only been words.  Things became quite real when Chris and I traveled off for 8 days to check out the city and get an idea of what life will be for the next 3 years.  Even as I type, I am having trouble formulating my thoughts to put down.  I'm not quite sure if it's confusing because I'm still a bit jet lagged or if I'm still processing the exorbitant amount of information my brain received on the trip.  It could also be that our lives will be the complete opposite of the lifestyle we have led for the past 4 years in Hawaii and California.  (correct answer D, all of the above) Whatever it is, I hope to make some sense of this in this blog and to give you some insight from an outsiders first perspective.

Every day we were there was a roller coaster of emotions.  First off, being away from my girls (not having done so for longer than 12 hours before) was both terrifying and liberating to equal heights.  I worried how they were doing, what if there was an emergency, if they were immensely sad, if they were taking advantage of Mimi and Grandaddy.  In the end, none of those were true (at least according to my in-laws)  I can not thank Mimi and Grandaddy enough for not only stopping their lives to come out and love on our babies while we are gone but also for doing such an amazing job!

For me, though I missed them and felt like I was missing a limb, it was SO NICE, to feel like myself and not have someone to feed, take potty or change a diaper for someone.  You really forget how nice it is to potty with the door closed, sleep through the night, wake up on my own accord.  Most importantly, I got to spend some truly appreciated quality time with my husband.

Everyone enjoyed their special time and it made the reunion that much sweeter.

I honestly, don't know how someone relocates to a foreign country when their not being hand held by the company they work for (ehhhhemmmm, Nikki).  Disney pulled out all the stops to let you know that they were there for you.  We have an incredible relocation team at our access for everything from travel, bank accounts, hiring help, finding a place -- you name it -- we have help:  Now if they could just shop for me the first few time at the grocery and read the labels to me ;o)

Ever wonder what one of gazillion malls in a place
where 23 million people live look like?

What I'm most excited about is this experience for the girls, especially for school.  Every school we looked at was something a parent would dream about for their children.  We are blessed that this cost is part of our package.  Not only do I feel like the girls will receive incredible academic opportunity but they will learn a difficult yet important language. Most importantly, they will start their lives off with a cultural awareness that will hopefully ground them in such a way that will see everyone as God's children.

We have our work cut out for us.  Though lots of people speak English, many do not, so learning  at least the basics in Mandarin will be necessary before we go.  I also really wished that I had paid more attention in school to the metric system cause I'm going to need it.  That will be fun when I also will have to initially calculate the RMB rate vs US to make sure I don't pay $8 for a teeny tiny bottle of Perrier again.


Lessons learned on my first trip:

• This is kind of insane but we are doing it anyway
• Despite the fact that I change my mind almost daily about which part of town we will settle in, I think we found enough good points for each to be happy in almost every part.
• The Chinese LOVE babies and kids
• The pollution in LA is not that bad

• I must start a Facebook photo album with English translations gone wrong.  Some of the signage in English translation was quite amusing.

This wasn't the best but the only one we got a picture of

• Indi will be transitioning to cloth diapers as disposables were .62 a piece
• We quite possibly have found the worst drivers in the world - NY or anywhere else in the US has nothing on this place!!!! And yet it somehow works without gun shots being fired or extra hand signals out of the window.
• I must BRING tissues to every bathroom and hand sanitizer (or hanitizer as my nephew Vegas calls it).
• I need to learn about 25 words or more in Mandarin before I arrive to feel comfortable to take trips by myself with the girls.  Including but not limited to: "No I do not need a Rolex, Gucci or anything else from the fake market" "No raw egg in my dish please" I also need to correctly pronounce "Help me please" vs "Hug me please"
• Most importantly, we need to bring our sense of adventure (the one that subsided a bit when I became a mom).

I can't explain it but despite all these things that are quite a shock up front, we are still extremely excited.  In many ways things were/are just as crazy as you might imagine if this were your future.  However, as we came to conclusion when we accepted this job, we really feel like this is where God wants us to be next and this is an opportunity of a lifetime, especially for the girls.  I feel fairly confident that I will look back at this in 4 years and snicker at my hesitations.

Sometimes familiar things make you good

Meet our new friends, The Lowery Family.  They just moved to
Shanghai as well.  A special thanks to Elizabeth for organizing
a fun night out at a Hot Pot restaurant.

The December and January Blur

I really don't prefer calling the season in which we celebrate the Lord's birthday a blur.  However, try as we may to keep the reason for the season, having 2 January babies and adding in travel is going to complicate things.  And so, it's the end of January and I am just getting to our Orlando visit, the Disney cruise, Indigo's Baptism, Christmas, NYE, and both girls birthdays -- which lends itself to our most recent visitors as well and all the updates.  Here we go...........

Visiting family was everything I would hope it would be and more.  I LOVE watching the cousins play together and witnessing family getting to spend time with the little ones (and big ones) that being on relo robs them of.  London and Vegas were especially great with both girls and it makes me pine for a day when we might return to the same zip code.   I pray that we don't miss some window and that my amazing niece and nephew decide that they are too grown too to be bothered with the younger kids.

This is taken on the bench where Chris and I met

We weren't in Orlando long before we set sail on a Disney cruise with my brother and family as well as Chris' mom and dad.  I promise I am not a paid representative of the Disney cruise line and benefit in no way from you taking this trip.  That being said, we had THE BEST TIME on this cruise.  The food, the service, the cleanliness and the activities were awesome.  There was some thing for every age group (though I may recommend waiting till everyone in your party is walking to maximize)
The highlights for me were watching Helaina gleam at the princess meet and greet.  She was elated.   I loved that the family was together but everyone could break off to do their own thing for a bit. I also loved that the only decision I had to make for 3 days was what I should wanted eat.  (And eat I did!)  I highly recommend this cruise if you want a true vacation.  You can't beat the price for the overall value.

Helaina with her favorite princess, Tiana

Upon returning my Dad and Caroline as well as Uncle Jeremy came down to join us as we baptised Indigo.  What a  significant time as we celebrated a promise and commitment to bring up our daughter as a follower of Christ.  It was a precious memory to see her with Pastor David who not only baptised Helaina, but married Chris and I.  It's nice to have an anchor when you are being tossed around the world.  Indigo preferred to stay with mommy during the ceremony but didn't miss a chance to ham it up for the congregation.  We took advantage of having the family all together and dressed up so we took family pics which I will post the official ones once I get them.

Christmas Eve was celebrated in the usual Sicilian Italian Style for us with 7 seafoods.  If you know me, you know that this is the pinnacle of meals for me.   Hats off to my brother who again knocked it out of the park as the head chef.  Erin's sister, Jodie and I were su chef's while Chris and the other's manned the children, got the house ready and made sure everyone was taken care of.  It was a festive evening complete with a game of 'Celebrities'.  I especially love that we got to celebrate with family as I am not sure how the next few years will go.

You never know who will show at Christmas Eve at the Vertolli's house

We had a quiet Christmas morning with just the girls and us.  We really tried to downplay the present thing again, especially since we went on a cruise as a gift AND we knew family would come with full hands.  We almost overshot but I assure you the girls had full hearts and we needed another suitcase to bring home everything.  Trying to instill the importance of Jesus' birthday and minimizing consumerism is an uphill battle.

For NYE, my bestie Cathy (who was in-town with her family and Beth and Rob) arranged for us to go to a cooking place called Truffles and Trifles.  You are part of a larger group where each of you prepare a portion of a meal (recipe and ingredients included).  At the end of the evening, everyone sits down and eats the smorgasburg of food!  You take home the recipes at the end of the evening.  We had wine, champagne, and a wonderful time.   I can't think of a better way to ring in the New Year.

 Last year's New Years Day will probably never be 'out done' as we spent Jan 1 2012 delivering Indigo almost in the car.  Click here if you don't know the story Indigo Arrives.  Any who, this New Years day was all about a 1 year celebration for our little lady.  We had a quaint little dinner in her honor.  My brother thankfully assisted while I tackled my first prime rib.  (side note: Clearly this is why my children love food and someday only accept a suitor who is willing to keep up with their taste buds - watch out world).  It's not as fabulous sounding when I tell you that we zipped (food processed, or la machined for you seasoned folks) her prime rib and other food.  She loved it, but not as much as playing with the non-sugar banana bread type concoction that I made with a fresh fruit yogurt topping.  The key word is played with.  She really had no interest in eating it.  That's ok because Big Sister, Helaina gobbled up her own serving so my feeling weren't hurt.

Frank had to leave the room by this point.  The mess got much worse than this

After arriving back in CA, we reset and tried to make sense of our routine as quick as possible.  For Helaina's actual birthday weekend we went on an organized Faery Hunt which left much to be desired by Chris and I.  She also seemed uninterested but said she would do it again.  We explained it was probably a one time deal and she said no she was pretty sure it was a two time deal.  (The art of negotiations of a 3 year old).  For her Birthday night, when given the choice of where to eat, she chose Sushi.  Again, world beware.  We had a nice "quiet" time in anticipation for the following weekend.

During that week, we were very lucky to welcome our 1st group of visitors which was the O'huchi Family from Hawaii.  Kai and Cora were in our natural birthing class and their daughter Kalina was born a few weeks ahead of Helaina.  They also have a son Keison who is 8 months.  The very next day we welcomed the Gerich's family from Idaho.  Megan and Robbie were also in our birthing class and their oldest, Sydney shares Indigo's birth date but is Helaina and Kalina's age.  They too have another pea in the pod, Simone.  You may have read about them if you follow the blog at Boise Idaho.
We are so blessed to have these people in our lives as friends.  We are vastly different in so many ways yet so alike in many others.  It's nice to have the balance and it was great to spend time with all of them at once as we haven't all been reunited since the Gerich's left Hawaii to move back to Idaho.

If you are quick with math (or if you want to peak back) then you will note we had 12 total people staying in our 3 bedroom, 1,000 sqft place.  I don't think we could have pulled this off with just anyone.  One family per bedroom.  We were an organized unofficial commune (minus any freaky stuff) for 4 days.  Everyone pitched in and we tried to stay outdoors as much as possible.  We went to Disney and had a picture post card day.  The weather was perfect and the lines short.  We went for a hike to see the Hollywood sign.  WE ATE (shock).  The girls got along swimmingly (for 3 years old) and the adults enjoyed each other.  We also got to celebrate Helaina's birthday officially.  It was so nice to be able to do so with friends that she has had since birth.  I do hope that they stay friends for a lifetime as I plan to with their parents.

For Helaina's 3rd birthday we celebrated by merging her love of "balance beam" -- you know - - walking on every available raised surface, and of course Hello Kitty.  We had a gymnastics party at Fun and Fit.  All the little people had special hello kitty leotards or onesies.  (I could make a dissertation on what a PAIN in the keester that onesies ended up being but I will save you the drama -- I'm almost over it.    The girls got to do balance beam, jump on all kinds of trampoline's or the big hit, jumping into the foam pit.  The long awaited 1st cupcake did not disappoint.  I ordered (that's right people - I had 12 people in my house and my husband convinced me it was prudent to do so -- thank you Chris) from a place that uses 1/2 the sugar, applesauce vs oil, almond milk vs cream etc... We ordered the mini sized for the kids.  I then let her have 2 cause she's waited so long to taste a cupcake :o)  She really like it and even the one she had the next day but has not asked for it since and for that I am grateful.
A good time was had by all.

 

And on other news (stay with me it's been over a month) - We have ordered the girls passports and our visas.  We have also booked our look-and-see trip to Shanghai for Chris and I for the first week of March.  Mimi (Chris' mom) and Dad have graciously decided to come out and take the girls for the week. I know they are in the most capable of hands but I"M STILL FREAKED OUT.  One because the longest I have ever been away from the girls is 12 hours.  Two, the China thing is actually happening.  More on that to come in later blogs.

And finally in an update on the girls, Helaina seems to have magically passed over the terrible two's and into the realm of 3 years old things.  She is doing great with her potty training.  We have had 1 accident only this month!  Now onto that wiping yourself thing - though I'm sure the mommy touch up job will be around for a while.  She is taking a ballet and tap class that she really likes.  She is quite funny with some of the things she says.  The concept of lock it or unlock it has been merged to the word sequence "un-re-lock it."  Yesterday she said "Can swing by the car on the way out while we are taking the bebs out?"  She also says "Actually" quite a bit.  She also likes to throw out "Can you take care of that Biz?" which she adapted from Mommy and Antie Megs.   Her bed time regime has been a lot less gruesome and she has been more independent.  She asks a lot of questions but so far it doesn't bother me because it's not just "WHY?".  She actually articulates what she is trying to wrap her brain around.  She still loves to read and she and Indigo make a game of making each other laugh quite a bit.  It is so sweet to see them interact.

Indigo is officially up and at-em on the walking thing.  She gets about 12 steps or so on her own.  She can walk a long way holding someones hand.   She likes to scale any and everything much to mommy's chagrin.  She loves to dance when music is on.  She all the sudden started refusing pureed food an only eats chunks (unless it's a squeeze pouch).  She likes to throw out the double hand wave quite a bit.  She is doing great with pointing to body parts and loves "head, shoulders, knee's and toes"  She ssays momma, dadda, ssssissss for Helaina, and ba-ba for Bebe dog.  

They keep me so ridiculously busy and it's harder than heck right now especially with Indigo on the move and climbing everything like Godzilla.  However, my heart is full and I would be a fool to complain.

Catherine Lawrence & other updates

If you know me, but do not know who Catherine Lawrence is (otherwise know as Cathy), we should really talk more often or more on a personal level.  She is my BFF.  She is beautiful on the inside and out, motivated, smart & hilarious.  She is that someone that I prefer to look up to, value her opinion, laugh with, cry with, be honest with, eat and drink with etc.......  She is all encompassing and I consider myself blessed to know her.

She recently came to see me. OK by recently I mean very early November but I could not write another blog without capturing the great time we had and giving her due props.  I complain about being busy but she has 3 very active boys, a successful business that she runs with her husband, & she is quite social.  You would never know how busy she is when we spend time together or when considering she arranged time out of her life to come see my family from the east coast, AGAIN!  She always makes me feel like I'm worth the visit and we get completely engrossed in conversations as if no time has passed at all.  Our daily lives don't necessarily permit for the kind of in-depth or nonsense that we can get into.

She is an avid picture taker like me, though she's quite talented.  Ironically enough, neither of us barely took any pictures during her trip.  Apparently we were too busy.  We hung with the family a bit however, my wonderful husband obliged me for a ENTIRE GIRLS DAY of shopping, eating and 'tasting' some wine!  It was quite lovely.  She had a bit more luck then I did at some of the consignment stores but I had just as much fun picking for her as I would myself.  We have a quite a shopping history together and I am glad that there is not a running total somewhere, especially from our London and NY escapades. (yikes)

She said she will come visit in China and by golly, if she says it - it's true --- Her track record is impeccable.  I did not have to wait that long as we crossed paths in Orlando over the holidays.  I can't wait to see her again and I hope that if you haven't already, you get to meet her one day.  She's pretty fabulous.

Boise Idaho

There are a bunch of places in the world that I never expected to visit but I must say that I am thrilled  that Chris, the girls and I got to go to Idaho a few weeks ago.  Why on earth Boise?????  Our dear friends Megan and Robbie and their beautiful little girls Sydney and Simone are from there.  We met them in Hawaii during a quintessential time of our lives in our natural child birth class.  Both of us were in our 2nd trimester and due within weeks of each other with our 1st children.  One of my other great friends Nikki said that I would probably meet some of my most closest friends during this time period and she was right.  We all hit if off quickly and dished about things like poop (baby and pregnancy lack of), fears of birth /parenting, babies sleeping and whole bunch of other things that you can't speak with just anyone about.  I promised I would visit her in Boise when they moved back and being in Cali made that a whole lot easier.  I wish we had a longer time to visit but we sure did pack it in while we were there.  Even if we stayed longer, it would not have been long enough.

1st off, Boise itself was beautiful.  I would like to think that the fall leaves held on for our benefit as they just received their first bit of snow today.  It was very clean and the people seemed nice.  Their downtown was a bit hipper than I had expected and we ate some great food.

The girls hugged and kissed a bunch.  So sweet.

I think Indi is doing Zoolander here and of course Helaina is eating

But even if Boise was a dump, I am fairly certain that we would have had an excellent time.  The girls played together as if no time had passed since they had seen each other --- and so did our children ;o)  We got to meet each other's littlest ones and I think either of us would have kept the other's if allowed.  Megan and Rob were the most thoughtful hosts.  Every detail was covered.  We didn't need lug as much stuff as Megan went out of her way to borrow and make sure our load was light.  She prepared meals that can put most restaurants to shame.  She even sent us home with snacks for the ride and clothes that didn't fit her kids anymore.

Taking each others baby for a spin

It's hard to pick a best part of our trip but Helaina and Sydney playing together was up there for sure. It was so sweet since they had spent so much time together when they were itty bitty.
We went to a huge Fall Festival with a corn box (like sand but with corn), horse rides, mini cow tractors, and best of all a HUGE air pillow buried in the ground (think bouncy house with no walls).  We got our fun on for sure.  We took the girls to a play place and fun was had by all.  Meg and Rob live in a great neighborhood with a beautiful nature trail that we walked in despite the cold.  We spent time in their house which is open, warm and inviting like a home should be.  I can imagine their girls will have fond memories of their childhood home especially the cool "cave" that their daddy built under the stairs and their mommy decorated like dream room for little girls (complete with a play wall phone).

We were honored to be with the Gerichs for their 1st Chick - Fil-A experience.
No shocker but they really liked it.  

While there, we got to take pictures with Megan's mom Mary, who I have longed pined after the photographs she takes.  The pictures came out perfect and she was joy to 'work with'.  I know where Megs get's her creativity from.  You can visit the link to see more of our pics at:

www.fairlycandid.com/the-higgs-family/

I excluded the one that we will be using for our Christmas photo :o)

The oldest kids (that would be us) took advantage of not having to leave at bed time and we stayed up playing games, having 'some' libations, and talking/laughing.  Robbie was a trooper as he threw out his back and still hung with us though often from the position of laying flat on the floor.

You may never have the chance to go to Boise but if you do, GO.  You may never get to meet the Gerichs (or you might) but I do wish that you have a couple or family in your life that is as loving, honest, and inspiring as they are.  It's good for your soul.

Fortunately for us, The Gerichs and the Ohuchis (The other part of our friends from our birthing class) are coming to Cali in January and we can all be reunited again.  5 girls and one boy!  How lucky are we to know such great people?

By the by, Megan is the one who inspired me to start writing a blog.  You can check her rendition of the visit at Gerichs.Blogspot.com Now that I have finished writing mine, I'm going to check it out.