Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Almost one week

Well, it's been almost a week since we arrived! I don't have a lot of computer/screen time simply because the kids don't allow for that, but I do want to write about some of our first experiences here in Shanghai. This move has been quite an adjustment for the kids most of all. They still seem to be experiencing jet lag and are very quiet around new people. We are trying to help them get over this and reply to adults who ask them questions, but they still clam up when mommy or daddy are talking with another adult.

Here are just a small handful of things about life in Shanghai, China...the eggs we buy from the store are not refrigerated, our apartment on the seventeenth floor has two front doors with about four or five locks on it, and I've seen a whole family - baby, daddy, mommy in that order - ride by the city street on a motorbike without helmets on... It actually looked cute with that little Chinese baby just sitting in front!

Jeremy's office hours are from 9 to 6 pm. This is so nice, and he also works only a few floors below us so we see him at lunchtime often. I feel so blessed right now and hoping that our kids can feel better knowing that he is so close.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Flying to China

In only a couple more days our whole family, all five of us, will be flying on an airplane together to our new home in Shanghai, China. We have technically had about five to six years to prepare for this move, but had we believed this would truly come about at this time we would have spent more time preparing ourselves for this..studying language more often, teaching our kids more Chinese words, and even getting to know more Chinese people in our own hometown in Rochester. Though I am glad we had at least a year and a half of studies with a wonderful Chinese tutor in town and we are thankful for that.

What are some of the small bits of Chinese we can remember? We know how to greet people properly, how to order food or buy groceries, how to introduce our friends and family, and how to say the number of people who are in our family...which when translated to English is like saying how many mouths we have to feed. The classifier word Chinese uses for people in a family is the word "mouth," and it looks like a little box.

What are some of the things we will need to learn to do right away when we get there? One thing I can think of is to know how to order new water containers. Some of the things I can imagine we will be updating folks on is what we are feeding our kiddos. Or what our neighbors are like. We are hoping there are other families with kids for our kids to make friends with. What are some of the differences between Shanghai and Beijing, where Jeremy and I had lived before. We hope to encounter many good adventures and keep everyone updated. We will also try to remember to sign our posts since both Jeremy and I will be contributing to this blog.

~Lisa

Sayde turns 1 year old!



Sayde Grace turns one year old on August 1st, but we are celebrating her birthday early with cousin Harper before we leave for China. They are only eight days apart and it has been so sweet to see how much they love to see each other every week and play together :). Even at this age, it is clear how much they love each other.

Our little girl is so full of energy that we don't know how we will hold her on our laps the whole 18 hour plane ride ahead of us...She has been taking steps and walking the past month. She has been saying "hi" to everyone, in addition to "mama" and "dada." She feeds herself table food and will not let anyone feed her with a spoon. Her favorites are chicken, savory vegetables, meat and potatoes. She is one very independent little girl.

Today will be Harper and Sayde's last photo shoot together in the basket. We will miss you Harper - we love you a lot.  You have such a sweet, fun personality and I have so enjoyed watching you grow this past year. I will miss those "quiet times" at your house while your mama was at work...when I had just you and Sayde :). Sayde will miss you!

~Lisa

Departure

We leave for China in only a few more days. We are too busy meeting with friends and family, and packing to think about it all, but we're excited to have more of our dreams being fulfilled!