First Pool Day

Today was hot in Beijing.  And when your air conditioning breaks in your house, it's really hot.  EVERYTHING in China breaks, all the time.  Just last week (after my washing machine broke) I said, "Rather that than the air conditioning."  Spoke too soon.  Now it's hot, humid, and unlike in the USA.... there's NO WAY I'm opening the windows.  If you had seen how mosquito-plagued my face was two weeks ago, you'd understand why.  So we headed to the pool for an afternoon cool-off.

Miss B enjoyed taking the ball from the boys.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't let her play with them.

So Daddy had to do.

Definitely loves to swim.

Vivi and I went swimming, too.  But I only got pics of her after.  

Poor baby has teeth erupting all over in her little mouth.  She constantly has to be chewing on something to help with the pain.

This is what happens when you take it away and try to get a cute pic.  Or maybe she's just crying cause we have no air conditioning.

That's it for today.  I'll try to do better and keep up with my blogging.  If my computer doesn't melt...

Another Break

Sorry to say, but I've gotta take yet another break from blogging.  I might be able to post some things sooner than I thought (or later....) if our Internet gets up and running.  We are moving to our "permanent" home Thursday and the Internet is not set to get going until August 1st.  Pray I stay sane until then!

Independence Day 2012

I had hopes of going to the US Embassy for the 4th of July.  That just didn't pan out.  It was so hot, Bianca had school, and it was a bad pollution day.  I dressed the girls up in their red, white, and blue.  Derek and I also sported the colors.  It was kinda sad; however, to not "feel" that mutual patriotism that you feel when in the States of people you pass on the street.  There is some sort of invisible electricity that shoots through everyone in America on this special day.  But being here made our thankfulness for freedom even stronger for us.  I can't tell you how proud I am of our country.  The people who fought and continue to fight for it need to be honored.  We have so much to be thankful for.... living in a Communist country makes you realize just how LUCKY AND BLESSED we are as citizens of America.  Our freedom didn't come "free".... remember.  Thank you to every soldier out there and our Founding Fathers for starting this country and making it a place for government-independence.  

B's First (China) Haircut

Bianca has had only two haircuts in her life.  We braved it out and went for the 2nd one yesterday.  I found the name of a cute place, Melonhead, in a mall not too far from where we currently are staying (the mall is called "The Place").  I didn't really think B would want her hair cut.  She is obsessed with the Tangled movie and talks about her "pretty hair" all the time.  I told her she would need to be a good girl, sit still, and get a little trim - we wouldn't cut too much off.  She was game.  Who wouldn't be.... for a little pampering???

I could tell from the outside this place was going to be out of control. 

Princess stage to go and act with the new locs.  

There was so much going on, thankfully she didn't see this or else we would have been in trouble.

 Grampy - she picked the yellow sports car for you I think.

Tom and Jerry show while the pampering process is going on.  Also a look at how long her hair had gotten.  It was just a rats nest and tangled with her curls in this heat.  

Smiles from the start.

So serious, B.

She even got a blow dry and hair setting.  Ridiculous.

TA-DA!

After she got to ride a merry-go-round (still in the salon)

Our new UK and German friends.

It cost about $18.  Not too bad, really.  She got to play with all the toys and rides.  There was a HUGE pirate ship in the middle with balls and a plank.  She really had a fun morning.  Getting her hair done really made her day.  Now if only mommy could find a place for hers......

A Little BEE-HIND

I've really been slacking in my blogging lately.  I thought I would be able to hammer through more posts, catching up on what has gone on for us.  But a few other issues opportunities have arisen.

Like Derek.... going to France for a week.  What?  Why?  I mean - we moved to Asia, and now he's off to France?!  I would say I'm jealous but an 11-hour plane ride sounds terrible right now.  Anyways, he's left us alone, which really stinks because I have ONE other English-speaking person here I know and I only text her a couple times a week.  Oh well, we will make it.

Of course, he had to leave at the worst time.  We started potty training last week.  I have to tell you: it's been rough.  I wish I could say I had one of those children who just "magically" started using the potty, or didn't struggle, or perhaps "taught herself".  Not the case.  As a matter of fact, my daughter has the physical and mental ability to potty train herself, but her will-power and stubbornness perseveres.

So, if you try calling and I am lucky enough to answer so I can communicate with someone over the age of 2 in English.... please forgive me if I have to "hang up" abruptly.  Amazingly, we have had only 1 accident today and it was (ironically) when I was on the phone with Nana.    

please, meet the new member of the family.  decorated just-so by Miss Bianca Dee.  thanks joey for the stickers.

thinking, thinking, thinking

Today, I asked Bianca what might "help" her go potty.  What could we do to make it "come out" so that she wouldn't continue to hold her bladder for 6-hours after drinking almost a 1/2 gallon of juice?  She says, "A magic Fairy Godmother wand."

Of course that would help.  What was I thinking.

So, she goes down for her nap and I start searching high and low for what I could throw together for a wand.  Here's what I came up with:

A regular chopstick (compliments of the hotel).  Cut out cardboard star from a cookie box.  Decorate with stickers.  Use ribbon from Lily-Padz sachet and color with crayon.  

 Then I wrote her a letter from her "Fairy Potty Godmother" on the $2 DVD cover.  I placed it outside our apartment door and when she wakes up I'll ring our doorbell and she will hopefully think it was "magically" delivered.  

I'd like to thank my assistant, who never slept or rested during this entire project.  As usual.  

Fat Rolls

Vivi is 7 months tomorrow.  Craziness!  With her getting so big during this whole move process, I feel like she hasn't gotten enough attention on this blog.  So, this post is for her.  And since she is (only) seven months, I feel like it's an acceptable time to talk about something I love.  Something I just can't get enough of.

Her Fat Rolls

That's right.  I mean - how old is it when these things aren't cute anymore?  She is a sack 'o sugar that I just can't stop squeezing and kissing.  But she is getting bigger and moving around more - so the fat rolls are going to be gone soon.  She is also now eating solids (started a little before 6 months) so the milk fat is leaving slowly.  So sad.  

But here's a closer look at the cuteness I just can't handle.

here is your standard thigh roll

moving down the leg.  the knee rolls.  present on front and back.


cankles: The area in affected female legs where the calf meets the foot in an abrupt, nontapering terminus: adipose tissue surrounding the soleus tendon

this happens to be my favorite line up.

back of the neck fat.  i kiss here a lot, too.

You can see why I can't get enough of this butter ball.  And while the fat rolls are decreasing, there are other developments going on at seven months, too.

like her first tooth

and some hair!  finally!  very blonde.  

and any day now she will be following sissy around, stealing toys.

rocking a lot and crawling a couple inches now.

 just as sweet as can be.

There you have it.  Our love muffin.  She is a gem.  She may not sleep more than 4 hours at a time, but we cope with it.  This little one actually gives big hugs when you hold her.  She squeezes your neck so tight and nuzzles her face in your neck - it's priceless.  We love her so much.  Veronica, your infectious smile has brought our family more love and happiness than we ever could have imagined.  Happy 7 months!

At 7 months, Vivi:

sits alone

says "Dadda" and other purposeful noises

knows her name

gets on all fours and rocks, can move an inch or so

sleeps

loves to watch her big sis more than anything

4 milk feedings a day (still breast feeds) and 3 meals a day

1 small tooth on the right lower side, the left lower one is almost in

loves bath time

give hugs

has some serious stranger anxiety

loves to be held

likes her paci

is the smiliest little thing ever

We're Here

The Mothership Has Landed.  The Cisels have made it to Beijing, China.  I have so much to blog about, so much to share!  I am starting a new blog in addition to this one.  This blog will be more about the girls than anything else.  My new blog will be more about China and my feelings of daily life here.

Let's catch up, shall we???

For starters, the girls did marvelous with the whole move'n across the world and 16-hours of plane rides.  Honestly, they were amazing.  We spent our last week in a hotel in Atlanta while our home was being packed up and our belongings shipped.  The girls did awesome.  I am just so proud of the way they adapted.

I mean.... just taxing through the airport really required some skillz.

How happy does B look?!  And Miss V is in there, too, just slumped down in the cadillac stroller.  Dora and Minnie were troopers, too.

I wish I had taken photos of our limo ride to the airport.  Between having to finalize the house sale by myself, Derek vomiting all day from food poisoning, and no sleep in the hotel.... I somehow didn't manage to get photos of our last day.  

It was a long, long, long plane ride.  We had a "short" trip to Detroit (2 hours) and then the long haul to Beijing (14 hours).  We arrived in Beijing around midnight local time, exhausted.  We met our driver and he took us straight to our new temporary "home" where we currently live now.  Bianca has her own room and Miss Veronica is still in a room with us (ah!).  We will be here until July 19th and then moving to the suburbs to a house.... where EVERYONE will be in their own rooms (you listening - Veronica?!).  

It took about 2 weeks for the kids to fully adjust to the time change.  It's 12-hours ahead of Atlanta time here.  Bianca was switched after about 10 days but Veronica took a bit longer.  Of course, Veronica also sustained 2 new teeth and a bilateral ear infection during this time, too.  Poor thing.

Our apartment is pretty nice (I'll post pics on my China blog), but there isn't a lot for Bianca to do.  She doesn't really have a whole lot of toys here and you can only go to the playground for so many days before it gets boring, too.  So, I enrolled her in a preschool program.  She LOVES it.  It's amazing.  Honestly, it's the cutest little school ever.  They take such good care of the kids.  It's a bilingual school so Bianca is learning Mandarin.  And after only 2 weeks of class, she IS learning.  We were at the school today and Bianca yelled at a kid, saying something I had never heard.  I told her, "Bianca, it's not nice to yell at your friends.  Be nice."  The mother of the child (she was Chinese) said, "It's ok.  She just asked my son to come play with her.  She is speaking Chinese."  Awesome.  Amazing, actually.  Kids are sponges.  This school is so diverse, Bianca is in class with kids from all over the world. 

Bianca loves going to school.  Her first day she was all smiles.

Her school had a small end-of-year/beginning of new year "graduation".  It was so neat!  The older classes (older as in 4-5 years) had kids doing songs in Chinese and English, as well as dances with fans and kung fu.  Really, really, cool.  Bianca's class sang and danced, although our daughter pretty much just stood there and stared.

The sunglasses were part of the act, before you ask.  She just refused to take them off once the act was over.  

Miss Veronica Sue is really growing these days.  She actually has had some major milestones.  She turned 6 months old just days after we got here.  Here's a pic of her during her 6-month week:

(backdrop compliments of The Great Wall of China).  Pretty cool to hit that wonder of the world in the first 6 months of your life, huh?

And she's trying her hardest to crawl.  I honestly think any day she will be scooting.  She actually already scoots, but mostly backward.  She gets up on all fours and rocks.  Each day she gets better at it.  

Bianca was about 10 months old when she started crawling.  This one is not even 7 months.  It kills me that she is moving so fast.  I wish she'd slow down!

But all in all... I think everyone is pretty comfortable living here now.  We are making the most of what we have an improvising when need be.  At least, it seems so:

  

Sooooooooooo much more to write.  I promise to keep all family and friends updated with my little ones details.  Good night (or good morning to y'all in the west side of this crazy world).