Bittersweet Celebration

Can you believe I've been at this blogging thing for 4 years now? Thank you all for reading and sharing!

What you might not realize though is that March 31st is a day that I always try to be happy. Because before I started this blog, it was my Mom's birthday. Mom died when I was 9 and in October, it will mark 30 years of her being gone. I can't believe she's been gone so long. Or I can't believe how old I am. Maybe a little of both.

Mom would have turned 7...wait. That's not right. I can't out her age on here. After all, when she passed away, I truly believed she was just 29. When I read her obituary in the newspaper, it said she was 42. I became very angry and told all the grieving adults around me that the paper got it wrong. "She wasn't 42! She was 29!" The only shred of humor shining through such a dark time. It was then that I learned it was ok for women to fib about their age after a certain point. I never thought of doing so myself. Until this year. In June, I turn 29 again. Just so you know.

Every single day of my life, she's been on my mind. Maybe not all day, but at points throughout my day. And of course, not all the thoughts I have about her are sad ones. I think of funny things too, like the time we were at a petting zoo and a goat tried to eat her long jean skirt. I can still hear her laughter in my brain, like the sweetest melody I ever heard. I think of how she once caught me eating all the brownies for breakfast because I'd woken up too early and didn't want to bother her. I wheeled one of our 70s-style kitchen table chairs on over to the counter, climbed on up and used a butter knife to slice off some brownie. But I couldn't resist and ate just about the whole entire tray before she found me. Instead of being angry, she laughed and made me a real breakfast.

I cling with every fiber of my being to the memories I have of her. I only had 9 years with her and like most people, I can't really recall much before age 4. They've all jumbled together over time, becoming fuzzier and fuzzier with every year. But I can't forget her kind nature or her spirit. Sometimes, as I watch my daughters sleeping, I think of her and how much she'd love them. How hard she'd laugh if she could see the videos I've made of them doing adorable things. What she'd want me to tell them as they grow up.

It's not fair she has to miss out on this. But maybe she's not. Maybe she's been here the whole time, watching over us, smiling as we smile. Laughing as we laugh. Maybe she's the reason I'm still here. She's certainly the reason I'm here at all.

Happy 29th Birthday, Mom!

This old photo, sent to me by my Cousin David, is so lovely to me. My dad still looks this handsome! Maybe he knows what restaurant we're in, but clearly, we're in one. Daddy is sitting with Mom and my Great Aunt Ann, who I also miss terribly.

Boo.

Well, that just sucks. Despite 2015 starting off in a weird way, I had high hopes that things would get better. But that's proving to be a challenge.

Unfortunately, my father has been having some issues with his right leg and his back lately. Even more unfortunately, the problem has persisted and now has rendered him unable to travel. So the big trip he and Mom were planning to make to Qingdao to see us and then to Singapore to see my brother and my pregnant sister-in-law had to be canceled. To say we're all very disappointed is the understatement of the year.

I'd found out this sucky news when I came back from a day of being spoiled, courtesy of Qingdao Family Guide, the magazine I write for out here (you can check out my latest work by viewing the magazine here) and the salon Raphael Perrier. I was chosen for our hot mom makeover and spent the day getting my hair and make-up done. I haven't had a new look in years and was so excited that I'd be getting one just in time for my parents' visit. But then, I checked my email and suddenly I didn't feel happy about being pretty anymore.

Maybe I'll still post about my new look later. I know I should but I'm completely bummed out. I couldn't sleep, even when Seoul was asleep. All I could think about was Daddy and how lousy he must be feeling to have canceled this trip. My father is a very strong and active person. I know canceling this trip depresses him as much as it does me.

Raelynn is sad but taking it much better than me. I could learn a thing or two from her. She wants to kiss her Papa so he'll feel better but for now, she says she can't wait to see Papa and Mimi at their house this summer. Me neither.

Anyway, if you're the praying kind or just a well-wisher, I'll hope you'll send good vibes our way, particularly to my dad. We hope that through physical therapy, he'll be able to avoid having surgery and that he will feel back to his usual self soon.

Jeremy and I are both really disappointed that we won't get to share Chinese New Year with my parents. The Small Chinese New Year celebration is tonight but I don't feel much like celebrating now.

The Countdown Is On!

 Raelynn wriggles around as we pose with my folks and a lion statue in front of the stunning Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai.

I'm so excited because in just 10 more days, I'll get to hug my folks! They'll be here for the Chinese New Year, which will likely be our last Chinese New Year celebration while we are residing in China. My parents are all kinds of awesome, as I've mentioned many times before. They've come to visit us once a year since I've been over here. They came to visit just after Raelynn was born, plus that was their first time meeting my husband (remember, we originally married at the US Embassy in Seoul). Then, when they came for another visit at the same time my brother and his wife were visiting, we had our wedding ceremony. And in October of last year, we met them down in Shanghai. That was the trip where someone mistook me for a chair on the subway. That was right before I'd gotten pregnant with Seoul.

I don't think my parents were planning on coming to China for a while but when I told them they'd be getting another grandchild, they then planned their upcoming visit. So very soon, Seoul will get to meet her Papa and Mimi in person instead of staring at them quizzically via Skype. Sidebar: Raelynn always asks where Papa and Mimi are if we Skype with anyone else, be it friends of mine or her own Uncle Phillip, which I think is hilarious.

In addition to this excitement, we'll also have all the hullabaloo that typically comes with the Chinese New Year. The Small Chinese New Year is coming up this week. Then, the night before my parents arrive, we'll be celebrating the official start of the year of the goat, or sheep, depending on who you ask. My husband interchanges "sheep" and "goat" quite often and I'm not sure if it's a Jeremy-thing or a Chinese-person thing. Anyone care to chime in on this? Let me know in the comments. Then, we'll be expected to make the rounds to the older relatives, bringing them gifts in the form of beer and Chinese snacks. Oooh...maybe Jumu and her husband will let me try the ginseng and opium-filled jar! I'll have to ask though I'm sure Jeremy will give me the Don't-Even Face and ruin my fun. Awww come on, Honey! Let's make our time at Jumu's house more exciting please please please!

Anyway, stay tuned for future blog posts about all this and more!

My Parents Are More Awesome Than Yours

Whoever said that the best things come in small packages obviously never received a package from my folks.

It wasn't too long ago that we had the lazy postal worker that complained about having to deliver the package to our home. And then thankfully before my husband could pick it up, a non-lazy postal worker didn't balk at doing his job.

Mom is amazing and yet again went to all this trouble to send us yummy treats from America. You can't fully understand how special it is to get care packages until you move abroad. I can't even begin to thank my parents for being so totally awesome.

Before Jeremy left for Guangzhou to go get Seoul's US passport, he called around the area post offices, trying to track down the package. My mom had said it had been 3 weeks. Surely it must be here by now. Mail here is insanely slow but I still hoped it would be here. Next week is China's National Holiday and the post office is closed all week. I was worried I would have to wait until after the holiday.

A few phone calls later, Jeremy finds out that the package is down in Shanghai, clearing Customs. There are no direct flights from the US to Qingdao so this makes sense. It probably flew on the same route my parents take when they come to China for visits. Anyway, they tell him they will let him know when it's here.

Very late last night, Jeremy came back from Guangzhou. He successfully picked up Seoul's passport and her CRBA (Consular Report of a Birth Abroad) certificate. He also picked me out a new coat, scarf and a shirt-dress that by the grace of God mostly fit. It's my boobs. I'm a breastfeeding mommy and I can't help it. A pair of leggings and a tank top underneath should help do the trick though.

I couldn't sleep until I knew he was home safe. Once he was, it was Snoozeville for me. But around 4am, I had some difficulties with Seoul going back to sleep. And by 7am, I was still not very well-rested. At 9am though, I got a break. Seoul was ready for a morning nap. When I put her to sleep, I went to sleep myself.

Apparently, during this time, I slept so soundly that I didn't even hear Jeremy leave. Or come back for that matter. I awoke an hour later feeling as though just 5 minutes had passed. Jeremy sat at his desk working. Seoul had woken up and I was nursing her. As I lay there with the baby, I told Jeremy how I wished they would deliver our package. "Mmm hmm," he says, not looking up from his work. When Seoul is done, I get up and it honestly takes me a while to register that there is a very large box in our living room. THE PACKAGE!

"When did this get here?!?" I shout excitedly. Jeremy's busy laughing his ass off. He can't believe I didn't notice the package for a good 10 minutes while I'd stood there talking to him.

Of course, I'm sure it didn't look like this when Mom sent it off...

 I hope nothing fell out. The package was filled to the brim with stuff though so I think everything was in there. I wonder if Customs ripped this open. That would explain some of the mess.

This was basically how the inside looked. Gobs and gobs of things from candy bars to spices to taco kits to fruit snacks for Raelynn. My Swiss Cake Rolls! And donuts. TONS of donuts. There were also those cocktails in a bag that you freeze to get an alcohol slushie. Yes please!

I'm so excited about the spices. Non-Chinese spices are really expensive here. I'm equally as stoked about the parmesan cheese. They sell it here but in a teeny-tiny container for 35 rmb. That's pretty expensive for such a small amount. I would have taken more care with taking photos of everything if not for my worry that if I didn't clean this up before Raelynn came back from playing with her grandparents, I'd never be able to get her away from the candies and sweets. That's all I need is for her to eat ALL the Milky Ways!

One bag of donuts had exploded on the voyage. Or when Customs attacked it. Not sure which but we were able to salvage some of it.

There was also one of those boxes of Entenmann's donuts that had taken a beating on the journey. One side of the box was torn. So we've started with the opened donuts and have made eating them a priority. Ok, I'm trying not to eat too many donut bits because I don't want to look like a cow when I go back to work soon. But man are they good! Still, I don't want the school children asking me if there's another baby in there. No, no there isn't. But hey, now you get this extra pile of homework. Bwahahahahahaha! Thankfully, I don't look pregnant at all anymore but if I eat all the donuts myself, I definitely will.

For this fabulous package, and making me feel less homesick, and for everything they do for me, that is exactly why my parents are way awesomer than yours. Thanks Mom and Daddy! We love you!

Happy Mooncake-iversary To Us!

This year, Jeremy and I are celebrating 4 years of marriage. It's really gone by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday, we walked into the US Embassy in Seoul on September 8, 2010 and got married. And now, we suddenly have 2 precious daughters. Wasn't it Ferris Bueller who said, "Life moves pretty fast? If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." I just Googled it. I was right. Yeah. It moves pretty fucking fast all right.

Anyway, for our previous anniversaries, Jeremy and I would usually go out sans Raelynn, much like we did last year. But this year, my husband had some bad news for me...the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the one with all the mooncakes, fell right smack on top of our anniversary this year. You know what that means, don't you? Because it was a Chinese holiday, it meant we HAD TO spend it with his parents. Sigh. My worst nightmare and there was nothing either of us could do. Stupid harvest moon! Damn you!

So to make it up to me, Jeremy made sure we enjoyed Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, we uncorked a bottle of wine from Spain that we'd been waiting to drink since the beginning of my pregnancy with Seoul. God, it was good. I also cooked for us, using stuff we'd just bought at the supermarket. We actually went back to Metro, if you can believe it. They've opened it back up to family memberships again. Plus, Jeremy hates going to the Aeon now. We like the Aeon itself just fine but it's a pain in the ass to go on weekends, which is usually when my husband has the time to take us, because the parking garage is for the supermarket AND the adjoining mall. It's a zoo in there and trying to park the car is an ordeal. Metro changed their bathroom too. Did they read my post about their nasty bathroom? Or did enough people complain?

Well, as it turns out, they fixed up the whole store. From the bathroom, which no longer stunk of rotting sewage, to all the aisles of food. They'd even added lights behind the shelving to make the aisles seem less drab. There were also tons more imports to choose from and they already had one of the best import selections here. And they were having sales on EVERYTHING. The cereal we like was only 13 rmb at Metro compared with 22 rmb at Aeon.

As unromantic as it sounds to go to the supermarket, we made it more so by picking out even more nice bottles of wine to enjoy together. And Raelynn gave us the gift of good behavior as she sat in the cart and didn't cause any problems. Seoul, ever the good baby, just slept through the whole shopping adventure.

On Sunday after church, we were trying to decide where to eat for our anniversary. It didn't seem fair for me to pick - it is OUR day, not MY day only like my birthday. So we sat in the car, each suggesting places. Neither one of us was thrilled with anything either of us came up with until we thought about Teppanyaki, an all-you-can-eat Japanese hibachi place that we could actually walk to from where our car was already parked.

We hadn't been in a while...not since my parents had visited the year before last. The food was good but the service was lackluster as usual. One thing that they always do to you there is when you order something, they don't bring it. This happens every single time we go and it's really annoying. Sure, you're paying one amount for an all-inclusive meal (including the alcohol of your choice and as much of it as you want) but it still sucks when you order tempura shrimp and they NEVER bring it no matter how many times you ask about it. They just keep bringing you everything else, hoping you forget about it. Why? I've no earthly clue, especially since they'd bring the peel and eat shrimp faster than you can actually say "peel and eat shrimp."

My parents will come in February and my dad has expressed interest in going there. I'm not sure we can because of the Chinese New Year. It may actually be closed. But I'm also not sure if we SHOULD go as Jeremy got the runs after that. Somehow, I was spared. Maybe because I was drinking all-you-can-drink sake. Jeremy couldn't drink because he drove so I didn't even drink that much so he wouldn't feel left out. Maybe the bit that I did drink helped kill any germs.

Once home, I made a grisly discovery. My computer just randomly decided to lock me out of my desktop. It was fine the night before when I shutdown. I tried and tried to get my computer going but it just wouldn't work. My husband dropped everything to try to fix it. When he couldn't, he called his computer friend who was able to fix it quite quickly and easily the next morning. What a wonderful anniversary present - a husband who will move mountains to help his wife. 

On our actual anniversary, we enjoyed the beginning of our day without my husband's parents, but at 3:30pm, they came over. I used it as an opportunity to nap while FIL played with Raelynn and the baby slept soundly. When I awoke, MIL had crabs steamed up for us. No one had to tell me that - I could smell them in our room. Yum!

FIL cracks open the crabs.

 Jackpot!

 You can also see there's a corn xifan AND a big bowl of soup with scary chicken pieces in it. I swear there is no art to butchering animals for food over here. They chop it into the most unpleasant pieces. Rubbery skin, anyone? She put bok choy and some shrimp in it though so it wasn't too bad but I was so not eating that chicken in there. There's also cucumbers with garlic sauce AND there's a bowl next to the giant soup bowl filled with eggplant with garlic sauce. And of course, you can't celebrate this holiday without mooncakes. There they are at the front of the table. She got the weirdest flavors this year. One was filled with hard spheres of sugar and the other had sunflower seeds in it. So random. Oh yes, and on holidays, you simply MUST imbibe! Of course I didn't need anyone to talk me into it. I was ready to drink. I MUST drink in their company for it makes me want to strangle them much less. Those small cups you see are filled with baijiu. This particular one was very potent. I felt like I could set my breath on fire after drinking it.

And of course, with a Chinese holiday, you simply MUST serve up a side of horrible Chinese music shows. At quick glance, you might think this was Kelly Osbourne. I did for like a teensy second. Love the hair.

 Ah, crappy Chinese TV specials! No Chinese holiday is complete without them!

And now, I'll end on a sweet note...Happy 4th Anniversary to my sweet Jeremy. I love you so very much and I cannot wait to see what each year into our future brings! 

The Many Faces Of Seoul

When Raelynn was one month old, I wrote this post showcasing the adorable little faces she made back then. Except for Problem Face. That one wasn't very cute.

So let's take a look at sweet little Seoul and the faces she's made over the last month...

Here's one of the first photos ever taken of Seoul. She has hair but much less hair than Raelynn did. Raelynn totally looked like she had Jeremy's hair when she was born.

After a bath in the hospital, Seoul and I are both left wondering why the fuck they've put a onesie on her head. It's not a hat, morons!

 Mmmm...tasty hand!

Sleepy baby. Must be full from eating that hand.

Seoul's first time on the baby play mat. Wow...all these trippy colors and things!

 Mom! There's some weird baby staring at me! Oh...wait...

Phew...no one suspects a thing.

A sleepy smile!

One of the first (of hopefully many!) sweet sisterly moments. Raelynn gives her little sister a big kiss!

Holding her head up all by herself to get a better look at her daddy! Whoah! I did it!

 Ah, here is Seoul's Problem Face. Looks just like Raelynn's version.

Say what now? People are making videos of themselves getting buckets of ice water dumped on them to raise awareness for Lou Gehrig's disease?!? And that helps out how?!?

 I'm gonna have to think about that and get back to you, chief.

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it. VOGUE!

Wazzzzzzzzzup!

And now, presented without comment, these darling photos of our precious Seoul as an official one-month old baby. No more Grandpa Face!

What? I didn't do it! I swear!

It was her! Yes! My sister, Raelynn. Blame her! Muahahahahahaha!

Happy 1st Month, Seoul! We all love you so much and can't wait to see all the things you accomplish as you grow!

On Being A Mom Of 2

Now that a month has passed since Seoul was born, I'm getting more used to the fact that I have 2 children under the age of 5 to take care of. So many people have been asking me how I like it, is it harder, am I more tired, and those sorts of things. To answer your pressing questions, I thought I'd do so in the form of a blog post.

What's it like being a mom of 2 kids?
Being a mom of 2 small children is like setting fire to opposite ends of your house simultaneously to see which one engulfs the entire place first. Something is always happening and you are on your toes constantly. When I'm nursing the baby, you can bet all the money in your bank account that 2 things will occur. The first: baby Seoul will suddenly squirt out a poop that sounds like shit hitting the fan. And if I'm too quick to change it, she'll make more poop either on me (ugh), Jeremy (haha) or surrounding areas (ughhhh) or into a new diaper which I'll have to immediately throw out while enduring a lecture from my husband about the cost of diapers. The second: a small voice will arise from the living room, "Poo poo. Poo poo. POO POO!" This is Raelynn's way of asking for help once she's pooped in her little potty. She has yet to master wiping her ass perfectly so we still have to help her. She always poops when I'm feeding Seoul when my husband is not around. Now I must choose to either stop nursing Seoul for a moment to wipe Raelynn's butt and then go dump out the poop into the toilet in the bathroom or ignore the poop in the small potty and wipe Raelynn's butt, hoping to God her poop doesn't stink up our whole home until I can get to it. Or I can continue nursing the baby and risk having Raelynn come over to me, shuffling across the floor with pants and undies around her ankles with a clean wet wipe in hand so I can help her while nursing Seoul and leaving the poop for a later clean up. Neither of these options is fun.

How are you managing?
If you mean how am I managing my home, I'd say quite poorly. It gets messy in here and I cannot even blame MIL for all of it (some of it though, yes). Chores are done haphazardly. Like dusting, for example, while the baby sleeps, until Raelynn wants to play. Dust or play with older child? Of course I'm going to play with my kid. Even if that means my house looks dusty and dirty like MIL's place. I'm always blowing Raelynn off for the baby's needs and dusting as well as other chores, much as they need to be done, can wait.

Except laundry.
I've mentioned we don't have a dryer. So I have to hang everything to dry. Our bedroom always looks like this:

My laundry load has quadrupled since Seoul was born. How could it have increased so exponentially? I'll tell you how...
Raelynn is the queen of spills. Give her a bowl of ice cream and she will wind up with part of it all over her shirt. Soup with dinner? Yeah, that girl will be wearing half of it...just watch and see.

Seoul, while being a much quieter baby than Raelynn was, has another key difference - she spits up a lot. A LOT. My parents used to tell me my brother Phillip would spit up everything, so I guess she takes after her Uncle Phillip (or rather, Uncle Spit-Up). So Seoul will spit up all over Jeremy when he's burping her, forcing him to change clothes, and all over me too after another feeding. Another change of clothes. Because each of us is too stupid to remember the burp cloths Natalie sent us. And of course, Seoul's clothes get covered with regurgitated breast milk too. And let's not forget the blankets she vurps upon, or poops onto.

And there you have it: my insane daily laundry load.

Another question I love: Are you tired? 
No, I absolutely love living off a couple hours of sleep. Every time I try to go to sleep, someone thwarts my plan. Well-fed baby placed gently in the crib...5 minutes later, screaming and crying because she was apparently Houdini in a past life and has now freed her arms from my lovingly-swaddled blanket. Arms she's using to hit herself in the face because she has yet to figure out those are her arms. When I do finally get her to sleep, my husband's loud snores that people on the other side of the earth can hear are rupturing my eardrums, even with 32 decibel-blocking earplugs firmly in place. It's amazing I can still hear him over the white noise machine. When I finally start either hallucinating from lack of sleep or am actually having bizarre dreams (I'm honestly not sure which it is), Raelynn will decide she's lonely or there's a ghost in her room or something and she'll come bug us. Jeremy winds up going in there which solves my issue with his snoring and I settle in for 5 more minutes of sleep before Seoul wakes up again.

I must say though that in the morning, Jeremy is very kind with coming in and watching Seoul so I can at least get that one hour of sleep. 2 if I'm lucky.

How is Raelynn handling having a baby sister?
I don't know a three-year-old child anywhere that thinks completely rationally. Try as I might to explain things to Raelynn, sometimes she just doesn't get it. Because at her age, the world revolves around her. Sometimes, she's a great big sister and daughter, helping me get diapers and wipes ready or picking up her toys when I ask her. Other times, I'm met with great defiance, usually in the form of ear-splitting screams, particularly when the baby is sleeping. As you may have guessed, this leads to the baby waking and me having to now deal with soothing a crying infant and punish a toddler for not listening to Mommy. Add in my sleep deprivation and I feel like smashing my head into the wall. Repeatedly.  

All complaining aside though, as I cradle a small baby in my arms through the wee hours of the morning, when I look at her little face, it makes all that spit up, all that fucking laundry and all that lack of sleep worth it. Because you know what? She won't always be this little. Raelynn won't always act out to get attention either. A little over 3 years ago, I had a beautiful baby girl, and before I knew it, POOF! She grew into a beautiful little girl. And now, I'm so lucky to have 2 precious children. Time goes so slowly yet flies right by and I know that all too soon, these girls will be all grown up, too big for Jeremy and I to hold on our laps, but never too big to hold onto our hearts.

I Will Not Take These Things For Granted

I couldn't have gotten a better surprise today than getting my package from my folks finally delivered to my door. After all, it is the 4th of July. And this holiday notoriously makes me homesick. Not quite in the way Christmas does, but I miss my family and friends. And I miss my country, even with all its' faults. It's still my country and I can't wait until we can come home.

Raelynn stood by as I opened it up. She knew Papa and Mimi sent her some presents and she couldn't wait to see. Neither could I. Mom always does the best job at picking just the right things. Things that when I lived in the US, I totally took for granted. You probably take them for granted too, don't you?

Some of those things:

Bags of mini donuts. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. Come to China and I dare you to try to find this, or Little Debbie's, or anything supremely delicious like this in any of the aisles. You won't. In the biggest cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen or Guangzhou, there's likely a better selection but I can tell you that these bags of donuts do not exist in this country. Mom put 4 of them in there. You rule, Mom!

American candy. Just look at this bag full of candy bars. I know my mom loves me when I look at this. Not that I doubted her but she knows the pain I feel. In China, you can walk into just about any supermarket or convenience store and the selection of chocolate candy will be the same: M&Ms (plain and sometimes peanut), Hershey bar, Snickers, and Dove chocolate bars (most of the time, only dark chocolate). In a few upscale locations, you can find some imported chocolates, like Ritter Sport. We used to buy those at Metro (until those hosers decided not to honor family memberships anymore) for 11 rmb each. Then the price rose to 16 rmb each. In Watson's and all other stores you see them in, they are about 20 - 22 rmb each now. For one bar of chocolate. Imports from other countries can be even worse. And if you dare suggest I ingest Chinese chocolate, I will hurt you. It tastes like sawdust. No offense, China, but when it comes to chocolate, you better step off. Stick to something you're good at, like dumplings. 

It wasn't all candy and donuts though. The rest of the box contained some other equally as amazing items, like cans of artichokes (rare to find here and if you do luck out, they cost an insane amount) and hearts of palm (can't find here), low sodium salt (Mom was reading up on my blog to think up that one), Stove Top Stuffing (something I haven't seen in years and cannot even wait to make), cans of Manwich (hello sloppy joe's!), cake mixes (flavors that can't be found here like red velvet - and she even sent the cream cheese frosting, also unavailable here), fruit snacks for Raelynn, Goldfish crackers (also for Raelynn), capers and much more.

For non-food items, we got some books for Raelynn and me, including this amazing coloring book with a magic paint pen that only writes inside this book. It's genius. Why didn't I think of this? Feel free to send more of these in the future because it kept Raelynn quiet as a mouse for 30 blissful minutes.

My mom also picks out the most adorable clothes for her grandchild. Unlike someone else we know (coughcoughMILcough) who picks out things like this and this. Oh God, and this. No, no, no. My mom would never be capable of sending anything as vile as those things.

 How darling is this summer dress?

 Or this one?

 I just love the embroidery on this one...it reminds me of a dress I had when I was a little girl. A dress I loved.

And this little outfit is just adorable! See what I mean? Mom +100; MIL -1,000,000.

Oh and here's a view of some of the other stuff from the package as I was trying to organize it.

Care packages like this one really help me feel a little less homesick. We've received many wonderful packages over the few years we've been here, mostly from my folks and from my brother and my sis-in-law, but also from friends. Last year, 2 of my friends kindly sent small packages of Easter candy, something you can't find over here. And a few months ago, my friend Natalie sent me an incredible package of stuff including Girl Scout Cookies, definitely not available in China. If you ever feel like sending us a package, just message me for the mailing info. The only thing better than packages full of goodies though is the people they come from. I wish my family and friends could mail themselves on over but for now, I'll cry into my candy bars.