Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy Chinese New Year)

We welcomed in the year of the pig with a traditional (well, as traditional as Lori knows how to prepare) Chinese breakfast of mantou (steamed bread), porridge (which Annabelle LOVES), a cold dish of tofu and cilantro, jaio zi (pot stickers) and a few other goodies. The kids and I got up early and made "xin nian hao" cards for Baba and they excitedly ran up, jumped on the bed to wake him, and gave him the cards. He came downstairs to the breakfast and to some music from our "old days" in China. He seemed happy with our efforts :) The New Year is such a HUGE deal in China and sometimes I forget just how challenging it must be for William to be away from China on such a significant holiday. No matter how much he loves us :) and has adapted to the U.S., his zhong guo xin (Chinese heart) must hurt a little this time of year. He'd probably deny that if you asked him, though, so don't! :) On the eve of the new year (well, during the day) we "partied down" outside as you'll see from the pics. Then on the actual New Year, we went to church in the morning and to a festival in town put on by the Chinese Cultural something or other. Pleasanton has an Asian population of about 12% and so they make a fairly big deal out of the New Year here, which is great. Anyway, in other news...there is no news. Every day we hope today is the day that "baby Alex" ,as the kids already call him, will come but no baby yet. We'll let you know. In the meantime, happy New Year!

February is here

Well, we made it to February! We were without health insurance for one month and were praying that our little baby didn't decide to show up during that window. Thankfully, he didn't and seems to be doing well "inside". His official due date is March 1st so we expect him sometime this month and are getting more excited every day.

William just survived his first business trip. Well, I should say Lori "survived". William was busy learning all kinds of new things, staying in a nice hotel, and going out to eat every night. Poor him :) I missed him a lot and counted the days until he got home. I guess this is something I need to get used to but I admit, I am a sap and a wimp---I missed him terribly.

We have been really blessed to find some great people in our ward, people who have already helped so much with our transition here. I was afraid it would take me a long time to find anyone I felt comfortable leaving the kids with while I went to doctor appointments, but I have already found several people who have been wonderful. Just another confirmation that we are in the right place.

William's job keeps him very busy and he has already been to several different clients working on various projects. Sometimes he's in San Francisco, sometimes Oakland, and this coming week he'll be in Santa Clara. Never a dull moment, which is great!

As for me, it seems I'm always involved in "training". I catch myself using that term a lot in relation to the kids. A few weeks ago, it was sleep training for both of them as new challenges arose with jumping out of the crib for Annabelle and losing the nap for Abraham. Then was the transition to "big kid" beds. As of late, it's been potty training for Abraham---what a job! So, these in addition to the everyday training that comes along with child-rearing, keeps me in the "never a dull moment" category as well.

Well, stay tuned for more posts. The clock is ticking as we anxiously await the arrival of baby Alexander. Stay tuned!