(Camping, June 2010)

Sorry for the lack of updates. We are back in the States for a visit. A long visit. I'll be here until September with the kids. Then we are off to China. We are moving up to Dongguan, China. Another adventure...we just can't get enought. :)

It has been a long road deciding what to do. We know this is where we should be.

So here we are...enjoying all things American while we can.

We've had more activities/parties the past 3 weeks then we have in our 2 years we've lived in HK. Its been a little bit overwhelming but we are enjoying ourselves.

Leaving Home.

Somewhere admist all of the tears and struggles of the past 2 years Hong Kong became our home. Can you believe it? This stinky, crowded, polluted city feels like home.

I've been reminded repeatedly the past few weeks how God has blessed my life as we've lived here. He has put beautiful people in my path who have loved me and my family. People who have taken away the sting of homesick days. People who became family.

I always get a little weepy when it's time to move on to a new chapter of life. The past few months have been difficult as I have tried to align my desires with God. I've cried and prayed and then cried and prayed some more.

I have been stretched to limits I didn't even know I had. Isn't it incredible that our Father has individual plans for each of us. Plans that will push us in just the way we need to become more like him?

A beautiful thing happens when I let him take over....peace-beautiful, reassuring, calming peace.

I have a feeling he isn't done yet.

On to the next chapter. Here we go...

I am a Mother.

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

I remember when Graham was born. The transition to motherhood wasn't as smooth as I had anticipated it being. I remember after several months of sleepless nights thinking..."Really? This is my life now?" I would read blogs while G slept in my numb arms. A repeated phrase always stuck out.

"I love being a mom!"

In my head I would think..."Liars..." :)

Then of course feel guilty.

Eventually G and I found our own rhythm. Soon I found out for myself that those bloggers weren't liars after all.

What a gift God has given me to be a Mother. It is the most challenging and satisfying thing I've ever experienced. Just how He intended it to be.

7 months.

At 7 months:

weighs 8.4kg (18 1/2 lbs)

height 69 cm (27 inches)

*Loves when her brother throws things up in the air in front of her

* Hates when mom walks out of the room.

*Smiles for everyone but saves the best smiles for her Dad.

*Has two teeth.

* Goes to bed around 6:30, wakes up about 7:00-7:30, has one feeding inbetween.

*Still sleeps swaddled.

* Falls asleep with her pacifier.

* Gets bored when her brother is taking his nap.

* Loves to sing songs (or rather babble along to us singing songs :)

* Is such a good girl in the jogger while OJ and I do our long runs on Saturdays.

A couple of months ago I came upon this green door. I liked it and wanted to take a few pictures with it as a backdrop. A few Sunday's later we took a walk and I made OJ pose for a few pics while I experimented. Later that week we passed by the door on our way to the park. Graham insisted that he wanted a picture in front of the green door...and EVERY. OTHER. DOOR that we passed on our way to the park. He also insisted on wearing his winter hat to the park...'cause who doesn't like to wear a beanie to play in when its 75 degrees outside?

While I'm at it. Here's an update on our G man.

*Loves Thomas the Train...(and Gordon, Percy, James, Henry, Peter Sam, Edward, and any other object that resemble a train or has wheels and has a British name.) Seriously, the kid is obsessed. I keep thinking it will pass soon but I think Thomas and his friends are here to stay for awhile. Its okay, the newer shows have pretty catchy tunes.

*Graham has made up a distinct whistle for trains he has. Just ask him what Thomas, Gordon, Percy, and James say. They each have a different whistle and it sounds the same every time you ask him.

* Loves to get Finley in the morning and from her naps. He gets confused with his he/she's. He always says, "Oh Finwee, you such a sweetie boy."

* Favorite phrases. "Oh my gosh!", "It's okay, Mom" (what he says when he is scared) "Watch a show?", "Sorry, sorry." (he always apologizes, especially at odd times when he doesn't need to) "I so tired" (which is always accompanied by a fake yawn. He also gets confused between naps and bedtime and always wants to put his pj's on for naps) , "I eat dinner" (for every meal.)

* OJ and I always try to snuggle with him when we are tucking him into bed. He hates it. As soon as the lights are out he says, "Get out mom, get out of my bed."

* He likes to take his bike to the park, not to ride it so much as to trade with the other kids.

We love our Graham at 2.5 years old. He has such a cute expressive face. He is such a pleasant kid. He's got a tender little heart and just loves his little sister.

Hey Jon, What's the worst thing that could happen?

My brother Jon came to visit us for two weeks. It was so fun to have him here. We did plenty of sightseeing but also had enough time to be at home and relax. Graham hasn't seen much of Jon in his short 2.5 year life span so it was nice to watch them get to know each other. (Finley as well, but she hasn't really met anyone yet in her almost 7 month life-span :) It didn't take him long to become attached to his "Uncle Jonny" and to be honest I don't think it took long for Jon to become attached to G either.

My brother and I are notorious for our ability to make each other laugh. I laughed more in the past two weeks than I have in a long long time. Not to say that my life is laugh less without him in it :) but....he is one funny guy. Lest you think we've always been close...let me clarify. There was a time when we did anything but make each other laugh. When Jon was in high school and I was in middle school we had bedrooms right next to each other in the basement. We would fight A.LOT. about stupid, stupid things. For example, we both liked this old striped blanket to sleep with ( it was so comfortable). Mostly Jon slept with it and I would steal it off his bed. If you ever wanted to make Jon mad this was the way to do it. He would come pounding on my door swearing at me to give him the blanket back. I of course would fight back with the fact that it wasn't his and I could have it whenever I wanted---I told you we fought about stupid things. For some reason somewhere down the line we stopped fighting and started laughing together. I'm so glad we did.

We don't get to see each other very often. But, that doesn't seem to matter much. Just makes me look forward to the time we do get to spend together.

*I didn't take pictures of everything we did, so here are just some highlights*

Dim Sum at City Hall and shopping at H&M.

Church, Victoria Peak, Star Ferry.

Big Buddha

He also got a suit made. We watched glee/24. Took pics of silly people. Did lots of shopping. Spent plenty of time at the park. Ate lots of egg tarts. ----Thanks for coming Jon!!

Happy Kids