Home again, home again, jigidy jig

Home is the key word here, surprisingly coming back to the Philippines after our three weeks in the States felt good. When we arrived at our apartment I got that peaceful feeling you get when you come home to all your familiar things. I guess that's a sign that we've made a little home here in Manila. As you noticed I took a blog-vacation while we were on R&R. We had so much fun during our time away, Addie's grown and changed, and I took a ton of great pictures. Right now we are experiencing 3AM meals and playtime before we can get back to sleep again. The 13 hour time difference takes a bit to get adjusted back to. Slowly but surely I'll try to update the blog with our adventures.

Stateside

We are back in the States. The travel was brutal. 24 hours of travel is not fun no matter if it's with kids or without. Addie was wonderful all considering. Touching down at Dulles was a relief but the traffic on the beltway was not. Welcome Home! We all are feeling the effects of the 13 hour time change. 3AM meals have been strange but necessary to get us back to sleep. All in all it's lovely to be home; the air is fresh, the weather is cold, the food is yummy, and seeing family and friends is the best part of all. Here is Addie in the business class lounge in Detroit.

A very Merry Christmas

Christmas was especially joyful this year. Maybe it was the anticipation that started at Thanksgiving for us in Hong Kong Disneyland, or maybe is was all the baking and shopping and other preparations that I started early this year. Mostly I think it was being together as a little family far from home that made the day extra special. We have so many blessings in our life and are lucky in so many ways. Being in a foreign third world country helps you realize this even more than usual.

Christmas Eve we were balls of excitement. I was on my feet cooking up a feast all day for dinner. We hosted a co-worker of Justin's who is living here alone. Everyone feasted on delicious comfort food and good company. The guys had wine as well as coffee with Baileys. I snuck a few sips here and there! Addie ate her dinner like a champ then promptly pooped out at bedtime from all the excitement. That night we awoke to a major fireworks display outside our building at midnight welcoming Christmas morning. It woke Addie up and all three of us stood at the window watching the show. Justin and I were so anxious for the morning that we weren't even that irritated by the midnight interruption. I felt like a little kid wishing away the hours before Addie woke up that morning. Santa Claus found our house in the Philippines because the next morning our little girl had a special surprise waiting for her. She quickly caught-on to the concept of ripping the paper off the packages. We opened gifts, ate homemade sticky buns, and talked to all our family. At one point Addie hit present overload and refused to open anymore. She decided to focus on playing with what she had open. Later in the afternoon I convinced her to open the rest. Santa must have thought that she was a very good girl this past year because she received some great gifts. Her favorites are her new Corolle baby doll and baby stroller, as well as her new wheely bug. The joy on her face after opening some of her gifts was priceless. She was so animated and excited about everything. All her grandparents sent wonderful gifts and she is still going from toy to toy playing with her new things.

Christmas night Addie was so plum-tuckered out that she asked for "bubbles" (a bath) and then wanted to go straight to bed without a story. She was one tired little girl. Justin and I were exhausted as well. We had a very special Christmas day just spending time as a family and helping Addie play with her new toys. Christmas is definitely more fun with children!

getting ready for cold

We are taking our first rest and recuperation trip (R&R) back to the States starting on December 29. We will be in MD/VA for three weeks, soaking up all our friends and family and everything we miss about home. I ordered a coat as well as hat and mittens for Addie so we'd have something right away when we get to DC. She tried them on last night and walked around in them for quite some time. I'm sure in her head it was equivalent to a costume. When we pealed her out of it she was unhappy. I guess better that then I can't get her to wear it when we get to the cold weather. The chilly winter on the East Coast is going to feel extra cold to us since the weather is still warm, muggy, and 80 degrees every day. I'm jealous to hear of the almost 2 feet of snow my folks in Washington are experiencing right now. I would love some snow right now, I'd even take sleat! Maybe I'd settle for a cool enough day where I could see my breath outside. East Coast winter, here we come.

Hokie Bird 2 is a...girl!

I promise we didn't cave! It was an accident that we found out the sex of the baby. We had the congenital scan on Saturday (ultrasound room slightly different than Fairfax Radiological...like 30 years difference). The doctor slipped and just started calling the baby "she" and "her" after he'd determined the gender. We never confirmed it with him just to leave a hint of a mystery (Justin was sure he was referring to the baby as one would refer to a ship). Then at home I pulled out the detailed results from the scan and plain as day beside "gender" was the word "female"! We both couldn't stop smiling at the scan. She (so strange to know Hokie Bird 2 is a she) is a healthy and active baby. Her arms were up by her face just like Addie and her profile looks just like her sister's at this stage. Everything is perfect and healthy. I couldn't be happier that Adelaide is going to go through life with a sister only 2 years younger than her. My sisters are my closest friends and I'm so happy that Addie will always have that in her life. Justin said he grew a few new gray hairs the moment he found out he was going to be a sucker for another woman in his life. He's completely thrilled to have another daughter since Addie melts his heart on a daily basis. Now we are just getting used to the idea that the baby is not going to arrive for another 20 weeks and we already know it's a GIRL! Crazy!

friends

We've had so much fun getting to know new friends here in Manila. We have a few good friends including adorable Stella pictured here with Addie. We try to see eachother once a week so the girls can play while Sunny and I can chat. They are expecting baby number two as well. Soon the play date will be a bit more crowded.

busy week

I started off my baking week enthusiastic and ended it exhausted. I'm not sure that spreading out the baking made it any easier. Let me just say, baking with a toddler (even with a yaya) is tough. I finished all my goodies and even tried a new one. It's the French lace cookie. They turned out OK but I think next year I'll use real butter not the shortening it called for. Now I'm packaging up the goodies as gifts. This plate of cookies is going downstairs to the building administrators office for all the employees at our building that keep us guarded, safe, comfortable, and happy in our condo.

This week we also had Justin's office holiday party which was on the 33rd floor of the Tower Club here in Makati. The view was spectacular and the venue super posh. I almost forgot we were in a third world country. I had a lovely time chatting with the three other pregnant wives in Justin's office. We claimed the few chairs in the room and sat there chatting about all sorts of ailments and our other kids. It was loads of fun.

Justin is off on a business trip so Addie and I are keeping busy at home and with friends. Here she is pretty in yellow ready for her play date with a new friend we made at the park.

Dinner time has been a battle for the past week or two with Addie. She'll sit down and take a look at her plate, maybe take a bite or two and demand to get up and play, even if she's hungry. I just let her go for a while but then forced her to stay seated even if she wasn't going to eat out of principle. Screaming fits ensued and every meal was a disaster. I always had cold food and indigestion later. So for the past two days I haven't given her any snacks between lunch and dinner. Success! Last night she sat and ate almost her entire plate of brown rice and chicken and vegetable stir fry. She was quiet and concentrating on using her fork and drank her milk. It was so peaceful. I was so proud of her she got a cookie for dessert. I think I'm on to something with the no snack rule.