Experiments

I'll admit I have been totally lacking with the themes 'school' with C. But we have still been keeping ourselves busy doing lots of 'science stuff' together. Most ideas are from pinterest or that Berensteins Bears Big Book of Nature (I think its called that).

Here we set up string with little pieces of straw on it, then tapes a balloon to each straw and it is balloon race time. 

Getting better at writing and other pre-k skills

rubber band painting his thank you cards

pony bead melting - he kept saying he was making 'fractals'

 (anyone else's child ever watched Super Hero Squad????)

p.s. he is naked b/c he didn't want to get his clothes dirty during the painting time that came before this..

LOVE that profile... ahhh heart melting

There was a family day at preschool last week where they showed us all their dances. Caed has become way into 'dancing' lately. He shows us all the moves that his teacher teaches him. Yesterday we were in town and a clothing place was playing loud music and he says, "Um I think I need to go in there and dance for a little bit" - which he did, with some hilarious moves we had never seen, and then pouted about having to leave (until we told him we could have a family dance night at home). And Sean and I were like "Who's child is that???" and Sean said - "Your's dear, I was never like that, this behavior has Nicole written all over it". Right after we left we saw a group of kids playing on the steps and C goes,

"I need to stop and play with them for a while because I think they want to play with me." - Yep definitely mommy genes. 

Here is me when I was maybe 3? Minus dark hair and eyes I see lots of C in this pic :)

Making a volcano erupt, by far his favorite, just look...

at his excited face!

LOVE love love this boyo. 

Thankful

I still can't believe we are pregnant. Several times I find myself waking up in the middle of the night thinking that must have all been a dream, we can't really be pregnant! Every night after Caed goes to bed when Sean and I are sitting and its quiet (thats when baby girl moves the most) I say to S, "I just can't believe that our baby is growing in there." I am sure he gets tired of hearing it but it's like I need to say it out loud and believe it. I can't even begin to write all my feelings down of what this baby and pregnancy means to us. Of what God has brought us and especially me through these past two years and still now. My heart is full of thankfulness for this little life. And full of thankfulness that He has chosen to do something that I thought wouldn't come. And just plain thankfulness for all he has done and continues to do for us. Maybe someday I'll have enough control over my emotions to write down all I am and have been feeling, right now I get teary even writing this little bit.

A couple weeks ago we put together the crib, we never had a crib for Caed so this was one of the compromises we made this time to get a real crib and make a real room for the baby (many more pictures to come of this room's projects I am sure).

Caed tries it out

A friend who went back to the states graciously left her sewing machine for me - YEAH!!! I haven't sewn in many years (since before we left for China in 2005) but I am very happy to re-learn. Here are some of the fabrics, I have already made a few things for her room. 

I think in the last two weeks (from 26-28 weeks) my tummy {all of me maybe} has grown so fast! Last week I had a few really uncomfortable days when my back was hurting very badly, maybe the fast growing? I'll go back to the doctor next week and see how much I have really grown :) And get that next Rhogam shot that has been sitting in my fridge since Thailand... 

kissies

Hair Cuts, Cigarette Games, Biscuits & Walmart Smiles

Hair Cuts

A few weeks ago Sean and I went to get our hair cut. While they were washing it they asked do you want the $3 or the $6 haircut. And I think you know you have been living here a long time when you have to stop and think about this question because $6 (40 kuai) seems like a lot of money to you for a haircut. How much do you pay in the states for a haircut? I remember going to a Walmart hair place in Florida and having to pay $20 plus tip (no tipping in China). Anyway after a few minutes thought the $6 haircut didn't seem like such a bad deal. 

Cigarette Games

Next to our local Chao Shi (mini-market) they just set up this claw game. Like the ones kids play in carnivals to get animal (toy story with the little green men...). Anyway to the shock of us foreigners (well thats an exaggeration, we have lived here too long to be shocked by this, our reaction was probably more like {head shake} 'yep that seems about right') the middle is filled with cigarette boxes and then the outside is lined with cutsie stuffed animals. The other day we were buying something there and Caed asks, "When I am older can I play that cigarette game?" No sweetheart :)

Biscuits

We went to our Southern friends house yesterday morning and she said she had made biscuits and fried apples for breakfast. I had never heard of this type of food. Our California breakfast most definitely never consisted of biscuits. To show how biscuit ignorant I am I keep typing 'biscut' and thankfully the blog is spell checking me! Sean and I both agreed that the only things we associate biscuits with (being from California) is KFC and Red Lobster. But apparently we are missing out on biscuits and gravy along with a whole lot of other things! What do all you Californians think, are we all on the same page?

Walmart Smiles

At Walmart the other day two things made us smile. One was the big bins of Christmas decorations displayed in the back... in July. The other was while I was in the baby section I heard this young man who was with his pregnant wife ask a sales person if the baby shampoo he was holding was for baby girls or baby boys. I am not sure why this was so funny to me but I am still giggling about it. 

We Had a Good Time But We Left...

On our third day we visited the thousand peak forest

beautiful lake and hills

and valleys

The hotel was such a treat, many amenities we don't have in our apartment! Some of my favorite parts were soft carpet, a bathtub, air conditioner, fresh clean towels and bathrobes everyday, a nice mattress (we have been sleeping on two pieces of foam for over 5 years now, and I never think it is bad until I sleep on a real mattress and remember what we are missing!), huge tv with USb plug :) So needless to say we took many baths and wrapped up in the robes as much as we could. 

The day we left C and i went into town and got snacks for the ride home. He also bought this fake snake which he carried all over the store and the streets saying in Chinese , "I have a snake! Watch out!" He scared so many people and he thought it was sooooooo funny. We had to make a rule no showing little little kids or old people. 

p.s. Caed is, just as his shirt says, "awesome like Mommy"

Our room had this add on area where C slept (on that gold couch), it had its own tv which he thought was pretty cool. Here we are walking out. And in good Garofalo/Baran tradition we sang (or more like I sang) "We had a good time but we left, we had a good time but we left, we had a good time but we left right left right left!" as we marched out of the room :( I'll get Caed to join with me in the singing soon, but Sean may take a few more years...

On the way home C slept most of the time, he kept brushing hair out of his eyes while he slept so I put his hair in a 'punky' as he calls it. Sleeping with his snake who was first named "Fire Ball Flame" but who later changed into "Anaconda".

All in all a perfect family getaway. 

Praise the Lord for some time as a family to enjoy each other and God's creation!

Vacation Day 2 The Gorge

THe next day we took a trip to the gorge that makes this town famous. You can hike down into it cross bridges, hike along it and even go under many of the water falls that line the gorge. It was beautiful. Sean and I kept joking it was like our own mini trip to Yousemite - but in China.

Hum I wonder where he learned this pose... living in China too long :)

Once you get back to the start you can pay to take this glass elevator back up to the top of the gorge.

Awesome views

again with that hand Caedmon

baby girla - 25 weeks!

looking up river from the bridge down in the gorge

looking down river

After a long morning of hiking we enjoyed the pool at the hotel. A hotel with an outdoor pool here is a luxury!

But everyone is required to wear a swim cap in it :) I wish I would have gotten a pic of Sean in his

That night we ate at the buffet in the hotel, yummy steak!!! It was the third time I have eaten red meat in the last 10+ months and it taste awesome. 

The other day C was looking at the necklace I wear and asked why there were two birds on it. I said it was from daddy and they were lovey birds and sometimes when you love people you get them two birds b/c they are 'love birds'. And he goes... "JoJo loves me! Remember she got me those love birds" (which I did not remember - as we haven't see those birds in 9-12 months!). JoJo is his friend from the states, we lived with her for 10 months when C was a baby. Anyway we dug them out and here he is sleeping with them and feeling very loved :)

Vacation Time!

Sean is officially finished with his first year of teaching - yeah! We are so proud of him :) And he got a little bonus from the school! So we had to go down to another city to meet with a friend and decided to make a mini China vacation out of it. We are very thankful that our friends here let us borrow their car so we were able to do the 4-5 hour trip in comfort (and not on a bus). Sean booked a nice hotel and we made a fun time of it... see for yourself!

Cuddling with baby sister in on the car ride down (he was in a car seat most of the time...)

From our hotel room on the first night we spotted what looked like a wave pool so we went to check it out and it was in fact a water park! Such a fun find in this small Chinese city. And only $5 a person. So the next day we were there when it opened (you have never seen so few Chinese people in a place, but they crowded in later on in the day). 

Caed LOVED it. Everything about it. The wave pool, the lazy river, the hot springs, the play areas, the water spouting mushrooms. And he made plenty of new friends with all the JieJie's (big sisters). Someone may have taken a little nap in this boat on the lazy river while Caed and I were in the wave pool :)

The wave pool was his favorite.

splash!!!

Lunch was popcorn, fried rice, chips and apples

I learned (maybe I forgot this from 4 years ago) that in China pregnant women do NOT go swimming, and especially don't play in the water at water parks. I was the only pregnant person there! Which is saying a lot because EVERYONE in China is pregnant right now in order to have a Dragon baby this year :) Luckily lots of people were too distracted by Caed's cuteness to even notice pregnant mom following behind. 

I like how the man and son on the right are posing for a picture as well :)

After some nice late afternoon naps we went to a big guang chang (huge cement square like the size of a football field). Caed joined in some dancing. An old man asked me to dance (ballroom) so I did. We bought a light flinger twirly thing and found a carnival street next to there. This is where vendors come and set up carnival type games to play. We let C choose and he chose to do this, catching baby eels with a net and putting them in a bucket. He talked about this for days to come. Gross. 

That was our first full day there. Next few days to follow!

4th of July 2012

We had a YUMMY BBQ with all foreigners who were willing to come to celebrate.

Seeing this food again via pictures is making my mouth water seriously

So tired after all the fun that he fell asleep standing up, sort of!

p.s. I miss taco bell so much... numerous times a week I bring it up to Sean 

Birthday Boy

For Caed's birthday we took him and his BFF Grady to a park that had rides. G gave him this superman costume as a present in the car so he of course wore it the whole day :)

This little boy wanted to take a picture with Caed.

Later that afternoon we had over our Chinese friends for snacks and cake. As per Caedmon's request here is a 'rainbow spider lizard cake'. I used the 'easy fondant' recipe from all recipes to make the critters

hard to get a picture of all these kids sitting still...

Next day I brought in a smaller version of same cake to C's preschool class. I can't be the only one ever who brought chopsticks instead of forks or spoons along with their kids cake to class right?!

C got a new bike for his b-day. Here is riding with his friends :) Funny thing was he had this idea that he didn't want to learn how to ride a bike before he was 4. Even though his best friends had been doing it for over a year. Every time we would ask him to try to pedal anything he would try and then give up right away. I guess it was another one of those 'all on his own time' things. I was nervous he would have a hard time with it. First time out a huge crowd of kids gathered round, to see th bike and also ask why he couldn't ride it. Then they all promptly shouted out advice and put their hands all over C and the bike to 'help'. So dad took him to a less populated area (is there such thing here??) and Caed picked it up within a few minutes. And now he is off... He even made up a song about how him, Liu Chen Ye (boy in middle) and Grady are the superhero bikers...I need to get that song on video :)