You'd Have Thought We Were Living on the Ice Pack

After a really warm fall (which this Texan appreciates immensely) the cool/cold weather showed up yesterday.  Ayi kept telling me, "Colorado leng! Colorado leng!" (Colorado is cold.) 

Now had Ayi grown up in Hong Kong, Shanghai, or even Houston, I'd understand that comment.  But she's from Beijing.  And I'm pretty confident Beijing hasn't been featured on Travel Channel's tropical paradise list lately.  Sure Beijing doesn't get a lot of snow, but that's because it has a desert climate, not because it's warm in the winter.  So how cold is Beijing?  Let's just say when we moved into our house the first week of February, the water in the toilet was frozen. Um-hum. 

But even better than her being from Beijing, she actually spent about 25 years in Harbin, China.

Never heard of Harbin?

Yes you have.

You know all the pictures you see all over the Internet of snow and ice carvings?  Yeah, those are done in Harbin.  Harbin, China: 300 miles from the Russian border and home of the International Snow and Ice Festival.

We all visited in 2005, and I can honestly say I've never been so cold in my life.  Jason and I paid about $10 a piece for a horrible cup of hot chocolate just to get inside a building to warm up.  (And at that point we'd have paid $100 a cup.)  It was so cold that my hand would ache the few seconds I had a glove off to try and take a picture. And all the while, she'd walk around wearing a jacket and no gloves.

(I actually have better pictures, but that would require search and scanning, and this one was conveniently on Facebook. And don't judge my boots. Ayi told me to buy them when we got to Harbin. They cost $5 and my feet were never cold. I switched to my expensive Timberlands one day and I thought my toes were going to fall off.)

So this morning when she came to me and said, "Outside. Very, Very, Very, Very Cold." I knew we were having some pretty serious weather if:

A. She was speaking to me in English. (She wanted to make 100% sure I knew exactly what she was saying.)

and

B. She was cold!

I layered and bundled JR the best I could, and searched frantically for a pair of gloves that matched.  I sent them out the door to the bus stop and went to check the temperature, fully expecting it to be in the negatives.

Temperature at 7:10 AM?

27

Now sure 27 is cold to a Texan, but the way she was carrying on I was fully expecting to see 7, or even 17.

And then I realized that, of course, she hadn't been cold. 

But she didn't want her baby, JR, cold.

His Chinese grandmother is still convinced I have no idea how to raise him. I honestly think she thought if she hadn't poured on the dramatics I'd have sent him out in shorts!

Going on a Donut Run

Doesn't every run/walk have a donut buffet before it starts? And don't all the participants carry an extra stash for the road?

Yep, that would be my diaper bag loaded up with, well diapers, and donuts. 

We headed over to Farmington, NM Saturday morning to walk in the BP/San Juan Medical Cancer Walk-a-thon.

We had a rough start figuring out where exactly everybody was going to ride.  (Cause even though it was a walk, there were two Ingys who didn't take one, single step.)

Kyle didn't want to ride in my backpack at first, so Reed got in.  As soon as that happened Kyle started screaming, so I got to walk like this for a few minutes. 

 (I made Jason take this picture of me, to which he said, "You just want to put this on the blog and have everybody feel sorry for you."  Um, yeah. Why do you think I'm having you take a picture?!)

Reed, finally tired of Kyle's cries, traded out of the backpack for a ride on Jason's shoulders. And I have to give it to Jason, he walked for 3 miles with Reed up there!  Reed then decided to let Jason have a break (and take a little nap), while Ayi pushed him in the stroller the rest of the way. 

Kyle made all 6 miles on my back.  He passed the time waving at the other walkers, and giving the Farmington High School cheerleaders high fives.

JR thought he'd take the easy way at first.

But then when I refused to run with him, (I did have a 28 pound excuse on my back) JR got Granny Sherry to walk/run with him.  JR's goal was to "get to the front of the line". And though he never made it to the front, I do think they finished a good fifteen mintutes before we came in.

And, of course, if they give out donuts before the race, sodas are an obvious choice after, right?

Faces That Make Me So Happy

Spoiled Rotten

Ayi decided it was dumpling day yesterday. (Woohoo!)

Our Chinese chefs at work.


JR + giant butcher knife that only comes out when Ayi visits + no trip to the emergency room = successful onion chop. (And you'll also notice his shirt didn't stay on long.)

JR ate 17 dumplings last night! (And if you're wondering about the little red man, he's like training wheels for chopsticks.)

Ayi wouldn't dare pack The Little Emperor plain ol' left over dumplings in his lunch today, so she got up early and fried these special for him. Although I did pop one in my mouth after I took the picture...she wasn't looking, of course!

WOOOOHOOOO!

Ayi is here!

She arrived Thursday evening, and we were so excited we could hardly wait for her to step off the plane. Just look at JR's face checking out the flight arrival board at the airport.

This is the only other picture I have, well, because...I was a blubbery, crying mess myself.

We are all just. so. happy.

Deep, Dark Depression

Yes, I'm in deep, dark depression. Ayi left Saturday morning and we already miss her terribly. She made it back to Beijing with no problems. Flying is stressful enough as it is, can you imagine having to change airplanes 3 times in a country where you don't speak the language? She is one amazing woman. I'm wallowing so in my own self-pity that I hardly have the strength to sit and type...me....sad....miss.....Ayi......ummmmm.....

Bathing Suit Bodies

Thankfully the Hyatt Tamaya Resort in Albuquerque keeps their swimming pool heated during the winter. The pool also just happens to have JR's favorite thing in the entire world... a big tunnel water slide. I tried out the water slide after JR, and was surprised to find that the tunnel is completely dark until the very end. You have no idea where you're going...and it's actually a really long slide. I said, "JR, I can't believe you didn't tell me how dark it is inside the slide." JR's response, "Mommy, I thought you needed to figure that out on your own."
Being at the pool in our bathing suits also gave Ayi the chance to figure out how "skinny" we are. Never ones to mince words, the Chinese will always let you know just what they think of you. There were plenty of times I was shopping in Beijing when I was told, "You can't try that on!You're too fat!" I know it sounds rude, but to them they're just stating a fact: "You are a big American, and you will not fit in these little- bitty Chinese clothes. You will be wasting my time if I let you try them on." Pretty much anything we find "rude" to ask or say they find perfectly acceptable. They'll ask you how much money you make, how much you paid for something, or how old you are in a second. They will also point out any imperfection you might have and ask you about it immediately. So Jason and I weren't surprised a bit when Ayi said to us, (I've taken the liberty of translating it into English for you) "You, Jan, and JR were all fat the whole time you lived in China, but now all of you are skinny!" I'm just going to take that as a compliment and run...A Chinese person finally thinks I'm "skinny"!

Next!

Alrighty, It's Kyle's turn to show off his Chinese trick. The video is super short, but if you watch it twice, watch Reed the second time. He sticks out his tongue...obviously if he hears Chinese and sees a camera he thinks it's time for his trick again too!

He's Got Tricks In Him

One of Ayi's favorite things to do when we lived in China was to show off JR's Chinese skills. I think I've mentioned before that JR didn't really talk until he was 3, so Ayi found other ways to make sure everybody knew she was teaching JR Chinese. When JR was about 15 months they had a whole routine worked up. He would point to his eyes, ears, head, etc. as she would call out the body parts in Chinese. But really, what's a routine without a big finish? And it never failed, JR and Ayi's big finish always brought the Chinese people watching to tears of laughter. Jason and I never understood why she taught him this, or exactly why it was funny, but the end of their routine went like this:

Ayi: JR, Késou. (translation: JR, Cough.)

JR: Acugh-Achug (JR makes fake coughing sounds)

Chinese laugh.

Ayi: JR, Mā-mā Tìpen . (JR, Sneeze like your mom.)

JR: Achoo-Achoo-Achoo-Achoo-Achoo!

Chinese laugh and laugh, run over to hug and kiss JR, then give him candy or anything else they might have in their pockets.

I guess JR's now too old for their big fake sneeze routine, so Ayi has started working up new routines for the babies. Kyle's not yet ready for his debut. But as you'll see by the video, Reed's on his way!

Army Men

The great thing about visiting China is that every touristy thing you'd ever want to see is conveniently located in Beijing. All except the Terracotta Army, those are in Xi'an (pronounced She-an). We made two trips to Xi'an to see the army/soldiers and Ayi went with us both times. Part of the tour is a movie where they reenact the soldiers being made and then destroyed (or how they think they were made and destroyed...they date back to 210 BC and the Chinese didn't even know they existed until 1974 when a farmer accidentally discovered them). JR always got super excited about the movie and would say "Bīngmǎ Yǒng! Bīngmǎ Yǒng!" (which to me sounds like Be-I-Own) everytime he would see one. If you've ever been to our house, you know we even have a 3ft. one standing outside our front door. Knowing how much JR liked the Bīngmǎ Yǒng, Ayi brought him 4 soldiers that he could "excavate" himself. It's actually quite cute. I took pictures of the excavation process, and now JR is the proud owner of 4 more Bīngmǎ Yǒng(s) to add to his collection.

Each solider is "buried" in it's own block.

Add some water...and get to work


Keep "digging"

Brush him completely clean

Another soldier "discovered"! (I know it's hard to see since everything in the picture is brown, the soldier is sitting on the counter to your left.)

Smarty Pants

Jason and I just knew that Ayi would love Kyle the most. In general, the Chinese have no problems playing favorites. Ayi loves JR like he's her own, and since Kyle looks exactly like JR (pacifier and all) we knew he would be the favorite. One thing we didn't count on is that Kyle doesn't have the same personality as JR. Ayi keeps saying that in all the pictures and video she's seen Reed was always crying and Kyle always looked happy, but in real life, Kyle is fussier and Reed is happier. And she's right. Kyle takes a great picture, the camera comes out and he starts to pose. Reed, who is usually always happy, looks scared and pitiful eveytime he sees a camera. Needless to say, Reed is really winning her over. Reed "dances" everytime he hears music (which she thinks is hilerous), and is also more active than Kyle. So after spending all of about 6 hours with them, Ayi decided that Reed is the smart one. The real kicker was that she spent all day yesterday trying to teach them to say "Ayi". Over and over

again I would hear "I-eeeee", "I-eeeee". Reed got the "I" part (really he already had the "I" part down before she got here), so of course she thought Reed was trying to say "Ayi". Yep, smarter one. But wait...Not so fast! Oh how quickly things can change! Kyle is now back in the race for smartest and favorite. As of this morning, she's decided that Kyle can understand Chinese better than Reed. Now I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it, but we were sitting in the playroom and she was talking to the babies. All I understood was the last word "huátī" which means "slide". As soon as she said "huátī", Kyle crawled out of my lap and went over and started climbing up the slide. Now maybe Kyle just felt like sliding at that very moment, but in Ayi's world, Kyle can understand Chinese. Reed was still playing at the coffee table, and since he can only say "I" of "Ayi" and Kyle understands "huátī" means "slide" (in her mind anyway) guess who's the new smarter one...it'll be interesting to see who wins out in the end!

SHE'S HERE!

JR and I were "arguing" on the way to the bus stop this morning about who was more excited that Ayi was coming today. We went back and forth saying, "No! I'm more excited!" What some of you may not know is that our ayi doesn't speak any English, just a few words here and there. Of course she and I can carry on extensive conversations. After basically living with her for 3 years, we know what the other one is trying to say. Unfortunately, random airport people aren't privy to our "language", so we had reason to worry about her (Beijing to San Fran to Denver to Durango). But to be honest, I wasn't worried about her at all. She's an amazing woman, and God takes such good care of her when she's coming to see us, that I just knew everything would be fine. And of course, there was a man who spoke Chinese on her flight from Denver to Durango. What are the odds? Actually, pretty huge. I knew she'd be delivered to us just fine. I was too busy tearing up when we saw her to take a picture of JR hugging her for the first time, but I think this picture is hilarious...she insisted on holding him just like she used to. He looks bigger than she is! JR is thrilled she's here; they played until he had to go to bed. She thinks the babies are pretty great, just can't get over how much smaller they are than JR was at that age. One things for sure, this month will pass way too quickly for all of us!

SHE GOT IT!

We just got the call and JR's Ayi got her visa! Jason and I are doing what we do best. He's on the phone trying to book airplane tickets, and I'm doing a happy dance. Oh yes, there are jazz hands, shimmys, and booty shakes flying around all over the place. As soon as we found out I ran upstairs and woke JR to tell him. Poor thing, I think he thought we were going to the airport right then; he started trying to get up and get ready. Thank you, Visa Officer and Thank you, Lord! Hallelujah and Woo-Hoo!

Put Us On The Prayer List

No, this isn't a picture of Kyle and a random Chinese lady...It's JR and his Ayi! Can you believe JR was so little when we moved to Beijng. AND we'd already been there a couple of months because I think this picture was taken in May 2004. JR's Ayi from China is going for her US visa interview December 22! She got to come see us for a month last summer (07), and we've been hoping to get her back ever since. Her boss said she could have a month off around Chinese New Year to come see us. So if she can get her visa, she's good to go! You'd think getting a visa would be an easy process. People get confused and say, "Why won't China let her come?" It has nothing to do with China. China's got 1.3 billion other Chinese to worry about; it's the US that's the problem. The first time she tried she got denied. The second time she tried is when she came. The problem is that if she gets denied this time, she'll probably never get to come back because once you've been denied twice you really have no shot. I understand the whole visa process, but I get aggravated that terrorists can prance right over and fly planes into buildings, while fabulously wonderful Chinese ladies can't come visit families who loved them for 3 years. When we lived in Beijing and things seemed impossible we'd say, "Remember, God is bigger than the Chinese Government." This time I just have to tweak it a bit...He's also bigger than the American Government too. Prayers lists please!

Going Postal-The Final Chapter

Now check out this face. Can you believe it?! Me neither. JR and I were upstairs moving his stuff into his new room and I looked out the window and saw a package by the gate.
Me: "JR, there's a package by the gate."
JR: "My package is here! My package is here!"
Me: "JR, I don't think it's for you. They told me they can't find your package." It's probably for the babies."
JR: "It's not for the babies, and it's not for you. It's MY package from MY Ayi!"
Me: "Well, don't get your hopes up, but run outside and get it."
JR comes through the door with package.

JR: "Mommy! It had my name on it!"
Me: "It does?!"
And then I saw it. Chinese writing. I guess packages do just turn up after a half a month of being lost...or maybe it has something to do with Jason making a phone call to the post office yesterday. Either way....It's here!!

JR's Chinese Lessons

I get lots of questions about how we are "keeping up JR's Chinese". We've tried finding people to come over to the house to talk to him, we've tried 2 different Chinese schools, but what we have found that works best is just to let him talk to his Ayi in Beijing. They talk 2 or 3 times a week on Skype (so it doesn't cost us anything) and because he can see her on the computer, he will actually talk to her. Jason and I usually have no idea what they are talking about, but in this video I took the other night, I think they are talking about the "bad guy" from Automan (which is basically the Chinese version of the Power Rangers). At the end of the video I know he says "airplane", so I'm guessing at that point they are discussing Automan's airplane. Any of you Mandarin speakers out there are welcome to translate for me! The quality of the video is a little dark, but the sound is great, and if you look at JR's computer screen you can see our Ayi!