August-November 2007 Gabby Update

As of November 28, 2007 Gabby Sophia is five months old. A lot has changed since the last entry and it’s safe to say that she’s hitting all the developmental milestones and then some. From August 19th to October 6th, Gabriella and I visited friends and family in Washington. Without Travis around, it kept me very busy (hence the lack of pictures on the website and journal entries). Soon after we returned from the States, I went back to work full-time. So far, we’re pretty happy with how we’ve balanced work, our social life, and parenthood but we have our days when we’re overwhelmed and exhausted. I can’t imagine having twins! Everybody keeps saying she looks like Travis and I guess she still does... She seems to really love music and it tends to calm her down when she’s fussy. Maybe she’ll be a musician like her daddy? She is continuing to be a strong little girl and her fine motor skills are developing quite nicely. She can even hold her own bottle. She LOVES other kids and babies. She pumps her arms and legs and gets all excited. She starts to grab at them too. It’s as if she wants to play but doesn’t quite know how. My friend who has teenagers said her daughter was the same way (I know her daughter and she is SUPER chatty and all about the social scene)... Not sure if that’s such a good thing??? She’s rolling over now which means we’re constantly trying to keep her from falling off the furniture. She’s all over her crib too, which freaks me out a bit. I don’t know how she does it but she scoots herself all over and gets in the weirdest positions. She can also grab her feet and stick her toes in her mouth. It’s crazy. In addition, Gabby is vocalizing a lot and so we like to engage in pretend conversations. She’s reaching for the toys she likes the best and she’s started the teething phase. Of course, Travis and I think she’s really awesome, but we have nothing to compare it to. We just love her to death. My favorite thing is hanging out with her when we get ready in the morning- she just smiles and smiles at us, which makes getting up in the morning not-so-bad. One of the coolest things ever is hearing her laugh… Oh man, I wish I could bottle up that feeling and give it away to people when they need to feel good. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh just makes our hearts melt. I would consider her a good baby even though she has her drama queen moments. The only time she really cries is when she’s hungry. And man, you don’t want to mess around with a hungry Gabby! I’m sure I’m missing some other stuff that she’s doing, but stay posted… We’re starting solids soon and there are lots more things about to happen in the upcoming months…

Parenthood and Family Update

Hi kids,

The cloud has lifted and Travis and I can see the light… Yes, parenthood has been what people have described to us… crazy, tiring, amazing, and sometimes hard. Gabby is thriving and growing like a weed… She smiles now and makes lots of cooing sounds. Before she was one month, she rolled over on one side and does it all the time now. I have nothing to compare it to, but people say she’s really strong- and long for that matter too (in the 97th percentile). Last week we threw her a huge debut party and had over 100 people over at our place… Luckily, the weather was fabulous and she did great. She was alert and awake for a good two hours while she was being passed around from person to person. We were surprised because she can get pretty fussy, but I think it was just good timing with her eating and sleeping schedule.

I just love having a little girl. She’s like my little doll that I can dress-up, until, of course, she starts crying and pooping and so on… then reality hits… J In China, having a boy is considered good luck (hence the many girls up for adoption), so when I Chinese person asks what I had and I tell them we have a little girl they inevitably get the “I’m sorry” look and then without hesitation they add, “Oh, don’t worry the next one will be a boy!” I always make a point to say that I would be very happy with another girl…

And no, she’s not sleeping through the night yet (I get asked that a lot).

In other news, Travis has started work and he’ll be completing his administrative internship at the same time so it will be a very busy year. I’m on maternity leave right now until October 22nd and will leave this Sunday to go home to Washington for seven weeks. It was a pretty last minute decision and I’m really excited to see our family and friends. Travis is taking his paternity leave next to October break (the first week of October is a Chinese national holiday), so he will fly out to Washington and visit for two weeks and all three of us will travel back to China.

As always, I hope all is well with you and your family and please keep in touch!

Cheers,

Travis, Cara, and Gabriella (the Tebo Family)

July 2007 Gabby Update

So far the first month has had many ups and downs as Travis and I are transitioning into being parents... The first week was crazy but our life is slowly getting into a routine. Gabriella is a really strong girl (at least that’s what people tell us!) and she’s becoming much more alert and we’ve even seen some glimpses of smiles (not sure if that’s gas) which totally melts our hearts. She can lift her head up 90 degrees and practically does push-ups when we put her on her belly. She can roll over on one side too. She is getting bigger and bigger each day- it’s amazing and awesome to watch!

Gabriella Sophia Tebo is Born!

IT'S A GIRL!

Date: June 28th, 2007
Time of Birth: 4:30 P.M.
Weight: 8.25 lbs.
Length: 20 inches
Chinese Name: 明美 or Ming Mei “Smart/Beautiful”

Hello Everyone,

As you can tell, Travis and I are parents!! It’s been quite a transition but Gabby, Travis, and I are doing well and slowly getting a routine down. And yes, we’re EXHAUSTED! Labor was pretty intense, to say the least. I slept through a lot of the pre-labor contractions and kept myself busy throughout the morning, thinking that it could possibly be false labor. Things progressed rather fast and I “came in like a freight train” as Dr. Brooks said. I was 8 cm dilated and fully effaced when we finally got to the hospital. The worst part was being in the transitional part of labor when there was an accident and heavy traffic on the highway. After we arrived at the hospital, it was about two hours later and out came our baby girl… A great set of lungs and the most precious dimple on the right side of her face. It was truly amazing, breathtaking, and surreal when they put her on my chest and said “It’s a girl!” One of those moments that will be etched in my memory forever…

I’ll eventually send some more pics. I hope all is well in your neck of woods!

Cheers,
Cara

We have Good News! Plus Another Update...

Hello Family and Friends,

Happy New Year of the Pig! That’s actually year of the “golden” pig… every 60 years this happens and anyone born during this year will have great luck and fortune. In fact, hospitals have already seen a rise in births because people want their children to be a “year of the golden pig” baby. We had this past week off and it’s been nice just hanging around the house…

Speaking of births and babies… A lot of you already know, but Travis and I are expecting our first baby this June. Obviously, we’re ecstatic but a little anxious too because we know our life is going to totally change but we just can’t imagine how... Yes, we know to sleep when the baby sleeps. And yes, we know to enjoy sleeping-in late now. I can’t tell you how many times people have said that me. : ) I’ll be 23 weeks tomorrow and I feel awesome- almost too good, I’m waiting for total exhaustion and uncomfortable-ness to hit me and I’m sure it will. I had some morning (actually all day) sickness at the beginning but that passed and things are rockin’ along now just fine. I honestly don’t feel that much different and I still can’t believe I’m pregnant. However, I can feel the baby move now and that’s been really cool and has made it more real. At night, when I’m ready to sleep, is when the baby is the most active. My favorite thing to do is lay there and feel it move. It’s pretty surreal knowing that you have a live being in your belly! We had the big ultrasound and everything looks great, which is a relief. We decided not to find out the sex (I know, we’re boring) and we’ll have the baby in China. In fact, we’re staying here the whole summer. The hospital where I’ll have the baby is western style (doctors are all trained somewhere in the west) and the maternity suites are fabulous and they really take good care of you. There have been quite of few women who’ve had babies there that teach at my school and they all were pleased with the care. Quite a few of you have been requesting belly pics- I’m not that big yet, so I’ll wait a little bit and send some soon.

We haven’t really been up to much… We went home for winter break and enjoyed the three weeks back there visiting with friends and family. Travis went on a boy’s only trip with his buddies to Harbin, China at the beginning of February. It’s a town up north that’s very close to the Russian border. It’s known for these really cool ice sculptures. It’s freezing up there, though, and you need to bundle up. They had a blast doing guy things- drinking beer, staying up late, laughing at fart jokes, or whatever they do… you can fill in the blanks. They also went to this snow tiger reserve where they watched the tigers being fed a whole cow. Isn’t that weird? They also ate a hot-pot dinner in an igloo, which looked really fun. There’s a lot of Russian influence in that city, with their food and churches. It’s an interesting little town and a nice weekend trip because it’s only an hour plane ride away. He came back exhausted, in fact he got sick and had to stay home from school one day, but he gained tons of good memories.

Work is going well for both of us. There will be a new counselor next year because one of them will be leaving, so it’ll be nice to get some new energy in my department. I’m taking advantage of some professional development opportunities- a conference on motivational interviewing, one on teenage brain research, and I began taking some online classes through UCLA to get my college counseling certificate. I’ve never taken an online class before but it’s been really good and the information I’ve learned I can take right to my job- which is great. Travis found out that he’ll be able to complete his administration internship at the school. He’ll be working primarily in the middle school, but in addition, have the option to help-out the elementary and high school principals. He’s looking forward to this and the administration has been very supportive as well.

We’re heading off to Thailand again in March for our spring break vacation- also known as a “baby-moon” or some cheesy saying. It’s my last chance to travel before the baby is born and we need to get out of China for a bit, especially since we’re staying the whole summer. There’s also a teacher/counselor conference at the end of the week in Bangkok that we’ll attend. We love it there and can’t wait to see it again…

We hope all is well on your end… As always we love hearing from you even if it’s just to say hello…

Cheers,
Cara and Travis

Summer 2006 Update

Greetings and Salutations,

I trust this email finds everyone busy with “life” and all that entails… The overseas Tebo clan has been doing well, so I wanted to share with you some of our adventures since the last update…

We went home to Bremerton, WA in June for around thirty-five days. We wanted to stay longer, but if we did then we’d lose are foreign residency status and have to pay taxes. We spent some time in Victoria, B.C. for a couple of days to ensure this didn’t happen. It’s a gorgeous place and we had awesome weather but its way too expensive. 14% tax- are you kidding me? It was great being home and having all the conveniences! People drive normal and follow the rules. I can actually find clothes that fit and they’re not badly made knock-offs. Things are just so clean back home- restaurants, toilets, stores. Every time Travis and I went into a grocery store, we were there for an hour just looking at stuff. I think what struck me the most were all the choices and flavors… Reduced-fat, non-fat, sugar-free, cholesterol free, sodium free, etc. And of course Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. What the hell is that all about? And where can you get just Diet Vanilla Coke that’s not in a 2 liter bottle? But I digress… I do have to say that Diet Coke is WAY better in China, though. And all the flavors of Doritos! Mmmm…This is my personal favorite junk food, although I’m waiting for them to come back out with Jumpin’ Jack cheese flavored. I didn’t miss all the commercialization, and especially all the ads on television- and the media in general. It’s so annoying. All in all, it was a great trip back home. I’m glad we got to see Washington in summer because it’s my favorite season there. I didn’t miss all the tipping, paying tax, and the over-priced meals. We spent so much money and we don’t really know what we spent it on. It was probably on gas- I was shocked by how much it is. Have you noticed that people talk about that a lot too? The best part was seeing our friends and family... Travis and I completely surprised my parents, which was hilarious. If I didn’t see you- just know that I was thinking about you… There’s always next time.

We left home in the middle of July to head for Europe. Check this out. We flew from Seattle to San Francisco (2 hours), then to Beijing (11 hours). By the way, we had to pay 200 bucks extra in Seattle because our bags were overweight- however we got bumped up to business class which was a whole new, amazing world. The seats reclined all the way back!!! Anyway, we got into Beijing around 4 pm and took off the next day around 8 am and flew to Amsterdam (10 hours) and then flew to London (1.5 hours). We had to take a one hour bus to another airport, where we stayed-up the entire night playing rummy because we had a 6 am flight to Dublin, Ireland the following day. When we got into Dublin our hotel room wasn’t ready so we went to the Guinness Factory and then walked around the city a bit. We finally got into our hotel room around 3pm. I slept from 4 pm until 6 am the next day. It was a crazy couple of days, but we were too cheap to by a hotel room in London. Dublin is really cool, but it doesn’t look like a big city. Although there are a lot of people, the buildings aren’t very tall but they look really cool. We came during the heat wave- so the weather was great. Travis and I went on a tour, called “The Shamrocker.” We drove around in a yellow bus with about fifteen other people (all around the same age). I can’t truly describe to you how much fun we had. We met-up in Dublin and drove west and then down south and back up again to Dublin. We saw lots of castles, amazing countryside, and drank Guinness all along the way. It’s true, the Guinness is better in Ireland. I’ve been there before when I was young, but it’s much better as an adult. It really is a very green-looking country. They have lots of hills and mountains, but it’s covered with green grass. My favorite town was Westport. It was right on the water and really cute. You hear this a lot, but it’s also true. The people are so awesome and genuinely friendly. This older fellow, who’s a regular at the local pub (by the way, I’ve never seen so many pubs!!!), started to sing Irish folk songs and everyone followed along- it was magical. Irish people tell great stories, love to sing, and the guys are really flirtatious. Even an old married woman like me was getting hit on. One guy actually kept winking at me across from the bar. I don’t know why, but getting winked at by an Irish guy is just funny to me. And yup, they do seem to really enjoy drinking, especially their Guinness. As one of our tour guides said, “It’s the sweet nectar of the Gods.” The tour we got, through “Haggis Tours.” paid for the transportation, tour guide, and it guarantees a room in a hostel. You can request a private room but not all of the hostels have them. We sometimes had to sleep in mixed dorms, which was weird but you don’t spend a lot of time in there. Just sleep. It was six days and a total blast. We met so many people and had good conversations about traveling, politics, and just life in general… These are now great memories...

Our next stop was London. As you may know, I lived in London for four years growing up (aged 7-11). I have always wanted to go back, so this was a different trip for me than Travis because he’s never been there. I was reminiscing the whole time and even visited both of my old houses and elementary school (which, by the way, closed down that June). I also went to my old, favorite candy store and bought some sweets. It’s owned by a different family but it looked the same. On one of the days we went to the Tower of London, London Bridge, and Big Ben. I loved that! I think British history and the royal family is really interesting. Since we went on a previous Haggis tour, we got a discount off the next one, so we decided to do the Cornwall trip around southwest England. We saw Stonehenge, lots of castles, beautiful scenery, Merlin’s caves, the Roman Baths and Lands End. We learned the story about the Knights of the Roundtable and we ate Cornish pasties and had the best scones and clotted cream ever. My favorite place was Newquay. It reminds me of a surfer town in California. They had a place with the best fish and chips too. Plus, all these cute stores that were right above a cliff looking over the ocean. It had a very fun-loving vibe to it and a great place to visit in the summer. The beach was gorgeous! I never knew England had beaches like that. We met some cool people on this trip too, but since it was four days we didn’t really bond like we did with the first tour group we went one. However, we still had a good time, although it was expensive. If you didn’t know, the pound is almost double Travis the American dollar. We pretty much ate sandwiches the whole time. After our two and a half week trip, we flew back to Beijing because I had to start work the very next day. It was great coming back to China and feasting for five bucks.

CHINESE LESSON: The first week of October is a national holiday, so we get a week off. It’s also the time of the Moon Festival or mid-Autumn festival. The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month on the Chinese calendar. Legend says that Chang Er (Goddess of the moon) flew to the moon after stealing some elixir from her husband, where she has lived ever since. It is said that you might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. They celebrate it by making “moon cakes” and you’re supposed to eat these under a full moon. It’s also a time when there are family reunions where you eat moon cakes under the moon and think about how wonderful the world is. Moon cakes are these nasty round cakes with bean paste in them. To be fair, I did have a coconut one which was pretty good. The tradition reminds me a lot of fruit cake at Christmas. People give fruit cake as a gift during Christmas time, expecting that the other person is going to enjoy eating it- very much like moon cakes. Travis and I both got tons of them from our parents. They’re so popular, even Starbucks makes them.

The second year around is so much better… I’m working with a new counselor this year and showing her the ropes, which cracks me up because I was completely lost last year. I’m enjoying my job and keeping busy with parent workshops (I’m organizing a Career Coaching one this year with my colleague) and preparing to run a social skills group for boys. I’m also one of the co-advisors to the Student Council group (we call it STUCO). It’s fun because the kids are amazing, but it’s definitely a time commitment. I have to attend all the school events and chaperone them. My friend is doing it with me, so it’s not that bad and it’s a good chance to get-to-know some kids better. Travis still loves his job and is getting more involved with leadership stuff at the school. We also got a car! Oh man, the quality of life has improved 1000%. It’s a 2003 Great Wall SAFE. The body looks like a Toyota 4-Runner and it’s crimson and gray (go cougs!). We’re SO HAPPY we gave in and bought one. We’ve already had some mini adventures, including going to where the Great Wall meets the ocean and some other towns along the way. In addition, we’re almost settled now in our new place. We just got our furniture (we got stuff made) last week. We’ve been sleeping on a mattress since July and I’ve been dreaming of the day when we could finally have our own bed. This year I’ll be able to finally nest and make a home.

Travis and I are going to Shanghai for the weekend at the end of October to celebrate our birthdays, so that’ll be fun. We’re also coming home for Winter break. I’m looking forward to the smell of Christmas, rainy weather, watching “A Christmas Story,” and shopping. Last year we went to Australia and it was super hot and didn’t feel like Christmas at all.

I hope all is well on your end… Like I always say at the end of these updates, we love hearing from you even if it’s just to say hello…

Cheers,
Cara

China Update and Thailand Trip

Sawatdi ka (“hello” in Thai),

Things are rockin’ along here in Beijing. I don’t know about you, but time has just flown by and the end of the school year and our first year in China is almost here...

Spring has sprung, so it’s starting to warm up a bit- which means that it’s green now instead of gray, which is always good for the spirits. This season is also termed as the “fluffy” season because there are bits of white fluff all over the place, seeming to come from nowhere but the sky. They look like dandelion fluffs, but I have no idea where they are coming from. If you have allergies, it’s not a good place to be. We also had our first sand storm. The sand from the Gobi desert and the high winds blow sand over everything. It was pretty strange... it looked as if it snowed sand and it covered everything in its path. We’ve had a couple of bad pollution days too. If it’s a level five, then no kids can go out to recess and all of the outside activities, like track and field, are cancelled. My poor elementary teacher friends have to deal with squirrely kids all day because they don’t have an outlet for their energy. I haven’t been affected by it, but some people get sore throats and stuff. Hard to imagine, eh? Its days like that when I really miss the Evergreen trees and mountains of Washington. It’s funny how you easily take for granted clean air. I especially miss seeing Mt. Rainer in the distance.... that’s my real home.

Work is going well for both Travis and I. My counseling buddies will appreciate this... Michael Thompson came to speak to our school. He was here for a couple of days and did some workshops for teachers and families. He’s the author of “Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Lives of Boys” and “Best Friends/Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social World’s of Children”. He’s written a lot of other books and has been on Oprah and 60 Minutes. Anyway, the other school counselors and I got a chance to talk to him and stuff. That was really cool. He’s very down-to-earth and we all learned a lot. He helped me out with a boy I’m working with that has some anger issues. At the end of the year, all the high schoolers go on a China Link trip; my tenth graders and I are going to Qingdao. It’s in southern China where it’s warm. The students are excited because it’s by a beach (I guess I am too, though). We’ll be visiting some local places, including going to some homes in the village and learning how to cook authentic Chinese food. From my experience, authentic Chinese food is not that great but whatever. The kids will be able to practice their Chinese, while I just say thank you and hello in my Americanized Chinese. No, I still can’t speak the language but my goal is to start taking lessons with a tutor next year. The last day of school is June 9th, so Travis and I will be leaving on the 10th to do some traveling. We haven’t solidified where we’re going- probably Europe and Turkey. We’re also moving into a bigger place and out of our compound. It’s actually a house in a place called “Modern Home.” It has four bedrooms, a sauna (yes, a sauna in the master bathroom), walk-in closet, satellite and broadband cable, and a stereo and sound system for the whole house. We’ll be the first renters, so it’ll be nice and new and not too far from school. By the 2008 Olympics, there will be a subway stop that goes to downtown and a Holiday Inn right next door. We also have some good friends that live two buildings over, which is convenient. It won’t be completely furnished, so we’ll need to get some furniture. It’s actually pretty cool here. You can get furniture made pretty cheap. We got a book case and two sets of dresser drawers made. I just showed them a Pottery Barn catalog, told them what color, and gave them the measurements. I think they turned out pretty okay.

For spring break Travis and I went to Thailand. WE LOVE THIS PLACE! I mean LOVE THIS PLACE! The people are so nice and the culture is beautiful. A little trivia for you... Per capita, Thailand has the most Trans-gendered/Transsexual people living there. They are gorgeous too! Anyway, back to our trip... After school on a Friday we flew into Bangkok (about a five hour plane ride) and spent the night at the airport (actually at the bar, hee-hee) because we had a 6 am flight to the island of Koh Samui the following morning. The airport was like a resort because it was all outside. Then we took an hour and a half boat ride to Koh Tao (another island off the gulf of Thailand). Koh Tao means Turtle Island, but I didn’t see any turtles so I’m not sure why it’s called that. Anyway, we stayed at a resort there and had the time of our life... white sand beaches, clear blue water, beautiful green hills/mountains in the distant. We stayed in a cottage that was two minutes from the beach and restaurant/bar. While there, Travis and I decided to become certified scuba divers. This was pretty full-on. We spent three days doing this, watching videos, taking quizzes, studying at night, and practicing maneuvers in the pool during the day. We had to take a final test at the end as well. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Studying wasn’t something I had bargained for when signing-up for this so I was a little bummed about that, but anyways, I digress. Now, I like the water or whatever, but I didn’t realize doing this would take-up so much of our vacation time. However, as with most things that are hard work- it paid off. For our first dive, we went 11 m and the second dive for 18 m. When we got to the bottom I looked up and couldn’t see the surface, so I started freaking out a bit. Travis, on the other hand, was living it up- doing summersaults and enjoying the fish and getting all excited. Like most normal people, I’m afraid of drowning so it was a challenge for me. I was like, “Oh my gawd, I’m breathing underwater. Am I okay? What if I swallow water? What if something bad happens?” I’m one of those people who always hold their nose when I jump in water because I’m paranoid about getting water in my nose. We then practiced some maneuvers; one of them was taking off your mask and then putting it back on. Once I did all that, I was fine. It really was cool. Travis and I now want to scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia someday. In regards to Thailand the country... It is an amazing place. The people are SO NICE and the food is awesome. What’s even more fun is that things are cheap there. We bought some chicken satay from a vendor and it was only 25 cents a stick and it was some of the best satay I’ve ever had. We love spicy food so we were in heaven. My favorite thing was the fresh fruit and mango shakes. I’ve never had fresh pineapple and mangos like here... Bangkok reminded me a lot like Beijing, lots of markets, a little dirty, some beggars and shacks amongst some modern buildings. We didn’t do a lot of sight-seeing because we know we’ll be back. We did go shopping which is always good. Thailand reminded me a lot of Mexico because it’s a close place that’s cheap and has nice beaches. There are some teaching couples from ISB that own places in Thailand. They have some good deals right now for some really cool houses if you’re in the market. I have to say, though. The sand and beaches on the Yucatan peninsula are better. I think Trav would disagree, but I still do like Thailand better. Where we went was not touristy. It had that remote island feel for sure. In fact, we were the only Americans. Oh man, people hate Americans now! Or maybe they always did, but I definitely feel it when I tell people where we’re from. When we first meet other foreigners and we tell them we’re American, there’s a sort of “Hmmm, what kind of American are you?” look that we get. Once they find out we didn’t vote for Bush there’s a relief that sweeps over them, like “Okay, we can respect you or tolerate you, or whatever.” I just found this out. When I first got to the school, the other parents asked if I was American and Jenny (Aussie counseling colleague) had to reassure them that I’m okay and that I do a good job. She always says to me that I’m not really American- I’m really an Aussie. I’m not totally clear on why- something about being laid back or whatever. Now Bush voting friends and family... I’m not trying to get political so keep your views to yourself. And while I’m at it, I delete all your forwards that are pro-Bush, so there.

In other exciting Tebo news... We have a new nephew!!! His name is Stuart Leodore Tebo and he was born on May 2, 2006. It’s Toby (Trav’s brother) and his wife Debbie’s first child. So we are all obviously thrilled!

All in all, the China-living Tebos are well, but more importantly- how are you guys doing? We love getting your emails, even if it’s just to say hello- so keep them coming!

Dang, these really are long updates. Thanks for reading these, I hope it didn’t bore you too much!

We miss you! Until the next episode...

Cheers,

Cara and Travis

P.S. Notice the new zip code; it is 101318 now.

P.P.S. We get American Idol! So I’m getting my cheesy reality show fix.