Self Portrait

Gabriella drew this picture of herself and it's hanging right above her locker. It's pretty good, eh?

Isabelle is 9 Months Old

This has been the busiest month and with the most changes...

- She's getting her first tooth (bottom, front)
- Started to dance. This was great! We put "Single Ladies" by Beyonce on the iPod and she started swaying back and forth with the most adorable smile on her face... Gabby LOVES this song and video so she was dancing too. We all got a kick out of watching Isabelle dance.
- She's waving bye bye now. Chen stands with her at the front door when we leave and she's been waving to us before we head to work. Love that!
- Her first word.. "bye-bye" (October 21st so exactly 9 months). I swear she did and that's her first word! Okay, maybe I'm jumping the gun on that one...
-Clapping her hands all the time. She really likes to play "Patty-Cake."

Showcase of Learning

"Dragon"

Pretty Much Bored and Spacing-Out

(She is my daughter)

Big Yawn... Bored and Tired.

The "Dragon" Group

Gabriella's PreK-4 class did a little "showcase" of what they've been learning... They shared a Chinese folk story about a fish who jumped the gate. There was something about a dragon too but I missed what that was about...

Great Wall Villa

Sunrise... You can kind of see the Great Wall 

towers on top of the hill

View from the Family Room

Great Wall is on top of that hill

There's a loft on the type right

Lots of windows and light

Family Room

Outside Deck/Courtyard

Our room is through those glass doors

Kitchen is behind that door

I didn't take a picture of it but it had all we needed

Isabelle Mae!

Cruising all over the place

Perplexed

Hand in the mouth, of course.

Dynamic Duo

Gabriella and Emily BFFs

Gabby, Emily, and Lucas 

Watching Kung Fu Panda

Dancing Queen

Tongue Out

I have about 10 pictures of her dancing w/ her tongue out.

Nice moves, my sugar-bugar

A friend organized a deal that if we buy 65 nights, we'd get a good price on a villa, so we were able to split this with a bunch of people. We bought three nights and the first one was this weekend. It turned-out to be amazing... stunning, may be a better word. We invited our friends (Alex, Steve, and their kids) so the kiddies played and entertained themselves. It's only a one hour drive from our house but it feels like a million miles away... we had a blast. I'm lookign forward to our two night stay in April.

Grand Hyatt

The first week of October we have a week off because it's a national holiday. We didn't do much except get some things done around the house. The highlight was spending two nights at the Grand Hyatt. I LOVE this hotel! It's downtown Beijing and literally walking distance from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. It's connected to a mall that has a Diary Queen (the small pleasures). We got the club level so we took advantage of the all you can drink and eat (heavy appetizers) deal at night. Some other friends stayed so the kids played while the adults chatted and had fun. The pool is amazing but these pictures dont do it justice.

Isabelle is 8 Months Old

8 Months Old Today

Naked Baby... Yes, She's Well Fed

Gabriella Playing Dress-up with Lil' Sis

- She's a great eater and so far, and loves everything. Every type of fruit is her favorite.

- She's cruising, crawling super fast, and has stood-up for 5 seconds unassisted. 

- She giggles a lot whenever Gabby is around, which is great to watch.

- She just started sleeping through the night. Not sure why it took us this long to have her cry it out... we basically ripped the band-aid on a school night. Travis and I had some... uh hem... miscommunication shall I say? I suggested that we ferberize during October break (after our hotel stay) and he thought I meant before. After a 20 minute "discussion" at 2 in the morning about who was right we figured it was too lat to give in. 90 minutes later, it was finally silent. Man, that was painful but the second night it was just 30 minutes and it has been all good ever since.

- Her nicknames so far... Bella, Izzy, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, and Bella Boo baby 9which makes her giggle when gabby calls her this)

Gabby's First Day of Soccer

"High Five"

Gabriella and Emily in their uniforms.

Strike a Pose

I Love the Uniform Color!

Taking a Rest Before Practice

Playing the "Blob" Game

Having Fun Chasing Her Team-Mates!

I Love the Look on Their Faces! So Happy...

Sorry, Blurry Picture...

Volunteering for Something

Learning to Kick the Soccer Ball

Gabriella's Team

Only Six kids

Isabelle Was Great the Whole Time...

"Element Fresh" is the Sponsor.

Love that Restaurant!

Travis and I were excited to take Gabriella to her first soccer practice. Don't get me wrong, she was excited too but she had no idea what we were talking about...

When we got there, we received our uniform and shin pads. Later we found out there's no real coach and that the parents had to figure it out. Emily's dad, Steve, stepped-up but Travis and I plan on taking more of a leadership role in the future. Having fun and learning about team-work is really what we want the kids to learn... So basically you pay $100 for a uniform and use of a nice field. Not too impressive. Good thing I'm not looking to get her an athletic scholarship to college.

She had a great time but Gabriella started to cry when one of the other girls ran faster and basically dominated the entire game. It's a good life lesson, though. There's always going to be somebody better. But what a bunch of mixed messages she was receiving... how many times have I told her to share and play nice? Then suddenly I'm telling her to steal the ball and run faster. We kept telling her that we just wanted her to try. We didn't have any expectations... I honestly don't think she's even kicked a ball before!

*Keep Scrolling Down for Updated Pictures*