Work in Progress

Tiny kitchen

bathroom

    

The living room (need a rug, big time!)

living room

office

master bedroom

Carter's room (curtains are temporary)

Carter's room

We're on the middle floor

 

 

6 Year Anniversary

    Usually, Blair and I don't make a big deal out of our anniversaries, but this year we decided we should try to make them more special.  All week, Blair had been dropping hints that he was planning something.  He kept saying, "Don't worry, I've got it all figured out."  He's really good at putting fun plans together and surprising me.  So Saturday morning, he tells me the first leg of our anniversary starts at 8:30 a.m. and that there is surprise for me in the fridge.  The surprise was a Dr. Pepper, because they aren't easy to find in HK.  Then he told me to open my gift, which was khaki shorts from Zara.  At 8:30 am, we hopped on the bus to Shatin, but I had no idea what we're going to do there.  Blair leads me to the Royal Park Hotel for a breakfast buffet.  Nice!  I think basically I just ate a whole pig, my plate was full of bacon.  They had a pancake station with toppings including all kinds of yummy syrups. I made some cool designs on my plate and came back to the table with a challenge for Blair. "See if you can make a fancier design than I did." So Blair comes back with a plate that memorialized our anniversary with "6 yrs" written in syrup! How romantic... Afterwards, I felt entirely too full (sick) and didn't get hungry until like 10 hours later.

     We went back home until our friends Brad and Emily showed up to babysit Carter.  How sweet of them!  This was our first date without Carter.  As we left, I felt very light without a stroller, baby, and a diaper bag.  Blair took me to Central and we had drinks and cheese on the roof of the IFC building.  We then left to go to Soho in the Midlevels.  We ate at the ZGrill, but I was not hungry at all.  In fact, I felt a bit sick.  Blair ordered the Surf-n-Turf and I just ate some of his.  At 9:30 pm, my eyes started closing and my body was shutting down.  Blair begged me to wake up, but after waking up at 7 am everyday, I'm just not used to staying up past 10 pm.  As all the westerners filled the streets of Soho to begin their night, Blair and I started our long journey back to the countryside.  We live over an hour from HK island and we often wonder if it's worth the trek to get there.  Brad and Emily said Carter was a perfect, little angel.  No crying fits or diaper explosions.  He smiled, laughed, and slept right on cue.  Thank God for 6 years of marriage and for this new stage in our lives.  Even though, I know it's important to get out and have a life, the truth is, I'd prefer to be home with my family out here in the village.  Thank you Blair for being so thoughtful and romantic!  You are such a sweetheart.

5 months old

    Carter is definitely not a little guy anymore; he's 5 months old.  When I pick him up, he feels pretty heavy.  He's starting to look like a little boy, instead of tiny baby.  It's bittersweet, but he's so cute now.  We're figuring out his sense of humor, so he's starting to laugh a lot more often.  He likes you to tickle or blow zerberts on his belly, he likes to be turned upside down or thrown in the air, and he'll laugh if you make exaggerated faces or use funny voices.  This month has been truly wonderful.  Carter learned to roll over both ways, eat rice cereal, use a sippy cup, sleep without being swaddled, and pull his feet up and grab his toes.  His newest trick is to flap his arms when he's excited.  He does it so hard that he hits himself in the belly.  Now that he isn't swaddled anymore, it's fun to see him flap his arms when you get him up in the morning.  Every morning at 6:45 a.m., I'll hear the most hilarious sounds coming from his crib.  He doesn't start crying, he just talks to himself for awhile.  His sounds are so sweet, even when he squeals as loud as he can on the train, it's still so cute and funny.  I love how his squeals go from low to high and loud to quiet.  Yesterday a lady working in the mall told me, "if my little boy looked just like him, I would be so happy."  That was very nice, but since she in Chinese, I strongly doubt her baby would have blond hair and blue eyes.  You never know.
   In the states, I got an Ergo baby carrier and I love it!  Granted it's hotter than all get out, but it's so comfortable.  You get to hold your baby in a hug-like position in front of you.  Carter seems to really like it.  The only downside is when, like yesterday, your baby spits up all over you while he's in the carrier. Blair looks great wearing it, too :). 

Eating like a big boy

    Carter had his first taste of real food this weekend.  Actually, I don't know if I would call rice cereal real food.  It's more like prison slop.  I was going to wait until he was 6 months old, but curiosity got the best of me.  We stripped off Carter's clothes and put him in his bathtub because we anticipated a huge mess.  I expected him to spit it all out.  Well based on the video, it looks like he's ready to start eating.  He ate every last bit.  I hope he likes veggies more than mommy does.  We'll try those when he turns 6 months.  In the 2nd video, we just wanted to see if Carter could hold his own bottle. 

Carter in the City

   We've been back in HK for three weeks now.  It's kinda nice to be back in the hustle and bustle of our life here.  It couldn't be more opposite of our life in Florida, but I appreciate the differences.  Maybe not the crowds and pouring sweat everywhere I go, but the ethnic food, diverse culture, and my school.  I feel blessed to have two months in the states and then ten months here every year.   We have wonderful friends here and it felt so good to see everyone again.  Yesterday after work, I met Blair and Carter to have Indian food and then a drink by the harbor. Carter doesn't seem to mind all the people swarming around him and staring at him like crazy.  He likes to stare right back. 

I own this town!

This is how we roll.

We had drinks at the place you see behind Blair, next to the coolest Starbucks.