Thursday, November 26, 2009

Not So Thanksgiving

I guess you really don't realize that Thanksgiving is only an American holiday until you move overseas. Kyle worked today, Samantha went to school and Emily and I went to IKEA. Not your typical Thanksgiving. We had a mini celebration for dinner including nice place mats, cloth napkins and fresh flowers. That was pretty much it. Ham/Cheese potatoes and broccoli, again not typical. The strange part is that without the hype and everyone else celebrating it kind of comes and goes and you don't really feel like you are missing it.

Nonetheless we are still very thankful. Samantha said she is thankful for people, flowers and Emily. Kyle and I are thankful for all our family, near and far. Our health and an amazing opportunity to live in another part of the world. We are especially grateful that we can spend Christmas in the US with family and friends. We miss them, especially today.

PS - Kyle is also thankful that there is another Hari Raya holiday tomorrow. He has the day off which means if he gets up really early he actually gets to see a few football games. Go Cowboys!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

My First Bike






Well we have a terrible tradition of really screwing with Samantha's birthday. She is a mid-late December baby and it is so close to Christmas that we have tried a summer party, family only party, in October (while pregnant with Emily) and this year since we are going to be in the states for her actual birthday we bought her gift early. We wanted to get her a bike and there was no way to pack and ship that so today Samantha and Kyle went bike shopping. We had previously been to Toys R Us and they had a small selection with a few bright pink Barbie bikes, which of course Samantha loved. But in Kyle's words "cheap ass Barbie". So today with daddy's insistence they went to a "proper" bike store and found this green and yellow beauty. Samantha absolutely LOVES the baby seat on the back and the basket in the front. I don't think she cares that it is not pink. Major coup for Kyle. Although she did pick out a pink and purple bike helmet to compensate. It is a little refreshing to step away from pink I must say.

When we got home she went for a short stroll and did pretty well. I think it will take some practice to get used to peddling and also the hand brake. Kyle was such a proud daddy to see her riding around. I hope the rain stops so she can play with it before we leave. Only two weeks! We are excited.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Little Piggies




I couldn't resist sharing these photos of Emily. She has the BEST little curls in her hair and today I gave her little piggies. She looked so freaking cute! I took her for her one year check up the other day and she is 105% in height and 55% in weight. I guess she is going to be tall. Since everyone calls her a mini version of Kyle it makes sense. All else is well. She has 9 teeth, no more fangs. Four on top and then the four middle ones on the bottom. Then just this week she skipped a tooth on the bottom and cut another further back on the right. I think her teeth just do their own thing. She is also walking now. A little unstable still but walking more than crawling. Yeah Emily. She even goes down the steps on her belly. I forgot how much they are learning at this age. She also LOVES to talk on the phone or anything that looks like a phone. She can say "mama", "dada", "hot", and "hi". Not bad first words. I guess this post turned from a cute photo to the one year update. Oh well it is hard not to brag about your kids.

Yesterday we had to go back to the doctor and get our flu jabs (they call them jabs here, not shots). We did Samantha first and she didn't even see it coming. Then mommy and poor little Emily got two jabs. One for the flu and her MMR vaccination. We have to back after the first of the year so she can get 3 more vaccination jabs. Surprisingly everyone feels fine. Samantha did limp out of the office. Sympathy limp for sure because when we got home it was swim lesson time and she swam for 45 minutes no problems.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping





Today I went with my friend Kim to Peter Hoe's. What an AMAZING store. It is located in downtown KL very close to the Central Market and also Chinatown. It is a home furnishing mecca. I was glad Kim drove because she knew exactly where to go but more importantly where to park. Now I am officially ready for visitors that like to shop.

I bought a few gifts and of course, a few things for myself. Not cheap but not expensive either. I need to take a full day and just wander all around this area. So much to see and do.

The year round warm weather does have it's drawbacks...rain, rain, rain. On our way out of the store is was POURING down rain. I had an umbrella but with our packages we didn't have the hands to hold it. We got soaked! What we do for a good retail therapy.


Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Fringe Benefits

So who knew I was getting ripped off with itunes? Our friends had told us about "questionable" copies of dvd's (both TV and movies) and yesterday I can confirm that you can get any movie/tv show before it is even released for a FRACTION of the price. Fringe benefit of living in Asia. I went to our local movie store and bought Entourage Season 6, The Tudors Season 3, and Cinderella. It is 10 ringit per CD and if you buy 4 you get one free. So all of the above cost me 50 ringit or $14. I have been paying over $30 for one tv series on itunes! Not to mention you can't even buy Cinderella in the states right now.

Kyle was worried about the quality but we watched Entourage last night and it was just fine. I am so addicted to that show. We were supposed to pace ourselves but we watched four episodes last night. I predict we will be done by the end of the week.

Any orders?


Kyle's Birthday




Today is Kyle's birthday so we celebrated with Japanese Cheesecake. I had it at a friends house recently and it was pretty good. It tastes like 1/2 cheesecake and 1/2 cake. Very light and yummy. Kyle liked it but has decided he would rather have "regular" cheesecake next year.

Samantha thought Daddy needed tools for his birthday so we decided to get a big tool box for Daddy and his girls. Samantha could hardly wait for Kyle to get home so they could "fix something". They are in the living room playing now. Kyle is explaining each tool and its function in true Kyle fashion. Surprisingly, Samantha is listening intently.

We sang happy birthday and blew out the candles, then I bought some silly string. So I first sprayed Kyle and got it in his eye on accident. Then I turned to spray some near Samantha and it scared her to death. She started whaling which then caused Emily to scream at the top of her lungs. You can imagine the scene. Silly string is wetter and messier than I remember. Samantha says "why did you spray me mom?" I say "I thought you would giggle" she says "but I didn't giggle, I cried". I don't think silly string will be a tradition around here.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Emily's Family Birthday












Kyle came back from Norway on Friday so we celebrated Emily's birthday on Saturday. She didn't know it was the 7th and not the 5th. We woke up and unwrapped presents first. Samantha did most of the unwrapping. Emily loved her riding horse from Tima/Grandpa, her play food from Granny and Bepa was in her mouth all morning and she is a natural with the guitar from her sister. Kyle and I got her some clothes (boring) and also a play tent. I need to exchange the tent because it is not big/stable enough for both girls to play. Maybe tomorrow we will pick out a different one.

Then with Samantha's input we decided to check out the deer park. Well, be thankful we did that before anyone visited and got dragged to that LAME place. First it was really hot and we were procrastinating this morning so it was also close to lunch by the time we got there. I guess it worked out okay that is was so lame because then we did not have to stay long. The deer were smelly and it one small area. The path was a TON of stairs and not stroller friendly. We stayed long enough to snap and few photos and then left. Off to Chili's for lunch.

After nap it was cake time. Emily was not sure what to do and made a small mess until I put her hand in it. Then she got the idea. We got a few cute photos. Samantha had a tough time with it being Emily's day but we assured her that her birthday was coming soon. All in all, a good family day.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Emily's Friend Birthday Party






Well tomorrow our wee one is turning one year old! Holy crap a year has gone by fast. I decided to combine the weekly play group and a small birthday celebration. She is only one and all the other kids are younger so it was nothing elaborate but they had fun. We had balloons and bubbles. I actually bought an automatic bubble maker and we put it on the second story ledge inside our atrium so the bubbles floated down like rain. The kids would stand at the window and giggle. It was cute. Here are a few pictures of Emily and her friends.

Kyle is in Norway so we are going to celebrate with the family on Saturday. I am saving the first cake experience for then. I wouldn't want Kyle to miss that. I am not sure who is more excited Emily or Samantha. Wait...definitely Samantha. I will post again with more photos.