Sweet Home Chicago

After a whirlwind week with my Dad in Hong Kong, the kids and I are back in Chicago!  We had a good visit with Grandpa Bill, and got to show him the sights while he enjoyed a break from Chicago weather.  I'm so grateful he timed his visit so that he could help us on the flight back home - a baby and a toddler would have been impossible to handle on my own.  And then we landed and went to my mom's.  It's been an exhausting few days - we're so happy to see our family, but the lack of sleep makes me feel like a prisoner of war.  I may or may not have shed tears today as a result of sleep deprivation!  Side note...shout-out to my mom who helped me do the night shift the past few nights. =)

Sunday morning, Finley suckered my mom into playing in the snow with her.  She was SO excited for it and absolutely loved it!

If you can't tell from the poor picture quality, I stayed inside and took this picture through the window.  The jet lag card got me out of playing in the snow and pretty much everything else.

Bringing in a snow snack.

For lack of any place to set Nolan down, we bought him a Johnny Jump Up, which he loves!

Mommy's Little Thug



I'd write more, but lack of sleep is compromising my ability to do so.  More soon!

Christmas Pageant

On Wednesday, we went right from Socatots to the Christmas pageant being put on by Finley's preschool class and the other room for her age group.  It was intended to be 30 minutes of watching the kids sing Western and Mandarin Christmas songs....but really, it was more like watching kids listen to someone playing piano to these songs while every third kid cried for their mom.  Fun times!!!

Finley got the best seat in the house.  She's the one in the middle who looks like she has no hair (special thanks to her teacher, Miss Mary, for putting on her hat like that).

Here she is mid-song, telling her entire class in a very loud voice exactly where "Mommy, Grandpa Bill and Baby Nolan" are sitting.

Hurry Miss Cherry, better get that hat back on before anyone mistakes Finley for a cute kid.

Socatots!

Fin had her last soccer class this week!  Here she is, getting ready for a zig-zag drill with her BFF, Zoe.

Watch out, David Beckham.

Watching 2 year olds do backwards zig-zags is one of the funniest parts of my Wednesday morning.

Random Birthday

A while ago, my friend Krissy and I discovered her husband Ryan and I have the same birthday.  So off we went to a restaurant too cool for us and enjoyed a great meal and fun night celebrating....we called it Krisapalooza.  Here's Krissy and I cleansing our palettes before our 39 ounce steak arrived.  We're so sophisticated.  (Hi Chen Ma!!!)

Then I proceeded to spend my acual birthday at a place  I probably would have killed to spend it about 25 years ago.  We took the kids to Ocean Park this morning and enjoyed great weather and watching Fin have a blast on the rides.

I had no idea HK went so crazy over Christmas....

And now Dec 4 is almost over here in Asia, and Dad/Grandpa Bill should be knocking on the door any minute!

Six Months!

Nolan is six months (and one day) old!!  He wasn't very cooperative during this month's "photo shoot", but here he was on Dec 3.

And here's Finley, back when she was six months old.