(Definitely Not) Future Black Swans

Finley's ballet class makes up the most diverse group of white girls I've ever encountered.  Taught by a Scottish woman, there are 2 Americans, 1 Irish, 1 Brit, 1 Mexican, 1 French and 1 Aussie.  Monday was her last class of the session, which meant that the parents were able to come in and observe.  What did I learn from the experience?  That Finley has all the grace of her mom (crap) and should probably start exploring other hobbies....

Here's Finley, Hayden, Zoe, Lucie and Zoe

Busy not listening to directions....

These kids look like they're really enjoying it, huh?!?! 

Fin and her BFF Zoe

Zoe, Finley, Ella and Lara

 

The apartment complex her ballet class is at has a pretty cool kid's playroom, so Nolan kept busy with Carmelita while I watched Fin.   Man is he cute.

Dull as Dirt

We need some excitement in our lives - not much has been going on lately.  BUT my cousin Sam and his wonderful wife Karleen (who I went to IJP with) are coming for a visit and arrive this weekend!  We can't wait to show them around and have some fun.  In the meantime, this is all I've got....

Post-nap Nolan (doing some serious teething)

Some of the scenery on our Sunday morning walk in Tai Tam Country Park

Finley went down this "hill" about 20 times until we forced her to go home.

She takes her scootering very seriously

Nothing New...

Not much is going on here....but thought I'd post a couple pictures of the kids. 

I've always loved the newborn and baby stages, but Nolan makes every day so darn awesome.  He is changing and growing at an unbelievably rapid pace.  He's crawling like a mad man, pulling himself up to a standing position on anything he can and starting to feed himself.  He smiles nonstop and everyone from our doorman to the other helpers to the waiters and workers we see regularly all know his name and act like fools trying to make him smile.

And here's Finley, who once again insisted on having her picture taken yet only gave me super fake smiles.  She's so tall, so verbal, and I wish she was as sweet to me as she is to Nolan.  She adores him, constantly entertains him and calls him her "buddy" or "sweetie boy". 

Monday

It was beautiful out today - low 70's and sunny.  Dave and I woke up early so we could sneak out and play tennis before he went to work, and then Nolan and I got in some quality time at the playground while Finley was at school.

So while the afternoon may have been filled with two world-class Finley tantrums, I'm just going to try and remember what a nice morning I (we) had.

Girl's Trip

On March 4, I flew to Phuket (Thailand) to meet up with a couple of my good friends for a girl's weekend.  I met Alicia and Gia the day after I moved into my building and last summer they both left Hong Kong. =(  Gia and her family are now living in Bangkok, and Alicia and her family moved to Singapore.  Even though we only lived in the same city for a few months, they've grown to become two of my very close friends and I still HATE them for leaving town!  When we all reunited, it was like I'd just seen them yesterday.  We had a weekend filled with lots of sun, relaxation, spa time, and champagne.  Finley and Nolan were in great hands with Dave (and Carmelita) and I returned home Sunday night feeling very rested and happy!

We stayed in a beautiful villa at the Twin Palms Resort and had our own pool....which made being lazy even easier than it would have been otherwise.

The cappucinos had the hotel logo sprinkled on them...we were very amused.

The resort's main pool was amazing...and so peaceful.

The part of Phuket we were at was called Surin Beach.  It was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to with such soft sand and clear water.

Here's Gia, me and her baby-to-be before heading out to dinner Saturday night.

And here's Alicia and I in a tuk tuk, making fun of the fact that everyone in Asia feels the need to flash peace signs when taking pictures.



GMT + 8

Here are some more random pictures of the kids from this afternoon.  Nolan tends to hoard a few things, climb up onto something that he can't safely get down from and then dive headfirst off of it whether or not someone is around to catch him.

Finley then told me that it was her turn to have a picture taken on her chair. (And yes, that shirt is part of her school uniform....I haven't completely lost all sense of fashion.)

Just like his mama, Nolan is mesmerized by our view.  He loves crawling over to the window and watching the boats on the water or the cars on the road below.

He went to suck on his monkey blankie and accidentally chewed on some tag.  I hate when that happens.

Nine Months!

Nolan turned nine months old on March 3rd (and this time, I was actually on time taking his pic).  Since he started crawling at around 8.5 months, he is always on the go....and he's FAST.  So getting him to sit still is nearly impossible these days.  For this month's "shoot" I set up the scene and had time to take ONE picture before he was making a move to dive off of the couch.
(P.S. His shirt is the state of Illinois....my little pseudo-Asian baby is showing some mad love for the midwest.)

Fin wasn't quite moving at nine months, so she was a much easier subject. Again, no real resemblance in this pic but in real life they definitely look like brother and sister.

Astronaut

Poor Fin has had a rough go of it lately - hence our lack of posts (which my sister just harassed me about).  We went to the doctor for an ear infection and got antibiotics.....then went back 4 days later when her fever was still up and ear wast still hurting.....got new antibiotics.  Then went back three days later when the fever was back....got diagnosed with a bad chest infection.  Was prescribed a inhalor, new antibiotics and probiotics.  And then went back four more days later and learned that her chest is still really bad.  So Fin is now on a nebulizer three times a day for the next several days. =( 

She feels okay but we've pulled her out of school for the week to keep her from catching anything else right now.  My poor girl.  It makes us feel very lucky that we typically have healthy kiddos.