Monday, September 26, 2011

September, 2011 At a Glance

We are THRILLED to announce the marriage of some WONDERFUL friends this summer!! Dominic & Mirjam were married in Germany this summer and had a Shanghai BBQ reception on a beautiful rooftop for all of their Shanghai friends to celebrate with them! We can now say that we have been friends with them for years! Sooo excited to rejoice with them on this special day!


I (Nica) threw Mirjam a surprise bridal shower. It had a luau twist, complete with grass skirts (which we hung up as decorations instead!! haha) smoothies, and great music, friends, and laughter! We totally surprised Mirjam. Yay!!

















Wes wanted to celebrate his Grandpa Martin's birthday on September 4th, so we did a little photo shoot. Happy Birthday, Grandpa Martin! We love you!!

It was actually a little difficult to get Wes to hold the balloon by himself so ALL of the words could be read, AND see his face, AND have him happy! We sent the best one to Grandpa, but eventually just got some shots without the balloon, too.










Brag moment: Wes can now hold his own bottle!!!! (as long as it's not too heavy)

We have had the delight to meet and spend time with a Eva and Thomas from the Czech Republic! Nica met Eva at "our" mall and have kept in touch. At that time they had been in Shanghai for only 3 days! They're here with Thomas' work for at least 3 years, so it will be fun to watch Wes and Stephan grow up together! Last Sunday Eva & Thomas had us over to their place for a great BBQ at their home! Looooved the deck!
Wes' new friend, Stephan! He's 7 months old, Wes is now 4 months. They are so precious together!




Wes fell asleep on me while we talked after dinner. Such a sweetie...

We then went out for a walk in their neighborhood. It was sooooo beautiful! They don't live close to the downtown area of the city like we do, but it sure is beautiful!


Daddies with their boys









We also continue to find ways to make tummy time more interesting for Wes. He is now 4 months and 2 weeks old! Not rolling over yet, but I keep thinking he will soon! 
Maybe if Mommy gets down on her tummy too, Wes will see how much fun it can be!



Or, haha, we can watch the news together!



I should also make the official announcement that Wes is now the proud owner of two new, sparkling, white, SHARP teeth!!! Yep, that's right. Tuesday September 13th, at 4 months and 4 days old, after crying for 4-5 hours straight (the hours run together after awhile...) they made their appearance! No fever or any other symptoms, just lots of tears. Brave little guy. The hardest part of his first year, I'm sure. (for Wes AND Mommy!) 
At first they could only be felt when my finger hit them at certain angles. Now, however, they are very clearly seen! He loves to stick his tongue out, so here is a clip of him hungry so you can see his teeth. 




We love watching this little boy develop his skills. He is getting strong, and is entertaining himself more and more with toys. It's so fun and SO cute to watch! We will soon get him in a little jumping play station.

He's also getting very chatty, and sometimes gets into very silly moods. Usually when he sees the camera it distracts him and I can't get him giggling again, but this time he didn't even notice me with the camera! haha! The lighting is a little bad, but it gives you an idea of his giggle-moods. hehe




Here we are at Auntie Dee's house playing on their xylophone! Don't know who had more fun...Wes or Mommy! :P



I need to remember to take photos of things we do with Wes all the time that are normal to us, but we'll want to remember about him in the future. So...here he is in the back of a taxi!


Someone recently told me again how different life is with a baby. However, even in the moments of tears, even when we cancel plans because of bad moods, even the getting up in the nights...mommy-hood is such pure joy! Here is our little sweetie playing before bedtime...






So, thanks to all of you for your prayers as I've battled this eye infection! It wasn't as bad as it was all those years ago (when I had the ulcer on the cornea of my eye when I was 16!) but it was similar. So...no more contacts for me. Here is a photo of me with my new glasses AND (of course) my beautiful son, smiling at his father. :) I'm glad to be on the other side of this...my dr gave me a total of 3 weeks of sick leave, telling me not to work on the computer. Augh! It's good to be back. ;)







We are now preparing for Joe's two brothers, Tim & Mike, to come and visit us! So pumped about that! Also, China's national holiday is just around the corner, so we are getting ready to celebrate! Joe has a week off of work next week and we are taking the guys to Xi'an! So, now that my eyes are feeling so much better, I'll be sure to post a little more frequently again.
Love you all!
Nica, Joe, & Wes

August, 2011 brief update

Sorry for the looong time gap between updates here! Once we got back from our trip to the US, Canada, and Yangshuo, we pretty much just focused on getting settled in to our fall routine back at home again. 
Joe started back to school quite early in August, and I started back at work again, too.
We left the relaxation of summer behind, and dove into routine. Joe and I sat down and discussed goals we had for the new year, then divided up our week into bitesized pieces to accomplish those goals! The result? We now each have gym memberships again,  a Chinese tutor coming to the house 2x/wk so we can keep up with our studies, we figured out how Joe could keep up with his pursuit of his Masters, and of course maintain our ever-growing cell group. We're still praying about other ministries to become involved in, probably starting in October. My favorite night of the week though? Date night. We have the ayi come to look after Wes, and it's a night on the town for me and my hun. Thanks for making us a priority, too, Joey!!

So, this post will not be too long, mostly just random photos and video clips.

First off, though...we wanted to give a shout-out to our amazing families! Even though we are far away again, we still feel close because of the great memories made, and frequent Skype calls and secret FB groups. :D We sure do love you guys!!!

We're printing photos so Wes can learn everyone's names!! :D

Here is Mommy, Daddy, and Baby Wes
 

Here is Grandma and Grandpa Eby, with lots of Aunties & Uncles, and growing number of cousins! Congratulations, Jon & Nets!!!! Can't wait till March! Wes will no longer be the littlest cousin!! :D
 

Here is Grandma and Grandpa Martin with ever-expanding lists of Aunties & Uncles! Congratulations Almost-Uncle Lauren & Auntie Miriam!  Our next family photo will have you in it, too, Lauren!! Can't wait till January to see you at the wedding!! :D
Also, Congratulations Almost-Uncle David and Auntie Kristin! Sure wish we could attend your wedding in the Dominican this spring...so sad to miss that.
(no news yet on any new cousins joining the fam, so as of this post, Wes is still officially the youngest. haha)


We also wanted to recognize a few weddings that we missed attending this summer while we were enjoying our time with our families. Thank you, Dee for sharing the photos!! James & Lezil are finally together!! Hurray! They've gradually been narrowing the distance from the UK and South Africa, to Shanghai and Inner Mongolia, but now the day has FINALLY arrived and they are now married and living in Shanghai. We rejoice with you guys!!! (pictured below with our dear friends, Dee & Geo who were just married in June!)

 

And...tada!!! RJ & Janelle's beautiful day has also arrived!!! They have been SUCH close friends with us as Joe and I have met with them weekly for over a year, getting to know them, praying together, cooking together, and just having so much fun! We were sad to miss their special Day, but happy that they were able to enjoy it! Pictured below are RJ & Janelle with a few members of our cell group. So many were traveling over their wedding in July, but SO MANY were praying for them and wishing they were there!

So, for those of you who don't get a "kick" out of baby talk, baby facial expressions, or general baby "stuff" you don't need to view these videos. I'm posting them generally for the sake of posterity as well as the few people (namely grandmothers!!) who want to see Wes in each stage of his life. 

Here is Wes and I relaxing together after our loooong hike together up Moon Hill in Yangshuo! Since its been so long between posts, you'll probably notice a difference in how he's growing! :)


These are just a couple of photos after church one Sunday. He was just looking so cute. He's now known as "the baby with the flip flops" thanks to Lindsay Elliott! haha





My sweet Chinese sister, Ivy, has moved away from Shanghai. :( Here are some photos of her last visit with Wes. We plan to visit her someday (hopefully soon!) in Lijiang.

Ivy helped us figure out Taobao (a Chinese-much-larger-version of e-bay) to buy the rocking chair that I now use ALL the time.



Also, the beginning of August, Daddy went on a retreat for all of the new students at his school. Wes tried to hide in his bag so he could go along!



Here are the students in their matching t-shirts doing morning exercises. taken on Joe's phone
 

So, that's our August in a nutshell! I was behind in my blogging, and then got an eye infection from my contacts, which put me even further behind in my blogging!! So, here is the official attempt to "catch up" for all of you who have been complaining. ;)

I'll leave you with this beautiful photo taken of Wes this summer. He's 2.5 months here. I think I'll have it printed and hung on my wall to always remember his special baby-days. ( PS... I'm loving every day of being his mommy!)

hugs from us!