What a week! Alternatively titled: pregnant and cranky

This week's frustration #1: Finding out that we do indeed have to authenticate our PASSPORTS to be able to finish our business registration.
That's right. Passports. I've lived in and out of China for 12 years now and I've never heard of anyone having to do this, nor has anyone I know ever heard of anyone having to do this. (other documents, yes).
Also, we know that the law firm we contacted has never had a client in ANY PROVINCE have to do this.
I want to add this to the list of "crazy things I've heard in governmental/official offices" not the fact that they are requiring it, but that the boss said the authentication process is free. Umm, it's not free. There's a charge at the Embassy for the official copy, notarization, and certification. There are the postage fees, the agent fees, Department of State fees, and the Chinese Embassy fees.
So James is on his way to Beijing tonight to go to the Embassy tomorrow to get a certified copy of our passports authenticated so that we can send them to the US to get authenticated by the Chinese consulate so that they can have a stamp so that we can continue the process with our business registration.
We're taking good notes of the business registration process and we'll write a complete post with all our snags (this one being the largest) so that hopefully you can avoid them.
In the meantime, here is the link to service we've used in the States to authenticate our documents if you find yourself in need of such documents. In the past we've had to get our marriage certificate and our kids' birth certificates authenticated in order to get our residence permit.
This week's frustration #2: being pregnant and cranky. I mentioned earlier that I made the mistake of going to a newly opened Carrefour on a public holiday, which didn't put me in the most culturally appreciative mood. When I got home I parked my trike in the shed beside our building while I unloaded five or more large bags of groceries. I'm six months pregnant currently. While unloading bags of groceries (and waiting for chivalrous husband to come downstairs and help) an able-bodied 40 something year old man stopped me to tell me that I shouldn't park where I did. I should park in the main shed by the gate which is 300 or so meters away so that "kids don't play on my vehicle and it will be better and safer for everyone."
I know being pregnant makes me more irritable in situations like these, but I can happily report that I didn't say anything like, "Men where I'm from would offer to help me instead of complaining about where I parked, which by the way, was in a bike shed!" Instead I just told him I would move after we had unloaded the groceries.
I should also note here that I have been here long enough to understand that mostly random strangers say things like that comment out of concern (concern for the safety of my trike, concern for public order, etc) and I try to remember that when I feel frustrated with what I perceive to be criticisms from locals.


This week's frustration #3: not being able to clearly communicate after 12+ years of Chinese study.
I wanted to buy some contact paper like stuff that is sold in office supply stores and the stores that make advertisements. I stopped in the office supply store near the gate of our complex. I don't know the actual word for that kind of paper (or if they even call it paper). I asked for "the colored paper that is sticky on one side that comes in rolls and is sold by the meter." She seemed to know what I was talking about but said she didn't have any. I looked around and didn't see it either. I asked if anywhere nearby sold it. She said no. I went out and saw that the shop next door was a printing shop and decided to give it a try. They had it! I could see the rolls on the shelf in the back. But then I noticed something else....these two shops, the one I had just been in and this one were one shop! Adjoining doors on the inside and same family running both parts! Clearly, I hadn't communicated with the lady in the first shop who said it wasn't sold nearby if indeed it was sold in the other half of her shop.


Warm-hearted gesture from a stranger making up for most of these things: free sewing repair to my clothes. Seriously. I dropped a few things off to be mended and when I went to pick them up, the shop owner wouldn't let me pay. I needed one little bright light of gladness in the midst of not doing a great job of navigating life here this week.


Consolation gifts for having a bad week will be accepted in the form of positive comments, salty snacks, or good quality dark chocolate. 谢谢你的合作 :)

International Playgroup Half-way Report

I have been hosting an international playgroup at our home. We don't plan to send our girls to local schools, but I still want them to have social interaction with local kids and I wanted some structure/schedule to our daily routine here. However, I'm also very pregnant and feel my energy waning so I didn't want to over-do it. So, we planned a sort of trial-run for this playgroup which would only be two mornings a week and only for six weeks. 

We have some local kids, some foreign kids, and some kids who have one local parent and one foreign parent. We also have moms, dads, and grandmas who come along and others who come alone.

We learn two letters and one color each day and have some kind of a theme for the vocabulary we learn in English (for the locals) and Chinese (for the foreigners). 

We're just over half way finished now so I thought I'd give you all a report. Here are some pictures of our participants and some of the activities we've done so far. 

This day was a crowd favorite. A guy we know who trains a police dog brought the dog and taught the kids about how to train a dog. They LOVED it. Also, are you as astounded as I am that we got this many little kids to sit still and look at the camera? 

This day we talked about feeling words and practiced making different kinds of faces. 

And each of the kids made their own "emoticon" of sorts. 

Ann's friend Molly

We made green paintings.

Snack time. Also known as the only time the kids sit still in one place and are relatively quiet. 

Another kid favorite: we made an "ocean in a bottle." 

Today we took a field trip to the museum, but today technically is the second half so I'll save those pictures for the next time I update.

Announcement #5: Gender Reveal

Well, we've promised this announcement for some time now.

When we left America we were a bit too early in the pregnancy to know the gender. We thought that might mean that we wouldn't get to know the gender, since it is not common for doctors here to reveal the gender to the parents. (The main reason is the number of female babies who would be aborted). In fact, at most hospitals, the ultrasound screen is positioned in a way that the mom can't see it and most hospitals won't let fathers accompany the mother to the ultrasound room.

However, our first prenatal check up once we returned to China was performed at an international hospital in Tianjin. They allowed James to accompany me and had a large screen we could both see. We decided to ask if they would tell us the gender. Sometimes not all the rules apply to us as foreigners so if we could play the "foreigner card" in this situation, we wanted to.

But, the doctor performing the ultrasound said she couldn't tell us. So there you have it. No gender reveal.

JUST KIDDING!

She told us she couldn't tell us, but suddenly, she started dropping all kinds of hints. OH, for this story to make more sense you need to know that "he" and "she" are written differently but pronounced the same in Chinese. You also need to know that most Chinese people think baby girls look like their father and baby boys look like their mother.

She would say, "ta" (he/she) is very pretty. We didn't get it yet. Then she asked us who our other girls looked like. Then she said, "This one looks like dad, too." We (James and I) started exchanging questioning glances with each other. "Ta" will look good in a skirt. AH HA! We got it. She couldn't directly tell us the gender, but we realized she was dropping us every hint she could to let us know this baby is Judd girl #3!

So there you have it. The long version of the story to simply say.....She's a girl!

Cultural dancing

In this video you can see one of the more interesting and endearing cultural practices of the local people.  In parks, apartment complexes, or other open spaces; in the morning and in the evening you often see older ladies dancing.  Line dancing.  Some are just there for exercise, but some are quite serious about it.  You can also see two other girls who are "quite serious about it".

If you will play this video on repeat from 7-9pm each day you will know what it sounds like outside our apartment... every day... same song...

I told Jill I would give her 1 yuan ($0.15) if she would join them.... so far my money is safe.

-James

It's fun being two and three!

I'm under no illusion that you guys read this blog because of my stellar writing. I know the vast majority of you just want to check in on the girls and see their cute faces.

I hope this post satisfies :)

This was the attire the girls chose one morning. Pajamas, outside shoes, hats, and backpacks.

This was taken later the same day. I did at least get them out of pajamas and more presentable to go outside.
By the way, what are these contraptions called in English? Anyone? In Chinese they're called yao yao che which translates shake shake vehicle. The girls love them and we love that they only cost 15-30 cents to ride :)

One of Jill's friends opened an English library that also teaches English classes. The girls got invited to participate in one of their special activities. 

We didn't master the jump rope yet, but we had fun trying.

This archway is just outside our front door.

taking a stroll through our complex

at a wedding we went to a couple weeks back

This is the girls' friend, Michael. His dad is British and his mom is a local. We've had a few playdates together. This day the girls especially loved that Michael shared his kite with them.

Ann riding Catherine. It was all fun and games until someone face-planted on the tile.

Catherine is getting better at coloring all the time.

our new home, part one

I don't have photos of all the rooms and if I wait until I do, this may never get posted. Until I get the rest of the photos, here's a peek at where we're living. This place is a bit farther from city center than we were before, but we have about 400 more square feet, a much nicer home, heat that we control ourselves, a nicer complex, and our rent is just about the same price. We are SO SO SO very thankful for His provision!

Our kitchen. 

To make you more aware of how grateful we are, see our previous kitchen below. 

We did eventually move the fridge to the balcony which created more space, but you can clearly see that our new place is a step up.

The view from our kitchen window. It's not the grand view of the city we had from the 18th floor, but it is getting greener by the day. And, I can still see the mountains in that small crack between the two buildings. However new construction is going back up there and I estimate in a couple months the high rise will block the tiny view I have of them :(

This room is off our living room and was probably intended to be an office. For us, it's made a perfect playroom for the girls and we hope will transition well to a homeschool room when the time comes. 

The girls' bedroom. view one: Catherine's bed
And in full disclosure when I made the beds to take this picture, it might have been the first time I made the beds since we've lived here. 

The girls' bedroom. view two: Ann's bed

The girls' bedroom. view three: the changing table I wish Ann would decide she was tired of using and would use the potty instead. 

This is the living room the day we moved in. It's been rearranged and other furniture added since then. 

Here's the view out of our living room/balcony window. I also captured the folks doing their morning exercises in this picture. 

Just outside our door. An empty creek. :)

This may not look like much to you Americans, but this is an actual closet. In all the houses we have been in in China, we have seen exactly two that have one. Mostly homes here have armoires in each bedroom but never an actual closet. We have a walk in closet with built in shelves and everything. The door on the right enters into the master bath. 

This is the master bedroom the day we moved in. It also looks different now. 

This is the main bathroom. 

and the shower

the dining room

Well, there's still another bedroom and the rooms that look different now than the photos but you can at least see something of our life until I get around to doing more.

Announcement #4

This one will be short, but it's still pretty great news for us: We were granted 120 day stays for our visa!
Last year we had 90 day stays which meant we had to exit China every 3 months. This is pretty tiring with two small ones, so we're thankful our request to the consulate was granted.

This really was a big answer to prayer since the normal stay granted is 30 or 60 days. We are thankful, but looking forward to the business registration being complete so that we'll have a long term visa!

Announcement #3

This announcement is just to let those of you who may not know it that James Judd rocks. Seriously.

This post has been in the works since early pregnancy. This is a compilation on of all the incidents I wanted to brag on him about but couldn't do so publicly until we had officially announced the pregnancy. And then we moved to China, then we had all kinds of tech issues and so here we are, but I still wanted to announce it:

JAMES JUDD IS AWESOME!

 Here are some of the ways he goes above and beyond normal husband and dad duty:

1. James cleaned up my puke. Multiple times. The worst incident involved a hotel sink and an entire Caesar salad. He also took care of the girls while I puked or while I sat wishing I could puke so that the nausea would go away.
2. James does night duty like a rock star. Not only when we have a cozy little newborn, but also when we have a preschooler who doesn't always sleep through the night. I have never been so thankful to marry a Ranger as I am when one of our children wakes up in the night. Thank you, US Army, for whatever horrible training you subject your Rangers to that make them able to rouse from deep slumber to full alertness in a manner of seconds. This ability was confirmed when one of James' ranger friends came to stay with us just before we left America and shared that he also possesses this superpower and uses it to help to wife with their children. I, however, was not an Army Ranger and do not possess that gift. I stumble around and grumble and complain so I'm grateful every time I hear his feet hit the floor before I've even moved.  
3. James doesn't complain when dishes are in the sink for days or the laundry is piling up. I'm somewhat keeping up with housework now, but during the first trimester I did not. And James didn't complain and often did much of the work of himself.
4. He lets me sleep in. Not every day, and I do try to repay the favor once in awhile, but many mornings James is the first out of bed tending to girls and I am so thankful for those extra minutes of sleep.

When I read over this I feel like it sounds like I do nothing. I sleep in, don't do housework, and then James gets up with them in the night. I'll let you make you own conclusions about what I do all day ad night, but just remember I am growing a human being inside my body. But, my point is I am very, very thankful for all of the help James offers in this crazy parenting gig.

Announcement #2

There are a few versions of the same announcement, you can tell us which one you like in the comments :)

Version One:

A couple pictures of our China transportation. We'll need your help and suggestions figuring out where to put the 5th Judd, who should arrive in August!



And just because it's funny, here are some pictures a friend drew for us highlighting all our transportation options when we were a family of four.

Version Two:

We already notice a marked decrease in our cognitive functioning with only two kids so bring on another! 

(photo credit to comicstripmama)

Version Three:

Catherine is helping Ann prepare to be a big sister! The next Juddlet is scheduled to arrive in August. 

Version Four:

Proudly displaying the first glimpse of the next Juddlet.

Announcement #1

I'm sure that technically, this is not the first announcement I have made on the blog, but these are going to come in a series so I needed a number system.

Our first exciting announcement is that we have return tickets to our China home on March 10, 2015! That's less than a month away, people. 

We are now frantically closing out life here, packing up our house (once again) and waiting on our visas to arrive in our hands (see what I mean about a series of announcement??)

Catherine will attend school through the end of February then we'll see my parents will come visit for a few days. Then, the first week of March we'll move back to the ranch for our last days in the US. We'll fly out of Amarillo at some way-too-early hour.

We'll spend 30 or so hours in transit. We haven't booked our last leg of travel yet, so I'm not sure about the exact time. I am happy to announce this will be the first time both girls will have their own seat on the plane. What will I do with my free lap for 30 hours?????

I think this picture summarizes best how we feel upon arrival to our destination:

Once we arrive, we get to start the house-hunting process once again. A few friends are looking for us in the meantime, but with the Chinese New Year holiday starting now, the chances of anyone being able to secure anything until our arrival is slim.

Although we'll be making a temporary home in a hotel, we are ecstatic to be heading back to our other home!